Tag: smartphones

Article – from the horse’s mouth

Bluetooth SIG – "Bluetooth Smart"

My Comments

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Power technology, formerly known as Wibree technology has been put on the market this year. This technology is pitched more for “sensor/controller” devices that primarily provide data to another device; and are required to run for a long time on two AA batteries or a “button-style” battery. Examples of these devices include watches, heart-rate monitors, shoe-attached pedometers, door-window security sensors and the like.

These devices are being marketed as Bluetooth Smart devices and Bluetooth terminals like smartphones and computers that can work with these devices are marketed as Bluetooth Smart Ready devices.

A Bluetooth Smart device like the heart-rate monitor or door security sensor has to be compliant to Bluetooth 4.0 Low Power as a single-mode device and support GATT functionality. These devices cannot work with legacy Bluetooth devices that don’t support this standard.

Bluetooth Smart Ready is used to describe a Bluetooth device, typically a “hub” device like a computer or smartphone that works with these Bluetooth Smart devices. The Bluetooth Smart Ready device must have Bluetooth 4.0 enablement with GATT support. It also has to have a dual-mode low-energy Bluetooth transceiver and updatable software. This would typically benefit regular and mobile/embedded computing devices that work to a “platform” like Windows, MacOS X, iOS or Android. These devices can connect to the Bluetooth Smart devices as well as regular Bluetooth devices.

At the moment Apple has the Smart Ready devices  in the form of the iPhone 4S and the latest iterations of the MacBook AIr and Mac Mini computers. But this technology will be rolled out in to newer computers and Bluetooth modules. The Bluetooth Smart technology will be a point of innovation as companies develop the sensor devices and software for this newer hardware platform.

I would also see this as an improvement for Bluetooth keyboards, mice and controllers due to the idea of having these devices run on a pair of AA batteries that assure reliable operation for a long time without needing to be charged frequently.

It will open up the Bluetooth universe to a larger collection of devices, services and applications that most of us wouldn’t have thought of.

Why use your smartphone or tablet with your NAS

There are times when you want to upload or download files from your network-attached storage device using your smartphone or tablet computer. Examples of this include offloading files from a low-capacity device, through making media that you took or acquired through your device available at all times from your DLNA-equipped NAS to simply backing up data held on your device.

Of course, you may simply treat that NAS simply as a network transfer point for your data. Examples of this may include working with documents that you start on an iPad and want to complete on your regular computer or conceptual “rough-shot” pictures that you take you your phone’s camera and want to work with further using Photoshop and other software on your computer.

How is it done

But how am I able to do this with my network-attached storage and my mobile devices? Some network-attached storage devices may use a Web front for the file collections where as others may implement certain extensions to DLNA for uploading and downloading some media files. This latter situation is infact a long-term goal for the DLNA Home Media Network, especially when it comes to shifting or syncing multimedia files like music or images.

These environments don’t necessarily provide a consistent or ideal user experience for the mobile device user. This can typically be due to a Web front that is optimised for desktop use only to DLNA server and client apps not offering the proper sync or file-transfer functionality.

SMB file-manager apps

The preferred method that I would use is SMB/CIFS network file handling which every network-attached storage device supports thanks to Linux’s SAMBA software. Even the USB-linked file servers that are an increasing part of high-end routers like the Freebox units do support SMB as well as the Internet HTTP and FTP file transfer protocols. This has been a standard for regular computing devices with the Microsoft Windows Platform since Windows For Workgroups 3.11, then was exposed to Linux regular computers through SAMBA and has been exposed to the Apple Macintosh platform since MacOS X.

The platform-based mobile devices now can join the SMB party through the use of SMB-enabled file-manager apps. These are typically low-cost or free apps that expose the mobile device’s file system and the SMB file shares (entry points) made available by computers or network-attached storages. Some of them have file-viewer functionality for file types not supported by your device’s file handlers.

iOS

Intuitive Commander (App Store – $0.99)

FileBrowser (App Store – $4.49)

Syncsellence (App Store – $5.49, free limited version App Store)

Android

ES File Explorer – I use this on my phone (Android Market)

File Expert (Android Market)

File Manager (Android Market) / File Manager HD (Android Market) – Rhythm Software

Blackberry

File Expert (Blackberry App World – US$1.99)

File Manager Pro (Blackberry App World – US$4.99) – Terra Mobility

ArrangeIt File Manager (Blackberry App World – US$1.99) – Conceptual Designs

The various app stores for the popular mobile-device platforms will list more of the file manager apps with SMB file transfer and you can find them using the terms “SMB file transfer” in your search query.

