General IT News

As it was expected during IFA 2010 exhibition Toshiba officially announced its first tablet computer. Toshiba Folio 100 features a combination of Google Android 2.2 operating system and NVIDIA Tegra 2 hardware platform. Such ‘symbiosis’ provides impressive performance and work-time (about 8 hour of active using). Besides this device features intuitive user interface and nice list of pre-installed apps including e-books reader, PDF viewer, RSS reader and etc. As for other specifications Toshiba Folio is quite typical Android tablet. It is equipped with 10.1 inch touch screen with 1024×600px resolution and multitouch technology support, 1.3MP camera, 16GB internal storage, SDHC memory card slot, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3G module, HDMI output, USB port, stereo loud speakers. The device measures 281×181x14mm and weights 760g. Toshiba Folio 100 will become available in the fourth quarter and will cost EUR400.

New tablets are announced every day. Rydeen company also did it. AS many other devices of that class Rydeen gPad GCOM701 runs on Google Android 2.1 operating system. It features 800MHz ARMADA 166 processor. Due to this fact it has low power consumption and can work for 8 hour without battery charging. Other specifications include 7 inch resistive touch screen with 480×800px resolution, 2MP camera for video calls, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth, GPS module (with Navteq software), 2GB internal storage, MicroSD external memory card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB 2.0 port. Rydeen gPad GCOM701 will become available in November. No word about price.

Archos has just launched its new device that combines functions of portable media player and MID. It is know that this device is powered by Google’s Android operating system and features 3.2 inch touchscreen with 400×240px resolution, 800 GHz Cortex A8 processor with DSP and OpenGL 3-F graphics support. Archos 32 has Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, 8GB internal storage, MicroSD external memory card slot, GPS, 3 Mp camera. The list of pre-installed software includes Archos AppLib. It is also notable that this tablet device supports wide range of media extensions including video - MPEG-4 HD, MPEG-4, H.264 HD, WMV9/ACP, AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, MKV, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF, WMV: audio - MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG and FLAC. The price of Archos 32 is only $147.

This device is positioned as e-reader but has much more functions that other device of the same class have. Actually Pandigital Novel is very close to tablets. It runs on Google’s Android operating system and is equipped with 7 inch TFT touchscreen with 800×600px resolution, ARM11 processor, Wi-Fi, 2 GB internal storage, SD external memory card slot. The list of pre-installed apps includes web browser, email client, image viewer, media player and other useful apps. The dimensions of this device are 132х183х13mm, the weight is 330g. Novel will become available in September for $199.

Pioneer Computers Australia has just announced its first tablet computer. DreamBook ePad L11 HD runs on Windows 7 operating system and is equipped with Intel Atom 1.66 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA ION 2 graphics system with 512 MB memory, 16/32/64 GB internal storage, 11.6 inch touch screen, 1.3 Mp webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI out, two USB 2.0 ports, SDHC external memory card slot. The battery of this device has 4800 mAh capacity and provides about 6 hour of work time. DreamBook ePad L11 HD will become available in Australia in September and will cost $640.

Korean Cydle company has just unveiled its new device. Cydle M7 Mini Pad is powered by Google’s Android 2.1 operating system and is equipped with 7 inch touch screen with 800×480px resolution, 800MHz ARM11 processor, 256MB DDR2 RAM, 8GB or 16GB NAND flash storage, MicroSD external memory card slot, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, HDMI output, USB 2.0 port, stereo loudspeaker, 3500 mAh battery. The list of pre-installed apps includes e-reader, Internet radio client, web browser, media player. It is also notable that Cydle M7 Mini Pad supports Full HD (1080p) video playback. This tablet measures 143.2×78.8×10.4mm and weights 600g. There is no official information about price and release date. But it is expected that it will take place in next few weeks.

Hewlett-Packard has just launched its new compact laptop based on AMD Nile platform. HP Pavilion dm1z is equipped with 1.7 GHz Athlon II Neo K125 or 1.3 GHz Athlon II Neo K325 dual core processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 graphics system, up to 5 GB DDR3 RAM, 250/320/500 GB hard drive, cardreader, Wi-Fi, 1.3 Mp webcam, Bluetooth. The battery of this laptop provides about 7 hour of work time. The operating system is Windows 7 . HP Pavilion dm1z has been already available in US for $450.

Yesterday Toshiba and Intel jointly announced new convertible netbook designed for students from all age. Previously it was known as Classmate PC. The CM1 features 10.1 inch touchscreen display with 1366х768px resolution, Intel Atom N450 processor, 2 GB DDR2 RAM. Other specifications of this device are 160 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, cardreader, LAN, Bluetooth, 1.3 Mp webcam. The operating system is Windows 7 or Linux. It is said that this tablet PC will be launched in the begging of August. It is notable that some weeks ago HP also announced device of the same class.

Shuttle company has just unveiled its new thin and compact PC. Shuttle X350 costs only $399 but its specifications look good. This nettop is based on Intel Atom D510 processor, NVIDIA ION graphics platform and supports HD (1080p) video playback. Bides this computer is equipped with DVD Super-Multi optic drive, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 250 GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, LAN, Bluetooth, HDMI output, cardreader, five USB 2.0 ports. The operating system is Windows 7 Home Premium.

Today Toshiba demonstrated its two coming devices. One of them is Toshiba AC100. IT is the first world’s netbook running on Google Android 2.1 operating system. In other respects it typical present day netbook. It is based on NVIDIA Tegra 250 platform and has 10.1 inch display with 1024×600px resolution, 1 GHz ARM processor, 512 Mb DDR2 RAM, 8 GB internal SSD, SD external memory card, HDMI, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, optional 3G module. The battery of this device provides about 8 hour of work time. Toshiba AC100 will become available in August.