Maxis bringing Motorola XOOM WiFi....

Motorola Mobility has announced that Maxis is bringing in Motorala XOOM WiFi in May. For a limited time, Maxis customer will get a free Motorola DEFY when they purchase Motorola XOOM WiFi at RM2499. However, Maxis customer will need to sign-up a 3GB x 24 months contract on Motorola DEFY. This will allow DEFY to offer XOOM the internet access via its WIFI connectivity.

Source: Maxis

Motorola XOOM is the first tablet shipped with Google's latest mobile operating system, Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The highly anticipated mobile OS was release in February 2011, is specifically designed to cater for devices with larger screen such as tablets.To complement Android 3.0, Motorola has come up with impressive hardwares. The tablet is powered by an Nviadia Tegra 2, a 1 GHz dual-core processor. It has 1GB of RAM and up to 32GB of internal storage capacity. The device also offers a pair of cameras; a 5M rear facing camera (with dual-LED flash) and a 2MP front facing camera for video chat.

It also comes with a multitude of sensors; a gyroscope, an ambient light, compass, accelerometer, proximity and,  surprisingly, a barometer.In term of connectivity, XOOM offers wifi, bluetooth, and USB2.0 via micro USB connector. The device also included an HDMI output port, a 3.5mm audio jack and a built-in microphone as well as microSD slot and a propriety power port.

With dimension of 249.1mm height, 167.8mm wide and 12.9 mm thickness, XOOM weights approximately 708gm for WIFI version and 730gm for the WIFI+3G version. XOOM The 10.1-inch display offers the resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels with the 16:10 aspect ratio. Contrary to most of the Android devices, XOOM does not have the dedicated buttons for the usual Android HOME, OPTIONS and BACK buttons. Instead it was intergrated into the UI.

When it was announced back in February, it was way ahead of every competitors out there. Since then, the more polished and slimmer iOS 4.0 based iPAD 2 is out, even slimmer Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10 were announced,  cheaper yet feature packed ASUS Transformer and ACER ICONIA TAB A500 just been released. How will XOOM stand out in this crowd, only time can tell.



iPAD 2 is officially here...

iPad 2 officially here (in Malaysia). Hundres lined up outside the authorized Apple dealers since the night before. My brother was one of the few first who got their hands on the 2nd generation of Apple's hugely popular tablet device.

In KLCC, long line formed from Machine store up until FlashGadget's Canon Concept store from early morning up until around 2PM.

The tablet comes in two flavors; Wifi only version and Wifi+3G version.

The Wifi only version are priced at RM1499 (16GB), RM1799 (32GB) and RM2099 (64GB) whereas the Wifi+3G version are priced at RM1899 (16GB), RM2199 (32GB) and RM2499 (64GB).

The iPad 2 were reported ran out of stock in just 5 hours.

* images are taken from https://www.apple.com
Go to Apple official site below for the detailed specification:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

 

Sony announced S1 & S2 Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets

Sony has officially entered the Android tablet market with their announcement of S1 and S2 tablets yesterday.

www.prnewswire.com:
“Sony Tablet” is equipped with the latest Android 3.0 which is designed for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets. Both tablets are WiFi and WAN (3G/4G) compatible and users can not only browse the internet or check e-mail but they can also smoothly access digital content including videos, games and books through Sony’s premium network services and more, on-the-go at any time.
S1 has a 9.4-inch display for enjoying the web and rich content on a large screen. Its off-center of gravity design realizes stability and ease of grip as well as a sense of stability and lightness, offering comfortable use for hours.

S2 has two 5.5-inch displays that can be folded for easy portability. In contrast to existing tablets, its unprecedented dual screen presentation and usability allows its displays to be combined and used as a large screen or for different functions such as playing video on one screen while showing control buttons on the other.

Read the press release at the link below:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sony-announces-optimally-designed-sony-tablet-with-android-30-that-complements-network-services-for-an-immersive-entertainment-experience-120679209.html

Acer Iconia Tab W500

Acer Iconia Tab W500 is now available in Malaysia. A quick call to Acer Concept store in Berjaya Times Square has revealed that the Windows 7 based tablet is now available to the consumers at a price around RM1600.

W500 tablet is the first built on AMD Fusion chip, which has been found to outperform Intel Atom processors. The chip also consumes less power and compatible with DirextX 11 API. The tablet is shipped with Windows 7 Home Premium operating system, instead of Google’s Android or Apple iOS operating system.

Acer Iconia Tab W500 tablet is packed with 10.1″ HD Crystalbrite LED-backlit TFT LCD display, sporting 1280×800 pixel resolution. The new tablet is powered with a dual-core 1GHz processor with integrated Radeon HD 6250. It also has 2GB ram and an 32GB SSD harddisk, along with an SD expansion slot, Wifi and optional 3G.

You can transfrom the tablet into a laptop/netbook with an optional dockable/detachable keyboard, which may costs you additional RM150-RM200 (estimate only).

