Chromebook Pixel - Google Announces Newest Laptop

Google just announced their newest laptop — the Chromebook Pixel — which brings together the best in hardware, software and design to inspire the next generation of Chromebooks. With the Pixel, Google sets out to rethink all elements of a computer in order to design the best laptop possible, especially for power users who have fully embraced the cloud. The philosophy of Chrome has always been to minimize the "chrome" of the browser. In much the same way, the goal of the Pixel is to make the pixels disappear, giving people the best web experience.

Let's start with the screen. This Chromebook has the highest pixel density (239 pixels per inch) of any laptop screen on the market today. Packed with 4.3 million pixels, the display offers sharp text, vivid colors and extra-wide viewing angles. With a screen this rich and engaging, you want to reach out and touch it—so we added touch for a more immersive experience. Touch makes it simple and intuitive to do things like organize tabs, swipe through apps and edit photos with the tip of your finger.

The Pixel has been engineered with the highest quality components to ensure it's comfortable to use all day long and meets the needs of demanding power users. The body of the Pixel is made from an anodized aluminum alloy to create a smooth and durable surface; vents are hidden, screws are invisible and the stereo speakers are seamlessly tucked away beneath the backlit keyboard. The touchpad is made from etched glass, analyzed and honed using a laser microscope to ensure precise navigation. The Pixel also has powerful, full-range speakers for crisp sound, a 720p webcam for clear video, and a total of three microphones designed to cancel out surrounding noise.

Other aspects of the Pixel include:

Speed: Speed has been a core tenet of Chrome and Chromebooks since the beginning. For Pixel, it's critical that the overall experience, everything from loading webpages to switching between apps, is near instant. Powered by an Intel® Core™ i5 Processor and a solid state Flash memory architecture, the Pixel performs remarkably fast.

Connectivity: The Pixel has an industry-leading WiFi range thanks to carefully positioned antennas and dual-band support. Long-term evolution (LTE) is engineered directly into the machine, delivering fast connectivity across Verizon's network, the largest, fastest 4G LTE network in the U.S. (LTE model optional). It also comes with 12 free GoGo® Inflight Internet passes for those times you need to connect while in the air.

Storage: Since this Chromebook is for people who live in the cloud, one terabyte of Google Drive cloud storage* is included with the Pixel. This enables you to save, access and share photos, videos, documents, and all of your stuff from all of your devices, from anywhere.

Finally, as you've come to expect from all Chromebooks, all of your favorite Google products like Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps and Google+ Hangouts are integrated and just a click away. And since it's based on Chrome OS, the Pixel boots up in seconds and never slows down, requires almost zero setup or maintenance, and comes with built-in virus protection. Best of all, it stays up to date with automatic updates every few weeks.

If you want to be part of the next step in the Chromebook journey, the Pixel will be available for purchase starting today on Google Play in the U.S. and U.K., and soon on BestBuy.com. The WiFi version ($1,299 U.S. and £1,049 U.K.) will start shipping next week and the LTE version ($1,449) will ship in the U.S. in April. If you’re interested in a hands-on experience, you can visit select Best Buy (U.S.) and Currys PC World (U.K.) store locations.

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Acer Aspire S7 unboxed, in the flesh

Launched in the Philippines back in October, the Acer Aspire S7 became the company’s 3rd-generation ultrabook running Windows 8. Since we can no longer wait for our turn to borrow a review unit, we decided to just buy one instead.

Acer Philippines was kind enough to give us a media discount so we got the 11-inch model. Having owned the first-generation Aspire S3, we’re excited how Acer has refined their R&D to design and develop the S7.
We actually first saw the Aspire S7 last June 2012 during Computex in Taiwan. It was one of the show-stoppers in Acer’s booth.

The package came with a lot of free accessories, the most in any ultrabook we’ve seen thru the years — a micro-HDMI to VGA adapter, USB-to-LAN adapter, a matching Bluetooth mouse and a docking station with an additional battery capacity of just over 3,000mAh. Acer claims this docking station and the built-in Li-Polymer battery has a combined life of 12 hours on a single full charge.

There’s also a dirty gray, stitched leather case that came in the box. Perhaps, our only disappointed here was that the matching white power cable/adapter is actually a bit big and bulky.
Nevertheless, we were pretty impressed that Acer had everything you need right out of the box so there’s no reason to buy additional accessories for the Aspire S7 (the whole set of accessories probably costs between Php10-12k if they were sold separately).

The S7 has a unibody design and uses aluminum on almost all corners, including the lid cover that comes with a diagonally crisscrossing pattern.

