It seems Hp (Hewlett-Packard) hasn't given up fully on the
tablet market after all. But this time around they ditched WebOS and went with
Android with their new Hp Slate 7. The Slate 7 is a 7" inch tablet that
runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) as its primary operating system, but what else is
under the casing? Join me for the hands on review of the Hp Slate 7.
What's in this
device?
It's somewhat of a religion for android owners or prospective
android owners to be very attentive to the specification sheet of the product they
are going to purchase. So here is some of what the slate 7 is made of.
- Tablet Dimensions : 197.1 x 116.1 x 10.7 mm (7.76 x 4.57 x 0.42 in)
- Weight : 372 g (13.12 oz)
- Display : FFS+ LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 600 x 1024 pixels, 7.0 inches (~170 ppi pixel density)
- Beats Audio sound enhancement
- Memory Card slot : microSD up to 32 GB
- Internal Memory : 8 GB Storage and 1 GB of RAM
- WLAN :Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA
- Bluetooth : v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
- Camera : Primary 3.15 MP (2048x1536 pixels)
- Video : Yes, 720p@30fps
- OS : Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
- CPU : Dual-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9
I know most might be saying that the above specification
isn't anything on the high-end side of life, but it seems obvious that Hp isn't
targeting the high-end users. They seem to be targeting the financial depressed
persons like myself.
Design and Build Quality
Although Hp was aiming for the cost effective crowd the
device itself is well built and very sturdy (...could be used as a cricket bat
and damage the ball). There are only two slight problems and they are
noticeable the minute you pick up the device. The problems are weight and the
screen bezel thickness. The device weighs a lot for a 7" inch tablet and
that is very apparent when you hold the device for extended time periods. Also the
screen bezel is thick compared to other tablets in its class.
Display and Camera
When you buying a budget tablet for your personal use you
shouldn't expect that it will have the best of what technology has to offer.
The Slate 7 doesn't have the best display on the market. With a resolution of
600 x 1024 this display has not reached HD quality as yet, but it's sharp
enough to watch videos on and be satisfied. Also the cameras on this device is
not great, but it gets the job done to say the least. Once you remember the
cost of the product then your heart ache will go away.
Sound and
Performance
These two categories is where the slate 7 shines. The sound
output for this device is excellent whether it's through the loud speakers or a
headphone. Plus the addition of beats audio gives the sound output more bass
and clearer mid-range sounds. Meanwhile the dual-core processor and 1Gb of RAM
seems to be very capable of handle most of the tasks (tasks included gaming and
HD video playback) we threw at it.
Final Thoughts
At
roughly 26,000 dollars there isn't much you can complain about. The Hp Slate 7
is a well built android tablet for a financial depressed society... what more
can you asks for? The product mentioned in this article was provided courtesy
of Royale Computers and Accessories
telephone#: 906-1067, 906-1068, and
754-5048.
Earlier this week I was greeted in office by a Mr. Donahue
Martin to demonstrate a new car alarm system that's on the market called Rottoguard.
This car alarm system integrates the user's cell phone in the alarm and
alerting process.
How it works
The alarm system (Rottguard) uses a SIM card of your
choosing (Digicel/LIME) that will be the source of communication. The SIM card has to be functional and be able
to send and receive text messages. Also the SIM has to have credit on it at all
times to communicate back to the owner of the vehicle if something is wrong. In
case of foul play the alarm calls and sends a text messages to the owner's
phone saying an unauthorized personnel aka thief has open the car door, start
the engine or even shake the car in anyway. After which the user has the ability
to either shutdown the engine or request the location of the vehicle which can
be viewed in Google maps on your phone. This is done by sending a text message
with your personalized password attached to it to the alarm system. The request
for vehicle location is given in coordinates that can only be viewed on a smart
phone (Android, iPhone or Blackberry) or a PC.
Setup and
Maintenance
The setup cost is $28,000 (includes setup and GCT) which is
currently an introductory price. Plus you'll need credit on the alarm SIM card.
We were assured that $100 to $200 credit would be more than adequate for the
month. Rottguard is not allied with any armed response team so the
responsibility is on the user to give the information to the proper authority
when the time comes.
From A Consumer Perspective
After the demonstration I took to the streets to see what
would be the crowd response to Rottguard.
Carl Carr (Computer
Technician) "The alarm system sounds quite impressive and the fact that
you can remotely disable the engine via a simple text message makes it a perfect
solution to stop vehicle theft without any major confrontation. Also, this
alarm system seems more proactive than current alarms against theft."
Crosby Boswell
(Car Owner) "I love the idea and I will be the first one in line to
purchase one next week. But my problem is that with King Alarm when your
vehicle is stolen they will track it for you and retrieve it, but with this one
you'll have to give the location to the police and hope that they humor you and
retrieve it. I'm sorry, but most Jamaican police don't jump to the opportunity
to do work."
Final Thoughts
Rottguard seems well thought out and seeing it in action is impressive. The product mentioned in this article was provided courtesy of Auto-Don Trading Company Ltd 19 Keesing Avenue, Kingston 10, Office#: 923-9566, Cell#: 382-9713.