It is also worth noting that your NAS’s vendor may offer file-transfer apps for their device on the iOS and/or Android platforms so you can transfer the files to their device. These programs may also work with the remote-access functionality that some of the consumer and SMB NAS units provide, thus keeping login credentials for the devices and streamlining the remote-access experience.

Other issues worth highlighting

iTunes-purchased content

You may have problems copying content that you purchased with iTunes on your iPhone or iPad directly to the NAS due to Apple’s setup for these devices. But they have improved the iTunes and iOS setup to allow a user to download the purchased content to an instance of iTunes run on a regular computer even though they purchased it on the iOS device. This works best if the regular computer’s iTunes library is referencing the NAS in question.

People who use iOS platform devices that aren’t updated to iOS 5 will need to tether the device to their iTunes-enabled regular computer. Then they will need to use the “Transfer Purchased Content” option in iTunes to copy the content they bought on the device to the regular computer or NAS.

It will also be important to make sure that audio content is downloaded as MP3 files rather than protected M4A files.

One way that Apple can work this situation out better is to implement read-write ability to iTunes (DAAP) servers for the iPod media-management app in their iOS platform. Here, the software could then support improved “offload” functionality. This may not come about due to Apple’s investment in and their fanbois’ preference for the iCloud as a large-capacity storage service.  But practically-minded Apple enthusiasts could place more value on a NAS as an extra-capacity data store so they know where their iTunes content is all the time.

File-transfer operating conditions

When you transfer files between your mobile devices and the NAS, make sure that you have a strong Wi-Fi signal at your mobile device and that the device has sufficient battery strength. This could be achieved through having the device connected to its charger while the transfer goes ahead.

NAS setup conditions

If you are transferring media files to the NAS, you would need to transfer them to the media folders that are referenced by the media-server software on that device. This may be made easier by using the file manager software’s “bookmark” or “favourites” options to point to the start of the NAS’s media folder tree.

It is also worth keeping other personal and workgroup shares on the NAS simply for backup or transfer purposes and referencing these with your file-manager app.

Conclusion

Once you are able to know that you can use the SMB file transfer method for moving data between your NAS, tablet and smartphone, you can see more value out of these mobile-computing devices.

Introduction

HP Envy 100 all-in-one printer - you can print to these printers from your smartphone or tablet

Most smartphone or tablet users would like to obtain hard copy of documents or pictures on paper. But at the moment, there is no open and common platform for printing from these devices.

There isn’t even the ability to connect a printer directly to any of these devices and this issue will become more real as more households use these devices. It will extend to other Internet-ended devices like Internet-ended TVs and set-top boxes that are part of interactive TV setups.

There are a few solutions being established by most of the printer manufacturers and all of these solutions require that you use a newer network-enabled printer that is connected to your home network.

Manufacturer-supplied print app

Brother iPrint&Scan - one of the mobile print apps offered by the manufacturers

The most common solution is to download a printing app from the mobile device’s app store. This method can work if your preferred printer brand is other than Hewlett-Packard because this brand offers different print options that don’t rely on these apps. As well I have installed these apps on to my Android smartphone so I can assess different network printers’ abilities with printing from a smartphone.

These are written by the vendors themselves, usually for all of their recent-issue network-enabled printers and they can print known file types like image files, PDFs or, in some cases, common office file formats. It is also worth knowing that most of these apps allow you to scan photos or documents to your mobile device using your multifunction printer’s scanning facility.

Typically these programs register with the device’s operating system as a file-handler for the file types that they can print. Then, when you open one of these files in the operating system, you have the option to open the file with the printer app; which will list the printers on your network that it has discovered and knows it can work with. Subsequently you select the options that suit your needs, such as paper size or duplex printing, and start the print run.

Apple AirPrint

This works with all Apple iOS devices that are up-to-date with a version of iOS 4.2 or newer. At the moment, it only works with HP ePrint-enabled printers and provides a similar print-job experience as what would be expected for desktop printing.

