Windows 8 Tablets and All-in-One PCs Revealed in Detail at Computex

The dual-screen Asus Taichi doubles as an ultrabook and a tablet.

After months of curiosity, speculation and spec leaks, the first honest-to-goodness Windows 8 devices have finally been announced. At the Computex trade show in Taipei Monday, Acer and Asus introduced a large suite of Windows 8 tablets, all-in-one PCs, and hybrid ultrabooks.

The announcements follow last week’s Microsoft release of the final beta version of the Windows 8 operating system, aptly named Windows 8 Release Preview. The complete, shipping version of Windows 8 should be available around October.

As for the Windows 8 hardware announced at Computex, some pieces will launch this fall, others will arrive in 2013. Details are still scant, but we should learn more about specs and features closer to each device’s launch.

Asus Taichi

Apparently you need two displays on a single device to achieve tablet and notebook zen. The Taichi line of convertible notebooks, available in 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models (one’s pictured above), remain as light as Asus Zenbooks, but sport a double display: One faces the QWERTY keyboard for notebook use, and one sits on the top of the lid for when you just want a tablet experience.

Each FHD/Super IPS+ display is 1920×1080 pixels in resolution, and there’s also a camera paired with each screen as well. Inside, you’ve got Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors, 4GB of RAM, and SSD storage.

One of the benefits of merging a tablet and notebook is that you don’t lose out on peripheral connectivity. The Taichi has ports for mini VGA, micro DVI, and USB 3.0, as well as staples like a headphone jack and power port.
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Samsung Galaxy S III, Without Quad-Core CPU, Slated for 5 U.S. Carriers

Galaxy S III

Samsung's Galaxy S III will lose the quad-core CPU offered in Europe and Asia, and instead pack the same dual-core CPU found in the HTC One X. Image: Samsung

Samsung’s next flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, is heading to five carriers in the U.S. — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular. But when it gets here, the most anticipated Android phone of 2012 won’t include a quad-core processor like the model being sold in European markets.

Specific U.S. arrival dates will vary carrier by carrier. On Monday, Sprint said it will begin taking S III pre-orders on June 5 for a June 21 hardware launch. T-Mobile announced it will also begin selling the S III on June 21, but so far, it’s not offering the the phone for pre-order.

Verizon announced Monday that it will begin taking pre-orders for the S III on June 6, and that the new phone would arrive in the “coming weeks.” U.S. Cellular will begin taking pre-orders on June 21, and stated the S III would arrive sometime in July.

AT&T hasn’t yet made any announcements for pre-order or a launch date for its variation of the S III, but on Monday it posted a page to its website stating that the phone was indeed on its way.

Sprint and Verizon will sell the S III at the same price: $200 for 16GB of storage and $250 for 32GB of storage, on respective two-year contracts. Other carriers haven’t yet announced pricing, but it should be about the same as what Sprint and Verizon have laid out.

One of the S III’s major rivals is undoubtably the HTC One X, our current favorite Android smartphone. And, like the One X, the U.S. version of the S III will ditch a highly touted quad-core processor in favor of a dual-core CPU.

Last month, we asked, “Does the S III need a quad-core CPU?” Evidently, the answer is no, it doesn’t. While most of the world will receive an S III with Samsung’s own Exynos 4 Quad CPU, the U.S. version will pack a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4.

The Snapdragon S4 chip found in the S III is the same processor found in the HTC One S and the U.S. version of the One X. In comparing the quad-core One X, which uses an Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU, and the dual-core One X, we noticed no significant performance loss and it’s entirely possible the dual-core S III will be blazing fast as well. We’ll let you know as soon as we get our hands on a review unit, which should be soon.

Had the S III arrived in the U.S. with a quad-core processor, it would have been the first smartphone to do so. While there are plenty of quad-core tablets stateside, there isn’t yet a single four-core phone here.

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Google Schedules a Special Maps Event — Set Five Days Before Apple’s WWDC

Google Maps event invite

Google is hosting an event next week to share the future of Google Maps. Image: Google

This Friday, Google invited journalists to a June 6 event where it will unveil the future of Google Maps. It’s curious timing considering that just a few days later on June 11, Apple is expected to unveil the future of its iOS Maps app — an app that’s rumored to ditch Google Maps as its data engine.

Apple’s event, its Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, has been on the calendar for ages. Could Google be responding to buzz about Apple’s new mapping strategy by sliding in a mapping announcement of its own, right before Apple’s grand reveal?

The timing of Google’s June 6 press event does seem a bit strange, especially considering the company’s own yearly developer mega-event, Google I/O, is less than a month away. Charles Golvin, a Forrester analyst, says the timing of the Google Maps event — right before WWDC and broken out from I/O — could reasonably be interpreted as a move to steal a bit of Apple’s thunder, especially if Apple does actually dump Google Maps.

Nonetheless, Google can’t act merely on spite. With a room full of press, Google will have to show off something impressive, he says.

“It’s likely that the relative timing between all these events has a role here, but Google wouldn’t just have this event to rub Apple’s nose in something, and they wouldn’t have a Google Maps-specific event if they didn’t have some big news to share,” Golvin said. “And they might not want to risk whatever they’re going to announce being lost in the flood of news that will come out of Google I/O.”

While neither Apple nor Google have made any announcements regarding Google Maps’ future in iOS, it’s only a matter of time before the two companies split their mapping ways, Golvin said.