The GALAXY S4 Active is the newest addition to the GALAXY series that brings the innovative features of the GALAXY S4 and added breakthrough protective
design elements. Here are some of the the things that makes the GALAXY S4 Active ticks.
Maximizing Durability
Recognizing the demands of a dynamic lifestyle, the
GALAXY S4 Active was engineered to keep active users connected as they explore
and experience the world around them.
The GALAXY S4 Active has qualified protection from dust and water
IP67 (IP
stands for International Protection against ingress of solid foreign objects
and harmful ingress of water. The highest level is IP68,), so you never have to
leave the device at home during a long day at the beach or dusty hike. The fully
sealed design keeps dust particles out and protects against water damage for up to 30 minutes of submergence at a depth of one meter. Equipped with a
water-resistant earphone jack, the GALAXY S4 Active frees you to use earphones
in more adventurous conditions, in the same way you’ve used them in normal
ones. Whether capturing every
moment of a wild rafting trip or taking a great underwater photo in the pool,
the device’s unique construction lets users capture amazing moments previously
impossible using a normal smart phone.
Explore Longer with Powerful
Performance
An active lifestyle
requires plenty of energy, and the GALAXY S4 Active offers a long-lasting and powerful
user experience. Featuring a 1.9 GHZ Quad-Core processorand2,600mAh battery, the GALAXY S4 Active can handle the most intensive tasks with ease and precision.
Striking color and stunning resolution on the device’s beautiful 5.0’’ Full HD TFT LCD screen (443 PPI) makes playing the newest games or watching hours of video
easy on the eyes. And with ‘Glove Touch’, cold weather is no longer a problem since the touch-screen can be fully
operated while wearing gloves. With an8-megapixel rear camera,
users can easily share their vivid experiences while on the go. Unique to the GALAXY S4 Active
camera, ‘Aqua Mode’ can be used to increase
visual quality and clarity for enhanced underwater images and video. The volume key located on the side of the device can be used as a camera
key, allowing users to easily and quickly open the camera application to capture
photo and video the moment it happens. Additionally, the camera transforms into
a powerful LED flash light to assist in low-light
and night time activities with a simple long press
of the volume key.
Richer & Fuller Life Experience
The GALAXY S4 Active is designed with a seamless interface that incorporates
popular features of the GALAXY S4. ‘S Travel (Trip Advisor)’offers travel assistance,
local information, and recommendations to provide a more seamless experience in
an unfamiliar environment. ‘S Translator’ makes
international travel easy by providing instant text or voice translation for emails
and text messages. The camera interface is designed to make capturing and sharing meaningful moments intuitive and
more engaging with multiple shooting
modes including ‘Drama Shot,’ which allows users to see all the action
in one continuous time-lapse, and ‘Sound & Shot,’ which uniquely
stores sound and voice together with the image to capture the moment in an
immersive visual/audio format. With ‘Story Album’, photos taken with the GALAXY S4 Active are collected and
sorted according to a user’s timeline, geo-tagging information or a specific
event to instantly create an organized photo album. To help facilitate sharing, users can also use the ‘Group
Play’ function to enjoy music, photos, documents and games together
and across various devices including GALAXY S4, GALAXY S4 mini,
GALAXY Mega 6.3 and GALAXY Mega 5.8. ‘Samsung Smart Pause’ enables users to control of the screen using
optical cues. While watching a video, the video pauses when you look away and
starts right up again when returning to view, saving vital battery life and
time spent rewinding. ‘Air View’ lets you preview the content
of an email by simply hovering your fingers over the screen, which saves time
and data. With ‘Air Gesture’, you can change the music track, scroll up and down on a web page, or
accept a call with a simple wave of the hand. Additionally, ‘S Health’ helps you keep track of your
personal health statistics. When paired with the S Health Accessory, you can
monitor your heart rate, weight, sleep pattern and other personal measurements
to assist in a healthy lifestyle.
Enhanced Content and Services
The GALAXY S4 Active also offers competitive content and
services to provide a seamless mobile experience anytime and anywhere. Using the ‘Samsung Hub,’ users can access music,
videos, books, games and engaging educational content. With a beautiful magazine-style interface, users can browse a variety of content across services, as well as purchase
and manage their content easily with a single Samsung Account. Users can also control their TV through Samsung WatchON’s IR remote, which
transforms the GALAXY S4 Active into a remote control for TVs, set-top
boxes, and DVD players. Through ‘WatchON’, the GALAXY S4 Active
also offers a broad selection of entertainment content including live TV,
cable TV and video on demand, facilitated by the rich digital context
provided by Samsung’s EPG (Electronic Program Guide) system. ‘ChatON’, another unique feature,
connects and facilitates group chats, media sharing and interacting in creative
new ways using pictures, hand drawings or figures across mobile devices. The GALAXY S4 Active will be available for purchase beginning
this summer, with initial retail in the U.S. and Sweden. It will be offered in
three different color options: Urban Grey, Dive Blue and Orange Flare.
