NVIDIA has come strong to the show with not only a massively impressive first release of their chip on the Transformer Prime, but with detailed descriptions of how their processors work and why we should be jumping for joy at them. As for how excited we should be for Tegra 3 on smartphones, well, just look at the rumors! Just this morning we had another note come through on the HTC Edge, a device that will almost certainly be coming to the MWC 2012 stage with a Tegra 3 processor under the hood.

And you can bet we’ll be there at Mobile World Congress 2012 to bring you all of the NVIDIA action as it drops, including but not limited to phones, tablets, and straight up Tegra 3. You can bet there’s also going to be some LG smartphone action here as well – check the image above to get an idea of what that LG device might look like. Also watch the MWC 2012 and Tegra portals for more up to the minute updates about the whole show! Meanwhile check the power –

Google will be fully approved for the Motorola Mobility purchase they set out to take last year. Apple is facing some store protests today over ethics violations folks across the USA are saying they’re guilty of overseas. Take a peek at the Lytro camera from the insides out – at the FCC. Have a peek at the already fabulously popular Nokia N9 running no less than Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Once Google owns Motorola, they plan on continuing to run the drive to grab 2.25% of the iPhone in a patent suit. Meanwhile Google may well be opening a retail store in Dublin. Apple’s own iOS 5.1 will be coming on March 9th and insiders have tipped a first week of March iPad 3 event. Kodak has dumped digital cameras and Samsung Galaxy Camera is a tip that’ll bring Samsung phones in to cameras. Finally check out our review of the fabulous Acer Aspire M3 AM3970 and prepare for an Acer Ultrabook later today!

The Edge is believed to be at the pinnacle of HTC’s new “Hero Device” strategy, as the company attempts to break away from the quantity-over-quality strategy that saw it lose market share in 2011. HTC has also formed a new “HTC Studio” division, bringing together key engineering, design, software and other expertise to focus on polished phones and tablets, along with the flexibility to look beyond current bosom-buddy Qualcomm for its chip supplies.

Companies opting for Tegra 2 last year saw their dual-core Android phones hit the market well in advance of HTC’s Qualcomm-based dual-cores, leaving the firm on the back foot in marketing terms at least. NVIDIA’s graphics expertise is also cited by the sources as of key interest to HTC.

HTC is expected to launch a new tablet early in 2012, in addition to phones, though it remains to be seen if the company will use Tegra 3 for that as well as the Edge. Meanwhile LG and others are already believed to have committed to NVIDIA’s chip.

The first Transformers took on the code TF201 and TF101, this newest one coming up at TF300T. This could be set to out-do the Transformers currently on the market by having a slightly upgraded casing and the same quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor that the Transformer Prime has – but it’s not likely. Instead since this model looks so very similar to the original Transformer, we must expect that this is a new lower-end model that’ll replace the original Transformer in stores with slight upgrades here and there but nothing so advanced as the Prime.

This falls right in line with what we’ve heard from ASUS on their strategy with their Android tablets, one being the higher-end, that being the Prime, and the other staying with the original Transformer specifications for an everyman tablet. So look out for another radically inexpensive awesome tablet coming from ASUS in the coming months, folks, and don’t be surprised if it has Ice Cream Sandwich aboard when it comes out!

[via Blogee]

The computer industry is very closely related so a shortage in one component means that fewer computers ship. With fewer computers shipping, less related components that are used in the ecosystem ship. This is why NVIDIA is pointing to the HDD shortage as one reason its quarterly financials are down. The fact that HDD shortages meant fewer computers shipped meant that less of its GPUs shipped.

Lower GPU shipments aren’t the only cause of earnings being down at NVIDIA. The company also notes that shipment of Tegra 2 chips for mobile devices were down. The Tegra 3 processors that replaced the Tegra 2 are ramping up in production. NVIDIA posted earnings of $950 million and was expected to post $1.066 billion. AMD pointed to the same HDD shortage as a reason for reduced shipments of its hardware, so NVIDIA isn’t alone.

[via AllThingsD]

Enter German website Tablet Test, which has listed a price of €549 for the entry-level 16 GB version of the device and €749 for the 64 GB model. In American currency, that works out to around $719 and $981, respectively. These are admittedly a bit steep, but the power that comes packed in these monstrous devices is worth it. The question is whether or not they’ll sell.

Obviously these are not official prices. Acer hasn’t confirmed pricing in any territory yet. To that end, it also hasn’t confirmed a release date. However, the company has slated a vague second quarter time frame. The A700 is perhaps Acer’s biggest push into the tablet market to date, and there are many eyes wondering how it will fare.

[via Tablet Test]

For the first laptop in this list, the M17X R4, there will be options for how pumped up you’d like your interior to be. GPU options include two NVIDIA options: GeForce VTX 660M or GeForce GTX 675M, and one AMD Radeon 7970M. As for the R2 units, the first one M14X R2 will feature a GPU coming as part of the motherboard, and options including 1GB and 2GB right out of the box. On the M18X R2 the only detail known at the moment is the option for a red or black exterior.

Of course according to That 70′s Show if you’re an average shopper looking for a refrigerator, color is your most important feature – so perhaps that’s all we need! We will keep looking out for future options of course, and we expect them to be dropped sooner than later. Meanwhile check out our current favorite playing a bit of the ol’ Gotham City as well as the newest news on Alienware’s other options out already:

[via Dell News and More]

This device is set to be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box as all good 2012 smartphones coming with Android should, so says the source leaking this image and the details that come with it. The rear facing and front facing camera sizes come as no surprise at 1.3 megapixels and 8 megapixels, and storage inside the device is said to be 16GB. Inside we’ve also got a 21Mbps HSPA for connectivity along with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

The battery on this monster is set to be a lovely 2000mAh and inside you’ll also find NFC capabilities. We’re expecting this device to make its debut next month at Mobile World Congress 2012, and we’ll be there LIVE to let you know how it goes. This device will likely be released early Summer, 2012.

[via PocketNow]

The company even finds room to slot in a DVD burner, with a Blu-ray drive as an option. Storage is courtesy of a 1TB 7,200rpm HDD, and there’s room on the Mini-ITX motherboard for up to 8GB of DDR3 memory.

Connectivity includes gigabit ethernet along with WiFi a/b/g/n, six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, audio in/out, HDMI 1.4, a pair of digital audio ports (optical and coax) and standard analog audio. The dinky desktop is supplied with a 250W PSU as standard, but those keen to overclock the X51 can specify a 330W PSU instead.

Vertical or horizontal positioning is supported, and unlike many SFF chassis there’s the promise of easy access to the guts of the system for upgrades and general tinkering. The traditional Alienware lighting is present too, with customizable zones, and the Alienware Command Center app is preinstalled to handle power management and other performance aspects.

The Alienware X51 is available direct from Dell now, priced from $699. That gets you a Core i3 chip and 4GB of memory.

There’s also a 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit display, and a backlit keyboard for those late-night gaming sessions. Samsung is readying both 2D and 3D models, and there’ll be both AMD and NVIDIA graphics options too.

A 5,900mAh battery probably can’t be expected to last all too long if you’re hammering the Series 7 for gaming purposes, but the onboard optical drive and that expansive display means it’ll probably be a solid multimedia notebook too. Samsung expects it to land at the equivalent of $2,228 for the 2D version and around $200 more for the 3D version in Korea, though US pricing is tipped to be from $1,799.

[via Sammyhub]

The Galaxy Note is what Samsung is placing in its own category, saying that it’s not exactly a tablet, yet not exactly a smartphone either. What it does amount to is a pretty neat little in-between complete with Gingerbread, a built-in stylus, and the promise of Ice Cream Sandwich early on in 2012. There’s currently a white as well as a black version, both to be released soon. Another device we’ve got to look forward to soon is the ASUS Padfone, this device having now gone through a couple of iterations since its first announcement and set to be officially unveiled for release at MWC 2012.