Apple has yet to release this feature to other printer manufacturers so that people can have a choice of printer to work from.

Google Cloud Print

Google is offering a smartphone printing solution known as Google Cloud Print. This solution, which is immature at the time of writing, requires the use of an HP ePrint-capable printer or certain network-enabled Kodak printers for PC-free network printing. Other printers will require a desktop computer to be running a helper application to collect and forward print jobs to that printer.

At the moment, it works in a similar manner to the printer-manufacturer-supplied app setups where the user has to use the app to print out documents. There is a larger choice of applications as shown on this page for mostly the Android and iOS platforms.

Email-to-print

I have covered HP’s ePrint “print-by-email” setup through the review of a handful of ePrint-enabled HP printers. Here, the printer and the smartphone or tablet must see an Internet service for this to work.

As well the printer has to be registered with the HP ePrint service by its owner. Users would have to then send the image, PDF or document file to a special email address that has been determined as part of the printer setup routine. There is the ability to set up a white-list of approved email addresses that can send print jobs to the printer and recently HP enabled the ability for users to determine an easy-to-remember email-to-print address for their printer.

Kodak offers a similar function for some of their network-enabled printers at the moment. But none of the other popular printer manufacturers have established an email-to-print infrastructure that can work with any smartphone or tablet device.

Achieving best results from your mobile-device print setup

An issue that may plague smartphone or tablet users when they print using one of the mobile print solutions, especially the manufacturer-supplied print apps or the Apple AirPrint setup is that the job may be interrupted midway or take an inordinate time to print. It may not be of concern for Google Cloud Print or email-to-print setups because the job would be lodged with an Internet-based server which would resubmit it to the printer.

This can happen if the mobile device isn’t communicating properly with the Wi-Fi network such as through low batteries or being used in an area where there is poor reception. In most cases, it would be a good idea to make sure the battery is charged up or the device is plugged in to its charger; and you are seeing at least three or four bars on the Wi-Fi signal-strength indicator when you are running the print job. This may require you to avoid moving the device around until the print job is complete, which will be indicated on the software.

What can be done

What I would like to see for on-site printing from mobile devices is the use of the UPnP print device classes which I have touched on previously. As well, more printer manufacturers could license or exploit the email-to-print setups that HP and Kodak have established.

As I have said previously, the network printers should also have a larger memory so that  print jobs can be transferred from the client device and held in the printer’s memory until the last page is turned out.

Conclusion

At the moment there isn’t a clear path for setting up a printing solution for your smartphone, tablet computer or similar device that doesn’t need a desktop computer to be available at all times. It all depends on which make and model of printer you are using on your network and, in some cases, what platform you are using for your device.

I am writing a trade-show recap about the Internationaler Funkaustellung 2011 trade show which is held in Berlin, Germany.

As I have previously mentioned on this site, the Internationaler Funkaustellung is the European launch platform for most consumer-electronics technology. Since home appliances were incorporated in this trade fair, it has outgrown itself with all of the exhibition space increasingly being booked out. They have even had to create extra floor space by incorporating extra venues or having marquees set up outside the various venues.

Appliances

Again, the IFA is a showcase for home appliances. There is still the emphasis on energy-efficient “whitegoods”, including ovens being equipped with an “eco hot-air” cooking mode for energy-efficient baking. As well, LG have introduced a washing machine with a load capacity of 12 kilograms.

As far as small appliances are concerned. there has been a lot of coffee-machine activity from most of the manufacturers and an increasing number of floor-care-appliance manufacturers are running with vacuum-cleaner “robots”. We have also seen Groupe SEB bring the Moulinex “smallgoods” brand back to the German market.

Network connectivity for appliances

But there is increased activity with connecting “whitegoods” and small appliances to the home network. This has been proven by a survey that was done in Germany by VDE(Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik ) who represent the appliance industry in that country. Here, most Germans would like to

• live in a networked home,
• control appliances from different locations,
• utilise opportunities provided by smart-home technologies

They were defining “Home 2.0” as being for the “apps generation” – “there is an app for that”. One major driver for this is the smart grid which allows communication amongst devices and electricity providers to save energy costs.

