Tablets

Asus CEO 'very optimistic' about Windows 8 tablets

Look for Windows 8 tablets to have a strong year, says Asus CEO Jerry Shen.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal in an interview published today, Shen said that his company is "very optimistic about sales for Windows 8 tablets this year," adding that he believes Microsoft's support for 7-inch slates will be the central move in the platform's success.

Windows 8-based tablets currently measure 10 inches or more in size. Microsoft and its fellow tablet makers reportedly are planning to launch 7-inch slates later this year that can still run the company's Windows platform. … Read more

Tablets, touch-screen laptops to energize the PC market

Tablets and touch-screen notebooks will give a helping hand to the PC industry in the coming years, according to NPD DisplaySearch.

Shipments of mobile PCs are forecast to reach 762.7 million globally by 2017, up from 367.6 million last year, according to an NPD report released Monday. Most of that growth will come about as tablets replace traditional notebooks as the dominant device and as touch screens wend their way to more notebooks.

For the purposes of its report, NPD DisplaySearch classifies a tablet as another type of PC rather than as a separate, unrelated device.

"The … Read more

B&N chops prices on Nook HD and Nook HD+ for one week

This tablet deal may be hard to beat. After adding the Google Play store to its tablets on Friday, Barnes & Noble is now offering major discounts on the Nook HD and Nook HD+ in a one-week-only sale for Mother's Day.

Today through May 12 (yes, that's Mother's Day), the 7-inch Nook HD is available starting at $149 for the entry-level 8GB model (normally $199) and the 9-inch NOOK HD+ starts at a mere $179 for the 16GB model (normally $269). Both products offer expandable memory via a microSD expansion slot.

The reduced prices are available online … Read more

Amazon Kindle Fire to go 10-inch

Amazon is expected to bring out a bigger version of the Kindle Fire, as it gradually grows the size of its tablets.

Amazon arguably started the small tablet fad when it launched the 7-inch Kindle Fire in November of 2011. And it followed that with 8.9-inch model, announced in September 2012.

Now it's moving up to the 10-inch class, Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, told CNET.

The biggest Kindle Fire yet will sport a stunning 2,560x1,600-pixel density 10.1-inch display, according to Shim. That's about 300 pixels per inch (PPI), considerably denser than … Read more

Add handwritten notes in Polaris Office on Galaxy Note devices

Sometimes only so much explaining can be done with text on the screen. Adding a handwritten drawing or diagram can help pull together and solidify an idea. This is especially true when you're following along on a document that was given to you, like a business plan or notes for a class.

Polaris Office works with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF files. When using this app on a Galaxy Note series device, you can use the included S Pen to draw directly in your documents. Here's how:

First, open a document or presentation in Polaris … Read more

Acer to launch Win 8 tablets with smaller screens this year

Acer plans to launch Windows 8 tablets with smaller screen sizes in the second half of the year, an executive said Friday.

Such devices will feature touch screens smaller than 10 inches, Emmanuel Fromont, Acer president for the Pan America region, and Sumit Agnihotry, Acer vice president of product marketing, told CNET in an interview following an Acer product launch event in New York.

They likely will cost below $400 -- the typical entry point for Windows tablets today -- and will be pushed as productivity devices that link to the traditional PC world more easily than Android devices, the … Read more

Acer launches 2 notebooks, tablet that emphasize touch

NEW YORK--Acer on Friday launched two new touch-screen notebooks and a tablet, hoping to attract buyers and stem its steep declines in the PC market.

One notebook, the Aspire R7, features a 15.6-inch touch screen and a hinge that allows users to rotate and flip the screen to convert it in tablet. The company moved the keyboard closer to the edge of the lower tray and shifted the trackpad closer to the screen, which it said should make it easier to use the touch screen. The $1,000 product will be in stores in mid-May, with an exclusive U.… Read more

Intel has a new CEO: Now what?

Intel decided to play it safe with its next leader.

By going with tradition and tapping an insider, Chief Operating Officer Brian Krzanich, as its new CEO, Intel is signalling to the world that it has no intention of making any radical changes.

Nevertheless, Krzanich will need to make some big moves if Intel is to retain its dominant position in the technology world. The choices he makes in the coming months and years will have a big impact, not only on the company, but also on the future of the broader computing arena.

Krzanich takes over at a time … Read more

Microsoft has smaller Surface tablets in the works, report says

Microsoft is readying smaller Surface devices, according to a report.

The "second-generation" Surface tablets may be announced in the coming months, possibly at the upcoming Build Conference in June, according to a report in DigiTimes.

This follows a report last month in the Wall Street Journal that claimed the company is preparing a 7-inch tablet.

Second-generation Surface devices will sport displays with sizes between 7 inches and 9 inches, according to the report. Component suppliers include Samsung Electronics, LG Display, Corning, and Intel.

Microsoft needs to bring out tablets with smaller screen sizes in order to compete with … Read more