Las Vegas: Sony Corp is finally pressing its advantage as a conglomerate that owns both high-tech gadgets and the content that plays on them by being the only electronics maker to offer ultra-HD TVs — and a way to get movies to the new super clear screens.

Ultra-high definition TVs, which quadruple the number of pixels of current high definition technology, have been the talk of the International CES gadget show so far. But only Sony has offered a content solution to go with them.

With the 84-inch (213-centimeter) ultra-HD set it launched in November, Sony threw in a tablet and computer server that has 10 movies preloaded on the device — for $25,000. The movies came from the library of Sony Pictures or its subsidiary Columbia Pictures, like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Karate Kid.

On Monday, Sony unveiled 55-inch (140-centimeter) and 65-inch (165.-centimeter) ultra-HD sets that will sell this spring for an undisclosed price believed to be below $10,000. The Japanese electronics maker said it would launch a download service this summer in the US so buyers of the smaller sets would have access to movies in the clearer format.

For now, it will offer the same 10 movies from its library for download.

This undated publicity image provided by Sony shows an  ultra-HD 4K TV set. AP

After unveiling the service, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai told reporters that the ultra-HD movies could be made available to other makers like Samsung or LG later. The company is eyeing coordination with other movie studios, but not immediately.

“That’s a key differentiator from a Sony perspective that really speaks to the advantage of what we have in terms of both the electronics business and the content business,” he said. “For the time being, that’s something we bring exclusively to our customers.”

Sony is betting big on ultra-HD, and is a leading supplier of high-end cameras that shoot in the format, which renders moving images at a resolution of 3,840 pixels wide and 2,160 pixels tall. That is twice the length and width of high definition, resulting in four times as many pixels, or more than 8 million.

The company also makes projectors that show movies in so-called 4K, and Hirai said that anyone who has been to the movies lately has probably experienced it firsthand without realizing it.

Getting these higher resolution files to home televisions is no small matter. A Blu-ray disc format has not been created yet and broadcasters are years away from offering TV signals at the higher resolution.

Sony representatives said that buyers of its 55-inch (140-centimeter) and 65-inch (165-centimeter) TVs may be asked to buy an ultra-HD server separately, although a final decision hadn’t been made. It is also unclear how much downloadable movies will cost.

The company said it would offer Blu-ray discs that are mastered in 4K but compressed to fit on a current Blu-ray disc. The TV’s embedded technology presents the compressed movie at close to 4K resolution, but not quite as good as when they are played from the 4K media player.

But with all new technologies, there were glitches.

Hirai had an embarrassing moment Monday when he introduced the world’s first ultra-HD TV using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), only to see the screen go blank as the computer running it had an error.

“This revolutionary TV combines the world’s largest OLED display with dazzling 4K resolution, including this beautiful … interface screen,” he said, then turned to see a blank screen as chuckles rippled through the crowd.

Later, Hirai looked back at the 56-inch (142-centimeter) display only to see the error continue.

“Excellent,” he said.

A Sony staffer rolled the TV further away and Hirai carried on his presentation. He later appeared to be good-natured with journalists.

Hirai said the ultra-HD OLED set is a prototype and didn’t announce price or availability.

In the Sony booth after the presentation, other ultra-HD OLED screens played without a problem.

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Microsoft's ARM-based version of Windows is only intended to run Metro-style apps downloaded directly from the Windows Store as well as a pre-loaded, touch-oriented version of Office and IE10. But an enterprising hacker claims to have come up with a workaround that would in theory enable any unsigned application, even those designed for the old Windows desktop, to run on Windows RT.

According to the hacker, who goes by the online moniker "clrokr", the restriction of installing only Metro-style apps on Windows RT is enforced through a code integrity mechanism that checks the application's signature before allowing it to be installed. This mechanism is hardcoded in the kernel itself and cannot be modified permanently in systems using UEFI Secure Boot.

It can, however, be changed in memory.

Using some clever reverse engineering, clrokr discovered the location of this setting in memory, and then used Microsoft's remote debugger to execute some code and alter its value.

So what exactly does this mean? For one thing, since the procedure requires changing a setting in memory, the "jailbreak" will be reverted after every reboot and just must do the whole thing each time to run unsanctioned apps. This isn't something the average Windows RT user will be able to do.

