When was the last time you talked about Acer? Never? Me too. The company, which is the fourth largest PC maker in the world by the way, announced the Acer Aspire R7 this morning. It’s a mighty morphing Windows 8 portable. Like the Lenovo Yoga, it features versatile hinges that allow the computer to take different forms.
The Aspire R7 is not the next big thing. No one is going to buy this thing. But that’s probably just fine.
The Acer Aspire R7 is a halo device. It’s an attention grabber. It’s advertising in the form of product. It’s Acer’s proof to the other big players and startups alike that the company can still hang. It’s designed to sit pretty in the showroom window and entice buyers to come inside to the dealership. It is, in automotive terms, the Chevy Corvette of Acer’s lineup.
Dealerships prominently position the Corvette outside their doors. It’s not around back with the Chevy Econoboxes. It’s right out front. It draws attention. It gets buyers near the door and talking about the brand. It will never outsell the Impala. In fact it’s designed to help sell the Impala.
Expect to see the Acer Aspire R7 on electronic store retailers’ end-caps and nowhere else. Just maybe, with this hot portable occupying prime real estate in Best Buy, more buyers will view Acer as a serious computer company rather than a list of competitive specs available at good price.
Every company produces these high-end products to get the blood moving again. Remember the Dell Adamo XPS? That $ 2,200 netbook was once displayed at CES on a turntable protected by a bulletproof cube of glass. It was “technically” available for sale, but Dell didn’t expect it to sell en masse. Sony had the uber-high end Qualia line from 2003 to 2005. With prices ranging from $ 1,400 (MiniDisc player) to $ 25,000 (SXRD video projector), these products were more of a design exercise than legitimate push into the upper echelon of consumer electronics.
Back to Acer.
The company’s Wikipedia page says it best: Acer sells “inexpensively-targeted” computer electronics. The products are available from nearly every retailer. Acer is, in short, the Lee Jeans of computer: They’re perfectly acceptable, available at Walmart but not a brand that generates excitement.
Now there’s the Acer Aspire R7. The Internet is excited about this computer. Gizmodo says they’re not ready for its level of crazy. But crazy is good. Crazy gets attention. And crazy sells.
Acer is losing marketshare. The company was the second most prolific computer maker in 2009, second to only HP in global sales. It ended 2012 in fourth place, after HP, Lenovo, and Dell. Worse yet, sales and shipments are still trending down.
The consumer marketplace has changed a lot since Acer was near the top. Like Giz said, we’re not ready for the R7′s radical design. But I for one can’t wait to see what else the firm is capable of producing. I would be totally on board with a similar Windows 8 computer albeit one that’s a touch less crazy. And now I’m looking to Acer to provide that where I wouldn’t have even considered the company before.
Oh, and Acer did announce new lower-end notebooks today. Engadget covered them. They’re good, but nothing exciting — which is just about right for Acer.
Jonathan Ive Is Making Big Changes To The iPhone's Look And Feel If you've been following any coverage of the new iPhone, you've heard that iPhone 5 users (or any iDevice users who have updated their gadgets to iOS 6) are complaining rather loudly about how terrible the Apple Maps app is. The new navigation app, … Read more on Huffington Post
iOS 6.1.4 Update For iPhone 5 Released I recommend downloading this update from the iPhone itself – Settings > General > Software Update – as this way the entire package is only 11.5MB as opposed to being hundreds of megabytes if downloaded via iTunes. Apple is also currently working on … Read more on Forbes
Maybe the Low-End iPhone Is Really a Mid-End iPhone What if Apple's long-rumored low-end iPhone isn't targeted at the smartphone market's lower reaches? What if it's targeted at the middle? What if it isn't low-end at all, but simply mainstream? Not a $ 150 phone or even a $ 200 one, but a $ 350 one? Read more on All Things Digital
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Google felt it appropriate to highlight some of Glass’ specs earlier this week, but there’s much more to the company’s wearable display than just the 5 megapixel camera and its 16GB of internal storage. In case you were hankering for a taste of what else makes Google Glass tick, Android developer (and Glass Explorer) Jay Lee spent some time tinkering with his preview unit and managed to figure out what kind of hardware it has under the hood.
Lee managed to confirm that Glass runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (CEO Larry Page noted during Google’s most recent earnings call that Glass “obviously” runs on Android), and also determined that it has a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 chipset. In case you haven’t been keeping abreast of developments in the mobile chipset market, the OMAP 4430 was used in devices like the original Motorola Droid RAZR and Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2.0 — solid devices during their prime, but the chipset that powered them is far from new.
Sadly, some of the particulars are still shrouded in mystery — Lee wasn’t able to figure out the processor’s clock speed (the 4430 CPU can be clocked between 1 and 1.2 GHz), and the device only reports that it has 682MB of RAM, but Lee suspects the total is actually 1GB. Still, that’s not too shabby a spec sheet for a device that essentially lives on your face, and some recent reports reveal that the ambitious headset may be surprisingly too simple to root to. Liam McLoughin, an intern for Google’s Chrome team, recently tweeted to note that gaining root access to the search giant’s curious head-mounted display seemed simple in theory, a development that prompted Lee to go digging in the first place.
Meanwhile, Cydia founder and administrator Jay Freeman revealed on Twitter that he too had made progress in gaining access to the device, and even posted a picture to show off how far he’d managed to go. At this point we’ve already seen some companies embrace the Glass platform (Path and the New York Times immediately spring to mind) and others like Evernote are known to be crafting experiences for Glass, but some moderately powerful hardware and seemingly easy rootability could make Glass an even bigger hit for Android tinkerers.
