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TABLETS OFFER DISPLAYS
UP TO 13 INCHES
COMPUTERS AND NETWORKING
The latest news in the tablet market is Toshiba's trio of Android- powered devices, offering a choice of three display sizes: 7. 7,
10.1, and 13. 3 inches. All feature aluminum shells, Gorilla Glass
displays, and NVIDIA Tegra 3 quadcore processors. Each is
equipped with a 5 Mpixel camera on the back plus a 2 Mpixel
front-facing one for video capture and chatting. You also get
stereo speakers, as well as built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
connectivity. Even with the oversized display, the Excite 13 is only
0.4 inches thick and weighs 2. 2 lb, making it less painful to carry
around than one might expect. The 13. 3 inch diagonal AutoBrite™
LED Backlit display offers 10-finger touch support, a cinematic
16: 9 aspect ratio, and 1600 x 900 resolution, making it suitable
for watching HD movies and videos. All come with a suite of
Google™ Mobile Service applications, including Google Play™,
You Tube™, Gmail™, and Google Maps™. MSRPs run from $499 for
the bottom shelf 16 GB, 7. 7 in model to $749 for a 64 GB, 13 in one. You can pick one up at a local retailer or from
www.toshibadirect.com. ▲
■ Toshiba's Excite 13 has the largest tablet
display on the market.
GIGABIT WI-FI ARRIVES
The IEEE is still working on the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, but there is an old saying that "the IEEE publishes standards in writing only after someone
else has published them in hardware." This seems to be the case with the
R6300 router from Netgear ( www.netgear.com) which is the first unit to
comply with the 802.11ac specs. This configuration — based on Broadcom's
5GWiFi chips — embraces several enhancements over the common 802.11n
standard, allowing data to zip along at up to 1.3 Gbps. Basically, this is because
the new standard uses the 5 GHz radio band which offers an 80 MHz
bandwidth and more channels than the old 2. 4 GHz band. However, the
R6300 is a dual-band device, backward-compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n
technology, and will still deliver 450 Mbps in the 2. 4 GHz band. The company
believes that the unit is particularly advantageous with mobile devices, as it
allows web content to download faster, and large video and music files to synch
more quickly. It should be available by
the time you read this, with a retail price
of $199.99. ▲
■ Netgear's R6300 router provides
data transfer rates up to three times
as fast as existing 802.11n units.
WEB-BASED FINANCIAL ADVICE
If the world of finance makes you feel like the proverbial stranger in a strange land, you aren't alone. It can be daunting to understand the details of 401(k) accounts, mortgages, budgets, and so forth. If you need a little help in achieving
your financial goals, a good place to start might be YoBucko ( www.yobucko.com) — a website billed simply as "your
personal finance guide." YoBucko offers articles, videos, and calculators geared toward stepping you through such
topics as investing, education, identity theft, car buying, insurance, taxes, and others. The site is the brainchild of Eric
Bell, a former investment analyst at the Citi Private Bank. He is backed by half a dozen other financial professionals. In
addition to receiving assistance online, you can sign up for a monthly newsletter that "helps you learn how to save
money, pay off debt, and build wealth." Best of all, it's free, so drop in and get started. You'll have that 1987 Yugo paid
off in no time. ▲
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