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Miselu Neiro Android-powered synth hands-on at SXSW (video)
This is the Miselu Neiro, a "portable, net-enabled social music device" which was announced this weekend at SXSW. We were able see and handle the first-ever prototype fresh off the lab bench at the SoundCloud Open House in Austin. The app-based, Android-powered synth features a two octave velocity and pressure-sensitive keyboard, a capacitive multitouch widescreen, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and even a webcam. Battery life is expected to be in the five to six hour range. The laptop-sized instrument features audio I/O, MIDI I/O, two USB ports, an HDMI port and an SD card slot. It currently runs Gingerbread on a dual-core TI OMAP processor -- although those aren't the final specs. While the silicon valley startup is mum on pricing and availability, it's teamed up with Yamaha to outfit the device with an NSX-1 DSP chip (for high-quality synthesis and effects) and with Retronyms to create a powerful suite of touch-controlled, cloud-enabled musical apps in time for launch. The instrument also includes a dock area for accessories (such as a speaker bar) and the company plans to license the interface to third-party manufacturers. Beyond the Neiro prototype, Miselu also showcased its older, larger, proof-of-concept device (controlling Ableton Live via MIDI / OSC over WiFi) and a USB-powered digital speaker cabinet built in partnership with Onkyo that integrates Trigence's Dnote technology for high-quality audio reproduction using only 500mA of power. Check out the pictures in our gallery below, then hit the break for our hands-on video -- complete with a walkthrough by CEO Yoshinari Yoshikawa and a drum-machine demo.
Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 teased by FCC, launching with 9.7-inch display this month?
Lenovo's been hard at work with various Android phones and tablets so far this year, and here's yet another one that's just popped up in FCC's database. Dubbed the IdeaTab S2109 (or S2109A-F, to be specific), we're told by a reliable source that 'tis an Ice Cream Sandwich tablet assembled by Foxconn, and it'll come with a 9.7-inch, 4:3 IPS display (supplied by Chi Mei), a TI OMAP chip and four powerful SRS-ready speakers as featured on the beefy K2010. The above diagram suggests said slate has a microSD slot accessible from the outside, and if you take a closer look at the product label, you'll see that the device requires a whooping 2.5A input at 5V, which means it'll come with a 12.5W adapter -- a lot higher than many tablets' maximum consumption at 10W (including the new iPad) or below. Here's hoping that this is an indication for a faster charge time.As for availability, we heard that this S2109 will launch at some point this month, though our shy friend didn't specify which market it'll debut in -- the FCC document lists Germany, Canada, US, India, Russia, Turkmenistan, Mexico, Chile, Japan and China. If Android on a 4:3 screen sounds like your cup of tea then stay tuned for more news.
iRobot and Texas Instruments announce plans for a future full of OMAP-packing 'bots
iRobot, the Massachusetts-based maker of consumer and battlefield 'bots, announced a team up with TI this week. The partnership, sadly, doesn't mean we'll be seeing an army of autotuned DJ Roombas -- we will, however, likely be getting a slew of "intelligent and practical" robots packing Texas Instruments' multi-core OMAP technology. Remember those words the next time you hurl one through a window or get it to mop up the tiles around your toilet. No word on the nature of the products that will arise from such a deal, but they'll likely continue to do our bidding for a little while longer at least. Check out a minimalistic press release after the break.
Hands-on demo with TI's OMAP5 platform at MWC (video)
It's TI's time to brag. We first met OMAP5 when the company's VP of the OMAP division, Remi El-Ouazzane, unveiled the developer's reference platform on our stage at CES. While there, he boasted OMAP5 as "the greatest platform on Earth right now," but we were given only a few insights into the platform's capabilities. Now, TI is back with a new wave of demos that better show the prowess of OMAP5 -- a system-on-chip design that houses a dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU clocked at just 800MHz, two Cortex-M4 cores for low-power processes, along with a PowerVR SGX 544 GPU that handles 3D compositions, and a number of accelerators such as TI's IVA-HD, which supports both video encoding and decoding and plays 1080p video at a whopping 60fps. We were shown a demo of all these capabilities humming in unison on a 1080p display, along with a complex HTML5 mashup that adds credence to the company's latest benchmark report. Photography geeks should know the system supports up to 14 megapixel cameras, and is able to process ten shots per second at that setting. We're told to expect devices based on the OMAP5 platform by the end of the year, and if you're anything like us, it's going to be one hell of a wait. Hop the break for the demo.
