Getting up close and personal with ASUS’ most innovative product in the past year is exhilarating. The ASUS Padfone Infinity is the third generation of their smartphone and tablet hybrid product. It created tremors when the first generation was launched back at Computex last year.
The ASUS Padfone Infinity caught some attention a few months ago when it was launched at the Mobile World Congress. It was something worth getting as it had a beautiful 5 inch 1080p display and most of all it was LTE compatible.
The Padfone Infinity features the latest Snapdragon 600 Quad Processor clocked at 1.7GHz and 2GB of RAM. It has a gorgeous aluminium feel and texture on the backside of the phone. Typical of ASUS’ design vision. Moreover, the smartphone features a 13MP Rear Camera and a 2MP Front Facing Camera both capable of recording at 1080p at f2.0. Wonderful for low-light photography.
Technology has definitely gone a long way. I still remember the days when I would type away on one of the first netbooks to be manufactured, the MSI U100, back in 2008. Six years after, computer manufacturers have ceased production of their netbook lineup and have fully focused all their attention to tablets and notebooks. The Acer Iconia W5 is the product of innovation in the world of technology. It’s classified as a tablet hybrid, a detachable netbook-tablet.
The Acer Iconia W5 has finally introduced fully functioning detachable tablets. I am not talking about the limited Windows RT version. The Iconia W5 runs on the full version of Windows 8 which means you can get install any Windows application without a hitch. This all due to the Intel Atom Z2760 Dual Core 1.8GHz processor that powers this new wave of mobile devices.
Design – Is it a toy or a tablet?
Initially, the Acer Iconia W5 reminds of a children’s toy tablet with the white rounded edges and plastic feel to it. This won’t look good in the hands of Mr Executive or Mr Businessman. It’s got a youthful look targeted towards teenagers and those in the early 20s. Strangely enough, Acer added an aluminum finish to the back. Additionally, the tablet looks unusual when docked in the keyboard dock. Sadly, I am not fan of the design at all. I guess you can tell already.
Moving to the sides of the tablet one can find a speaker grill on the left and a microUSB slot, microSD slot, microHDMI slot, volume rocker, microphone and another speaker on the right hand side. Additionally, the power charging slot can be located at the bottom alongside two ports for the keyboard dock. On top there’s the power/lock button, a screen rotation lock and the audio jack.
The Iconia W5 features an 8MP Rear Camera with LED Flash and a 2MP Front Facing Camera great for those who video conference regularly. On another note, the Iconia W5 has a 10.1 inch multi touch display with a resolution of 1366×768. The display is sharp making the colors pop out.
I decided to take a two week break from installing Custom ROMs as I was out of the country attending Computex in Taipei. I wasn’t comfortable in using a custom ROM nor a different kernel. Fortunately, the Official Samsung Jelly Bean Firmware was released for the Philippines so I used that throughout my stay in Taipei. Nonetheless, this week I am back in the Custom ROM world taking a look at the Alliance ROM.
The Alliance ROM seems to be a pretty popular ROM with you guys as a number of you requested me to take a look at it. In fact, it was one of the first few ROMs requested a few months back. It was only up until now that I had the time to check it out as I had several other ROMs lined up before. Nevertheless, if you have any ROM requests or suggestions feel free to send a comment below.
Anyway, back to the ROM this week. The Alliance ROM is based on Samsung’s latest firmware, XWLSS. However, it’s heavily edited to the point that it’s a fusion of both Stock Android and the TouchWiz user interface. Nonetheless, I’ll be taking an indepth look at the ROM this week. Stay tuned for my upcoming review.
Nowadays everyone’s got a Smartphone, well, most folks do – right Mom and Dad? However, what sets our Smartphones apart from our friend’s iPhones, Blackberrys and Android devices? We have got generic cases that someone is bound to have, perhaps a friend or even a complete stranger on the other side of the world has. InstaCase is the first in the Philippines to allow individuals to customize their own mobile devices in minutes.
Easy as ABC
Accessory junkies can bring their own designs or pictures to InstaCase and easily transfer them via Bluetooth or via a cable. Additionally, you can resize the image to your own liking and boom, your design would be printed within a few minutes depending on the size of the case.
A few months back several news reports surfaced stating that desktop and notebook sales have dived due to the increase of tablet and mobile device purchases. Nvidia known to produce top quality graphic cards and now mobile processors, surprised attendees at this year’s CES in Las Vegas when they announced their own hand gaming device called the Nvidia Shield.
The Nvidia Shield is powered by their latest Nvidia Tegra 4 Quad Core Processor which is clocked at a staggering 1.9GHz. It’s coupled with 2GB of RAM and runs on none other than stock Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2. Thus, gamers would be able to get the same Vanilla Android experience as those who use the Nexus 4, 7 and 10.
Interesting enough a few Nvidia Showgirls and Booth Babes were roaming around the show floors of Computex enticing visitors with their beauty, I mean, their Nvidia Shields.
I was lucky enough to use the Nvidia Shield for a couple of minutes. Initially, one would expect the Nvidia Shield to be heavy by its looks, however, it’s quite light at around 549 grams especially when you’re holding it with two hands. Furthermore, the Shield felt great and comfortable in my hands.