HTC Flyer - A hands on review

From it announcement in MWC 2011, HTC is hoping that its new tablet able to take a bite from the market dominated by Apple iPad. But does it have what it takes to do so?
HTC Flyer is an Android 2.3.3 based tablet. HTC has optimized its HTC Sense UI for tablet usage. Not only that HTC also included a HTC Scribe™ digital pen which allows you to do a multitude of wonderful thing, including drawing, note taking, text-marking, and highlighting (with choices of colors).

HTC has opt for the smaller form factor of 7 inch tablet for Flyer. The tablet sports a 7″ 1024×600 Super LCD display with multi-touch capability. With weight around 420g and thickness of 13.2mm (0.52″), it light and really fit into your hand. It feels thinner as well. Aesthetically, I am more towards Samsung Galaxy Tab design, HTC Flyer looks quite smart with it aluminium and the white plastic chassis.
Under the hood, HTC Flyer is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor with 1GB RAM and 32GB ROM. The tablet also has a 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera. There are a few hard buttons around it’s body for power on/off and volume up/down. On the screen there are the normal Home, Menu and Back buttons. I couldn’t really find the microSD slot as claimed by HTC in its website.
The speedy 1.5GHz processor really put HTC Flyer ahead of other Android tablets with single-core processor. There is no noticeable delay when I flicked thru the Home screen nor when flipping thru the pages of the e-Book when compared to Samsung Galaxy Tab (might caused by Samsung own UI).
I have never tested HTC Sense UI before, but I was quite impressed with the one on HTC Flyer. The desktop and widgets rearranges itself when you rotate the tablet from portrait view to landscape view and back. You can even see all the seven home screens by pinching or pressing the Home button.

Another feature which the tablet boosts is the HTC Time Mark. It allows you to take note (together with HTC Scribe™ digital pen features), voice recording as well as post picture. And all these are synchronized with the calendar.
In summary, I am quite impressed with HTC Flyer. But how will it holds itself against the hordes of Android Honeycomb tablets with dual-cores processor. According to Adam Mills (www.gottabemobile.com), HTC has just confirmed that HTC Flyer will be getting Android 3.0 Honeycomb update at some point shortly after launch. One thing for sure, HTC Flyer clearly deserve a great consideration if you are planning on having a tablet sometime soon.
As of now, no price has been announced for the tablet. In order to remain competitive, I believe HTC should priced it around RM1200 – RM1500 RM1,400.00-RM1,800.00.
UPDATE:  www.soyacincau.com reported that Maxis will priced HTC Flyer at RM2499.00, which is way above my estimation. However also reported that Maxis will offer the tablet as low as RM199 with maximum contract term of 24 months. WOW!!! What's the catch? I think we'll just have to wait until May 12th to find out.

HTC Flyer will be available for purchase at Maxis on 12th May 2011. You can register your interest at Maxis website.
Follow the link below to register your interest with Maxis.
http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/Tablets/index.asp
*pictures are taken from wwww.htc.com

Preview : HTC Flyer

I just got my hand on HTC Flyer today. Well, the demo set at Maxis Center in KLCC, just for about 5 minutes before I had to rush back to my office. I’ll be back there to experience this really cool device on a daily basis (during lunch time) until I get my review up.

Specification:

1.5 GHz CPU
1 GB RAM
Android™ Operating System with HTC Sense™ UI
32 GB Internal Storage
microSD™ Memory Card Expansion slot(SD 2.0 compatible)
5 megapixel color camera with auto focus (rear)
1.3 megapixel camera (front)
3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Standard micro-USB (12-pin micro-USB 2.0)
Ambient light sensor
Gyro-Sensor
Digital compass
HSPA/WCDMA:900/AWS/2100 MHz (Europe/Asia)
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (WiFi)
Bluetooth® 3.0 with A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
Internal GPS antenna
Audio Playback: aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
Audio Recording:.amr, .aac
Video Playback:.3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9), .avi (MP4 ASP and MP3), .xvid (MP4 ASP and MP3)
Video Recording:.3gp
Key features:

• An optional HTC Scribe™ digital pen that unlocks HTC Scribe technology, which enables the ability to capture and annotate any on-screen content with notes and drawings
• Integration/compatibility with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® 3.0
• 7″ 1024×600 display with multi-touch capability and an optional digital pen that enables users to take synchronized notes and annotate content
• Built-in dual microphones for noise reduction
• Android™operating system (ver 2.3.3)
• Adobe® Flash® 10.1 support
• 5 MP Color CMOS rear camera (with auto focus)
• 1.3MP front camera (for video chatting)
• 4,000 mAh battery

http://www.htc.com/www/product/flyer/overview.html

Stay tune for my first hand review of HTC Flyer in the coming days. Follow the link below to register your interest with Maxis.
http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/Tablets/index.asp

Maxis is bringing Motorola Xoom & HTC Flyer

It is official. Maxis is bringing in the much awaited Motorola Xoom and HTC Flyer. However, no official price has been announced.

Maxis has setup a special page within its website for customer to register their interest in these devices. For those who wanted to test out HTC Flyer, Maxis has put out 3 of the devices out at Maxis Center in KLCC. However, Xoom is nowhere to be seen.

Stay tune for my first hand review of HTC Flyer in the coming days. Follow the link below to register your interest with Maxis.
http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/Tablets/index.asp