Always Innovating HDMI Android dongle gets an ICS update, we swing by for a taste (video)
Always Innovating appears to be living up to its name, making significant progress on that clever HDMI Android dongle that we first heard of way back at CES. Now the company's TI OMAP4-based television companion is rockin' some Ice Cream Sandwich madness, drawing curious Mobile World Congress attendees into the Texas Instruments booth for a look. We happened upon the device on the last day of the show, and we couldn't help but be impressed. The premise here is quite simple: your "dumb TV" (i.e. one that isn't Internet-enabled) gives up one HDMI and one USB port (for power), in return connecting you to the wonderful world of Android 4.0. Think web browsing, tweeting, gaming (yes, even Angry Birds), video streaming -- that same experience you'll get with any Android tablet can now be had on your aging flat-screen TV. Always Innovating isn't feeling inspired enough to take the lead on manufacturing, instead licensing the technology to third parties, but with some agreements signed and others on the way, this ICS solution on a stick may be hitting stores just in time to become this holiday season's ultimate stocking stuffer. Pricing is of course up to the manufacturers, but TI reps suggested that we might see these things pop up later this year in the $50-99 range, finally making Google on every TV a much more reasonable proposition. Care to take a gander at this stick-based wunderkind? Jump past the break for our hands-on.%Gallery-149208%
TI reveals more OMAP 5 details at MWC 2012
Well, if our hands-on at CES didn't sell you on TI's next-gen OMAP 5 platform, perhaps some more specs revealed recently at MWC 2012 will. We've known about its dual Cortex-A15 and Cortex-M4 architecture since this time last year, but we didn't know that those M4 cores are there to handle real-time processing of multimedia -- like video encoding and decoding -- which TI claims can provide up to ten percent power savings. Additionally, the company's wunderkind SoC will pack a dual-core PowerVR SGX544 GPU and a dedicated 2D hardware-accelerated composition engine to deliver great graphics and lower power consumption than other mobile silicon solutions. OMAP 5 also comes with a multi-tasking image signal processor that can use up to four image sensors at the same time, or take 1080p 60fps video while snapping 12-megapixel stills simultaneously. So, you ready for a super-speedy OMAP 5 chip in your next smartphone yet? Those who are still skeptical can peruse the PR after the break for a full rundown of its considerable capabilities.
OMAP 5's dual A15 cores wipe the floor with four A9s in browsing benchmark
We've seen Texas Instrument's OMAP 5 in action, but we haven't been able to pit it directly against a competitor. The Dallas company must be growing more and more confident in its product however, as its posted a video demoing its pair of A15 cores alongside an unspecified quad-core A9 part -- presumably the Tegra 3. The video shows the next-gen TI part powering through the EEMBC BrowsingBench in 95 seconds, while its opposition takes a whopping 201. What's more, this thrashing was performed by an 800MHz part -- the four A9s were clocked at 1.3GHz. Of course, Tegra 3s are already in shipping products, while the OMAP 5 might not find a home in consumer devices before 2013. It's also unclear just how much of a hit these new high-powered ARM cores will have on battery life or how much the pair of M4 companion cores helped in the benchmark. Head on after the break to watch a pair of tablets load up 20 websites in quick succession.
Notion Ink explains OMAP over Tegra decision for the Adam II
While which chip ends up in a particular device will significantly affect its performance and access to future upgrades, it's not often that we get to peek behind the curtain and find out why those decisions were made. A post on Notion Ink's new Adam II development blog adds some transparency to the process, discussing the switch from an NVIDIA Tegra chip in its first Adam slate to a TI OMAP solution in the just announced tablet. According to the blog, while theoretical performance marks are nice, the company decided its expertise and that of available programmers would let it squeeze the most out of a Texas Instruments chip, as opposed to its first effort that didn't "fully utilize" the power of Tegra. Hit the source link for more details and a breakdown of some of the tech packed into the OMAP4 CPU, and keep an eye on the blog for more details in the run up to the Adam II's release.
