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You might remember the Samsung ATIV Smart PC we looked at a little while ago. That’s the ‘budget’ X86 convertible tablet/laptop in Samsung’s Windows 8 range. The next model up is the 11.6-inch Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro (or 700T1C in model-numer-speak), which replaces the Atom processor with a full-blown Core i5 or i7, and swaps the 1,366 x 768 screen resolution for a lovely Full HD PLS panel. It’s essentially the sequel to the Samsung Series 7 Slate 700T.

Read the full Windows 8 review here

In case this is the first time you’ve come across the ATIV Smart PC range, it’s Samsung’s full Windows 8 version of the Asus Transformer form factor which combines a tablet with a keyboard base to make a laptop. All the ATIV Smart PCs support touch and Wacom stylus goodness.


Where the Atom-based Smart PC is comparable to the Vivo Tab, the Smart PC Pro takes on the Asus Taichi and Microsoft Surface Pro, amongst others.

Wondering which Windows 8 device to get? Have a read of our Best Windows 8 Laptops Tablets Convertibles and PCs roundup

Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro Design and Build

Though the Smart PC Pro is definitely at the premium end of the market, the tablet itself is constructed using plastic, albeit with a nice brushed metal-effect finish. This is to keep its weight down, as because of the power it packs in the tab alone weighs 884g, considerably heavier than inevitable comparisons to the iPad.

Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro Keyboard Base and Cover

However, the keyboard base is made of metal. This lends it a very premium feel at odds with the tablet part, yet again there’s logic behind the difference: this was done to increase the keyboard base’s weight (bringing the entire package to 1.6kg), so that it balances the tablet part and avoids the falling-over-backwards flaw that plagued the Asus Transformer.

Mind you, the dock does not contain an extra battery as does the more budget-oriented Samsung Smart PC’s one, though it does give you extra connectivity. This is a real shame, as the powerful Pro tablet inevitably already offers shorter battery life than its Atom sibling.

The tablet itself is a very svelte 12mm thick, and with keyboard attached matches many Ultrabooks at 22mm. However, if you’d rather have a thinner tablet without losing the physical keyboard, there will be a Microsoft Surface-like keyboard cover that’s a mere 4mm thin.

Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro Connectivity

The Smart PC Pro tablet is well-endowed in the connectivity department. The tablet itself sports a headphone jack, full-size USB 3.0 port and microSD card slot for expanding its storage along its top, plus a microHDMI for video output along with the volume rocker on its left.

A physical rotation lock is a welcome touch too. Wireless is particularly comprehensive thanks to Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth 4.0 and 3G/4G wireless broadband with accompanying SIM slot.

The keyboard dock adds a further two USB 2.0 ports (the data interconnect between tablet and keyboard can’t cope with USB 3.0) to the equation, though alas no full-size SD card reader. This is annoying for photographers, and we can only hope Samsung will bring out another dock down the line with a battery and full SD card slot built in.

The iPad-killing Windows 8 tablet-laptop has
arrived. Problem is, most aren't ready to dispatch the iPad -- or the MacBook Air for that matter -- yet.
So far, reviewers of shape-shifting Windows 8 tablets have not been kind. Otherwise known as "detachables," the devices can take the form of a standalone tablet or attach to a keyboard base to become a close facsimile of a full-fledged laptop.
And one of the key selling points -- if not the key selling point -- is that you can run all your favorite Windows applications. In other words, this isn't application-deprived Windows RT.
The fly in the ointment is Intel's underwhelming Atom Z2760 processor, which presents itself as a kind of paradox: it promises to run any legacy Windows application, but it doesn't really deliver.
CNET's review of the HP Envy x2, titled Half-tablet, half-laptop, all Atom, summarized the x2 this way: "a slower Atom processor means in performance it's far behind most ultrabooks, even though it's priced like one."
Another review, at Wired, of a similarly configured Acer Iconia W510 is even harsher:
"The W510 benchmarks at about a quarter of the speed on general apps versus the typical Windows 8 laptop shipping today, and it really can't run any graphics benchmarks at all."
And how about the Samsung Ativ 500T? ExtremeTech calls it "ridiculously underpowered."
The review continues: "Real Work is nuked by desktop lag, performance stuttering, and a ludicrously small amount of storage."
Yep, storage is another problem. Some of these detachables come with flash drives that are only 32GB or 64GB. That leaves precious little space to store applications after Windows 8 has occupied a disproportionately large part of the drive's real estate.
So, that's the bad news. Luckily, alternatives are emerging.
Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet -- due to arrive next Saturday, February 9 -- sports a fast laptop-class Ivy Bridge chip. And Samsung has the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T: a speedy detachable with the same chip. (See review here.)
And expect more products like this when Intel's more battery-friendly Haswell chip lands in the summer. Also, a new Atom is on the way -- probably late this year -- that has a completely revamped (read: faster) processor architecture and will be offered in quad-core variants.
Lastly, remember that the systems mentioned above are not "convertibles" like the Lenovo Yoga, Asus Taichi, or HP Revolve. Those are laptops first, tablets second and, accordingly, offer laptop-level performance.
And maybe convertibles and touch-screen laptops are the best that PC makers can offer for now. A shot at laptop-tablet nirvana will have to wait until Round 2.

