Samsung may have announced two new Galaxy Pro tablets at CES just a week or so ago, but it’s got more to reveal. Today, the world’s largest handset maker unveiled the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, which will likely be its most affordable tablet to date. The Tab 3 Lite follows the same design cues that most Galaxy Tabs have since the Galaxy Note 8.0 from a year ago, but has the specs of a very cheap, likely sub-$180 tablet. It will be offered globally.
The new Tab has a 7-inch 1024 x 768 pixel screen, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 2-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of internal file storage, and 3600mAh battery, and runs on Google’s Android 4.2 operating system (with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface overlaid). This means it’s about as powerful as an expensive, $500+ 7-inch tablet you may have bought 2-3 years ago. No price was given, but we imagine it will cost much less than $200, and is likely headed for the budget section of a Best Buy, Target, or Walmart near you.
Besides pricing, we also don’t know just how sluggish this machine will be. It’s a risky bet purchasing any tablet cheaper than the $230 Nexus 7, and we typically don’t recommend devices with less than a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, but we will reserve judgement until we see how well Samsung has modified its user interface to work on a relatively meager tablet, from a power perspective.
If it does work well, this could be the cheap tablet to get. No word yet on an official U.S. release date.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book on a cold evening. As much as I love the feel of a physical book, books take up a lot of space, and carrying more than one on a trip quickly becomes a chore. That's where e-readers come in, and the Amazon Kindle remains one of the best options.
Amazon just refreshed its Kindle lineup with thinner, lighter designs, a new flush-front display, and colors that wrap from front to back. Add the Kindle Scribe and the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft to the mix, and you have more choices than ever before.
A good Android app should earn its place on your phone. It might make an everyday task easier, handle something the built-in software can't, or let you change an experience that never quite worked for you.
These 20 apps cover everything from quick notes and password management to automation and local file sharing. Some are free, others charge for advanced features, and a few take some effort to figure out. The point isn't to install them all. It's to find the ones that make your phone work better for you.