Windows 8 on a Tablet: First Impressions (Video)

After the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released this week, it took me a few hours to decide wether or not I wanted to install it on my old HP TouchSmart tm2 that I use daily and bought a while before the original iPad came out. Needless to say I took the plunge after the setup program told me just about everything I had already installed would be compatible. 

It turns out Windows 8 is going to be a lot like Windows Phone 7 and that's probably a good thing. You've got full screen "Metro" style apps that have no reminants of application chrome or even operating system controls. You've got the gorgeous live tiles that animate with pictures, social network notifications, messages, emails and weather. Everything is very smooth and responsive to the touch. 

However there are some big differences. First of all, I was quite content with the Windows 7 touch interface. You touch the buttons and they activate. That's pretty simple. Now that I've been using Windows 8 though, I'm much more impressed. The touch UI is designed to be both ergonomic, highly efficient, and clutter free! The main controls are right next to the bezel where your thumbs would be if you were holding atablet. Just swipe your thumb along the left side to flip between open apps. Swipe across it and then back to show a list of thumbnails representing open apps that you can easily tap to open the one you're looking for. Then swiping on the right side with your thumb opens the "charms" for other types of operating-system interactions. It's really quite nice once you learn how to use it, and that's really the only issue... there's nothing on the screen giving you any kind of indication on how to interact with this new user interface. 

Overall, I'm very impressed with the speed, usability, and preview apps in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. I'm glad that Microsoft went this direction for their new tablet initiative rather than scaling up a mobile operating system like Windows Phone 7. The fact that you can easily jump back into a desktop computer interface in order to run all of your high-end content-creation programs (even though they may not be designed for touch UIs) is fantastic for mobile productivity. 

Have you tried the Windows 8 Consumer Preview yet? Are you looking forward to new Windows 8 tablets coming to the market? 

Samsung Galaxy S III: First Benchmark?

There's a strong possibility that the first benchmark of the Samsung Galaxy S III has been published -- assuming, that is, you believe (like we do) that the next Galaxy S will be going by model number GT-I9300. Before we get into that debate, here is the lowdown: a handset claiming to be GT-I9300 took two passes through the GLBenchmark suite of tests late last month, with the results only recently getting processed. Based on some research into the user who uploaded the tests, we believe that they were, in fact, performed by a Samsung employee. 

The headline news here is that the resolution is being reported as 1196 x 720, both potentially dispelling rumors of a 1080p full HD screen, while at the same time suggesting a buttonless design a la the Galaxy Nexus (also 1196 x 720). The processor is listed as maxing out at 1.4GHz, but a crucial bit of information is missing: the number of cores. We know that it's running an Exynos 4 from Samsung, but it could be either the dual core Exynos 4212 or the quad core Exynos 4414 -- if we had to guess, we'd go with quad core, if only to keep pace with LG and HTC on the spec sheet. 

Also revealed are a Mali 400 MP GPU, the same as found on the Galaxy S II. However, based on the single published result -- a GLBenchmark 2.1 Egypt Standard score of 6584 frames (58.3fps) -- it looks like it is being clocked higher in the I9300, according to Anand Shimpi, editor and founder of AnandTech. Thus the supposed SGS III is able to maintain more or less the same framerate as the SGS II despite needing to push substantially more pixels. Finally, we learn that I9300 is running a 4.0.3 Ice CreamSandwich build of Android. 

Much of the confusion over model numbers seems to stem from a recent UAProf which listed the I9300's resolution as 1024 x 600, although like it did with the Galaxy Nexus, Samsung is probably just reusing the information from another device's profile. What we do know is that I9300 support pages have recently shown up and been pulled from some global Samsung sites, and the very few photos uploaded to sharing sites taken by that model have all been pulled down. Right now the only other candidate for the Galaxy S III model number is GT-I9500, and that is reportedly a device not running Android at all, but an upcoming OS from Samsung and Intel. 

LG Confirms Optimus L3 Launch Plans

We got an early look at LG's Optimus L3 when the phone found itself up for pre-order with a Swedish retailer well in advance of LG's official unveiling of the phone in the lead-up to the Mobile World Congress. Since then, we've been expecting the Android to finally arrive sometime in March, but lacked official confirmation. Today, LG takes care of that last bit, confirming the handset's launch details. 

Europe will get the Optimus L3 first, before the end of the month. Russia and Asia will follow, though LG hasn't said just when, and after that the door's open for possible sales in additional markets around the globe. 

The L3 is supposed to be pretty darn cheap, with those pre-orders coming in at under the equivalent of $200. Admittedly, it's a lower-tier phone, but where we might have seen a single-core 800MHz processor in such a device last year, in 2012 we've upgraded to dual-core components. Even with that concession, we're still looking at a relatively small, low-resolution screen. You might want to check out the 3.2-inch QVGA display for yourself before ordering this one, just in case it's a deal-breaker. 

Smart Screen Off Uses the Proximity Sensor to Stop Pocket-Dialing

One of the benefits HTC builds into many of their devices is a feature that turns the screen off based on input from the phone's proximity sensor. Doing so helps save precious battery life and prevents accidental screen taps (no more "butt dialing"!). Additionally, HTC's implementation allows you to turn your smartphone face-down to not only turn off the screen, but silence your alerts as well. Great for meetings! 

Non-HTC phones probably don't have this feature. That frustrated one particular developer, and he decided to do something about it. His app is called Smart Screen Off, and it simply turns your screen off when yourphone is in close proximity to something. That something could be a pocket, a purse, or even being set face-down on a table. 

You're thinking, hey, why not just hit the lock button? Sure, you could do that, but not only is that two actions, it also puts the phone to sleep. This solution simply turns off the screen (both the display and the touch-sensors). Resuming from that condition is MUCH faster than resuming from sleep. Unfortunately, it doesn't mute the alerts like HTC's solution does. 

Even still, it's intriguing, and I gave it a try. 

The app comes in two flavors: "Lite" and "Pro". They're basically the same app, but the "Lite" version doesn't let you save any settings. The "Pro" version costs under US$1.50 and provides the following options that the "Lite" version does not: 

- Start on Boot 
- Disable when in LandScape mode 
- Vibrate when screen is turned OFF 
- Vibrate when screen is turned ON 
- Hide Icon 
- Hide Notification Messages 
- Enable/Disable on shake 
- Don't screen on after screen Off 

If you're curious, give the Lite version a try. If you like it, uninstall it and purchase the "Pro" version. 

Smart Screen Off LITE 

NEW

by AndroidHD

5,000 downloads, 86 ratings (4.0 avg)

Free

Install

Download from the Android Market

HTC Sensation Models Getting Sense 3.6 Along With Their ICS

This time last month, we had just gotten word about HTC's plans for the white Sensation, which would arrive with Ice Cream Sandwich already installed. We noted at the time how odd it seemed that the image HTC had released showed the phone on an older version of Sense, instead of the Sense 4.0 we'd expect. With the white Sensation released, andOTA updates to existing Sensation-series phones starting to trickle out, it's now apparent that HTC is delivering Ice Cream Sandwich updates with Sense 3.6. 

This is understandably disappointing news for Sensation owners, though Sense 3.6 at least offers some of the same features as 4.0. HTC has confirmed that not all of its phones will be seeing Sense 4.0, but it remains committed to bring "as many of the enhancements as possible" to its phones. 

So far, we've only heard of plans to deliver ICS with Sense 3.6 to Sensation-line models, though we've got a bad feeling we'll be seeing similar treatment on additional HTC Androids. At the least, you can always find a custom ROM that integrates Sense 4.0, which is a boat quite a few HTC users could soon find themselves in.