The best way to understand what the Iron Industry will live for the next 365 days is to visit the January Consumer Electronics Show Consumer Electronics Exhibition. The current CES-the forty-fourth in a row-made it clear that 2011 will be the year of tablet computers.
Mobile paradise
Someone may object that the tablets turned from outlandish toys into a demanded product back in 2010. Like a trend – yes. But you must admit that the market sector itself is still in its infancy: the ball rules Apple With iPad , He has no real competitors.
This year the situation will change at the root: the numerous “Tablet PC”, which eminent firms tirelessly tell, are about to go into serial production. More than 80 different tablets were presented at the exhibition, and these are no longer soulless clones of iPad, but original solutions. Many of them work for OS Android , And this means that I will redo the market.
Development receives the concept of transformed portable computers. Previously, we were offered netbooks who, after the display coup, turned into a heavy and uncomfortable tablet with a low autonomous time. Now the turn of more practical solutions has come. As for you, for example, the idea of an Android planet, which after installation in a docking station turns into a full-fledged laptop with Windows on board? Busting? There are simpler options: some tablets are inserted into a special case with a built -in keyboard and converted into a smartbook. Appear-although they still do not look very promising-tablets-sliders.
Smartphones invariably growing the screen diagonal. We are used to models with 3-4-inch displays: larger devices seem to be overlap, and many buyers consider them simply impractical. The manufacturers have a different opinion on this score – most prototypes occupying CES stands had a diagonal of 4 to 4.5 inches. New devices are so different from the usual smartphones in size and capabilities that NVIDIA (why nvidia – read in the next paragraph) even suggested highlighting them in a separate class – superfons.
Platforms of the coming year
It is impossible not to note the abundance of devices built on the basis of the platform NVIDIA TEGRA 2. This system-on-chip with a dual-core processor of ARM architecture has been moving for a long time, but companies engaged in the production of mobile equipment have long been wary of it and used proven crystals from Qualcomm. However, the advantages of Tegra 2 are obvious, and it is simply stupid to ignore it further: on CES 2011, large manufacturers recognized as a beginner as a beginner Asus , Motorola , Dell , LG , Toshiba , Acer.
As for operating systems for mobile devices, here Android crushes the root Windows Phone 7. This is predictable: the creators of smartphones and tablets adjust the OS without problems Google under any gadget, simultaneously changing the appearance of the system to recognition. Such feints do not pass with Windows Phone 7, and, having released the first wave of devices on the new system, manufacturers sharply lost interest in it – you can’t lure the same type of customer devices with the same type.
In addition, a new version was shown on CES 2011 Android – 3.0 , or Honeycomb. The system was originally developed with an sight to tablet computers, and demonstrated it on a powerful 10-inch tablet of Motorola production. The main word here is "demonstrated". Apparently, the OS release is still very far away: videos that simulated the process of working with the tablet were reproduced on the tablet, but it was impossible to feel the OS itself.
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Of course, there were many other announcements on CES – laptops on Intel Sandy Bridge , 3D televisors, which in 2011 should become even closer to the people, a colossal number of all kinds of accessories for Apple devices and even a new electric car Ford Focus Electric. However, the mobile gadgets set the tone for the exhibition, and now in front of you is the hit parade of the most impudent devices.
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Motorola Xoom
Ten -inch tablet computer Motorola Xoom , awarded the prestigious title "Best on CES" (Best in Show), there are no equal in terms of technical characteristics. A two-core processor of 1 GHz, a gigabyte of RAM and a 32 GB drive are components worthy not just Internet tablets, but a good netbook.
In terms of size and weight, Xoom is similar to the iPad, although it differs from it with proportions: in these tablets, despite similar diagonals, a different ratio of the parties. Apple preferred a resolution of 1024×768 (3: 4), and Motorola-1280×800 (16:10), and since the tablets are focused on watching video and websites, the widespread Motorola version seems more attractive to us. To communicate with the outside world, the tablet has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G modules (there is an option with 4G LTE). There are two cameras for the device: front, 2 megapixels, and the back-with an LED flash, 5 MP with a sensor and the ability to recording HD-video in resolution 720p. It is reported that the battery is able to withstand 10 hours of continuous watching films.
Xoom captures not only a powerful hardware component, but also advanced in – all the possibilities of the coming Android 3.0 were shown on it. The tablet should appear on sale by the beginning of spring, but its price is still not known.
Razer Switchblade
Following the gaming audio market Razer , It seems that another niche market is mastering – game netbooks. And not subnolets represented by compact, but powerful Alienware M11x , Namely, netbooks – seven -inch, on the basis of Intel Atom!
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On CES 2011, the company introduced a prototype of the adultery device – Razer Switchblade. What does this crumb have to do with games? Take a look at the keyboard: there are only 45 buttons on it, but the purpose of each of them changes dynamically depending on the current task. Dick the text-receiving the usual QWERTY-dishes, start the game-and now the letters have already changed to icons with the right icons. Such tricks are famous for the keyboard " Optimus Maximus »From the studio Artemy Lebedev, only Switchblade uses not many small screens, but a substrate of one large LCD display.
