Jun 28, 2012 ~ The World is Mine

Jun 28, 2012

Modbook Pro, Probably the Best Tablet in the World

6/28/2012 06:48:00 PM

dannzfay

Los Angeles-based company, Modbook Inc., has finally announced the specifications of its highly-anticipated Modbook Pro tablet-PC. The device will come to the market this year, and it will probably be one of the most powerful tablets in the world.

Years ago, Andreas E. Haas founded Modbook Inc. with the dream of building a high-quality tablet device that would have the power of a capable PC, the built quality and reliability of an Apple MacBook and that would be able to run Apple’s operating system. Back in 2008, Modbook Inc. went public and just ten days later Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, thus proving that the American government allowed financial companies to run rampant with no regard to the U.S. citizens’ well-being. The financial crisis hit the company very hard, and after years of work and restructuring, Modbook Inc. is now able to present the first information on the long-awaited Modbook Pro tablet computing device. Our users should know that the Modbook concept was presented years before Apple launched the first iPad, and that it was the first vision of an iOS-powered tablet-PC-like device. Today’s Modbook Pro tablet will encapsulate the original hardware inside the latest model of Apple’s MacBook Pro 13.3”, but all will be in the tablet form.

Modbook’s impressive tablet will ship with a Wacom digitizer pen that delivers 512 levels of pen pressure sensitivity that the company claims is more than any other tablet computer on the market can offer. The ForceGlass screen will provide an etched, paper-emulating drawing surface on the 13.3” screen, featuring a 1280 by 800 pixel resolution. We’re already used with FullHD screens on 10” tablets, but we’re going to let this one slide, as Modbook’s uniqueness resides in many different innovations and not an increased screen resolution. The initial hardware configuration will include an Intel Core i5 processor running at 2500 MHz with up to 16GB or RAM memory, and a 2.5” 1TB HDD or a 960 GB SSD. There is also a SuperDrive DVD burner along with one Gigabit Ethernet port, one FireWire 800 port, one USB 3.0 port, one Thunderbolt connector, an SDXC card slot, and one combo audio connector, just like the original Apple MacBook Pro.

The secret of the Modbook Pro tablet is the fact that the company practically takes an original Apple MacBook Pro apart and sticks it into a custom-made tablet enclosure. Apple’s original warranty is thus now void, but Modbook Inc. will issue a new warranty for the Modbook Pro tablet. Using Apple’s BootCamp, Modbook Pro tablet owners will be able to install Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. The Modbook Pro tablet is a device targeting drawing and CAD professionals, or simply tablet and Apple enthusiasts that are willing to pay a considerable premium price over the already high price of the MacBook Pro. Pricing is yet to be announced, but we’re curious how well ModBook’s interesting idea will sell.

ModBook Pro tablet
Image credits to ModBook Pro

Read more »

Shuttle Intros AMD Radeon-Powered Fanless Slim PCs

6/28/2012 06:35:00 PM

dannzfay

No comments

Shuttle, Well-known mini-PC manufacturer Shuttle has just announced the new Slim PC model XS35 as reported by Fanlesstech. This one comes with an Intel Atom D2700 dual-core processor, but it has AMD’s Radeon HD 7410M graphics card to help deliver acceptable 3D graphics.

Intel’s Atom D2700 is a dual-core Cedar Trail processor with HyperThreading enabled, that can handle four threads with modest performance. It comes with a single-channel DDR3 memory controller that can work with DDR3-800 MHz memory. Shuttle’s Slim PC XS35 is a completely fanless device that is certified for full 24-hour use and comes complete with an optional ODD bay for a slim DVD or Blu-Ray drive. Maximum power consumption is rated at 27 watts, and there are two SO-DIMM slots along with one 2.5” HDD bay.

Pricing is slated at €172 excluding the value added tax. This is about $214 for the American buyers. The XS35GTA V3 model coming with AMD’s Radeon HD video card is priced a little higher, at €233 ($290).

Shuttle SlimPC XS35V3 and XS35GTA V3 (powered by Atom D2700 and AMD Radeon HD 7410)
Image credits to Shuttle

Read more »

Google Nexus 7 Is Official, Pre-Order Now, Ships in Two Weeks

6/28/2012 06:22:00 PM

dannzfay

No comments

During its annual developer-focused conference, Internet giant company Google has launched its first Android tablet. The new device has a 7” diagonal size and sports a 1280 by 800 pixel resolution.

This is the first 7” tablet that’s being endorsed and marketed by one of the world’s biggest IT companies. Steve Jobs’ Apple has always mocked the 7” diagonal size and said many times that 7” tablets are not really tablets and, although in a much more humble manner, we tend to agree with him. Microsoft’s recently presented Surface tablet keeps up with Apple and features a diagonal of more than 7”, and it also brings other innovative features, such as a foldable keyboard/tablet cover. Therefore, Google is left alone by the big league tablet players on the 7” tablet front and it only competes with the likes of Acer, Samsung and ASUS.

The manufacturer behind Google’s Nexus is, in fact, the Taiwanese mainboard manufacturer called ASUS, the maker of the famous Transformer tablets. Just like Acer’s Iconia A110, the new Google Nexus is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 or Tegra 4 + 1 SoC and features 1 GB of system RAM memory. The screen is a little better than Iconia A110's, as Acer’s tablet only has a 1024 by 600 pixel resolution. The Nexus 7 has an IPS led backlit screen that’s somewhat protected by Corning’s special glass. It also features a rather mediocre 1.2 MP front-facing camera, Wireless N, Bluetooth, Micro USB and a NFC chip. Compared with Acer’s Iconia A110, the Google Nexus 7 is 30 grams lighter, weighing just 340 grams. That’s about 0.75 pounds for the new Google tablet, although we’d rather carry 30 grams more and have the 2 MP webcam sported on the Iconia A110.

Nexus 7 features a rather large and capable 4325 mAh battery that is rated for 8 hours of active use. This is considerably larger than Iconia’s 3420 mAh battery. There is also a GPS inside, a Magnetometer, Gyroscope, Accelerometer and a Microphone, but no HDMI, unfortunately. It would have been nice to have some output options like Acer’s HDMI with DualDisplay support on the A110. The tablet is running Android 4.1, which is the "Jelly Bean" version that everybody is talking about. There are only 8 GB of flash storage inside, but, overall, Google’s Nexus 7 only brings good news, as the $199 price will force the price down on less popular devices like Acer’s Iconia that we’ve been talking about. There is also a $249 Nexus 7 version that comes with 16 GB of flash storage, but we find the lack of a microSD slot to be quite a disappointment. Priced at about €159 for the 8 GB version and €199 for the 16 GB model, Google’s Nexus 7 has just raised the bar in the cheap 7” tablet market niche.

The pre-order prices vary in different areas of the world, as Google identifies the location of your IP address.

The company will reportedly ship the desired toy in about 2 or 3 weeks from the pre-order date. In the United States, the prices are exactly as we said before, and that’s $199 USD for the 8-GB version and $249 USD for the 16-GB model. One thing that raised our eyebrows is the fact that Google is completely fair and doesn’t charge the British the same numerical value in pounds, but it only charges £159 for the 8-GB model and £199 for the 16-GB one.

Canadians will have to shell out $209 CAD for the cheapest version and $259 CAD for the better-endowed model. In Australia, Nexus 7 is priced at $249 AUS and $299 AUS, respectively.