Monday, June 3, 2013

ASUS announces the MeMo Pad FHD 10: dual-core Intel Atom processor and a 1,920 x 1,200 display (hands-on)


ASUS announces the MeMo Pad FHD 10 dualcore Intel Atom processor and a 1,920 x 1,200 display handson
ASUS has just unveiled a new tablet, and it marks the return of the MeMo Pad series. This one is a 10-inch, 9.5mm-thick slab, housing both a dual-core, 1.6GHz Intel processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean -- another Clover Trail+ powered tablet from the Taiwanese company. Perhaps just as notable is the inclusion of a 1,920 x 1,200 backlit 10-inch screen -- one that's capable of 1080p video playback and one that performed just as admirably as recent ASUS tablets. We're promised 10 hours of use from the 25Wh battery, with all the requisite Bluetooth (3.0), WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and GPS connectivity. There are also dual speakers but we're waiting to confirm if this means stereo sound. It'll arrive in two configurations: 16GB and 32GB, in either dark blue and white. The whole package weighs in at just 580g and we just got to handle it for ourselves -- check out our impressions and hands-on video right after the break. We'll be updating the post with pricing and availability when we hear more.

ASUS intros the Desktop PC G10, packing a built-in UPS and portable battery (hands-on video)


For those of you who expected ASUS to only announce Ultrabooks here at Computex, the following news might seem a little out of left field. The company just unveiled the G10, a desktop with a portable battery that doubles as a built-in UPS (uninterrupted power source) -- a product for those who refuse to take any chances on data safety. According to ASUS, the battery is designed to last at least 20 seconds, which is a fairly typical recovery period for power outages. When setting up the demo machine today here at Computex, though, the company managed about two minutes, which is quite impressive indeed.
On the inside, you've got your choice of Haswell processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce GTX650 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB HDD paired with a 128GB SSD. Taking a quick tour of the hardware, you'll find a 16-in-1 memory card reader, a DVD burner, six USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 connections, HDMI-out, DVI-D and VGA. It's slated for a Q3 or Q4 launch, we're told, but we still don't have a price or precise on-sale date. Naturally, we'll update this post as we learn more on that front but for now, enjoy the hands-on shots below and the demo video after the break.

MSI's Primo 81 is a 7.85-inch tablet with the same display as the iPad mini (hands-on)


MSI's Primo 81 is a 785inch tablet with the same display as the iPad mini handson
It doesn't seem fair to call the MSI Primo 81 a KIRF iPad mini. Sure, it looks a helluva like Apple's smaller tablet, but it wouldn't be accurate to call it an imposter either. What we have here is a 7.85-inch Android slate that actually uses the same IPS, 1,024 x 768, LG-made display as the mini, putting it a step above a knockoff, if you ask us. In addition to those shared viewing angles, the Primo 81 has nearly identical dimensions, and it's almost as thin too (7.8mm thick vs. 7.2 on the mini). Even the matte finish is similar to the iPad's, and the build quality isn't bad either, even if it isn't quite on par with what Apple has to offer. As it happens, the Primo 81 isn't headed to the US, so the specs might be irrelevant to you, but in case you're tuning in from overseas, this thing runs Android 4.2, powered by a quad-core Allwinner A315 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 3,500mAh battery. No word yet on price or an on-sale date, unfortunately. In the meantime, we've got hands-on shots of that below, along with the similarly specced Primo 93, which takes after the iPad 4 with a 9.7-inch screen. With rubber accents on that one, though, you'd hardly mistake it for an Apple product.

Gigabyte PC revamps include game-ready Ultrabooks, AMD A4-based tablet (hands-on)


Gigabyte PC revamps include gameready Ultrabooks, AMD A4based tablet
Gigabyte loves to pull out all the stops at Computex, and this year is no exception: the company just unveiled 11 (mostly) new laptops and tablets. According to a brochure on hand at the computer maker's demo table, the emphasis is chiefly on slimmer portables with both Haswell-era Core processors and some dedicated graphics firepower. The P34G and P35K Ultrablade models are equally 0.83 inches thick, but pack gaming-friendly GeForce GTX 760M (P34G) and 765M (P35K) video. More pedestrian Ultrabooks get a boost as well: both the touchscreen U24T (pictured above) and the non-touch U24F wield a mid-tier GeForce GT 750M. If you don't mind bulkier laptops, the Q2546N, Q2556N, U35F, P27K and P27W scale from the GeForce GT 740M through to the GTX 770M while allowing for more storage and Creative Sound Blaster audio tuning.
The tablet updates aren't nearly as extensive. Most of Gigabyte's energy centers on the 10-inch Slate S10A, a spin on the S1082 with an AMD Temash-based A4-1200 processor that delivers up to 14 hours of battery life. Other refreshes are even subtler: the 11.6-inch U21M convertible is similar to the U2142, while the dockable S1185 returns virtually unchanged outside from a new Padbook nickname. Release dates and prices aren't immediately available for any of the new systems, unfortunately, but you can peek at a few of the fresh models in our hands-on photos just below.