Another limitation is that x86 desktop programs can't simply be installed on Windows RT, they need to be recompiled for the ARM architecture. According to a discussion thread on the XDA-Developers forums, some users have already managed to get Putty and TightVNC working on Windows RT, and there's talk about porting Chromium as well. For open-source programs like these that might be easier to do, but for closed-source programs the original developers would have to create versions for ARM.

Clrokr concludes that Windows RT is a clean port of Windows 8, and that the decision to ban traditional desktop applications was not a technical one. Microsoft on the other hand has argued the reason for the lockdown boils down to making sure Windows RT tablets are stable and have long battery life.

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The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced that a major update for the ubiquitous interface is currently in the works, in an effort to double today's 5Gbps transfer rate to a Thunderbolt-matching 10Gbps. The speed boost is still a bit far off, though. The updated specification should be done in mid-2013, which "will enable initial products to appear in late 2014 with a much broader availability of products in 2015."

The group is retaining the USB 3.0 denomination, even though computers and other devices will need new chipsets to take advantage of the speedier transfer rates. The same connectors will be used, but while existing USB devices can be plugged into the higher-speed ports, the USB Promoter Group says it's possible cables available today might not work at 10Gbps since they're not certified for those speeds.

The updated standard will also bring better data encoding for transfers and significant improvements to the ability of transferring power over USB. Although no specifics were mentioned on the latter, BGR caught up with the USB Promoter Group at CES and was shown a laptop transferring video to a monitor (using DisplayLink) while simultaneously charging itself through the same cable -- using 65w in the process.

USB 3.0 has seen some healthy adoption over the last year, with hundreds of certified devices now on the market. It took quite a while to get here, though, considering the specification was finished in 2008.

Meanwhile, Thunderbolt has yet to make a dent in the market, making an appearance on just a few devices, notebooks and enthusiast motherboards besides Apple's line of desktops and laptops. The Intel-backed interface currently supports 10Gbps, with plans for a speed bump eventually through optical cables, and supports daisy chaining up to six devices. It's also more expensive than USB.

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Nvidia just surprised a whole bunch of people by announcing, of all things, a dedicated gaming handheld during the company's CES press conference. Based on the new Tegra 4 mobile chip, also announced at the show, it's code-named Nvidia Shield. There are 5-10 hours of battery life, and it's based on a clamshell design, sort of like a DS (only without the bottom screen).

Running on Android (they say "pure Android", so hopefully no Nvidia skin), it's got a MicroSD slot, micro USB and HDMI output (which supports 4K output so long as your display does). The Shield's 5" screen is a touchscreen, and is capable of 720p display at 294dpi (they're calling it a "retinal display").

A small shield on the back of the top screen is removable and customisable. Below you'll see a size comparison, facing the Shield off against an Xbox 360 pad and a Wii U Controller.

Nvidia say the Shield has "console-grade controls", which sounds like they're actually using the same kind of thumbsticks and buttons you get on proper controllers, not the smaller/lesser kind you get on portable platforms.

Here's the Shield's media library UI, which can be augmented by the fact it can access the Android versions of apps like Netflix and Hulu.

In addition to running its own Android games, the Shield can also stream games from your PC to the controller, where you can either play them direct on the small screen or, more practically, output to your TV.

A demonstration showing Need For Speed Most Wanted and Assassin's Creed III being beamed from a PC to the controller was impressive, to say the least. Because Steam now has its Big Picture mode, the Shield can be used to navigate the store without having to move back to your PC.

Sadly, there was no price or release information provided.

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Intel made a smattering of announcements during its press event at CES today, with topics spanning from cellphones and ultrabooks to natural human interfaces and shared all-in-one computing. We have a summary of the different subjects below, though you may want to read this press release for more information.

Phones
Following up on its initial push into the smartphone market with Medfield last year, Intel has revealed a new Atom-based solution that will target the budget-oriented market, particularly in developing regions. Codenamed "Lexington," the new platform will include the Atom Z24020, which runs at 1.2GHz and supports Hyper-Threading as well as 1080p hardware encoding and decoding, two cameras including one that can handle 7fps bursts in 5MP quality, dual SIM, dual standby and microSD cards. To start, Acer, Lava and Safaricom will use this platform.

