Samsung’s next Galaxy Tab will have Intel inside, says Reuters

Posted on 31/05/2013 by Sharif Sakr

This particular rumor has been swirling for a while already, but Reuters says its own sources are now backing it up: Samsung will switch from an ARM-based design and use Intel as the supplier of the processor inside at least one version of its next 10-inch slate, the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. Word is that Samsung will run Android off Intel's latest x86 Atom architecture, Clover Trail+, which we've so far seen in just a handful of Android smartphones including the Lenovo K900 and ZTE Geek.

By way of corroboration, Korea Times is reporting the exact same Galaxy Tab 3 rumor and has also quoted an anonymous Intel employee who claimed that the number of Atom engineers based in Korea has ballooned from six last year to as many as 50 personnel today. They're said to be working on "Samsung-related projects with a mission to customize circuits for adaptation in Samsung products" -- which certainly doesn't sound like typical Intel behavior. Korea Times specifically says that Samsung is looking to reduce its reliance on the tricky supply of its own ARM-based Exynos processors, while Intel is offering the Korean giant good prices and cooperation in order to build its mobile market share. This all tallies with the idea of Atom coming to some high volume Android products -- and it's very possible that we'll see proof of that at Computex next week.

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Samsung, Intel

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Via: Android Beat

Source: Korea Times, Reuters

Lenovo K900 is the first Intel Clover Trail+ phone, boasts 5.5-inch 1080p screen and 13MP cam (hands-on)

Posted on 09/01/2013 by Richard Lai

Much like how Lenovo's K800 was unveiled as the first Intel Medfield phone last CES, this year the manufacturer pulled another first with the K900, powered by Intel's recently-announced Clover Trail+ platform (likely an Atom Z2580 clocked at 2GHz). For those who missed the Intel keynote, Clover Trail+ is the much improved yet still secretive successor to the relatively quiet Medfield, though it is odd that Lenovo only says "the forthcoming Intel Atom processor platform for smartphones" instead of just "Clover Trail+" in the press release.

Anyhow, said Android device comes with many mouth-watering features: 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display, Gorilla Glass 2, 13-megapixel F1.8 camera with dual flash, and a front-facing imager with an 88-degree super wide viewing angle. 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage add to the package. As with many Lenovo phones, there will also be three capacitive touch buttons below the screen. All of this goodness comes in a handsome 6.9mm-thick body that consists of stainless steel alloy plus polycarbonate, and together they weigh just 162g. Little else has been unveiled about the K900 so far, but it'll be available in China from April.

Update: We've just gotten up close and personal with the Lenovo K900 and it's certainly an impressive piece of kit. This 5.5-inch 1080p device touts a low magnetic property steel in combination with polycarbonate to offer users lavish style without compromising on antenna reception. Depending on the model -- four colors in all -- users will be treated to a striped brushing or, in the case of the Diamond Plate model, a very reflective gem-like design on back. For more of these first impressions of Lenovo's K900, follow on after the break.

Gallery: Lenovo K900 hands-on

Gallery: Lenovo K900 is the first Intel Clover Trail+ phone, boasts 5.5-inch 1080p screen and 13MP cam

Joseph Volpe, Ben Gilbert and Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Continue reading Lenovo K900 is the first Intel Clover Trail+ phone, boasts 5.5-inch 1080p screen and 13MP cam (hands-on)

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Atom-powered Acer Iconia W510 on sale November 9th for $500 and up

Posted on 09/10/2012 by Sarah Silbert

Acer recently announced pricing and availability for its Iconia W700, and now its other Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W510, is getting that same treatment. The 10.1-inch slate will ship for $500 and up when it goes on sale November 9th.

The W510 sports an IPS display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution, and that panel is coated in Gorilla Glass 2 for some extra scratch resistance. Unlike the Ivy Bridge-packing W700, this device runs a 1.5GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 processor (from the Clover Trail series) with 2GB of RAM and up to 64GB of solid-state storage. Connections include a microSD card reader, micro-HDMI and a micro-USB 2.0 port. Acer also offers a $150 keyboard dock, which connects to the tablet from the top and offers a full-size USB 2.0 port. Without the dock, the tablet is rated for up to nine hours of battery life; the dock adds another nine. We got a chance to play with an early unit of the W510 -- head over to our in-depth preview for a closer look.

Gallery: Acer Iconia W510 press photos

Continue reading Atom-powered Acer Iconia W510 on sale November 9th for $500 and up

Filed under: Tablets, Acer

Atom-powered Acer Iconia W510 on sale November 9th for $500 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP announces the ElitePad 900, a business-friendly Windows 8 tablet arriving in January

Posted on 01/10/2012 by Dana Wollman

Remember those hazy days of summer when HP ran an ad during the Olympics, slipped in a a shot of an unannounced tablet and thought we wouldn't notice? (P'shaw!) Well, you can finally lay your speculation to rest, as HP just formally unveiled the mystery tab, along with a slew of accessories. It's called the ElitePad 900 and, as rumored, it's a 10-inch Windows 8 slate meant for business users, with features like pen input, drive encryption and optional 3G / 4G.

