May 19th, 2012, 10:54 P.M.–Disappointed with the Galaxy S3 of Samsung? Well, you’re in the minority because new reports reveal that the South Korean phone maker has recently bagged 9 million pre-orders of its 2012 flagship Google Android smartphone.

Two weeks ago, multiple tech sites said the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a “disappointment,” telling their readers that the phone, surprisingly, is still made of plastic and other non-premium materials. Well, here’s a little good news for Samsung and Android fans out there, the Galaxy S3, according to a report, is already well on its way to becoming the most popular Samsung Galaxy phone ever, beating the Samsung Galaxy S2, the 2011 flagship Android device of the popular Asian phone maker.

According to Reuters, Samsung has received a whopping 9 million pre-orders already, ahead of the Galaxy S3′s June release date in United States, and late May launch in Europe. Samsung declined to comment, the report added, and the company’s mute-mode could be related to company secrecy, apparently. The number, I think, is a disclosed proof that Samsung is the only company right now that can compete with Apple’s iPhone.

It is worth noting though that the 9 million orders were likely placed by third-party retailers and resellers as part of the distribution chain, and the success of the phone will be visible only after the official launch date.

According to rumors, Sprint, ATT, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, the four main wireless providers here in United States, are set to offer the device to sell more phone lines and data plans. The Samsung Galaxy S3, if rumors are accurate, will ship with Snapdragon S4 Krait by Qualcomm here in United States because Samsung’s own chipset, the Exynos, is not compatible with LTE or Long Term Evolution.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is pre-installed with Android’s new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system version with the custom Samsung user-interface skin. The device comes with a large display with more pixels per inch or PPI, and sports an 8-megapixel primary camera, and a forward-facing camera for video chat.

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Now, Lenovo, which bought the ThinkPad brand when it acquired IBM’s personal computer business in 2005, is stripping away some of the weight of the ThinkPad, with a new lightweight model that falls into the Ultrabook category.

The China-based PC maker is also introducing new ThinkPad X, T, W and L Series models, including the lightweight X230, and the ThinkPad X230t, a 12-inch convertible tablet that comes with a fully attached keyboard.

First, the X1 Carbon: Lenovo is claiming the featherweight title with this one, calling it the world’s lightest 14-inch professional Ultrabook. It clocks in at three pounds and, as one might expect from the name, is built with carbon fiber. It has an HD display and backlit keyboard, and is running Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors. Business users will appreciate the option to connect to 3G wireless networks via the laptop, provided that they’ve subscribed to a data plan through a carrier, for those times one needs to get work done and Wi-Fi is as unavailable as water in the desert.

While Lenovo says the laptop can be fully charged in 30 minutes, it’s unclear how long the battery charge is expected to last; and a few other details about the product — such as price and the number of built-in ports — are still unknown. The X1 Carbon Ultrabook will hit the market this summer.

Lenovo’s first entrant in the Ultrabook market, the IdeaPad U300s, which AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg reviewed late last year, costs $1,095 and comes with a 128 gigabyte drive, 4GB of memory and Intel’s i5 processor. And at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Lenovo showed off the $849 ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook, which is 12mm thick and weighs less than four pounds.

And then there are Lenovo’s new ThinkPad X, T, W, and L Series laptops, which also include Intel’s third-generation Core processors, Dolby audio, HD displays and ThinkPad Precision keyboards with optional backlighting. The T430s is the ThinkPad line’s lightest 14-inch (non-Ultrabook) laptop, while the T530 has a 15-inch full-HD display. But the most notable feature of these laptops is probably the addition of 4G/LTE broadband availability through Lenovo’s upcoming contract-free broadband service. The laptops will go on sale in June, and will range in price from $879 to $1,399.

A punched-up X230 ThinkPad will hit the market in June for $1,179, claiming up to 24 hours of battery life in a 12.5-inch form factor and weighing less than three pounds. This laptop also comes with 4G/LTE mobile broadband access.

If you’d rather have your X230 in tablet form, Lenovo has thought of that, too: The ThinkPad X230t has a rotating display that can be folded over to create an instant tablet. It is touchscreen enabled, comes with a stylus pen and also works with a ThinkPad laser mouse. (Lenovo has been playing with this form factor for a long time, actually. For an idea of how it works, check out this YouTube video.)

The convertible tablet (tabtop? laplet?) will start at around $1,479.