For readers there wasn’t one whole heck of a lot of differentiation to be made between the masses, but the Kyobo Mirasol eReader did catch our eye with its unique method of lighting, it’s logo reflecting the butterfly-like feature of the display. There was also the Jetbook Color eReader, a CES award winner, whose maker we got to sit down with and have a talk about.

As for the Windows 8 world, groups like Qualcomm and their S4 chip showed off what WILL be possible in just a few weeks or months. We’ve already also had a look at a developer tablet running Windows 8 inside 2011, but will be looking forward to the full real deal in early 2012.

The team at Acer came to the show swinging, it’s early Sunday showing of their newest Android-based Acer Iconia Tab showing us what it means to rock with a fabulously high definition display and the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core chip inside. They also re-showed a slightly less impressive tablet/laptop combo by the name of Iconia Tab W500, this showing us that they’ve more than likely got better concepts in the works for Windows 8, or we can hope! Toshiba brought with them a couple of slight upgrades from their already released line, one being the smaller version of the Thrive we’ve already reviewed in the Toshiba Thrive 7, bringing then the lovely thin and fully functional Toshiba Excite x10 as well for a real contender in 2012.

Then it was Asus all the way – bringing the fire with not one, not two, but three new tablets that all had a bump over not only their own previous models, but the competition as well. Not to be mistaken for one-another, Asus brought forth two 7-inch MeMO devices, one designated 171, the other called 370t. The first one, the Asus MeMO 171, is rolling out with a Qualcomm 8260 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Honeycomb, also bringing with it a built-in stylus for note-taking glory. The other device, the Asus MeMO 370t, is the real gem of the show as it’s got an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, comes out with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and costs a mere $249. That’s an industry changer, if you did not know.

NVIDIA then stole the show again with Asus’ upgraded Transformer Prime 700 series, complete with a massive display, updated casing, and a bump in the front-facing camera for fun. NVIDIA showed that the Prime (in either its first or second iteration) was capable of using the Tegra 3 processor to the fullest, running Skyrim via Splashtop, moving on to play the first multiplayer mobile shooter in a brand new upgraded version of Shadowgun for Tegra, and displaying the fact that it will be first with Ice Cream Sandwich, officially.

Look like a good showing to you? If you could have any one of these devices in your hands right now, which one would it be? Better yet, when these devices are released to the market, which one are you most likely to buy?

BONUS: Don’t forget the Fujitsu Arrows Tablet, complete with waterproofing, and the Pantech Element, an AT&T-bound tiny tablet with waterproofing as well!

Smartphones

We certainly saw our fair share of smartphones on the floor this time around, the major bulk of them running either Windows Phone Mango or a modified version of Android Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich. One of the more interesting devices was Huawei’s Ascend P1 S, it being the new thinnest phone on earth, and its slightly fatter brother the P1, both of them strikingly thin. Next there were a couple of excellent value propositions, it would seem, from Pantech, they showing off two of the six new devices running on AT&T’s LTE network that’ll be up to speed by late this year – the Pantech Element is a waterproof tablet that, when you buy it, you basically get the Pantech Burst smartphone for free. Sony Experia came correct with their new set of Xperia devices with big specs and gigantic cameras: the Xperia ion having a 12 megapixel camera and the Xperia S being the one teased for so long. For Android phones the winner would have to be the Lenovo Racer-A, aka the first device to be running Intel’s Medfield chip – winning not just because it looks like a quality phone, but because it does indeed hold that record. Intel’s entry into the mobile market is likely going to have the longest lasting effect on the mobile industry while all these other phones get replaced – that’s for sure.

As for Windows Phones I’ll have to call a tie until we can review these devices extensively because they’re both so lovely: the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II. Both of these devices are bringing Windows Phone into the future, fighting head to head with the top guns at last.

BONUS: Since Samsung is insistent on saying this device is neither a smartphone or a tablet, here it is in the middle: the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note. All of its awesome features remain in-tact, it having a Snapdragon processor instead of an Exynos, and it comes in white as well as black, your choice!

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Tablets

As with smartphones, we’ve got a lot to be excited about in the hardware side of things, not least of all with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 for strength and touchability. As for future-looking devices, the newest iteration of the ASUS Padfone looked oddly enticing. There were also some lovely reader refreshes like the Kyobo Mirasol eReader with its unique form of lighting, it replicating the light bouncing off a butterfly. Windows 8 made a bit of a showing with groups like Qualcomm and their S4 chip showing the possibilities of a Windows 8 mobile world. Acer came back with a new iteration of the Acer Iconia Tab complete with a Tegra 3 quad-core chip. Toshiba made a showing with two devices you might find rather familiar, the smaller version of the Thrive in the Toshiba Thrive 7 and the Toshiba Excite x10, the latter being the one to keep an eye on through 2012.

Then there’s the big guns, both of them winners, both of them coming from no less than Asus and toting, again, the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. First there was the undeniably inexpensively priced $249 7-inch quad-core Ice Cream Sandwich toting Asus MeMO 370t, a value we’re sure one whole heck of a lot of people will not be able to resist. Then there was the big showing of not only the Transformer Prime, but the Transformer Prime 700 series with its upgraded display and hardware. We saw the Prime running Skyrim via Splashtop, playing the first multiplayer mobile shooter in a new version of Shadowgun for Tegra, and all of it on Ice Cream Sandwich as the Transformer is now the world’s first Google-licensed Ice Cream Sandwich tablet.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Headphones / Earbuds

As always, there was a surplus of new headphones this year. Of them, our top three were InSound by Cygnett, the 5-minute Eeers Sonofit earbuds, and the HD700 from Sennheiser. The InSound had very decent ‘active’ noise cancellation and are extremely comfortable. Though easily portable, they are still not built as well as the Sennheisers. The HD 700 instead implements ‘passive’ noise cancellation, and offers a much cleaner, crisper sound. But at CES, people look for innovation – and that’s why Eers by Sonofit were the best headphones. With Eers, anyone can create a pair of custom-fit earbuds within minutes, all of it for a cool $300 USD.

BONUS: don’t forget the conceptual Parrot Zik by Starck and the wild contributions by Skullcandy in the Mix Master headphones.

- contributed by Sam Koutroulakis

Speakers

Though there were certainly one whole heck of a lot of speakers out there, we’ve decided to concentrate on the smaller world of portable speakers for all you mobile people out there. For that, there are a few gems that stick out. First there’s the SuperTooth Disco 2, an upgrade from the already great Disco 1 model, now with plenty of color and a vertical form factor. As for green representations, we had a talk with the makers of Eink who now bring us the Eton Rukus Solar powered boombox, so green it’s accented with the color green, imagine that! As for the tiniest speaker worth a peek at outside a smartphone, that was clearly the Harman JBL on-tour Micro, complete with Iron Man color scheme! The winner of our hearts in this category would have to be the high-blasting Altec Lansing 5000 series all-in-one speakers, these certainly commanding the hoards when it comes to all-in-one power.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Laptops

Ultrabooks were the hot ticket for the computer side of CES this year, with every major brand introducing new models at or just before the show. While Toshiba’s Windows 8 prototype wowed us with software and the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga showed off some amazing innovation in form factor, the top prize goes to Dell’s more humble XPS 13. Far from Dell’s usual utilitarian design, the XPS 13 Ultrabook is downright stunning, with a combination aluminum-carbon fiber frame that’s 15% smaller than the MacBook Air. It manages to cram a 13-inch screen into a 12-inch body, and with 300 nits of brightness it should be a joy to use. With a Core i5 or i7 processor, an SSD drive, 4GB of RAM and eight hours of rated battery life, the XPS 13 will be a major contender when it becomes available.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Cameras

