Do you want to buy an iPad 3?

CloudTags: iPad 3, iPad HD, battery , battery life , laptop batteries ,

In two days Tim Cook will take the stage to announce the iPad 3 or iPad HD, the Apple tablet we’ve anticipated for quite a while.

Leading up to the announcement PriceGrabbersurveyed 1,829 of its users to find out what features they want in the iPad 3.

You might be surprised to find out what nearly half of the respondents want from the iPad 3.

Of those surveyed 42 percent of iPad owners planned on upgrading to the iPad 3.

Most of these upgraders plan to buy the new iPad before the end of 2012, but 11% want the iPad 3 during the first week. With A Retina Display, better camera and upgraded processor, it make sense that many current iPad owners want to upgrade.

The number of upgrading iPad owners isn’t surprising, but the features that survey respondents want from the new iPad are.

Over half of the respondents said they want a cheaper iPad 3, but that’s not all.

53% want longer battery life from the iPad 3. That’s surprising because the iPad 2 delivers 10 hours of use.

In the real world, the iPad 2 can easily last an entire day unless you are playing games like Infinity Blade II non-stop. While the iPad 3 will likely have a better battery, the new Retina Display and processor are expected to use more power, resulting in a battery life that doesn’t change much.

The rest of the survey’s results are:

49% indicated SD card to store data
44% indicated better camera with flash
44% indicated new A6 processor
41% indicated built-in HDMI port
36% indicated wireless synchronization facility

Those results are pretty easy to comment on. The SD card slot and HDMI port won’t happen anytime soon, though Apple does have adapters for both. The camera hole on the back of the iPad 3 seems to be larger, which should mean a better camera, but there’s no hole for a flash. It seems that only the iPhone gets a camera with a flash.

The new A6 processor seems likely, unless it’s an A5X chip. But either way, there will be a better CPU.

And, oddly enough, wireless sync, which already exists for the iPad, garnered 36 percent.

Are you planning on buying an iPad 3 when it goes on sale? If so, is battery life the most important deciding point for you? Let us know in the comments below.

Guide the New Ultrabooks

Guide the New Ultrabooks

CloudTag: Ultrabooks , CES , battery life , technology , Asus A2500h , A3000 Battery , Asus A31-f9 Batteries

The big hit at CES this year was ultrabooks. Ultrabooks seek to bridge the gap between the functionality of a laptop and the convenience of a tablet. They have a reduced size and weight, and an extended battery life without compromised performance. At CES, the prototypes included touch screens, a feature not currently available with ultrabooks. So what makes a laptop an ultrabook? What are the best ultrabook features? And when should you consider buying an ultrabook? Keep reading to find out.

What’s an Ultrabook?

An ultrabook meets the following requirements:

Weighs less than four pounds

· Weighs less than four pounds

· Is no more than 0.8 inches thick

· Has at least a five hour battery life

Ultrabooks have these requirements to ensure that they are very portable devices, which is essential for the mobile worker. Another feature is the fast start-up time, which was inspired by tablets. This is accomplished by both flash drives and hybrid storage systems that pair flash memory with a traditional hard drive. If you need more storage in your ultrabook, go with the hybrid. But if you can live with less memory storage, then go with the really fast flash memory. You’ll find ultrabooks screens range from 13 inches to 15 inches.

Best Ultrabook Features

So what features are the best among the different ultrabooks available? Most ultrabooks are designed with a touchpad, so make sure you test it out before you buy it. The touchpad should be able to do gestures easily, such as pinch-to-zoom and two finger scrolling. Look for a keyboard with a backlight to extend usability in low light environments. High screen resolution is important — look for 1600 x 900 pixel resolution rather than 1366 x 768. Your eyes will thank you. Since ultrabooks are thinner, they won’t have all the ports and slots you might be used to in a laptop. If you need to connect a camera to your ultrabook, make sure you get one with an SD card slot. Most business professionals will need an Ethernet port and video graphics array (VGA), so look for those as well.

When to Buy

If you are an early adopter of technology (technology blog) , I bet you’ve already looked at the current ultrabooks available at your favorite computer store. But if you are one to wait until technology proves itself, you can feel comfortable basing your buying decision on either lower price or touch functionality. Lower price will probably show up around back-to-school season. Currently, ultrabooks start at around $800, but could possibly drop to $600 or less by August or September, making them around the price of or lower than laptops. If you want to wait for touch functionality, start keeping track of Windows 8. Once Windows 8 goes to market and is able to support touch, many providers will develop ultrabooks with touch functionalities based on the Windows 8 operating system.

