ASUS launches PadPhone at Computex 2011

Android based smartphone gets hooked to the back of an Android tablet.

ASUS has launched what it calls a PadPhone at the ongoing COMPUTEX 2011 convention in Taipei, Taiwan. The device involves a pair wherein an Android smartphone docks at the back of an Android tablet.

The ASUS smartphone has a 4 inch display and is expected to run Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Intel's Oak Trail tablets to be unveiled

There are several companies getting ready with their Oak Trail processor based tablets, and these include Acer, Asus and MSI; but most of the tablets first off the mark will be from Chinese companies.

Tablet PCs based on Intel's Oak Trail processor are likely to be displayed next week in the Computex Trade Show in Taipei. 

The name of the processor, Oak Trail, is actually a code name for the Intel Atom Z670 processor designed for tablets. The ARM based processors have grabbed large market share among mobile devices. 

Fujitsu to launch 7 inch Android tablet

After 10 inch Windows 7 based tablet, Fujitsu will be launching a 7 inch Google Android based tablet soon.

While the world is still rejoicing the launch of Lifebook TH40/D Windows 7 based tablet, its maker Fujitsu is all set to launch another tablet but only this time they have Google Android in their mind as its operating system.

As reported by Digitimes, the company is set to announce the launch of its Google Android based tablet but will be launching it sometime in the month of August this year. 

Barnes and Noble to reveal new e-reader on May 24

The company has an e-reader in the form of Nook Color, which has recently got a Froyo update and comes with 8 GB memory. So, it is expected that the new e-reader will have something better than this.

Barnes and Noble, a book retailer company, has announced that it's going to reveal a new e-reader later this month. The company has also made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating the same, but the filing has an expected date as well, May 24. 

The announcement has come about one week after the operating system of Nook Color, the e-book reader of Barnes and Noble, received an update which added Adobe Flash support, and app store — thus enabling it to look more like a cheaper version of the Android tablet. 

Adobe launches Flash player 10.3

Android devices get the latest version of the Adobe flashplayer ahead of all the other smartphone platforms.

Adobe has released the Flash Player version 10.3 for Android based devices. With speed and reliability being the keyword for Android now-a-days, the new update of the Flash player focuses on adding more speedy operations while managing and fixing the bugs. 

The new Adobe 10.3 or 10.3.185.21 version, according to the company, is a general availability release which means that while all the other devices will have its Beta version, Android 2.2 and above devices will enjoy its full functionality. 

The new release enables ARM Neon optimisation for devices running ARM system on chip with the Arm cortex 9 processors. ARM Neon technology accelerates multimedia and signal processing algorithms such as video encode/decode, 2D/3D graphics, gaming, audio and speech processing, image processing, telephony, and sound synthesis.

Google Earth service launched on Honeycomb

A 3D mapping software has especially been optimised for Honeycomb, which means for the first time buildings could be viewed in three dimensions on Android tablets as well.

Google Earth, the popular mapping service, has been optimised for Android Honeycomb devices. A 3D mapping software has especially been optimised for Honeycomb, which means for the first time buildings could be viewed in three dimensions on Android tablets as well.

Peter Birch, a Google product manager, wrote in a blog post, "When we launched Google Earth in 2005, most of us were still using flip phones. At the time, the thought of being able to cart around 197 million square miles of Earth in your pocket was still a distant dream. Last year, that dream came to fruition for Android users when we released Google Earth for Android."

He added, "We've added support for fully textured 3-D buildings, so your tour through the streets of Manhattan will look more realistic than ever. There's also a new action bar up top, enabling easier access to search, the option to 'fly to your location' and layers such as Places, Panoramio photos, Wikipedia and 3-D buildings."

The blog post likens the movement from smartphone to the tablets to watching a movie in theatre to IMAX theatre.

Surprisingly, the iPad version of Google Earth was available for the users earlier whereas the Honeycomb version has been launched now.