Samsung's blue Galaxy S III faces delay due to paint issues

Despite launching in several markets today, the "pebble blue" version of the Galaxy S III already faces a delay of two to three weeks.

Samsung's pebble blue version of the Galaxy S III.

(Credit: Luke Westaway/CNET UK)

Samsung apparently has difficulties with the color blue.

The "pebble blue" variant of its highly anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone faces delays due to issues with getting the color and its newly invented "hyper-glaze" process, according to several reports. Despite launching today in various markets in Europe and the Middle East, the blue version faces delays of two to three weeks.

New 27-inch Dell all-in-one matches iMac pixel for pixel

Dell's new XPS One 27 is the first Windows-based all-in-one to hit 2,560x1,440 pixels.

(Credit: Dell)

HP and Asus released the first 27-inch Windows-based all-in-ones this year, but with 1,920x,1,080 resolution screens, they failed to match Apple's high density, 2,560x1,440 iMacs. Dell's new XPS One 27 does.

Dell says the starting price for the new XPS One 27 is $1,399. That puts it ahead of the $1,249 HP Omni 27, but on par with the Asus ET2700I. All are also at least $300 below the most affordable 27-inch iMac.

At least for now those other 27-inch all-in-one also all use second-generation Intel Core CPUs (aka Sandy Bridge). The XPS One 27 has third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs (aka Ivy Bridge). All PC vendors will move to third-gen Core chips eventually, but for now, Dell seems to have a processing performance advantage.

(Credit: Dell)

Like the other 27-inchers, the XPS One 27 is not a touch screen, likely due to the high manufacturing costs. Dell has, however, transitioned to a pedestal design for the XPS One and a pair of new Inspiron Ones (23 and 20-inch models, the former with a third-gen Core option, the latter with only second-gen Core or budget Pentium CPUs). Dell's older all-in-one had a foot-and-kickstand chassis, but it moved to the pedestal design as "a result of direct customer feedback."

The high resolution display puts Dell ahead of its consumer-oriented Windows-based competitors, but video professionals might still prefer the large iMacs due to the XPS One 27's underwhelming graphics card options. The Intel HD 4000 graphics core embedded in the Dell's new Core i7 and Core i5 chips is a viable 3D processor, but neither that chip, nor the Dell's GeForce 640M upgrade option is a match for the iMac's high-end AMD Radeon HD 6970M.

Dell says its new all-in-ones will be available in Asia today, and throughout the rest of the world "in the coming weeks." I expect we'll see PC line updates from multiple vendors over the next month in the gear up to the back-to-school shopping season. It will be interesting to see how long Dell can hold onto its apparent competitive edge.

Source: news.cnet.com

Samsung revs up iTunes rival with new Galaxy S III

The Korean handset maker is unveiling its Music Hub service with today's launch of the new Galaxy S III smartphones across Europe and the Middle East.

 

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)

Samsung has found yet another way to compete with Apple.

The Galaxy S smartphone maker is officially kicking off its new iTunes rival Music Hub servicestarting today. Available as an app with the new Galaxy S III phone launching in 28 different countries, Music Hub borrows more than a page or two from iTunes but also adds a paid subscription model.

The service will offer Samsung phone and tablet owners access to 19 million songs, with prices comparable to those found on iTunes, according to Reuters. Users can stream music and download it from the Hub to play it locally without having to stay connected to the cloud. They can preview a track for up to 30 seconds before deciding whether or not to purchase it.

But two subscription plans will offer customers access to unlimited streaming and downloading of more than 3 million tunes. For the $9.99-per-month unlimited mobile plan, Samsung users can access the Music Hub from a single device -- phone or tablet. For the $12.99-per-month unlimited premium plan, users can tap into the hub on up to four devices as well as a PC or Mac.

The premium edition also follows in the footsteps of iTunes Match by scanning songs on your mobile devices to match and store them in the cloud.

Music Hub will initially be available only on the new Samsung Galaxy S III but will eventually branch out to other devices, including Samsung Blu-ray players and Smart TVs.

The company is even hoping to design an iOS app to let Apple users access the service from their iPhones, according to the Register. But as CNET U.K. reporter Luke Westaway points out, we'll have to see if Samsung can sneak that one past Apple's approval process.