The front screen uses an edge-to-edge display panel which is protected by Gorilla Glass 2. The IPS display has a good tactile feel to it allowing for a comfortable touch experience with using Windows 8. The screen has a full HD 1080p resolution so the pixels are really packed together.

The one other unique feature of the Aspire S7 is a the microSD card reader. Most other 11-inch ultrabook don’t provide an SD card reader (normally afforded on the 13-inch variants).
Acer found a way to squeeze it into the thin frame by including a microSD slot (I normally use regular SD cards which I use to transfer files from my camera but for this one, I might use a microSD card with an SD card adapter for my point-and-shoot units).

We noticed that the keyboard, while slightly spaced apart and back-lit, has very little to no flex (meaning, the low height of each chiclet keys will force you to press down really hard to get a key response).

The hardware configuration is pretty much standard to ultrabooks although the inclusion of a full HD and touchscreen display does add up to the over-all value.
Acer Aspire S7 11.6″ specs:
11.6-inch IPS full HD LCD display @ 1920×1080 pixels
Intel Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz
Turbo Bost up to 2.6GHz
Intel HD 4000 graphics
4GB DDR3 RAM
128GB SSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
micro-HDMI port
microSD card slot
Thunderbolt port
USB 3.0 port
Windows 8
4-cell Li-Ion battery

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z announced

Sony just had a regional launch of the Xperia Z line last week in Singapore and today, they’ve also announced the tablet counterpart. The Xperia Tablet Z brings power into a super thin body.
Announced in Japan earlier today, the Xperia Tablet Z has almost the same specs as its smartphone counterpart.

Sony Xperia Tablet Z specs:
10.1-inch full HD display @ 1920×1200 pixels
Mobile Bravia Engine 2
Qualcomm 1.5GHz APQ8064 quad-core processor
2GB RAM
32GB storage
NFC
LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
up to 32GB via microSD card
8.1-megapixel Exmor R camera
Li-Ion 6,000mAh battery
Android 4.1 Jellybean
The tablet is so thin at 6.9mm and weighs just 495 grams. No details on release date and pricing yet.
On a related news, Sony Philippines is set to release the Xperia Tablet S this month (delayed from last December’s original date due to shipment issues).

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Lenovo announces ThinkPad X131e Chromebook

Lenovo has just announced its first Chromebook aimed at school administrators, students and teachers – the ThinkPad X131e Chromebook.
Thinkpad X131e features an 11.6-inch (1366×768) HD LED display with anti-glare screen, an Intel processor, three USB ports, VGA, HDMI, a low-light webcam, and a battery that can last “the entire school day.”

What’s special about the ThinkPad X131e is that Lenovo made it to be “school-proof”, meaning it has the following features:
* Exceeds industry standard Mil-SPEC testing for proven durability
* Force-absorbing top cover bumper, strong corners and hinges
* Recessed and reinforced ports
* Thicker and stronger bezel to protect the LED panel
* Active Protection System protects the hard drive and prevents data loss
The Lenovo ThinkPad X131e Chromebook will be available in the US starting via special bid volume pricing starting at $429.
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Asus outs MeMO Pad ME172V for $149

Asus has recently announced what could be a much cheaper Android Jellybean tablet than the Nexus 7. Though not really as powerful as the Nexus 7, the MeMO Pad ME172V will be more affordable by 25%.
Current price of the Nexus 7 is Php13,995 locally so it is possible that Asus is really aiming for the sub-Php10k market with the Memo Pad. At $149, that’s roughly Php6,000+ already (might end up around Php7.5k to Php8k when it reaches the Philippines).

Of course, there’s a trade-off. The hardware configuration isn’t the same as the Nexus 7.
Asus MeMO Pad ME172V specs:
7.0 inch LCD @ 1024×600 pixels, 170ppi
1.0 GHz VIA WM8950 processor
Mali-400 Graphics
1GB RAM
8GB, 16GB internal storage
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Li-Ion 4270mAh battery Android Jellybean 4.1
Asus is releasing the MeMO Pad in emerging markets so it’s very probable they will also bring this in the country later this year.
Update: Just got confirmation from Asus Philippines that they will announce local availability and pricing very soon.

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Sony VAIO T Review

Sony VAIO laptops have the reputation of combining performance with good looks. Can the latest Sony VAIO T live up to those standards? Let’s find out by reading our full review after the break.

Design and Build
The first time you look at the VAIO T it will give you an impression that it is entirely made of metal when actually it’s a combination metal and high-quality plastics. The top lid is made of aluminum with a brushed finish. It is accented by a grey plastic strip right at the top end of the lid and at the center you’ll see the large VAIO logo in chrome.

