It’s just so depressing to see this. 2nd generation Android tablets coming out from Archos that still don’t have Google apps included. No contacts sync. No Gmail. No Buzz. No Maps. No Latitude. No Market. Again – No Google Market! I hate to start on such a low note but really, haven’t we all learned that an Android device without Google apps is only half an Android product? [and relax…] Moving on to the details then. We have two sub 4 inch devices that we’re not covering here, a 4.3 […]

I’m already testing and charging my kit for IFA because on Thursday morning I’ll be on my way up to Berlin to start coverage. The 2nd of Sept is a press and launch day and we expect Samsung to launch the Galaxy Tab in the morning. Unfortunately I’ll still be in the train but I’ll be watching out for news. In the evening we’ll get to see the Tab at the Showstoppers event. We’ll also have a chance to speak to HP. FOLLOW CHIPPY on TWITTER On Friday we’ll be […]

I’m already testing and charging my kit for IFA because on Thursday morning I’ll be on my way up to Berlin to get busy. The 2nd of Sept is a press and launch day and we expect Samsung to launch the Galaxy Tab in the morning. Unfortunately I’ll still be in the train but I’ll be watching out for news with Sascha (netbooknews) who’s traveling up with me. In the evening we’ll get to see the Tab at the Showstoppers event. We’ll also have a chance to speak to HP. […]

There’s two ways of looking at this. Either you think about the issues of the Toshiba AC100 (no Google Apps, Market, Browser issues, crashes, standby battery life issues) and you think OMG – This is a fail from the word go, or you hope that the 2.2 upgrade and a touchscreen are going to fix it. Certainly if you take away the keyboard you won’t be tempted to try anything silly like writing a document so that at least solves one problem but I fear that the Market is still […]

For the last two nights I’ve been testing the ‘standby’ battery life on the Toshiba AC100. [Unboxing and overview video here] On the first test the battery was at about 30% capacity. I closed the lid and expected to have plenty of battery life left in the morning. When I woke up, the AC100 was dead. On the second test the battery was again at 30%. This time I turned the WiFi off before closing the lid. In that scenario I’d expect next to no drain at all. Again, when […]

The video speaks for itself. HD videos on the SmartQT7. This test based on new SmartQ T7 firmware I received from HOTMID.com today.

I’m running a suite of tests that I’ll report on soon but just look at this. Tegra 2 wipes out every other smartphone platform out there. This is a screenshot from Quadrant. I’m also seeing great browsing results, a SunSpider result of 9300 and Pi being calculated in 2081ms which is 3x faster than the average score on the BenchmarkPi application. It can handle a 1080p H.264 file at 13mbps and plays Raging Thunder 2 on the 1024×600 screen like a demon! For a smart platform, Tegra2 is taking it […]

After 24 hrs with the AC100 its a an easy task to summarise what’s going on. We’ve got an impressive computing platform in a productive form factor with great screen and keyboard that’s let down by a limited operating system and aplication suite. You’ll look at the AC100 and see some interesting elements. Always on, light weight, flash storage, long battery life and the Android ‘brand’ but let me tell it to you straight before you go and buy one – don’t buy it as a replacement for a netbook […]