Toshiba Excite 10 LE Android Tablet As Thin As It Gets

Michael Kwan — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:08:44 +0000

The race to ultra slimness has taken on bulemic supermodel proportions. Shaving off those precious millimeters is the newly introduced Toshiba Excite 10 LE. The Android tablet is about as thin as it gets with its 7.7mm profile. To put that into perspective, the original Eee Pad Transformer TF101 measured 12.98mm thick. Even the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is just 8.6mm thick.

The new Toshiba tablet has apparently shaved some weight too, tipping the scales at a paltry 1.18 pounds. Despite the shedding of millimeters and fractions of pounds, the Toshiba Excite 10 LE still has a reasonable assortment of connectivity options, including microUSB, HDMI, microSD, WiFi, and Bluetooth.

Power comes by way of an OMAP 4430 1.2GHz dual core processor and Android 3.2 Honeycomb, backing up that 1280×800 10.1-inch AutoBrite Display. Ice Cream Sandwich is being promised by the end of spring. Rounding out the specs are a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera. The 16GB and 32GB models will sell for $529 and $599, respectively.

As I mentioned in my review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, though, thinner isn’t always necessarily better, particularly when it comes to tablets. It’s just harder to get a comfortable grip, but I guess that’s up to personal preference.

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Motorola Droid RAZR To Launch With Verizon, Rogers This Year

Michael Kwan — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:10:40 +0000

We heard rumors and now we have confirmation. Motorola has decided to resurrect its RAZR moniker and apply it to a brand new smartphone. What you see here is the Motorola Droid RAZR, a device that they tout is among the thinnest in the world.

On the surface, this will look much like any other Android smartphone out there. The specs include a dual core 1.2GHz processor, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED advanced qHD display, 1GB RAM, 8MP rear camera with 1080p video support, 4G LTE support, and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. The 1780mAh battery is said to be good for 12.5 hours of 3G talk time and 8.9 hours of video playback. And yes, it is the first smartphone capable of streaming Netflix in HD.

Just as the original RAZR was meant to be a fashion statement as much as a functional piece of technology, its smarter counterpart is much the same. Motorola has fashioned this phone with diamond-cut aluminium accents, stainless steel core, and laser-cut woven Kevlar fiber, along with Gorilla Glass for added protection. There’s also an iCloud fighter called MotoCast that will sync your multimedia on your PC.

In the United States, they’ll be selling it as the Droid RAZR through Verizon and that kicks off next month for $299 on a two-year contract. The rest of the world will refer to the phone simply as the Motorola RAZR, making things terribly confusing when comparing this phone with the original thin flip phone. Rogers Wireless hasn’t announced pricing, but they’re saying they’ll have the phone “in time for the holidays.”

Motorola RAZR: Put the Impossible in your Pocket. Again.

Head-turning design and life-changing features, available only at Rogers
CALGARY – OCTOBER 18, 2011 – Say hello to the jaw-dropping new Motorola RAZRTM, brought to you by the brains at Motorola Mobility Canada and available exclusively at Rogers Communications. Impossibly thin and lightweight, this smartphone is loaded with sexy curves. Its sculpted glass face, diamond-cut aluminum accents and hyper-saturated 4.3” Super AMOLED Advanced display are museum-worthy industrial design, while its Kevlar® fiber (yes, that Kevlar) and Corning® Gorilla® Glass screen with splash-guard coating, make this work of art a force to be reckoned with.

While they’re still dazzled by the outside, hit them with what’s inside. A cool 1GB of RAM hooks up with that dual-core processor and AndroidTM 2.3.5 to get you a lightning-fast user interface and the power to multi-task like never before. Rock your playlists while you check your email, breeze through photos – all at the same time, all without delay. Motorola RAZR comes preloaded with the Motorola MotoCast™ app1, giving you the power to stream or download content from your PC straight to your device so your personal content is always within reach. Watch movies on a screen that sports a wider range of colours than most LCD HDTVs. And when you’re tired of watching (as if), use the cinematic-quality front-facing 720p video camera and 8MP rear-facing camera with even sharper 1080p HD video capture to create your own movies – and turn your life into art without breaking a sweat.