The keyboard of non -card is unusually pathos and practical: by reducing the number of buttons, the authors of Switchblade managed to maintain their size, which is very relevant in games. There is no place left for the trackpad, so the display was made by touch. But we understand that this is a spare option, since every self-respecting player will use the novelty with the mouse.
That's just the performance of the device, to put it mildly, is small: the capabilities of Switchblade were shown by example Warcraft 3 (year of exit-2002), World of Warcraft (2004) and Quake 3 (1999), that is, games of many years ago. Whether Switchblade will appear on sale is unknown – so far it is just a concept.
Lenovo Ideapad U1 and Lepad
Lenovo Ideapad U1 was first presented to the public on CES 2010. Further, the prototype seemed to not go, but this year the unusual hybrid took place.
In appearance, Lenovo Ideapad U1 is a regular 10-inch portable computer working under Windows. It does not differ with special speed, but you can’t attribute it to ordinary netbooks: the device does not work on the traditional Intel Atom, but on a furrier Core i5-540um clock frequency of 1.2 GHz. At the same time, the amount of RAM is 2 GB, and a 2.5-inch hard drive 320 GB acts as the drive. In a word, a pretty attractive machine … at a price of $ 1300. Why is it so expensive? Yes, because the display of the IDEAPAD U1 is upset, turning into a tablet with Android 2.2 and an ARM processor (IDEAPAD U1 devoid of the screen at this time can be connected to an external monitor and used as a regular computer).
The tablet is called Lepad , And it can even be purchased separately for $ 520. There is a sense in such a purchase, since Lepad is not a appendage, but a full -fledged device: here is the processor Qualcomm Snapdragon , and gigabyte of RAM, and 3G module, and even the front 2 MP webcam.
In China, the sale of unusual devices should begin in the next couple of months, in Europe and America the hybrid will appear no earlier than Android 3 is released.0.
Motorola Atrix 4G
Atrix 4G – Another uncompromising decision from Motorola. Like the XOOM tablet, ATRIX 4G operates on the Tegra 2 platform with 1 GB of memory, but it uses not Windows as the operating system, but Android 2.2 , and for entry/output of information-a 4-inch display with a non-standard resolution of 960×540 pixels. And most importantly, with a modest weight of 136 grams, the device has a battery with a huge capacity – as many as 1930 mAh!
Another interest is caused by two docking stations-Multimedia Dock and Laptop Dock. The first looks like a small stand, to which the monitor, keyboard and mouse are connected. By hoisting the smartphone to this docking station, the user can choose one of two modes.
In Motorola Webtop mode, you can run any application installed on the phone on the large screen, as well as work with a full -fledged Firefox browser with Flash technology and the function of preserving open tabs. In the second mode, Entertainment Center, Atrix 4G turns into a media center, reproducing photos, videos, music and controlled from a special remote control. The functions of Laptop Dock are generally identical, only this is the finished solution: a thin and light body consisting of a 11.6-inch display, keyboard and multisepsonous trackpad.
ASUS EEE PAD EP101/102
Asus eee Pad – Another ten -inch tablet based on Tegra 2 with two cameras and Android OS on board. Based on this tablet, the company Asus releases two different devices at once – an attractive gadget EEE PAD EP101 Transformer And a very controversial concept EEE PAD EP102 Slider.
Transformer is, in essence, a new generation smartbook. You can use the ASUS Eee Pad itself, but if you suddenly need a hardware keyboard, you can stick a tablet to the attached dock, “collecting” a full-fledged smartbook with a full-sized keyboard and a track deck. In this hypostasis, the device doubles the battery time (from 8 to 16 hours), and the trackpad eliminates the need to touch the screen.
In the second model, Slider, the display rises upstairs, opening a small QWERTY-keyboard to the user. The idea is not bad, but still working and work on the implementations: after the transformation of the eee Pad EP102 it becomes unstable – and this is critical, because the slider has no trackpad.
Both models will appear on sale in early summer, and the prices for them will jump from $ 400 to $ 800 with depending on the filling.
Microsoft Touch Mouse
Success Apple Magic Mouse It does not give rest Microsoft , who finally introduced her multimsenpose mouse with a laconic name at the exhibition Touch Mouse.
Of the same gestures in mice, surprisingly, only scrolling. The functions of “forward” and “back” in Touch Mouse are activated by the movements of the thumb. Biplotz gestures are responsible for the location of the windows in Windows 7: flirting with the sensory platform, they can be scattered along the edges of the screen, turn off or, conversely, deployed on the entire screen (hint: experiment at leisure with keyboard combinations from the arrow and the “Win” button). By wielding three fingers, you can hide all the windows or scatter their miniatures on the desktop so that it is more convenient to choose the right one (an analogue of the Expose function from Mac OS X).
The novelty is much more ergonomic than the Magic Mouse, and is made symmetrical – so that the lefts and right -handers suit. The device’s sensor supports Bluetrack technology, which provides the “all-terrain” manipulator, and a USB receiver is used to communicate with the computer. Touch mouse supplies should begin in the summer, estimated price – $ 80.
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