Android TV First Look Video And Hands On Impressions

Android TV is one of the myriad new things that Google announced this year at I/O, and the platform is very different from Google’s previous effort with Google TV, a project announced in 2010 and updated continually since but that still hasn’t managed to become a significant part of Google’s lineup.

Google is looking to change all that with Android TV. It’s a brand new platform, designed with simplicity and relevance in mind, with an interface that puts a strong emphasis on content first, and then offers up apps ordered based on your usage patterns and focuses finally on delivering top-quality Android games right to your big screen.

Content, apps and games; that’s it, and it’s a smart move by Google to pare down and focus on the core experiences that matter to TV watchers. Over and over, the company spoke to its new desire to provide the right interface for the right situation on the right device, and Android TV is a great example of that theory put into action, at least based on our early impressions.

It’s similar in many ways to what Amazon has done with the Fire TV, but Google’s interface is better-designed and less confusing, and it probably will have a better time incorporating content sources from third-party providers than will Amazon, thanks to its developer tools and the advantages devs have by building apps that work across Android wherever it happens to appear.

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Hands On With The Galaxy Tab S, Coming To The U.S. June 27

Samsung has a new tablet, and the company is framing this as their new flagship slate line. The Galaxy Tab S was unveiled at an event last week, and brings an ultra-thin design and a super high-resolution display to Samsung’s Android-powered tablets. In both 8.4 and 10.5-inch flavors, these tablets promise dynamic screens that change their settings depending on content types. The Tab S hits the U.S. starting June 27, with a retail price of $399.99 and $499.99 for Wi-Fi versions of the 8.4 and 10.5 respectively.

We’ll have full reviews forthcoming for the new tablets, but for now I got to spend a limited amount of hands-on time with the Tab S 8.4. Samsung is making a lot of marketing claims around this device, suggesting it’s something that injects some genuine fresh energy into its tablet lineup, but does it live up to those claims? We’ll require more time with the gadget, but initial impressions reveal that Samsung’s highlight features on this tablet are indeed highlights.

The screen on the Galaxy Tab S really is amazing in person. It has a 2560 x 1600 screen that uses SuperAMOLED tech to delivery crazy contrast and color – but at times this can go too far, depending on your tastes. Oversaturation is an issue, with colors that are exaggerated over what you can actually find in real life. Some people love this, though, and the demo videos included on the slate really do pop on that screen. Detail is crisp and clear, but for most standard 1080 videos you might not get as impressive results. It should still be an extremely solid media playback device, however you slice it.

The weight and thinness of the device is also very impressive on first encounter, despite the fact that the construction is still plastic and shares the somewhat blah design chops of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S5. It’s better looking than either of these somehow (might be the solid edging) and the portability is tremendous.

OS and software are still going to be important factors in the overall picture, and we haven’t had time to give those a full run-through yet, but Samsung has made some decidedly impressive technical improvements to its Tabs based on first impressions.

View the original article here

Hands On With The Galaxy Tab S, Coming To The U.S. June 27

Samsung has a new tablet, and the company is framing this as their new flagship slate line. The Galaxy Tab S was unveiled at an event last week, and brings an ultra-thin design and a super high-resolution display to Samsung’s Android-powered tablets. In both 8.4 and 10.5-inch flavors, these tablets promise dynamic screens that change their settings depending on content types. The Tab S hits the U.S. starting June 27, with a retail price of $399.99 and $499.99 for Wi-Fi versions of the 8.4 and 10.5 respectively.

We’ll have full reviews forthcoming for the new tablets, but for now I got to spend a limited amount of hands-on time with the Tab S 8.4. Samsung is making a lot of marketing claims around this device, suggesting it’s something that injects some genuine fresh energy into its tablet lineup, but does it live up to those claims? We’ll require more time with the gadget, but initial impressions reveal that Samsung’s highlight features on this tablet are indeed highlights.

The screen on the Galaxy Tab S really is amazing in person. It has a 2560 x 1600 screen that uses SuperAMOLED tech to delivery crazy contrast and color – but at times this can go too far, depending on your tastes. Oversaturation is an issue, with colors that are exaggerated over what you can actually find in real life. Some people love this, though, and the demo videos included on the slate really do pop on that screen. Detail is crisp and clear, but for most standard 1080 videos you might not get as impressive results. It should still be an extremely solid media playback device, however you slice it.

The weight and thinness of the device is also very impressive on first encounter, despite the fact that the construction is still plastic and shares the somewhat blah design chops of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S5. It’s better looking than either of these somehow (might be the solid edging) and the portability is tremendous.

OS and software are still going to be important factors in the overall picture, and we haven’t had time to give those a full run-through yet, but Samsung has made some decidedly impressive technical improvements to its Tabs based on first impressions.

View the original article here