Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Apple Devices No Longer Completely Dominate Tablet-Based Web Traffic

Source: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome

Even with the launch of the iPad Mini — aimed at the lower end of the tablet market — Apple has not been able to beat back the rise of Android tablets. 

Let's look at Apple's share of tablet-generated Web traffic.

In March 2013, Apple iPad devices still accounted for the lion's share of that traffic at 81.9%, according to online advertising network, ChitikaThose numbers sound great. Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer even cited them in Apple's recent earnings call. 

But what he did not say was that the iPad's share is down ten percentage points from October 2012, when it was 92%. 

Even as the iPad slipped, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs on Android, increased its share of Web traffic from 2.1% to 4.3% over the same six months. 

Android-based devices have also made gains in unit sales recently. Apple iPads sold well last quarter, but lower-priced Android tablets like the Tab and the Kindle line from Amazon have gained market share globally. 

In the smartphone arena, Samsung remains a formidable competitor to Apple, but Chitika's data indicates that in addition to its recent smartphone success, Samsung is slowly gaining ground in the dynamic tablet market.

Apple, on the other hand, may have to find new ways to regain the unchallenged stronghold it once had in tablets. 

Chitika's data drew on mobile browser-based Web traffic from all tablet devices in the U.S. and Canada over a six month period. Traffic from mobile applications was not covered in the study.

Click here for a larger version of this chart.  Tablet-Based Web Traffic

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AT&T Beam is a USB LTE modem with built-in LCD, due May 10th for $20

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/att-beam-usb-modem/

AT&T Beam is a USB LTE modem with builtin LCD, due May 10th for $20

With the onset of MiFis, smartphone hotspots and other methods of tethering your computer to the 'net, USB modems aren't exactly the most popular devices on the block anymore. It doesn't mean they're not desirable to business folk, however, so most carriers keep at least one or two in their lineup. AT&T just introduced the Beam, its latest dongle from Sierra Wireless, which offers the usual LTE domestically (700/AWS) along with tri-band HSPA+ (850/1900/2100) and quad-band GSM / EDGE.

The key feature here is its built-in 96x64 black-and-white LCD panel, which displays signal strength, data usage and other stats. Finally, it offers mobile hotspot capability, GPS and microSD card support (up to 32GB), and will work on Win 8 / RT laptops and tablets. Dimension-wise, it weighs 1.91 ounces and measures a stout 1.97 x 2.58 x 0.46 inches (50 x 65.5 x 11.7mm). If that fits your purposes, the Beam can be all yours starting May 10th for $20 and a two-year commitment.

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Source: AT&T

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Google Drive desktop app adds in-app file sharing, catches up to 2010's Dropbox

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/google-drive-app-file-sharing/

Google Drive desktop app adds inapp file sharing, catches up to 2010's Dropbox

Sure, you could see and manage your Google Drive files from within the comfort of your PC / Mac file management system, but you couldn't publicly share them with friends -- until now. Google Drive files are now sharable via right click directly on your desktop, meaning the Drive desktop app now has one more feature that Dropbox already had several years ago. We hope you'll forgive our lack of enthusiasm for Google's catchup effort, but it's hard to get all jazzed up about functionality that should've probably been there at launch. Anyway, if you're not seeing the new feature pop up on your dashboard yet, Google says it's "rolling out over the next few days." Hold tight!

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Source: Google

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Sony's mainstream laptops now named 'Fit,' arrive ahead of back-to-school season

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/07/sony-vaio-fit-series-announced/

Sony's mainstream laptops now named 'Fit,' arrive ahead of backtoschool season

At some point -- we're not sure when -- Sony's naming scheme for laptops got confusing. There was the C series and the E series. The S, T, Z and even the F (RIP). Fortunately, Sony's been working to clear things up: its first Windows 8 products all had descriptive names like "Duo" or "Tap." Now, it's streamlining its mainstream notebooks too. The company just unveiled some redesigned models for back-to-school season, and they're all named 'Fit.' As the replacement to the entry-level E series and most of the T line, the Fit family includes both lower-end models (the Fit 14E / Fit 15E) and premium ones (the Fit 14 / Fit 15). They'll be available this month, starting at $550 and going all the way up to $2,210, depending on how many upgrades you check off during the configuration process.

