DigiTimes: 2nd generation Nexus 7 launching at Google I/O

According to a report from DigiTimes, Google is planning to launch its second generation Nexus 7 tablet at its annual I/O conference, slated this year for May. The report comes just a mere three months after the release of the HSPA+ Nexus 7’s and the 32GB models. DigiTimes claims the new tablet with boast a higher-resolution display, a thinner bezel and a thinner and lighter form factor. DigiTimes also reports it will probably be running Android Jelly 4.2, but could launch with Key Lime Pie if it’s released at the same time of tablet. 

 

Google I/O scheduled for a three day run starting May 15th and ending May 17th. 

I’m moving, again!

Thank you for being a reader of my work! I’ve deiced it would be best to take my work to a group, rather than work solo I’ve deiced I’d like to work with a small group in a new start-up website, titled thisistheedge.com. We go by The Edge, but that’s our URL. We’re brand new, and we have some really great stuff on there, so please visit me and the other great writers there for tech, movies, politics, social media news and more! 

The Edge

The Price is Right

As early reviews of iPad Mini come in, the common factor between them all is the fact that they claim the $329 price tag is too high. Reviews state the price is only justifiable if it gets a 2012 spec bump, such as a Retina display and a new A6 processor. “Its high price and low resolution display make this a definite first generation” -WSJ While its price and display are highly criticized, its price is fine. Just as Schiller said at its unveiling in California, it’s the cheapest iPad yet. That means a lot. iPad sales have never been as high as iPod or iPhone sales, and that has to with price. You could only get an iPad for 500 dollars, until the iPad with Retina display rolled around, bumping the iPad 2 to $399. This was a major boost to sales, even Apple admitted its best selling iPad was the $399 iPad 2, so why not the $329 iPad Mini? Average consumers were just fine with the 165 PPI of the iPhone 3GS, and dazzled at the even lower 132 PPI of the iPad 1 and 2. The iPad Mini nearly ties with the 3GS at a low but decent 163 PPI.

As I write my iPad Mini review which should be posted soon, I can’t help but notice the large pixels when reading text, but watching videos, views photos and quickly browsing the web is fine. Its display is more than sufficient, colors are vibrant and contrast ratios are rich. While it certainty is no Retina display, it beats the original Kindle Fire’s display which is now being sold for a modest $149. iPads have always been, and always will be a hit, but a starting price of $499 makes it far from ‘impulse buy’ territory. Crafting a lighter, thinner and sexier iPad at a low price of $329 is sure to make this a stocking-stuffer this coming holiday season, and if retailers can make some iPad Mini+free case bundles for black Friday, you can expect Mini sales to top 10 million by the end of December.

Spiderman Wallpaper

Hi all, while this isn’t really news, in fact it isn’t at all, I spent some time making this wallpaper and want to get it on Google. So I’m gonna post it here so it can get to Google images.

Thanks!

Nexus 7 Pre-Orders Shipping

Were you one of the lucky ones? Did you Pre-order yourself a Nexus 7 from the Google Play store them self? Because if you did, you order should be shipping. As noted by TheVerge, all Play pre orders are shipping and are expected to deliver in 3 business days. Other retailers like GameStop and Staples are expected to sell the quad core tablet by weeks end and other local shops and websites will sell it shortly as well.
So, if you’d like to pick one up yourself, click here and keep in mind, tax and shipping does apply.

Soon, I return!

