An anonymous U.S.-based brokerage said on Feb. 2 that Samsung (KRX: 005930) will become the major supplier for the processors for Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) next-generation iPhone series in 2015.

The latest research by the brokerage said that Apple is trying to diversify its foundry suppliers since 2015, now that it had previously partnered with only one foundry for each generation of processors, including with Samsung for the 32-nm and 28-nm processes, and with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC)(TPE: 2330) for the 20-nm process.

The brokerage firm’s name cannot be revealed under new rules by Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission now that the firm’s latest research report offers specific forecasts that may impact the market.

The brokerage firm said that with broader offerings in the pipeline such as a larger iPad and a low-end iPhone, it seemed to be clear that Apple will have a much more diverse semiconductor portfolio.

“Our view is going forward, with so many more products, it becomes easier for Apple to use multiple foundries, and to split manufacturing by products,” the brokerage said.

Given Samsung’s bullish outlook on its 14-nm process and TSMC’s guidance that the 16-nm process will only make a single-digit contribution to its revenues by the end of 2015, Samsung will likely get the orders for new iPhone chips in 2015, the brokerage said in its research report.

The report predicted that that TSMC will continue producing the A8 chips used in the current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models in the first half of 2015. The report said that TSMC could also make the 20-nm chip for a low-end iPhone and a 16-nm chip for a high-end iPad in the second half of the year.

The brokerage’s latest research report estimated that TSMC’s revenues from Apple will grow from 6.5% of total sales in 2014 to 9.6% in 2015. For the second half of this year, 
the report said, TSMC’s revenues from Apple are expected to drop by around 40% from the same period a year earlier, assuming that Apple switches to Samsung for the new iPhone chips.

The post Samsung May Become Major Processor Supplier for Apple in 2015: Research appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reported its best fiscal quarter ever, with revenue and profit figures surpassing analyst expectations. The numbers speak for themselves, both in nominal terms and with respect to year-on-year growth. In fact, this is the most profitable quarter in corporate history, surpassing the quarterly earnings records of Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, which were previously in the top three.

For the first fiscal quarter of 2015 (ending December 31, 2014), Apple reports a quarterly profit of $18 billion from revenue of $74.6 billion, a year-on-year revenue growth of 29.5% and profit growth of 27.2%. In this fiscal quarter, diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.06, a 47.8% increase from last year’s $2.07 diluted EPS. This surpasses analyst expectations of $2.60 earnings per share.

Guidance for second fiscal quarter indicates that Apple is likely to earn $52 to $55 billion in revenue. The company has announced cash dividends of $0.47 per share, payable in February.

In this quarterly report, we can glean a few things about Apple’s business so far. In gist, the company performs well during holiday seasons. The iPhone has been the biggest driver of revenue for the company in this quarter, so far, even amid the iPhone 6 having a slow start. The iPad, however, has performed dismally. And in a surprising twist, China has become a big driver of growth for the company, even with some initial hiccups in the launch and sales of the iPhone 6.

iPhone in the stocking. Apple’s best quarters prior to this one had been the first quarters of fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014, which fall in the months of October through December. This suggests that, as expected, holiday sales are a big revenue driver.  For Q1 FY2015, Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones, up from 51 million in the same period last year — a 46% year-on-year growth.  This is the first full fiscal quarter after Apple launched the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, and even with some initial concerns about the whether the bigger form factor of the plus will sell, as well as supply issues at the start of the iPhone 6’s product cycle, sales figures for Apple’s smartphones will suggest that it’s a runaway hit.

Will the iPad be sustainable? The short answer is “yes” — at least Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks so. For this quarter, iPad sales actually fell 21% year-on-year, which may be an indication that the company’s latest tablet lineup has weakened, even as the prices for previous-generation iPad Air and iPad Mini models have been reduced. One school of thought will say that iPad sales are being cannibalized by the iPhone 6 Plus on the low-end and the MacBook air on the higher-end. However, Cook is still optimistic about the product line, and that these sales figures are still within expected range. Cook admits that “the upgrade cycle is longer” compared to smartphones, speaking during investor guidance. “I believe that over long arc of time that the iPad is the great business, I also have visibility obviously of what’s in the pipeline and feel very, very good about that,” he adds.