Like HP's high-end EliteBook laptops, the ElitePad has a premium look, marked by a machined aluminum back cover and 400-nit IPS display coated in Gorilla Glass. Also similar to the EliteBooks, it meets the military's MIL-spec 810G durability requirements, and can withstand three-foot drops, among other accidents. All told, it weighs 1.5 pounds and measures 9.2mm thick. Going by weight, that's more along the lines of what you'd expect from a larger, 11-inch tablet, but 1.5 pounds is still manageable, especially considering how armored this thing is.

On the inside, it runs an Atom-based Intel Clover Trail processor, buffered by up to 2GB of RAM. Like so many other systems with this kind of chip, it promises about 10 hours of runtime -- a clear improvement over similar devices packing Core i5 CPUs. Storage-wise, you'll have your choice between a 32 or 64GB SSD. The screen has a resolution of 1,280 x 800, making it the one feature likely to disappoint power users. Take a tour around the device and you'll find an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1080p shooter up front for video chats. Hidden behind a service door on the back are two slots: one for microSD cards, and another for 3G / 4G SIMs.

And how 'bout those accessories? In addition to the tablet, HP will be selling two so-called SmartJackets, cases that do a little more than just shield the device from wear and tear. One of them, for instance, has two USB ports, HDMI output, a full-size memory card slot and room for an optional battery slice. That battery, by the way, has a capacity of about eight hours, so while the case does add some heft it could be worth it if you need a PC that will last through a flight from New York to Tokyo. As for the second case, its defining feature is a built-in keyboard, which plugs directly into the tablet.

Though HP announced the ElitePad 900 today, the tablet won't go on sale here in the US until January. Hopefully we'll also get a final price as we get closer to that launch date. Luckily, we've already gotten a chance to play with it, so meet us after the break for hands-on photos and a short walk-through video detailing our first impressions.

Continue reading HP announces the ElitePad 900, a business-friendly Windows 8 tablet arriving in January

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HP announces the ElitePad 900, a business-friendly Windows 8 tablet arriving in January originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZTE shows off new V98 Windows 8 slate, we go hands-on

Posted on 28/09/2012 by Michael Gorman

ZTE shows off its first Windows 8 slate, we go handson

Intel just outed its new Atom SoC, and at its tablet event in San Francisco today, the company had a whole slew of slates packing the Clover Trail silicon on hand. Dell's Latitude 10, the ASUS Tablet 810, Acer's Iconia W510 and W700, Lenovo's ThinkPad 2, the HP Envy x2 and Samsung's Series 5 were all there. However, it was the handsome slice of Windows 8 from ZTE that really caught our attention. Called the V98, it has a 10.1-inch, 1366 x 768 LCD on top of an aluminum chassis with a beveled edge similar to what you'd find on a white iPhone 5. Beneath that handsome exterior is the aforementioned Intel Z2760 chipset, 64GB of ROM, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (plus a microSD slot if you need more digital space). There's 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, tri-band UMTS and quad-band GSM radios, plus NFC and LTE can be had as options. It's got an accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors, a magnetometer and a gyro, too. An 8-megapixel camera is stuck in the back, while a 2-megapixel shooter resides round front. ZTE managed to stuff all that and a 7,000mAh battery inside a svelte 8.9mm-thin package.

We got to spend a little bit of time with a prototype ZTE model, and found the hardware to be solid for a hand-built unit. Its aluminum chassis makes for quite a rigid device in hand, and the machined and polished bevel gives the V98 a very high-end look. The chromed plastic volume rocker, power button and screen orientation lock switch nestled in the plastic radio reception strip at the top of the device are decidedly less luxurious, however -- the travel of each was shallow, and the finish on the plastic appeared a bit cheap to our eyes. That said, the rotating magnetic aluminum door that reveals the SD card and SIM slots is slick -- far easier to open and close than the plastic port covers found on most other slates. There's also a 30-pin docking port on the bottom edge of the tablet, but ZTE informed us it'd be another month or so before the dock is ready for public consumption. Unfortunately, the V98 won't be available for purchase until Q1 of next year, but you can see if its worth waiting for in our gallery of shots below.

Gallery: ZTE V98 Windows 8 tablet hands-on

Filed under: Tablets

ZTE shows off new V98 Windows 8 slate, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, ‘full’ Windows 8 experience

Posted on 27/09/2012 by Sharif Sakr

You only have to look at the tidal wave of Ultrabooks to know that Intel design specifications can carry a lot of influence with manufacturers. That's why the chip-maker's claims about its latest reference tablet, built around a dual-core Atom Z2760 processor (aka "Clover Trail"), likely give us a broad hint of what to expect from devices like the forthcoming Lenovo Think Pad 2, ASUS Vivo Tab and Samsung ATIV Smart PC.

