2013年10月19日星期六

Apple launches new Mac mini

Apple launches new Mac mini, includes new Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics and Thunderbolt port, lacks optical drive

Yesterday, Apple also refreshed their cheapest Mac – the Mac mini – along with the MacBook Air. The new Mac mini has the new generation of dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge processors that replaces the Core 2 Duo found on the previous generation model. There are two models now, with the base model having a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 and the more expensive model running on a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 and can be configured to 2.7GHz Core i5 through Apple’s online store.

The 2.3GHz model comes with 2GB of RAM whereas the 2.5GHz model comes with 4GB of RAM. Either of these can be configured to have up to 8GB of RAM. Both the models come with a 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive and both can be configured with a 750GB 7200-rpm hard drive with the 2.5GHz model also having the option to be configured with a 256GB SSD or a combination of 256GB SSD and 750GB HDD.

The new Mac mini forgoes the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics found on the previous generation model in favor of Intel HD Graphics 3000 for the 2.3GHz model and AMD Radeon HD 6630 for the 2.5Ghz model.

The new Mac mini comes with OS X Lion pre-installed.

Apart from the two models mentioned above, the Mac mini also comes in a server edition, that has a faster quad-core 2.0GHz Intel Core i7 processor with 4GB of of RAM (configurable up to 8GB) and dual 500GB 7200-rpm hard drives with a variety of configuration options. It also uses the Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor. The server edition comes with Lion Server pre-installed.

The new Mac mini looks identical to the older model but you will notice that there is no longer a slot for putting in your discs and that’s because all the new Mac mini models now lack an optical disc drive. The extra space that you get due to this omission lets you add another hard drive or a combination of SSD and HDD as we saw before.

The new Mac mini also comes with the ultra-fast Thunderbolt port, which lets you connect high speed drives and other accessories as well as displays with a Thunderbolt connector.

The 2.3GHz model with default configuration is priced at $599 whereas the 2.5GHz model is priced at $799. The server edition will set you back by $999.

Source

2013年10月16日星期三

FaceTime over cellular confirmed by Verizon for iPhone 5

FaceTime over cellular confirmed by Verizon for iPhone 5

As you may or may not recall from the recent iPhone 5 announcement from Apple, the new iPhone was claimed to support FaceTime video calling over cellular networks, although it wasn’t clear for which networks.

Verizon has since confirmed that FaceTime on the iPhone 5 will be available to customers on any of their data plans.

This is in contrast to what some other carriers are offering, such as AT&T, who are requiring iPhone 5 users to sign up for a new Mobile Share plan in order to use FaceTime over anything other than WiFi.

Verizon’s announcement, of course comes with the added caveat that data restrictions will apply, depending on the type of data plan you have, so you’ll have to keep an eye on your data cap.

Via 1 | Via 2

2013年10月15日星期二

Center-of-weight-shifting phone looks cool

Center-of-weight-shifting phone looks cool, probably won't change our future [VIDEO]

Now here’s an interesting concept for you – a smartphone that is able to change its weight-balance on command, giving you another way to interact with it and thus enriching the user-experience.

This idea was introduced by Fabian Hemmert, who used a moving battery on an axis to change not only the center of gravity, but also the shape of the gadget. Check out an early (and we mean really early) prototype in the following video shot as part of an TEDx event in Berlin.

Of course, a device that would allow a smartphone or a tablet to shift its center of weight would increase weight and thickness by quite a lot and we imagine it would need quite a lot of power to work.

So this idea will probably never make it to the market, but if we are lucky it might land on some other portable devices like game consoles or SatNav units.

Source

2013年10月13日星期日

ZTE shoots four Android tablets into the MWC orbit

ZTE shoots four Android tablets into the MWC orbit, meet the V9S, V96, PF 100 and T98

ZTE didn’t come all the way from China to Barcelona to just announce smartphones. No, the Chinese are stepping up the slate market as well with their four latest Android tablets.


Image courtesy of IntoMobile

The line-up of new ZTE tablets consists of the PF 100, T98, V96 and V9S. The first two sport quad-core Tegra 3 processors and the other two make do with dual-core chips. Let’s start with the first duo.

PF 100 and T98

The PF 100 and T98 are both running on the Tegra 3 platform clocked at 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM and Icera 450 modem supporting HSPA+. Storage for both is 16GB, with no microSD card support, sadly.