Scaling the great wall. Apart from record-breaking revenues and profits in the past quarter, Apple is also seeing promise in a market that had been considered difficult for western firms to break into: China. Today’s largest economy is also the fastest-growing market for Apple’s goods. Revenue for this market amounts to $16.1 billion, comprising 21% of the company’s earnings during the period. This is a 70% growth from the same quarter in Fiscal Year 2014, and a 157% quarter-on-quarter growth.

This means Apple was able to bounce back after a disappointing iPhone 6 launch, in which the product was severely delayed in the market. Another feather on Apple’s cap: the iPhone has taken top spot in smartphone shipments in China, according to Canalys, even beating Xiaomi.

Watch out for April. Since taking over the reins, there has always been question whether Tim Cook will live up to his predecessor’s legacy. It was, after all, during the second tenure of Steve Jobs as chief executive when Apple bounced back with the iMac, then followed up by other revolutionary products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air and the like. This record quarter is testament to Cook’s ability as a strategist, even as Apple has only been continuing existing product lines, so far.

This April, however, Apple expects to launch its first wearable, the Apple Watch. “The creativity and software innovation going on around Apple Watch is incredibly exciting and we can’t wait for our customers to experience them when Apple Watch becomes available,” says Cook. It may be argued that Apple is already coming late in the smartwatch game. But perhaps the quality of the platform and ecosystem will be the main differentiator, just as the apps and the App Store had been a game changer in the smartphone industry in 2007. “The number of developers that are writing apps more for it are impressive and we’re seeing some incredible innovation coming out there,” Cook adds.

Will 2015 be Tim Cook’s year? With an expanding business, impressive cash stockpile and an ambitious foray into the wearables market, it looks like an exciting year ahead for Apple.

The post Apple’s Q1 FY2015: Most Profitable Quarter in Corporate History appeared first on VR World.

If you were hoping to save $100 on an Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi-Gold with its 9.7 inch Retina display, 8MP iSight camera, and 64GB of storage, you’re too late. Best Buy has posted it as Sold Out on line. It was priced at $499.99. It’s still available at Fry`s for full price.

Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi-Gold is selling out fast.

If you are willing to settle for a 7.9 inch LED display and a 5MP iSight camera and only 16GB of storage, you can save $75 at Best Buy on the Apple iPad mini with Wi-Fi – 16GB, Space Gray/Black.
Not wanting to restrict bargain shoppers to a single day, Walmart has been having Cyber Week. They are offering a slightly better discount amount of $79 for the same tablet.

Best Buy and Walmart sell the Apple Mini iPad 16GB for $249.99 and $219.99 respectively.

Now here is the curious part: Walmart is quoting the list price as $299.00 which they are discounting to $219.99. Best Buy shows only their regular price is $249.99 or refurbished for $10 less. Now you decide which is the “best buy.” Seems like a simple mathematical problem at first glance. But Oh No. Let’s look closely. The Devil is in the Details. Both have the same Model Number: #MF432LL/A. Both tablets carry the same exact name with the only exception being the color. Best Buy lists Apple iPad mini with Wi-Fi-16GB, Space Gray/Black. Walmart has Apple iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi, Space Gray or White. You can do your own comparisons from the data taken directly from their respective websites.

Amazon offers several choices on the same tablet: New from $229.99, Used from $203.95, and Refurbished from $199.99. Clicking on the Used or on the Refurbished category, you come to NYC Electronic Warehouse Storefront. A search of their site did not find the refurbished model. It must have been sold leaving Amazon out of sync with their reseller. Radio Shack offers what they refer to as Refreshed for $229.99 with free shipping.

