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Android Tablets – Coby Kyros ,HeroTab , ASUS Eeepad Review

With the advent of Apple’s iPad the tablet market was wide open, and addition of Android has brought several worthy alternatives to Apple’s iPad. Most of the devices provide a good set of features and a capable hardware. Though most of the devices wont match the leading tablets in every sense, but they all satisfy some of the more common functionality like Web Browsing ,ebooks , Email, Video, Music and Apps. Lets have a look at the alternatives.  We will look at HeroTab C8, Coby Kyros and ASUS Eee pad.

HeroTab C8 – $189 , 7″ Capacitive Multitouch, Android 2.3, 1GHz processor, 4GB Memory (+32GB expandable)
An Android device with Samsung S5PV210 1GHz processor, 512 MB SD RAM  the HeroTab is the possibly the lowest priced Capacitive screen Android tablet in the market. It does all it claims to do, Web browsing, Movies and much more with access to Android market. The specification has been kept low to maintain the final price and seems a reasonable device. It has mini USB and HDMI out port. Considering the 4 star review in Amazon, it does seem many have found the device worthy.

Some of the key disadvantages include 1.3 MP camera (more than enough for video chat), Poor display in Sun Light , Lack of GPS etc which are understandable for the price. Overall it is a good buy for the price.

Coby Kyros 7″ Tabler – $136  –  7″ Resistive Touch Screen , Android 2.1, 800 MHz Intel Pentium 4, 4GB Memory (+16GB expandable)
Another Android device but this one is running on an ARM1176 processor @ 800MHz with 512MB SD RAM, From the low end device manufacturer Coby, the 7 inch tablet also does what it claims.

The screen feels like plastic, Touch screen is responsive and works but not like the High end devices. But other than that the device is very good for the price, the processor more than enough for running Android, most applications run smooth and most games play fine as well. The device is good for Music, Movies and Reading. As with most devices it has a problem reading in the sunlight. Coby Kyros also support 720p and 1080p output through the HDMI cable and you can use it a HD player for your TV.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer – $394 – 10.1″ IPS Capacitive LED Screen, Dual Core Tegra2 1 GHZ, 1GB RAM
ASUS Eee Pad is not another low end device, rather a strong iPad competitor with a better than specs of Apple iPad 2. Eee pad has mini HDMI out, 5 MP rear camera, 1.2 MP front camera, 16GB internal Memory and SD Card slot.

It also features GPS and Bluetooth 2.1. ASUS tablet runs on latest Android 3.2 OS. Apart from the regular apps and games on Android, ASUS has a impressive remote desktop feature supporting PC and Mac. And another key feature is the docking accessory (extra) which makes the Eeepad as the a full functional Laptop. The ASUS is definitely a popular alternative to iPad.

We will look at other devices like Samsung Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak,Motorola Xoom , Acer Iconia Tab, Toshiba Thrive etc in the next article.

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First Dual Core Smartphone by LG

The first dual core smartphone by LG is Optimus 2X, LG working with Google Android is said to be launched next month in Korea and later to Europe and Asian countries. Optimus 2X has Nvidia Tegra 2 processor which is the mobile processor with advanced features, it has 2X faster mobile browsing speed, 5X speed for gaming and etc., the processor is of 1GHz , Android 2.2 platform which can be upgraded to 2.3 in the future, the smartphone has a 8 megapixel camera 1080 pixels video recording and 1.3 megapixel front camera.

The phone has 4-inches WVGA (Wide Video Graphics Array – usually comes with 800×480, 848×480, or 854×480 display resolutions) screen, it has 8Gb memory which can be extended to 32 Gb using memory card, as for gaming purposes the phone has 3D touch interfaces, gyro sensor,  accelerometer (are the motion sensors which continuously calculate the position, velocity and orientation). Other features of the phone are 1500 mAh battery, HDMI mirroring and DLNA compatibility.

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Google Nexus S – Preview

With Android numbers skyrocketing in every major network, Google has announced its second phone Nexus S this time manufactured by Samsung. The phone (GSM) will be sold unlocked  and can be used it with any network. The phone will be sold through Bestbuy with either a TMobile Contract or unlocked. The phone is expected to be sold at $550 unlocked or 149$ with a new or upgrade  2 year contract.

Nexus S looks promising, with Samsung as its manufacturer and a impressive hardware Resume to bolster the new Android Gingerbread OS (Android 2.3).  Nexus S runs on the 1 GHz 1GHz Cortex A8 ( HummingBird ) Processor with 16GB iNAND memory inbuilt. It has Gorgeous 4 inch AMOLED screen,  The camera is 5 MP with autofocus and flash, with 720p Video capture capable.

As you would expect has a full array of Google Products, and can act as a WiFi Hotspot allowing upto 5 devices to connect to it freely. Nexus S comes with Google Maps 5.0 Beta boasting 3D maps. Also the Nexus S supports Near Field Communication (NFC).

The phone also has 6.7 hours talktime on 3G and 14 hours on 2G. There is certainly lots of excitement about the Nexus S,  unlike Nexus One which failed to take off like other Android phones, this can be a big boost to Google in the hardware space ahead of its Chrome OS launch.