| Yitoa M9704 9.7-inch ICS tablet has a keyboard that doubles as a case, we go hands-on (video) Mar 7th 2012, 15:09 Hall 17 at CeBIT in Hannover could just as well be downtown Shenzhen. Step inside its cavernous walls, and the air lights up with the sound of chirpy pop music, and excited sales chatter. But once you tune out the aural assault and look past the swathe of Gingerbread MIDs, you might just find yourself a catch. This M9704 9.7-inch, Android 4.0 slate from Yitoa is one such get. Okay, so it won't be winning any awards for original design, but with a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 processor and 1GB of RAM -- all for $120 -- we were certainly curious to know more. The first thing you might notice from the pictures is the combination keyboard and case. It might not be the only time we've seen something like this, but it's the first we've seen that offers it as a standard accessory. Look up from that keyboard, however, and you'll be staring at a fingerprint-hugging 9.7-inch 1024 x 768-pixel capacitive touchscreen. There are two cameras; up front there's a very modest 0.3-megapixel affair, with 2-megapixels around the back. Connectivity-wise, there's only WiFi on board, but you do get 802.11n, as well as good 'ole b/g -- all powered by a 3,000mAh battery. It's always hard to tell what the final build will be like with OEM products, but the metal finish on the rear and glossy screen up front certainly look the part, and in our hands-on, it felt as solid as any other tab in this price range -- perhaps even a little better. It's important to point out that the $120 asking-price is for wholesale orders, so you can expect there to be a mark-up of some kind if this ever hits the stores in the U.S. If you want to get a taste of it in action, hit up the hands-on video after the break. Continue reading Yitoa M9704 9.7-inch ICS tablet has a keyboard that doubles as a case, we go hands-on (video) Yitoa M9704 9.7-inch ICS tablet has a keyboard that doubles as a case, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Ivy Bridge benchmarks: CPU boosted 5-15 percent, onboard GPU handles Skyrim Mar 7th 2012, 14:49 We've heard whispers of Ivy Bridge's benchmarking prowess, but now we have more comprehensive and independent test results of a Core i7 3770K CPU, courtesy of AnandTech. The conclusion? The upgrade is "quite good," which is Anand Lal Shimpi's way of describing a 5-15 percent boost in CPU performance for the same money as Sandy Bridge, not to mention lower power consumption and the ability to run the latest games on the HD 4000 integrated graphics. Of course, this latter discovery requires clarification: some games, such as Metro 2033 could only achieve 30fps at a max resolution of 1366 x 768, but others fared better. Crysis Warhead ran at 50fps even at 1680 x 1050. With that type of onboard oomph, you'd have to spend over $100 on a discrete graphics card for it to be worthwhile, which even Lal Shimpi acknowledges is "sort of insane". Check out the source link for more. Ivy Bridge benchmarks: CPU boosted 5-15 percent, onboard GPU handles Skyrim originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  AnandTech | Email this | Comments | | Archos Arnova 7-inch Child Pad hands-on (video) Mar 7th 2012, 13:39 It might not quite be the hottest tablet news of the day, but we managed to catch a glimpse of the Arnova "designed by Archos" Child Pad on the floor here at CeBIT. Last time we saw this slate it was nothing but a render and a few specifications, but now we know a little more. First, there's a MicroUSB port and a front-facing camera, so your little darlings can be uploading pictures to Facebook even before that pacifier has dried for the last time. There's a microSD slot too, so you can load up an extra 32 gigs of Barney re-runs, if the 4GB internal storage isn't enough. The model we saw was a special edition "Alvin" version, which comes pre-loaded with bonus chipmunk-related content, such as special themes, wallpapers and, well, you get the picture. The 7-inch, 800 x 480-pixel touchscreen is resistive -- which might be a bit of a dirty word these days -- but considering the intended audience, it's probably a fine choice. Our prods and pokes were met responsively enough, and Ice Cream Sandwich seemed to run just fine on the modest 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor with 1GB of RAM. Archos claims you'll get eight hours of video playback, or 16 hours of music per battery charge, and we assume that's with the 802.11b/g wireless turned off. The plastic finish actually looks pretty good, and will wipe free of jam and chips easy enough. Also, the back has a rubberized feel that should help prevent it from slipping from those juvenile paws. It's penciled in for release in April, and the real kicker here is the price. The €99 (about $129) price tag might not quite be pocket-change, but it's pretty darn close. See Alvin and our hands-on after the break. Continue reading Archos Arnova 7-inch Child Pad hands-on (video) Archos Arnova 7-inch Child Pad hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