“The original Motorola RAZR turned a functional necessity into an object of desire. Now we’ve done it again by creating an impossibly thin smartphone – a head-turning design with the power to carry your life with you,” says Michelle Digulla, president, Motorola Mobility Canada. “We partnered with Rogers to launch the original RAZR, and we know Rogers customers will be lining up to be the first to have the next generation RAZR in their pocket.”

“Our customers are constantly looking for the most innovative smartphones and we are thrilled to be able to offer them the new Motorola RAZR,” says Raj Doshi, vice-president of Mobile Product Management, Rogers Communications Inc. “We’re pleased to be the first to bring this iconic brand to our customers and further extend our leadership as the carrier with the best Android selection in Canada.”

Work smart, not hard

Government-grade encryption protects your email, contacts and calendar so you are business ready. Even your strict IT manager will be impressed. Work smart with Smart Actions – a preloaded app on Motorola RAZR that lets you automate everyday tasks and enable better battery life. Smart Actions can turn down the ringer when you step into work, change the Bluetooth and GPS settings when you get home to save battery, or send a text to someone if you miss their call – letting you focus more on what’s actually important.

And Motorola RAZR’s no slouch with physical safety either. It’s armed with Corning® Gorilla® glass (to protect against surface scratches) and a water repellent coating, even on the electrical boards inside. Because a museum-quality device demands museum-quality protection.

Accessories that bring a whole new universe to life
We’ve got the tools and toys to turn the world’s sexiest smartphone into a mobile cloud computing powerhouse, an HD media hub, and a navigation device (not to mention a killer stereo system).

Motorola RAZR is powerful on its own, no doubt, but when combined with one of Motorola’s accessories (sold separately), you unleash a world of possibilities. Use the new Motorola LapdockTM 500 Pro or smaller LapdockTM 100 to let loose Motorola’s revolutionary webtop application, giving you the power to edit documents and browse the Web with a full Firefox browser – all while powering the device. Or, plug it into the HD Dock or HD Station to connect to your HDTV, speakers and other peripherals for large-screen entertainment. You can also connect a navigation dock for GPS and directions, battery pack for extra life, a keyboard with Bluetooth® technology for efficient typing, and the elegantly designed, almost-invisible Motorola ELITE SLIVER headset for discrete, hands-free talking. Control your content and your calls, play basic games and browse the web from the comfort of your couch with the Smart Controller. You’ll have the brains, brawn and beauty to make the impossible possible. Again.

Motorola RAZR is coming exclusively to Rogers Communications customers in time for the holidays. For more information visit motorola.ca.

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The skinny on the slim Samsung Series 9 notebook

Michael Kwan — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 06:09:27 +0000

Just because you want a skinny laptop doesn’t mean that you have no choice but to buy a MacBook Air. The latest PC alternative in this realm is the Samsung Series 9, joining the ranks of laptops like the Dell Adamo.

Except, I think, it looks better. I had the opportunity to see this laptop, along with the Slider PC7, in person while at CESand it’s about as skinny as it gets. Think of it as a MacBook Air, only with Windows and a black exterior. The Series 9 measures 0.64-inches at its thickest point. It’s also a hair lighter than the MBA.

I’m not completely convinced that these super thin notebooks are worth their premium, but there is a market for them. The Series 9 has a 13.3-inch HD LED backlit display (only 1366×768, though), Core i5 processor, HD GT2 integrated graphics, 1.5W subwoofer, and up to 128GB SSD and 4GB DDR3 RAM.

Pricing starts at $1,599 and goes up with upgrades. Considering that, with the exception of the SSD, you can get an equivalently equipped laptop for less than a third of that price, it’s clear that the Series 9 is a niche product.

The choices seem to come down to the MacBook Air running Mac OS X or a Samsung 9 Series with Windows 7, which one do you choose?

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Mobile Magazine » thin

Toshiba Excite 10 LE Android Tablet As Thin As It Gets

Motorola Droid RAZR To Launch With Verizon, Rogers This Year

The skinny on the slim Samsung Series 9 notebook