For the upper-end segment that is currently occupied by Medfield, Intel is preparing its "Clover Trail+" chip (marketed as the Atom Z2580), which carries a dual-core processor, a dual-core graphics engine and Hyper-Threading support. Intel says this part will deliver up to twice the performance of its current-generation mobile solution (the Atom Z2460), yet it will remaining competitive on power consumption and battery life.

Tablets
With the Atom powering Windows 8 slates from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung and others, Intel is under pressure to deliver solid platform refreshes, and that's precisely what it plans to do. The company has unveiled a new 22nm Atom SoC (codenamed "Bay Trail") that touts four processing cores -- a first for the series. It's said to be the most powerful Atom chip to date, offering more than double the performance of Intel's existing tablet processor, along with improved security, all-day battery life and lower prices.

Ultrabooks
Although Intel plans to launch 10W fourth-generation Core processors (codenamed "Haswell") later this year, the company has taken the liberty to build an ultra-low power Ivy Bridge chip that should be available in devices such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S sometime this spring. This new part more than halves the TDP of older Ivy Bridge mobile chips, though it isn't clear how this was accomplished or how much it will dent performance.

Intel also plans to tighten the product requirements for next-generation ultrabooks. In order to qualify for the branding, manufacturers will have to include support for touch input and WiDi, Intel's wireless display standard. Haswell-based ultrabooks will also bring a leap in battery life, with systems expected to withstand up to nine hours of continuous usage.

All-in-Ones
As with many other vendors at CES, Intel showed off an "adaptive" AIO with touch support that can lay flat on a table and has a battery so it can be easily moved around a home or office. The company defines "adaptive AIOs" as systems with large touchscreens that can be used for multiplayer games and many other shared experiences. "Simply put," Intel says, "these devices will help bring 'game night' back to its roots through shared experiences where families and friends gather around the system to interact, play and have fun."

In that same vein, the chipmaker revealed that it's working with video service providers including Comcast and Bouygues Telecom to deliver live and on-demand TV content to Intel users. By using its Puma 6MG-based XG5 multi-screen video gateway, the company plans to let customers stream Xfinity TV in the US and Bbox TV in France across Intel-based tablets, ultrabooks and AIOs. No word on when this will go live.

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3M is showing off its 84-inch multi-touch table at CES this year and The Verge has provided its own, brief hands-on. Reminiscent of Microsoft's original "Surface" tabletop touchscreen (video), the gigantic capacitive table is the successor to last year's 46-inch model; however, the device is still under development until its expected launch during the second half of this year.

Interestingly, the company's table-sized touchscreen differs from last year's smaller model in a couple of ways -- well, aside from just being huge.

The most obvious difference is a substantial bump in resolution from 1080p (1920 x 1080)  to UHD (3840 x 2160). Additionally, the screen can handle more simultaneous inputs -- 40 at a time. That's double the amount of concurrent touch inputs the old model could handle. The Verge says 3M expects that number to increase to 100 though, before it makes it into production later this year.

3M has also switched from ITO-based sensors to a "wire-based" solution, which the company says allowed them to achieve such a large size without "degrading touch performance". Large touch screens in particular are prone to input lag, an issue which a number of companies have been working to address over the years. There are few specifics on the touch technology being used, but the only "wired-based" touchscreen technologies I've heard of are resistive -- not capacitive -- so this may be a novel technology developed by (or for) 3M.

3M continues to challenge the size limitations of high-performance multi-touch technology, and the investments we have made in developing robust and proprietary PX electronics platform are enabling us to achieve our innovation goals,” says Diego Romeu, business operations manager, 3M Touch Systems. “Our 84-inch multi-touch prototype display demonstrates 3M’s ability to scale PCAP electronics and sensor manufacturing to meet the need of our customers for increasingly larger format touch solutions.

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Dismayed that family members are spread out over the house, each with a separate PC or tablet? Lenovo has something it believes will get them back together: a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once.

Lenovo Group Ltd., one of the world’s largest PC makers, is calling the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC the first “interpersonal computer” — as opposed to a “personal computer.”

At first glance, it looks like a regular all-in-one machine in the vein of the iMac: It’s a 27-inch (685.8-millimeter) screen with the innards of a Windows 8 computer built into it, and it can stand up on a table.