The iPhone effectively replaced digital cameras and GPS devices, and now Escort MobileTV extends its reach to portable televisions. The MobileTV accessory works with iPhones and iPads, letting them receive broadcast television signals from the Dyle television network.
The MobileTV, essentially identical to the previously reviewed Elgato EyeTV Mobile, is a blocky little device with a 30-pin iPhone connector on one end and an antenna on the other. Despite the 30-pin connector, Escort says it needs an iPhone 4 or newer, ruling out its use with earlier iPhones. Likewise, it will only work with the fourth-generation iPod Touch or newer, but supports all iPads. For newer iOS devices, it needs the 30-pin-to-Lightning adapter.
There is also a Mini-USB port for charging on the end of the MobileTV accessory, as the device relies on an internal battery. A red LED on the black device shows when it is charging.
Connected to an iPhone or iPad, it sits neatly in the connector, adding its minimal, approximately 2x2-inch bulk. Hooking it up through a Lightning adapter to a newer iOS device makes it stick out a bit farther, and the whole apparatus feels more prone to being knocked loose.
Free app required
By itself, the MobileTV accessory does not do anything, as it needs the IDTV app to show television broadcasts on an iOS device. This app is free from the App Store, and available for iPhone or iPad.
However, the MobileTV and the IDTV app may not be enough to turn your iOS device into a portable television. It also needs to be within the Dyle television network's coverage area. Dyle includes a convenient coverage map on its Web site, which also shows which channels are available in each area.
Never heard of the Dyle television network? This service retransmits existing television network programming as a digital signal for mobile devices. The MobileTV will receive programming only from Dyle, and is not able to pick up any other over-the-air broadcasts. Dyle promises to offer access to its network free of charge through 2013.
This means the MobileTV can only get the channels Dyle carries, which in the San Francisco Bay Area is limited to five. From our testing, that meant Fox affiliate KTVU, NBC affiliate KNTV, independent KICU, Telemundo affiliate KSTS, and Qubo affiliate KXPX. New York appears to be the biggest market with eight broadcasters, including MyTV, and three local independents.
Channel scanning
After a couple of setup screens, the IDTV app scanned for available channels. On our first test, performed within our sixth-floor office, it only came up with four of the five available. During a second test, outside in San Francisco, it found only four again, although a different set of channels. Although the IDTV app saves the channels it finds, it does not automatically rescan for channels every time you start it up or change location. You will have to run a manual scan to find available channels in different areas.