Texas Instruments demos first OMAP 5, Android 4.0-based reference design, promises it in laptops next year (video)
Texas Instruments promised us a new helping of OMAP right around a year ago, and sure enough, OMAP 5 processors will be sampling to partners as early as next week. Texas Instruments' Remi El-Ouazzane (VP of OMAP) just debuted an OMAP 5-based reference design (or "development platform," if you will) on our CES stage, a solid four years after OMAP 3 debuted on a nondescript Archos tablet. OMAP 5 brings along a pair of cores and plenty of power savings, a dual-GPU architecture and more raw horsepower than the average simpleton is used to handling in a single palm. We saw quite a bit of swiping through Android 4.0.1, and as you'd expect, everything looked decidedly snappy. 720p video at 30 frames per second is no real chore, with the platform capable of pushing 1080p material at 64 frames per second (130 frames per second without screen refresh limitations). Of course, with everything being hardware accelerated, we can't feign surprise about its future on netbooks and laptops. To quote Remi: "This is the greatest platform on Earth right now... way ahead of Apple, and it's the first Cortex-A15 (which runs 2x faster than the Cortex-A9) product on the market. When running two Cortex-A15 chips at 800MHz, it's more or less the same performance as running two Cortex-A9s at 1.5GHz. You'll see [commercially available products] ramping up with this stuff in late 2012 or early 2013. We are also running Windows 8 on the latest OMAP; it runs perfectly well, and we've been working very closely with Microsoft. We're working on multiple form factors -- tablets, thin-and-lights -- and we think ARM is going to bring tablets to the masses."He also made clear that he's hoping to bring more and more Android into the enterprise, therefore accelerating the proliferation of the OS as a whole. Moreover, he told us to "expect" OMAP 5 in laptops and Ultrabooks running Windows 8, and alluded to the possibility of seeing the first ones by CES 2013. Have a peek at the first-ever reference demo in the gallery below, and have a look at the video just past the break.
Texas Instruments unveils new car infotainment processors, wireless systems
Texas Instruments wants to add a little extra pizazz to your morning commute, with a set of new car infotainment processors and connectivity platforms. Unveiled today at CES, the company's new line of Jacinto C6000 and auto-friendly OMAP mobile processors boast 3D graphics accelerators capable of supporting 1080p HD video playback. The Jacinto C6000 systems additionally feature digital signal processors (DSPs) that will allow manufacturers to customize their own radio, audio and speech capabilities to onboard apps. TI also took the opportunity to unveil its new WiLink 7.0 (WL128x-Q) and BlueLink 7.0 (BL6450-Q) wireless "solutions" today. These combo-platforms bring WiFI, Bluetooth, GPS and FM technologies on a single chip -- something TI heralds as an industry first. What this means, then, is that drivers would be able to turn their car into a bona fide WiFi hotspot while simultaneously conducting Bluetooth business, without breaking a stride. For more details on the new technologies, check out the PR after the break.
Always Innovating HDMI dongle brings Android to your 'dumb TV' (video)
Google TV's looking for a second wind here at CES, but for those of you uninterested in buying a new TV (or a new set-top box, for that matter), here's a little diddy that just might tickle your fancy. Always Innovating is making a triumphant return to Las Vegas with what might be the raddest little gizmo of the show. The simply-titled HDMI Dongle is effectively an entire system on a chip dongle (and yeah, it looks a lot like Roku's Streaming Stick), boasting a Cortex-A9, between 256MB and 1GB of RAM, inbuilt WiFi / Bluetooth, an NFC module and even an accelerometer. The goal here is to convert your completely vanilla HDTV into an internet-connected device; just plug it into your HDMI port, grab the bundled RF remote and start enjoying Android on the big screen. It's capable of streaming content at 1080p, and accessing Hulu, Netflix or Amazon's video store shouldn't cause a fuss. We're told it'll start at $79, but an actual release date seems to be eluding us. Head on past the break for a couple of in-action videos.