So are you convinced that you need to transfer over to an ultrabook?

HP Launches New Pavilion dm4 and Mini 210, with Beats Audio Technology

HP Launches New Pavilion dm4 and Mini 210, with Beats Audio Technology

CloudTags: HP , Pavilion dm4 , Mini 210 , Audio , Technology , hp laptop battery , hp pavilion dm4 batteries , Hp mini 2102 battery

HP has launched three new devices in India, with two new HP Pavilion dm4 laptops, and the redesigned HP Mini 210 netbook. All three devices devices are ultraportable offerings, with sleek frames and lightweight bodies.

Two variants of the HP Pavilion dm4 are available, the HP Pavillion dm4 at Rs. 51,999, and the HP Pavilion dm4-3000 Entertainment Beats Edition at Rs. 54,999. Specifications are roughly similar, with the exception of Beats Audio technology, HP’s Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer, and Beats Audio branding. Both laptops come with Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium pre-installed, HP CoolSense, HP SimplePass fingerprint reader, as well as the optional Intel Smart Response Technology, which provides faster boot times and application loads.

The HP Pavilion dm4 Entertainment Beats Edition ships with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2450M processor, 6GB of DDR3 RAM (up to 16GB), 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7470M GPU, 640GB 5,400 RPM hard drive, DVD writer, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, as well as VGA, HDMI, USB 2.0, 2xUSB 3.0, and Ethernet ports. It will ship with Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium onboard.

The HP Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition’s 14-inch BrightView backlit-LED display has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. The Beats Audio-branded laptop also features a built-in HP TrueVision HD webcam (720p) with integrated digital microphone. Notably, the HP Pavilion dm4 comes with Beats Audio technology onboard, with. The laptop’s dimensions are 33.8 x 22.5 x 3.24 cm, while its weight is 1.97 kg. HP says the Pavilion dm4 Beats Edition will deliver up to 7 hours of battery life.

The redesigned 10.1-inch HP Mini 210 netbook will also come with Beats Audio technology, and has been priced at Rs. 19,990. Two versions are available, with one featuring a 1,024×600 pixel display and a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 processor, and the other, featuring a 1,366×768 pixel display with the dual-core 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 processor. The HP Mini 210 models will be available in charcoal, crimson red, ocean drive, luminous rose, and sweet purple colours.

Both HP Mini 210 models come with Windows 7 32-bit Starter Edition pre-installed. Other specifications and features include 1GB of RAM (up to 2GB), 250GB 5,400 RPM HDD (up to 500GB), spill-resistant keyboard, 6 cell / 55 Whr battery rated to deliver up to 9.5 hours of life, Wi-Fi connectivity, 3 USB ports, VGA output, multi-card reader, 3.5mm mic/headphone jacks, SD card slot and Ethernet port. The HP Mini 210 weighs in at 1.4 kg. It comes with Beats Audio technology for “high-quality entertainment on the go (headset not included).”

What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)

What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)

CloudTags: New , PC , computer , technology , laptop battery , Dell latitude d630 battery life , Hp 510 batteries , Hp pavilion dv4

What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (I)

9. Place Your Programs

overclocking 415 300x216 What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)

We can’t decide for you what software is most necessary for your needs. We can say generically that no PC is complete without at least an office suite, a photo-editing tool, a media manager, Web browser (see above) and e-mail. And there are free alternatives for almost any program you might need; see our no-cost favorites in The Best Free Software of 2011.

If you want the same setup as your previous machine, check the Program Files folder on the C: drive of your old PC. Make a list of the programs there using an online word processor like Google Docs so you can access the list from any computer. Keep in mind that you’ll also want to carry over the settings and log-in info for e-mail and IM clients. Gather those monstrosities known as registration codes for your software. Record them somewhere permanent and accessible.

Write them on the discs themselves with a thin-tipped marker, keep them in a notebook, get a tattoo; use whatever method you have for preserving data you know you will need again. Some software is limited to a certain number of machines.For example, iTunes 10.5 (also an Editors’ Choice) will only play songs you’ve bought online on up to five PCs. So check that the software is de-authorized on the old PC if you won’t be using it there ever again.

