Windows 8 dev tablets selling for thousands on eBay

Limited edition Windows 8 tablets are selling for several thousand dollars on eBay. The pre-release hardware was given to Microsoft Build attendees last week at the company’s annual conference in Anaheim, California.
Microsoft handed out the tablets to each of the 5,000 Build attendees and comes complete with a developer build of Windows 8 and one full year of AT&T 3G data service capped at 2GB per month.
The tablet was developed by Samsung and features a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M dual-core processor, a 64GB solid state drive, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a Samsung Super PLS 1366 x 768 display. The eBay auctions also list a touch pen, Bluetooth keyboard, carrying case and a dock supporting USB, HDMI and Ethernet interfaces as part of the bundle.
Microsoft bundled a bunch of apps with their test tablets for developers and press members to play with, including Internet Explorer 10, a basic RSS client, stocks, weather, social networking apps Tweet@rama and Socialite, among others.
The idea behind handing out the tablets was that developers could start working on creating apps for Windows 8 right now, but it seems that some conference-goers are looking to cash in on the rare hardware.
As of writing there are three Windows 8 Build tablets for sale on eBay. The newest listing is already bid up to $1,475 while another listing with three days left is at $2,103. The third auction ends in nine hours and has seven bids with the current high bid at $2,700.

Pantech Discover Dual Core HD Android Smartphone for AT T

AT&T has officially announced their latest affordable smartphone called Pantech Discover previously known as Magnus has comes with support of 4G LTE mobile broadband network, stylish good looking curvy design made with plastic, metal and glass, DriveMode apps will sending customizable auto replies prevent text messages while driving, HD touch screen display with more pixels, rear camera with 4x zoom, Full HD video recording and playback at 30fps, front camera for video conferencing, stereo speakers with dual 3D surround sound provides rich audio experience.

It has feature of Easy Experience mode priorities apps on home screen in organized and easy to read formal and Standard Experience mode a classical android format users can easily switch between both modes and SwiftKey app allow for maximum efficiency.

The Pantech Discover has 4.8-inch touch screen display with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 Pro dual core processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB built-in storage with microSD card slot, 12.6-mega pixels rear camera and 2-mega pixels front facing camera.

The Pantech Magnus has 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, DLNA, NFC technology share contents, read smart tags and made payment, Bluetooth 4.0, dimension 134.2 x 68.6 x 9.1 mm, weight 4.76 ounces and 2100mAh battery.

The Pantech Discover will be available from 11 January online and buy from store at price of $49.99 with 2-year contract.

Acer Aspire V5 431 887B2G50Ma V stands for Value

Laptop manufacturers are facing something of a crisis. There was a time my wife and I would buy a new laptop every year. Now, I am happy with a nearly two year old laptop and do not see myself replacing it for another two years. A new smartphone interest me more than a new laptop. My wifes laptop is in its fifth year, but she splits computing time between a laptop, tablet and smartphone, and I think the nearly two year old tablet may get replaced before the five year old laptop. Yes, she still needs her laptops, but these days it has been relegated to being a word processor. 

Intels response to this is the Ultrabook. Microsofts response, Windows 8 which is designed to create a new generation of hybrid devices. Laptop OEM manufacturers, well they want to entice you to part with your money by giving you more value for your money. A good example of this is the entry level Acer V5.

The Acer V5 is a 14-inch laptop with an eye popping sticker price of Php17,900. For the bargain price you get a pretty capable laptop. The entry level Acer V5 is powered by an Intel 877 dual core processor has as much power as a top of the line processor just four years ago. And that is still pretty fast even by todays standards. If your laptop is used for typing documents, preparing spreadsheets and presentations, watching HD video on YouTube, this is more than enough. The budget price also yield you a large 500 GB hard drive, a DVD writer, USB 3.0 port and HDMI out.

But what makes the Acer V5 really interesting is the case. This budget laptop is just 0.9 inches thick. This makes is a hair thinner than the smaller Sony Vaio S and 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro. At 4.6 pounds in weight, it weighs just as much as the smaller MacBook Pro.

The main part of the weight reduction is the small 2500 mAh battery. But paired with the power efficient Intel 877 dual core processor, the combo is good for more than 4.5 hours of real world use. The weakest point of the package is the keyboard, which is not the best I have tried, but it does work. All  in all not bad for your Php17,900.

This price comes with Linux installed, rather than Windows. So for many buyers, this laptop will cost you another 1.5-2K. On the other hand, if like me, Linux is your operating system of choice, it is nice to be able to buy a laptop without having to pay the "Windows Tax".