The video compares both tablets as far as hardware specs are concerned, such as the weight and size of the tablets, as well as the selection of apps and the ability to multitask. Microsoft shows off the ASUS tablet running full Office, while the iPad only has the OneNote app. And while the iPad can quickly switch between apps, Microsoft gloats that the VivoTab can do split-screen multitasking.

The ad also demonstrates that Windows 8 tablets have a microSD card slot built in, while the iPad requires an adapter in order to get the same functionality. Microsoft even brings up printing, noting that the iPad only works with AirPrint-compatible printers, while Windows 8 tablets work with nearly any printer.

While Microsoft’s previous tablet commercials have been all about focusing only on the tablet itself, these new ads put some focus on the competition — in this case, it’s the iPad that’s giving Microsoft’s tablets a run for their money, so it seems the company wants to set the record straight and let people know the benefits of their tablets.

It’s certainly a blatant call out to the iPad, which could result in some eye rolls by viewers, but we have to say these ads are a bit better than office workers break-dancing on top of tables and flinging around their Surface tablets. It’s certainly a better ad for those who don’t like flashy and fast-paced advertisements (*raises hand*).

The commercial kicks off with Windows’ Live Tiles, with Siri conceding that iOS doesn’t update its icons like that, and then launches into multi-tasking. The ASUS tablet is shown opening up a sidebar with a second app, again something which isn’t supported on the iPad.

Then it’s time for PowerPoint, since Microsoft apparently can’t imagine a world where a tablet user might not want to throw together some slides. On the ASUS, the presentation can be edited and re-formatted, while the iPad is shown merely scrolling and zooming around in frustration. It’s worth noting that Apple does offer Keynote for iOS, its own PowerPoint alternative, which does allow presentations to be created.

“Should we just play Chopsticks?” Siri concludes, playing out the advert as Microsoft reveals its kicker: how much 64GB versions of both tablets cost. The iPad – Apple’s full-sized version, complete with Retina display – is priced at $699, while ASUS’ Windows 8 tablet is $449.

It’s certainly one of the better adverts Microsoft has put together – at least there’s no random dancing like the Surface tablet commercials the company aired last year – and the use of Siri’s voice (the actual audio files for which Apple licenses) is a sly touch that’s likely to get the fans arguing. Still, Microsoft’s decision to illustrate functionality with PowerPoint seems like a missed opportunity; the business-centric app has little relevance to home users.

Thanks Craig!

The drying mechanism works via a brushless DC motor, which produces two sheets of air at 420mph, working as a type of squeegee for the liquid on the user’s hands. According to the announcement, the Airblades can dry wet hands in 14 seconds. The motor is said to be one of the smallest fully integrated 1400 watt units in the world.

The air from the airblades is unheated and goes through a HEPA filter, removing nearly all bacteria at 0.3 microns. To keep the contraption from being too noisy, the tap features six Helmholtz silencers to keep the motor noise down. Elements of the units are said to be nearly inaudible. The entire tap is made from stainless steel cut with lasers to create extremely minimal spaces between different parts of the faucet.

The motor was teased back on January 31, when Dyson sent out launch invitations, showing the components of a motor that was the result of seven years of development. We had speculated that the hinted products would be of the Airblade dryer variety. The tap is available as of today, and comes with a 5 year warranty.

The all-new 2014 KIA Forte has a stylish design and plenty of high-tech features given the price point. This commercial is simply titled “Respect the Tech” and you’ll quickly see why. Let’s just say you should treat your car with care. For a better look at all those new features and its luxury interior take a look at our 2014 KIA Forte test drive for additional details. Enjoy the sexy robot commercial below starring former Miss USA Alyssa Campanella as a robot.