Regardless, there are certain specs you'll find across the board - not just on the Fit machines, mind you, but on every Sony PC announced this season. These include NFC, backlit keyboards and webcams with Sony's Exmor R imaging tech for better low-light performance. They'll all have 1080p screens, too, with the exception of the 14-inch Fits, which start at 1,600 x 900. Both the Fit and Fit E will be offered with optional NVIDIA GT 740M GPUs (1GB or 2GB), touchscreens, optical drives and a choice of Core i3, i5 and i7 processors (Ivy Bridge for now). Ultimately, then, the difference between the two comes down to build quality: the Fit E is made of plastic, whereas the Fit has a thinner aluminum chassis, with the fans hidden above the keyboard, and a lid that covers the hinge. Also, the Fit will be offered with SSDs, with hybrid drives being the base option; the Fit E comes standard with a regular HDD and can be upgraded to a hybrid drive. And in any event, all of these laptops will be available later this month. For now, check out the press shots below for a closer look.

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Monday, May 06, 2013

Intel's Silvermont CPUs Herald a Serious Push into Mobile

Source: http://gizmodo.com/intels-silvermont-cpus-helard-a-serious-push-into-mobi-493160769

Intel's Atom cores have caught a lot of guff, mainly thanks to bad memories of the netbook days. But its latest incarnation, the new Silvermont CPU architecture, is low-powered and packs a performance punch, positioning Intel to make a big push into mobile.

The 22-nanometer System-on-a-Chip platform boasts a three times performance increase over the previous Saltwell Atom CPUs and at five times less the power consumption thanks in no small part to the 3D transistors Intel's been cooking up for years now. The first Atom CPUs to be designed specifically for smartphones and tablets, Silvermonts allow for scalablity up to 8-core SoCs, giving the architecture the freedom it needs to fill in the space below Haswell on the device hierarchy with no gaps. Bay-Trail tablets with Silvermont CPUs for brains are due to start rolling out toward the end of this year. Smartphones based on the new architecture will be following in early 2014.

While Silvermont is the first Atom chip aimed squarely at phones and tablets, it's certainly not going to be the last; Intel's going to be iterating on this CPU yearly and creeping further and further into the mobile space with each push. It will still be a while before we can actually get our hands on anything Silvermont's inside, but this could be the start of a much more mobile Intel. [AllThingsD]

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Intel Silvermont: next-gen mobile CPU's three times as fast and more energy efficient

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/intel-silvermont-22nm-soc/

Intel Silvermont nextgen mobile CPU's three times as fast and more energy efficient

ARM's long been the dominant form of silicon in mobile devices, but Intel aims to change that with its next-generation Atom chip design codenamed Silvermont. According to Intel, the new architecture will enable CPUs that operate at up to three times the speed of existing models, while (in some cases) also offering chips that sip just one-fifth the amount of electricity to get computational jobs done. The keys to those improvements are Intel's 22nm process and Tri-Gate transistors tuned for SoCs. While Silvermont was designed with mobile in mind, the architecture supports up to eight cores and will find its way into data centers and Ultrabooks in addition to phones and tablets. When? Intel's not telling yet, but rest assured when Silvermont shows up in an actual product, we'll be there to put it through its paces.

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Intel

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Amazon Leaks the World's First Small-Screen Windows 8 Tablet

Source: http://gizmodo.com/amazon-leaks-the-worlds-first-small-screen-windows-8-t-493096100

Rumors have swirled recently suggesting that a new breed of small Windows 8 tablets would soon appear in the wild. Now, Amazon has managed to accidentally leak the first tablet of its kind.

The Acer Iconia W3, previously rumored to be the first small-screen Windows 8 tablet, made a brief appearance on the website of Bezos and co. With a 1280 x 800 resolution 8.1-inch screen and Intel dual-core Atom processor, PC World claims that its list price was $380. Otherwise, details are scant.

Obviously the tablet was listed as Out of Stock, and there was no release date published, but it should be enough to convince people that little Windows tablets are indeed on the way. [PC World]

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HP redesigns its ProBook laptops for small businesses, prices start at $499

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/06/hp-redesigns-its-probook-laptops-for-small-businesses-prices-st/

HP redesigns its ProBook laptops for small businesses, prices start at $499

Last fall, HP took a small step toward refreshing its ProBook business notebooks when it started offering some of them with AMD Trinity chips. Eight months later, it's time for a real makeover: the company just announced a handful of new models with a thinner, lighter design and a fresh look. The ProBook 430, 440, 455 and 470 range in size from 13.3 inches to 17.3, and are made of aluminum, with spill-resistant keyboards and a soft-touch paint job. With the exception of the 430, which ships in July with Haswell, they'll arrive this month with a mix of Ivy Bridge CPUs and AMD Richland chips. (Specifically, only the 14- and 15-inch models will be offered with AMD.)