Examples of this include E.ON, EnBW, eQ-3 and Miele entering into a joint venture with Deutsche Telekom to interlinking home appliances (major goods) and backbone systems (HVAC, security, etc) to Internet to achieve energy efficiency. Beurer have also fielded a network appliance system which connects their video baby monitor, bathroom scales and blood pressure monitor to home network and the Internet.

Personal Wellness

This leads me to mention that Germany’s hearing-aid association have now become part of the IFA. This is due to the hearing aid or cochlear implant being more than just an amplifier for the ear. These devices have DSP technology and this association are working on interlinking them to communications and entertainment technology that is part of the connected lifestyle in a better way than the traditional induction loop.

Computing and Communications

This field of consumer computing and communications is growing very strongly especially with the arrival of tablet computers and smartphones.

Tablets

Samsung to present Galaxy Note which has a 5.3” screen. It is intended as a device that bridges between a smartphone and a small tablet computer. They were also going to use the IFA 2011 to launch the Galaxy Tab 7 which has a 7” AMOLED screen, Android Honeycomb, 2Mp front camera and a 3Mp rear camera. There was also the Galaxy Tab 8.9 which was intended to fill the gap between the coat-pocket 7” tablet and the larger 10” that you could cradle around.

This has been limited by legal action that Apple took against Samsung concerning certain “patents on style” that Apple were jealously guarding in relation to the iPad.

Acer were using this show to launch the Iconia Tab A500/A501 series tablets which I have reviewed in HomeNetworking01.info .  As well, Viewsonic had used IFA to field their ViewPad 10 Pro which is a 10” tablet that could dual-boot between Android or Windows 7.

Sony have launched two tablet computers in a way to present themselves as a force that Apple would have to reckon with. These Android tablets are the Tablet P which has a pair of 5.5” screens that work in a similar vein to the Nintendo DS games consoles; and the Tablet S which is a standard design with a 9.4” screen.

Intenso was a name associated with data-storage technology but have fielded a low-end 8” tablet that runs Android 2.3 rather than Android Honeycomb.

Smartphones

Microsoft is intending to use the IFA 2011 event as a platform to release Windows Phone 7 “Mango” operation.

HTC is using this event to launch the Evo 3D smartphone in Europe. Here, this Android 2.3 smartphone implements an ersatz 3D effect and is the first smartphone to implement a two-stage shutter-release button. This is similar to what we have been used to with film and  digital still cameras which use auto-exposure and / or auto-focus. This is where you hold the shutter-release halfway to cause the camera to adjust itself for the shot, then press fully to take the shot.

LG have advanced a few smartphones to the European market this year. One is the Prada K2 which is a 4.3” unit running Android 2.3, equipped with 8MP camera and 1.3Mp front camera. This luxury phone also has 16Gb on board. They have also launched the Optimus Sol smartphone which has “Ultra AMOLED” display technology as well as the Optimus 7 smartphone which is based on Windows 7 “Mango”.

Samsung are using the IFA 2011 to launch a range of smartphones. One of these is the Wave III which is a 4” smartphone driven by the Bada operating system; as well as another Bada-driven smartphone that has Near-Field Communications technology.

They are also releasing newer models in the Galaxy Android-powered range. The Galaxy Y which is a 3” LCD smartphone with a 2Mp camera and Swype / TouchWiz user interfaces. The Galaxy Y Pro has the same abilities as the Galaxy Y but is equipped with a QWERTY keyboard.The Galaxy M Pro runs Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” and has a 2.66” LCD screen and a 5Mp camera. The Galaxy W has a 3.7” LCD and 5Mp camera; but will come also as a white version.

As LTE 4G wireless-broadband technology is being rolled out around Europe, Samsung are rolling out LTE versions of their Galaxy S2 and 8.9” Galaxy Tab. It is also worth noting that the Galaxy SII smartphone was caught up in the lawsuit concerning Apple’s “patent on style” and was blocked from sale in Germany.

Of course, Samsung haven’t passed Windows 7 “Mango” by. This operating system is driving the Omnia W which is a 3.7” unit as well as the Omnia 7.

Acer have released a 5” Iconia Android smartphone with 1024×480 resolution as well as a Windows Phone 7 “Mango” phone with HDIM connectivity and DLNA-compliant media playback software. Medion have also come to the Android smartphone and tablet party and, in my opinion, these could show up in one or more Aldi stores.