Next up to highlight the new 2014 KIA Sorento that’s been redesigned almost completely inside to offer the up-most luxury and quality features we all want in a crossover, is their new “Space Babies” commercial set to get airtime in the 3rd quarter of the big game on Sunday. KIA promises to answer the age old kid question: Daddy, where do babies come from? So check it out for the answer:

“UVO, Play Wheels on the bus!” This is a quick glance at the new and improved redesigned UVO 2.0 Infotainment system that comes standard in all 2014 KIA vehicles. Featuring large TFT displays, backup cameras, smartphone integrate and accompanying iPhone apps and more. We figured they were both worth a quick laugh. Enjoy the big game as surely they have a few tricks up their sleeve come Sunday. Hopefully that Ravens D has a few more tricks up their sleeve too. Who’s your pick?

The ad will air just days after RIM officially launches BlackBerry 10 on January 30 — the Super Bowl takes place on February 3, so while the new platform will already be out and about, RIM will be attempting to garner the attentions of potential BlackBerry users around the country. The 30-second spot is estimated to cost around $3.8 million.

If the viewership for this year’s Super Bowl passes last year’s record, RIM may get over 111 million viewers to see its new advertisement, and while a majority of them may run off to the kitchen for refreshments and snacks, we guarantee a lot of people will still be in front of the TV to witness BlackBerry 10.

It’s rumored that RIM will launch several devices at its launch event in New York City on January 30, including the heavily-leaked Z10 smartphone. Prospective carriers that may carry the new BlackBerry devices include T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T in the US, with Virgin Mobile in Canada and Vodafone in the UK.

[via AllThingsD]

The Orchestra advertisement shows off the iPhone 5′s ability to reduce background noise during phone calls using the ambient noise sensor. This necessarily isn’t an iPhone 5 exclusive feature, since it was on previous models as well, but it’s a small important feature that Apple has overlooked in their ads, so it looks like they decided to focus on it this time around.

The Turkey advertisement shows off the Shared Photo Stream feature of iOS 6. It’s rather timely, since it’s also “picture-taking season”, so Apple decided to highlight some of iOS’s photo-sharing features that will certainly get used quite a bit over the holidays. You can select as many pictures as you want from your camera roll and share them with friends through Photo Stream, or even over Facebook.

We can probably look forward to many more television ads from Apple as the weeks progress. The holiday season is when they like to get their last say in before you go out and buy your gifts for your loved ones. Of course, this applies to all companies and manufacturers, so prepare for an influx of advertisements this year, folks. It’s going to be a busy one.

“Introducing the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a stunning Retina display. For the pro in all of us.” The commercial is as simple and elegant as it is effective, providing just enough taste for the sleek-looking device to catch viewers’ attention while keeping the message cryptic enough to send the curious off in search of more info. The background is dark, amplifying the laptop’s display.

This new MacBook Pro features a 13.3-inch Retina display with a 227ppi resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. To put that in perspective, the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina has a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800. The display offers wide viewing angles, and is exceptionally crisp. Check out our hands-on review for more info.

Screen aside, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro featurs a dual-core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM for $1,699. The model has a 128GB SSD drive, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and Intel HD Graphics 4000. The device weighs in at 3.57lbs.

We knew this was coming, and mentioned it earlier last week. Samsung released the same type of edgy and very direct commercials with the Galaxy S II last year right around the iPhone 4S release date — so this shouldn’t really be much of a surprise. There’s no funny lines like, “dude, you’re a barista” like they had in the last commercial but you’ll still want to take a peek below and have a laugh.

Actually we take that back. Best line of the new Samsung TV spot is, “yea yea, but they make the coolest adapters.” Obviously Samsung is taking aim at the iPhone 5 here. Talking about 4G LTE finally hitting while SGIII owners have been enjoying it for a year, then they poke fun with NFC capabilities showing off sharing music playlists with a tap using S-Beam, or WiFi direct photo sharing.

Clearly Samsung is upset with the lawsuit settlement reaching the 1 billion mark, and this is surely just one of many new commercials we’ll be seeing from good ol Sammy coming soon. So the question is what will you be getting? Do you own the Galaxy S III, or have you been waiting for the iPhone 5? Take a peek at our hands-on and reviews of both devices below.