For the most part, these new entrants are still geared toward the professional market. But Tom Butler, Lenovo’s global director of product marketing, says the company is looking to appeal to consumers, too, in what Lenovo calls the “PC-plus” era. “From a ThinkPad perspective, we’re looking at the ‘consumerization’ of tech, so we’re addressing not only the IT departments but also the consumer,” he said.

Given the growing BYOD trend in corporations, it seems like a wise move. But whether workers given the option to work on their own laptops would prefer to bring in a consumer-ized Lenovo ThinkPad or a MacBook Air — or another, thinner Mac laptop reported to be on the way — is still to be seen.

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That’s according to a Tuesday story in the Wall Street Journal, which reports that Google is shifting its Android strategy so that it will not only give select mobile-device makers early access to new releases, but will also sell the resulting devices unlocked directly to consumers.

As many as five manufacturers may get privileged access to new releases of the mobile operating system, in fact, with an eye toward creating a “portfolio” of Nexus lead devices including both smartphones and tablets, the WSJ reported, citing “a person familiar with the matter.”

Google aims to sell those gadgets online and contract-free directly to consumers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, but retailers may be involved as well, the report suggests. U.S. Thanksgiving is reportedly the target date for the launch.

So Long, Fragmentation

While Android has clearly done enormously well, inconsistency and fragmentation are among the chief complaints about the Linux-based mobile operating system. This new strategy could ensure that more Android phones are running the latest version of the OS; it could also help other manufacturers create their own custom builds more quickly.

Such a strategy would also restore a significant degree of control back to Google, which has long been at the mercy of wireless carriers for pushing updates to consumers, as well as for decisions as to which apps can be included on the devices they carry. Verizon Wireless, for example, doesn’t allow the Google Wallet app on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus device.

In addition, the new tactic could minimize device-makers’ concerns over Google’s pending Motorola Mobility acquisition, since it won’t be just Motorola getting early access to new releases.

Not Without Risks

Bypassing wireless carriers, of course, has the potential to enrage the carriers themselves.

Then, too, there’s the proven difficulty of selling handsets online to consumers, who have indicated in the past that they prefer to be able to touch them and try them out before buying.

Still, the shift could be an exciting one, removing as it would any disadvantage Android might face in its ongoing competition with Apple, which has always been at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to controlling its ecosystem.

A more unified front could also help in Google’s ongoing legal battles over Android.

Your Move, Tizen

I spoke briefly with Google spokesman Christopher Katsaros this morning for confirmation, but he declined to comment on the story.

Meanwhile, I can’t help but wonder what effect all this may have on the other mobile players, including most notably Linux-based (and Samsung-backed) Tizen along with Mozilla’s own Boot to Gecko. If nothing else, it seems to me it might encourage them to step up their own efforts.

It looks as though competition in the mobile market just became tighter.

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Tablets are a hit with consumers, and there’s a growing amount of software that allows them to perform tasks previously reserved for PCs. But certain tasks, like typing long documents or making spreadsheets, are still better suited for traditional computers, with their keyboards and precise pointing devices.

That’s where the new convertibles come in. Depending on users’ needs, they can function as either laptops or tablets.

Some of these devices are traditional laptops that are outfitted with touch-sensitive screens mounted on special hinges that allow them to be rotated or folded to hide their keyboards.

Others, including the Transformer Pad, are iPad-like tablets that can be slid into hinged docks that include keyboards and track pads. When you’re done using them, you can fold them up just like a typical laptop.

I’ve been testing out the Transformer Pad and I wrote part of this column on it, using its keyboard dock.

Going in, I had my doubts about the concept. My test of the Transformer Pad didn’t allay them. My take on the device is that it’s a decent tablet, but a crummy laptop.

Part of the problem is the keyboard dock itself. It’s small and cramped, and the experience of typing on it is much like using a netbook: uncomfortable.

Another problem is that the Android software the Transformer Pad runs was designed for touch-screen devices, not for keyboard-oriented ones. Much of what you’d want to do on the device is just easier to accomplish using its touch-sensitive screen.

For example, scrolling through a website using the arrow keys on the keyboard or the trackpad is a herky-jerky affair; it’s much faster to just swipe the screen.

And there are things that you do every day on a PC that you either can’t do or have difficulty doing with Android. One big one is that you generally can’t view multiple applications at one time in Android; instead, each one takes up the full screen when it’s in the foreground.