At the back, both the PF 100 and T98 have 5MP cameras with autofocus and 720p HD video recording. Above the screen resides a 2MP fixed focus camera for video chatting.

Time for the differences. The main one is the screen size, as you may have guessed. ZTE PF 100 is a 10.1-incher with WXGA resolution, while the T98 is pushing the same resolution on a 7″ diagonal. And to wrap those two up, their radios differ as well. The 10.1″ PF 100 rocks quad-band GSM, and tri-band UMTS networks, while the T98 supports only dual-band GSM and TD-SCDMA networks.

Both the PF 100 and T98 run Ice Cream Sandwich.

ZTE V96 and V9S

Both the ZTE V96 and V9S are 10.1-inchers and get their oomph from dual-core Snapdragon processors.

The V96 runs on Qualcomm’s MSM8960 platform with dual-core CPU clocked at 1.7GHz and the V9S features the slower Qualcomm MSM8260 with its two cores clocked at 1.2GHz. Both have 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. MicroSD card slots are missing here as well.

Like the other two, the V96 and V9S sport 5MP autofocus cameras at the back and 2MP fixed focus at the front. The V96 is the lucky one to run Android 4.0 ICS, while the V9S has to live with the older Honeycomb 3.2.

Pricing and release dates are not available at this time.

2013年10月10日星期四

Battery tests for Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 complete

Battery tests for Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 complete, here are the results

The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 is one of the few smartphones with IP67 rating – it combines simple durability and advanced functions, so it needs to prove its endurance both when trekking in the wilderness, but also when enjoying modern conveniences like browsing the web.

A 1,700mAh battery is on the low side of what we would have imagined for a phone that’s likely to spend a lot of time away from an electricity socket, but let’s see if the Xcover 2 can counter the limited capacity with efficiency.

In our talk time test (over a 3G network) it lasted just over 10 hours, a respectable score for that batter capacity. Also, keep in mind that calls on a 3G network usually burn more battery than 2G calls and rural areas are more likely to have 2G-only networks.


Talk time

  • Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)
    21:18
  • Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
    20:24
  • Motorola RAZR i
    20:07
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
    16:57
  • LG Optimus G
    15:30
  • Oppo Find 5
    14:17
  • Google Nexus 4
    14:17
  • HTC One X+
    13:31
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    12:30
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    12:14
  • Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
    11:58
  • Samsung Galaxy Premier
    11:30
  • HTC Droid DNA
    11:07
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
    11:07
  • Samsung Wave 3 S8600
    11:07
  • Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus
    11:06
  • HTC Desire X
    11:03
  • HTC One X (AT&T, LTE)
    10:35
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    10:20
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)
    10:15
  • Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
    10:03
  • HTC One V
    10:00
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    10:00
  • Samsung Galaxy Express
    10:00
  • HTC One X
    9:57
  • HTC One S
    9:42
  • Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
    9:40
  • HTC Sensation XL
    9:30
  • Nokia Lumia 810
    9:05
  • Nokia Lumia 710
    9:05
  • Acer CloudMobile S500
    9:05
  • Motorola Atrix HD
    9:04
  • HTC Vivid
    9:02
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    8:56
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    8:51
  • HTC Rhyme
    8:48
  • Apple iPhone 5
    8:42
  • LG Optimus 3D Max P720
    8:42
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
    8:41
  • Meizu MX
    8:39
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    8:35
  • Samsung Galaxy S Duos
    8:28
  • Nokia Lumia 800
    8:25
  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    8:23
  • Nokia Lumia 510
    8:22
  • BlackBerry Z10
    8:20
  • HTC Desire V
    8:20
  • Samsung Captivate Glide
    8:20
  • Sony Xperia T
    8:15
  • HTC Rezound (LTE)
    8:10
  • Samsung Galaxy Note (LTE)
    8:02
  • LG Optimus Vu
    7:57
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    7:41
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    7:41
  • Samsung i937 Focus S
    7:25
  • HTC Evo 4G LTE (LTE)
    7:21
  • Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
    7:14
  • Nokia Lumia 820
    7:09
  • Sony Xperia acro S
    7:09
  • Samsung Rugby Smart I847
    7:09
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
    6:57
  • Nokia N9
    6:57
  • HTC Radar
    6:53
  • Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos
    6:53
  • BlackBerry Curve 9380
    6:52
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    6:42
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    6:22
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    5:54
  • Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (LTE)
    5:53
  • Sony Xperia ion LTE
    5:52
  • Sony Xperia P
    5:33
  • Nokia 808 PureView
    5:16
  • LG Nitro HD (LTE)
    5:16
  • HTC Titan II (LTE)
    5:10
  • BlackBerry Bold 9790
    5:00
  • Pantech Burst
    4:46