Other particulars: they all have 1,366 x 768 matte displays (non-touch), with the 17-inch model stepping up to 1,600 x 900. All but the 430 can be had with an optional optical drive; if you skip it, there's a weighted placeholder sitting where the DVD burner would be. Additionally, the 440, 450 and 470 can be used with a six- or nine-cell user-replaceable battery. Everything comes standard with a hybrid hard drive, but the 430 also has an SSD option. Again, all but the 13-incher will be available this month, for $499 and up. So, you can bide your time until then, or you can tide yourself over with that handful of photos below.

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Sunday, May 05, 2013

Physics teacher adopts Google Glass, gives students a glance at CERN (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/physics-teacher-adopts-google-glass/

Physics teacher adopts Google Glass, gives students a firsthand look at CERN video

When Google asked what we'd do if we had Glass, it was no doubt hoping we'd produce some world-changing ideas. We now know at least a few exist, courtesy of physics teacher Andrew Vanden Heuvel. He's long been hoping to use the wearable tech for remote teaching and one-on-one sessions, and the Glass Explorer program has given him the chance to do just that. His first stop? None other than CERN. Courtesy of a trip for Google's new Explorer Story video series, Vanden Heuvel is the first person to teach a science course while inside the Large Hadron Collider tunnel, streaming his perspective to students thousands of miles away. While we don't know if other Explorer Stories will be quite as inspiring, we'll admit to being slightly jealous -- where was Glass when we were kids?

[Thanks, Peter]

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Source: AGL Initiatives

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Eyes-on: University of Pennsylvania's TitanArm exoskeleton (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/04/eyes-on-university-of-pennsylvanias-titanarm-exoskeleton/

Eyes-on: University of Pennsylvania's TitanArm exoskeleton (video)

TitanArm already took home silver in a competition for senior projects at the University of Pennsylvania, and now the team behind it is visiting Orlando to compete in the Intel-sponsored Cornell Cup for embedded design. We stopped by the showroom and snagged a few minutes with the crew to take a look at their creation: an 18-pound, untethered, self-powered exoskeleton arm constructed for less than $2,000.

To wield the contraption, users attach the cable-driven mechanical appendage to themselves with straps from a military-grade hiking backpack, and guide it with a thumbstick on a nunchuck-like controller. If a load needs to be held in place, the wearer can jab a button on the hand-held control to apply a brake. A Beagle Bone drives the logic for the setup, and it can stream data such as range of motion wirelessly to a computer. As for battery-life, they group says the upper-body suit has previously squeezed out over 24 hours of use without having to recharge.

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Google+ widget lets you embed Photo Spheres on any website

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/04/google-widget-photo-sphere/

Google widget lets web devs embed photo spheres on any website

One of the biggest highlights of Android's jump to 4.2 was the addition of Photo Sphere, a 360-degree panoramic shooting mode that pans vertically as well as horizontally. It's a neat trick, but the only way to share it was on Google+ or on a device running Android 4.2 or higher. Now, thanks to a new widget that utilizes the Google+ Platform API, you can embed an interactive 360-degree slideshow on any website you choose -- so long as your photos are stored on G+ and PicasaWeb. If you're willing to play around with a bit of code, have a peek at the source to get started.

[Image credit: Colby Brown]

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Via: Colby Brown Photography, Google+

Source: Google Developers

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Friday, May 03, 2013

Acer outs the Iconia A1: 7.9-inch IPS display and built-in 3G, priced at $169 (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/acer-iconia-a1-tablet/

Acer outs the Iconia A1: 7.9-inch IPS display and built-in 3G, priced at $169 (hands-on)

And the news just keeps on coming. Acer just made yet a third product announcement here at its New York City press event. That would be the Acer Iconia A1 tablet, the same Android tablet leaked by a French retailer a few weeks back. Well, it's official now, and it's going on sale in the US later this month for $169. Spec-wise, it measures 11.1mm thick, runs a 1.2GHz quad-core processor from MediaTek, and is topped off by a 7.9-inch IPS display with 1,024 x 768 resolution (hey, what'd you expect on a budget tablet?). It also has 8 or 16GB of internal storage, as well as built-in 3G, similar to the comparably priced FonePad from ASUS. As for software customizations, you'll find Acer's WakeApp feature which lets you launch into a designated app when you wake the tablet from sleep.

