Exclusive: Acer Iconia Tab A200 will be a budget brute

Acer Iconia Tab A200 will be a budget brute | News | TechRadar Updated 40 minutes ago

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Tweet Acer is looking to mix things up with the Iconia Tab A200

Acer has revealed that it will launch its new Iconia Tab A200 in mid-March, with the aim to keep the cost low by removing features which are rarely used on tablet devices.

Speaking to TechRadar at MWC 2012 Julien Bertheuil, Acer's UK Sales Manager, confirmed that the Wi-Fi only 10-inch Iconia Tab A200 will launch in the next few weeks. It will come packing a respectable 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, front facing camera and microSD card slot.

Acer is keen to focus on the key reasons why people use tablets, so in order to keep the tablet low-priced and thus competitive in the already crowded market, features which are rarely used have been lost.

Less is more

The Iconia Tab A200 will be missing some features commonly found on other tablets, as Bertheuil explained, "you're not likely to go outside and take pictures with a tablet, so we've decided to take the back camera out, because it's cost saving – we're keeping the front camera because people want to video chat and skype."

Bertheuil continued: "we've decided to remove the HDMI port because people plug their tablet into their TV once, twice, maybe three times and our studies show that 95 per cent of tablet usage is sofa based - such as browsing the web, watching videos and checking emails."

By removing features which Acer has found are used infrequently, the Iconia Tab A200 can deliver a quality processor, display and memory configuration.

There is no word on the actual pricing, but Acer is obviously looking to mix things up in the tablet market so we could be looking at a sub-£200 device.

More details on the Acer Iconia Tab A200 will be released in the coming weeks, so stayed tuned for the full low-down.

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Exclusive: Microsoft: 'It's the complete vision for Windows 8'

Microsoft: 'It's the complete vision for Windows 8' | News | TechRadar Updated 43 minutes ago

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Tweet Page 1: Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Gabriel Aul

Looking for apps in Windows 8 Metro

The Windows 8 Developer Preview (as the name suggests) was for introducing developers to Windows 8 and it didn't have many of the pieces of the OS, especially not the final user interface.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview obviously isn't completely finished, but it is what director of Windows program management Gabriel Aul calls "the complete vision for the product".

He calls the look of the Metro start screen "more finished and more polished than it was at Build."

In fact, there have been over 100,000 code changes since the Developer Preview, which makes the Consumer Preview a wholly different beast.

And while there are new ways of switching between applications and new touch controls "we also went back and added a ton of mouse and keyboard support to complete that experience," Aul promises.

The touch controls are a more developed version of what we saw at CES this year. Aul explains the logic behind the way they work: "The new things are all about the edges. The left and right edges are about Windows controls; the left side is about switching, the right side is about controls.

The top and the bottom edge are about app controls, and they both do the same so you can choose which you prefer."

That makes sense for touch; "when you're holding [a tablet] the touch is all about the edges. Ergonomically, they're the easiest thing to hit with my thumbs."

The Windows 8 Start Screen

The charms are carefully arranged, he says. "The Start screen [charm] is always right there under my thumb." But it's also optimised for mouse users, who can just roll into the corner area without having to be too precise.

"With a mouse, if I have to pick a particular pixel it needs fine control, but for the Metro controls you can just jam the pointer up into the corners – you don't have to be precise. When I pull down a charm, I'm putting my mouse in the right place for the controls. I make a big movement to open the charms, I pull down and my mouse is there, I hit Settings and my mouse is right where the controls are, so it's a very small movement."

Moving between Windows 8 Metro apps

Putting the mouse in the top left corner shows a thumbnail of the next Metro app, but you can pull down to see thumbnails for up to five current apps. Outlines of the thumbnail edges help make that more obvious.

"It has hints that there are tiles hidden away when I put the mouse in the corner; it's very subtle, it's just something to say there's something here." With a touchscreen, swiping an app in from the left and back off screen shows the same thumbnail strip, or you can use Windows+Tab on the keyboard.

Need to see more than five apps (or to be able to jump straight to individual apps on the desktop)? Alt+Tab gives you thumbnails for all running apps the way you're used to.

The Start Menu still exists in Windows 8

And while the Start button is no longer an orb at the end of the taskbar, clicking in the corner still works (and hovering your mouse there shows a thumbnail of the Start menu you can click).

