Two new Android devices launched on
Tuesday, Aug. 21, bringing Google's Ice Cream Sandwich to gadgets other
than smartphones and tablets. The first device will hit the UK as a
touchscreen-based laptop/netbook for students, while the other will launch in the U.S. as a USB stick-shaped mini PC.
The first one is
ERGO Electronics' dual-function GoNote hybrid,
which combines the traditional laptop form factor with a tablet-style
touchscreen. It comes with a 10-inch LED-backlit touchscreen with
two-finger resistive touchscreen technology and a 1024 x 600 resolution.
It also packs an ARM-based 1.2GHz Rockchip RK2918 SoC, about 1GB of
DDR3 RAM (depending on the model), 8GB of internal memory, and a microSD
card slot for additional memory (up to 32GB).
The netbook also sports a front-facing
VGA camera, four USB 2.0 ports, audio ports, microphone jack, and a
miniHDMI v1.3 port for watching HD videos on an HDTV. It packs a Lithium
Polymer 900mAh 3.7V battery, which should last for roughly six hours of
Web browsing and one week of standby. Other features include an
Ethernet port and Wi-Fi connectivity.
"GoNote brings Android to the forefront
of 'work' computing, where it's not just about sofa surfing," said ERGO
Electronics. "With GoNote, Android gets serious, helping students
unleash their ideas, access information, capture their thoughts and
maximize their learning potential. GoNote comes with an Office suite
pre-loaded so users can create, edit, collaborate and save Microsoft
Office format Documents, Presentations and Spreadsheets to the GoNote's
onboard storage or to the Cloud. GoNote also comes with Google Play
Store, giving users access to 400,000 Android Apps to help them learn,
interact and relax at the end of the day."
The GoNote gadget will launch in
September in the UK for £149.99 ($237), and will be available in black
or white models. There is no word yet on whether the device will also be
available in the United States.
Meanwhile, the other new Android device comes from Oval Elephant, which is now accepting
pre-orders for
its $89.99 Android-based mini PC. The stick-sized PC measures just 3.50
x 1.30 x 36 inches, but packs a powerful dual-core Cortex 9-based
Rockchip RK3066 clocked at 1.2GHz up to 1.6GHz, an integrated Mali-400
GPU, 1080pvideo, 4GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, microSD card slot for up to
32GB of additional storage, Ethernet, a USB 2.0 host port, 802.11 b/g/n
connectivity, and an HDMI 1.3 output jack.
The gadget runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream
Sandwich with installation supported by Google, which means users will
have access to Google Play, Google Maps, Gmail, and other popular Google
services. The mini PC also comes with a USB to miniUSB cable for power,
as the unit does not include an A/C power adapter, as well as a
female/male HDMI extender cable. Users can also purchase an additional
5w 2A USB Power Adapter from Oval Elephant for $1.89.
The Android-based mini PC is expected to
ship around Sept. 6-7, and Oval Elephant is likely the only company to
sell the device directly to consumers in the U.S.
1:52 AM
Posted in: Android Apps