There were a few cameras at CES that caught our eye. Canon’s revived PowerShot Digital ELPH 520HS crams some amazingly powerful glass into its tiny body, and Liquid Image’s Xtreme Sports Cams brings some great new features into a growing market. But the obvious winner for the show wasn’t even announced at CES: Nikon’s new flagship, the D4. This monster DSLR sets the standard for its line going forward, with insane ISO capabilities and forward-looking support for QXD. But the real innovation is a major upgrade in video capabilities, with dynamic cropping on the sensor for “zoomed” shots even on prime lenses, and the ability to actively monitor audio and stream video over HDMI. The D4 may well be the benchmark when it comes to DSLR video recording, a segment that has nowhere to go but up. At $6,000 it’s a little on the pricey side, but pro photographers will pay any price for the best – and when it comes to high-definition video in a comfortable DSLR format, the Nikon D4 will give it to them.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Televisions

Televisions were one of the hottest categories at CES this year, but not because of size. Previous shows were all about who can get the biggest panel out, but this year image quality ruled. LG and Samsung both introduced 55-inch OLED TVs with incredibly thin, light bodies, stunning black levels and color reproduction that’s the best we’ve ever seen. The best television of CES is Samsung’s Super OLED HDTV – we’re giving it the top spot because the image displayed was just slightly more vivid than LG’s. It’s a close match, however, and LG has the edge (ba-dum TISH) on style thanks to its 4mm, 16-pound body. Sharp’s battery powered AQUOS Freestyle gets a third place nod, because it’s a handy idea that the market is ready for.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Automotive Concept

There were two stand-out contenders at CES 2012 for automotive concepts, Audi and Mercedes. While our main hands-on write-ups of these two titans are going to be published early next week, I can tell you this now: Audi brought some heavy fire with a setup called Audi connect that included all of their innovations of 2011 including voice commands and Google Earth integration and made it explode with a touch-sensitive dial and a setup newly powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core chipset. Mercedes, on the other hand, had several concepts including a very similar in-car screen setup, this time connected to an iPhone, a couple of gesture-activated door demonstrations, and a box inside which a completely gesture-intensive console was shown. Both companies will have massively impressive vehicles in the very near future, that’s for certain.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Accessories

Here at CES a large focus is also on accessories for all the electronics announced, and while we saw plenty of impressive designs like the new Wrapsol anti-slip pads we’ve decided on one. Cygnett is known for constructing well built, quality cases for phones and tablets, not to mention their durable tablet stands. Since the mobile phone market has exploded everyone has a few cases to offer but Cygnett’s offerings were one of the most memorable. With simple designs that are actually easy to both get on AND off while still protecting the product they were our clear winner.

For a video rundown on a few cases from Cygnett including their new Icon Art series by artist Nathan Jurevicius be sure to check out our Insider Talk with Cygnett Creative Director Sophie Swann.

- Contributed by Cory Gunther

Mobile Carrier

When caught up in the mass of tech news here at CES, we often forget that a team’s mobile collaboration is only as good as the signal they’re running on. There isn’t one, but more like two obstacles a team requires of its carrier to perform at maximum efficiency. The first is consistency; a reliable data signal that will always be there when needed. The second is actual data strength. Processing videos and uploading images over a fast connection is essential if you plan on delivering the best CES coverage. And for both requirements, Verizon 4G LTE was unbeatable for CES 2012. With speeds of up to 14Mbps on the showroom floor and a consistent signal throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center, other carriers couldn’t come close.

- contributed by Sam Koutroulakis

Our most used gear

When the topic of most used gear comes up it could mean anything based on what you did at CES. Some might just answer — my shoes. Obviously we used cameras just about every possible minute. Here at SlashGear we were busy looking for wall power outlets and churning out stories to share with our readers and have as a team came up with a final conclusion. When it comes to outright sheer production MacBook’s rule. When it comes to mobile production it’s actually the complete opposite and Android rules, with only one iPhone on our team with a whole hoard of Galaxy Nexus for the rest.

Apple’s Macbook Pro and Air gave our team most of the tools needed (not counting a few heavy cameras) and our Macs outnumbers PC laptops 6-to-1. When we change over to the mobile aspect it was completely the opposite and we had 2 iPhones compared to about 10 Android smartphones, and 4 LTE Android tablets. With large screens, big batteries and awesome wired/wireless tethering options with Verizon 4G LTE our Android phones were the clear choice — and winner.

- Contributed by Cory Gunther

CES 2012′s Top Innovation: No One

While there certainly have been some interesting bits here and there at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, nothing made us absolutely drop our collective jaws. You could take the winners from the categories above and choose your favorite, sure, but nothing blew us away to the point of saying it absolutely won the show. It seemed as though most companies came to the show as a matter of requirement rather than because they wanted to show off their biggest and best. Instead we’re hoping for quite a few individual showings throughout the year from manufacturers as it continues to be the thing to do when you want the most individual attention.

When Vincent Nguyen, SlashGear’s Editor in Chief, was asked what he thought represented CES this year, his response was simple “nothing.”

The fact that this isn’t the only time we’ve heard this response from not just our own staff, but many of the people we spoke with throughout the convention may well be the first indication that bigger shows like CES are on their way out – what do you think?

The problem started when the ESA, the Entertainment Software Association, came out in support of SOPA, they including a list of members which include NVIDIA amongst other top-tier technology groups. What NVIDIA says today is that those in the ESA that posted their support of the SOPA bill did not consult NVIDIA before they formulated their position. In essence, the club they belong to said they represented NIVIDA when they actually didn’t. Sherbin’s text read thusly:

“NVIDIA wasn’t consulted by ESA in formulating their position on SOPA. Our position is this: we oppose piracy, as it hurts our game-developer partners. However, we do not support SOPA. We don’t believe it is the right solution to the problem. We remain committed to working to address this problem in a constructive and fair manner.” – Sherbin

Now we’ve just got to get everyone else who attended CES 2012 to agree with the position of those in charge of CES. Think we can do it?

[via NVIDIA]

Audi talked about an upgrade to the A3 that will be their rotary touchpad which allows gestures and touch-sensitivity good enough to write letters which are then recognized by the integrated NVIDIA-powered on-board computer. Gestures can be used to make calls, find contacts, and more. In the future, Audi notes that they’ll have head-up technology which allows for projected images above your dashboard for navigation and for passengers to enjoy the power of entertainment.

Mobile Computing is at the center of this whole project. NVIDIA’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang showed up to show off their Tegra 3 quad-core processor working hand in hand with Audi’s MMX port system — all at the same time consumer electronics have the chip.

“We don’t talk about autonomous driving, we talk about pilot driving.” – Ricky Hudi, Audi

“You needed a state of the art processor that was [up to the task] but had extremely low power requirements for its high powered graphics.” – Jen-Hsun Huang

While this is clearly just the beginning Audi has developed a relationship with NVIDIA and have even more planned for the future with auto pilot driving and more, all controlled and delivered by the power of the Tegra 3. This isn’t the first time or situation where Audi’s been seen as a forward-thinking group in the world of consumer electronics without a doubt — and it wont be the last.

What Audi has at this show, they say, is more representatives for electronics than at any other car show they’ve been to. The complete interior of their vehicles, they’re showing, is connected to the world around it. Through no less than LTE connectivity, Audi will be connecting to the mobile world around them. Fantastic functionality will now be coming in faster than ever to users rolling out with Audi drivers.

NOTE: those of you with extensive knowledge of Audi’s systems will recognize that several of these features are available and have been available since late 2011 – what this presentation encapsulated was the full package as it moves on in to 2012, complete with LTE and NVIDIA.

Audi connect will also be working with a phone box in the center console of their future cars which will able to connect to your outside antenna for better phone connections, plug in through USB, and of course, safe storage. They showed a brand new MMI display in an ultra-slim form factor, all of this connected with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor for ultra-quick processing. This display will be working with 3D graphics and will have an ultra-intuitive user interface. This display will also show Google Earth right out of the box, with full photo-realistic picture down to 30 meters. Photorealistic scenery shows you exactly where you are at all times, courtesy of Google.

