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The Transformer Prime with 32 GB of storage is the second iteration of Asus’ popular 10.1-inch tablet which debuted last year. And the reason for the “Transformer” name is due to the optional 0 keyboard dock, but more on that in a minute. The slate itself uses a high-quality IPS display at 1280 x 800 resolution. It’s clear and bright from all angles. There’s also a handy option to bump up the brightness for outdoor use: The screen jumps to 600 nits vs. the iPad 2′s 380 to 400 nits, so it’s nearly 50 percent brighter with this setting.

At 8.6 millimeters thick and 586 grams, the Prime is easy to tote and hold, especially with the large bezel around the display; roughly one inch.There’s a 1.2 megapixel front camera which worked fine in my video chat tests. However, the camera is offset, so I had to tilt the tablet to appear centered in my calls. The rear camera is 8 megapixels (with LED flash) and takes adequate, but not stellar images. Video capture is supported up to 1080p and video looks soft around the edges but still good.

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Other ports and buttons include a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a single speaker, two microphone ports, up and down volume rocker, microSD card slot and micro HDMI port to connect the device to an HDTV or digital monitor. This last port works well and the tablet is more than capable for displaying high resolution videos or games on a second screen. The power button is very small and can be hard to find; a problem when waking the Prime up from sleep mode. GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth are all standard; there is no version available with mobile broadband.

About that dock: With it, the thin slate connects to a full keyboard and trackpad, morphing the device into an Android-powered notebook of sorts. In addition to the easier input method, the dock adds a full-sized USB port and SD memory card slot. There’s also dedicated Home and Back buttons that support Android. Plus the dock has its own battery, which adds another 6 or so hours of runtime to the Transformer Prime. On its own, the Prime can easily power through a day. I’ve been able to use it as a primary device for a solid 11 hours with juice to spare. So with the dock, this becomes an 18 hour configuration.

On the downside, the dock weighs less than the slate, so the Prime can tip over if not careful. The keyboard isn’t backlit and the trackpad needs improving as well. It often became frustrating to use when not responding the way I had swiped. You can use two fingers to swipe up or down for browsing or navigating home screens, which is handy.

Much improved software

Google’s new Android 4.0 software, or Ice Cream Sandwich, is similar to the prior iteration, but much improved. The user interface is cleaner more consistent than before, but not radically changed in terms of general navigation.

Android widgets are more interactive and Asus even added some of its own to help with battery monitoring, email and task management. Also customized by Asus is the one-touch Settings display, making it easy to enable or turn off radios or use one of three tablet modes: Power Saving, Balanced and Performance mode; each of which throttle the CPU up or down for optimal use.

As mentioned, the CPU is Nvidia’s 1.3 GHz quad-core Tegra 3, which also has a fifth, low-power computing core as well as 12 graphics cores. Overall performance shines with Tegra 3, especially when playing games optimized for the Tegra 3. Here’s a video look at how the Prime handles console quality games along with an Xbox 360 controller, which is supported by the dock’s USB port.

For nearly every task the Prime keeps Android apps moving quickly. But don’t set your expectations too high simply because of the multiple processing cores. The tablet is fast, but not all apps are optimized to tap the full power of a quad-core chip. Given that developers haven’t yet optimized many of their apps for Android tablets in the past year, this could take time. Still, even with today’s apps, the Prime offers the best software experience available today on a Google-powered tablet.

In addition to the core Android 4.0 apps and those in the Android Market, Asus has added some of its own. SuperNote is a simple simple way to capture and ink notes with a finger. MyCloud offers access to cloud storage for media or documents or can be used to remotely connect to a PC or Mac. And Asus partnered with Infraware to include Polaris Office; a productivity suite that really shines with the keyboard dock.

Verdict: A winning combo

If you’re in the market for a large Android tablet, the Transformer Prime is a must-see. At this price, it clearly competes with Apple’s iPad 2, but offers 32 GB of internal storage plus the ability to expand. While the trackpad is lacking on the optional dock, it’s worth the extra cost for both the extra battery life, keyboard input and USB port if you need these features. Essentially, you end up with a netbook-style form factor that runs all day on a charge and can be used as a standalone tablet.

But even on its own, the Transformer Prime is a powerhouse with an experience exceeding its peers thanks to Android 4.0 and the Tegra 3 processor. If I were in the market for a large Android tablet, this device would be atop my list.

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Path CEO Dave Morin

Path, the mobile app for cataloging your daily activities and sharing them with a relatively small circle of contacts, came under serious fire on Tuesday when it was discovered that Path’s iPhone app imports all of its users’ address book data onto Path’s own servers without notification or asking permission. Not surprisingly, many people saw this as a major breach of user trust.

Path CEO Dave Morin quickly responded to the fallout, telling app developer Arun Thampi, the blogger who first discovered the address book upload activity, that the data was only used to help users find their friends and “nothing more.” Even so, he also said that the Android app has the address book upload as an opt-in feature, and released a new version of Path for iPhone that does the same. The question still remained, though: What about all the address book data that has is already in Path’s hands?

According to Path, you can now consider it completely gone. In a company blog post Wednesday, Morin explicitly apologized for Path ever having such a feature and said that all the address book data that has already been uploaded will be erased from Path’s servers. The blog post, entitled “We are sorry,” reads in part:

“Through the feedback we’ve received from all of you, we now understand that the way we had designed our ‘Add Friends’ feature was wrong. We are deeply sorry if you were uncomfortable with how our application used your phone contacts.