The device is more satisfying as a simple tablet. It’s got a bright screen that looks great, even if it’s not as high-resolution as that of the new iPad. It’s got an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera that takes pretty good pictures. It’s one of the first tablets to run Google’s Android 4.0, the latest version. And Asus has included with it some useful software, including an enhanced note-taking app that allows users to type, handwrite or dictate memos, and a free cloud file-storage service.

What I liked best was its battery, which seemed to just keep going and going.

And, compared with the iPad, it’s a bargain. The 16-gigabyte version of the Transformer Pad retails for about $380, or more than $100 less than the comparable iPad. But the optional keyboard dock adds an additional $150 to its price.

But despite having a supercharged quad-core processor, the device often feels sluggish.

ASUS TRANSFORMER PAD TF300

• Pros: Bright screen, high-resolution camera, latest version of Android, long-lasting battery, relatively low price

• Cons: Often sluggish, particularly with Web browsing; few apps available specifically for tablets; keyboard dock is cramped; interface not well-suited for use with keyboard

• Specs: 1.2GHz quad-core processor; 1.2-megapixel front and 8-megapixel rear cameras; 1280 x 800 pixel 10.1-inch screen; Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

• Price: $380 for 16-gigabyte model, $400 for 32-gigabyte model; keyboard dock is an additional $150

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As befits the latest release, the NEX-F3 gets the latest in sensor technology: Sony’s 16Mp Exmor APS HD CMOS, which is being used in many current and more expensive Sony dSLRs.

One new photographic feature on the new NEX that is sure to be controversial to purists is the Auto Portrait Framing, a first of its kind technology that uses face detection and the ‘rule of thirds’ in order to trim the scene into a tightly framed, professional-looking picture in portrait or landscape orientation while maintaining a copy of the original image.

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On the video end of things, the NEX-F3 is sure to please, too. As befits any modern camera, the NEX does full 1080p HD video. Thanks to its compatibility with the new AVCHD format, the camera can record movies with frame rates as high as 60fps (or as low as 24 fps if you choose).

As a last interesting feature on the NEX that is sure to make it a popular choice for people on the go, there is the ‘clear image zoom’ feature, which is a fancy way of saying a 2x crop mode. No matter what one calls it, the result is the same: an effective doubling of the focal length of any lens used on the camera, which can go a long way in preventing a pain in the neck (literally!) caused by having to carry around a big telephoto optic.

For some final pluses, the NEX-F3 features a built-in flash, better battery life when compared to its predecessor, the NX-C3, and an optional OLED viewfinder screen, which can come in very handy when shooting in bright situations that can create glare on the LCD screen.

As for the fluff, there’s an articulating screen that makes for easy self-portraits and a superior auto mode, which Sony claims can recognize different types of scenes and then adjust settings accordingly.

In addition: Sony has also announced a 18-200mm lens, which features a generous 11x zoom capability that makes it the perfect go-anywhere lens as well as Sony’s in-lens optical stabilization that will help counter camera shake when used at slow shutter speeds and/or at long focal lengths. As an added plus, the E-mount 18-200 is smaller and lighter than the A-mount 18-200.

Want to buy the Sony NEX-F3 in the Cleveland area? Well, there’s Cleveland-based Dodd Camera, with its downtown superstore. In addition, there are many smaller Cleveland metro area chain stores in the Cuyahoga County area, too. Dodd is an authorized Sony dealer. As for pricing and availability, the NEX will hit stores in June at a price of around $600 when bundled with the 18-55 kit lens. The 18-200mm lens? It will start shipping in July at a cost of around $850.

For more info:
Press release
 

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Phoenix, Arizona, May 18, 2012 – Anyone who has ever been caught without a brochure or business card while speaking with a prospective client has a new tool to ensure they always have their information handy. Android Shields has developed a way to place a company’s QR (quick response) code onto a custom-made protective cell phone skin. Prospective clients can use their smartphone’s camera to scan the code and gain immediate access to a Vcard (electronic business card), company website or the company’s social network page on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter.

Today’s cell phones are more technologically advanced than ever, yet this has made them much more fragile. Highly durable forms of exterior protection like “skins” that cover the phone are necessary to prevent damage from falls, scratches and other symptoms of wear and tear. Android Shields makes custom-designed skins that provide companies with an effective and highly portable form of promoting their logo, products and services. The addition of QR codes to these custom skins allows them to quickly and easily meet the needs of potential customers demanding the latest information on products and services while protecting their investment in delicate technological devices.