It is also worth noting that Deutsche Telekom are fielding the SpeedPhone 700. This is another of those fixed-line cordless phones which are designed along the same line as a smartphone and like some of these phones, it is Android-driven.

Philips have also released a range of speaker docks that are designed to work with Android phones. Unlike the iPhone speaker dock which connects to the iPhone using the proprietary dock connector, these speakers interface to the phone via a Bluetooth A2DP wireless link but provide power to the phone via a microUSB flylead.

Laptops

There is still activity on the consumer / small-business laptop front at the IFA.

Acer have used this show to launch the Aspire S3 which is the first of the new “Ultrabooks”. These 13.3” ultraportable computers are designed to be very slim and light but have a very long battery runtime. These will typically be available with solid-state drives for secondary storage and have integrated Wi-Fi as the sole network connectivity. As we know already, they are intended to “snap at the heels” of the Apple MacBook Air series of ultraportable, but have commonly-used peripheral connections.

But Acer is not alone with Samsung using this show to promote their Series 9 “ultrabooks”. Sony is also exhibiting the VAIO Z Series which have solid-state drives for secondary storage and integrated wireless broadband. These units come with a module which has a Blu-Ray reader / DVD writer as well as dedicated graphics. The VAIO Z Series is claimed to run for 14 hours on its own battery before needing to be charged.

As far as regular “new computing environment” laptops go, there has been some activity.

Toshiba had used this show to launch the Qosmio F750 multimedia laptop which is equipped with 3D display technology. As well, Acer launched the Aspire Ethos 8951G multimedia laptop which is able to be set up for comfortable video-viewing use with an optional accessory.

It is also worth knowing that Samsung are using this show to try their hand with their own “Chromebook” which is a networked notebook that runs Google Chrome OS and works “in the cloud”.

Peripherals and Software

Acer have tried their hand at a 50-Lumen microprojector which uses a single USB connection for power and data. LG have also run with the LSM-100 mouse which doubles as a scanning wand. This reminds me of those handheld scanners that you had to drag across the artwork to the scanned and required a steady hand to operate.

Kaspersky Labs have answered the call to develop security software for the MacOS platform and are now offering this software. This is because the Apple Macintosh platform is acquiring a user base that is on a par with the Windows platform due to Intel-driven Macintosh computers and the popularity of Apple iOS-powered mobile-computing devices.

Network and Internet

One major trend for Europe that is occurring is the rollout of 4G LTE high-throughput mobile broadband by most of the mobile-phone carriers. This is happening alongside various next-generation broadband rollouts that are occurring across most European communities.

Hama, a German photo-video-computer accessories brand have released a 3-in-1 router. This unit can work as a “Mi-Fi” Mobile broadband router for a Wi-Fi wireless LAN, an  Ethernet-ended broadband router for a Wi-Fi network or simply as an auxiliary Wi-Fi access point with a wired backbone. Medion have provided a 2Tb NAS but I don’t know what kind of setup or facilities it has.

Devolo have restructured their HomePlusg product lineup with three different product packages. One is the MultiConnect Set which consists of a HomePlug AV-Ethernet bridge and a HomePlug AV / 802.11n wireless access point / 3-port Ethenret switch. Another is a typical “pair of homeplugs” described as the “Internet To TV” package. They are also running a wireless laptop-TV package which uses a proprietary point-to-point link.

They have also fielded the Home TV Sat 2400CI+ which is a satellite TV setup with a HomePlug AV backbone as a credible alternative to satellite cable run to the main living area. The set-top box in this kit will also work with the DLNA Home Media Network

AVM, known for their FritzBox range of home-network routers has now re, leased the FritzApp Media DLNA media control point for Android. This is after they previously released the FritzWLAN wireless network repeater which can work as a DLNA-controlled music player. They are also reinforcing their three-stream 450Mbps 802.11n-capable FritzBox lineup,

As well, Deutsche Telekom have utilised the LTE technology to boost the Internet abilities of their rural Internet customers. Here, those customers have had their “Call & Surf Comfort” plans augmented with higher network throughput for rural wireless links (download 3Mbps now 7.2Mbps, upload 1Mbps now 3Mbps). There is no cost penalty associated with these upgrades. Here, this is a step for German country dwellers having real proper Internet service.