The Galaxy Xcover 2 ran for 6 hours and 35 minutes in our web browsing test, which compares favorably against mid-rangers and even high-end phones. Surprisingly, it beat the I8530 Galaxy Beam by an hour (and that one has a similar chipset and a 2,000mAh battery) .

Web browsing

  • Apple iPhone 5
    9:56
  • Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)
    9:12
  • Apple iPad mini
    9:05
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
    8:48
  • Nokia Lumia 810
    8:20
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    8:01
  • HTC One X+
    7:56
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    7:42
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    7:38
  • Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
    7:23
  • HTC Radar
    7:17
  • Samsung Galaxy Express
    7:09
  • Motorola RAZR i
    7:06
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    6:56
  • HTC One V
    6:49
  • Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus
    6:40
  • HTC Droid DNA
    6:40
  • Samsung Galaxy Premier
    6:40
  • Motorola Atrix HD
    6:40
  • BlackBerry Curve 9380
    6:40
  • Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
    6:35
  • BlackBerry Z10
    6:27
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)
    6:27
  • Samsung i937 Focus S
    6:15
  • Nokia Lumia 510
    6:13
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
    6:01
  • Sony Xperia ion LTE
    5:56
  • Samsung Rugby Smart I847
    5:53
  • Pantech Burst
    5:51
  • Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
    5:45
  • HTC Desire V
    5:44
  • HTC Evo 4G LTE
    5:41
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    5:40
  • Samsung Wave 3 S8600
    5:34
  • Oppo Find 5
    5:33
  • Sony Xperia T
    5:33
  • Samsung Captivate Glide
    5:33
  • Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
    5:28
  • Samsung Galaxy Note LTE
    5:24
  • Samsung Galaxy S Duos
    5:23
  • HTC Sensation XL
    5:20
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    5:19
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    5:17
  • Sony Xperia acro S
    5:16
  • HTC Rezound
    5:16
  • HTC Desire X
    5:16
  • LG Optimus G
    5:15
  • HTC Rhyme
    5:08
  • Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
    5:07
  • HTC One X (AT&T)
    5:03
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
    4:50
  • LG Optimus Vu
    4:49
  • HTC Vivid
    4:46
  • Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos
    4:45
  • Meizu MX
    4:35
  • Google Nexus 4
    4:34
  • Nokia N9
    4:33
  • Acer CloudMobile S500
    4:32
  • Nokia Lumia 820
    4:24
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    4:24
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
    4:20
  • HTC One X
    4:18
  • Nokia 808 PureView
    4:14
  • LG Optimus 3D Max P720
    4:10
  • Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T
    4:10
  • Nokia Lumia 800
    4:07
  • HTC Titan II (LTE)
    4:05
  • HTC One S
    4:03
  • BlackBerry Bold 9790
    4:02
  • LG Nitro HD
    4:00
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    3:59
  • Sony Xperia P
    3:59
  • Nokia Lumia 710
    3:51
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    3:47
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    3:35
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    3:23
  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    3:01

Without the constant wireless connection, the Galaxy Xcover 2 did better in the video playback test, posting a time of 7 and a half hours. You can watch a couple of movies and still have plenty of battery left over.