"We didn't take the Start menu away," he points out; "it's just zero pixels. In the lower left corner you have Start where you expect it to be, you click it to jump back to Start. Or if I go to the lower corner and push up, I get that same switching list."

Touch is also more responsive in the Consumer Preview, Aul claims. "We've got the physics of swipe dialled in now; as you swipe it really sticks to your finger. Switching performance is as fast as I can flick through. The Windows key takes me to Start or whatever I'm doing as fast as I can do it."

Scrolling through the start screen with a mouse now works directly; instead of grabbing a scroll bar you just move your mouse to the side of the screen. That gives you a more responsive scrolling behaviour, especially if you have a scroll wheel on your mouse.

"It has a physicality to it, there's a different response when I push a little or a lot."

And while the picture password option is certainly easier than tapping out a password on a tablet screen, Aul claims it can be more secure. "It's cryptographically stronger than a numeric PIN, and it's actually as good as a strong password if you have a complex photo."

Windows 8 on different devices

Aul is a big fan of Windows tablets such as the Samsung Series 7 that Microsoft has frequently used to demo Windows 8 (check out our Hands on: Windows 8 tablet review) but he also dropped strong hints about how Windows on ARM (WOA) tablets will fit in as companion devices that rely on syncing documents and settings.

"I love the tablet. Other people may want smaller, more power-efficient tablets and another computer. If I'm on the couch browsing and reading email and I want to go to work I dock it and work [on the same machine]. In the tablet scenario, I put it down, I walk over to my desktop and log in and it'll feel just like the machine I've been using. The IE history is even there. I don't have to connect it and sync stuff; it just all happens automatically."

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview download is available from Microsoft now. To get it, head over to http://preview.windows.com.

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Exclusive: Why Samsung is embracing valve audio technology

Why Samsung's embracing valve audio | News | TechRadar Updated 36 minutes ago

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Tweet Samsung - amping it up

Samsung revealed at CES 2012 that it was getting into the audio dock market in a big way, announcing the DA-E750 – a piece of audio kit that uses valve amplification.

The 2.1 channel speaker dock is one of the most distinctive docks we have seen – and the first ever to come from Samsung – and is being pegged as the only to have docking support for both the company's Galaxy S smartphone range and Apple iOS devices.

TechRadar spoke to Chris Mosely, an AV product manager at Samsung about the reasons the company chose vacuum tube technology and he explained that it was all about an oft-overlooked element in the soundbar world: sound quality.

"The home theatre market is declining and one of the reasons for this is that the docking market is increasing. So we have moved into this area rather than just concentrating on iPods, we are concentrating on dual docking – both Galaxy and iPods," said Mosely.

"The competitors we are going up against have used design but haven't really used sound quality as a benefactor and that is what we are doing with our new range of docks."

Warm sound

When it comes to valve amplification, Mosely said the sound was superior but Samsung decided to go for a dual approach to the technology, mixing the old school technology with new school digital amplification.

"Valve amplifiers have been around 60-odd years and are proven to give off good sound. But there are good points and bad points," Mosely explained.

"The good points are that they are warm and there's a very natural sound to them; the drawback is that they are very inefficient – you have to put a lot of current in to get a lot of sound out.

"Solid-state amplifiers just don't sound as good but they are more efficient. Digital amplifiers are extremely efficient but don't sound great. So what we have done is use a valve amp in the pre-amp stage and a digital amp in the power stage."

There seems to be a push to the high end with audio docks – Samsung will be going up against the well received Arcam rCube – and Mosely reckons it is a change in tastes in the consumer that has leaned the market to the more premium end.

"The industry 15 years ago had a choice of moving from CD to something that sounded better – SACD and audio DVD – but what they chose was convenience with the MP3.

"It is easier to carry around but doesn't sound good. Now this has gone full circle and the market wants things to sound decent again, so there is a market for better docks that can offer this sound quality.

"The valve amp shows that there is something that is going on inside the dock which offers better sound quality."

Tags: Samsung, DA-E750, audio docks, smartphones, iOSTweetreddit!StumbleuponComment on this article  Your comments (1) Click to add a new commentbradavon

Friday at 17:03 UTC

1. This is great. It's about time Android got some docking love too.

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