Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown
Reviewed by Georgia from Portland, Oregon.
A little over 13 months ago Sony launched the Xperia Tablet Z, so it should come as no surprise that a new, upgraded slate is now ready to take its place. The Xperia Z2 Tablet is Sony’s latest foray into the full-size tablet market, where it will compete with the iPad Air, Surface 2 and Android rivals such as the Galaxy Note 10.1, Kindle Fire HDX and the ageing Nexus 10.
The new slate has a 10.1-inch full HD (1080p) display, enhanced with its Triluminos and X-Reality technologies. Under the hood, meanwhile, is a quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage, supported with a microSD card slot for up to 64GB of extra space. It’s powered by a hefty 6000 mAh battery and offers two cameras – 8.1 megapixels on the back, 2.2 megapixels on the front.
The Xperia Z2 tablet weighs 439 grams and is less than a quarter of an inch thick (6.4mm) – sleeker than the iPad Air’s already impressive 7.5mm thin profile. It runs on Android version 4.4 (KitKat) too, with Sony’s reserved skin, tweaks and exclusive apps for good measure.
We believe that there is certainly space for a new Android tablet with a 10-inch (or thereabouts) form factor, especially if Sony can offer a software experience that is comparative to stock Android. For those who aren’t keen on Samsung’s TouchWiz skin, but can’t wait for Google to replace the Nexus 10, the Xperia Z2 could be a pretty compelling piece of hardware.
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Image Credit: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
Nokia has launched two new handsets in the Asha series aimed at developing markets — the Asha 220 and the Asha 230 — at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona today.
Described as ‘ultra-affordable’, the Asha 220 brings access to data-driven services via the Nokia Xpress browser (which uses server-side data compression to reduce usage) and select apps like Twitter and Facebook. This is a notable development for a device that costs just €29 ($40) before taxes, as devices in this bracket tend to be limited to ‘dumb’ phones.
The Asha 230, on the other hand, offers more of a feature phone experience and runs the same OS found on the Asha 500 line. To complement this, Nokia has also tweaked its Fastlane UI, by integrating Twitter, for example. The 230 also comes with access to apps like Nokia Mix Radio and OneDrive, as well as the option to take “voice-guided selfies.” The Asha 230 will cost from €45 ($62) before taxes, and like the Asha 220, will be available from around the first week of March.
Check out our image gallery of the devices below.
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Featured Image Credit – MARKKU ULANDER/AFP/Getty Images
Nokia has launched a new breed of device today which marries Microsoft’s services with an Android-derived operating system.
The device was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday and is the first device from Nokia to use the Nokia X OS – a fork of Android. However, like the Asha series it also uses the Fastlane UI for quick navigation.
Both the Nokia X and Nokia X + have similar spec lists, for example, both have 4-inch touchscreens but the ‘+’ model includes more storage and an SD card by default.
In a surprise move, Nokia also launched the Nokia XL which comes with a larger 5-inch display and a 5-megapixel camera on the rear, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Visit our MWC 2014 page for more coverage
This story is being updated…
Nokia has launched a new breed of device today which marries Microsoft’s services with an Android-derived operating system.
The device was revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday and is the first device from Nokia to use the Nokia X OS – a fork of Android. However, like the Asha series it also uses the Fastlane UI for quick navigation.
Both the Nokia X and Nokia X + have similar spec lists, for example, both have 4-inch touchscreens but the ‘+’ model includes more storage and an SD card by default.
In a surprise move, Nokia also launched the Nokia XL which comes with a larger 5-inch display and a 5-megapixel camera on the rear, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Visit our MWC 2014 page for more coverage
This story is being updated…