Six things to know about smartphone batteries

If you're trying to figure out what your iPhone 5 (or 6) -- or your next Android device or Windows Phone -- is going to look like, there are some things you need to know.

Temperatures can run high inside a smartphone...

(Credit: Leyden Energy)

Editors' note: This is a guest post. See Noam Kedem's bio at the bottom.

The smartphone market revolves around one question: how do you fit all-day access to all of a consumer's favorite applications and services comfortably into one hand? (The tablet market? Two hands.) The rest is commentary.

No smartphone manufacturer has managed to answer the question fully, because they all face a fundamental dilemma. The electronics that enable faster performance, higher-speed data, better video and gaming, a more vivid and detailed screen, are moving at the speed of Moore's Law. The lithium ion (Li-ion) pouch cell batteries that power them can't keep up. Little wonder that battery life is the biggest complaint of smartphone users!

The feature vs. run-time battle this imposes on smartphone designers is why the new iPad came in thicker and heavier than its predecessor. The battery needed to power the Retina Display, 4G LTE, and general and graphic processing improvements is 70 percent bigger and heavier. Even so, the new iPad's battery life (run-time) is slightly less than that of the iPad 2. The implications of that for the iPhone 5 are being hotly discussed.

Li-ion battery constraints go a long way toward explaining why smartphone vendors spend millions on incremental design advantages in a market that's moving with blinding speed. If you're trying to figure out what your iPhone 5 -- or your next Android device or Windows Phone -- is going to look like, here are six things you need to know about smartphone batteries.

1. Battery in a bag
A Li-ion pouch cell is a sealed bag containing carefully layered anode and cathode sheets, separators between them, and -- permeating all of these layers -- a liquid electrolyte. Although tablet batteries comprise several cells (three in the new iPad), smartphones are generally powered by single cells. Either way, at one end of the battery, a printed circuit board (PCB) is connected to the positive and negative terminals of each cell and provides active protection against short circuits, overcharge, and forced discharge. Li-ion pouch cells tend to be fragile and rely on the smartphone case for protection, and so officially are not user-replaceable.

2. Squeezing in run-time
The energy density of a Li-ion pouch cell determines how much run-time you can pack into a given size (volumetric) or weight (gravimetric). Li-ion technology hit the market in 1991. Since then, processor transistor count has increased more than a thousand-fold, Li-ion energy density only threefold. Denser electronics are what make dazzling features possible, but they draw ever more power. Unfortunately, battery manufacturers are having a harder and harder time increasing energy density. This is why non-replaceable Li-ion pouch batteries are popular with smartphone and tablet designers. Without the protective case needed to make a battery safe for consumers to handle -- which does nothing for energy capacity -- they are thinner and pack more run-time into a smaller space.

3. The XYZ of cells
Energy density is affected by the thickness and the ratio between width (X) and length (Y) of a Li-ion pouch cell. Volumetric energy density falls off as the pouch gets thinner because the packaging takes up a higher percentage of battery volume. The optimal X-Y ratio arises because when the PCB is installed on the short edge of a narrow battery, there's more room for the active materials (anode and cathode) that actually store energy. All other things being equal, a narrow, thicker battery will deliver better volumetric energy density than a more square one. (An interesting Apple patent reveals ways to mold batteries in more complex shapes to fit into places like the bezel that are presently impossible to use.)

...resulting in charging pauses and lockups.

(Credit: Leyden Energy)

4. The necessity of keeping cool
Li-ion pouch cells don't like it hot -- a common condition for smartphones, as anyone who's ever had to wait out the "cool down" message knows. The standard Li-ion chemistry depends on an electrolyte that reacts with residual moisture to create hydrofluoric acid, the most corrosive of all chemical compounds. Like all chemical reactions, this process doubles in speed with every increase in temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. The result is reduced calendar and cycle life: not only does run-time degrade with simple age, but each charge and discharge further reduces it, until the battery just doesn't last long enough between charges. Worse, Li-ion cells generate heat themselves during charge and discharge: the more power your smartphone calls for or the faster you charge it, the hotter the battery gets.