10. Tune-Up Time

On the right hardware, Windows 7 is impressively fast, but tweaks always helpperformance. You have to decide: do you want a system that works great or is good looking? Here are a few steps to tweak your new PC’s performance in favor of speed, not appearance:

• Set the desktop to a plain, one-color background. Big photographic wallpaper can slow load time.

• If you’re not into desktop widgets along the screen’s edge, or maybe prefer those from another source (like Google), turn off Windows Sidebar. It takes up space on your desktop. In Vista, go to the Windows Sidebar Properties control panel and deselect Start Sidebar when Windows starts. In Windows 7, the control panel is renamed Windows Gadgets. But you can just right click a gadget to remove it, and it won’t come back unless asked.

• Aero is the name for the fancy graphics interface that delivers things like transparency in windows. Cool as it looks, Aero can slow down your system. In Vista’s Personalization control panel, select Windows Color and Appearance. In the next window, click Open classic appearance properties.

Change the color scheme to something else, such as Windows Standard, and click Effects to turn off menu shadows and the ability to see windows as you drag them. In Windows 7, you can deactivate features like transparency individually.

• Go to the System control panel, click System Protection, and on the Advanced tab, click the button in the Performance box. If you turn off every option under Visual Effects (like animated controls, fading menus, and shadows under your mouse cursor) by selecting “Adjust for best performance,” it should speed things up.

• If you’ve got a very fast USB thumb drive, insert it and activate Windows ReadyBoost. This cache can help a bit with performance while the drive is inserted.

• Adjust the power settings, especially if you’ve got a laptop that is unplugged while in use. The “high performance” pre-sets will drain juice faster.

• Download and install Soluto, a free tool that measures your boot time and helps you either remove or delay applications that might be slowing your start time.

11. Review Hardware

Getting a new PC is the perfect opportunity to reassess the hardware peripherals attached to your old PC. Before you start plugging things from that ancient XP machine into that snazzy Windows 7 system, consider carefully how much you need them. Do you really need that ancient flatbed scanner now that the pictures you take are digital? For some, the answer will be no.

Ancient USB hubs (you probably have more ports on your new box, and you don’t want a hub that doesn’t support USB 3.0), old-school ink-jet printers, and low-capacity portable hard drives could probably all stand a refresh if not outright dumping. Old hardware moved to a new PC means you need the latest drivers. DriverMax can back up drivers for when you need them later. However, it doesn’t upgrade your old XP drivers to new Windows 7 drivers, so you still need to do the legwork. Hit the manufacturer’s Web site for your scanner, printer, camera, media player, and so on to download what you need.

That mouse and keyboard that came with your new system should be considered suspect. PC vendors aren’t known for including highly ergonomic input devices. Consider instead the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 set, which comes with a wireless ergonomic keyboard and mouse. In fact, consider an ergonomic keyboard and mouse even if your new PC is a laptop, especially one you don’t move around much. Your wrists will thank you later.

12. Register Everything

It’s no guarantee of great technical support, but if you register your PC with the manufacturer, as well as the software and peripherals with their respective creators, you stand a better chance of being recognized when the time does come to call for help—and you know that time will come. Getting a vendor to honor a warranty might depend on knowing when you bought or received the product. Registering online is relatively painless.

One downside is that registration can also put your name on endless mailing lists, so if that bothers you, deselect that option when signing up or create a special email address that you can use to filter them. For example, Gmail users can stick a random period in the first part of their address (such as your.name@gmail.com) and it will still come to the account, but you can filter messages sent to it into special folders. Keep in mind that it’s smart to be registered in case there’s a recall—you don’t want to be the only person walking around with a laptop battery that might catch on fire, do you?

Easy, Mac

itunes match 300x168 What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)

One thing you don’t have to worry about with a Macintosh computer is crapware. Companies like Dell or HP can justify lame extras by claiming they provide functions that are unavailable (or insufficient) in Windows. The MacOS andhardware is a closed system controlled by Apple, a company that prides itself on user experience. It’s not about to sully that rep with a bunch of third-party junk; it would have no one to blame but itself. Of course, Apple will gladly sell you some extras, like the iWork and iLife suites. Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) comes with an application firewall to control any connections made by your software to the Internet.