Welcome readers, I’m coming back, soon! I know that we’ve been idle on this site for a long time, but I realized I had something with this and I need to get back to it. This is it, the real deal. I’m ready to commit to a long time of writing and I want this blog to go somewhere. In no way am I saying soon this site will be the new ‘Verge’, but I want to gain back my strong reader base and grow even stronger! I was so happy when I maintained this blog and I want to get back those special feelings I had when I wrote here, so I’m here and I’m here for good, better or worse. The site may go over changes like a new host (possibly) and I may revamp the comment section and theme of the site. I’m also contemplating whether I should change the whole concept of my site. What I mean by that doing something different, different than what ever other blog does. Other blogs and sites give you a headline with a long article explaining the details, and the main ideas from the article get lost in all the ‘fluff’. I want to bring you a site with less fluff, and more, pure news. I give you a headline with the main point of the story (Example: Galaxy Nexus taken off Google Play site, no longer available for purchase) and the story being: “It’s been confirmed that Apple posted the 96 million dollar bond to officially ban the Galaxy Nexus in the United States. Now that the bond is posted, the phone has been taken offline and the ban is officially in place.” Done, that’s it. Short and simple, will everything you need to know in as few sentences as possible. Now I’m not saying I’m going to condense major stories into two-three sentences, I’m just saying I want to cut down as much as possible and just give you the news. I don’t plan on cutting down reviews I do, as I feel those should just a detailed as they were before if not more. Also, I plan to do a weekly editorial. I’m not positive on the day I’ll post it, I’ll try to make it on the same day every week, but we’ll just have to see how it goes. I will be adding some new features to the side bar of the site too, like polls, a forum section and a donation section. While you may be saying “Now he wants me to donate just because he writes?” Well, sort of. I’d appreciate donations in order to buy products to review. Of course, right off the bat, I’m not expecting to get 1000’s even 100’s of dollars (let alone 50 bucks), but what I do make can be put to buying new gadgets in order to review. Eventually if the sites gains enough viewers, I don’t need the money to buy products and can go about getting them from the manufacture themselves in the form a review unit. A review unit is a product the manufacture sends out to blogs and sites in exchange for a review. You don’t get to keep them (usually), but you get it for a month or so and get to use it to your liking.

Also, there’s one more major change I’m making to the site, I’ll be shifting it to a mobile only site. What I mean by that is I will mainly write my stories, editorials and reviews on mobile phones and tablets. I’ve always had a stronger interest in phones and tablets than anything else, and while I’m not going to completely rule out new announcements lets say of a new Macbook Pro/Air or major PC, you’re going to see most of the stories focus on mobile tech. I hope that you can all understand the changes I’m making to the site and can give me feedback on what you think you’d like to see.

Thank you all for being, faithful, loyal readers, and enjoy the new Allegrotechie.com!

Thank you for reading!

iPad Review (2012)

The new iPad review.

You may be reading this review because you’re wondering if you should buy what Apple calls ”The new iPad”. You either fall into the category of already being a tablet owner, whether that is an android powered slate, or an iOS device. The other option is no tablet at all. So, coming from someone who owns both Gingerbread slates, ICS devices, and both iPads, I fall into both ends of the spectrum. While at first glance of reading a tech spec list online of the new iPad, it may not seem like a huge upgrade from the iPad 2. Retina display is nice an all, but my iPad 2’s screen is good enough, right? I mean, its also really fast, so why do I need this new A5X Chip? And the camera? Why who uses their iPad as a camera? (I do so and don’t ask why). So is this upgrade really even that special? After spending a few days with this device, lets find out!

Before we begin with the review, I’d just like you to read this quote, while it isn’t actually what someone said, it’s what I think they would say.

“All of these incremental feature upgrades seem like something I don’t need or will ever be able to fully utilize.”
– Average iPad 2 owner (Not really).

Here is just a list of some of the devices technical specs, also compared with the iPad 2’s, so you can refresh your memory during the review if you’d like:

Processor:
iPad 2: A5 1GHz Dual-Core
New iPad: A5X 1GHz Dual-Core+Quad-Core Graphics Processor

Display:
iPad 2: 9.7 inch 1274×768
New iPad: 9.7 inch 2048×1536 “Retina Display”

Camera:
iPad 2: 0.7MP Camera
New iPad: 5MP Auto-Focus Advanced Optical Lens

Thickness:
iPad 2: 0.37 inches
New iPad: 0.37 inches

Other:
iPad 2: 3G
New iPad: 4G LTE
—
iPad 2: Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
New iPad: Bluetooth 4.0
—
iPad 2: 24.5 Watt Battery (10 hours WiFi model, 9 hours 3G Model)
New iPad: 40 Watt Battery (10 hours WiFi model, 9 hours 4G LTE Model)

REVIEW:

