tablet

• Android
• Tech Industry
• Smartphone
• Bluetooth
• tablet

Wireless power system charges devices via WiFi up to 20 feet away

Ben Lovejoy Jan 6 2015 - 5:39 am PT

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Wireless charging has been around for some time now, but charging pads are really almost as clunky as wires: you still have wires going to the pads, and you have to put your device in a specific place to charge them. What we really want is true wireless charging, where power is beamed directly to the device through the air.

Which is exactly what Energous has been demonstrating at CES with a system it calls WattUp, reports Engadget.

WattUp […] works using a mix of RF, Bluetooth and a lot of patent-pending technology. The transmitter is where most of the magic happens. It communicates with and locates compatible devices using low-energy Bluetooth. Once they’ve established contact with a device, they send out focused RF signals on the same bands as WiFi that are then absorbed and converted into DC power by a tiny chip embedded in the device. These transmitters can be built into household appliances, TVs, speakers and standalone “energy routers.”

What looks like an oversized Internet router beams power up to 20 feet, so have enough of these – or transmitters embedded into other devices around the home – and your portable devices are powered wherever they are. All that’s needed is for the receiving devices to have the necessary chip.

Energous used an iPad app to demonstrate switching power between devices, but the plan is to build intelligence into the system so that it beams power to devices automatically depending on how much charge they have left. Once your phone has enough power, it switches instead to powering your tablet. As you move around the home, power transmission is handed off to the next source in much the same way as your phone switches between different WiFi networks.

Energous wants to license the technology to manufacturers, and the big smartphone manufacturers are clearly in the company’s sights. This, not pads, is the way charging should work, and sooner or later this – or some equivalent tech – is how our portable tech will be charged. I’m very much hoping for ‘sooner.’

• Android
• Smartphone
• Bluetooth
• tablet
• IFA

Logitech’s new Bluetooth Multi-Device keyboard doubles as a smartphone/tablet stand

Jordan Kahn Sep 3 2014 - 11:57 am PT

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MceLc7-w1lQ]

Logitech today announced a new Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard (K480) that doesn’t just make switching between devices easy, it also doubles as a stand for your smartphone or tablet. While Logitech has made similar keyboards previously that let you switch between connected devices, the new keyboard adds a “Easy-Switch dial” that makes it super easy to switch between three devices on the fly:

Now you can type a report on your computer and, with the flick of the Easy-Switch™ dial, respond to a message on your smartphone and type a tweet on your tablet. The universal keyboard can connect to three different Bluetooth wireless devices at once, whether you are using a Windows®, Mac® or Chrome OS™ computer, or an Android™ or iOS tablet or smartphone.

The keyboard is available now in the US and Europe for $50 in two color schemes (white & black). You can images of the two colors below and see more specs and order the keyboard now on Logitech’s site.

Technical Specifications

• Available in white and black.
• Bluetooth range: up to 10 m (30 feet)*
• Battery life: 2 years**
• On/Off power switch
• Battery life indicator light

• Android
• Wear OS
• Sony
• SmartWatch
• leak

Unannounced smaller tablet and new smartwatch appear in leaked Sony promo photo?

Stephen Hall Aug 25 2014 - 9:03 am PT

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Whether or not it was truly an accident is up for debate, but it appears that Sony has just shown off a couple of new devices in some promotional materials posted to the company’s Facebook page. As you might expect, the photo has of course already been pulled (which means there’s almost surely something here we shouldn’t know about yet).

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• Android
• Apps and Updates
• Smartphone
• tablet
• Skype

Skype makes chat notifications less annoying when using multiple devices

Jordan Kahn Aug 20 2014 - 8:41 am PT

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Skype announced today that it’s finally fixing the way notifications work for users with multiple devices by only delivering chat notifications to the device you’re actively using. If you’re signed into Skype on multiple devices like your Mac, iPhone and iPad, Skype will now recognize which device you’re actively using to chat and only send notifications to that device. It will also notice when you stop actively using a device and continue sending notifications to all devices. The changes are only for chat, however, as call notifications will continue to come through on all devices you’re signed into:

The moment you stop actively using Skype on any device, all devices will receive notifications again to make sure you never miss anything important. When you pick up any one of your devices to respond, we will stop send notifications to all other devices. Call notifications are still sent to all devices so you can answer on whichever gadget you prefer, not just the one you’re closest to.

Skype notes that with the change to notifications chat history will continue to “sync across all devices allowing you to continue a conversation from any one of them.”

Skype is rolling out the feature to all users on the latest version of Skype over the next few weeks.

• Android
• Samsung
• Smartphone
• tablet
• phablet

Samsung’s 7-inch phablet-defining ‘Galaxy W’ is official in Korea

Stephen Hall Jun 2 2014 - 7:03 am PT

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It may not be the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 that has been rumored widely, but a new smartphone/tablet dubbed the Galaxy W has now been made official in Korea (via Engadget). Clocking in at 7 inches, its screen size isn’t far off from other Samsung phablets — like the Galaxy Mega 6.3 — and ultimately, holding it up to your face will feel dorky as ever. But this phone in particular hopes to be the best tablet-smartphone blend yet, promising to be more comfortable than other 7-inchers in the market.

We reported on a 7-inch mystery device that passed through the FCC late last week, and it’s clear that this may very well be that device when comparing specs. Both that FCC filing as well as this press release describe the phone as having a 7-inch display (sadly at just 720p), a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and a camera duo made up of a 2-megapixel front-facing lens and an 8-megapixel primary lens.

The device is going to ship with almost-year-old Android 4.3, and will have an off-contract price tag of approximately 499,400 won — or $489.

• Android
• update
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7
• Lte
• tablet

Nvidia announces new Tegra Note 7 with LTE, arriving Q2 for $299

Jordan Kahn Feb 21 2014 - 7:01 am PT

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Nvidia announced today that it will be releasing a new version of its Tegra Note 7 tablet that will include its i500 LTE model for 4G LTE cellular connectivity. The non-LTE version hasn’t exactly been a big seller, but it’s a welcomed update on a decent 7-inch tablet option that the company is still marketing as “the world’s fastest 7-inch Android tablet.”

The Tegra NOTE 7 serves up a bundle of cutting-edge mobile technologies – including one of the world’s fastest processors, Tegra 4, a superb stylus, exceptional audio, Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), and, of course, great NVIDIA gaming. And that’s at a starting price of just $199. Now, we’re added lightning-fast mobile data to the mix. Tegra NOTE 7 is available with LTE and HSPA+ mobile connectivity, and it can operate on popular carriers across the world.

The new LTE version will arrive in Q2 for $299 and Nvidia is also rolling out KitKat updates to its entire Note 7 family and releasing the tablets in new markets in Western Europe, Brazil, and Ukraine.