You can find it in the System Preferences folder to make adjustments. As for antivirus software, you can buy it— Symantec makes some—but Apple’s market share is still small enough that the Mac is seldom a target of malware. After your initial setup, the first thing you should do is setup Time Machine. Simply connect a USB or FireWire hard drive that’s larger than your internal hard drive, and Lion will ask you if you want to set it up as a Time Machine backup drive. Say yes, and the drive will be erased (make sure it’s a drive you can spare). Then Lion will periodically backup your changed files to the Time Machine backup. Time Machine backs up your entire computer, including the OS and applications.

That way you if your internal drive ever falls apart, you can simply put in a new drive and restore from the Time Machine backup. Time Machine will also help you migrate to a new Mac once your current Mac becomes too slow three to six years from now. Migrating files from an old Mac to a new is a breeze. In the Applications/Utilities folder, find the Migration Assistant. Hook the two Macs together with a Firewire cable and run the Assistant. The settings from the older Mac (with Mac OS 10.4.10 or later) will transfer to the new system with Lion. That includes data like browser bookmarks and user profiles. It doesn’t include apps that come with the Mac OS; Apple assumes the new Mac will have the latest Safari, for example. If you’ve got a modern MacBook, including the Firewire-free MacBook Air, you can migrate files over your wireless network.

If you use Apple’s iCloud service, it will do you one better: your Safari bookmarks, contacts in the address book, iCal calendars, and even your documents folder can be synced over the Internet. Just sign into and check the checkboxes for each function in the iCloud control panel. Most of that info can be synced to your iOS devices (iPhone, iPod, iPad) as well. If you’re going from Mac to Windows, or vice versa, you can always fall back on a USB drive to move files, but you’re on your own finding the data you want to transfer. And it’s slow. A faster method might be the Media Sharing Cable for PC and Mac from Kensington. This $60 cable allows you to drag and drop files between systems—very handy for really big media.

That’s a lot to pay, however. You might prefer to network the Mac and Windows, even if it is a struggle. Of course, if you plan to use both the Mac and Windows PCs regularly, real-time synchronization is definitely the way to go, and as stated, our favorite, DropBox, will do that between folders on multiple Windows and Mac OS systems.

What to Do with Your Old PC

essential programs 300x180 What Everybody Ought to Know About New PCs (II)

You can probably put your old PC to some kind of good use. But sometimes, you want that old dinosaur out of your sight. Here are some options to consider:

1. Revitalize it. You may think that ancient laptop is too slow for use, but try installing a Linux-based operating system like Ubuntu 10.10 (“Maverick Meerkat”) Netbook Edition. It may turn that geezer into the perfect Web-surfing speed demon.

2. Give it away. Whether you hand it down to family or to a local charity, there’s got to be someone clamoring for your old, working PC. If you can’t find anyone, check www.freecycle.org for a mailing list of people in a city near you who love free stuff. Your junk is their gold.

3. Pick a dump spot. Find a PC Donation center in your area that will make sure PC toxins don’t end up in a landfill. Search Earth 911.com or MyGreenElectronics.org for places that will dispose of electronics responsibly. No matter what, sanitize that hard drive before you pass it on. At the very least, format the drive and reinstall the operating system before recycling the old PC.

If you’re extra paranoid, keep in mind that formatting isn’t enough to be 100 percent certain data is completely unrecoverable. Specialty softwareDarik’s Boot and Nuke or Active@ KillDisk – Hard Drive Eraser will do the job for free, but the job can take hours and hours. There’s always the Swiss cheese option: Take the drive out to the workshop and drill holes through it. Bullet holes will accomplish the same thing, but that’s overkill, even for your data.

Cameras Smartphone Technology: The Future of the Camera

Cameras Smartphone Technology: The Future of the Camera

CloudTags: Future , Camera , Smartphone , Technology , digital camera batteries , Canon nb-4l batteries , Olympus li-10b camera battery

camera with wireless lens Cameras Smartphone Technology: The Future of the Camera

First it was smartphones integrating cameras. Could we be about to see the inverse – cameras integrating smartphone technology? That’s the concept being explored by Seattle design company Artefact. They’ve come up with an intriguing prototype for a camera that incorporates smartphone technology – a.k.a. a SmartCam. Artefact claims that innovation has stalled in the camera industry, that there hasn’t been much new in camera devices over the past 10 years. They’re aiming to shake up the camera industry and are already talking to camera companies (and others) about implementing their vision. I spoke to Artefact’s founders to learn more.