Audi online traffic information will be integrated in future vehicles, it working with Google again to bring you traffic information in color-coded roads to show you where to drive if you want to get to where you’re going quick. Voice Control is already integrated as well, using Google Voice to make it happen – you’ll be able to ask for what you want, a voice-activated POI search, now complete with the new display and the much more complete Google Earth integration.

An upgrade to the Audi A3 will be their rotary touchpad which allows gestures and touch-sensitivity good enough to write letters which are recognized by the integrated NVIDIA-powered computer. In the future, Audi notes that they’ll have head-up technology which allows for projected images above your dashboard. Mobile Computing is at the center of this whole project, NVIDIA showing off their Tegra 3 quad-core processor working with Audi’s MMX port system at the same time consumer electronics have the chip – this type of situation a first and showing Audi to be a forward-thinking group in the world of consumer electronics without a doubt.

“We don’t talk about autonomous driving, we talk about pilot driving.” – Ricky Hudi, Audi

In that Audi envisions a world where you are the pilot and not the robot using the car just for transport, they’ve shown that they intent to differentiate themselves by concentrating their efforts specifically on the driver more than anything else. Of course they’ll continue to create fantastic vehicles that have energy invested inside and out, but connecting to the consumer electronics world through the mobile environment here makes them set for the future.

You’ll be working with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, wi-fi, and a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display on the front. That’s sharp as heck. Have a peek at the video we’ve got flipping this tablet around back and forth and whatnot as much as you could possibly want without actually stepping up to Best Buy to check this device out yourself. You’ve got the ability to access all your favorite Tegra Zone games as well as the most high-powered applications on the market, no problem.

We’ve got a bit more information on Toshiba items from this show (we’re at CES 2012, by the way, if you did not know,) and we’ve got more content than you can shake a cloud at. Have a peek at our [Toshiba portal], our portal for [CES Live], and our more general portal for [CES 2012] for all announcements.

ALSO this tablet starts at $379 for the 16GB version – get it or explore your options – good luck!

This version of Splashtop is called Splashtop THD, that meaning you’ve got a special version made specifically for the Tegra platform. This app will work only with Tegra processors, and will run more than just Skyrim. What NVIDIA had open was a full working version of Widows 7 as running through Splashtop from a PC they had connected to the same wi-fi network – and again, it works, it really works.

Have a peek at the regular version of Splashtop right now on the Android Market, check out our review of the Transformer Prime, and connect the two soon with Splashtop THD. Tegra 3 has a whole new arena to play in. We’ll be waiting!

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen stepped on stage and spoke to the effect of how awesome this device is already and will be in the near future as well. Earlier we reported Ice Cream Sandwich would hit the Prime on January 12th, but now we have even better news. This release is happening right this second, the update is here, and it will be in stores SOON with ICS too. Yes, ASUS announced the update is rolling out starting today. Stay tuned as NVIDIA’s press conference continues here at CES 2012.

This is the first time we’ve gotten a look at a multiplayer game working on the mobile platform, and if it’s certainly not the last time you’ll see this application played by us. NVIDIA has embraced the Ice Cream Sandwich build of Android and now with this game, the Tegra 3 processor on the Transformer Prime is set to blow up.

Have a peek at our review of the Transformer Prime for a better look at what else the device is capable as well, and look for Shadowgun multiplayer in the very near future.

For the tablets, Huang noted that a big moment in Android was the moment it was revealed that Gingerbread and Honeycomb were combined in Ice Cream Sandwich. All the devices now, he reminds us, are in one single platform. Content developers are who win here, said Huang, a collection of Android devices replacing the separated world of tablets and smartphones cut in two. To show this all off, he brought out an ASUS Transformer Prime with Ice Cream Sandwich running hot. This tablet was then connected to HDMI and projected to a gigantic story-high screen, it showing off some immense high definition.

He also broke out an app by the name of Snapseed, it also shown as the “iPad App of the Year” on the big screen. Manuel Wille of Nik Software – the creators of Snapseed – stepped on stage and showed off how their image display and editing software works fabulously well on the Transformer Prime – especially with Ice Cream Sandwich. Purely touch UI, your fingers moving your photos details around without so much as a double thought. Effects are applied in real-time as well, this able to work due to the power of the quad-core processor – effects such as this only able to work on desktop before.

Huang next showed off Riptide GP working with a game controller, full HD and effects once again. This game controller working without a hitch – as we’ve seen it work in the past as well. Fun times!

Now we don’t know exactly what to expect but we already have a pretty big idea. The Transformer Prime was the first NVIDIA Tegra 3 device to hit the streets and we are expecting a slew of them to invade this years CES. From the various leaks over the past month you should be expecting plenty. With a tablet already being available we are expecting smartphones to take a large portion of today’s event.

HTC has had a few leaks suggesting a superphone Tegra 3 powered device in the HTC Edge, then the Quattro has also been making the rounds. Acer, Lenovo, and more are all in line for some Tegra 3 love in early 2012 not to mention we’ve already received some hands-on with the Acer A700 1920 x 1200 quad-core tablet.

Check out timeline below for more details and links, then stay tuned for all the information coming from NVIDIA shortly. I’m getting NVIDIA green with envy.

The front-facing camera now runs at 2-megapixels, instead of 1.3, and the rear panel has been redesigned to enhance WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS performance. Still, the TF700T should fit into the same keyboard/battery dock as the existing Transformer Prime. Otherwise it’s the same Tegra 3 1.3GHz quadcore, with WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and microHDMI connectivity along with a microSD card reader.

The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF700T will go on sale in North America in Q2, priced at $599 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model. We can’t imagine early-adopters of the existing Prime are going to be too happy, frankly.

We’re working on getting images of the new TF700T, and will update when we have them. For more on the Transformer Prime overall, check out our full review.

What this device essentially represents is the next generation 10-inch tablet for Android. It’s display is massively impressive, working “like” IPS, they note, but delivering such HD quality that “Hollywood wont like it.” How about that? Look like the tablet for you inside the second half of 2012?

This device has been previously leaked just last month, and all of the specs appear to have stuck: a gigantic 9,800 mAh battery, back-facing 5 megapixel camera, micro USB and microHDMI ports under the lovely little cover on the side, power port near the power button on the left-top, and a cool stylized back. This looks to be a definite step up in all categories compared to Acer’s last effort, especially int he display department, but twice as nice with both Ice Cream Sandwich and quad core under the hood. Lookin good, Acer!

Lenovo IdeaPad S Series

“Netbook” has become a dirty word in computing so allow Lenovo to endear you to the IdeaPad S200 and S206, two models supposedly offering a little more than what you might expect from a netbook. Each has an 11.6-inch HD widescreen display, Atom dual-core processor (S200) or AMD dual-core processor (S206) and up to 32GB SSD, they’re 0.81-inches thick and 2.8-pounds on the scales.

Chiclet keys, WiFi b/g/n and optional Bluetooth, along with a 0.3-megapixel webcam and Lenovo Quick Start “instant on” are useful, but the 4hrs of battery life seems on the low side. The S200 and S206 will go on sale in June from $349.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z Series

The IdeaPad Z580, Z480 and Z380 offer 15.6-inch, 14-inch and 13.3-inch displays, respectively, with Intel Core processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce GT640M 2GB graphics powering 1366 x 768 resolution panels and HDMI outputs. DVD or Blu-ray drives, WiDi and various multimedia processing apps lean on the entertainment message. They’ll go on sale in April from $599.

Lenovo IdeaPad G Series

Lenovo’s affordable line-up kicks off from $399 in June, with the F480, G580 and G780 offering 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch displays respectively. Veriface facial recognition, sensible and durable designs and basic multimedia are on offer.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y Series

$899 upwards gets you the Lenovo IdeaPad Y Series, out in April, with the Y480 having a 14-inch Full HD display and the Y580 having a 15.6-inch Full HD display. Intel Core processors, up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX660M 2GB graphics and Dolby Home Theater V4 sound paired with JBL speakers round out a multimedia and gaming powerhouse, while the backlit keyboard and HD camera with night-view are neat touches. A TV tuner is optional, and works with the WiDi wireless display streaming.

