Could a 61-page children's book unlock clues about Amazon's plans for its mysterious launch event? Jessica Dolcourt read it to find out.
A children's book is certainly a unique way to welcome spectators to Amazon's event.
Beyond any hints contained within an invitation, companies don't often send journalists clues about product launches ahead of the event. And certainly not in the form of a children's book.
A note affixed to the book's front cover, tied off with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' printed signature, says it all:That jolt of confusion, followed by curiosity, and perhaps even delight is exactly what Amazon was going for in mailing "Mr. Pine's Purple House" to attendees of its June 18 product launch in Seattle, Wa. In fact, standing out among the crowd is the story's entire premise, and Amazon's strategy for dazzling mobile industry-watchers when it at last unveils its mystery device.
We're excited that you'll be joining us next week in Seattle. Enclosed is my favorite childhood book -- Mr. Pine's Purple House. I think you'll agree that the world is a better place when things are a little bit different. See you soon.
Bezos' note emphasized the penultimate sentence by coloring it the same shade of purple as the house that the titular Mr. Pine eventually paints in his quest to differentiate his domicile from the other homes on the same street.
Does this mean we're in for a purple smartphone? Probably not -- that would be too obvious, and bypasses the book's main point, which is one of individualism and expression, and of inspiring others by daring to be different.
Indulge me (and Bezos) with some choice passages. " 'A white house is fine,' said Mr. Pine, 'but there are FIFTY white houses all in a line on Vine Street. How can I tell which one is mine?' "
And later, after the deed is done: "Everybody on Vine Street came to look at Mr. Pine's purple house. No one had ever seen a purple house before."
Whatever it is, Amazon's device claims to stand out in the crowd.
Amazon's dangling carrot is clearly that its device has a wow factor that other cookie-cutter products lack. A teaser video depicts users declaring the device to be "awesome," "amazing," "very real life and uncomparable [sic], and "pretty damn intuitive."
Most rumors suggest that the mystery device in question is Amazon's smartphone at long last, and that its "flawless and seamless" feature that "moves" with you is a 3D experience, whatever that means. We do know that Amazon is working with sensors -- that was one detail the company asked about on its invitation request form for members of the public.
Whatever the jaw-dropping feature may be, you can bet that Amazon won't have it exclusively for long before rivals start integrating it into their own products. In fact, Amazon would do well to consider the cautionary scene contained within "Mr. Pine's" very (purple) pages:
"What a very pretty purple house," said Mrs. Green. "I will paint my house, too!"
"OH, NO! NO! NO!" said Mr. Pine. "Not FIFTY PURPLE HOUSES, all in a line on Vine Street!"
Good luck, Amazon. In this cutthroat, fast-reacting industry, 50 purple houses are exactly what you get.
Lenovo attempts to leverage its Yoga brand with new 8- and 10-inch Android 4.2.2 tablets. The tablets hit stores on Wednesday at $249 for the 8-incher and $299 for the 10.
Though aesthetically unique, the tablets' specs prove less than exciting. The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 8 and Tablet 10 feature quad-core 1.2GHz MT8125 Mediatek CPUs. MediaTek isn't known for making powerful tablet processors, and although I've yet to delve deeply into this one's capabilities, based on past performance, I'll be keeping my expectations low.
The S Pen stylus is one of the most defining features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet (2014 Edition).
You'd probably like to know if it's actually useful in practical day-by-day applications or if it's merely a gimmick. Even if it is useful, are these devices worth the extra cost -- at $299 with a two-year contract for the Note 3, and $550 for the Wi-Fi Note 10.1 (Apple's Wi-Fi iPad Air costs $500)?
The good:The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a gorgeous and massive screen, screaming quad-core processor, and refined S Pen skills. It also has long battery life, makes clear calls, and takes great pictures.
The bad:The Note 3 is expensive, large, and its faux-leather styling is crafted from cheap plastic.
The bottom line:Though its plastic skin doesn't do its high price justice, Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 makes the most compelling case yet for a supersize phone.
The good:The Microsoft Surface's Metro interface is innovative, elegant, powerful, and versatile. The tablet feels strong and well-built, runs Office 2013, and includes rich video and music services. Its keyboard cover accessories are the best ways to type on a tablet, period.