Amazon Kindle Fire review
It seems like ages since Amazon introduced us to the $199 Fire at a hectic New York City event, but in truth that was only about six weeks ago. Maybe our perception of time is warped because we've been hearing talk about this 7-inch Android tablet for months now. Maybe it's because Amazon launching a tablet seemed like such a natural thing to do after Barnes & Noble paved the way with its Nook Color. Or, maybe it's just because the gadget Amazon shipped looks nigh-identical to the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook that we've had for, well, ages.For whatever the reason, what Amazon has delivered is a device that is intimately familiar yet mysterious -- a simple, minimalistic exterior design hiding a flashy, seemingly quite trick customization that's sitting atop a decidedly ho-hum Android Gingerbread build. Our questions leading up to this review were many: How will it handle sideloading? Are the battery life and performance better than the PlayBook? Can a tablet that costs two hundred bucks stand a chance against those that cost two and three times as much? C'mon baby, click on through to find out.%Gallery-139262%
Motorola Atrix 2 review
Lapdock 100 brings a Webtop IQ boost to Moto phones on Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T Sony Music Unlimited arrives for Android tablets, bearing gifts of unlimited music Motorola Atrix 4G, HD multimedia dock, and laptop dock hands-on We've seen a lot of game-changing devices this year, haven't we? 2011 has already witnessed the first Honeycomb tablets, the influx of LTE and the introduction of a boatload of smartphones with dual-core processors. One of those groundbreaking devices was the Motorola Atrix 4G, which we called the best smartphone at CES 2011 because of its powerful Tegra 2 SoC and simply innovative Webtop operating system with an accompanying Lapdock. It was new, and it was powerful. Not even ten months after the Atrix's February 22nd launch, we're already seeing its successor, aptly named the Atrix 2. At the risk of sounding blunt, it's not a groundbreaking device -- aside from a few bumps in specs, larger display and a fresh redesign, it doesn't offer the same level of showmanship or innovation so eagerly demonstrated in the first iteration. But does the sequel compensate for the lack of sizzle? How much does this improve over the original? Does the newest version of the Lapdock satisfy? We'll answer these questions and so much more after the break. %Gallery-137617%
Nokia Lumia 800 vs. Nokia N9: the tale of the tape
Sure, they might look the same, but are they actually the same? Inside that smooth, shapely polycarbonate shell lies internals that are actually significantly different between these two. How different? Well, the guy on the left, the newly-unveiled Lumia 800, has a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor paired with 512MB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The guy on the right? That's the ill-fated N9, and it packs a 1GHz TI OMAP chip with 1GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage. Inside the chart below lies the information you need, and the details you crave.
Nokia N9 review
MeeGo to be folded into Linux-based Tizen OS, slated to arrive in 2012 Want a Nokia N9 in the US? Expansys has some, but it'll cost ya Motorola Droid 2 stars in its first video, touts 1GHz CPU and 512MB of RAM? It's taken a long time for Nokia's MeeGo-packing N9 to make its way into our top-secret labs (the N9 moniker was first applied to early E7 prototypes), but it's here in our dirty little hands, at last, and it's glorious -- well, as glorious as a stillborn product can be, anyway. The N9 is the latest and greatest in a long line of quirky, interesting, yet ultimately flawed touchscreen experiments from Nokia that includes the Hildon-sporting 7710, a series of Maemo-based "internet tablets" (770, N800, N810, N900) and most recently, the N950 MeeGo handset for developers. What makes the N9 special is that it represents Nokia's last flagship phone as an independent player. MeeGo is already dead, and future high-end devices from the manufacturer will run Windows Phone and use Microsoft's services. So, is this the company's final bittersweet hurrah? Did MeeGo ever stand a chance against Android, iOS and Mango? In its attempt to stay relevant, is Nokia throwing out the baby with the bathwater? Most importantly, how does the N9 fare in today's merciless dual-core world? Find out after the break. %Gallery-137175%
Droid Bionic review