In our brief hands-on, the device felt like you'd expect a $169 tablet to feel: it's made of plastic, and lacks any sort of visual flare, but the back cover at least feels durable, and doesn't seem to pick up many fingerprints (especially in white). The display, too, might be the best part about the device, its low pixel count be damned: the viewing angles are wide enough that you can read the screen with the tablet lying face-up on a table. That's all for now, but we've got some hands-on shots below.

Update: We've amended the post with full (and correct!) specs.

Update #2: Acer's confirmed the 16GB version of the tablet should sell for about $199 in the US. It's expected to ht shelves by the end of the month.

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Acer brings options galore to new Aspire V5 and V7 laptops (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/acer-new-aspire-v5-v7-ultrabook-laptops/

Acer brings options galore to new Aspire V5 and V7 laptops ships this month for $499 and up

Choice, you say? Acer's newest laptop duo is offering that in spades. At a gala this morning in New York City, the company rolled out quite the arrangement of new kit -- not the least of which was a revamped Aspire V5 and Aspire V7. The two lines ship with a 14- or 15.6-inch display, giving users the option of a 1,366 x 768 panel or a (highly recommended) 1,920 x 1,080 IPS panel; those seeking something even smaller will also find an 11.6-inch option in the V5 range, weighing just three pounds and measuring under an inch thick. The whole lot can be selected with dual- or quad-core chips from AMD and Intel, while select configurations are equipped with NVIDIA's GeForce GT7XXM series or AMD's Radeon HD8750 discrete graphics.

In essence, the V7 only differs from the V5 by adding a "silky touch" finish on the bottom, the "latest Intel CPUs," optional SSDs and Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) technology. Both ranges offer the new Acer Converter Port, which aims to make the act of connecting to an external display, HDD, router, etc. a lesson in simplicity. The newfangled V series will ship at the end of the month with prices starting at $499, but you can bet that the model you're really after will land far north of that.

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Source: Acer

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Insert Coin: $250 Casetop turns your smartphone into a laptop (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/insert-coin-casetop-smartphone-laptop-dock/

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.

Insert Coin $250 Casetop turns your smartphone into a laptop video

We keep hearing about how handheld devices are replacing laptops, so how about doing it literally? Casetop just launched a laptop-style dock on Kickstarter that you can plug your smartphone into, turning it into the processor, graphics engine and trackpad of a "laptop." In return, the dock will give you an 11.1-inch 720p display, full-sized keyboard, stereo speakers, HDMI input, MHL video input, dual-mode MicroUSB, audio output and "always-powered" USB for charging other devices. Unlike similar offerings such as the still-unshipped Clambook (or Motorola's ill-fated Lapdock) the Casebook uses the handset as a trackpad, and the creators say that it won't be device-specific, working instead with a large number of smartphones from Apple, Blackberry, Samsung and others. Of course, it needs to meet the lofty $300,000 funding goal for all that to happen, but if you're optimistic, hit the source to plop down your $250 minimum pledge.

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Source: Casetop

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Spark Core board adds WiFi to almost everything, takes input from anywhere (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/03/spark-core-adds-wifi-to-everything/

Spark Core Arduino board adds WiFi to everything, takes input from anywhere video

Spark Devices wants the inclusion of WiFi in devices to be a matter of when, not if -- and if its new Spark Core gets to market as planned, tinkerers might never have a moment of doubt. The tiny board combines an Arduino-compatible ARM Cortex-M3 platform with a TI CC3000 WiFi chip that not only simplifies getting online, but could save the DIY crowd from having to touch projects afterward. Owners can flash the firmware with new code over WiFi, for a start. A free Spark Cloud service also allows for custom apps that interface with the Core through seemingly anything with an internet connection: if you want to reconfigure a homebrew security camera from your phone, you can. While Spark Devices is relying on crowdfunding to fuel its connected strategy, the company is comfortably past its $10,000 goal and should deliver both the Spark Core ($39) and optional shields to new contributors around September.

[Thanks, Greg]

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Source: Kickstarter

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