1. Is browsing the Net via a shared bluetooth connection is more
battery consuming than using WiFi
The source hasn't stopped it, From the GLBenchmark, a few details of the device have been
revealed such as it will run on Android 4.1.2 and will feature a screen size of 1024 x 552
pixels which would translate it to an actual display size of 1024 x 600 pixels with a pixel
density of 169 ppi. It appears that the budget Nexus from Asus, the ME172V, will face some
serious competition from the likes of the Acer Iconia B1-A71.
For those of you who do not know what the Asus Me172V is about, it is a tablet that is
believed to be a Nexus branded device with a 7-inch form factor. The tablet will come in
black and white colour variants and will be priced between $129 to $149. This is a bit more
expensive than the previously perceived price tag of $99. This low end tablet from Asus will
feature a 7-inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels with a TN panel rather than an
IPS panel, which means viewing angles will not be as great. The device now is believed to
sport a VIA WM8950 chipset featuring a single Cortex-A9 core and Mali-400 GPU along with
1GB of RAM. The internal memory found here is said to be 16GB and as far as camera
optics are concerned, the device will feature a 1.3MP camera.
Front an aesthetic standpoint we're conflicted. On the one hand the tablet feels solid and
strong and we adore the rubbery soft touch finish on the back. It's thin at 0.35 inches and
reasonably light at 1.39 pounds. But the rounded sizes look a little like a kid's tablet, the
bezel is fairly large (though that does allow for plenty of space to grip the tablet) and it's
neither pretty nor sexy. Well made with no flex and a good feel? Yes? A head-turner? Not so
much. Stability and speed have been top notch after a rocky start when installing apps in
groups of 10 has the tablet crash twice. Since then it's been silky smooth and responsive and
stable. The stock Chrome web browser is more prone to crashing than other apps, but so far
it's been well behaved. Jelly Bean and Chrome support HTML5 video but not Adobe Flash
Player. We did install the free Boat browser and side-load Flash Player from Adobe's website
and had success with Flash and sites like Amazon Instant Video.
Since this is a Google reference device, you get vanilla Android with no manufacturer UI add
ons like TouchWiz or HTC Sense. Advanced users and Android purists will love this, and the
tablet is easy to root and loading custom ROMs is straightforward. Average non-techie
consumers might feel a little lost since there's no extra software bundle to get you going with
Office docs, alternative video players or third party utilities. You can download these from the
Google Play Store, but newbies may have no idea what apps to look for.
As for the Asus Padfone 2, it was confirmed that the handset, which was revealed in Taiwan
back in October 2012, will come to the UK this year on a big mobile phone operator.