The IdeaPad U310 is 0.7-inches thick and 3.74-pounds, with Intel Core processors paired with GMA 3000 HD graphics powering its HD 16:9 aspect display. The IdeaPad U410, meanwhile, is 0.83-inches thick and 4.18-pounds, with processors from the same Intel range but paired this time with NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB graphics.

Each supports Intel WiDi for wireless display streaming, and they’ll come in a choice of “fun colors”: Aqua Blue, Cherry Blossom, Graphite Gray, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Spearmint. Software-wise it’s Windows 7 with Lenovo’s Smart Update tool, which automatically keeps your mailbox, IM and social media messages up to date, even when the IdeaPad is in sleep mode.

Battery life is up to eight hours, Lenovo claims. The Lenovo IdeaPad U Series will go on sale in May, priced from $699.

GPUs were originally found in desktop PCs, but have since moved on to use in mobile phones and video game consoles. Their popularity rose partly because of their efficiency in handling an intense amount of sequencing data in a timely manner. This, coupled with their very low cost, makes them a great processor over standard CPUs. The result BGI saw from the heavy reliance of a GPU was huge, but where do geneticists go from here?

Geneticists are still unraveling the finer details of the human genome. Although scientists are now able to retrieve the data at a quicker rate, they are still unsure what to do with it, according to Kevin Davies, editor-in-chief of Bio-IT World. The human genome is so dynamic with many varieties, that it takes researchers a great deal of time to determine which variety is medically significant. However, this is definitely a stepping stone of what is to come in the medical field.

[via Wired]

And what’s better than all this is that under the hood you’ve got both Android and NVIDIA to back you up for the most fully reliable system you’ve ever used! with the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor running this Android-based machine, you’ll be well on your way to a fully integrated experience with no hassle whatsoever – click your controls, select your settings, all of it simple as it can be so anyone can use it. The whole system will be available starting on January 5th (that’s today!) 2012 through Tely.com, Skype.com, and more, all for just $249.

All you’ll need on your end is the ability to sign up for Skype (easy as pie) and a Wi-fi internet connection to get your device up on to the web. You’ll not only be able to be video chat, you’ll be able to send and receive photos whilst chatting as well. Video mail will also be up and running right out of the box. Sound like enough to get you pumped up about video chatting in the living room?

We’ll certainly be seeing more on this device at CES 2012!

[via Tely]

Measuring in at 10.2 x 6.9 x 0.48-inches and 24.6 ounces, the A200 uses its girth to squeeze in a full-sized USB port that can hook up to a keyboard or mouse, or to external drives. Other ports include microSD and microUSB, while wireless connectivity is the usual array of WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1. No word on 3G options at this stage.

Battery life is tipped at up to eight hours, and there’s a front-facing 2.megapixel webcam though no main camera so as to save money. Acer garnishes Honeycomb with its mildly-tweaked UI, including an “Acer Ring” quick-launcher and its Clear.fi DLNA streaming app.

Pricing for the Iconia Tab A200 is $329.99 for the 8GB model and $349.99 for the 16GB model.

Like the Omni 27, the HPE h9 Phoenix gets HP’s freshly-renamed HP Magic Canvas interface and software suite, brought over from the touchscreen TouchSmart series and given a non-touch revamp. That’s joined by LinkUp, the company’s laptop-sync tool, and Beats Audio, while HP also preloads a copy of role-player RIFT.

A trio of internal hard-drive bays and optional liquid cooling round out the key specs, and there’s a useful “valet tray” on the top with charging ports for your phone or iPod and audio connections for easily plugging in headphones when the Phoenix is lurking under your desk. Expect it to go on sale on January 8, priced from $1,149.99.

If you’ve got something larger than a handset that came out inside 2011 running Android, more than likely it is running Honeycomb. By mid-2011 we not only expected but demanded that a tablet-sized Android device run at least Android 3.0 Honeycomb for it to be considered worthy of the market. As the market directed it, both thinness and lightness reigned supreme when considering sales tactics, but some notable exceptions did appear (and where quickly destroyed at the hands of small sales and lack of interest on the part of consumers.) We reviewed so many Android tablets it’d make your head spin, each of them listed here, one by one:

Dell Streak 7 Wi-fi with Gingerbread
Motorola XOOM Verizon with Honeycomb
T-Mobile G-Slate (LG) T-Mobile with Honeycomb
ACER Iconia Tab A500 Wi-fi with Honeycomb
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Wi-fi with Honeycomb
HTC Flyer (International) Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-fi with Honeycomb
HTC Flyer (USA) Wi-fi with Honeycomb
HTC EVO View 4G WiMAX with Honeycomb
BeBook Live Wi-fi with FroYo
Toshiba Thrive Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Vizio Tablet Wi-fi with Gingerbread
Lenovo IdeaPad K1 Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Acer Iconia Tab A100 Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Sony Tablet S Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Acer Iconia Tab A501 AT&T with Honeycomb
ARCHOS 80 G9 Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Wi-fi with Honeycomb
HTC Jetstream AT&T with Honeycomb
ASUS Eee Pad Slider Wi-fi with Honeycomb
T-Mobile Springboard (Huawei) T-Mobile with Honeycomb
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE Verizon with Honeycomb
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Verizon with Honeycomb
NOOK Tablet Wi-fi with custom interface
ASUS Transformer Prime Wi-fi with Honeycomb
Motorola DROID XYBOARD 10.1 Verizon with Honeycomb
Motorola DROID XYBOARD 8.9 Verizon with Honeycomb

There isn’t only good Android tablets out there, mind you, we’ve seen some really terrible pieces of machinery come through running Android mostly because Google offers up the operating system as open source. What this means is that unless a manufacturer wants the Android Market on their device, they can use Android however they want it, free of charge. As a result, mistakes are sometimes made, and a Crappy Android tablet: a Christmas Guide was this year made. For the rest of you running awesome Android tablets (many of which have been listed above, you can hit up the ten Android apps for your new tablet also written up for this holiday season.

We had the onset of a few keyboards created specifically for the Android tablet line including such gems as Swype 3.0 and SwiftKey Tablet X. We also had a couple of cross-over devices whose manufacturers decidedly called not-quite-tablets and not-quite-smartphones, the first being the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0, the next being the Samsung Galaxy Note. These devices are just a bit bigger than what’s generally considered a smartphone, but just a bit smaller than what’s generally considered a tablet. Will these middle sizes continue through 2012, or will the USA release of the Galaxy Note sign the death warrant for such displays worldwide? It all depends on that one device.

We had our fair share of excellent adventures with tablets this 2011 season, including such lovely bits as Tabletpalooza, giveaways for oddities like the Archos 101, and a brand new Android device directory by the name of Device.AC.

Then there was a wave of lawsuits of all kinds, with results as strange as a redesigned Galaxy Tab 10.1 to avoid them. Oddities such as Microsoft making more money on Android than on Windows Phone through patent agreements as the result of lawsuits once again. Make no mistake, the Lawsuit punchout we’ve experienced this year has been no less than a vast annoyance, especially given that such webs of law spin just as thick year-by-year. That said, your humble narrator hopes for less kicking and screaming in 2012.

Android tablets haven’t had any kind of monstrous sales thus far, the iPad 2 still having a domination of the two-handed touchscreen display device world still. But when you consider such things as the response we’ve had to the Transformer Prime, you’ve got to think twice before suggesting the Android OS won’t find its way into the first tablet-like form factor that knocks the iPad out of first place – perhaps even inside 2012. Have a look at our review of Android 3.0 Honeycomb as well as our review of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to see what we’re looking at for the screens of Android tablets through 2012. We’re going to be seeing Intel’s Medfield SoC hit tablets, NVIDIA continue to hit tablet after tablet with it’s Tegra chip, this time in the form of the quad-core Tegra 3, and many surprises in the mix as well.

