The Asus Transformer Prime has several “firsts” for 2012. It’s the first tablet to come with Google’s new Android 4.0 software, designed to unify phones and tablets. And it’s the first tablet to run on a quad-core chip from Nvidia, dubbed the Tegra 3. So does first equal best? Not in every case, but in this particular instance, I’m comfortable in saying that the 9 Transformer Prime is currently the best large Android tablet you can buy.

Hot hardware

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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We knew that Panasonic’s mobile division was summoning its strength for a return to the Old World, and finally we have some detail: it’s aiming to bring an “ultra-slim D-shaped” Android smartphone with a slim bezel, 4.3-inch qHD OLED screen, NFC and some rugged credentials to Europe in March next year. The manufacturer hopes to use Europe as a stepping stone to the US, China and the rest of Asia, aiming to broaden its range of Android devices and sell at a total of nine million of them outside of Japan by the end of March 2016. Read on for the full PR.

Continue reading Panasonic reveals 4.3-inch OLED smartphone with global ambitions, no name

Panasonic reveals 4.3-inch OLED smartphone with global ambitions, no name originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The mixture of the GPS functionality with continuous coronary heart rate monitor capabilities of the garmin 605 make an awesome biometrics and placement monitoring duo. There are few products that match these options with adding multiple devices (monitors/pods) to an current system.

But, there are other options that spherical out GPS/HRM features such because the appropriate foot pod accessory to seize pace, distance and running cadence inside or outside. It may well attach to your bicycle or exercise bike for year-spherical performance measurements.

Like many of the earlier ’05 sequence Forerunner merchandise, customers can now respect the advantages of attaching location information to standard measurements such as distance, pace, time, energy burned and heart rate. The GPS expertise permits you to track exactly where your physical output was biggest, or less strenuous.

By assortment this worthwhile training data, you possibly can better focus your exercises to enhance coaching for particular distances, conditions, and ranging terrains. So that you’re provided a complete image of your efficiency in relation to the place you have been working, mountain climbing and so on. The Virtual Associate characteristic is sort of useful that can assist you improve your occasions by organising interval exercises and comparing previous stored workouts with one another.

The excessive-sensitivity GPS receiver could be very receptive to satellite transmissions so that you’re in constant contact just about everywhere you practice/exercise. The Forerunner 405 is durable such that you can run or jog or bike in scorching humid climate or freezing cold temperatures; it makes no difference to this mighty monitor.

Different great features embody a fairly intelligent, patent-pending, contact bezel on the face of the watch. This makes navigating between choices virtually effortless while operating or performing different physical activities. By tapping, holding or running a finger along the bezel, runners can launch a new exercise routine, entry your training history or activate the Digital Partner feature.

Garmin designed all their new fitness gadgets, including the Forerunner 405, Edge garmin 605 and 705 bike computer systems, and Forerunner 50 coronary heart fee monitor watches, with the ability to interface with the new “ANT + Sport” protocol, together with gadgets from different manufacturers.

Upon the completion of your exercise, you simply enable the ANT+Sport wireless technology to automatically switch your biometric information to your laptop when the Forerunner is in range.

Garmin Forerunner 605CX Options and Specs:

·           Revisit exercise data, together with pace/pace, distance, time, energy burned; and if accessible, heart charge, cadence and detailed elevation. Find further statistical break downs utilizing your PC.

·           View a map of your workout that exhibits the precise path you traveled.

·           Categorize your workout historical past according to type of activity.

·           Evaluate earlier saved exercises on daily foundation or weekly.

·           Customizable workout programs with outlined objectives and rest intervals. Then send them to your health machine (405 monitor).

·           Schedule exercises for a selected day with calendar feature.

For those who’re actually serious about scrutinizing your efficiency data, you’re welcome to upload workout results to the Garmin Training Heart software for additional analysis. Garmin Coaching Heart can preserve quite a few uploaded train knowledge for evaluate and sharing with others.