Seagate have used this platform to launch their GoFlex Satellite wireless NAS for iDevices and I have touched on this device before on this site.

Stay tuned for more on the Internationaler Funkaustellung 2011 in the next part of this series.

Article

GSM turns 20 today, still rocking the world — Engadget

My Comments

GSM Mobile telephony has now turned 20 this year and has become a technological milestone in itself as far as “on-the-go” mobile communication is concerned,

Here, this service had brought through a highly-reliable digital transmission system which could allow many users to use mobile phones in a given area. It had extended the mobile phone beyond voice towards data-driven activities like SMS text messaging and concurrent packet data transmission.

Infact SMS had even brought about a language of shorthand slang known as “textspeak” that ended up as part of email and instant-messaging culture as well and had made the pager redundant. Here, we now see teenagers and other young people working their phones to frantically tap out a message with one hand the moment they hear that phone beep to indicate a text had arrived. This technology had been taken further with MMS which allows photographs, audio or video clips to be sent this way.

The GPRS packet-data system has become the foundation stone of the mobile Internet, allowing for the phone to become an mobile email client and Web browser. This has been emphasised more with technologies like EDGE.

This technology has brought about cost-effective handsets and phone services with a sense of service portability through the use of SIM cards. Here, a person could upgrade to different handsets or “rope in” another handset like a loan phone to their service by transferring a SIM card between these handsets. It also allowed carriers in a competitive market to strut their stuff by offering service that is affordable to most people.

Infact GSM has mad the mobile phone become a mature ubiquitous technology that is available to all. It even has put the traditional landline phone and the payphone “on notice” as far as young users are concerned.

Therefore I would consider the GSM mobile telephone system a milestone to the connected lifestyle.

Happy 20th Birthday GSM Mobile Telephony

The CEBit trade fairs are becoming a bit of a quandery when it comes to being a European launch platform for IT products targeted at the home and small-business user.This is because most of these products appeal as a crossover product between something destined for the householder and something destined for a business owner or manager.

It also cements the fact that products destined for household use like most wireless routers, smartphones and consumer laptop computers will typically end up being used in the shop or small office even though these places will use equipment targeted at business use.

Here, some of these IT product ranges could be launched in Europe at this show whereas others could be launched at the Internationaler Funkaustellung in August.

Main trends

Tablet computers

The core trends that I have observed concerning CEBit 2011 have been the tablet computers. This fair has become another launch platform for manufacturers to promote their new tablet computers which are primarily based on the Android operating platform.

Key improvements for this class have been the use of dual-core processor technology which yields faster performance.

For this class of device, this show has come at the same time Steve Jobs was premiering the Apple iPad 2 and it shows how competitive the market for tablet computers will be.

CPU/GPU combo processors

The general-purpose computing market has been thrown in to a state of flux with Intel and AMD launching processor platforms based around CPU/GPU combo processors in the form of Sandy Bridge for Intel and APU for AMD. This has changed the ballpark when it comes to integrated graphics solutions with this class of graphics solution yielding graphics performance that is above what is expected.

Similarly, NVIDIA have put forward an ARM-based CPU/GPU combination which would require a different software architecture. This has caused Microsoft to consider releasing the Windows Platform for the ARM architecture as well as for the Intel Architecture.

These processor designs have opened up a new class of computer with “superslim” notebook / laptop computers as well as more of the low-profile ultracompact desktop computers and all-in-ones. The recent work on “dual-mode” graphics where there is a discrete graphics chipset as well as integrated graphics in a computer design has become of benefit when it comes to balancing power economy and performance by allowing the discrete graphics to be seen as an “overdrive”.

Network Devices

The main trends here concern LTE wireless broadband as a WAN option for routers as well as speed increases for the popular no-new-wires network technologies. The 802.11n Wi-Fi network had been brought to 450Mbps in the form of a three-stream variant known as N450. The HomePlug powerline network had been brought up to 500Mbps but this is not yet a defined standard until HomePlug AV2 is “set in stone”. Still, this show has become a European premiere for these networking technologies.

It is more so as more European countries have deployed or are deploying next-generation broadband service to homes and businesses across the continent. What with VDSL2 projects occurring in the Germanic countries (Germany and Austria) and parts of the UK as well as various FTTH fibre-optic projects in the UK and France.

