Dell, a multinational manufacturer of computers and mobile devices, is keen on launching a tablet globally but it might be launched towards the end of this year.

Chief commercial officer of Dell, Steve Felice in an interview with Reuters revealed the information where he also mentioned that the US-based company will be entering the market in a big way, but they will not be making the entry in to the market anytime sooner and that the tablet is expected to reach the markets by the end of this year.

Dell is taking time to understand the ecosystem well and they do not want anything to go wrong. Hence they are studying the market and the needs of customers, on the basis of which the product will be designed.

According to Steve Felic, the tablet will be meant for both the general consumer as well as professionals.

Dell has in the past released products based on Windows and Android operating systems but there is no information as on what platform the new tablet will be based on. But looking at the products that have been launched till now by Dell – a 10 inch Windows based tablet but a smaller 7 inch screen based Android device, there is a greater possibility that the PC maker may choose Android as the OS for the upcoming tablet which could also have a 10 inch display.

Sony has recently announced its new Xperia S smartphone during the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. Though the model displayed has Sony Ericsson mark on it, it will come with Sony branding when it hits the stores some time during March this year.

The phone, which comes in a bar form factor, looks like any standard Android phone. However, a transparent strip below the screen adds flavour to the design. The strip has a touch sensitive button sign on it but the buttons are actually just above it.

Xperia S is a pretty powerful smartphone with a 1.5 GHz dual core Snapdragon MSM 8206 Processor coupled with 1 GB of RAM, and it shows on the performance with absolutely no lag in executing the commands.

The display is a 4.3 inch HD one with 1280X720 Resolution and runs Android 2.3.7 operating system. The videos and the pictures come out very lively on the screen and video playback is very smooth.

There is also a 12 Megapixel camera capable of recoding full HD video which utilises Sony’s Exmor sensor technology that helps in taking quality images in low light conditions as well. Also, Xperia S comes with a single LED flash though dual LED flash would have been a lot better. Another important feature that has been added is the ability to switch on the camera directly by a long press of the camera button even while the phone is in standby mode.

On the user interface front, Sony has done away with the usual Timescape UI. Instead, Xperia S has a new minimalist user interface with some nice fluid backgrounds which looks great on the HD screen of the phone.

Sony Xperia S scores well on the connectivity front also with 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC capability. However, HDMI slot is missing in the smartphone. Sony Xperia S has a 1750 mAh battery which should be enough for a day’s usage. But the powerful processor might drain out the battery sooner than expected.

TheSony Xperia S smartphone is no doubt very powerful and will offer a good user experience at least in terms of performance. The user interface might change when Sony comes out with the Android 4.0 update which it will be getting for sure, and then a new UI may be deployed.

(TMI’s Nilabh Jha is hosted at Las Vegas by Qualcomm)

Lenovo showed a new smartphone, named Lenovo K800, with Intel’s Medfield family Processor at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012 in Las Vegas, USA. To be released first in China, the Lenovo K800 features a 4.5-inch touchscreen display supporting 720p HD native resolution. This smartphone comes with a new Intel Atom Z2460 mobile processor inside it.

As promised, Intel has formally introduced its new breed of mobile processors dubbed as Medfield for smartphones and tablets. The Intel Medfield processors will be commercially known as the Intel Atom Z2640 mobile processors.

Lenovo K800 becomes the first smartphone to come with a single core Intel Atom Z2460 mobile processor that comes coupled with PowerVR SGX 540 graphics chip. Bearing the latest hardware, the Lenovo K800 smartphone will be first made available in China but there is no clarity about its release for rest of the world.

Intel Atom Z2460 ‘Medfield’ processor powered Lenovo K800 comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and runs with the new Lenovo LeOS user interface layered on top of it. This smartphone may come with 8 Megapixel camera to capture 15 high quality photos in less than a second. The graphics chip is capable of supporting 1080p HD video playback.

The smartphone reference design promises HD video playback for 6 hours, 3G Talk time for 8 hours and audio playback for 45 hours. Intel didn’t actually clarify the battery that might be used to achieve such timings. Hence we will have to wait for real-world finished products to note the actual battery life.

Participating hardware partners are expected to show their Intel Atom Z2460 Medfield processor based smartphones at the Mobile World Congress 2012 next month in Barcelona, Spain.

Intel has closely worked with Google to bring the support for Intel’s x86 micro architecture to the Android operating system. Since the Intel Atom Z2460 has been announced formally, we can expect to see more products packing this chip in coming months.

Later this year Intel is expected to launch the Clover Trail-W Chipset platform for the Windows 8 operating system based tablets.

Images by: AnandTech

Sony Ericsson has announced its new Xperia S smartphone at the on-going Consumer Electronics Show 2012 in Las Vegas, USA. This new Xperia S flaunts a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, a dual-core mobile Processor and a 12 Megapixel Exmor R camera. Sony Ericsson steps foot into the Near Field Communication stream arena with SmartTags feature in this Xperia S.

As part of the 2012 Xperia family smartphone lineup, the new Xperia S has been previously reported with codenamed Nozomi or Xperia Arc HD.

The Xperia S features 4.3-inch Reality display with Mobile Bravia Engine. This display natively supports 1280×720 pixel Resolution and hence we can expect the images as well as text to appear super crisp.

