tablets

The Asus PadFone Infinity delivers on specs, doesn't come cheap (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--While "PadFone" wouldn't be the first name to spring to mind while attempting to come up with a marketable brand, the name has apparently worked for Asus. The company announced today that it would continue its PadFone line with the unveiling of the PadFone Infinity. It's a 5-inch LTE smartphone that becomes a 10.1-inch tablet when docked into the included PadFone Infinity Station. The whole package comes out this April for 999 euros.

The phone Thanks mostly to its metal edges, the phone piece looks and feels not too dissimilar from an iPhone 5, … Read more

Sony's waterproof Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--The Sony Xperia Tablet Z has been announced for U.S. and European markets. The Xperia is a 10.1-inch tablet and features a quad-core Qualcomm processor. This is Sony's third large-form Android tablet in two years. While the previous entry had some technical issues, the Xperia Tablet Z has the potential to be the company's best tablet yet.

Very, very thin and awfully light Sony claims the Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet yet, and while I didn't have a chance to break out my scale or tape measure, it definitely felt … Read more

Nvidia Tegra 4 supercharges smartphones (hands-on video)

BARCELONA, Spain--Nvidia's latest mobile processor, the Tegra 4, and its little brother, the Tegra 4i, will soon be turning up in all manner of smartphones and tablets. I went hands-on with some of Nvidia's reference devices at Mobile World Congress and found the new silicon to deliver some impressive results.

Like the Tegra 3 chip before it, the Tegra 4 is a quad-core processor with a fifth power-saving core for less intense tasks. Based on ARM's latest Cortex A-15 platform, it boasts a faster clock speed and a whopping 72 GPU cores -- that's six times … Read more

Lenovo unveils a trio of Jelly Bean Android tablets (hands-on)

Business-friendly ThinkPad Windows laptops are still Lenovo's best-known product, but that's not stopping the company from hedging its bets with Android. The China-based manufacturer has unveiled a trio of new tablets at the Mobile World Congress show: the 10-inch S6000, and a pair of 7-inchers, the A3000 and A1000. All three run the version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) of Google's tablet operating system. Look for them in the second quarter of the year; pricing info and local availability hasn't yet been specified.

The 10-inch S6000 features a standard "blacktablets.com" looks and feel. It'… Read more

RootMyNook vs. N2A Cards: Battle of the Nook-to-Android cards

Right out of the box, the Barnes & Noble Nook HD and Nook HD+ are pretty sweet tablets. CNET commended the Nook HD for its "light, comfortable screen and sharp design," while dubbing the Nook HD+ a "fantastic tablet value."

Beyond the box, however, both tablets can do so much more. Thanks to customized microSD expansion cards from RootMyNookHD and N2A Cards, you can turn your Nook into a full-blown Android tablet.

The advantages in doing so are plain: Not only do you get full access to Google Play and all the apps therein (Barnes & … Read more

Five-deal Friday: $199 Xoom, $399 ultrabook, and more!

For anyone who's actually trying to save money (what a concept, right?), today is going to be a tough one. I've got five -- count 'em, five -- deals, each one better than the last.

As always, these are available while supplies last -- and supplies don't always last long. They're in stock as of this morning, and the prices are accurate as of this morning. That is all.

1. Acer ultrabook So I'm thinking about a new laptop. The one I'm using now is OK, but has a smaller screen (11.6 inches) … Read more

Samsung tops Apple in connected device sales in '12

Samsung surpassed Apple in the market for smart connected devices last year as the Korean electronics giant's shipments of smartphones, tablets, and PCs more than doubled, a new report says.

IDC today noted that Samsung shipped 250 million "smart connected devices" in 2012, up from 114 million the previous year. The tech research firm lumps desktop computers, portable PCs, tablets, and smartphones into that segment. By comparison, Apple shipped 218.7 million devices, up 44 percent from 2011 when it held the No. 1 spot. It had 18 percent share in 2012.

Samsung's sales surge largely … Read more

Asus teases 'metallic miracle' for Mobile World Congress

Asus has launched a new video teasing its plans for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.

The company's video, called "Ultimate Craftsmanship. Today." shows a UFO soaring over Barcelona and landing on a church as spectators watch in amazement. The video ends with the invite to "join Asus to embrace the metallic miracle" on February 25 at Mobile World Congress.

Exactly what Asus has in store for the show is currently unknown. However, the company's Mobile World Congress event page is titled, "In Search of Incredible." A secondary headline … Read more

Surface won't dominate but it's a 'real business,' says Ballmer

Sales of Microsoft's Surface may not set the tablet world on fire, but CEO Steve Ballmer still sees a key role for the device.

In an interview published today by MIT Technology Review, Ballmer snuck past the initial question of whether he was pleased with Surface sales.

"I'm super-glad we did Surface," Ballmer said in response. "I think it is important -- and not just for Microsoft but for the entire Windows ecosystem -- to see integrated hardware and software."

But the CEO did concede that Surface isn't likely to dominate the PC … Read more