The Wall Street Journal reports that DISH Network is sending out an update to its Hopper and Joey branded DVRs today that adds an “auto hop” feature. Press the button when a commercial break begins, and you automatically skip to where your show starts up again. If you press the button before the show begins, it will automatically skip all commercials, showing just a blank screen or a few frames of the first ad a split second before kicking in. “This has been the holy grail of television viewers for 40 years,” said DISH CEO Joe Clayton.

Not so fast, Joe. There’s a pretty severe list of limitations on the feature even as it launches. One, you can only use auto hop for recorded broadcasts, not any of the shows in your current buffer. Two, only shows from ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC are eligible, and even then only the prime time programs. (This is probably because the skips need to be synced with each broadcast.) And finally, you can only use the feature after 1 a.m. the following morning. Welcome to the future! If this is the holy grail, it comes with one hell of a catch.

Once you buy an item from Walmart’s website, you’re given 48 hours to go to the nearest store and pay for it in cash. Once paid for, the item ships and is delivered to your home as normal. It’s a simple idea, but one that Walmart thinks is a “big opportunity.”

Opening up the “Pay with Cash” scheme means that customers will be able to purchase hundreds of thousands of items that the company only carries on its website. There’s also the advantage that if the order is a present for someone, they don’t need to ship the item themselves having purchased it.

[via AllThingsD]

The first is my favorite of the two. Titled “Rock God”, this clip is aimed towards you musicians out there. Sometimes it’s hard to know what commands Siri will properly respond to. But here you’ll notice Siri can look up music notations. Oddly, I tried asking Siri how to play a few of the songs in the commercial but they weren’t recognized. When asking “How do I play a B minor 9th” it ended up working fine.

The second, labeled “Road Trip”, depicts a couple traveling across the US using Siri to guide them from place to place. It seems I’m learning something new from every commercial featuring Siri, because now i know it can look up constellation via Wolfram Alpha. Doesn’t that make you wonder what other commands Siri is capable of? Sure you can Google them, but it would be great if they were all featured on Apple’s official site.

[via CultofMac]

The commercial does a clever job of touting the thinness of the device with a familiar scenario. In the old days, a man being locked outside of a door, attempting to apologize to his upset girlfriend may just slip a handwritten note under the door. Well now, he can do the same with the Galaxy S II. They don’t seem to cheat on the door jamb height either, the device really is just that thin.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is one of the most anticipated Android smartphones at the moment. Benchmarks are showing that it is not only the thinnest out there, but also one of the fastest. It will sport a dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1 GB of RAM, a 2-megapixel front camera, and an 8 -megapixel back camera capable of recording full HD 1080p. Although confirmed for May 1st in the UK, ship dates for the U.S. have yet to be confirmed.

[via Android Community]

The commercial was for the NTT DoCoMo SH-08C smartphone that has a kidney shaped wooden case. The phone looks cool and since the specs are on a photo in Japanese, I am not sure what it’s all about. The phone isn’t the cool part here though, it’s the commercial.

The ad agency went to the woods and built a giant xylophone that they set up running down hill. A wooden ball was placed at the top of the xylophone ramp and then pushed down. As it plunks down the hill it plays Bach’s Cantata 147 also known as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire.” The director of the commercial says that the music is completely made with just the ball and the wooden xylophone planks, though some levels were adjusted. Check out the video below to see the commercial.

[via CNET]

Each of the five videos focuses on one attribute of the Xperia like its screen or ability to perform business tasks, but they eventually fall back to its gaming capabilities. With titles like “Pwnage”, “Kittenliscious”, and “Kristin is killing it”, the advertisements really let Schaal go a little crazy in promoting the phone. Schaal is an American actress, writer, and comedian best known for contributing to The Daily Show and for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.

The Xperia Play is aptly named the “Playstation phone” with its PlayStation style slide-out buttons dedicated for gaming and ability to download PlayStation One games. One video even takes a jab at the iPhone 4 when a second Kristen shows up for a duel using the Apple device. Trash talking ensues as the Xperia-using Kristin brags about quick control response and ability to see the entire screen when playing. The videos aren’t really suitable for children, but are perfect for the target audience of the Xperia who will get the phone for its gaming potential.