Computing Devices

Tablets

Google have released the 3.0 “Honeycomb” version of the Android operating system but have pitched it at the tablet computers rather than at smartphones and tablets. This has come at a time when more manufacturers were releasing tablet computers to the general market.

There are two main screen sizes being released – a 7” size that can be put in a coat pocket as well as a 10” size that is similar to the iPad and most netbook computers.

ASUS had launched their eeePad range of tablets with three notable devices. One is the eeePad Memo which is a 7” screen unit that is driven by a SnapDragon processor and can be operated with a stylus rather than the finger. Another unit of note has been the eeePad Slider which looks like a smartphone and has the expected functionality but can run on its batteries for 8 hours at a time. As well, ASUS premiered the eeePad Transformer which has a detachable keyboard for those who prefer to type.

There have been a few “budget” tablets that are driven by Android 2.1 rather than 3.0 and are pitched as entry-level e-reader tablets. One 8” model was pitched by AOC and had no integrated wireless-broadband modem and had 4Gb of onboard memory; while there was another 7” unit pitched by Archos in the form of the 70b E-Reader.

Of course, a few “iPad slayers” had been launched at this show. These units which are close to 10” for screen size have features, options and performance statistics that could offer more value than an equivalent iPad.

Fujitsu had released a “Slate” tablet with two cameras and could work with an optional desk docking station so that one could use standard computer peripherals like a keyboard or printer. They also fielded a Windows 7-powered “business-class” tablet PC for the corporate end of the equation.

Now, no tablet computer launch would be without the “Second Japan” (South Korea) putting their weight in with their high-value equipment. LG had launched the G-Slate which is an 8.9” Android 3.0 tablet powered by a dual-core processor, NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics. This unit has 32Gb on-board, as well 2 cameras that are capable of 5 Megapixels each. Samsung has used this show to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1. This is a 10” Android 3.0 tablet that uses a dual core CPU and NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics.

Smartphones

This has also become the time when Google had set the Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” version in stone. As well, there had been talk of Nokia wanting to shift from Symbian to Windows Phone 7 for their smartphone platform.

Dell had put their foot in the market with the Venue Pro which is a Nokia-style smartphone with a slide-down keyboard.

Nokia have premiered two keyboard-enabled touchscreen smartphones in the form of the Nokia N7 and N9, with the latter one being at least Meego driven. They are also wanting to move towards Windows Phone 7 and away from Symbian as the smartphone operating system of choice for their smartphones.

Samsung have taken the chance to premiere the Galaxy S2, which is the successor to their highly-popular Galaxy S. This smartphone is equipped with a Super AMOLED display and runs Android 2.3.

Desktop and Laptop Computers

The Windows-7 computers become more powerful in their beauty and function. As well, the new combined processors in the form of the Intel Sandy Bridge and the AMD APU systems have opened up new paths when it come to designing desktop and laptop computers. Here, portable computers have been able to perform better than expected for most graphics tasks and are able to do this without a penalty on battery runtime. As well, manufacturers have been able to consider designing desktop computers that are small neat and elegant units yet able to perform remarkably well.

ASUS have released three notebooks that are of note here. One is the eeeSlate EP121 convertible notebook which has a touchscreen and a supplied Bluetooth keyboard. The screen size is 12” and it is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor. Its secondary storage comes in the form of a 64Gb solid-state drive.

They have also released the VX7 15” laptop which may impress regular “Top Gear” viewers. It has sports-car styling and uses dual-mode graphics in the form of NVIDIA GEForce GTX460M for discrete-mode and Intel Sandy Bridge Core i7 processor for integrated mode. As well, they have released a notebook computer which is 19mm thick. Here, I don’t have information about its full specifications.

Dell have run with a convertible laptop in the form of the Inspiron Duo. Here, this machine’s screen swings in a frame to “filp” from a regular laptop to a tablet computer.

Acer have premiered the iconia which is a dual-display laptop which uses two touchscreens with one as a keyboard. They have also shown the Revo multimedia desktop PC which I would describe as very similar to the slim version of the popular Sony PlayStation 2 games console. As well, Shuttle, a manufacturer of small-form-factor PCs have released a computer that is based H67 “Sandy Bridge” chipset.