Under the slim design, the Xperia S houses a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8260 mobile processor that can support faster mobile operating system performance. This mobile processor integrates the Adreno 220 graphics chip which is the latest and fastest of the line.

By default, this smartphone will come with 32 GB internal storage and Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box. However, Sony Ericsson promises to release the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for it in the second quarter (April-June) of this year.

As flagship high-end Xperia family smartphone, Xperia S features a 12 megapixel camera with Sony Exmor R technology which helps capturing images even in low light conditions. The camera of Xperia S also comes with Fast Capture support that allows clicking images in a matter of 1.5 seconds directly from the standby mode. The 12 megapixel camera is also capable of recording full 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second.

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The Xperia S also comes with a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera which can record 720p HD video and also support video chat. Sony Ericsson has ventured into Near Field Communications starting with Xperia S that has Xperia SmartTags support that are usable to launch the pre-configured as well as personalised settings.

Other fancy set of features include Bluetooth, WiFi, DLNA, A-GPS, GLONASS support, native USB tethering, micro HDMI and micro USB ports. Weighing just 144 grams, the Xperia S is 10.6mm thick and has strip of LED just below its display and the chin. Sony Ericsson will add a 1750 mAh battery to power its monstrous smartphone.

In terms of hardware specifications, the Xperia S is indeed a modern day device meant for exhaustive usage including multimedia consumption. However, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread by default and the promise to release Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich later this year might give consumers a second thought about it as several smartphones with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by default would be available very soon.

Sony Ericsson has promised to release the Xperia S in the first quarter of 2012 globally and hence we can anticipate to see this handset in India by second half of this year.

Nokia has announced a new competition for its new Lumia handsets. Under the new ‘Spot the Lumia’ contest, people can win a Nokia Lumia handset.

To participate, consumers will have to spot the Nokia Lumia — on the plane, or outdoor, at Nokia retail or even on TV — and upload the picture on www.facebook.com/nokiaindia. 50 consumers with the most innovative pictures will get to attend the amazing Sky Party on January 20 th on the Lumia branded Jet Airways aircraft.

The Lumia branded Jet Airways aircraft was unveiled by Nokia in Mumbai on Tuesday. Branded entirely in the new Lumia colours, the Jet Airways plane will sport the tile interface of the new Nokia smartphone on its windows, as well as inside the aircraft. The aircraft branding also features the names of Nokia employees responsible for this mammoth marketing initiative, acknowledging their contribution to the Nokia Lumia launch in India.

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The Sky Party will be a 2 hour extravaganza on board the Nokia Lumia Jet Airways flight with some amazing experiences for consumers. The aircraft will take off from Mumbai and will land back after the party.

Prashanth Mani, general manager, West, Nokia India, said, “The Nokia Lumia branded plane with Jet Airways will surely brighten the day of its passengers with its vivid colours and execution. This has created a new marketing and consumer engagement benchmark.” He added, “We have created some amazing moments for our consumers since the launch of the Nokia Lumia range through the Lumia Taxi, flash mobs, flash cricket & luxury helicopter rides, and the Lumia aircraft will take the ‘amazing quotient’ of this campaign a little higher”

The Nokia Lumia Jet aircraft has already started its journey, as it flies across destinations in India between 1st January to 31st January.

Nokia had launched two handsets under its Lumia brand in India in December 2011. The Nokia Lumia 800 comes with a 3.7 inch Amoled touchscreen display, 8 Megapixel camera, with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system.

On the other hand, Nokia’s Lumia 710 smartphone has a 3.7 inch touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system.

To compare both the handsets, click here.

Nokia Lumia 710 is available for Rs 19,000 while the Lumia 800 sells for Rs 34,000.

Sony has announced the launch of its much awaited Android powered portable media player, the Walkman Z1000. Versions of the new player were showcased in September last year and now they have finally been launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012, currently going on in Las Vegas, USA.

This new Walkman is by far the most advanced Walkman device in Sony’s stable. Moving beyond just music, Walkman Z1000 offers a big 4.3 inch LCD display with a Resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, which gives near perfect viewing for videos and pictures.

In addition, the device is powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2 mobile dual core CPU that allows it to browse the web fast, run video games and full HD 1080p video. Along with that, this device is based on Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, making it ready to access all multimedia applications available on the Android Store.

The Sony Walkman Z1000 is also DLNA capable and allows users to play multimedia content on a variety of DLNA enabled products such as network music players, WiFi enabled televisions and photo frames, as well as wireless speakers and home cinema systems, without the use of wires.

Even with wires, users can play content on bigger televisions using the built in HDMI port, making it the perfect accessory for all sorts of entertainment.

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Walkman Z1000 comes equipped with “S-Master MX” sound processing that delivers better audio performance along with digital noise-cancellation. The Walkman features a dedicated “W” button, which acts as a one touch access key for launching the music player application. It also offers the SensMe functionality, allowing users to choose from 16 different mood options for listening to music based on how they feel at that time.

Sony Walkman Z1000 series devices will be offered in three different capacities including 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB versions priced at Rs 13,000, Rs 14,500 and Rs 17,000 approximately, and will be made available by the end of February this year in various markets across the world.