This tablet is appearing in photos today courtesy of Russian site NoMobile which also has its hands on some rather nice press photos of the A200 we’ve gotten a glimpse of before as well. This lovely machine will have a 10.1-inch display at 1920 x 1200 pixels, a 5 megapixel camera on the back, and again, a quad-core processor from NVIDIA. This is the same processor we’ve already seen in action on the ASUS Transformer Prime which we’ve already reviewed in full for your complete enjoyment.

The Acer A700 is also said to have a 9,800 mAh battery so you’ll essentially never ever run out of juice, a front-facing camera for video chat, microUSB port, microHDMI port for video out, and a headphone jack. There’s also Dolby Mobile sound in this machine, 3G capabilities, Wi-fi connectivity, and Bluetooth 3.0. Sound like the magic monster to make you feel like you’re king of the Android world?

As long as it beats the competition in the NVIDIA GTX 580 while not being too power hungry and heating the entire house like the dual-GPU GTX 590 I’ll be happy — and I’m sure the enthusiast gaming crowd will be too. Below are a few of our favorite reviews for the new AMD Radeon HD 7970 for everyone to enjoy. We’ll start with the all popular Anandtech.

AnandTech’s Ryan Smith says at the end of the day this graphics card is geared to be a gaming workhorse — but being their new flagship GPU I wouldn’t expect anything different from AMD. He goes on to mention in most gaming scenarios the power consumption was lower than the competing GTX 580 while offering 20% better performance and sometimes more. He does mention being priced much higher than the last-gen 6970 could be a potential drawback for some.

Tom’s Hardware explains that this is a big improvement and a step in the right direction with the new, smaller 28 nm fabrication and called it “Fast, Forward-Looking, But Not Fully Baked.” Saying that NVIDIA’s upcoming Kepler GPU is still months off so they’ll still retain the fastest single-GPU title for now, but without further testing they didn’t want to give a recommendation just yet.

HardOCP is known for breaking things down very thoroughly and have came up with some decent overall numbers. Claiming the 7970 is at least 30% or more faster than the previous generation while offering 10%+ performance increases over the current GTX 580 competition making this definitely worth the price for giving increased performance across all available games.

Bit-Tech said the HD 7970 by AMD “has certainly thrown down the gauntlet. The HD 7970 3GB is a huge improvement over the HD 6970 2GB and GTX 580 1.5GB” They also mention overclocking — something many enthusiasts and water-cooling fans do daily was a huge surprise. Squeezing around 20% more performance from the card without even tweaking the voltage.

While you are at it don’t forget to check out the review from HotHardware, and Hexus who claim it’s a great graphics card but wont win and Bang4Buck awards. Guru3D also mentions the huge overclocking potential before and after overvolting — making this a great graphics card with plenty of potential.

So the question is: Will you be buying the AMD Radeon HD 7970? And if so will you be tossing this bad boy under a DangerDen waterblock or going all out with some LN2?

“Tegra 3 isn’t concerning us” he said, referring to the NVIDIA chipset found inside the ASUS Transformer Prime and other incoming Android slates. “There are lots of smart people in the world but what we’re going to focus on is product roadmaps that help our manufacturing partners not just single use products … I could go away and make something brilliant with Tegra 3, but you’re going to see hundreds of [Snapdragon] S4 devices in the marketplace.”

The ambitious approach isn’t new from Qualcomm, though the company still remains behind when it comes to pure core count. Qualcomm’s quadcore S4 chipsets, like the 28nm MSM8960, will initially drop in dualcore form, with quadcores on the roadmap later.

Qualcomm has previously argued its design strategy by pointing out that – unlike NVIDIA or Texas Instruments, for instance – the company designs its own ARM-based cores. That allows it to choose its own balance between performance and energy efficiency; as Chandhok said, “we have a design point for mobility that we think is different from what others focus upon.” Whether it can convince customers to look beyond pure core-count and dig deep into actual abilities remains to be seen.

Apparently online retailer NCIX sold out of the Prime and after canceling multiple orders a few rumors came out that their response was ASUS had delayed the hotly anticipated tablet due to WiFi issues. Here at SlashGear we’ve already had extensive time with the Prime and you can see our in-depth review here. At no point did our unit experience any WiFi issues. After reaching out to our sources from ASUS here is what they had to say in response:

We are trying to confirm who released this statement and for what purpose right now. At this point, we still show to be on schedule to start shipments the week of 12/19. I will provide an update once I have additional information.”

Obviously there is some room for this story to develop further based on that official response but at this point the ASUS Transformer Prime is on schedule and should be available right on time — December 19th. When we get any additional news we will be sure to update with the latest.

Otherwise specifications remain the same, which means a 17-inch display, 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-2640M processor, and 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM. Graphics are courtesy of NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 555M with NVIDIA Optimus, paired with their own 2GB of GDDR5 video memory.

More interesting, however, is the compact touchscreen that lives to the side of the backlit keyboard. That works as a secondary display and as a shortcut panel, supporting multitouch gestures, and is topped by ten user-programmable buttons each with their own display, similar to what the Optimus Popularis delivers.

[via The Verge]

Chidori fighter

While I’m not really sure what to call this game, as technically it does not have a name at the moment, I can tell you that it’s a fighting game made on the Chidori platform. What Chidori does is act as a conduit between game developers and their desire to have their games on multiple platforms right out of the box. Chidori as a collective aims to provide developers with the tools they need to make this happen, and with Tegra 3 they’ve optimized their engine for future developers so they might make the most advanced games in the mobile space with precision and grace.

In this demonstration you’ll see a very unfinished fighting game made inside the Chidori engine environment, complete with on-screen controls and a handful of punch and kick moves. Notice in the upper left-hand corner that there are four green bars moving back and forth as the gameplay progresses – this is a basic look at how each of the four main cores on the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor are being utilized.

Glowball

This game first appeared in a demonstration of what was then called Project Kal-El earlier this year – this project eventually became known as Tegra 3, so you know this game is made to be more than just optimized for this space. Glowball’s main intent is to show off the capabilities of the NVIDIA quad-core processor, allowing you to see each of its magnificent effects off and on live as you play.

There’s also a set of goals you can accomplish in this game, like hitting all the jack in the boxes, but fah! It’s all about the rolling around and having a great time with live-rendered effects. This is the only game of the three in this post that will be available right away when you pick up your Transformer Prime later this month.

Bladeslinger

When you enter the world of Bladeslinger, you should know right off the bat that this is no Cowboys and Aliens. It’s no Infinity Blade either, and it’s certainly not Shadowgun. Instead it’s a combination of elements from each of those franchises, punched together to make you a cowboy with a knife attached to your gun and a mission to destroy the monster infestation upon you. You’ll be hacking and slashing away as well as blasting this hoard in the face all the live-long day.

This game is in development at the moment and will be available inside the first half of 2012 from what we can tell thus far. Until then you’ll do well to keep massacring the radiated beasts in, again, Shadowgun, until the filth is no more. Also meanwhile you should go ahead and check out our full review of the ASUS Transformer Prime to see what you’re missing – get the purple — I mean, Amethyst Gray version! Clearly superior over that alcohol-flavored alternative.

BONUS: Don’t forget about our hands-on with the games Riptide GP and Shadowgun in some battle videos between the Transformer Prime and the iPad 2 – let it begin!

Qualcomm is believed to have picked Samsung and Sony, with the Korean company’s strengths in component manufacturing – including displays, memory and other elements – singling it out for attention, along with the fact that it already has a solid presence in the tablet market. Texas Instruments selected Toshiba as well as also opting for Samsung.

Finally, NVIDIA is said to have gone for Lenovo and Acer, with Lenovo selected as major partner for its heft in the Chinese market. Conspicuous by its absence is ASUS, despite the fact that the company is already believed to be working on Windows 8 tablets – albeit likely using x86 processors, not ARM-based chipsets – for release in the second half of 2012.