…We believe you should have control when it comes to sharing your personal information. We also believe that actions speak louder than words. So, as a clear signal of our commitment to your privacy, we’ve deleted the entire collection of user uploaded contact information from our servers. Your trust matters to us and we want you to feel completely in control of your information on Path.”

It’s a very smart move by Morin and the Path team. Perceived privacy breaches can be hugely damaging to web companies, and especially so for a company like Path, which bills itself as a more private version of Facebook. Path is already on its second life of sorts (its first iteration as a pure photo sharing app did not take off so well) so its important for the company to value the users it has attracted. Path has not behaved perfectly, but its response to the outcry has been quick, sensitive and strong. The big test now is whether that will be enough from the users’ perspective.

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The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is Samsung’s first tablet to use its Super AMOLED Plus technology, bringing vivid colors, deep blacks and super-wide viewing angles. It doesn’t hurt that the 7.7-inch screen has a higher resolution than most 720p HDTV sets either: the 1280 x 800 resolution is a treat for the eyes; especially when watching high-def videos.

Of course, the outside of a tablet is only as good as what’s inside. In this case, its Samsung’s Exynos dual-core processor running at 1.4 GHz. And this chip keeps the Galaxy Tab 7.7 humming along quickly.

I ran many benchmarks between this new tablet and several others, including the quad-core Transformer Prime, and found that the new Tab tests just as fast, if not faster.

The Prime is better for gaming, thanks to 12 graphics cores, but for most tasks the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is currently comparable. This may change in the future as more apps become optimized for quad-core chips, however.

A cheaper Android tablet option appeared this week as well. Sprint is selling the ZTE Optik for with a 2-year 3G data contract or 9 without a commitment. This 7-inch slate runs Android 3.2, not Android 4.0, but has a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, two cameras, GPS radio and 1280 x 800 resolution display.

ZTE, a Chinese hardware maker, is starting to make a big push in the U.S. tablet and smartphone market; if it can build quality devices with these low price points, it should do well against the current competition.

Late in the week, some confusion arose around the Galaxy Nexus, Google’s flagship developer phone. Verizon currently sells the Galaxy Nexus LTE in the U.S. while an unlocked GSM version — the one I have — is sold overseas. On Google’s website for the Galaxy Nexus stock software, the Verizon version is now archived. It appeared at first glance that Verizon was taking over control of the Galaxy Nexus software for phones on its network.

Google later provided an explanation that suggests it will still provide the updates for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, saying certain software signatures on CDMA phones aren’t compatible with the Android Open Source Platform builds of Android. The situation is odd because the Sprint Nexus S, available since December of 2010, is a CDMA Nexus phone and this issue never cropped up. I suspect there’s more to this story, so I’ll be researching and watching for further developments.

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Wired Top Stories

Continue reading Rhapsody music streaming lands on Android tablets with ‘magazine-style’ app

Rhapsody music streaming lands on Android tablets with ‘magazine-style’ app originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZTE may have shown off a 7-inch tablet running Android 4.0 at CES, but the company still has a bit of a backlog of previously announced devices to actually push out the door. The latest to resurface is the ZTE V9A Light Tab 2, which we first saw at Mobile Asia Congress back in November, and is now confirmed to be hitting the UK in late February for £235 (VAT included), which should translate to something less than the 5 direct conversion if it ever lands in the US. That buys you a 7-inch capacitive screen, a 1.4GHz single-core processor, WiFi and 3G connectivity, front and rear-facing cameras, and Android 2.3 for an OS (with no word on a possible ICS upgrade). Those curious for more can find the complete specs from retailer Clove at the link below.

ZTE Light Tab 2 hits the UK next month for £235, still runs Android 2.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wired Top Stories

Just like the old A500, Acer chose a 1 GHz dual core processor and the Honeycomb version of Android for the new A200. The device is lighter and keeps the many ports from the prior model: Full-sized USB, microSD card slot and micro USB jack to name a few. Gone is the rear camera on the A200, but it does keep a 2 megapixel front-facing sensor for video chatting or images. At this price, the A200 is surely worth a look and will be even more attractive once Acer pushes out the expected software update to Android 4.0; possibly as early as next month.

Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi tablet owners don’t have to wait for a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, however. The company began to roll out Android 4.0.3 to the Xoom this week and will continue to push the software out in waves. The updated software could help give new life for the first Android tablet, which arrived nearly a year ago to generally mediocre reviews.

How much will Android 4.0 improve the experience on a Xoom tablet? That will vary by each individual’s needs, but overall the device is better with the updated software according to Jason Perlow of ZDNet. He used a enthusiast-created version for two weeks and then got the official upgrade a few days earlier than consumers. There are still some rough edges in the operating system, he says, but most will welcome the improved interface on their tablet.

While I wait for Android 4.0 to appear on my own 10.1-inch tablet, I’m enjoying Android 4.0 on my smartphone and this week found a new app that I consider a “must try”, if not a “must have” for Android devices. Wikipedia finally debuted its Android app this week and while you could use a browser to access the online encyclopedia, I find the free app in the Android Market much better. Simple sharing of Wikipedia entries, support for offline article reading and GPS-powered local Wikipedia results all add to the experience.

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Google+ web app adds two new features, iOS and Android soon to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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