Microsoft has released a new build to the fast ring for Windows Insiders today. When build 10041 dropped on the 18th of March, we made note that updates would not be coming at a much quicker pace. Little did we know that we would get a new build only …
Today Google’s Gmail team is shipping an update to Gmail for Android, which has now become the standard mail application for Android Lollipop users. The update brings a great feature that a few other mail applications have offered for some time, which is the ability to display emails from multiple accounts in a single unified inbox. Google has simply named this feature “All Inboxes”, and it’s accessible via the sliding drawer on the left side of the application on smartphones, and the left pane on tablets. As someone who has to use multiple email accounts on a daily basis, this is a feature that I’ve hoped Gmail would adopt for quite some time, and it’s great to finally have it rolling out.
In addition to the new unified inbox, Google is also enabling support for displaying threaded conversations on non-Gmail accounts. This means that users who have long email threads on their email accounts from other providers will be able to view them in a single thread, which was previously limited to Gmail accounts. The omission of this feature just seemed like an oversight when third party account support was integrated into Gmail, and it’s good to see Google ensuring parity between the features for Gmail accounts and other providers now that the application acts as the standard Android mail app.
In addition to the two major features above, this update to Gmail also brings a few smaller features like better auto-complete when searching, larger attachment previews, 1-tap saving to Google Drive, and improved animation responsiveness. The update is currently rolling out now, although it may take some time for devices to receive it as Google always performs staged releases for application and system updates.
Though the Chi series was first announced at Computex way back in June 2014, it has been a long time getting to market. ASUS is now accepting pre-orders for two models of the Chi. The T100 Chi will be the replacement for the well-received Transformer Book T100, and the T300 Chi is the flagship model. Both will be fanless designs, and include the now traditional Transformer Book keyboard dock.
Starting with the T100 Chi, we get a nice update to a good design. The T100 Chi is a tablet convertible , so all of the components are in the 10.1 inch display. Speaking of the display, ASUS has went with a 16:10 ratio, with a 1920×1200 resolution. It is nice to see a few devices bucking the 16:9 trend, especially with tablets. It also features a laminated IPS display, which removes the air gaps between the different display layers. This is not a new feature of course, but one that has normally been reserved for more premium devices. And the premium feel does not end there, with the T100 Chi being made completely out of aluminum. The T100 is powered by the Intel Atom Z3775 quad-core processor, and has 2 GB of memory. Storage is eMMC in 32 and 64 GB tiers. The T100 Chi has a MSRP of $399, which is very much keeping in line with the previous T100, and comes with the keyboard dock.
| ASUS Transformer Book Chi Series | |||||
| T100 Chi | T300 Chi | ||||
| Processor | Intel Atom Z3775 (quad-core 1.46-2.39GHz, Intel HD GPU) | Intel Core M-5Y10/5Y71 (2C/4T 0.8-2.0 GHz/1.2-2.9GHz, Intel HD 5300 GPU) | |||
| Display | 10.1″ 1920×1200 IPS Multitouch | 12.5″ 1920×1080/2560×1440 IPS | |||
| Memory | 2 GB LPDDR3 | 4/8GB | |||
| Storage | 32/64GB eMMC plus Micro SDXC | 128GB SSD plus Micro SDXC | |||
| Networking | 802.11n dual-band + BT 4.0 | 802.11n dual-band + BT 4.0 | |||
| I/O | Micro USB 3.0, Micro HDMI, Headset | Micro USB 3.0, Micro HDMI, Headset | |||
| Battery | 31 Wh | 31 Wh | |||
| Dimensions | 10.1 x 6.9 x 0.3″ (256.5 x 175.3 x 7.1mm) | 12.5 x 7.5 x 0.3″ (317.5 x 190.5 x 7.62mm) | |||
| Weight | 1.3 lbs (590g), 2.4lbs (1.1kg) with keyboard | 1.6 lbs (726g), 3.2 lbs (1.45kg) with keyboard | |||
| MSRP | $399 32GB $449 64GB | $699 FHD, $899 WQHD | |||
The T300 Chi is 12.5 inch tablet, with the same laminated display as the T100, but we are back to the 16:9 ratio. Two resolutions are offered, with a 1920×1080 model being the mainstream version, or you can opt for a WQHD 2560×1440 version as well. The 1080p model comes with the Intel Core M-5Y10 CPU, 4 GB of memory, and a 128 GB SSD with micro SDXC expansion. The higher resolution T300 Chi will come with the Intel Core M-5Y71, 8 GB of memory, and a 128 GB SSD with micro SDXC expansion. The tablet alone is just 1.6 lbs, and combined with the included keyboard dock, the weight doubles to 3.2 lbs.
Both models feature support for the ASUS Transformer Book Chi Active Stylus Pen, which has 256 pressure levels supported and could therefore be based on N-Trig technology is a Synaptics unit (Confirmed with ASUS).
The keyboard docks have always been the key to the Transformer Book series, and the Chi models feature a unique magnetic hinge to perform the connection. The new models also offer support for additional modes beside attached and detached, with flipped and tented now joining the capabilities. While they do not feature the kickstand of the Surface, if you do have somewhere to rest the tablet, the tent mode should offer some nice functionality.
The ASUS Transformer Book Chi T100 and T300 are available for pre-order starting today.
Source: ASUS
The Enthoo Pro is most popular tower case of Phanteks, which the company claims to be “beautifully crafted, amazingly flexible, budget friendly and with maximized cooling potential”. One might imagine this tries to put too many eggs in one basket – we received a review unit and put it through our test suite.
This week the benchmarking gurus over at Futuremark are releasing their own first run at a DirectX 12 test with their latest update for the 3DMark benchmark. Futuremark has been working away at DirectX 12 for some time – in fact they were the fi…