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will recall nearly 1.3 million cars globally for two separate defects, including 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in the United States to fix airbags that could be deployed inadvertently, the automaker said on Wednesday.
It is the third Toyota recall since October to involve more than a million cars, and it comes as the company tries to recover from a damaged reputation following a series of recalls between 2009 and 2011 that were related to unintended acceleration problems.
An IC chip in the airbag control unit can malfunction when it receives electrical interference from other parts in the car, causing the airbags to deploy when it is not necessary, Toyota spokesman Naoto Fuse said.
Toyota is also recalling certain Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles in Japan, Canada, and Mexico.
The problem has caused minor injuries such as abrasions in 18 cases that have been reported, he said. Two accidents have been reported by customers outside Japan, although Toyota has not been able to confirm them, he said.
Toyota will add an electrical signal filter to the airbag control module to the recalled vehicles -- repairs expected to take an hour to hour-and-a-half, he said.
The spokesman declined to disclose the costs involved.
LIMITED FINANCIAL IMPACT
TRW Automotive Holding Corp has manufactured the airbag control unit in the vehicles, although the problematic chip is supplied by another company, an employee at TRW's Toyota office told Reuters.
He declined to say where TRW buys the chips from.
The financial impact from the airbag recall is likely to be limited, possibly costing Toyota about 5 billion yen ($55 million), said Koichi Sugimoto, a senior analyst at BNP Paribas in Tokyo.
Toyota may ask suppliers to compensate, he added.
"While this cannot be ignored, this amount is not going to dent Toyota's operations and share prices are unlikely to be impacted much," he said.
Separately, Toyota will also recall 385,000 Lexus IS and its series, including 270,000 Lexus IS vehicles in the United States over wiper problems, Toyota spokesman Fuse said.
The wiper arm nut of the front wiper in these vehicles may not be tight enough and the wiper may not work under certain weather occasions, including in snow.
Toyota will exchange the nut in repairs that will take about 30 minutes, Fuse said.
Toyota has been showing signs of recovery from the recall crisis and won back the crown as the world's top selling automaker in 2012 from General Motors.
In an effort to move past its safety crisis, Toyota proposed last month and got approval from a judge to spend $1.1 billion to settle one of the biggest U.S. auto class-action lawsuits over claims that millions of its vehicles accelerated unintentionally.
Toyota has not admitted fault in proposing the settlement.
As automakers including Toyota increasingly use shared parts for various models, the number of recalled vehicles have tended to balloon.
In October, the automaker also recalled 7.4 million vehicles globally to fix malfunctioning power window switches, and in November it recalled 2.8 million vehicles for a steering glitch.
Toyota is set to announce its October-December earnings results on Feb. 5. ($1 = 90.6500 Japanese yen) (Additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Ken Wills)

Facebook Now Has More Than 1.06 Billion Monthly Active Users, 618 Million Daily, 680 Million On Mobile Facebook has today shared its financial stats for the fourth quarter of last year, and in doing so, has dropped yet another installment of its ever-impressive user statistics. As has been the case consistently over the past few years, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook has exceeded quite a few milestones, and the world’s most popular social network of all time has has now passed the 1.06 billion monthly active user (MAU) mark.
The social company had long been expected to pass the monumental billion mark before eventually doing so in October of last year, but the growth since then – some 60 million active users – is pretty startling in itself. As well as that, the number of daily active users (DAUs) averaged at more than 618 million through December 2012, with the number of monthly active mobile users hitting more than two-thirds of a billion, at 680 million.

Signups on a social network like Facebook are one thing, but keeping a user base interested enough to remain active month-in, month-out is something Zuck and his development team seem to have mastered down to a fine art. The 1.06 billion MAUs as of December 31st, 2012, was an increase of 25% year-on-year, while the number of DAUs equated to a 28% year-on-year surge.
But the real juice arrives in the progress of mobile. It is certainly a field Facebook had initial teething issues with, but since releasing version 5 for both iOS and Android, things have continued to progress. The number of daily active users on mobile devices such as the Nexus 7, iPad, iPhone and Galaxy S III exceeded the number of web daily active users for the first time in Q4 2012, and given the way the market is continuing to lean on mobile devices – particularly with social apps and services – the swing is certain to stay in favor of mobile indefinitely from here on in.

The portion of Facebook users logging in on mobile devices stood at around 40 per cent in 2011, and passed the 50 percent mark in 2012. Some commentators suspect that figure could rise to as much as 70 per cent by the end of this year, as users look to their smartphones and tablets for their fix of the world’s most populous social hunt.
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Hyundai has recently announced a recall for the Veloster in Austria because of a problem with the model’s panoramic glass sunroof.

After announcing a recall back in December 2012 for the Hyundai Veloster in the United States because of a problem with the panoramic glass roof, time has come for the carmaker to expand the recall to Australia too, because of the same problem. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), a total of 882 units of the Hyundai Veloster will be affected by this recall, and their owners will have to take a trip back to the dealers.

“The panoramic sunroof glass may have been damaged when fitted to the vehicle. A damaged sunroof glass may fracture unexpectedly when the vehicle is parked or being driven. If the defect occurs, it may pose a laceration hazard to occupants of the vehicle”, as the ACCC’s official website is explaining.

A total of 882 units of the Hyundai Veloster sold in Australia between the 1st of November 2011 and the 17th of April 2012 will be affected by this problem. The recall is expected to start soon but Hyundai Australia didn’t announce an exact date for the moment. We advise you to contact your local Hyundai dealer if you own a Hyundai Veloster equipped with the panoramic glass sunroof.