The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is in part famous for being famous in that it has been the subject of fierce litigation from Apple, which claims its design is too similar to its own iPad. But far from being a straight knock-off, it does have an identity of its own.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a remarkably well built tablet. It curved edges with their dark silver banding and black backplate are all very visually attractive, and the rubbery finish on the back helps with grip.

On the back there is a 3 megapixel camera. That’s slightly under specified in today’s terms, and almost as good as the over specified 2 megapixel camera that sits on the front screen bezel.

Android smartphones sync seamlessly with Google services including Gmail, Google Contacts and Google Calendar. With ever more pressure in our daily lives, ensuring you don’t miss important events is vital. Google’s Calendar app can help make sure you don’t miss important events, appointments and meetings. Appointments are synced automatically and powerful features allow you to manage your diary entries, schedule meetings, invite colleagues and quickly access your calendar. You can add as much, or as little, information as you choose. Add birthdays, holidays, regular appointments, dentist and doctor appointments, set reminders for business meetings, schedule telephone calls and site visits.. the list is pretty much endless.

We take you through all its many features , show you how to create appointments, schedule meetings, invite colleagues and plan your time. We also explain some of the advanced features that those of us with crammed diaries and little free time can benefit from.

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The Android app market is swamped with news-related apps, so it takes something a bit special to stand out from the crowd. When we first heard about Feedly, we were a little sceptical, but when we got to grips with Feedly, my word were we impressed. Feedly aims to give you the news that is most relevant to you, while also offering a variety of different sites which you can check out. Upon opening Feedly for the first time, we were shown pages upon pages of the latest tech-news, as well as a list of sites which Feedly highly recommended to us; they were all sites we regularly follow.

Each story has a small thumbnail picture with a description, and clicking on the link takes you directly to the site. No hassle. No bother. If you decide you want to look for a different category of news, Feedly offers a wide choice of other categories for you take a look at, ranging from gardening to gaming. We were surprised with how instantaneous Feedly updates itself, and it seemed to always be on the pulse with sites updating for the majority of categories.

The user interface of Feedly is what really makes the app a standout performer from the rest. Not only does it sport an elegant design, it is also so simple to use. You won’t find any lag and swiping between screens is no problem whatsoever. Another feature that brought a smile to our faces, was the social media functionality, and being able to share any news stories through Facebook, Twitter as well as Tumblr.

Mobile technology is developing so fast that even if you’ve bought the latest and best Android phone on the market, you can be sure it’ll start to look old a few months down the line. If you’re looking to upgrade your phone, then perhaps first consider the world of phone hacking, and getting the most out of your Android phone. With a few phone hacks you can not only bring your phone up-to date, but also get extra power from your phone.

Changing the ROM will not perform miracles. It won’t suddenly give your phone a faster processor, or even give your phone more memory, but as anyone who has ever used a brand new device and found it to be occasionally laggy when scrolling through their home screens will know, how well optimised the software is proves hugely important to how fast your phone is, or at least how fast it feels.

When a manufacturer is putting together a ROM for an Android phone, it has countless considerations affecting what the final product will look like. Yes, they want it to be fast, but they also need it to be as stable as possible, and it also must fulfil the advertised promises of the device – certain apps will be installed, for instance, and some may be set to run continually in the background. When a custom ROM make enters the world of phone hacking, for the most part they can ignore those considerations. A ROM will, of course, have to be stable if it is intended to be used for everyday purposes, but sometimes developers will look to squeeze a little more power at the cost of some niceties. They might produce bloatware free ROMs that also often find their way on to your Android phone.

The ViewPad 10e will be running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and from the early details, it seems that it could possibly be the best Viewsonic tablet yet. The ViewPad 10e will feature a 9.7″ IPS LCD screen, and boasts a ’3D style viewing’, although it isn’t massively clear on what that really is as of yet. It will be 9.1mm thin, and boasts a mightily impressive 200 hours of battery life when on standby.

Weighing in at 620g means that ViewSonic’s new tablet isn’t too hefty to hold, but it won’t be the lightest tablet you can buy.

The tablet device will be powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor and will include 4GB of internal storage, although there is a microSD slot to expand this. As far as connections and ports go, the ViewPad 10e boasts a micro USB, mini HDMI, wireless B/G/N, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Via: Viewsonic

Version 7.1 of the popular Android ROM CyanogenMod has been released, bringing with it a raft of new features and support for 68 devices.

It is based on Android 2.3.7, and the new version adds support for these new handsets:

HTC Desire S HTC Incredible S HTC Incredible 2 LG Optimus 2X and T-Mobile G2x Motorola Backflip (Motus) Motorola Cliq / Cliq XT Motorola Defy Motorola Droid 2 Motorola Droid X Samsung Captivate Samsung Fascinate Samsung Mesmerize Samsung Showcase Samsung Vibrant Samsung Galaxy S Samsung Galaxy S2 (multiple carriers) Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc ZTE V9

The full changelog is here.

Source: CyanogenMod