This is the fifth post in our series looking at how the user experience (UX) of consuming – and producing – media is changing with the increasing popularity of devices other than the PC. So far we’ve looked at music on smartphones, news apps on the iPad, RSS Readers on smartphones and online radio in cars.

The camera has been a staple of the technology industry since the 19th century. Nowadays, with the huge popularity of smartphones, more people carry and use a camera than ever before. The latest model iPhone – the iPhone 4 – has a 5 megapixel camera, which is more than sufficient for the casual photographer.

As smartphones integrate ever more powerful cameras, what can the traditional camera companies do to compete? While there will always be a market for high-end cameras – specialist devices used by professional photographers – it’s that middle and lower end market which is slipping away from the likes of Kodak, Canon, Olympus, Sony and Nikon.

Artefact has created a concept camera for the smartphone age, called the WVIL. That acronym stands for Wireless Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. As you can see from the photo above, it looks like a normal camera. One obvious difference is that it detaches in two, one part looking very much like a modern day smartphone. Artefact further describes the WVIL as a “new architecture that combines the lens and sensor together into one wireless unit.”

The founders of Artefact, Gavin Kelly and Rob Girling, told me that this concept camera gave them “an opportunity to re-think how to interact with our cameras.” In the video below, you can see how touchscreen technology is used to provide a new way to interact with your photos. It essentially brings the smartphone user experience to the camera.

This isn’t entirely unique, because some high-end cameras – such as the Canon SD3500 - have touchscreen controls. Plus newer digital cameras often have input sensors (e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes). However, Artefact takes these features a step further, for example by adding apps and social functionality.

10 300x168 Cameras Smartphone Technology: The Future of the Camera Artefact is envisaging new types of software and apps for their camera. Such as software that teaches you better photography by giving you real-time coaching tips. This would use the sensors in the camera, so it knows what you’re doing and can then guide you to use a certain technique or feature if appropriate.

Artefact’s camera is, like the popular smartphones, built on a software platform that uses touchscreen technology. Other types of apps that Artefact foresees include apps that post-process photos, share images and enhance the camera’s functionality.

Finally, this concept brings the social media functionality that smartphones famously have and deposits it into a digital camera. According to Artefact, current digital cameras have limited social functionality.

For power users of photography, having the ability to manipulate and share photos direct from the camera does seem like a compelling feature. The general consumer is already well served currently by apps like Instagram and Foodspotting, so this wouldn’t be so compelling to them. Arguably smartphones still have the edge in innovation too, for example with an app like Color that mixes social networking and photography in a new and potentially disruptive way. Also see Camera+, a new photo enhancement app for smartphones.

Will Artefact’s SmartCam be implemented by a camera company? The founders told me that early discussions are under way, including with companies not currently in the camera market.

Whether or not this concept – or something like it – is implemented, the current digital camera market seems ripe for innovation. It has to innovate, because the newest smartphones have sophisticated cameras which are ‘good enough’ for the general consumer. What do you think of Artefact’s concept, would it fly with you?

Top 7 Trends to Watch, CES 2012

Top 7 Trends to Watch, CES 2012

CloudTags: CES , 2012 , technology , Acer aspire 5920 battery life , Toshiba pa3536u-1brs batteries , Gateway squ-412 laptop battery

cesPREVIEW 1mf1 Top 7 Trends to Watch, CES 2012

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is like the Super Bowl of tech, and this year it will attract 140,000 attendees looking for the next big thing. What makes the show fun for us, though, is that there isn’t just one next big thing. There are several trends we’re keeping an eye on, from Microsoft’s next OS and Ultrabooks to Android Ice Cream Sandwich and the next generation of car tech.

What’s in store for CES 2012? Here are our top 7 trends to watch.

Windows 8: Hurry Up and Wait

Given that Steve Ballmer will once again kick off CES with an opening keynote, it shouldn’t be any surprise that he will trumpet the benefits of Windows 8 and the progress being made on the platform. We’ve already test-driven the sleek software using the Developer Preview on both a tablet and a laptop. And most recently, Microsoft showed off the new Windows Store, where Windows 8 users will be able to download apps.

