Android By Ryan Whitwam Sep. 11, 2014 2:11 pm
You don’t usually think of Dell as a major player in the Android tablet market, but the newly announced Dell Venue 8 7000 Series has several features that will make other tablets jealous. It’s the thinnest tablet in the world right now at just 6mm, and it’s powered by a powerful Intel Atom processor. The design is a little unusual, though.
Most tablets have fairly even bezels all the way around the device, which makes it easier to hold in a variety of orientations. The Dell Venue 8 7000 has extremely narrow bezels on three sides, then one larger inch-wide bezel on one of the sides (in landscape, it’s the bottom in portrait). This space houses some internal hardware, sensors, and the front-facing speaker. This might be a bit awkward to hold in landscape mode.
The choice of an Intel processor makes sense for Dell, which has a close relationship with Intel. The Atom part used in the new Dell tablet is, of course, x86 rather than ARM. Android supports that just fine these days, and Intel’s chips have improved markedly. They’re actually quite fast now when they’ve been optimized properly.
Intel’s hardware also allows the new Dell tablet to use RealSense depth-mapping technology. You could be forgiven for having no idea what that is. RealSense uses three cameras on the back of the tablet to acquire additional depth information. It’s a little like HTC’s Duo Cam, so you can focus a photo after taking it. Taking pictures with a tablet has never been a particularly good idea, but maybe these pics will actually be worth keeping.
You’ll be looking at those snapshots on an 8.4-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. At that size and resolution, you should really see the advantage of a higher-than-HD screen. Depending on the quality of the screen, this might be a match for Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S line. There’s no exact date or price yet.
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Most tablets have fairly even bezels all the way around the device, which makes it easier to hold in a variety of orientations. The Dell Venue 8 7000 has extremely narrow bezels on three sides, then one larger inch-wide bezel on one of the sides (in landscape, it’s the bottom in portrait). This space houses some internal hardware, sensors, and the front-facing speaker. This might be a bit awkward to hold in landscape mode.
The choice of an Intel processor makes sense for Dell, which has a close relationship with Intel. The Atom part used in the new Dell tablet is, of course, x86 rather than ARM. Android supports that just fine these days, and Intel’s chips have improved markedly. They’re actually quite fast now when they’ve been optimized properly.
Intel’s hardware also allows the new Dell tablet to use RealSense depth-mapping technology. You could be forgiven for having no idea what that is. RealSense uses three cameras on the back of the tablet to acquire additional depth information. It’s a little like HTC’s Duo Cam, so you can focus a photo after taking it. Taking pictures with a tablet has never been a particularly good idea, but maybe these pics will actually be worth keeping.
You’ll be looking at those snapshots on an 8.4-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600. At that size and resolution, you should really see the advantage of a higher-than-HD screen. Depending on the quality of the screen, this might be a match for Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S line. There’s no exact date or price yet.
More...
