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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.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• The rise of tablets in the enterprise
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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.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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At the show were tablets and smartphones galore running Android; many of them showing off the new Android 4.0, which I find is a huge improvement for the platform. Huawei impressed me early on in the week with the debut of its Ascend P1 S handset. Short of a quad-core processor and large amounts of internal storage, this phone has outstanding specifications. Combined with Android 4.0, it should sell well, pending the price and carrier options forthcoming.

Later in the week, the same company showed me a 7-inch Android 4.0 tablet with similar specifications. One notable bump is the 1280 x 800 display with IPS technology, allowing for wide viewing angles. As much as I liked the Huawei MediaPad though, the Android star of CES for me was the Asus Transformer Prime.

This large tablet has an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and outstanding graphics capabilities. That kinds of power was illustrated in a demo of the game Shadowrun. The Transformer Prime can drive an 8-person multiplayer instance of the game while also mirroring the display on a large screen HDTV in 720p format.

That may be a bit of overkill for most people, but it’s an example of the power coming to Android tablets. And the keyboard dock option allows for keyboard and mouse use while also boosting the total run-time of the device to more than 20 hours. To say I can’t wait for a review unit is an understatement as I’d like to see if the Prime with optional dock could suffice as a true notebook replacement for my specific computing needs.

Of course, hardware alone is generally useless without good software and an effective mobile user interface. Google has done well with the Android 4.0 interface, but this week reiterated that developers should follow certain design guidelines for third-party Android applications. Developers can hit the Google Android Design portal where the three overall themes for app design are “Enchant Me”; “Simplify My Life”; and “Make Me Amazing”.

This approach is optional, so I don’t expect new apps to start looking vastly different in the near future. But developers would be wise to integrate their personal design tastes with Google’s suggestions for the betterment of the overall platform.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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We might not have chosen the above weird baby chick to pitch our autostereoscopic technology to the world, but at least it makes for some memorable imagery. The hatchling is a 3D image generated by projectors, overlayed on top of a real world object, which can be viewed by multiple people at multiple angles without the need for 3D glasses. Built-in sensors detect the viewer’s positions and adjust the viewing angle accordingly. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this sort of technology — heck, this isn’t even the first time we’ve seen this sort of thing from Hitachi, but the company says it’s continually getting better, with a marked depth resolution improvement over a technology shown off this time last year at CEATEC. The company is looking to implement the technology for both digital signage and entertainment purposes, eventually revolutionizing the way the world looks at 3D baby chickens.

Hitachi glasses-free 3D technology lets you view weird chicken things from multiple angles originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Use of cell phone while driving

According to studies in the Us, you can find a lot more incidences of road mishaps caused by the use of mobile phones while driving. These people equate the instance to driving while drunk. In some areas of the world, it really is totally forbidden to use. You’ll find even more scientific studies that show that “hands-free” phones isn’t that much safer too. Within other European countries, hand-held phones are highly discouraged.

Utilization of mobile phones threatens basic safety

In most instances, mobile phones are media for identity theft. As stated in Wikipedia, it really is as a result of ‘scanning” wherein third parties in the local location could intercept and eavesdrop in on telephone calls. An additional factor is that Analogue phones could likewise be listened to on a number of radio scanners. This should be a caution to all cell phone users; we’ve got to be exceedingly mindful in our use of our mobile phones. We could savor all of the services these kinds of inventions give nevertheless we have to ensure we protect ourselves from untoward final results too.

Use of mobile phones inside airplanes

It can be a general understanding that the use of mobile phones while one is in a plane doesn’t seem possible. All of this rooted from an incident long ago in year 2000 when it had been broadcast that a plane crashed as a result of a passenger’s cell phone use. Studies tell that Mobile phones and also other cellular devices might be employed to detonate distant Improvised Explosive Devices. Though there isn’t much evidence about this yet, it has been an internationally known policy not to use cell phones during flight.

These are actually important factors to look at note of . Even though many of them do not have definite proofs, it ought to nevertheless be taken with importance and caution. There is no harm in doing so.

Mobile phones are useful but in one particular way, take care.

She enjoys her work so much that the business side does not interfere with her happiness. From her teen years on, she loved the subject of horses. From age 11 on, she worked on sketching horses. Her horses seem to jump out of their portraits, because of the depth added by her shading, developed from her long experience in drawing. No two horses are alike, and she tries to bring out the uniqueness of each one. This article on paintings is brought to you by horse portrait commissions.

Her style of painting is working from a photograph. Any sketching on site involves only adding marks or notes on color. Each owner has his requirements, according to her, and she tries her best to fulfill all of them. They may request a certain angle or inclusion of a certain trait.

Loving riders know everything about their horses, including facial expressions, wrinkles, and cowlicks. The more the canvas looks like the horse, the better. Her pictures cover almost every breed and event, even barrel racing and cutting.

Capturing a horse in motion is a whole different ball game and requires study. Some angles of a horse cantering are unflattering. A horse on the move looks best under a telephoto lens. When she was active in the horse show field, she traveled to as many as 15 18 shows a year. Thanks for reading about paintings, and get even more articles at create oil paintings from photos.

At some shows, she would be hired to take photographs of the winning horses, then paint their portraits to be awarded to the owners as prizes. Those photographers who take on shows full time find it easier to develop pictures on the spot with dark rooms in their vans. Even when she did shows, she would still take her work home to her dark room.

She has not restricted herself to just horses and has explored other family pets. Because the different breeds of dogs and cats are not in her portfolio, she needs to see them or paint from a good photograph.

It would not be realistic if she used her imagination.