So what’s left? Ballmer will hopefully provide more details about the launch of the public beta of the OS—planned for late February—as well as show off some exciting hardware. The challenge: keeping the excitement going all the way to the end of the year—and convincing us that the software makes just as much sense for notebooks as it does slates. This will also be Microsoft’s last hurrah at CES, as the company announced plans to pull out of the show starting in 2013.

Ultrabooks Get Bigger… and Cheaper

Rumors are swirling that Apple is readying a 15-inch MacBook Air, so you can bet that Windows notebook makers will make a pre-emptive strike at CES. We expect to see ultra-thin laptops that meet Intel’s definition of Ultrabook—less than 0.8 inches thick, fast boot and resume times—but that also stretch screen sizes beyond 13 inches. At the same time, vendors will look to undercut Apple by making their wares more affordable.

By back-to-school time, starting prices will likely sink to $699. The Ultrabook trend isn’t just for consumers, either. We expect to see at least one model tailored for the business crowd, joining the HP Folio. Also look for Intel to provide more info on its Ivy Bridge processors, which should supercharge Ultrabooks later in the year.

Ice Cream Sandwich Tablets Galore

Android Ice Cream Sandwich 300x218 Top 7 Trends to Watch, CES 2012 Now that smartphone shoppers have gotten a taste of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, it’s time for tablets to get in on the action. The software certainly looks more polished and should make multitasking easier, but it’s not clear to us yet what advantages the new OS will have for larger-screen devices. Thus far, the only hot-selling Android tablet is the Kindle Fire, which runs an older flavor of Google’s software and uses a completely different interface, so Google and its partners certainly have their work cut out.

In fact, Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt recently told an Italian newspaper, “In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality.” So what does that make the stuff coming out at CES? Crap?

Nokia + Windows Phone = Relevance?

With market share at a measly 2 percent (according to NPD), Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 platform isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. But Nokia hopes to turn things around with a big push in the U.S starting in 2012. The company has scheduled a press conference for January 9th, at which many expect Nokia to unveil a variant of the Lumia 800 with 4G LTE capability. AT&T is expected to be the carrier, but it’s certainly possible that Verizon could be in the mix.

We generally liked the latest OS in our Windows Phone 7.5 review, and Microsoft’s marketplace stocks plenty of quality apps. But the hardware hasn’t really excited us. For Nokia and Microsoft, it’s put up or shut up time.

Wearable Tech Gets Smarter

According to reports, Apple is working on a bendable iPod and other wearable devices that would communicate with an iPhone. And Google has a pair of smart glasses in the pipeline that would display information on a built-in screen.In the meantime, plenty of companies are hoping to make wearable tech sexy, including the Italy-based i’m Watch. The device looks awfully similar to the iPod nano but runs Android and comes with a watchband.

WIMM is yet another company marking an Android-powered timepiece. The WIMM One has a less-sexy design, but lets you read RSS feeds on your wrist and comes with “micro apps.” The wearable tech trend also extends to fitness gadgets such as the MotoActv and Jawbone Up, so we fully anticipate similar devices to debut at CES.

Car Apps Take Over

You know it’s going to be a big show for car tech when the head of Mercedes Benz and the president of Ford are both giving keynotes at CES 2012. After all, shoppers are more psyched about apps inside their vehicles than the number of cup holders. Dr. Dieter Zetsche of Mercedez Benz will outline his “vision on the interplay between automotive innovation and the digital realm.” The brand will look to catch up in the app race and is expected to show off integration with Google’s Street View in its new vehicles, among other services.

Ford pioneered in-car tech with its Sync system, and the company’s AppLink technology lets users leverage select smartphone apps. We can’t wait to see what comes next. In fact, we’ll have two people from LAPTOP dedicated to this category alone at CES.

Smartphones Jump to Quad Core

First came the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet, but the next frontier for Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 chip is smartphones. Nvidia is hosting a press conference on January 9th, where we expect the company to show off what its chip can do inside handsets. Some expect HTC to be among the first to put Tegra 3 inside a handset, but we just don’t know yet who will be among the first partners.

So what’s the big deal about quad core? Mostly graphics performance, but Nvidia says its CPU is more efficient and uses less power. We didn’t observe any battery life gains on ASUS’ new tablet, but we have higher hopes for the first batch of superphones. And Nvidia is not alone. We’ll be meeting with Qualcomm to see a demo of its new Snapdragon S4 chip.

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