The application of this technology has a broad potential impact, since over 50 percent of Americans use smartphones, according to a May2012 Neilsen research study. Any person with a cell phone that has a camera and internet access can use QR codes, once they load a free app into their phone. This technology also promotes green living, since companies who place this code on a custom-made skin save paper and allow clients to have the most up-to-date information without reprinting new cards or brochures. In addition, unlike paper mediums, information from QR codes cannot get lost or damaged.

About Android Shields-
Android Shields is a Phoenix, Arizona-based company created by three individuals with extensive experience in the cell phone industry. Android Shields uses advanced technology developed to protect helicopter blades to create custom QR code skins and social skins for cell phones, as well as iPads and clear protection for watch faces. The company’s website address is http://androidshields.com
Rob Moser
Android Shields
888-376-0814

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AMD Trinity A10-4600M Laptop APU Review – Piledriver Arrives

AMD Trinity APUs Arrive w/ Radeon HD 7000 GPUs

AMD has been talking about their 2nd-Generation A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), codenamed “Trinity”, for well over a year. This week it shouldn’t come to a surprise to any of our faithful readers that AMD has finally launched this new APU! AMD says that this new APU features a much improved design over the previous generation of Llano APUs.  AMD was able to improve performance and lower power consumption by moving over to the newly designed ‘Piledriver’ CPU cores and implementing AMD Radeon HD 7000 series graphics inside the APU.

If you have been following the AMD and Intel processor battle in recent years you likely know how this will end up as the story line has remained the same for years.  Intel has dominated the x86 processor oriented benchmarks and AMD will destroy when it comes to GPU accelerated applications thanks to their Radeon graphics engine. Will the changes that AMD made for Trinity be enough for the company to compete with Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors?

AMD sent us a Trinity powered notebook that is powered by the AMD A10-4800M ‘Trinity’ APU to find out!

AMD is very proud of the 1.3 billion transistors that are on this die
that is 246mm². The original APU that was called Llano was 228mm² and featured updated ‘Stars’ cores from the original Phenom desktop processor. These cores were pretty old in the big scheme of things and were often blamed for AMD’s poor IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) performance. To enhance processor performance skipped the desktop ‘Bulldozer’ core architecture and is using ‘Piledriver’ cores on Trinity! By doing this AMD is effectively skipping a generation and moving on to the newest architecture that AMD has to offer. On the GPU side of the processor AMD managed to beef up DX11 performance by using Radeon HD 7000 series GPU technology! This is a pretty big deal and it might be a way for AMD to catch up to Intel!

That said from a die size perspective things aren’t that impressive as AMD is still using the 32nm SOI manufacturing processor.  To John Q. Public the Trinity die shot above might not mean much, but the die size is critical. Last month Intel released a new generation of processors (Ivy Bridge) and those parts are the first to be made on the 22nm process. Intel Ivy Bridge processors have 1.4 billion transistors in a die size that is just ~160mm². This means that AMD Trinity APUs have die sizes that are roughly 55% larger and that means lower dies per wafer and ultimately higher production costs.

This is the full platform definition table for Trinity for those that would like to know the specifics on the platform.

AMD announced five new APUs this week and we wanted to briefly touch more on those before we take a deeper look at the new features and move on to benchmarking. AMD has kept the nomenclature close to what they did with Llano, so it’s pretty easy to understand. As you can see from the AMD marketing slide, the performance improvements are rather substantial!

The entry level standard power AMD Trinity mobile processor is the A6-4400M, which is a dual-core CPU with a Radeon HD 7500G graphics engine on board consisting of 192 Radeon cores and a TDP 35 Watts. From there you move up the A8-4500M quad-core processor with 256 Radeon Cores.  The flagship CPU is the A10-4600M Trinity processor, which is a quad-core processor with Radeon HD 7660G graphics (384 Radeon cores). This APU has a base clock of 2.3GHz and a boost clock of 3.2GHz, while the AMD Radeon HD cores run at a clock speed of 686MHz. Yes, the Trinity processors finally have boost clocks!

You also have low voltage (LV) and Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) parts that include the A10-4655M and the A6-4455M that have a max TDP rating of 25W and 17W, respectively.