The bad:The tablet's performance can be sluggish, its Windows Store is lacking, Metro takes getting used to, and the Desktop interface feels clunky and useless.
The bottom line:If you're an early adopter willing to forget everything you know about navigating a computer, the Surface tablet could replace your laptop. Everyone else: wait for more apps.
The good:The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has zippier navigation than its 7-inch counterpart, a beautiful high-definition screen, incredibly fast 4G LTE speeds, seamless streaming performance, and access to one of the best media eco systems available. The new Fire HD interface feels better suited on the 8.9-inch screen.
The bad:Web performance is lacking compared with that of other tablets. Its physical design is fairly plain with buttons that are too flush with its chassis. The curated Appstore means many games and non-entertainment quality apps are not available. There's a $15 opt-out for ads.
The development of new chips that deliver zippier performance, smoother gaming, faster Web surfing, and longer-lasting battery life will soon make their way into new Android tablets. While the chips themselves -- and the high-end tablets that will house them -- have yet to be released,we have it on good authority that they'll deliver on their promise.
Gaming is an increasingly popular way tablet owners are spending time with their devices, and chip makers are paying attention. The gaming experience on Android tablets has improved in just the last year, and it's bound to only get faster, smoother, and prettier (and hopefully even more fun).
As of yet, however, the new chips don't have confirmed release dates, but if you're looking for an Android tablet that can deliver impressive graphics now, we've got you covered.
We've listed each tablet with as much pertinent-to-gaming-performance information as we could think of and have listed them here in order, from weakest to strongest based on benchmark scores derived from 3DMark.
3DMark runs a canned demo of a simulated sci-fi game called Ice Storm. The 3DMark scores are determined by three tests: two focusing on GPU speed and another on CPU performance. The tests were run on each tablet a few times, and the chart below represents the highest score for each tablet, with higher scores indicating faster performance.
Tablet
3DMark (Normal, 720p)
3DMark (Extreme, 1080p)
Sony Xperia Tablet S
4,084
2,249
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700
4,298
2,397
Google Nexus 10
8,055
5,432
Sony Xperia Tablet Z
10,204
n/a
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
11,601
7,144
Like most Sony products, the Xperia Tablet S has a proprietary charger.
Sony Xperia Tablet S The Sony Xperia Tablet S's Tegra 3 chip delivers gaming performance near the top of the heap, but a few show-stopping software and hardware bugs prevent it from being a truly great tablet.
Device
CPU
GPU
RAM
OS tested
Sony Xperia Tablet S
1.3GHz NVidia Tegra 3
ULP GeForce (12-core)
1GB
Android 4.1.1
The TF700 is on a few of CNET's top Android tablet lists.
Asus Transformer Infinity Pad TF700 The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is one of our favorite Android tablets thanks to its sharp screen, thin and light design, and impressive gaming performance. Tegra 3 is beginning to show its age when dealing with the high 1,920x1,200-pixel resolution, but it's still fast enough to place at No. 2 on our list.
Device
CPU
GPU
RAM
OS tested
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700
1.6
GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3
ULP GeFOrce (12-core)
1GB
Android 4.1.1
The Nexus 10 is a solid gaming tablet with a beautiful screen.
Google Nexus 10 The Google Nexus 10 had a good run, but like all of us, must eventually make way for progress. It's still one of the fastest Android tablets we've ever tested and the Samsung Exynos 5250 with its Cortex A-15 System-on-Chip with a Mali T-604 GPU, will run your games as well as any other tablet. Well, save one. Overall, the tablet is great for all uses, but for gaming, it's one of the best Android tablets out there.
Device
CPU
GPU
RAM
OS tested
Google Nexus 10
1.7GHz Dual-core Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250)
Mali-T604 (quad-core)
2GB
Android 4.2.2
The Xperia Tablet Z's Adreno 320 GPU is one of the ship's first appearances in tablets.
Sony Xperia Tablet Z The Sony Xperia Tablet Z houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro with an Adreno 320 GPU. It's an impressive tablet, but my spies have ascertained evidence that neither it nor the current fastest gaming tablet (see below) will be all that impressive for much longer.
