Lenovo 'LePad' combines tablet and laptop

The newly unveiled Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid device, which serves as a laptop for work tasks then converts to a touch-screen tablet for play time. The device combines "LePad", a 10-inch Android-powered tablet, with a Windows-powered base station. The company says it will enable users to balance life and work

Chinese computer colossus Lenovo has unveiled an IdeaPad computer that serves as a laptop for work tasks then converts to a touch-screen tablet for play time.

The IdeaPad U1 hybrid, with a "LePad" slate that serves as a laptop screen but unplugs to become a tablet computer, made its debut on the cusp of the Thursday opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"It is one device to balance life and work," Lenovo product manager Leo Li told AFP.
"A keyboard is more important and Windows software more powerful for a lot of things you need to work, especially productivity and creating content," he continued. "At the same time, people want to enjoy music, see videos, go to websites, read e-books, and play games in their personal lives."
The LePad tablet is powered by Android software backed by California Internet giant Google and a Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm.
Once plugged into the keyboard base, the computer switches to Windows 7 operating software by Microsoft and a beefier Intel processor.

Lenovo is targeting consumers who embrace today's mobile lifestyle.
"Use the light-weight slate when you're mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to create and edit content," Lenovo Idea Product Group vice president Liu Jun said.
LePad has a 10.1-inch (26 centimeter) color screen, weighs less than two pounds (one kilogram) and connects to the Internet using 3G telecom service.
It has a front-facing camera for video chat and promises as many as eight hours of battery life.
IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be available in China by the end of March but won't be available in the United States until next-generation Android mobile software is available for use in the tablets.
IdeaPad U1 with LePad will be priced at 8,888 Chinese yuan (1,340 dollars) and the tablet will be sold separately for 3,499 Chinese yuan (528 dollars).

Toshiba’s Glasses-Free 3D

Wearing 3D glasses can be a pain, especially if you already wear glasses, so a TV without glasses can be a real advantage to some.

When it comes to 3D, I'm pretty much a worst-case scenario. I bristle at the fact that I'm expected to wear ill-fitting glasses over my regular glasses. I've sampled multiple 3D technologies and found all of them wanting. It all seems like a lot of expense and effort for very little benefit.

But I am sort of intrigued by 3D that doesn't require glasses. And at a pre-CES party tonight here in Las Vegas, Toshiba was showing a l56-inch flat-screen TV and a laptop which do 3D, no funny goggles required. The two devices use lenticular displays, just like the little picture of Pinocchio I owned when I was three. (Lenticular video screens are also nothing new, though all the ones I've seen until now have been blurry and unappealing.)

What Toshiba was conducting was a technology demo-it's not claiming it's come up with anything that's ready for prime time, and it hasn't announced any products. Which is good, because the tech needs more work: You have to be very precise about the angle at which you look at the screen. Even if you get that right, the imagery has issues. The pictures I saw looked grainy. and the 3D effect came and went. (Toshiba only seemed to be using video-game clips in its demos, which I took as a tacit acknowledgment that you don't want to watch a movie on one of these screen just yet.

But you know what? I've seen 3D that required glasses that was worse than what Toshiba showed, and the very best 3D TVs and notebooks I've seen haven't been that much better. Until now, I've always assumed that good no-glasses 3D was an impossible dream; for now, at least, I'm choosing to believe that Toshiba might get this technology to the point where there's no point in bothering with technologies that make you don spectacles. And hey, I'm in no rush-I wonder how good this stuff could get by, say, 2015?

Apple iPad 2 coming in three versions

 

The iPad 2 rumors have been started around since it's great Galaxy Tab rival has took the lime-light of a 7-incher tablet computer. This makes a theory that Apple is prepping for a 7-incher iPad dubbed as the iPad 2. Accordingly, Digitimes claimed Apple is working on three versions of the iPad 2 from unnamed source.

The three flavored iPad 2 will have the Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi + 3G(UMTS) and Wi-Fi + 3G (CDMA) the sources familiar to matter claimed. That supposed to support all major carriers in the US. The UMTS is the 3G technology used by AT&T and T-Mobile while the CDMA is for Sprint and Verizon. This also support claims that Apple will be two third of iPad shipment sporting 3G connectivity.