Next Page – Piledriver Cores, Turbo Core 3.0 GPU-Z Shots

Review Index

Page 1 – AMD Trinity APUs Arrive w/ Radeon HD 7000 GPUs

Page 2 – Piledriver Cores, Turbo Core 3.0 GPU-Z Shots

Page 3 – The AMD Trinity Reference Laptop

Page 4 – General Benchmark Test Results

Page 5 – Final Thoughts Conclusions

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However, despite Ultrabooks’ design similarities with Apple’s popular ultraportable, Ultrabooks really are a unique new breed of Windows laptops. They offer a distinct combination of performance, good looks, and features–some not available on the MacBook Air. Let’s take a look.

Ultrathin and Premium: The Laptop’s Natural Evolution

Apple Macbook AirWith the MacBook Air, Apple definitely popularized the metallic, razor-thin design we now see in Ultrabooks, but the Air’s signature silver body, black chiclet keyboard, and tapering wedge shape isn’t exclusive to Apple.

As HP design exec Stacy Wolff told Engadget, sometimes silver is the right choice, and Apple doesn’t “own silver.” Speaking about the design similarities between the new HP Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook and the MacBook Air, Wolff proclaimed that the similarities have nothing to do with mimicking Apple–they’re just the way that technology has developed.

The 2003 Sony Vaio X505The history of laptops shrinking in size suggests this is true. In fact, in 2003–five years before Apple introduced the MacBook Air–Sony introduced another premium, super-thin laptop: The Vaio X505 (also known as the Vaio PCG-X505, or the “505 Extreme”). This 1.8-pound laptop tapered down to 0.4 inches at the front (thinner than the Air) and had the sleek metallic body found on Ultrabooks today.

Look a little closer at some Ultrabooks that may look like MacBook Air clones, and you’ll find that laptop makers have added their own touches or improvements to the design. The Envy Spectre XT, for example, has a magnesium body with a brushed design and a rubber coating on the bottom of the laptop; Apple uses aluminum with no pattern or bottom coating.

LG P430The LG P430 has a brushed aluminum shell and black chiclet keyboard, but LG uses a thin bezel to cram a 14-inch (on the diagonal) display into the P430’s 13.3-inch footprint.

Asus Zenbook UX21The Asus Zenbook UX21 and UX31 also have an identical shape as the MacBook Air, but these Ultrabooks feature subtle, yet eye-catching design differences: A circular spun-metal pattern on the charcoal gray lid and a slightly contrasting linear brushed pattern on the laptops’ silver deck and bottom. Metal keys, a glass-coated touchpad, and sharper corners are other distinctions on the UX21 and UX31.

Unique Ultrabook Features and Options

Good looks aren’t everything, however. Even though some laptops do look exactly like the MacBook Air, often there are significant differences inside. Besides running Windows, using Intel processors, and meeting the thinness requirement, laptop makers are free to adapt Intel’s specifications for Ultrabooks as they see fit.

Some Ultrabooks push the dimensions of Ultrabooks with larger displays: Examples are the 15.6-inch Acer Timeline M3 and the 14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultra. (The latter even packs an optical drive.) And Ultrabooks, like the Asus Zenbooks, are coming soon with full HD 1080p resolution on matte In-Plane Switching (IPS) displays, for wider viewing angles and richer color.

Toshiba Portege Z835 portsUltrabooks tend to offer more ports that are standard than the MacBook Air does. Both the Toshiba Portege Z835 and the HP Folio 13, for example, come with gigabit ethernet, HDMI, and USB 3.0. The Portege Z835 also adds VGA. You’d need to buy adapters if you want ethernet, VGA, or HDMI capability on the MacBook Air.

Options in some Ultrabooks for hybrid HDD and SSD drives (rather than just solid-state drives) help drive down the prices of these laptops. The hybrid drives also increase storage capacity in exchange for a bit of a performance hit.

Want more powerful graphics processing than the integrated graphics that come in most Ultrabooks? The Acer Timeline M3 and the Gigabyte U2442 series both offer, as options, discrete Nvidia graphics cards.

Finally, some Ultrabooks that should be coming by the end of this year are expected to feature touchscreens and voice recognition.

In short, rather than just aping Apple, many Ultrabook makers are taking that wafer-thin design idea and veering off in their own directions. Such diversifying may muddy the Ultrabook brand, but this competition and PC makers’ quest to make Ultrabooks of their very own also means that we’ve got many more choices–and perhaps a better chance of finding the good-looking, super-thin laptop that meets our needs precisely.

Follow Melanie Pinola (@melaniepinola) and Today@PCWorld on Twitter

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