The Apple Store itself is selling the tablet, Space Gray or Silver “beginning at” $249. . Extras they suggest you add to your purchase include: Lightening to USB camera adapter for $29, an Apple Wireless keyboard for $69, or Apple EarPods with remote and mic for $29. It is ready to ship in one day and you might have in store pick up possible. However, the site warns: “Quantities are limited and availability can change quickly. Items will not be reserved for in-store pick up until you’ve completed checkout.”

As a bonus, Apple offers 6, 12, or 18 months special financing. And they’ll laser engrave up to two lines on the back of your iPad for free. If you click that it’s a gift, you can add an Apple Gift Package for another $5 and a free gift message. One more plus, you can Live Chat with a specialist before purchase. Apple is the only company offering Chat help.

Best Buy provides free shipping if you want it by December 11. If you want it sooner, you’ll pay an escalating shipping fee. The company offers a 1-year Protection Plan from the Geek Squad for $49.99. They say “We Fix It Or Replace It” covering a No-Lemon Policy, Normal Wear & Tear, Power Surges, Screen Issues.

Walmart offers a 2-year Care Plan for $47, but they don’t try to sell you additional accessories other than a $25 savings if you open a Walmart credit card. The Plan indicates: “Drop, Spill and Cracked Screen Problems – We’ll repair or replace it. We cover 100% of the repair costs. There are no deductibles or hidden fees.” Hummm, so you should look for Catch 22’s when considering a protection plan.

A quick look at other on-line retailers showed that Target offers the tablet for $249. MacMall will save you $5 at $244. PC Connection wants you to login or call for pricing. MicroCenter an Authorized Apple Reseller is listing the tablet at $229, but you have to search their site for your local store and drive to the brick and mortar building, because they don’t offer shipping. And purchases are restricted to one tablet per household. Of course, there’s always eBay hawking a new tablet for $299.99 with a money back guarantee.

So, the old adage “Buyer Beware” holds true on Cyber Monday as at any time of the year. Don’t get enamored by a low price. Check out the details. If it sounds too good to be true … it’s worth making comparisons.

The post Online iPad Deals Require Detailed Comparisons appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported its earnings Tuesday for the last quarter of the company’s fiscal year revealing it had generated $42.1 billion in revenue and $8.5 billion in profit.

This translates to an earnings per share of $1.42 per share, which is well above what Wall Street’s consensus was of around $1.31 as well as revenue of about $40 billion. This means that Apple has once again beaten Wall Street’s lofty expectations, partially helped by the strongest iPhone launch in the company’s history with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This represents a continuation of the company’s profitability even though Apple as a company has significantly changed internally. Apple was able to ship 39 million iPhones, roughly in line with what many analysts were expecting, but still above the average expected 37.5 million consensus. Apple also saw huge growth in the Mac sales thanks to the back to school season and they have now seen market share increase to some of the highest levels in over a decade.

Apple reported that its gross margin went up 1 point in the quarter, to 38% up from 37% in the same quarter a year ago, representing the increase in profitability. Additionally, Apple only reported $37 billion in revenue in the same quarter a year ago, showing that Apple has continued to drive the company upward year over year. Apple also stated that 60% of the revenue generated in the third quarter came from international sales, which also means that a lot of the cash flow generated from operations, $13.3 billion worth, will very likely stay abroad. Apple’s board also announced a $0.47 dividend for November 13th this year, and will be issued to holders of the stock on November 10th this year.

Apple Earnings

Apple also guided their fiscal first quarter of 2015, calendar Q4 2014, to a record revenue to $63.5 billion and 66.5 billion, they also expect gross margin to be somewhere between 37.5 and 38.5 percent.

Apple’s current share price is at $99.76 but it is already trading higher in after hours trading, once again breaking the $100 barrier up over 1% to $101.26.

The post Apple Crushes Q3 2014 Earnings, Posts $8.5 Billlion Profit appeared first on VR World.