Motorola Droid X2 official at $200 Verizon-branded Galaxy Nexus runs impressive 4G LTE speed test on two bars (video) Gingerbread comes to T-Mobile G2x, users feel loved again It's been said that absence makes a heart grow fonder, so it was with very willing and eager hands this week that we received the Droid Bionic, Motorola's latest high-octane, robot-themed assault on Verizon Wireless subscribers. The phone was first announced at CES in the beginning of 2011 and we got to see it in the flesh just an hour later... but then the story took a tragic turn. The Bionic was attacked, killed and then reborn with all new internals. Phoenix-like, the thing is now available for purchase on Verizon Wireless, $300 for a supposedly top-shelf device that packs both LTE connectivity and a dual-core processor. That makes it a first for Verizon, and it also happens to be the thinnest LTE handset yet to cross that carrier's airwaves. Oh, and it has the biggest battery yet, too. Was it worth the wait, then? Maybe. %Gallery-132924%
Droid Bionic arrives at Verizon tomorrow, we go hands-on today (video)
It's been a very, very long time since Verizon and Motorola together announced the Droid Bionic -- the better part of a year, in fact. Since then the phone's gone into hiding, perhaps hitting the gym and training for this moment, it's final and formal unveiling. The frequently-spied device finally ships tomorrow, and we have the full details plus early impressions right here, after the break. %Gallery-132874%
Motorola's new Droid HD makes cameo alongside Droid Bionic
We've just received a fascinating set of photos from a sharp-eyed tipster, who sent along images of what appear to be Motorola's Droid Bionic and, most alluringly, that rumored handset known as the Droid HD (pictured above). This isn't the first time we've seen leaked images of the Bionic in the wild, but these shots are certainly a lot clearer than any others we've come across. Still, there aren't too many surprises here, with the global-capable handset boasting a TI OMAP 4430 1GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel rear camera, and microUSB / HDMI ports. The real intrigue, however, lies with the Droid HD. Judging from the photos, this device seems to be running Gingerbread, and rocks a 4.5-inch display (presumably with qHD or even 1280x720 resolution, considering the device's name), an 8 megapixel 1080p rear-facing camera, a front-facing shooter and the usual set of microUSB / HDMI ports. There's also a pair of side loading SIM and microSD slots on the left side of the device, a volume rocker and what looks like a power button on the right, a slight bump for the camera pod around back (which sports an LED flash and speaker, as well), along with a large, thin battery that appears to be removable. Perhaps most notable about the HD is its seemingly super thin design -- we're estimating it's between 8.5 and 9mm, which would put it in the same league as Samsung's Galaxy S II, which measures 8.49mm. We'll have to wait for more detailed information on this mystery phone, but you can get a closer look right now in the gallery, below. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. [Thanks, Anonymous] %Gallery-130836%
Nokia N9 countdown page goes live, 49 days to launch?
Google's powers of awkward PR translation may have been right on the MeeGo-money, judging by this countdown page for the N9. The Swedish site, which just went live today, has begun its 49 days and counting creep to the Gorilla Glass-clad handset's eventual overseas debut. We'd previously heard whispers of an impending September 15th release pegged for the OEM's backyard, but we'll err on the side of Nokia's official launch clock. Head to the source to watch this tantalizing tease of time ticking by. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Lenovo's 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam?
We spied a mystery FCC listing just the other day, filed under a no-name company but bearing some unmistakable Lenovo markings. Now we have another unidentified device bearing the same branding and, according to our friendly neighborhood tipster, this is the company's 7-inch IdeaPad, which might be (internally) dubbed the A1-07. It's said to be powered by a TI OMAP3621 processor (which also drives the Nook Color), features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, a Broadcom GPS unit, 3G wireless with a SIM slot, and room for a microSD card as well. A 3,700mAh battery supposedly keeps things juiced, both front- and rear-facing cameras are on offer, and it's all wrapped in a glossy plastic styling that makes it look a little like a TouchPad with some bare metal highlights. It also features three buttons up front that we're hoping don't mean it's been relegated to Android 2.x. Now, the image above (and the second one, below) have obviously been crudely modified to hide something, and we can't be sure of what we're looking at here, but it's interesting enough for us to pass these along. Have a gander and let us know what you think in comments. [Thanks, Anonymous]
