Acer announces Iconia W3, the first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet

We have seen it leak a few times before but now it’s finally official. Acer has taken the wraps off the Iconia W3, the first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet.

The Iconia W3 has an 8.1-inch, 1280 x 800 resolution display. It is powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 processor and is available in 32GB and 64GB variants. Other features include 2 megapixel camera on the front and back, micro HDMI out, micro USB port for connecting accessories such as USB drives, keyboards and mice (with an adapter, of course), microSD card slot and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n.
The Iconia W3 comes with full Windows 8 operating system and Acer is really touting the Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 suite that is included out of the box.
The Acer Iconia W3 will go on sale in June for €329 and €379 for the 32GB and 64GB variants respectively. The optional keyboard will be available for a price of €69 and the case will be available for €24.90 (grey) and €27.90 (white).

Asus announces Fonepad Note phablet with 6″ 1080p screen, stylus and dual-core Atom CPU

The Asus Fonepad raised a lot of eyebrows when it was announced – a 7″ tablet with phone aspirations, which was too underpowered to gain major traction. Yet the company seems undeterred as it today announced the Asus Fonepad Note, a 6″ phablet.

Just like the original Fonepad, this is an Intel-powered Android device but the specs are a lot more alluring.
The 6″ Super IPS+ screen has 1080p resolution for a big increase in pixel density- 367ppi vs. 216ppi for the 7″ WXGA screen of the tablet. The screen is rated at 450nits of brightness and works with an S Pen-like stylus and dedicated Asus apps.
The a more powerful chipset was used too – the Intel Atom Z2560 (Clover Trail+), which has two Atom Saltwell cores at 1.6GHz with HyperThreading and 2GB of RAM, plus a PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU clocked at 400MHz.

The Asus Fonepad Note packs an 8MP main camera and 1.2MP front-facing camera. There are front-facing stereo-speakers, reminiscent of the HTC One speakers. The speakers use Asus’ proprietary SonicMaster tech for high-quality sound.
On the connectivity side, there’s full 3G voice and data with fast DC-HSPA for up to 42Mbps downlink speeds.

ASUS unveils Transformer Book Trio, VivoPC and VivoMouse

ASUS has officially announced its Transformer Book Trio at the on-going Computex 2013. The ASUS Transformer Book Trio is a three-in-one mobile device, which dual-boots Windows 8 and Android and aims to give you a netbook, a tablet and a Windows 8 desktop PC in one device.

The Transformer Book Trio sports an 11.6-inch detachable display and the PC Station dock has an Intel Core i7 processor, keyboard and a 750 GB hard drive. The tablet display can be detached and the main part can be hooked to an external display to use as a desktop PC.
The PC Station can also be used as a charger for the tablet for extending the battery life. The tablet features a 2 GHz Intel Atom processor, 64 GB inbuilt memory and a 1920 x 1080o Full HD display. The Transformer Book has a unique ability to switch between operating systems and gain access to over 700,000 apps in the Google Play Store and over 50,000 apps in the Windows Store.

ASUS also uncovered its ViVoPC, a wireless media PC that is designed to provide HD Wi-Fi audio and video streaming through an 802.11ac connection. The spun-metal finish VivoPC features the ASUS SonicMaster audio technology, two USB 3.0 ports and a SATA 6GB/s.
Finally, ASUS also showcased its VivoMouse, a combined touchpad, mouse and a PC remote. The touchpad in the VivoMouse recognizes Windows 8 touch gestures and can be used as a wireless remote for home entertainment PCs.

Foxconn gives us a glimpse of the first Firefox OS tablet

Foxconn has officially unveiled the first Firefox OS-powered tablet, which was rumored for a while, at a press event at Computex 2013 in Taipei.

Surprisingly, Foxconn did not reveal the specifications of the tablet, but the official launch of the tablet confirms the existence of Firefox OS-based tablets, which we’ve been hearing of for a while now.
The image suggests that the tablet might sport an 8-inch or 10-inch display, but even that isn’t officially confirmed as of now. Meanwhile, Foxconn has also announced a partnership with Mozilla to manufacturer more Firefox OS-powered smartphones and tablets.
We will keep you posted as soon as we hear more about the tablet.

Twitter finally releases Vine for Android

Twitter announced its new service named Vine in January, letting you share short looping videos on the popular social network. Back then a Vine app was only available for iOS, but that exclusivity is finally coming to an end. The service, which already has about 13 million active users, has finally been made available for Android.

Vine for Android currently requires Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher to work, but it lacks some of the features from the iOS app. However, Twitter promised that it will soon release an update for the Android version that will put it on par with its iOS counterpart.

Introducing Vine for Android. vine.co/v/b3v5h3Piwt7
— Vine (@vineapp) June 3, 2013

Vine for Android currently offers unlimited uploads, instant posting of videos on Vine and sharing it on Twitter. The app lets you find, follow and interact with people and you can also explore trending posts for now. The important features such as front-facing camera support, search, mentions and hash tags and Facebook sharing, which are currently missing, are expected to arrive in the upcoming days.
Vine for Android can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Apple’s official WWDC 2013 app for iOS is out now

With Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference just a week away, the company has released its official app for the developer-oriented event.

There, Apple developers can watch videos of the sessions directly on their iPhones and iPads. They’ll also be able to navigate around Moscone West, and save their registration information in the Passbook app.
The event promises to be quite interesting as Apple is set to unveil the latest iterations of its iOS and Mac OS X operating systems. Refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are also expected to be shown.
Even if you’re not going to attend WWDC 2013 in San Francisco, you can still download the iOS app to check out what sessions are going to be covered from the source link below.

Plants vs Zombies 2: It’s About Time coming to iOS on July 18

The long expected sequel of the arcade game Plants vs Zombies will soon be available on iOS devices. PopCap Games has officially announced that its Plants vs Zombies 2: It’s About Time will be coming to the Apple platform on July 18.

PopCap Games has also released a trailer for the upcoming title, giving us a hint on what to expect. In the trailer, the botanist Dave sets himself to defend his house with the help of peashooters, walnuts and other plants.

he Plants vs Zombies 2 will feature some new plants that include a five-way peashooter and a plant, which fires boomerangs that come back to it. The upcoming sequel of the popular game is said to have some new worlds to play in along with some new and interesting mini games.