Japanese telecom Softbank (TYO: 9984) , in a project dubbed as “Super Miniaturized Mobility”, will be deploying a fleet of tablet PC-installed ultra-compact vehicles across the village of Asuka in Nara prefecture, Japan. Starting this week, citizens of this village will now have rental access to the small form vehicle, which can be used to conveniently navigate across several of the village’s public areas, famous tourist spots and feature destinations.

Michimo is the official name of this electric, ultra-compact vehicle. It is actually a customized version of Nissan’s New Mobility Concept vehicle, which was introduced as a testbed model last year, to show the need for a small form factor, short-distance vehicle for single passengers. The vehicle’s use of electricity, compact size, and the relative small size of the village of Asuka made this model the perfect vehicle to be used for Softbank’s project.

Using the iPad Mini that is integrated into the Michimo unit, passengers can directly choose a target destination around the village without the need to rely on other map apps. Its custom navigation system would not only provide the optimal route and GPS location, but would also check any related updated information. The operation is not entirely automatic however, and unlike a certain prototype driverless car, the user would still have to drive manually to their destination.

In addition, the navigation system would also include voiced guides which would provide direction, as well as function as a sort of electronic tourist guide. The information provided by this feature will be constantly updated by Softbank’s cloud database and local information sources.

Asuka is popularly known by avid tourists, as it is the site of Japan’s ancient capital, having a number of important historical sites and spots that can be publicly visited. The deployment of Michimo units across the village would not only provide a convenient form of transport for the sparsely populated elderly community, but could also potentially stir tourism, since visitors may also rent the vehicle to drive around the village easily.

On an added note, while the idea of using tablets on cars for guidance and navigation is nothing new, the idea of integrating tablets to personalized vehicles can be quite promising. The concept may be important in the development of automated single use cabs that can effectively replace regular cabs, which are popularly used for quick suburban trips.

In addition to Asuka, Softbank also plans to deploy the Michimo units across nearby towns and cities within the prefecture, particularly in the town of Takatori, and Kashihara City, home to another popular historical tourist site.

The post Softbank Offers iPad-Guided Cars For Rent in Japan appeared first on VR World.

We caught wind of a pretty sweet backup battery deal on woot.com, a daily deal website now owned by Amazon. This is for the Gorilla Gadgets CHR-150 Uhuru! 16,800 mAh External Portable Battery Pack Charger with LED Screen. Why is this a great deal? Because Amazon is selling it right now for $70, but Woot.com is selling it for $40 and the suggested retail price is $140. But what makes this thing awesome? Well, other than the fact that it comes with three different charging connectors (microUSB, lightning and Apple 30-pin), it can also fully charge an iPad and an iPhone and probably still have some charge left (depending on whether the devices are on).

While Gorilla Gadgets may not necessarily have a very well recognized name, the online reviews appear to indicate that they make a pretty solid product. And while we haven’t reviewed one of these yet, we’ve reviewed similar products before from a multitude of other companies. These guys appear to make a pretty solid product and at $40 its really hard to beat that big of a battery. Unfortunately, even though it does have two USB ports, only one port is a 2A fast-charger port while the other is a 1A trickle-charger port. It would be nice if they had a 2.5A charger like some of the ones we’ve seen from Patriot, but at $40 its really hard to complain. With a 16,800 mAh battery you could theoretically charge something like 10 iPhones before you run out of juice.

So, with that in mind, we recommend you head on over to Woot.com and check out this charger because its a pretty good one and you’re not going to find a battery pack anywhere near that big for that price. And if you do, you probably should worry about whether or not its going to explode in your hand because that’s ridiculously cheap. Don’t forget, once Woot is out, they’re out and you probably won’t see this price ever again so make sure you buy one if you really need one.

The post Great Deal on a Backup Battery Charger appeared first on VR World.

Yesterday, Apple and IBM announced that they would be entering into a partnership where IBM would help Apple develop enterprise software for iOS devices and Apple would supply OS and hardware to enable those enterprise applications. This announcement marked the first partnership or relationship between the two companies since Apple stopped using IBM’s Power PC CPUs in their systems in 2006 with the last product announced in 2005. It’s been a long time since the two companies have worked together on anything and now that IBM is mostly a software company (They still have the Power Architecture and Power Chips for HPC) it makes sense that the two companies would work together again.

