Asus unveiled a large number of devices at the start of Computex, including four laptops – the Asus Transformer Book V, Transformer Book T300 Chi, Transformer Book Flip and Zenbook NX500. To call the Transformer Book V a “laptop” would be like calling a centaur a horse, however. Asus calls it “the world’s first five-mode, three-in-one converged laptop”.

It’s the device Asus was teasing with the blender video. Read more »

The LG G3 is one beautiful device in person, but is not yet available in stores where you can experience it for yourselves. And there’s plenty to experience, like five different color options – Metallic Black, Silk White, Shine Gold, Burgundy Red and Moon Violet.

While not as good as seeing them in person, here’s an image that shows all five colors doing the 360. Read more »

Blender-based ads have become a genre of their own over the past few years but Asus is trying to break the mold by advertising the products being blended rather than the blender itself.

So, what do you get when you blend together a smartphone, a tablet and a laptop? Read more »

Google is releasing info and video tutorials for developers to get them ready for the Android Wear platform. One of the recent tutorials details how notifications on a wearable will be richer than the ones in the notification area of your phone.

Android Wear notifications will feature pages – side-swipeable screens that will offer additional info and functionality. Read more »

Thanko, known for gadget curiosities like USB staplers and USB-powered allergy masks, has another interesting product in store – a telescope designed for the Apple iPhone. It can be used with naked eyes but put on an iPhone 5 or 5s and you get 100x magnification so you can play astronomer.

The iPhone 5 Astronomical Telescope kit includes a telescope with 700mm focal length, a tripod, ocular lens, iPhone 5 case to hold the phone and a number of other accessories. Read more »

Microsoft presented a cool upcoming update to Skype called Translator – it breaks down the language barrier by serving as an interpreter. It listens to what you say and then speaks it to the other side in a language they understand, then does the same for them.

Most impressive is the speed – not quite real-time, but the translation is spoken almost as soon as you’re done talking. Read more »

PLX Devices has two successful Kickstarter projects under its belt and it’s back for a third time with the Legion Meter. It’s a small USB device that promises to accelerate charging for your phone (or tablet) compared to just plugging a USB cable in your computer.

For additional functionality it has an OLED screen that can show how much power your gadget is drawing. Read more »

The HTC Desire 816 has one of the smaller batteries of all 5.5″ smartphones, 2,600mAh. There are a couple 2,500mAh but that’s hardly an excuse. Great battery life is one of the key selling points of phablets, second only to the large screen (actually those are the two selling points), so has this hurt HTC’s second phablet?

The answer is not so much, even without the use of HTC’s power saving modes. Read more »

Microsoft unveiled the next generation of Surface Pro yesterday and it’s already available for pre-order in the US and the UK.

Here are the prices and shipping dates for the various models of Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Read more »

Do you own an Oppo Find 5 or a Find 7 / Find 7a and love flashing new firmwares? You might be just the person to help Oppo develop its Color OS launcher. The company is looking for advisers among its “Ofans” to take part in the development and testing of its custom Android skin.

Here’s what you’ll need besides a compatible phone and the desire to participate. Read more »

The HTC Desire 816 is the company’s second phablet after the HTC One Max from last year. Unlike that one, the Desire 816 is a mid-range device with specs similar to the new HTC One mini 2. Not an aluminum unibody though it does have front-facing stereo speakers and a 13MP camera.

So, why hasn’t HTC entered the phablet market the way Samsung, LG and Sony has, not to mention the countless smaller brands? Read more »

Schools in the US are running scalable 1:1 computing initiatives and Samsung created a tablet just for them. It’s based on the Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 but adds Google for Education support and a rugged chassis. The tablet is aimed at K-12 schools and the tougher exterior will be needed, especially in the lower grades.

Google offers a web console (asking $30 per device) that allows school IT personnel to quickly set up a large number of tablets. Read more »

Sailfish is one of several alternative OSes that are trying to make their mark on the mobile landscape but is so far available natively on only one device – the eponymous Jolla phone.

The launcher will soon be transplanted on Android so more people can use Jolla’s take on what a mobile UI should be like. Read more »

LG has the irksome habit of announcing stuff with just a photo and virtually no specs, the same thing happened with the three new LG G Pad tablets. We have to resort to sources like AnTuTu for specifications of the LG G Pad 7.0 as if it’s a rumored, unofficial device.

So, here it goes. The 7″ screen has 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, making for 216ppi. Read more »

The tech company behind SlimPort unveiled a new version of the USB-enhancement called SlimPort Pro. The new standard can simultaneously transmit high-definition video (up to UHD / 2160p), 8-channel audio, USB 2.0 data (480Mbps) and power over a standard-looking 5-pin USB port.

The press release talks up docks – with smartphones becoming more powerful, a dock could connect them to both displays and peripheral devices and SlimPort Pro can do it with a single connector. Read more »