If this will be true, this will make MiFi 2200 Hotspot obsolete that mainly used by iPad owners connecting on Verizon network.

There's also some minor changes Apple is working on, like the smudging and screen reflection, however, Digitimes don't reveal any further details.

Now when this be available, the sources claimed that the iPad 2 is expected to be released by March or April. Ooh, there's still no match hype for iPad 2 that we regularly feel when an Apple new product is expected to be announce. Now we can expect that when there is a smoke, there is a fire.

NEWS ON NITENDO

A sticky fingered factory worker has apparently managed to snag a finished version of Nintendo's 3DS handheld from a production line and wasted little time in showing it off via photos and video.

According to 3DSBuzz, photos of the ill-gotten gadget first appeared on a Chinese gaming forum earlier this week and were quickly taken down, though not before being saved and reposted online. In the days that followed, a virtual torrent of photos showing off nearly every aspect of the handheld's design have appeared, along with a video walkthrough. Check out the leaked images in the gallery below.

The photos deliver little new information, with the apparently final design nearly identical to that shown off by Nintendo in September last year, though 3DSBuzz notes that the home, start and select buttons now appear to be flush with the handheld's screen, rather than raised as in the September design. Shots also show the 3DS will pack a 1300 mAh battery and 96MB of RAM, with both specs higher than any previous Nintendo DS handheld.

Despite the bigger battery, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has said that ''it is inevitable that Nintendo 3DS will be a device which requires more frequent recharging than Nintendo DS.''

The high-quality of the photos - and the number of them - have led some to suggest a deliberate leak by Nintendo aimed at drumming up hype ahead of a February launch in Japan. The 3DS is due to launch in Europe, Australia and the United States in March, and will cost 25,000 Yen (US$304) in Japan, with no pricing yet available for other markets.

The handheld will use a process called autostereoscopy technology to produce 3D effects without the need for special glasses, though in an odd twist, Nintendo have warned that children under the age of six should avoid using the 3DS for fear it could damage their eyesight. The 3DS will be compatible with all Nintendo DS games.

link: http://www.neowin.com/

Google offer some cool andriods tips

Fresh from launching the latest version of Android, Android 2.3/Ginegerbread with the new Google Phone Nexus S, Google offered Android tips & tricks in its blog. In addition to general tips, Google also offered some Android keyboard shortcuts and a few Android apps that every Android users will love. Here are the cool Android tips from Google. Check it out even if many of the tips are Android 2.3 specific.
How to Get Visual Cue for Scrolling?
If you are in a scrollable list, like Gmail inbox,  and you will see an orange hue, if you reach the end of the list.
How to Make Sense of Notification Bar Icons for Wi-Fi, and Network Coverage?
Notification bar icon turn green, if you an uninhibited connection to Google,and  white when you don’t.

If you’re in a hotel or airport using Wi-Fi, the bars won’t turn green until you launch the browser and get past the captive portal.

How to Use Voice Actions?
Press the microphone icon next to the search box on the home screen, or long press the magnifying glass and talk to your phone by telling what to do. For example, you can tell your phone to send an email or text message by saying something like

“send text to mom, see you for pizza at 7”), call someone (“call mom”), navigate somewhere (“navigate to pizza”), or listen to music (“listen to Mamma Mia”).

How to Find Things You’ve Downloaded From Your Browser?
All downloads are automatically collected in a Downloads manager. Go to the apps drawer to find it.
How to Turn a Gallery Stack into a Slideshow?
Put two fingers on the gallery stack the stack and spread them. The stack will spread out and the pictures flow from one finger to the other making it  a moving slideshow.
How to Get Walking Directions?
Get directions in Google Maps and click on the walking person icon to get walking directions.
Link: http://www.buzztechnology.com/

Facebook Fellowship Program Goes Global

Facebook Fellowship Program Goes Global

IBM predicts

IBM announced its fifth annual ”Next Five in Five” – a list of innovations that can potentially change way people work, live, and play over the next five years. IBM predicts the Next Five in Five based on market and societal trends that are expected to transform our lives. Here are the top five technologies predicted by IBM

• You’ll beam up your friends in 3-D

• Batteries will breathe air to power our devices

• You won’t need to be a scientist to save the planet

• Your commute will be personalized

• Computers will help energize your city