IBM’s enterprise software and cloud offerings are some of the most developed on the market and squarely focused on the needs of large enterprises, which already have millions of iOS devices in deployment. Apple will be supplying the devices for IBM’s planned iOS-based enterprise software platforms which will boost Apple’s enterprise sales even better than they already have them. It will also give Apple a very strong foothold inside the enterprise that none of their competitors are anywhere near having. It should also provide Apple enough enterprise sales to become even more of a fixture in enterprise applications than they already are. Apple is not struggling in enterprise, they don’t NEED IBM, however IBM does need some sort of a hardware partner. And if you’re going to look for a hardware partner, you might as well go for the biggest one and the one with the most enterprise deployments already.

As a result, IBM gets some sort of hardware platform to build their enterprise applications platform and Apple gets to sell more iPhones and increase iOS’ penetration in the overall market. This marks Apple’s first serious movement into enterprise, even though they already have a pretty strong presence in most enterprises because of their consumer product success. While I don’t suspect that Apple will do anything different to iPhones deployed with IBM software, there is a good chance that we could see ‘pro’ or ‘enterprise’ hardware in the future that might command an even greater price premium than Apple’s current line of consumer products. Enterprise customers want to feel special and feel like they’re getting what they pay for, which is why IBM has committed upwards of 100,000 employees to be available to the Apple project.

Overall, this is a very good move for both companies and I would suspect that this is only the beginning of such relationships between software and hardware companies. After all, Apple has seriously been struggling recently to deploy software that is popular with consumers and enterprise outside of their operating systems on their own hardware. With IBM’s enterprise software, Apple partially solves part of that equation and IBM is able to provide quality and reliable hardware to their enterprise customers that they’re already familiar with.

The post IBM and Apple's Enterprise Partnership a Win for All appeared first on VR World.

So, everyone was expecting LG to make the next Google Nexus tablet, or maybe ASUS since they’ve also been one of the part Nexus tablet partners. However, you’d be wrong to assume either of those are correct since the next Nexus 9 tablet looks to be coming from HTC and it looks like its going to be a real competitor. The new Nexus 9″ tablet codenamed Volantis (not to be confused with Lady Gaga’s flying dress) was outed by Android Police today with a full image and spec drop of the device. And based upon what we’re seeing, it looks like Nvidia booted Qualcomm out of the latest Nexus tablet as a tit for tat when Qualcomm booted them out of the Nexus 7 in 2013. This 9″ tablet appears to be a direct competitor to Apple’s iPad Mini and will likely pre-empt any updates Apple brings to it with higher resolution or a faster processor.

The Nexus 9 tablet is expected to sport an 8.9″ 2048 x 1440 resolution display which will be a 281 PPI display, higher than any tablet Apple currently offers. It will weigh only 418 grams for the Wi-Fi version and 427 grams for the LTE version, although the LTE modem is still TBD. What else is known about this tablet is that it will have an NVIDIA Logan 64-bit processor, which is Nvidia’s 64-bit custom ARM dual-core SoC. Lots of people have been waiting for this SoC from Nvidia and after some delays it may finally be coming here in the shape of a Nexus device. Interestingly enough, it will only have 2 GB of RAM, somewhat low for a tablet with such a high-end processor. It will, thankfully, have stereo front-facing speakers like most of HTC’s latest phones and NVIDIA’s Tegra Note 7. It will also have a 3 Megapixel front-facing camera and an 8 Megapixel back main camera which appears to look a lot like the Nexus 5 camera.