5. Building a smartphone
Three-layer or "carve-out"? The Motorola Droid Razr line (both Razr and Razr Maxx) is an example of the three-layer approach to smartphone design: screen, circuitry, and battery. The iPhone 4 comprises two layers -- screen and electronics -- with a space carved out of the PCB for the battery. In either case, a bigger screen means room for a bigger battery. Regardless of the other advantages of each approach, the narrower, thicker battery possible with the carve-out approach will offer higher energy density. In a three-layer approach, it's also more difficult to shield the battery from components that generate heat and thus shorten battery life.

6. Chemistry: Wild card of the pack
Improvements in Li-ion chemistry may offer dramatic improvements in energy density, giving smartphone designers more choices in the feature vs. run-time battle. There's a lot of promising research into new active materials and some new solutions already on the market. One of these uses a new Li-imide electrolyte that doesn't generate hydrofluoric acid and thus delivers a dramatic improvement in thermal stability and battery life. It also permits effectively thinner batteries by eliminating most of the swelling in thickness characteristic of current Li-ion pouch cells over their useful life, which forces designers to sacrifice cavity space to accommodate the swelling.

The bottom line
Don't expect dramatic departures in design from Apple or any other smartphone vendor until Li-ion pouch cells take the next step. This could come as soon as 12 to 18 months from now. New active materials (for example, silicon anode and high voltage/high capacity cathodes) combined with the new electrolyte mentioned above could deliver a 20 percent boost in run-time per charge in the same size battery. For the eventual iPhone 6, such a battery would give Apple more flexibility to consider faster processors, hungrier displays, and more applications without sacrificing run time, and make it easier to maintain the iPhone's famously sleek appearance.

In the meantime, keep your eye on Li-ion battery news with the six things above in mind, and you'll have a better idea of what to expect from the next generation of iPhone or Android smartphones.

Source: news.cnet.com

White Box Tablet Market Takes Shape While Android Tablet Prices Plummet

Is the $499 to $850 now touted for the third-generation Apple iPad beyond your price range? Well, you can find tablets with comparable feature sets for about a few hundred dollars; however, you may not get as much (maybe no) support or a warranty with these white box systems.
White box is a somewhat nebulous term that describes custom designed computer systems that come from non-name brand suppliers. These devices are often sold directly from the manufacturer, but in some cases are available through various channels, such as retail stores.
White box vendors try to match the quality and functions of branded counterparts but at a much cheaper price. The suppliers have taken a variety of approaches to meet this goal. System chips come from Freescale Inc., Intel Corp., and Via Technologies Inc. Many of the systems work with the Google Android operating system, but a few run Linux.
Given the nascent stage of the tablet market, the white box phenomenon is a recent development, but one that has been gaining momentum. “White box systems now account for about 20% of the worldwide tablet market,” stated Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.
Customers find a growing list of options. In fact, type the words White Box Tablet into alibaba.com, an electronics ecommerce site, and about 2,600 results pop up.
Why White Box?
White box options have emerged for several reasons. Supply constraint is one market force. “In China, white box vendors gained traction because Apple initially was not selling the iPad there,” noted Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner Inc.
Time is needed for vendors to get their products into different markets. In some cases, demand exceeds their ability to execute, opening the door to knock-off alternatives.
White box suppliers typically come from Asia, specialize in Integrated Circuit designer, and have built thriving businesses delivering copycat products. In fact, the Chinese government has actively tried to develop this sector as a major industry by offering tax incentives to suppliers. As a result, China is home to many of the world's best-known white-box suppliers today.
For instance, Chinavasion offers the Xinc tablet that features the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS and a 7-inch touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution. The device, which sells for about $125, is powered by 1.0GHz Cortex A10 Multi-Core processor, 512M bytes of RAM, 4G bytes of Flash Memory, and a 3600mAh rechargeable battery.
The Systems
Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co. Ltd. sells an Android Tablet with a 7-inch touchscreen and 800 x 600resolution. The product, which costs about $200, is powered by a .6GHz ARM 7100 dual core processor, 128M bytes of RAM, and a 2G byte hard drive.
Ingenic Semiconductor also has an Android tablet, one with a list price of less than $100. The system features a 7 inch screen, a MIPS-based XBurst CPU 1Ghz processor, multi-touch screen, front and rear cameras, integrated Wi-Fi, and support for USB 2.0 and HDMI 1.3.
Visionsoft, a subsidiary of VIA Technologies, has systems costing about $200 and featuring an 800MHz CPU and support for the AVI format, Flash10 playback, and HTML5 video standard.
Buyer Beware
The devices sport warts as well as low prices. “Typically, white box systems force users into some type of system compromise,” explained NDP DisplaySearch’s Shin.
In some cases, they receive less functionality. The screen resolution may be lower, operating systems older, processors slower, and memory less expansive than branded alternatives.
The product quality may be inferior. The suppliers may buy components from fledgling vendors that take shortcuts to reduce pricing. Also, white-box tablet makers may use panels that have been rejected by major brands or purchase end-of-the-lot inventory that component suppliers are trying to clear.
Amenities may be missing. Some suppliers do not offer product warranties. In other cases, their return policy may be skewed to the seller rather than to the customer.
Rectifying such problems may be difficult. “The white box vendors usually do not have strong customer support groups,” noted Gartner’s Milanesi. Even when they do, using it can be difficult because the vendors are typically stationed overseas.
Worth It?
So customers must ask: Are the potential savings worth the potential risks? Tablet pricing has been dropping. With high-end Android tablets struggling to gain traction in the market, vendors have been cutting pricing in order to move inventory. Also, the emergence of the Amazon Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and rumored Google ASUS tablet have pushed the market in the direction of the white box suppliers’ sweet spot, a few hundred dollars.
Despite those market shifts, the need for white box systems is expected to remain. “White boxes are widely accepted in established markets, like smartphones,” said Gartner’s Milanesi. Here, these systems are sold mainly in emerging economies where cost is key, and finding products can be difficult.
In established economies, they are not as significant a force. "In the US, white-box tablets will have limited appeal: they will be popular with value conscious buyers, such as students, whose choice is based almost exclusively on price," concluded Gartner’s Milanesi.
Source: tabletpcreview.com