On the left side is the power jack, exhaust vents, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 ports. On the right is the Ethernet jack, VGA, HDMI port, SD card slot, and headset/mic jack. On the front are light indicators for the battery, hard disk, and WiFi connection. As for the rear end part, there is nothing much to see except for the stylish plastic chrome covering, and two rubber stubs that act as a small stand that slightly elevates the notebook when you open the lid.

Open the lid and you’ll see the chiclet keyboard and trackpad. Right above the keyboard are the speaker grills, three VAIO dedicated buttons, more light indicators, and the power button located on the right hand side. Also found here is the 11.6-inch display surrounded by a frame of about an inch wide. Located above the display is the microphone and the 1.3 megapixel webcam.

Overall, the VAIO T has an excellent build and attractive design thanks to its silver color and the combination of slanted edges and curved corners. And at 1.42kg, it is not that heavy to carry around. The only negative part here is the wide framing around the display especially at the bottom as it makes the VAIO T’s display look like an old computer monitor than a laptop display. Other than that everything looks great.
Display
The VAIO T has an 11.6-inch LED-backlit display which can be considered as small, but given the resolution of 1366 x 768, it actually has the advantage of having a higher pixel density.

Overall, the display is crisp and bright, viewing angles are great and color reproduction is good so you’ll certainly enjoy viewing photos and watching movies on the VAIO T.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the VAIO T is the flat chiclet type made of plastic that your fingertips will surely welcome. Keys are evenly spaced and delivers the right amount of springiness and depth. Combine that with the slight elevation made by the rubber stubs located at the rear of the notebook and you’ll find yourself typing in comfort.

However, the keys are sometimes noisy to type on especially when you’re hitting it too hard. In addition, there’s no keyboard backlighting so it’ll be difficult to work in the dark.
As for the touchpad, it is nice and smooth with just the right amount of wideness and sensitivity.
Multimedia
The VAIO T has a lot of multimedia software features which you can find by accessing the VAIO Gate from the top of the desktop. This include PlayMemories that lets you import music and videos, Media Gallery to browse media files, Media Go which plays and organizes media files, and TrackID which gathers media information from the web, to name a few. Another neat feature here is the VAIO Gesture control that lets you browse photos, control volume and multimedia playback with hand gestures using the VAIO T’s webcam.

As for multimedia playback, this isn’t an issue on the VAIO T as it can handle all files especially HD videos. The display quality is satisfying, sound quality is loud and clear however there is some slight crackling when the volume is cranked up to the max.
Performance
The Sony VAIO T comes with an Intel Core i5-3317U Processor clocked at 1.70 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.60 GHz, 4GB of DDR3L SDRAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000, and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium with SP1. Windows Experience Index gave the processor a subscore of 6.9, Gaming graphics performance at 6.2, and Hard Disk and Memory performance at 5.9. Desktop graphics got the lowest thus giving as an overall base score of 4.6.

Boot up takes 19 seconds while shutdown takes 15 seconds. Overall user performance is great and we didn’t experience and crashes or hang ups during our use.
Battery

Sony promises the VAIO T a battery life of 4.5 hours. With normal use which consists of constant WiFi connectivity, browsing the web and social networking sites, watching a movie and writing articles, the battery lasted an approximate of 4 hours which is good enough.
Conclusion
To cut straight to the point, the VAIO T has the looks, it is comfortable to work with, and can deliver the type of performance you’d expect from a notebook of this caliber. However, it is not without flaws. The display frame is too wide, the keyboard keys are noisy to type on and there’s no keyboard backlighting. If you want Windows 8, sorry to tell you but it comes with Windows 7.

But as recompense, you get a wide range of ports that some Ultrabooks do not have such as an SD card slot, VGA and a full-sized HDMI port. It is portable, has a good battery life and is rich with multimedia features. To conclude, the Sony VAIO T is an excellent notebook that you’ll never regret buying.
Sony VAIO T SVT11113FGS specs:
11.6 inch wide (WXGA: 1366 x 768) TFT colour display
Intel Core i5-3317U 1.70GHz dual-core
Turbo Boost up to 2.60 GHz
Intel HD Graphics 4000
4GB DDR3 SDRAM
500GB SATA HDD
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
1 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0
HDMI out
SD Card slot
1.3MP HD web camera
Stereo speakers w/ Clear Phase and xLOUD
297.0 x 17.8 x 214.5 mm
1.42 kg Php47,999
What we liked about it:
* Great build and design
* Good display
* Good performance
* Good battery life
* Full ports
* Loud speakers
* Rich multimedia features
What we didn’t like about it:
* Display frame is too wide
* Noisy plastic keys
* No keyboard backlighting

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