Exactly how soon we can expect to see ARM-based products from any of these companies remains to be seen, however. According to previous leaks, Windows 8 on ARM tablets aren’t likely to go on sale until mid-2013, a delay analysts are already suggesting will leave Microsoft significantly disadvantaged up against the iPad and Android-based slates.

Hardware

The magic in this device is not only in its keyboard dock, but once you get a taste of the ta on its own, its hard to resist the desire to own what basically amounts to the other half of it. Battery life essentially doubles when you’ve got both pieces and with this connection you’ve got the next generation of device in your hands today: a notebook with a touchscreen. Of course to make it all worth it, you’ve got to have an operating system that’ll back it all up – we’ll chat about that a bit more in the Software portion of this review. For now, have a peek at this very clean, modern looking bit of equipment:

Now you don’t HAVE to pick up the keyboard dock for this tablet, as all the processor power does lie inside the tablet bit itself. I’m simply not going to begin going into the supposed “limited app environment” that Android has in this review because I’m of the opinion (through practice) that if you want your device to do something, there’s a developer out there who wanted the same thing and made an app for it. Because of this, the tablet you’re looking at is easily one of the top 5 tablet computers on the market today. Because I’m a fan of Android and am more interested in the development of this operating system than any of the other mobile platforms, I would at this moment choose this tablet above all others, and not least of all because it’s gorgeous to behold.

Circles upon circles carved in a royal shade of metal around the entirety of the back of the tablet with the massive fact showing itself to be entirely Gorilla Glass, flat from the center all the way to the edges. The only marking you’ll find on either the back or the front is the lovely ASUS logo which is more than easy on the eyes, it’s downright well designed. The lightness of the tablet is balanced perfectly well with how weighty it must be to convince your humble narrator that it’s not going to bust if I drop it. In fact there’s no way I’ll be able to break this tablet with my bear hands unless I toss it off a building – though you won’t see me attempting this any time soon.

The keyboard dock has been sent to us to review in a box right alongside the tablet itself, and indeed it does belong with the tablet – let me reiterate: this isn’t a tablet, it’s a collapsible notebook. Though I cannot yet see this as a total replacement for the MacBook Air (or whatever else you folks are using to replace that luxury on the PC side), it is an excellent option for those of you wishing to work in a brand new environment where Android is still your system and your screen is touchable.

You’ll find that switching between the tablet and the keyboard-attached amalgamation is quick, simple, and judging by the latch on this monster, the whole thing is held quite securely in place for the long haul. Don’t expect to be getting the thing out of there with one hand, but plugging it in with one hand is certainly doable. And get this: in this (and the orignal Transformer) is the first place you’ve got a notebook that takes photographs from its back, and not just terrible photographs, nice ones.

As far as the other side goes, the inside – for the fellow who asked: there are two little rubber bumpers on the keyboard side that hold the display away from the surface, but the Gorilla glass wouldn’t have to worry about getting scratched either way because Gorilla Glass is more than tough enough to resist such smooth foe. Have a look here at a close-up view of the keyboard in all its glory in hands-on video Two:

The hinge is strong enough to be relatively tough to move when it doesn’t have the tablet plugged in, and the whole rig is difficult to open up when attached if you’re holding a baby in your other arm. I guarantee you I’ve tried it. This of course means that the connected keyboard/tablet combo wont come flying open accidentally by any means. Like the rest of the sections you’re about to read, know that anything you’d like to know about that I haven’t covered here is more than open to discussion below: ask any question you wish and I shall respond, your wish is my tap and click!

Display

In this tablet you’re going to find the lightest whites, the darkest blacks, and the brightest display with its Super IPS+ mode with over 600 nits (a nit is a unit of visible-light intensity, just so you know) — that compared to the iPad 2′s 350-400 nits makes for a big gap, but considering the rest of the tablet world is somewhere in the same area for brightness, this including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the non-Super IPS+ mode of the Prime, these numbers aren’t going to make a BIG difference unless you’re holding them up side by side. The difference comes when you’re standing outside holding the tablet in direct sunlight – and here you’ll find the brightness to make a big difference.

The resolution on this device is 1280 x 800, the panel having a 16:10 ratio and 10.1-inches in size diagonally. Compared to the 9.7-inch iPad 2 display, the pixels per inch on the Transformer are a dominant 145 PPI over the Apple tablet’s 132 PPI. Compare this to the display on the next most popular Android tablet on the market with the Kindle Fire at 169 ppi and you might have a heart attack until you realize that this is because 1024 x 600 pixels are smashed into 7-inches of display instead of the Prime’s 10.1 – much easier to get dense down there at the smaller level.

Final assessment: this is the best display on a 10-inch tablet market today. It’s bright, dense, your games and text are sharp and readable, and you can use this beast outside in the summertime.

Benchmarks

While it’s interesting to mark up a bunch of benchmarks on this and the rest of the tablets in the market, the Transformer Prime is a perfect example of where even though you’ll see lesser tablets out-do it at first glance. What you’re not seeing is the real-world performance here in these tests, and that is always what matters most. Normally I don’t mention this stuff as it should be a given whenever you’re looking at benchmark tests performed on completely different pieces of hardware, but here the truth is quite relevant, as the results are quite deceptive.

As such, feel free to head back to our Hands-on and Unboxing post to see a whole collection of benchmark results on both the Transformer Prime and the original Transformer. Also head back to our ASUS Transformer Prime vs iPad 2 Benchmark Tests post for more of a fight between the two, but remember that the numbers do not perfectly reflect the power within in any case. Have a peek at our hands-on with both devices in the following video to see a bit more of a real-world test of performance, as it were. Games is what you’ll see here, games galore I tell you!

Above you’ll see the iPad 2 on the left and the Transformer Prime on the right, same for the video below – in the video above you’ll see the game Riptide GP, below you’ll see the game Shadowgun. You’ll find that both games have been enhanced in several ways, some big, some small, and though the gameplay is comparable on both machines, the Tegra versions on the Prime are clearly the cooler gaming experiences. Will the iPad versions be updated eventually? Maybe, you never know.

These games are but a taste of the handful of apps developed by gaming groups hand-in-hand with NVIDIA to optimize them for the Tegra 3 quad-core processor. Head down to the software portion of this review to see a few more in high action.

Camera

In this category I’m not even going to begin comparing the camera to any other tablet save one, only ONE tablet in the world at this very moment can hold any kind of candle to the Transformer Prime in any respect, and that is, believe it or not, the $800 HTC Jetstream. What you’ll find is that not only do both of these tablets have the only 8-megapixel cameras in the tablet market, the rest of the market’s cameras are absolutely terrible, especially when compared to these two. Of course the price difference between the Prime and the Jetstream provide you with a clear choice in this case, but their cameras taken aside from that are fairly similar.

Have a peek at a few more examples of what the Transformer Prime’s 8-megapixel camera can do here for photos and for video, the video being 1080p of course. The front-facing camera is the same basic 1.2-megapixel camera we’ve seen on many tablets and smartphones before, it being only of the quality you’d use for video chat – someday we’ll have high quality chat, someday!

Note also that the Transformer Prime boasts a lovely F2.4 aperture, the same rating the iPhone 4S has, so it’s not just the megapixels you’re enjoying here, it’s the guts.

Software

Before we go any further, you should have a look at our first in a series of hands-on videos (and yes, the second is posted above, but it just worked out that way!) Here you’ll find that your humble narrator starts exploring the Transformer Prime by showing off the original Transformer and the app selection it has. The reason for this is that it’s essentially the same set you’ll get with the Transformer Prime, and the reason for THAT is ASUS promotion of the Transformer and the Transformer Prime as a family of devices. Instead of tossing their “older” model under the bus, they’re offering it for the lower of two prices, the Prime then considered the “premium” choice for consumers for its advanced build and processor, not to mention is two lovely color options.