Enjoy all five videos below.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

The 30-second spot is made for the North American market and uses creative edits to successfully convey the 3D immersive experience that’s very difficult to capture in 2D. The commercial shows off various games including augmented reality games but mainly focuses on the 3D experience.

Other features of the 3DS that were not highlighted in the commercial include the ability to challenge other 3DS gamers as well as share your information simply by being near another 3DS, the dual cameras on the back side for augmented reality games, and the ability to create custom Miis.

T-Mobile is pushing its new Galaxy S 4G, calling it the fastest phone on the network and the “ultimate” in entertainment. The quip about being the “ultimate” is what brings our blogger into frame, asking to inspect the phone to check the merits of T-Mobile’s claim. We’re clued into his profession when he mentions that he “blogs about these things”.

It’s pretty funny and while not all tech bloggers look and sound like the guy in the ad, it wouldn’t be hard to find one at MWC or CES. The Galaxy S 4G also comes pre-loaded with Inception on it so you can think up all the dream theories you’d like.

[via Pocketnow]

The ad is pretty awesome although a bit scary. The deep pulsing sound of a heart beating plays in the background, as a man approaches a levitating Motorola Xoom that almost seems to be beckoning him. When the man reaches for the tablet, he becomes encapsulated by a large flying metal pod. “Grab it, and it grabs you,” reads the video description from Verizon.

Pre-Orders of the Motorola Xoom are already underway with the device priced at $799. Unfortunately, Flash support will not be available on this device and may not become available until Spring 2011.

[via IntoMobile]

The iPhone 3GS is getting close to two years old, but at a price tag that’s $150 cheaper than a 16GB iPhone 4, it should open up a whole new demographic of iPhone users.

Rumors that Apple was planning on an iPhone nano to target lower end markets, should prove unlikely if huge price drops of older iPhone models becomes the pattern. Other than getting locked into a two-year contract, getting a full blown iPhone for under $50 should land the phone in many many new hands.

[Via TUAW]

That pint-size Darth Vader has been unmasked as one Max Page, a 6-year-old heart patient. The boy was unveiled as Vader by Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Apparently, Max is quite an actor despite his young age and has been in “The Young and the Restless” already.

The little guy was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and has a pacemaker. Max’s docs say the he has a very good prognosis and that he will have a full life expectation and be able to do normal activity with proper care. May the Force be with you Max.

Congress has officially passed the new bill this week. It’s called the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act. However, despite the fact that Congress has passed the bill, it still needs one more step before it can be finalized, and actually put into use. At some point, if it’s not already there, the bill will be sitting on President Obama’s desk, waiting to get approved.

If the President of the United States does approve the CALM Act, then it would be up to the Federal Communications Commission to put into affect a set standard for volume level, based on the regular programming’s volume level. All of this would have to be implemented within one year. And thankfully, the CALM Act includes not only Cable providers, but satellite as well.

[via MSNBC]

Video ad after the cut

The add shows a squadron of stealth bombers delivering mysterious payloads across the US.  To the confusion of those who witness the high-speed deliveries, each opens to reveal a glowing, HAL-like eye in the center of a briefly-glimpsed Motorola DROID.

We can only hope Verizon are planning some more sedate delivery methods for those who order a DROID online.  Check out our first-impressions of the DROID here; we’ll have the full SlashGear review of the Motorola Android smartphone this week.

[via BGR]

Check out the advert after the cut

Filmed in a remote part of China together with plenty of blue-screen work, the piece is already prompting heated debate.  Some approve of the calming attitude and refusal to blatantly take on rivals on a feature-for-feature basis, while others are more critical, believing the ad doesn’t show off the Pre to its best advantage and is, even worse, unmemorable.

We’re left wondering what has happened to the huge Facebook set that was spotted back in May.  At the time, it was tipped to be part of the Pre’s launch campaign, but unless it’s hiding behind the kung fu experts, just over the mountain, it’s not made an appearance in “Flow”. 

Check out our full review of the Palm Pre here.

[via My Pre]