An image provided by Lenoovo shows the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC that they say is the first “interpersonal computer.” It is a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once: AP

But you can pick it up off the table, unhook the power cord and lay it flat for games of “Monopoly.” It’s big enough to fit four people around it, and the screen can respond to ten fingers touching it at the same time.

As a tablet, it’s a monstrosity. The screen is the size of eight iPads stitched together, and it weighs 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms). It’s almost as homebound as a flat-panel TV.

The Table PC will include plastic “strikers” for “Air Hockey,” and joysticks that attach to the screen with suction cups for other games, including multiplayer shooter “Raiding Company.”

In a demonstration at the International CES on Sunday, photos and videos could be rotated with fingers. Spreading five fingers at once on the screen cleared the screen of clutter, while squeezing them together brought the photos and videos back.

Lenovo, a Chinese company that owns IBM Corp’s former PC business, said the Table PC will go on sale this summer starting at $1,699.

Microsoft Corp. pioneered the idea of a table PC with the Surface, a PC with a 30-inch (762-millimeter) touch-sensitive screen released in 2008. It was designed for store displays and other commercial applications. The concept is now called PixelSense, as Microsoft started using the “Surface” name for an unrelated tablet computer last year.

More recently, Sony Corp. released the Tap 20, an all-in-one PC that can also be laid flat. But it’s smaller than the Lenovo model, at 20 inches (508 millimeters) diagonally, and doesn’t have as much table-oriented software as the Table PC.

Read More @ Sony Website

Sony has officially launched its flagship device, the Xperia Z, at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There has been several leaks and rumours about the Xperia Z ahead of the launch. The key features of the device are as follows:

• It has a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor.

• The device has a 5-inch full HD screen. The screen resolution is 1920 x 1080.

• The OS is a bit of a disappointment. The device runs Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean. One would think that the Sony might have gone for the latest 4.2 version of Jelly Bean.

• The smartphone has 2GB RAM and up to 16GB of memory space. This is expanable to 32GB via a microSD card slot.

Sony has officially launched its flagship device the Xperia Z. AP

• Like the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S III and other high-end devices, this one will also support 4G/LTE band for high-speed Internet.

• The camera is probably the biggest advantage. The Xperia Z comes with a 13.1 megapixel rear camera and a 2.2MP front-facing camera. This is much more than both the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III, each of which has an 8 megapixel rear camera.

• The device supports Near field communications (NFC).

• The device is water and dust resistant.

Read More @ Sony Website

The Windows 8 version of Microsoft's Surface tablet will be hitting store shelves in January 2013 at $899 for the 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB version.

The "Surface Pro" is the more powerful version of the current Surface tablet, which debuted on October 26 for $500. That original Surface tablet has received mixed reviews (including from CNET), largely because of its Windows RT operating system, a less powerful variant of Windows 8 that includes some notable limitations.

If the Surface RT tablet represents a direct assault by Microsoft on the "computer-light" tablets like Apple's iPad and its various Android-based competitors, the forthcoming Surface Pro seems like a more significant attempt to reinvent laptop computing. Its design is very close to that of the Surface RT tablet -- 10.6-inch touch-screen display, magnet-connected keyboard cover -- but the Surface Pro also ships with a full-fledged, third-generation Intel Core i5 processor, not the less powerful (and less power hungry) ARM process found on the Surface RT.

The combination of the full Intel CPU and the full version of Windows 8 brings the ability to run traditional desktop PC software programs (in addition to all of the apps that Windows RT can run).

	Surface with Windows 8 Pro	Surface with Windows RT
Starting price	$899	$499
Screen size and resolution	10.6 inches, 1,920x1,080	10.6 inches, 1,366x768
Dimensions (HWD)	10.81 x 6.81 x 0.53 inches	10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37 inches
Weight	<2 pounds	1.5 pounds
CPU	Intel Core i5	Nvidia Tegra 3
Memory	4GB	2GB
Storage capacity	64GB (128GB option)	32GB (64GB option)
Ports	USB 3.0, microSDXC, headphone, DisplayPort video out	USB 2.0, microSDXC, headphone, HD video out

The two tablets have other hardware differences. The Pro version weighs a little more, has a larger solid-state hard drive, and has a higher-resolution screen, among others. But because it can run full-blown Windows 8, the Surface Pro is as much a laptop, ready for serious productivity and entertainment duty, as it is a traditional tablet.