Device
CPU
GPU
RAM
OS tested
Sony Xperia Tablet Z
1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro
Adreno 320 (single-core)
2GB
Android 4.1.2
The new champ runs Android games better than any other current tablet, but eventually all reigns end.
Google Nexus 7 (2013) The new Nexus 7 easily wins the Android gaming crown. Not only does it deliver high framerates in games, but its 1,920x1,200 resolution screen provides one of the highest pixel densities of any tablet thus far. That means all games -- 2D and 3D -- look stellar on it.
Do you like wires? Neither do we. And thankfully, you don't really need them anymore when you're using a smartphone.
No matter your preference -- iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry -- any decent modern smartphone is equipped with wireless Bluetooth capability. In addition to hands-free calling with headsets and stereo headphones, phones can also be used as wireless music sources for an increasingly large array of Bluetooth speakers -- perfect for listening to MP3s on the phone, or Web-based audio services like Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, iTunesMatch, or anything else.
As someone who uses Bluetooth gadgets daily, I'd frankly feel lost without my handy assortment of hands-free mobile toys. And I've collected a list of some of BIG NEWS's favorites.
Headphones and headsets
Best Bluetooth sports headphones: Denon AH-W150 Exercise Freak The Denon Exercise Freak headphones are built to back you up with wireless audio during workouts. Not only are they comfortable, they provide a secure fit plus are sweat- and splashproof.
Best Bluetooth headphones at any price: Parrot Zik Need the Porsche of Bluetooth stereo headphones? Look no further than the Parrot Zik. It offers a luxurious design, comfortable fit, and plenty of slick features, including wireless audio streaming, noise cancellation, and touch-sensitive controls on the right earpiece.
Best audiophile Bluetooth headphones under $200: Harman Kardon BT The Harman Kardon BT headphones stand out from the pack not just because they're wireless. This pair of cans possess a distinctive retro design, memory foam around the earpieces, noise-canceling, and excellent audio quality.
Best monaural Bluetooth headset: Plantronics Voyager Legend Settling on a serious workhorse of a Bluetooth headset isn't easy. For a hands-free device to be truly worthy, it should offer superb audio quality and noise cancellation, plus be light and comfortable to wear all day. The Plantronics Voyager Legend handles that with ease and is extremely compact despite its boom mic design.
Speakers
Best-sounding Bluetooth speaker: Sony SRS-BTX500 Sporting a sleek and sophisticated design, impressive sound for its size, and a rechargeable battery, the Sony SRS-BTX500 is one seriously advanced Bluetooth speaker system. Add to this its superb audio quality plus NFC pairing, and there's no reason it shouldn't be on your short list.
Best overall travel Bluetooth speaker: JBL Charge portable Bluetooth speaker Need a great portable speaker to take around town or on holiday trips? The JBL Charge packs a real audio punch that belies its compact size, comes with a nice travel case, and can charge other devices through its USB port.
Best Bluetooth speaker under $100: JBL Flip If you have only $100 to splurge on a wireless speaker system, we strongly suggest you give the JBL Flip some consideration. Similar to its cousin the JBL Charge, the Flip is compact, sounds great, and ships with its own carry case.
Best Bluetooth speaker under $50: Philips SoundShooter Wireless With looks bound to stop you in your tracks, the Philips SoundShooter Wireless boasts explosive sound that's much bigger than its pint-size dimensions. The handy gadget also doubles as a speakerphone and lasts for 8 hours on a single charge.
Other Bluetooth accessories
Best Bluetooth audio accessory: Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver Don't toss your powerful home audio system just to get wireless sound in the living room. Belkin's Bluetooth Music Receiver offers a cheap and easy method to give cordless audio capabilities to stereo systems. It even works with a basic set of powered speakers, essentially anything with a 3.5mm headphone jack or RCA inputs.
The good:The Acer Iconia A1-810 has a low price, runs the latest version of Android 4.2, and includes an expandable storage option and a Micro-HDMI port.
The bad:The tablet is thicker and heavier than other small tablets and uncomfortable to hold in one hand. Its screen could be brighter, and the front-facing camera takes washed-out, blurry photos.
The bottom line:The Acer Iconia A1-810 goes low on price, but the Google Nexus 7 costs about the same and is still the tablet to get with its sharper screen and more comfortable build.