Keeda Kolb is an expert Quality Assurance Engineer and Internet Researcher. He now enjoys dedicating his time to researching, reviewing and publishing quite a few titles on quite a lot of  garmin updates   , fitness instruments and other properly-being enhancement products.

Not content with offering up merely modular Android tablets, ASUS has revealed a new seven-inch tablet that’s water and dust resistant — perfect for a spot of bath-time browsing or… desert rallying. The ASUS TOUGH-ETBW11AA has rubberized bezel and strips across the back, contributing to the substantial 22.2mm profile, but that hefty frame can survive drops from the heady height of 76cm. Aside from its tough-guy credentials, there’s a 1280 x 800 screen, five megapixel camera, Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor, WiMAX connection and the staple WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS medley. It comes with 16GB of well-protected storage, but there’s room for more via microSD. For those seeking a slate that’ll survive the bumps and scrapes of the business world — and not look ridiculous — it’ll be available to enterprise customers of Japanese carrier KDDI this November. No news yet on whether it’ll canoe its way across from the Land of the Rising Sun, but we can give you a few more photos of the rough and tumble tablet after the break.

[Image credit: Keitai Watch]

Continue reading ASUS TOUGH 7-inch Honeycomb tablet lands in Japan ready for some corporate abuse

ASUS TOUGH 7-inch Honeycomb tablet lands in Japan ready for some corporate abuse originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM’s 7-inch PlayBook may be lovely to hold, and that gesture area along the bezel is downright genius, but the QNX-powered slate hasn’t had the easiest time taking on the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Apple’s iPad 2. Still, RIM’s following is amongst the most loyal in the industry, and those who wouldn’t leave the house sans a BlackBerry handset may have been inclined to give this guy a go. If that’s you, we’re overly interested in hearing how you’d do things differently. Would you have preferred a larger screen? Android app support right out of the box? A beefier software store? Go on and get creative in comments below — something tells us RIM isn’t exactly in a position to turn a deaf ear.

How would you change RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jul 2011 22:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can debate what qualifies as a true 4G phone, but there’s no arguing the 9 Samsung Infuse 4G for AT&T’s network offers the largest display of any phone the carrier sells directly. The 4.5-inch Google Android handset uses Samsung’s latest screen technology, which certainly makes for a large device; perhaps too large for some. But this handful of a handset uses a thin design, fast mobile broadband radio and a speedier single-core processor than what competing devices offer. I’ve been using a review unit of the Samsung Infuse 4G on AT&T’s network for the past two weeks to see if there’s room in the collective pocket for this new smartphone.

Hardware and Design

As soon as you see the Infuse 4G, you can’t help but notice the sheer size of the display, which takes up nearly the entire front of the phone. A small top and bottom bezel holds the front-facing camera, ambient light sensors, speaker and the four standard Android buttons, which are touch-sensitive on this device. Although the display uses a typical 800×480 resolution, the screen doesn’t appear pixelated at all; fonts and icons are smooth. Even at the lowest brightness, colors appear to pop from the screen due to Samsung’s Super AMOLED Plus display. All activities are more vivid and brighter than on any other handset I’ve used yet. The beautiful screen may be too big for some, but I find it pleasing, thanks to larger text and more room on the software keyboard. The screen can appear washed-out in direct sunlight, but is still very usable.

My first-look video offers a glance at the Infuse’s hardware and design.

Overall it’s clean and minimal, good for a large handset as too many buttons or controls would simply make the phone appear larger. Volume buttons are on the left while the power / wake button is on the right. A 3.5 millimeter headphone jack sits on top, next to a microphone , while the bottom has a second microphone and micro USB port. The back houses a speaker for hands-free calls and the 8 megapixel camera sensor with LED flash.

Although the phone has a big footprint — you can see comparisons to other devices in our image gallery below — it’s thin at 8.99 millimeters. Had the phone been thicker, it would feel too much like a brick. But the Infuse 4G actually feels comfortable to hold for such a large-screened device. I occasionally found it tricky, but not impossible, to use the phone in one hand, and at 5′ 5″ and 125 pounds, I have relatively small hands.