Microsoft has also confirmed that the Surface Pro is expected to have half the battery life of the Surface RT tablet. That would net out to four to five hours -- not exactly notable for a tablet or a laptop.

The Surface Pro starts at $899 for 64GB of storage, or $999 for a 128GB configuration. Comparatively, the Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro 700T, a Windows 8 tablet that will also have a Core i5 CPU option, is currently listed for $1,199. It may be more affordable, but the Surface Pro still sits firmly in laptop territory, and will find itself in competition with a broad array of other Windows 8 devices.

Whether the Surface Pro is the best product in its price range will be determined. We've already seen a number of hybrid and convertible laptop/tablet designs from Microsoft's usual hardware partners, including the Lenovo Yoga 13, the Dell XPS 12, and the Acer Iconia W700.

The Surface Pro will compete with those devices and others. One advantage for Microsoft's design might be the snap-on keyboard cover (in either the soft Touch or mechanical Type variation), which seems an effective blend of tablet portability with a full typing surface. Many of the other hybrid or convertible designs out there look cumbersome or flimsy in comparison, but those keyboards will cost Surface owners extra.

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The Velocity Micro Cruz D610 fails to turn heads with its unimpressive reveal at CES 2013. The 10-inch tablet ships with Android 4.0 and houses a 1.5GHz dual processor and 1GB of RAM.

The Cruz D610 comes with 8GB internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, a front .3 megapixel camera, and 1024x768 resolution. Ports include microUSB and mini-HDMI. According to Velocity Micro, prices will start at $199 with a release by end of the first quarter this year.

The tablet's specifications are underwhelming, especially when compared to the other Velocity Micro tablet premiering at CES 2013. The Cruz Q610 outshines the Cruz D610 with a quad-core processor and Android 4.1 for a small price difference -- $249 instead of $199.

The Cruz D610's specifications fail to compete with those of other tablets in the $199 price range. The Google Nexus 7 outshines the Cruz D610 when it comes to screen quality, OS, and processor. In the last year standards for screen quality has increased significantly, and a tablet with a 10-inch screen and a 1,024x768 resolution just isn't impressive, especially with 7-inch tablets like the Nexus 7 available for the same price.

Look to CNET for new information on the Velocity Micro Cruz D610 as it's released.

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It's hard to breathe new life into the stale Blu-ray category at CES 2013, but Samsung is giving it its best shot with the BD-F7500.

The Samsung BD-F7500 is the newly announced flagship Blu-ray player, including the company's new "S-Recommendation" feature, which suggests content based on what you watch. The BD-F7500's step-up features are rounded out by its 7.1 analog outputs and its ability to upscale content to 4K resolution.

Like most Samsung Blu-ray players these days, it has built-in Wi-Fi and access to Samsung's Smart Hub suite of streaming-media services. More importantly, Samsung is promising an overhauled, simplified user interface for Smart Hub, which, in the past, has been plagued by a cluttered look. The BD-F7500 also includes a new feature called "Smart View", which works like a reverse-AirPlay, sending video from your Blu-ray player to a Samsung mobile device.

4K upconversion may be a "premium" feature, but it's tough to get excited about. For all but the largest TV screen sizes, 4K resolution (or "Ultra High Definition") won't improve image quality much. And 4K upconversion in a Blu-ray player is even less essential, as any 4K TV or projector will have built-in 4K upconversion, so you won't need that functionality in your Blu-ray player.

Perhaps the BD-F7500's most exciting feature its dual-core 900 Mhz processor. It's hard to compare that spec to other manufacturers that don't release internal chip specifics, but faster operational speed would be a boon to Blu-ray players that are frequently sluggish.

The Samsung BD-F7500 is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2013. No pricing has been announced.

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The good: The iPhone 5 adds everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, free turn-by-turn navigation, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom redesign is sharp, slim, and feather-light.

The bad: Apple Maps feels unfinished and buggy; Sprint and Verizon models can't use voice and data simultaneously. The smaller connector renders current accessories unusable without an adapter. There's no NFC, and the screen size pales in comparison to jumbo Android models.