Nexus 9 Volantis rumored specs courtesy of Android Police

The Nexus 9 will come in 16 and 32 GB flavors which will cost $399 and $499 (more pricey than the 7″ version) and will have an aluminum zero-gap construction. This means that it will be the most premium looking, premium feeling and premium performing device Google has put out to date. The expected launch for this tablet is somewhere around Q4 of 2014, so don’t expect this thing to come out any time soon. If anything, it will probably be a lot like the Nexus 5 launch, a mad dash that is a result of some leaks.

The post New 9" Tegra K1 64-bit Nexus 9 Tablet Coming from HTC? appeared first on VR World.

Xiaomi today announced two products, one of which was the company’s first tablet powered by Nvidia’s Tegra K1 SoC. If you look at the Xiaomi MiPad there’s no denying that it looks a lot like something Apple would release, however they are doing it with their own touch and using Android and their own MIUI interface. Xiaomi is already a name that’s synonymous with good design, good build quality, and a bit of being a copycat. Even so, Xiaomi’s phones and other products have all been pretty well received by consumers and reviewers alike. However, it is still incredibly difficult to get ahold of any Xiaomi products in the US even though they are incredibly affordable and fairly well made.

MiPad

The Xiaomi MiPad is effectively what would happen if Apple made a “C” version of the iPad Mini and respun it with Android. Because Xiomi’s MiPad really looks like a gigantic iPhone 5C, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does evoke Apple design principals. It also sports an entirely different SoC with the Nvidia Tegra K1. In addition to the Tegra K1, which is Nvidia’s first design win with the SoC since its announcement back at CES this year. This marks a continuation of Nvidia’s relationship with Xiaomi since they had collaborated to put a Tegra 4 in the Xiaomi Mi3 phone which was one of the few phone design wins the Tegra 4 ever got. And even though the Mi3 actually shipped in both Qualcomm and Nvidia variants, I have a feeling that the Qualcomm version was the primarily shipping version of the Mi3.

MiPad Back

The MiPad’s 7.9″ 2048×1536 LCD display is backed by the very powerful already mentioned Tegra K1 SoC and 2GB of RAM. Thanks to this new ultra-high resolution display on the Mi3, Xiaomi’s tablet actually has a 326 PPI pixel density on their display, compared to Apple’s 1024-by-768 resolution at 163 pixels per inch (ppi). It will also feature something that Apple’s iPad Mini simply doesn’t have, which is 802.11ac wireless connectivity as well as a front-facing 5 megapixel camera and an 8 megapixel main camera. Apple’s cameras are 1.2 Megapixels front-facing and 5 megapixels on the back, but there’s a chance that they could still take better pictures if Xiaomi’s cameras and camera drivers aren’t as good as Apple’s. Until we get one of these tablets in our hands, we simply won’t know, which will hopefully be soon.

The MiPad will come in two capacities, 16 GB and 64 GB and sell for $240 and $273 respectively but no word on when we’ll be able to get these in our hands. If you decide that 16 or 64GB isn’t enough capacity Xiaomi has also included a microSD memory card slot for support of up to 128GB. In the past, it has been fairly difficult to get Xiaomi’s phones in the US, however Rakuten has made it much easier after they bought Buy.com and started to employ their Asian supply chain stateside. The MiPad will have a 6700 mAh battery, which is far smaller than many other tablets out there but should be ample enough according to Xiaomi to deliver a solid 8 hours of battery life. With the 6700 mAh battery, though, the MiPad will have a bigger battery than the iPad Air and could possibly have better battery life if the Tegra K1 allows it.

In addition to the MiPad, Xiaomi also announced their MiTV 2, which is their 4K Smart TV powered by an MStar quad-core 1.45GHz processor, Mali450-MP4 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM. This 4K TV has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, which is really what would be expected to be classified as a 4K TV, but Xiaomi is especially proud of the 49″ size because of the fact that it has a very narrow bezel and looks better and takes up less space as a result. The TV is supposed to sell for around $640 which is a great price for a 4K smart TV, even though I’m not entirely sure very many people necessarily care about smart TVs that much or need to pay the extra to have smart TV functionality. But this is clearly Xiaomi’s attempt to go after Samsung and some of their other Chinese competitors flooding the global market with cheap 4K TVs.

