Tag: windows 8

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ASUS VivoTab TF810 excels in performance as notebook and tablet; sells for PHP 42,995

ASUS_VivoTab_Philippines_abuggedlife_1

So here I am at my favorite third wave coffee place in the south, working on an ASUS VivoTab (thanks ASUS Philippines for lending this little number). ASUS has been keen on the whole hybrid scene as they debuted devices like the Transformer and the PadFone. So it’s no surprise that ASUS continues to bring about such wonderment with the ViVoTab — a Windows 8 book w/ a detachable screen. It is important to note that the movement towards this kind of device is prevalent in many brands but the VivoTab definitely excels in finding the golden mean between price and features. For one, the TF810 comes with two sets of batteries — one for the actual tablet and the other built into the keyboard, which, therefore, doubles as a charging dock. That means if for some reason you really want to travel light, you can ditch the keyboard into your car and come back for it afterwards.

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Nokia unveils the Lumia 620, most affordable Windows 8 smartphone; estimated to release below PHP 10,000

Everyone wants to give Windows 8 a chance and the best way to do this is to make these metro-inspired devices more affordable for everyone. And that’s precisely what’s so great about the Nokia Lumia 620. If you’ve tried Windows Phone before, you’ll be amazed at how efficient the software works with the hardware. Unlike some Android devices where there are inconsistencies with how both the OS and hardware work together (it gets mighty laggy!), this breed of mobile OS works amazingly well across the board regardless of device.

The Nokia Lumia 620 comes with a dual core Snapdragon processor, dual cameras with support for future NFC implementation.

Sub PHP 10,000 is our guess.

Tech Specs:

OS: Windows Phone 8
• Display: 3.8” TFT WVGA 800×480, ClearBlack
• Memory: 512MB RAM (8GB internal memory, Micro SD support up to 64GB), 7GB SkyDrive cloud storage
• Camera: 5Mpix autofocus, LED flash
• Front Camera: VGA
• Video capture: HD 720p@30fps
• Connectivity: NFC, WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4Ghz +5Ghz, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, micro-USB, 3.5mm audio connector (AHJ + WP Controls)
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 processor with 1 Ghz dual-core CPUs

Nokia_Nokia Introduces New Nokia Lumia 620_datasheet

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Hands on with the Dell XPS Duo 12 (it’s yours for PHP 65,000)

Finally! Got the chance to play with the most eye-catching Windows 8 debut yesterday and it’s from Dell. Microsoft’s marketing collateral had the Dell XPS Duo 12 splattered all over their pages and it made me wonder how this thing really worked. Now I know what the “window pane” is for. The Dell XPS Duo 12 is both an ultrabook and a tablet. instead of folding out the screen to a 360 degree view (like the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga), the Duo 12 lets you push out the screen to tilt around the hinge so that you can collapse it into a tablet, as pictured below:

Yep, lots of moving parts here. It’s my favorite by far in terms of the “gimik” but I’m not sure if this i the sturdiest of them all. It’s yours for PHP 65,000.00.

Specs below:

Battery life: Up to 8 hours
Weight: Starting at 3.5 lbs
Dimensions: 8.4″ x 12.5″ x 0.8″
Screen size: 12.5″
Touch: Yes
Hard drive size: 128 GB or 256 GB mSATA SSD
RAM: 4 GB or 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
Processor: Intel Ivy Bridge ULV (Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7)
Graphics: Intel HD 4000

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Windows 8 launches first in Asia-Pacific; Microsoft branded ‘Surface’ tablet not coming to SEA

UPDATE: The official #Windows8PH site is now live at www.windows.com.ph

Earlier today Michael Josh of Rapper asked me if I wanted to do a live blog of the Windows 8 launch in Singapore. I had no problem with that as it also made my live coverage so much easier with ScribbleLive. You can view the feed here for a detailed account of what went on earlier this afternoon.

RAPPER LIVE FEED

To give you the highlights:

The much awaited Surface tablet will not be making a coming in the Philippines and other parts of Asia except Australia. ‘Surface’ is a Microsoft-made hybrid tablet running Windows 8. This was confirmed earlier by Ms Tracy Fellows, VP for Microsoft Asia Pacific. The main reason (I surmise) is two fold:

a. In the Philippines, Microsoft is not a hardware company. There is no support system for Surface in terms of warranty. If it breaks, who will fix it? The case is similar for the XBOX 360 which is not officially an effort of Microsoft Philippines, but of 3rd party vendors like DataBlitz.

b. Releasing Surface in APAC can curb relationships with the big manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Lenovo, and ACER — all very strong players in the Asean market.

On another note, Christian Bautista is the new brand ambassador for Windows 8. He was chosen for being an all around “Windows guy” and avid gamer. As of this writing he is currently engrossed in Mass Effect 3.

On the XBOX front, the new Windows 8 will have seamless integration with XBOX and the GamerTag. XBOX will now include Music, Video, Games and Smart Glass, which is a technology that gives you added in-game information on your tablet while playing games on your PC / XBOX 360.

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Sony VAIO Tap 20 is its own market segment (I mean it!); sells for PHP 59,999.00

As the global launch of Windows 8 approaches, we’re starting to see the OEM’s dish out the devices that will run Microsoft’s new platform. In the wild, we’ve already seen the Sony VAIO Tap 20 and I’ll tell you a secret: if you were to ask me, right now, to choose between a brand new iMac or this, I’d choose this. You actually need to see it in the flesh.

Here’s why:

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