The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous shortcomings. It's absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.

The iPhone 5 is the iPhone we've wanted since 2010, adding long-overdue upgrades like a larger screen and faster 4G LTE in a razor-sharp new design. This is the iPhone, rebooted.

The new design is flat-out lovely, both to look at and to hold, and it's hard to find a single part that hasn't been tweaked from the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 is at once completely rebuilt and completely familiar.

I've had the chance to use the iPhone 5 for nearly a week, and have been using it for nearly anything I can think of. Is it as futuristic or as exciting as the iPhone 4 or the original iPhone? No. Does this change the smartphone game? No. Other smartphones beat it on features here and there: if you want a larger screen, go with a Samsung Galaxy S3. If you want better battery life, go with a Droid Razr Maxx.

But, if you want a great, all-around, beautifully engineered smartphone that covers all bases, here it is. Just like the MacBook is to the world of laptops, the new iPhone is one of the top three, if not the best-designed, smartphone around. It's better in all the important ways.

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Take a tablet; add a keyboard. Turn it into a laptop. Do it with full Windows 8. This is the dream of the HP Envy x2, and the dream, it seems, of Windows 8 in general. Break down the barrier between tablets and PCs. Create progressive computing. The future is now. Well, the future was also over four months ago, when HP first started showing off the Envy x2 in public, including at CNET.

We marveled then that the device was well-built, comfortable to hold, and, when you think about it, pretty shockingly practical. After all, theoretically, this is the best of both worlds: a laptop and a tablet in one. This is what I dreamed about going back to the teased-but-never-real Lenovo U1 Hybrid three years ago.

The Envy x2 is finally available, and we've got our review unit here at CNET. But, can it rise above our previous concerns? As Eric Franklin said back in August, "A lot of the Envy x2's success will rest on what Microsoft does with Surface, especially its price. Right now I can't see the Envy x2 costing less than $1,000, which would make it a direct competitor to the Macbook Air. From what I've seen it would be a worthy competitor, but is anyone ready to pay more than $1,000 for a tablet?"

Slide a little tab, and the whole upper lid does, indeed, undock and becomes its own multi-touch tablet. But, at $849, it's more expensive than most ultraportable laptops and tablets...and far more expensive than those little, non-touch, non-detachable-screened 11-inchers of old. You're paying for style, and also for that clever split-function feature. And the concern about the x2 versus the MacBook Air, or x2 versus the Surface Pro, still stands.

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The good: Oodles of screen real estate make the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 terrific for videos, games, and reading; and its improved stylus aids productivity. A blazing quad-core processor, a great camera, and strong battery life round out the advantages of this Android 4.1 phone.

The bad: The huge display makes the Galaxy Note 2 unwieldy to carry, and hiccups in the S Pen stylus and apps can slow you down. The pricey Note 2 isn't a suitable tablet replacement across all categories.

The bottom line: Samsung delivers a powerful, boundary-pushing device that gets a lot right. Yet its complicated features and high price raise questions about its purpose.

You're probably wondering how good the massive, tabletlike Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is, and if the smartphone can fulfill important tablet functions.

You may also wonder if the Note 2's 5.5-inch screen makes it too unwieldy to hold and carry as an everyday device, and if its battery quickly drains in service to the monster screen. Can the quad-core processor keep up, and will it defeat the purpose if you never slide out the Note's digital pen?

My answers are mostly positive. Yes, the second Note is huge in the hand and awkward at times to hold, but I quickly grew used to it. In specs, it's Samsung's highest-end phone, with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, a speedy quad-core processor, an extra-large battery, and an 8-megapixel camera.

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The good: The Nexus 7 features a sharp screen, a comfortable design, and great battery life at a low starting price. Android 4.2 adds some welcome and useful features.

The bad: Android still needs more tablet-optimized apps, newer games have frame rate issues, and HSPA+ speeds seem particularly location-dependent.

The bottom line: With its excellent design, useful software features, and low starting price, the Nexus 7 is the cheapest way to experience the best that the Android OS has to offer.

Several months after its debut, the Nexus 7 is still an excellent tablet. The 8GB version is gone and the tablet now starts at $199 for 16GB. Paying $249 nets you the 32GB version, and the 32GB version with HSPA+ is available for $299.