Most Popular Laptops for April 2012

In that sense, think of this list as the "most clickable laptops of the month" ... the notebooks that most of the people visiting this site are interested in learning about. Keep in mind that clicks directly on the "Most Viewed Laptops" list do not count toward the total - keeping the list as fair as possible each month. The only clicks that count toward the monthly totals come from web searches like Google or from visitors who have clicked on a laptop after visiting our "Notebook Database" or inside our forums.
The HP Pavilion g6 budget-priced notebook is yet again holding firm to the #1 position with more than 22,000 page views for the month. The next highest ranked notebook on our site is new Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3, a 15-inch ultrabook with the new NVIDIA 600M-series Kepler graphics. That means for the first time we have four ultrabooks in our monthly Top 10 list.

1. HP Pavilion g6 (Still #1) - The Pavilion g6 is a budget-priced laptop that tries to balance great design, solid performance, and affordability. The Pavilion g6t series with 15.6-inch LED display features a range of available Intel Pentium and Core i series processors, Windows 7, multiple graphics options, and a 6-cell battery with more than four hours of battery life while browsing the web. (22,608 unique views) Purchase the HP Pavilion g6 View the NotebookReview.com Review for the HP Pavilion g6

2. Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 (New to the Top 10) - The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 is a 15.6-inch multimedia and gaming ultrabook. The Ultra M3 stands out because it's the first ultrabook that packs a dedicated graphics card. Not only that, it is the first ultrabook on the market with the new NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics. It can also support up to 6GB of RAM and a hybrid storage drive. It weighs in at 4.4 pounds and measures in at 14.8 x 10 x 0.79 inches. (21,155 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3

3. Lenovo G570 (Previously #2) - The G570 is part of the budget-priced/general use G-Series line by Lenovo. Running on Windows 7 Home Premium on a 15.6-inch display (1366x768), the G570 has an Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor and up to 8GB of RAM. Choose from a 500GB capacity hard drive at 5400rpm or a 750GB capacity hard drive at 5400rpm. The graphics card included with the system is an Intel HD 3000 (integrated). (17,071 unique views) View NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo G570

4. Asus Zenbook UX31 (Previously #3) - The Asus Zenbook UX31 is a 13.3-inch notebook with a 900p screen. It also comes with the option of a 11.6-inch screen. It was designed to compete with Apple's MacBook Air because of its higher-end specifications in a slim form factor. You can customize this notebook with up to 4GB-1333 DDR3 RAM. It has a 50Whr polymer (non-removable) battery. (14,061 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the ASUS Zenbook UX31