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Much of the phone is plastic, but the device feels solidly made. The lack of metal helps keep the feel of the big smartphone lighter than it looks, and the removable back cover is just a thin plastic piece. Taking the cover off reveals a generous 1750 mAh battery, SIM card slot and place for a microSD expansion card. You must remove the battery to remove or replace a memory card, which is inconvenient. With the larger-than-average battery, I had no problems getting through a full day of typical use, with power to spare.

Software and Performance

The handset runs on Android 2.2, which isn’t the latest version of Google’s mobile software, but few phones are yet shipping with Android 2.3. Samsung’s customized TouchWiz interface hides the bland stock look of Android in a pleasing way. A choice of three software keyboards are included: the standard Android keyboard, Samung’s own custom keyboard, and Swype. A handful of AT&T-branded applications are pre-installed, along with a few from Samsung. Specifically, Samsung’s AllShare app (used for media streaming), Media Hub for video rentals and purchases, and custom Task Manager app are pre-loaded on the device. The Infuse has access to the Android Market, and can also install software from outside the Market; a first for AT&T, which has blocked such “sideloaded” apps in the past.

TouchWiz offers up to seven home screens, and the program launcher is similar to that on Apple iOS devices. Samsung’s browser is fairly standard, but offers a useful brightness setting within the application. The browser experience is on par with any other Android handset at this price and in terms of speed, I found it to perform a slightly better than on the Nexus One handset I bought last January. For the benchmark-minded, the Infuse 4G scored 5082 ms using SunSpider (where smaller numbers are better) as compared to 5487 ms on my Nexus One. That’s likely due in part to the Infuse’s slightly faster single-core CPU, which clocks in at 1.2 GHz. The Infuse 4G will generally be slower when compared to a dual-core handset, but only those who have used a dual-core smartphone would know the difference. The processor keeps Android moving at a fast pace when compared to other single-core handsets on the market.

Marketed as a 4G handset, the phone radio has outpaced AT&T’s network. The carrier is in the process of upgrading to HSPA+ as a stopgap to its planned LTE network rollout. That means the radio in the phone can handle downloads up to 21 Mbps, yet most of the network can’t deliver such speeds. However, as the carrier expands its network, the Infuse 4G is future-proofed to a degree, as it’s ready for the faster network speeds. My speed tests topped out at 3.2 Mbps downloads and 1.2 Mbps uploads, which is much slower than what AT&T’s competitors offer. Speeds of course, will vary by coverage areas and other factors, and I don’t live in or near an AT&T coverage area that’s been upgraded, so you may see faster mobile broadband speeds.

Samsung’s camera sensor impressed me, especially when paired with software that improves video recording. The camera tops out at 720p image capture, but features an auto-focus function when taking videos. Don’t expect the focus adjustment to be instant, but it works well and is quick enough to be useful. Regular camera images looked better than video; crisper and cleaner. The front-facing camera inspires a common complaint: Manufacturers aren’t angling the sensor, so you have to tilt the device to stay centered on a video chat. Samsung has an opportunity for improvement here, but if you’re not into video chatting, this shouldn’t prevent you from considering the Infuse 4G.

Call quality was solid, both in normal use and through the speakerphone, and I didn’t experience any dropped calls. AT&T’s network has always been solid in the rural area I live in, so this doesn’t surprise me.

Conclusion

If you’re in the market for large-screened phone that’s still pocketable, the Infuse 4G is a must-see. The screen looks fantastic, possibly the best I’ve seen yet on a handset, even as other phones such as the Atrix 4G offer a higher resolution. But the size may put some folks off, and no review can tell you if the handset is too big for you. This is the kind of handset you have to hold and use before buying. Current smartphone owners using handsets with a 1-GHz processor won’t see much of a speed boost, but those that haven’t purchased a handset in the last year or so ought to be impressed. With the beautiful display, more room on the software keyboards and the ability to gain faster mobile broadband as AT&T beefs up its HSPA+ coverage, the Infuse 4G has much to offer those looking for a big Android smartphone.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T
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