Since the debut of the Nexus 7, we've seen the release of three major small tablets: the Kindle Fire HD, the iPad Mini, and the Nook HD. Each tablet has its own strengths; your choice will eventually come down to which tablet best fits your needs.

However, thanks to its low price, great battery life, sharp screen, and complete and open Android 4.2 environment, overall, the Nexus 7 is still the best small tablet you can buy.

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And as part of that strategy, the company has been developing separate operating systems for mobile devices and personal computers. The idea is that the search and advertising giant wants to make it easier for people to connect to the Internet and eventually use Google services.

Since it was introduced in 2007, the company's Android mobile operating system has become a huge hit. It's now the most widely used smartphone operating system in the world. But its Web-based computing OS Chrome, which was introduced in 2009, hasn't hit the same level of success. Still, the company is plugging away with its development efforts in Chrome.

As the line between a mobile device and a regular computing device become blurred, so are the lines separating Google's operating systems. And many consumers are confused. In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some insight into Google's strategy. And I help a reader decide which Google platform he should consider now. I also help another reader understand why it is taking so long to get an update to the latest Android OS, called Jelly Bean.

What's up with Google's OS strategy?

Dear Maggie,
I'm hoping that you or your associates might be able to shed light on a subject for me. Where is Google going? I know that's a broad question, so let me explain.

Google introduced Android. I love this mobile OS. Since the original Droid debuted, I always buy Android powered phones. I've also been a user of Google's other products, which has made me a huge fan. When Google launched the Chrome browser, I began using this. And for years it's been my default Internet browser.

Two years ago, Google introduced the Chromebook, and I was lucky enough to get a "test" computer, which my 3-year-old son broke. But now, on Android 4.0 and higher, you can download Chrome Browser. I know Chrome Browser for PC/Mac and Chromebooks are at version 23, and Mobile Chrome is at 10 (or a lot less). But Google has stated that next year they will be synced and the same versions.

So my question is this: Why has Google only introduced Android tablets? How come there are no Chrome tablets? And which will eventually take over? Do you have any thoughts? If the Google (Asus) Nexus 7 is $199 and you can use Chrome, and all of the other Play Store features and apps, then why spend $249 ($50 more) for just a Samsung Chromebook?

I'm just confused on which product to get and how to even begin to figure out which would be "better" for me.

Thank you for your time,
Confuse-oole

Dear Confuse-oole,,
You are not alone in being confused. Google has two different strategies for operating systems. And it looks like over time, the two will collide.

On one side you have the mobile operating system Android, which has been a huge success in smartphones and is starting to gain traction in the tablet market. Android, like other traditional operating systems, relies on native apps to be developed specifically for the platform.

On the other side is Chrome OS. This platform relies on browsers to access applications built for the Web instead of apps specifically built for a computing operating system.

From the earliest days when Google first introduced Chrome OS, there has been confusion about Google's strategy as it relates to these operating systems. And according to Sergey Brin, one of Google's founders, at a company event in 2009, eventually the two operating systems will be merged into one.

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The story of last year's CES was all ultrabooks; this year, the PC story is all about Windows 8 and touch. Samsung's latest laptop fuses both into a touch-screen computer that's hardly a surprise but meets what feels like a new expectation threshold in upper-tier Windows ultrabooks.

The 13.3-inch Series 7 is a new ultrabook for Samsung, as opposed to last year's top-end Series 9 and budget-targeted Series 5. The all-aluminum laptop is more "multimedia-targeted" than the Series 9 ever was, with a 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, discrete AMD HD8570M graphics, and JBL speakers. It's also bigger, at 3.2 pounds and 17.5mm thick or 3.6 pounds and 18.9mm for the touch-screen Ultras. The slimmed-down Series 9 from mid-2012 weighed a mere 2.6 pounds.

Besides the optional touch screen configuration, the Series 7 Ultra can be built with either a Core i5 or i7 ULV processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and a maximum 256GB SSD. It's also equipped with 1 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0 ports and optional 4G LTE, although prices haven't been specified.

The Series 7 Ultra joins the larger, more fully equipped touch-screen 15-inch Series 7 Chronosto form the first wave of Samsung's CES 2013 offerings. Both laptops lack optical drives, a trend that seems to be unavoidable in the age of tablets.

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