5. Asus B23E (New to the Top 10) - The Asus B23E is a 12.5-inch business netbook that can be equipped with up to an Intel Core i7 2640M dual-core processor and Intel HD graphics. It weighs in at only 3.4 pounds and its dimensions are only 12 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches, making it very portable. Equip it with up to 8GB-1333 memory and up to 750GB/7200rpm storage. (12,542 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Asus B23E

6. Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (Previously #4) - The 12.5-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is an ultraportable business notebook that will soon replace the popular X201. The X220 comes built with the latest of the Intel Sandy Bridge processors (Core i3, i5 or i7), has a high-quality IPS display, and can deliver more than eight and a half hours of battery life. With the optional battery slice this system can deliver 18 and a half hours of mobile life. Choose up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a hard drive with up to 320GB of hard drive storage. (11,488 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad X220

7. HP Folio 13 (Previously #9) - The HP Folio 13 is a 13-inch ultrabook encased in aluminum. It has a thickness of 0.7 inches and is equipped with a second-gen Intel Core i5 processor and 128GB solid state drive. It weighs in at 3.3 pounds. (9,323 unique views) Read the NotebookReview.com Review for the HP Folio 13 Purchase the HP Folio 13

8. Dell XPS 15z (Previously #10) - The Dell XPS 15z is a 15-inch multimedia notebook with an ultra-thin metal chassis, an optional 1080p display and a backlit keyboard. The XPS 15z can be configured with a second-generation Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 525M dedicated graphics for serious multimedia performance. With a starting weight of just 5.5 pounds and an attractive metal exterior this is an interesting alternative to Apple's MacBook Pro. (7,672 unique views) Purchase the Dell XPS 15z View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Dell XPS 15z

9. Toshiba Portege Z830 (Previously #5) - The Toshiba Portege Z830/Z835 is a thin and light consumer notebook with a 13.3-inch 720p display and a dual-core Intel Core i3-2367M processor. Known as an "Ultrabook," it comes equipped with 4GB DDR3-1333MHz memory (max. 6GB), a 128GB solid state drive, USB 3.0 and a backlit keyboard. The battery provided six hours of life during our tests. (7,402 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Toshiba Portege Z835

10. Lenovo ThinkPad W520 (Previously #8) - The Lenovo ThinkPad W520 is Lenovo's upgrade to the W510 mobile workstation notebook. This 15.6-inch notebook is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-2920XM processor and equipped with up to a discrete NVIDIA Quadro 2000M GPU, switchable to Intel HD integrated graphics. (7,320 unique views) View the NotebookReview.com Review for the Lenovo ThinkPad W520 Source: Notebookreview.com

The $1 million electric supercar goes on sale

Only 88 of the 1,088-horsepower Croatian electric cars will be sold -- for a hefty price.

The Rimac Concept One.

(Credit: Rimac)

Croatian automotive startup Rimac officially opened the order books for the electric supercar it debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. Only 88 of these exotic vehicles will be produced, but don't feel like you have to rush to order. Rimac may have a hard time finding buyers willing to throw down the near $1 million it will take to purchase the Concept One.

Rimac Concept One (photos)

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The Concept One went on sale at the start of the Top Marques Monaco, where Prince Albert II of Monaco spent some time behind the wheel of the EV. It's priced at $980,000 according to MotorAutority.com. Nearly $1 million may seem a lot for an electric car from an automaker you've never heard of, but this isn't any ordinary EV.
With 1,088 horsepower under the hood, the Concept One joins the elusive club of production vehicles, such as the Bugatti Veyron, that boast more than 1,000-hp. Its 0-60 mph acceleration time is a whiplash-inducing 2.8 seconds. The vehicle is propelled by four motors that drive each wheel independently, and its 92 kWh battery pack offers a 370-mile range, or less if you're driving the vehicle at its 190-mph top speed. The interior is crafted by a team of former Pininfarina designers, and boasts a tablet-size infotainment system.
This may finally be the electric car you can see yourself driving. That is, if you can get past the million-dollar price tag. Delivery of these supercars is expected to begin in 2013.

Source: news.cnet.com