Speed:
The new iPad features a semi-new A5X processor. Clocked at the same 1GHz Dual-Core speed as the A5 processor found in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S*, the only difference in this already fast chip is its integrated GPU. The original A5 Processor features a Dual-Core CPU and a Dual-Core GPU, the A5X on the other hand bumps up that GPU to a Quad-Core unit. While NVIDA’s Tegra 3 features a Quad-Core CPU and an astonishing 12-Core GPU, Apple claims that this A5X processor greatly out-preforms the Tegra 3, by an whooping 4x times in the GPU department. So what does this mean to you? Well with the new iPad’s display being 4x times the resolution of the first two iPad’s, you’re gonna need a much more powerful GPU to power everything you do on the new display. Apple really thought about this, and like usual, it paid off. The new iPad runs incredibly smooth with a near-zero percent chance of ever running into lag, stutters, hiccups, or slow downs. This is really the main reason why you don’t see displays this high res on Android tablets, or any other devices for that matter other than the iPhone 4/4S and iPod touch. It takes up a ton of horse-power, and what burns fast when you use a lot of horse-power? Battery!! Luckily, that’s not the case with the new iPad though, and I’ll talk more about this in the “Battery” section of the review. Disregarding all this screen and battery talk, lets just talk about the speed. I’ll put as simple as this: It’s the fastest device you’ll use, it doesn’t lag, or have any of the problems that you’ll find on your iPad 1, Android tablet, or maybe even your computer! It smoothly runs graphic intense games like Infinity Blade II, Air Supremacy, and Real Racing 2 HD. If you’re the person sitting at home saying “Oh, boy do I really want a new iPad, I can’t get it though, because it has the same CPU, so it’s not gonna be faster.” That’s where you’re wrong, even though technically the CPU hasn’t been upgraded, this whole device feels faster. And while benchmarks may or may not prove this hypothesis, in real world use, it feels like a snappier, speedier device.
*=While the iPhone 4S does use an A5 processor, the chip is under-clocked to 800MHz, so you won’t get the same exact benchmark results.
Speed: 9/10

Display:
Arguable the best new feature in the new iPad and possible to some the “killer feature” of this device, is the Retina Display. Calculating in at 4x times the resolution than the iPad 2 (and 1), the new display has more pixels than every other device you’ve owned, I’ll almost guarantee it. The stunning 9.7 inch 2048×1536 display is the best display I’ve ever seen, no argument, no debate. Unless you were one of the lucky ones to visit CES and check out those OLED and 4/8K TV’s, that is. Not only is it (near) impossible to see pixels, it has incredible viewing angles. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it has better viewing angles than the iPad 2, I would say that they match. The reason I included this note though is because if you pick up any other tablet, whether it be a Samsung or Motorola one, you won’t find any other tablet that has viewing angles quite as good as the new iPad’s. The display isn’t all nice and dandy though, with great pixel’s comes great weight (and thickness). While the Retina Display didn’t really have to drastically change the iPad ascetic wise, it changed it just small enough for you to notice. Not by looking at it that is, but by picking it up. The new iPad weighs 51 grams more than the iPad 2. While it’s nothing to go ape about, you will notice the difference when you pick up the two devices hand and hand. I’ll talk more about this in the ascetics part of the review though. But back to the display, there is really only one word to describe it: ”perfect”. It’s crystal clear, and you’ll love staring at it.
Display: 10/10

Camera:
The second gen iPad didn’t really do the camera world any justist, coming in at a meslsy 0.7 mp, It was really a terrible camera. Good thing the new iPad improves that. Coming in at 5 MPs, it is a big improvement, especially with the iPhone 4S advanced optics. While it isn’t anything to run home about, it’s a really nice camera and it does the job for quick shots.
Camera: 8/10

Overall: the new iPad is the best tablet on the market, hands down. The price is high but justifiable due to its amazing screen and performance. Don’t hesitate to buy this.

Facebook purchases Instagram

In a report just coming out now, Facebook is planning to acquire Instagram for one billion dollars.The announcement comes from Zuckberg.

iPad 3 to have tactile display?

With the iPad 3 announcement hours away, the latest rumor points to something strange, but incredible. Coming from Pocket-lint, the rumor states that the iPad 3 will have a tactile display. That means that you can feel what you’re touching, on the touchscreen. If there’s a picture of sand on the screen, you truly feel the sand. Pretty amazing. The iPad 3’s invitation even hints at this, right where it says “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” Does that mean tactile? We’ll find out in a few hours!

Android Market is done, Google Play takes over

After first launching with Cupcake, the Android Market is now being changed. Not really, just the name, but what you currently know as the Android Market is getting a new name: Google Play. While it implies a gaming hub rather than a full-on market for all types of apps, Google feels the name should work. The update which only brings a new icon, name and a new tab in the market titled the ‘Play’ tab should be pushed out in the coming days to all 2.1+ devices. Check your devices for the update soon!