The post Xiaomi Launches 7.9" MiPad Tablet with Nvidia Tegra K1 appeared first on VR World.

Xiaomi today announced two products, one of which was the company’s first tablet powered by Nvidia’s Tegra K1 SoC. If you look at the Xiaomi MiPad there’s no denying that it looks a lot like something Apple would release, however they are doing it with their own touch and using Android and their own MIUI interface. Xiaomi is already a name that’s synonymous with good design, good build quality, and a bit of being a copycat. Even so, Xiaomi’s phones and other products have all been pretty well received by consumers and reviewers alike. However, it is still incredibly difficult to get ahold of any Xiaomi products in the US even though they are incredibly affordable and fairly well made.

MiPad

The Xiaomi MiPad is effectively what would happen if Apple made a “C” version of the iPad Mini and respun it with Android. Because Xiomi’s MiPad really looks like a gigantic iPhone 5C, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does evoke Apple design principals. It also sports an entirely different SoC with the Nvidia Tegra K1. In addition to the Tegra K1, which is Nvidia’s first design win with the SoC since its announcement back at CES this year. This marks a continuation of Nvidia’s relationship with Xiaomi since they had collaborated to put a Tegra 4 in the Xiaomi Mi3 phone which was one of the few phone design wins the Tegra 4 ever got. And even though the Mi3 actually shipped in both Qualcomm and Nvidia variants, I have a feeling that the Qualcomm version was the primarily shipping version of the Mi3.

MiPad Back

The MiPad’s 7.9″ 2048×1536 LCD display is backed by the very powerful already mentioned Tegra K1 SoC and 2GB of RAM. Thanks to this new ultra-high resolution display on the Mi3, Xiaomi’s tablet actually has a 326 PPI pixel density on their display, compared to Apple’s 1024-by-768 resolution at 163 pixels per inch (ppi). It will also feature something that Apple’s iPad Mini simply doesn’t have, which is 802.11ac wireless connectivity as well as a front-facing 5 megapixel camera and an 8 megapixel main camera. Apple’s cameras are 1.2 Megapixels front-facing and 5 megapixels on the back, but there’s a chance that they could still take better pictures if Xiaomi’s cameras and camera drivers aren’t as good as Apple’s. Until we get one of these tablets in our hands, we simply won’t know, which will hopefully be soon.

The MiPad will come in two capacities, 16 GB and 64 GB and sell for $240 and $273 respectively but no word on when we’ll be able to get these in our hands. If you decide that 16 or 64GB isn’t enough capacity Xiaomi has also included a microSD memory card slot for support of up to 128GB. In the past, it has been fairly difficult to get Xiaomi’s phones in the US, however Rakuten has made it much easier after they bought Buy.com and started to employ their Asian supply chain stateside. The MiPad will have a 6700 mAh battery, which is far smaller than many other tablets out there but should be ample enough according to Xiaomi to deliver a solid 8 hours of battery life. With the 6700 mAh battery, though, the MiPad will have a bigger battery than the iPad Air and could possibly have better battery life if the Tegra K1 allows it.

In addition to the MiPad, Xiaomi also announced their MiTV 2, which is their 4K Smart TV powered by an MStar quad-core 1.45GHz processor, Mali450-MP4 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM. This 4K TV has a resolution of 3840 x 2160, which is really what would be expected to be classified as a 4K TV, but Xiaomi is especially proud of the 49″ size because of the fact that it has a very narrow bezel and looks better and takes up less space as a result. The TV is supposed to sell for around $640 which is a great price for a 4K smart TV, even though I’m not entirely sure very many people necessarily care about smart TVs that much or need to pay the extra to have smart TV functionality. But this is clearly Xiaomi’s attempt to go after Samsung and some of their other Chinese competitors flooding the global market with cheap 4K TVs.

The post Xiaomi Launches 7.9" MiPad Tablet with Nvidia Tegra K1 appeared first on VR World.