What we’ve gotten here with our review unit is a set of apps direct from NVIDIA and several of their partnered developer groups who made games with the developers at NVIDIA optimized for their newest builds. In this case, for example, there’s a fighting game created to show off the performance of each of the four CPU cores, here simply branded “Chidori.” What Chidori represents is an alliance of gaming groups joined together to provide tools and resources for developers to make their games cross-platform as easily as possible, and their aims with Tegra 3 are made clear in a quote from Katsunori Yamaji, CEO and Executive Producer at Premium Agency Inc for the announcement of the chip last month:

“Tegra 3 is equivalent to a console game machine, and we believe devices with it will play an important part in next-generation games. We’ve been working on optimizing our cross-platform engine Chidori to fully support Tegra 3. To support Tegra 3′s multi-core engine, we’ve optimized our 3D effect tool. And we’ve adapted our high-quality shader library, Aoi, to Tegra 3, allowing truly beautiful imagery.” – Yamaji

Have a peek at what Chidori has to offer in this very pre-production demo:

Next have a look at the game you’ve seen a couple times before if you’ve been following along with the NVIDIA crew and their quad-core processor since before it was called Tegra 3. This game is called Glowball and it’s been in development since the processor inside this tablet was called Project Kal-El, it still here showing off what it was intended for since the start: the pure loveliness of what this device and its system on chip are capable of in the graphics department.

Then behold another early build: Bladeslinger. Much in the same style as the Infinity Blade series and its ability to show off the wonders of the A5 chip in the iPad 2, here Bladeslinger (even in this Alpha or Beta build), looks and acts impressive in every way.

Battery

There are three pre-set modes you can be in on the Transformer Prime, the first being Power Saving Mode, the next being Balanced Mode, and the final being Normal Mode. NVIDIA and ASUS have assured us that Balanced Mode is more than enough of a powerhouse to run all the games we’ve been burning through here, but you know good and well that we want the most powerful mobile processor on the planet working as hard as it can the entire time we’re testing the battery. That said, if the Normal Mode battery life is any indication (and it certainly is), the Power Saving Mode will last you until the end of time with battery life.

What you’re seeing above is a look at the battery life AFTER the firmware update that came in early yesterday from ASUS. The battery life you’re seeing from the reviews run before yesterday are, as I’m sure you say, not the best, but what’s happened after this update came down today was a vast improvement in battery life (amongst other things) including what appears to be the 5th core doing its thing while we have the device with the display off. Have a look back at the post entitled Variable SMP: the brain of quad-core mobile computing and see not only how there’s actually five CPU cores in the Tegra 3 processor in this device, the fifth is activated when the others aren’t needed, this saving you energy in the form of battery power. It’s like a ninja in the night, a ninja fighting for good!

In other words: even on Normal mode, which is what you’re seeing above, we’ve got 10+ hours of battery time. When it comes to running the device with the dock attached, we’re talking about another 50-75% increase in battery time. If you’re using your tablet disconnected from the dock and you’re running HD streaming video to your HDTV, you’ve got much closer to 7 hours of uptime. The biggest killer of your battery is going to be the Super IPS+ mode, which I recommend only using if you’re hanging out on a parade route on the 4th of July in Texas, because even without this feature activated, you’ll be fine out on the town on a normal midwestern sunny day.

Wrap-Up

The ASUS Transformer Prime is without a doubt the finest Android tablet to date, and barring those with an addiction to having what they call the “widest” or “finest” app collection in the land, I’ve got no qualms with calling this the highest quality slate on the market today. Of course the app production ecosystem for the iPad 2 is stronger – people still see it as an easier place to make cash. With Android it’s still not so easy to make a winning application, especially one that’s supported by a market that has a real vetting process. But lo and behold, those of you who are developers of games specifically, you’ve got NVIDIA to work with, and not only do they give developers wanting to work with them the resources they need to make their game optimized for their processors, they promote the heck out of your games by giving them to us to test out.

With NVIDIA promoting this tablet as the first quad-core processor toting tablet on the market, ASUS has a brand tie-in that the rest of the chip producers simply haven’t offered as of yet. NVIDIA is pretty darn good at pumping themselves up as the group to trust for gamers, and with that power the rest of the applications the everyday user uses are more than supported as well – and NVIDIA knows this, and NVIDIA promotes this. Meanwhile you’ll find many (not all), but many of the other devices like this on the market simply promoting their device as having a “super powered dual-core processor” without a brand, or in Apple’s case, they simply re-brand the processor as their own – this is also smart.

So what more could you want? I know what you Android lovers want: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Lucky you, ASUS has already promised to deliver that system sooner than later, with an announcement of when coming sometime later this month from what we understand. The only limit this device has that I’m concerned about is its current system, Android 3.x Honeycomb, the entire line of which (3.0, 3.1, and now 3.2) have been fun to work with, but haven’t been as up to the task of everyday usage in every respect as Ice Cream Sandwich has been in the few short weeks it’s been in the wild.

Therefor I tell you this: if you’re deciding between an iPad 2 and this device, you’re doing it wrong. Buy the one that feels better to you, and go with it. There’s no perfect test to decide between the two, it always comes down to personal preference if you ask me. If you’re deciding on which Android tablet to get, look no further. The rest of the Android slate world has been completely blown away.

Have a peek at the photos below and the video above and know this: this isn’t the end of our review, this is just another bit of it. If you’ve got any questions on this (or any other device we’ve reviewed for that matter) feel free to ask in the comments below. We and I will do our best to answer!

First let’s have a look at the browser benchmarks. While we’ve used SunSpider in the past and you’ll be able to find previous marks of ours on other devices by heading to our SunSpider search portal, BrowserMark is one we’re just starting to work with recently. That said, lower is better in SunSpider, while higher is better in BrowserMark.

You’ll also notice here that we’re also testing the original ASUS Eee Pad Transformer. While both that device and this newer Prime model both have the “Eee Pad” name in them, the Transformer Prime is being promoted without the extra syllables. You’ll also notice that these three devices line up pretty nicely from oldest to newest in each of the tests here – this is a bit different when it comes to testing the GPU cores in the final test.

What we have here last is GLBenchmark 2.1 which above all else tests the GPU cores in the processors on each of these devices. The Apple iPad 2 uses Apple’s own A5 dual-core chip while the Transformer has NVIDIA’s original Tegra 2 dual-core processor and the Prime uses the newest NVIDIA quad-core processor Tegra 3. Note here that not only has NVIDIA upgraded their chip to hold 2 (actually 3) more CPU cores, their GPU cores have been clocked higher as well.

What you’ll find here is that the two tests we’ve got running here, the Prime outdoes the original Transformer by quite a bit, but the iPad 2 still leaves both of the Android tablets in the dust. Remember also that these tests, while they’re an OK indicator of performance, are by no means perfect, especially when they’re conducted on completely different machines. We’ll be continuing our hands-on series here on SlashGear into and through our full review of the Transformer Prime, stick around for the full show!

BONUS here’s #2 in a series of hands-on videos we’ve got going for the Transformer Prime. Look at those lovely features!

This tablet is the first on the planet to feature a quad-core processor, one made by NVIDIA and detailed in our series of posts on the chip itself – start here, all you lovers of processing power and all its intricacies: NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor revealed and detailed. Now the Transformer Prime is a tablet that in our first hands-on experience has clearly proven itself as a superior slate that rivals the rest of the Android slate series easily. As far as what ASUS has to say on when the device will be released:

“We expect availability to start the week of 12/19 based on the pre-orders and inbound shipment schedules.” – ASUS

Then for those of you that pick the tablet up, you’ll have an update right away:

“We expect to release FOTA image update 8.8.3.27 on 12/2 that updates the EC firmware to improve battery life with the dock in power saving mode along with a few minor performance tweaks.” – ASUS

Now check out our first of a set of hands-on videos with the Transformer Prime and think about what you want to know about the tablet, no matter how important or absolutely trivial. We’ll do our best to find a way to give you what you need to know on the tablet in our hands-on review series and/or our final grand finale review, one way or another!