Video playback

  • Motorola RAZR MAXX (ICS)
    16:35
  • Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
    14:17
  • Apple iPad mini
    12:51
  • Samsung Galaxy Premier
    12:51
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
    11:27
  • Apple iPhone 5
    10:12
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
    10:01
  • Samsung Galaxy Express
    10:00
  • Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus
    10:00
  • Nokia 808 PureView
    9:53
  • Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
    9:42
  • Samsung Rugby Smart I847
    9:34
  • HTC One S
    9:28
  • Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III (JB)
    9:27
  • Apple iPhone 4S
    9:24
  • HTC Evo 4G LTE
    9:07
  • BlackBerry Z10
    8:44
  • Nokia N9
    8:40
  • Samsung Galaxy Note
    8:25
  • HTC One X+
    8:11
  • Motorola RAZR i
    8:11
  • Samsung Galaxy S II
    8:00
  • Samsung i937 Focus S
    7:55
  • Samsung Wave 3 S8600
    7:52
  • Samsung Galaxy S III mini
    7:46
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
    7:45
  • Huawei Ascend P1
    7:38
  • Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
    7:33
  • HTC Droid DNA
    7:30
  • Samsung Galaxy Note LTE
    7:30
  • Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
    7:30
  • Nokia Lumia 610
    7:23
  • LG Optimus G
    7:16
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    6:33
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
    6:27
  • Sony Xperia E dual
    6:27
  • Nokia Lumia 810
    6:27
  • HTC Desire V
    6:26
  • HTC One X (AT&T)
    6:26
  • Nokia Lumia 820
    6:25
  • Samsung Galaxy Ace Duos
    6:25
  • Nokia Lumia 510
    6:23
  • LG Optimus Vu
    6:23
  • Samsung I9103 Galaxy R
    6:21
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    6:19
  • HTC Sensation XL
    6:12
  • Samsung Galaxy Pocket
    6:06
  • Samsung Captivate Glide
    6:04
  • Sony Xperia ion LTE
    6:03
  • Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    6:02
  • Sony Xperia T
    6:01
  • Motorola Atrix HD
    6:01
  • HTC Vivid
    6:00
  • HTC Radar
    5:54
  • Nokia Lumia 800
    5:52
  • HTC Titan II
    5:50
  • BlackBerry Bold 9790
    5:47
  • HTC One X
    5:45
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
    5:44
  • Sony Xperia acro S
    5:38
  • HTC Desire X
    5:38
  • Pantech Burst
    5:38
  • Meizu MX
    5:27
  • HTC Rhyme
    5:23
  • HTC One V
    5:20
  • Acer CloudMobile S500
    5:18
  • Oppo Find 5
    5:18
  • Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T
    5:18
  • BlackBerry Curve 9380
    5:09
  • HTC Rezound
    5:03
  • Google Nexus 4
    4:55
  • Samsung Galaxy S Duos
    4:30
  • Sony Xperia P
    4:30
  • LG Nitro HD
    4:17
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    4:14
  • LG Optimus 3D Max P720
    3:28
  • Nokia Lumia 710
    3:27

If you go off the beaten track with a Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 in your pocket and you make sure you’re back in 48 hours, the smartphone should have you covered with enough juice for a an hour of talk-time, and hour of web browsing and an hour of watching video for each of the two days.

That’s quite good and even heavy usage won’t kill the battery in under a work day. We do wish that the battery was bigger, but since it’s easy to swap it out, you can always get a second battery for when you really need extended battery life.

2013年10月9日星期三

Max Payne for Android gets delayed

Max Payne for Android gets delayed, comes next week instead

In a tweet yesterday, Rockstar Games announced that they’ll delay the Android version of the highly anticipated Max Payne game.

The game was originally planned to come out on April 26, but apparently some last-minute bugs popped up and the release date had to be pushed back. Don’t fret too much, however, because the game will be available in the Play Store some time next week.

And on May 15, the next iteration of the Max Payne franchise will be released for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which will undoubtedly make fans of the game even happier.

Source | Via

2013年10月8日星期二

22nm Intel Valley View Atom specs leaks

22nm Intel Valley View Atom specs leaks, to bring a four-fold increase in graphics

With all the effort focused on ultrabooks and ULV processors like Sandy Bridge, the Intel Atom lineup has hardly been having the best of times recently. However, a leaked presentation indicates that we might not have seen the last of the super power-efficient chipsets.

The next generation of Atoms, codenamed Valley View, will be using 22nm process and will reportedly be coming out next year. It will have an architecture similar to Cedar Trail, but with Ivy Bridge graphics.

This means that you’ll be getting the graphics performance of a current low-to-mid-range discrete GPU and Ivy Bridge ULV-grade processing power in a chip that will have a TDP of less than 10W.

What’s even more impressive the Valley View Atoms will have support for up to 8GB or RAM and will be available in single, dual and quad-core configurations. We imagine this will make them ideal for powering Windows 8 tablets, where lower power consumption is particularly important.

Source | Via