latest
It is pretty much accepted now that 2011 will be the year of tablets. Last year, after the iPad kick-started the revolution, we only saw a handful of devices that could challenge the giant. This year at CES, we saw over 100, most of them running - you guessed it - Android. The competition is on, and soon we'll see who makes it out a winner in the tablet war and who will head straight to the junk yard.
A couple of weeks ago at CES 2011, Sony Ericsson announced its latest Android handset - the sleek and sexy Gingerbread-running Xperia Arc. They've also invited the press, Android Police included, to attend a media breakfast where we ended up spending over an hour of quality time with the new device, documented in great detail here. If you have questions about the Arc, I highly recommend you dive into the above post, as it contains a plethora of useful bits and pieces, all wrapped in a convenient package.
During CES 2011 Sony Ericsson's newest smartphone, the Xperia arc, was sighted running Android version "2.4".
Are you concerned that not enough of your gadgets are running Android? Well then, we have some good news for you: Nox Audio has decided to show off their latest set of "revolutionary" headphones, the Admiral Touch. In addition to everything you would expect from a set of wireless headphones (including a retractable mic), they have one particularly interesting feature: they're running Android 2.1 on a 2.4" LCD screen attached to the right cup, powered by an ARM11 processor with 256 MB of RAM.
I've been roaming the booths of CES for 3 days now, and I think I've seen almost everything even remotely related to Android that was worth seeing. One company, Recon Instruments, has been on my mind since the beginning, however, and I'm really glad I finally made it to their booth today.
It's officially the 3rd day of CES, and I finally made it over to the giant Sharp booth pavilion, where I was able to get a hands-on demo of the first and only 3D Android handset, which is currently only sold in Japan. Don't worry though - it's coming to the U.S. and possibly other locations this year. Perhaps you've heard of it - meet Sharp Galapagos 003SH, which is capable of not only showing 3D menus, pictures, and videos, but allows you to snap some as well. In addition, it supports 3D-enabled games, one of which I was able to demo.
While Toshiba's original attempts at an Android tablet running on the Tegra chip didn't exactly go down a storm, they seem keen to continue with Android devices, and brought a new tablet with them to CES. Artem got a video demo from one of their reps, and as you can see there are some attractive features to note.
ASUS turned a few heads with their recent device unveilings, with one of the more intriguing ones being their Eee Pad MeMO. Unlike almost every other tablet device here at CES, the MeMO is not using a Tegra II processor but will instead be powered by the latest Snapdragon. The MSM8260 is the first dual core processor we've seen from Qualcomm, and we were eager to put the 1.2 GHz chip through its paces. Unfortunately, the MeMO crashed during the 3D rendering section of the Quadrant benchmark. Prior to this, the Neocore benchmark had gone into some kind of endless loop, so our attempts at empirical measurement of the device's capabilities were frustrated.
At the RCA booth today we got a quick glimpseat something they're working on. It's a 42" full HD TV, that runs Android 2.2 at the same time. The OS can be controlled from the TV's remote or with what looked strikingly similar to the Brando Rii Bluetooth keyboard. The UI is a custom media-centric launcher which allows you to view images and videos on the large screen. Around the back we found a USB port which indicates that you should be able to play external media from your own storage devices.
Google TV has met a lot of troubles on its quest to popularize Internet-connected TVs, not the least of which has been several lackluster reviews. So it isn't surprising that manufacturers have either ditched plans to develop their own Google TV products or at least held off on announcing them until after CES. Samsung, however, has decided to show off two of their own boxes running the software, though they aren't throwing their support behind the platform just yet.
MSI announced two new tablets at CES 2011: the Android-powered WindPad 100A and the Windows-operated WindPad 100W.
Walking around CES Unveiled on the first day of CES 2011, I ran into a little company called Mavizon Tech, showcasing their product with a beautiful name Mavia. I you've never heard of Mavizon, don't feel bad - they don't have many consumer-facing products just yet, but it's all about to change when Mavia hits the market later this year.
Following on from their press release on Wednesday, Sony Ericsson invited the media this morning to a designated conference room at the Hard Rock Hotel for some play time with their newest Android device. We spent over an hour with the handset to get an idea of what to expect when it hits the market.
At Motorola's booth today, we got a chance to play with the Atrix 4G - a dual-core HSPA+ equipped slate handset, sporting a whopping 1GB of RAM and packing a couple of notable features. Along with the laptop dock demoed in the video below, the Atrix 4G also has a media dock (called "HD dock") which allows you to connect it to a larger screen (and use the same WebTop desktop-like interface) as well as plug in a keyboard and a mouse. The Motorola rep also informed us of plans for regular charging and car docks, so it looks like wherever you may be, the Atrix will have a bespoke resting place.
Having long been rumored, Hulu Plus for Android was finally confirmed during Samsung's press conference at CES. During the Keynote, Hulu's CEO Jason Kilar demoed the app running on the Samsung Galaxy S, announcing, for the first time, that the subscription service was being developed for Android.
At T-Mobile's press schmoozing session this evening, a few HSPA+ devices were available for the blogging masses to clench in their clammy hands. One in particular that we were keen to try was the Dell Streak 7, the new big brother of the original Dell Streak (Mini 5), announced earlier today. With the 7" tablet boasting a Tegra II dual-core processing unit, our interest was piqued, so we took a look in the video below:
Today, Huawei announced the Ideos X5, its latest addition to the smartphone line targeted at busy professionals whose focus is productivity and connectivity. The device boasts an ultra slim form factor, at just 11.4 millimeters thick, and ergonomic curves complemented by a brushed metal finish.