In particular, Intel has shown us slides claiming that the dual-core 1.8GHz chip with Imagination SGX545 graphics will offer the "best Windows 8 experience" on a tablet with "compatibility and support for traditional apps and peripherals." And if you think that sounds like a subtle jibe at ARM-based tablets running Windows RT -- a version of the OS that doesn't even try to play nice with existing software -- then you could be right. To be fair though, the point of RT is to offer superior portability, and that's why Intel is also keen to emphasize that Clover Trail won't impact too heavily on your freedom of movement. Tablets should come in below 1.5 pounds (680 grams -- similar to the RT spec and much lighter than a Windows 8 Pro tablet) and 8.5mm in thickness, with built-in 3G, 4G and NFC. You shouldn't need to carry a charger either, since a new power management system promises a distinctly un-laptop-like three weeks on standby and a full day of "active use" -- defined as being at least 10 hours.

Windows 8 tablets won't be like Windows 8 Pro machines, however, so don't go expecting USB 3.0, or a guarantee of 1080p visuals (most Clover Trail devices we've seen are 1,366 x 768) or souped-up security -- the Atom Z2760 is very much an evolved Medfield processor, with similar silicon and firmware, rather than a shrunken laptop chip.

Needless to say, what really matters is how well manufacturers adopt this design and what price points they manage to hit. Intel says that at least 20 different Clover Trail tablets are already in the works, and early price tags seem to be around the $799 mark -- a hefty demand for sure, but perhaps one worth paying for those who need full-fledged Windows 8 and true portability at the same time. RT tablets, meanwhile, will have to come in much cheaper than that in order to be worthwhile.

Continue reading Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, 'full' Windows 8 experience

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Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, 'full' Windows 8 experience originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, ‘full’ Windows 8 experience

Posted on 27/09/2012 by Sharif Sakr

Continue reading Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, 'full' Windows 8 experience

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Intel details Clover Trail tablets: three weeks on standby, 10 hours of use, 'full' Windows 8 experience originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel claims Clover Trail-based Atom won’t properly run Linux, points us to Windows 8 instead

Posted on 14/09/2012 by Jon Fingas

There's potentially bad news ahead if you're hoping to wipe the drive on that future HP Envy X2 and load Ubuntu -- Intel reportedly claimed at IDF that Clover Trail-based Atom processors "cannot" handle Linux properly. As outlined in The Inquirer's account of events, the issue is more a matter of optimization than an outright block: Linux doesn't yet know how to cope with all of Clover Trail's power state changes at the kernel level, which would put any penguin-powered PC at a disadvantage. Intel would really, really prefer that you run Windows 8, as the new Atom and Microsoft's OS are tuned to work hand-in-hand. Linux might catch up, but the Windows-only emphasis is a sharp break from Intel's tendency to shower love on open-source OS projects across the board, including ongoing work like Intel-native Android builds or Tizen.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Software

Intel claims Clover Trail-based Atom won't properly run Linux, points us to Windows 8 instead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re live from IDF 2012 in San Francisco

Posted on 11/09/2012 by Myriam Joire

Are you ready for a smorgasbord of news on Ultrabooks, Clover Trail-equipped tablets, Windows 8 hybrid devices and maybe even Medfield-based smartphones? Well you're come to the right place because we're live at Intel's Developer Forum 2012 here in beautiful San Francisco, where over the next few days we'll bring you the latest news on all things Intel.

Filed under: Announcements, Mobile

We're live from IDF 2012 in San Francisco originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP unveils Envy x2 laptop / tablet hybrid: 11-inch IPS screen, NFC and pen support, arriving later this year

Posted on 30/08/2012 by Dana Wollman

You didn't think the world's top PC maker was going to sit out the laptop / tablet hybrid trend, now did you? HP, one of the last OEMs to share its Windows 8 plans, just announced the Envy x2, an 11-inch tablet that comes with a keyboard dock. And while that form factor may already seem tired, HP is dressing it up with some higher-end features, including an aluminum build, NFC, pen support, Beats Audio and a 400-nit, IPS display. (The resolution is 1,366 x 768, as is the case for many of these 11-inch Windows 8 hybrids.)

The tablet itself measures about 8.5mm thick and weighs 1.5 pounds, while the dock weighs 1.6. Unlike competing products, the device combines magnets and a mechanical latch to keep the tablet from falling out of its dock (watch us manhandle the x2 in the video below to see what we're talking about). All told, we were impressed by how surprisingly light the tablet and dock feel -- given the metal armor encasing it all, it's easy to assume otherwise.

Under the hood, the x2 runs an Atom-based Clover Trail processor. Though HP isn't ready to talk battery life, we've noticed that every other OEM releasing a Clover Trail device is promising between nine and 10 hours of runtime, so we expect the x2 to deliver comparable performance. What's more, the dock has a built-in battery of its own, so you'll definitely have some reserve power there. Poke around on the dock and you'll find two USB ports, HDMI output and a full-size SD slot. The tablet itself is home to an 8-megapixel rear camera and microSD slot, in case the 64GB of built-in storage isn't capacious enough.

Right now, it's unknown how much the x2 will cost, or when, exactly, it will go on sale, except that it's expected to arrive in time for the holiday shopping season. For now, feel free to poke around our hands-on photo gallery, and avail yourselves of our walk-through, embedded just past the break.

Gallery: HP Envy x2 hands-on