“It’s reasonable to expect that all the pieces of Google in the iPhone would diminish over time, especially as Android continues to grow, and Apple and Google grow as rivals,” Golvin said. “But even so, Google Maps is a powerful product by itself. With the presence of Google Maps on every Android device, even if Google Maps loses its presence on Apple’s iPhone and iPad, it will still be the most popular map app on mobile devices and on the web.”

At WWDC this year, Apple is expected to introduce iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad. IOS 6 is widely expected to feature a new Maps app that sources mapping data from the OpenStreetMap Foundation instead of Google Maps, which has been Apple’s Maps app partner since the iPhone was introduced in 2007.

As for Google’s June 6 press gathering, it promises the following: “At this invitation-only press gathering, Brian McClendon, VP of Google Maps and Google Earth, will give you a behind-the-scenes look at Google Maps and share our vision. We’ll also demo some of the newest technology and provide a sneak peek at upcoming features that will help people get where they want to go — both physically and virtually. We hope to see you there.”

Gadget Lab will be there. And at WWDC. And at I/O too.

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The Ikea TV Is Coming — and We Should All Take It Seriously

Ikea is entering the TV space with its Uppleva system, debuting in Europe later this month.

Ikea was your go-to retailer when you needed to furnish your dorm room — and many of us certainly have Ikea staples still littering our homes. Ikea media centers and bookshelves have long housed our electronics, but starting this summer, Ikea will become a full-fledged electronics manufacturer competing with Samsung and Sony.

The company’s TV system, Uppleva, was first revealed in mid-April amid a wave of surprise, ridicule and WTF. “An Ikea TV? Who would want that?!” Such were the protests of hardcore gadget enthusiasts. But now new details have emerged, and we know much more about the TV, thanks to a video that was released on Friday. (You can watch it yourself at the bottom of this post.)

The upcoming Uppleva is a Wi-Fi-ready smart TV. It features an LED-backlit display, full 1080p HD resolution, and 400Hz response time, along with standard accoutrements like USB and HDMI ports for connecting peripherals. But it’s not just a TV — it’s the anchor of a full-fledged media center, with a built-in Blu-ray/DVD/CD player, a 2.1 surround sound system, and extra storage spaces for tucking away cables and your extensive Blu-ray collection.

Indeed, one of the touted benefits of Uppleva is the fact that all those wires and cables are completely hidden from view.

“The idea is to sell complete TV solutions, where TV, sound and furniture are combined and integrated in a way that is really unique to the market today,” Uppleva project leader Marcel Godfroy says in Ikea’s latest product video.

The TV will go on sale in select European markets this month for a reported price tag of under $1,000.

“It’s not interesting in a lot of ways, and interesting in a couple of ways,” IHS iSuppli analyst Jordan Selburn said of Ikea’s television. “Where it’s not interesting is from a tech perspective. They’re just taking a third-party TV and bolting it to a piece of furniture. But in another respect, that in itself is interesting: that Ikea feels that TV technology is mature enough that they can do this.”

Indeed. Ikea clearly believe that a TV’s unique selling proposition is no longer rooted in the display itself, something Selburn agrees with. With the exception of super high-end TVs, the differences in image quality among TV sets isn’t that great. At Ikea’s price point, differentiation can be found in distribution, convenience, and appearance. And these are all things that Ikea can capitalize on.

“The fact that there’s no technological breakthrough, but they feel there’s a good opportunity says something about [television] technology,” Selburn said.

Perhaps this is exactly what Apple sees in the television market, and how it could make a big dent in that space. Apple’s rumored television would undoubtedly be hitting the high end of the market, however, where Ikea is targeting the budget end.

But here’s the real question everyone’s dying to know: Will Ikea’s Uppleva TV be “assembly required”?

“It’s Ikea. I can’t imagine that there isn’t a hex wrench involved somewhere,” Selburn said.

You can check out Ikea’s promotional video for the Uppleva below.

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Acer, Toshiba to Debut Windows 8 Tablets Next Week, Reports Says

A Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T running Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Watch out iPad — Windows 8 tablets are on their way. Several major PC manufacturers, including Toshiba, Acer and Asus, are set to unveil new Windows 8 tablets at next week’s Computex show in Taipei, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Some manufacturers have already shown off devices designed to support Windows 8. Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga and Intel’s Cove Point reference design are two examples. Beyond that, though, we haven’t seen any other Windows 8 devices, and certainly not in the pure tablet category. But now that Microsoft has released its near-final Windows 8 Release Preview, it makes sense for manufacturers to begin showing off their Windows 8 hardware.

Acer, Toshiba and Asus will each unveil Windows 8 tablets at Computex, according to Bloomberg’s sources. Asus tablets will come with a detachable keyboard, featuring a similar look to the company’s Android-based Transformer lineup. Toshiba will also show off a “notebook-type device,” which will likely be a hybrid, touchscreen laptop.

And because Windows 8 will come in two tablet flavors — the standard Intel-powered Windows 8, as well as Windows RT, the version destined to run on ARM processors — manufacturers will have the option to choose between two types of silicon. Asus and Toshiba are both reportedly revealing ARM-based tablets, while Acer is sticking with Intel.

Of course, other companies are expected to get into the Windows 8 tablet market. Consumers can expect Windows 8 tablets and PCs coming from HP and Dell, as well.

None of these devices should go on sale before October, when Microsoft is expected to officially release Windows 8. And when that happens, we’ll see whether Microsoft and its partners can succeed where Android has failed, and erode a significant portion of Apple’s lead in the tablet market.

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