Peripherals

The computer display scene has been centred around large-screen HD monitors. One of these is in the form of the ASUS P246Q 24” LCD screen for graphics artists. This one could work in landscape or portrait mode, has an A4 aspect ratio, and a resolution of 1920×1080. For connectivity, this 499-Euro display has the DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and “VGA” connectors as well as an integrated USB hub.

BenQ have offered a 24” Full-HD LED-backlit LCD display This 300-Euro display has for connectivity 2 HDMI sockets, and a 4 USB hub as well as the usual DVI and VGA connectors but could offer a DisplayPort connector. They also released an “interactive projector” that needs no stylus and allows the user to touch the projected image to interact with it.

Creative have released a few HD-resolution webcams in the form of the Socialize HD which is equipped with auto-focus and available as a “full-HD” (1080) model and an “HD” (720p) model/ They have also released the “Cam Chat HD” which doesn’t have auto-focus but works at HD (720p).

Every technology trade show will come up with the usual line of peripherals and gadgets that may not appeal to the serious computer buyer but appeal to the computing press as sidelines. One is that Fujitsu had released a regular computer mouse that was to “appeal” to the green thought by having it made out of renewable materials. In my opinion, this wasn’t anything special as far as pointing devices go.

SAGEM had released a cordless phone which reminded me of one that was released in the late 1970s by a mail-order firm in America. Here, the battery-powered cordless phone was designed like a standard corded desk telephone yet it transmitted via radio to a “black-box” base station that was connected to the telephone service. It was initially modelled on the standard-issue dial telephone of the day but was revised to look like the standard-issue pushbutton phone of that same era. The cordless phone offered by SAGEM and known as the “Grundig Sixty” was styled like a dial-equipped desk telephone that was standard-issue in Germany in the late 1960s except that this DECT-connected phone uses pushbutton dialling and is finished in that orange colour reminiscent of the era.

The network

For the network, this has become a European launch pad for N450 (three-stream 802.11n that runs at 450Mbps maximum) Wi-Fi equipment as well as 500Mbps HomePlug AV equipment.

AVM, the German network-hardware name have become an example of this with their FritzBox routers have been conservative with their N-based WiFi speeds by offering N300 for their Wi-Fi networks rather than running for the N450 three-stream technology. One of these is the FritzBox 6840 which has LTE wireless-broadband on the WAN side and one Ethernet as well as Wi-Fi N-300 on the LAN side. Like most of the other FritzBox routers, it has VoIP telephony interfaces through 1 telephone socket and a base station for 6 DECT handsets. As well, it has a USB socket for sharing peripherals as well as being a DLNA media server.

They also premiered the Fritzbox Fon WLAN 7330 which has ADSL2 on the WAN side and Gigabit Ethernet as well as Wi-Fi N300 on the LAN side. This would have the USB port and DLNA media server function as well as a VoIP endpoint for 1 regular handset and 6 DECT handsets.

They also released a companion DECT cordless handset for these routers which looks as though it is a low-tier camera-equipped mobile phone. Here, this would use a colour LCD display and a graphic user interface for its management and use; and is pitched as an Internet audio endpoint.

Of course, they have released a HomePlug AV 500Mbps set with two HomePlug-AV – Gigabit-Ethernet bridges for the European market.

TP-Link have started to push in to the European market as far as their HomePlug products are concerned, This is with them premiering an energy-saving HomePlug AV network bridge with power connector so you don’t lose your power outlet when you plug in the HomePlug.

Conclusion

The CEBit 2011 trade fair is the first such fair for an interesting year in information technology, what with combo CPU/GPU chips, higher network speeds and increased interest in the touch-driven user interface.

There are now three major touchscreen smartphone platforms that are available for the choosing – what would it be.

Hi everyone!

Your mobile phone contract’s up or you are about to consider moving from prepaid service to a regular mobile phone service. It’s now time to consider one of those new touchscreen smartphones.

Would you go for an iPhone or one of the new platforms – the Android or the Windows Phone 7? Would you also jump carrier if your desired phone platform or handset wasn’t provided by your current carrier?

Please leave a comment on this site about what you would consider choosing for your touchscreen smartphone. If you are following this site through its Facebook page, you can leave a comment on the Wall after the post.