Samsung’s latest 8 inch iteration of it’s Note franchise brings nothing spectacular spec wise but in usage it provided fluid and satisfying operation. In thi… Video Rating: 4 / 5
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Sure, watching YouTube videos in HD is great when you want clarity, but maybe you’ve been yearning for that grainy, tape-recorded look. Marking what’s apparently the 57th anniversary of cassette-based video recording, the YouTube team has snuck a VHS tape-shaped button on select videos. Clicking it will the throw a filter over the content, providing a highly distorted and nostalgic feast for the eyes. There’s no official list of compatible content, but the option seems to be available on most of the videos on YouTube’s native channel. We have a feeling at least one VCR enthusiast will be quite pleased.
Source: YouTube (Google+)
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Back in 2010, our own John Biggs rightly described Parrot’s AR.Drone as ” the coolest thing [he had] seen in a long, long time.” Since then, Parrot has launched the AR.Drone 2.0 and while it’s still a very cool gadget, quadcopters have come a very long way since 2010. Last month, the folks at DJI, who mostly specialize in developing unmanned aerial systems for commercial use, sent me one of their consumer-oriented and GPS-enabled DJI Phantoms to review.
Most quadcopters are aimed at hobbyists and take a good amount of assembly and at least some experience with flying remote-controlled aircraft. The Phantom, which has a list price of $ 849 but currently retails for about $ 680, comes mostly pre-assembled and is extremely easy to fly, thanks to its built-in compass and GPS module. Thanks to having GPS built-in, the drone always knows where it is in relation to you. So depending on the mode you are flying in, every input you give will always be interpreted in relation to you and not in relation to where the front of the aircraft is (here’s a video that explains how this works).
The other cool thing about the GPS mode is that the drone can hover in position even if it’s windy. It’ll just auto-correct for the wind, thanks to its built-in autopilot (you probably want to turn this mode off when you are trying to take a video, however, as the constant corrections will show up in your videos).
This autopilot also kicks in if the Phantom loses its connection with your remote control if it flies out of reach or your remote runs out of battery, the drone itself is very low on battery, or because you turn it off to see if the autopilot actually works. Once the failsafe mode kicks in, the drone will simply fly up to 60 feet, fly back to where it first took off and land. I actually tried this and it worked surprisingly well. The drone touched down just about 3 feet from where I launched it. When you spent $ 700 on the drone and another $ 300 or so on a GoPro 3 Silver, that’s a nice feature to have.
The Phantom is a clear step up from something like the AR.Drone. Its communication distance is just under 1,000 feet and a maximum horizontal speed of about 32 feet per second and a descent speed of close to 20 feet per second. That’s fast and feels even faster if you are just learning how to fly it.
These specs show that this isn’t just a toy but can actually be used for some pretty impressive aerial photography. Indeed, since the Phantom launched earlier this year, a whole ecosystem has sprung up around it that provides owners with everything from improved propellers to cases and multi-axis camera gimbals. A gimbal, by the way, isn’t a must, but if you want to take really stable videos without the so-called “jello” effect (here’s a pretty extreme example of that), both a gimbal and some well-balanced after-market rotors will surely help.
Here is a video I took with the Phantom and a GoPro 3 White over the weekend:
The Phantom’s battery lasts just under 15 minutes, so you probably want to buy at least a second one, given that the package only includes a single 2,200mAh battery and a charger.
If you decide to get one of these, by the way, make sure you read the instructions and watch this series of videos before you turn it on. The Phantom may look like a toy and is easy to fly, but this is a pretty high-end piece of technology and there are a few things you need to know and do before your first flight.
With the 2013 NAB Show just around the corner, it’s a fair bet that DJI will announce a few new products in the coming days and we’ll make sure to keep a close eye on this company.
- gizmodo dji phantom
Question by Caitlin M: Why do some samsung galaxy s2 phones look different? I’ve noticed that some of the samsung galaxy smartphones have one button as in this: http://cdn-static.cnet.co.uk/i/product_media/40000779/image1/440×330-1200x900_1.jpg
And others have a row of buttons as in this: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Epic-Touch-Android/dp/B005LHN47S Does this mean they are different or they are the same?
Best answer:
Answer by DanielSome of them are probably from different companies like maybe one is from version wireless then compare it to sprint or at&t. Guess that’s how the other companies make it
Add your own answer in the comments!
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http://whi.ch/xoom2video Motorola Xoom 2 10.1 and 8.2 – Which first look review at CES 2012. Video Rating: 5 / 5
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Samsung Galaxy S4 Concept Rumour Review – Specs, Release Date, Features & More The world’s first video about Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500 with laser keyboard Samsung Galaxy S4 concept, samsung galaxy s4 commercial, review … Samsung Galaxy S4 Coming in February – Among the Galaxy S4′s features will be a 5-inch screen, slightly larger than the display on the popular Galaxy S III. While speaking to the Korea Times, an unnamed company official has revealed that the successor to Samsung’s popular Galaxy S3 smartphone may be released as early as March 2013. The updated handset is thought to feature a 5-inch OLED display and full LTE support. The source claims that the Korean firm intends to unveil the new flagship device at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, with plans to hit retail in March 2013. The official stated that the handset will feature an increased screen size of five inches (up from 4.8 on the S3), as well as a more powerful quad-core processor. Although it’s thought that there will be aesthetic changes to the device, the rectangular, curved-edge form-factor is unlikely to change significantly. It’s important to note that this report is unconfirmed and can therefore not be relied upon for accuracy. However, if true, the move could be seen as a direct response to Apple’s new iPhone 5 handset, announced earlier this week. While the iPhone 5 will undoubtedly prove to be a popular handset, many were disappointed with its lack of innovative features, a … Video Rating: 3 / 5
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