This Radar Chart Tells You Everything You Need To Know About China's Bullish PMI Report

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-china-manufacturing-pmi-sub-indices-2012-10

China's official manufacturing PMI report climbed to 50.2 in October, up from 49.8 in September.  This suggests the industry is expanding again.

Obviously there are a lot of details behind those numbers.

Societe Generale's Wei Yao put all of the PMI sub-indices into one radar chart (see below), and compares them to the sub-indices from two months ago.  Ideally, you want the points of the new polygon to be outside of the points of the old polygon.

Such was the case for the latest PMI report.  Here's Yao:

Details of the official report showed improvement in eight out of the eleven sub-indices. The production index rose by 0.8 point to 52.1 in October; new orders climbed to 50.4, ending a five-month sting of below-50 readings; the input price index jumped to 54.3 from 51 in the previous month, indicating less upstream deflationary pressure. Finished goods inventory inched up to 48.1, pointing to continued destocking albeit at slower pace. Meanwhile, employment, new export orders and imports all increased but remained below 50.

 

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Samsung Galaxy Note II Smart Dock turns a big phone into an even bigger desktop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-smart-dock-turns-a-big-phone-into-a-desktop/

Many of us would already contend that the Galaxy Note II is more of a pocketable computer than a smartphone, so why not take the definition at face value? Samsung certainly is, as it just began selling a Smart Dock that transforms its phablet into a makeshift desktop. A trio of USB ports give the Note II options for a mouse, keyboard and even external storage -- and if the phone's 5.5-inch screen isn't already a large enough canvas, HDMI video (plus stereo audio out) should fill the gap. While there's no question that the Smart Dock's $100 price is relatively steep, it might be worthwhile for those still mourning the loss of Webtop.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note II Smart Dock turns a big phone into an even bigger desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos adds the 80 Cobalt to its ICS tablet range: 8-inch screen, 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/archos-80-cobalt-tablet/

The FCC may have spoiled the surprise months ago, but Archos has taken to Facebook to officially reveal the new member of its Elements range -- the Archos 80 Cobalt. As you may have guessed from the familiar size codification, the WiFi-only slate sports an 8-inch capacitive screen filled with 1024 x 768 pixels, supporting 1080p video playback. The other sp! ecs you' ll want to know include the dual-core processor running at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM and 8 gigs of on-board storage, expandable with a microSD card of up to 64GB. Modest 2-megapixel and 0.3-megapixel shooters occupy the back and front of the 0.48-inch (12mm) thick tablet, respectively, which weighs in at a solid one pound (470g). There's no word on a release date or pricing for this ICS device, but we'd imagine the answers are "soon" and "under $200." Any more than that, and we can't see people choosing it over, say, a Nexus 7, even if it does have an extra inch on the competition.

Gallery: Archos 80 Cobalt Android tablet

Filed under: Tablets

Archos adds the 80 Cobalt to its ICS tablet range: 8-inch screen, 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB of RAM origin! ally app eared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC One X+ review: it's the One X, and then some (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/htc-one-x-plus-review/

A spec bump in the middle of a product cycle? All the cool cats do it these days, even if they risk alienating customers who just bought what they thought was this year's flagship device. HTC has actually played this game for a while, first with the Sensation XE, which acted as a mid-term replacement for the original Sensation and now, with the One X+ which treads all over the One X's toes. However, with this latest handset, the manufacturer has some justification: the One X+ comes with 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, whereas the global One X maxed out at 32GB and the AT&T version was only 16GB. Since there's no microSD expansion on these phones, it's possible to argue that the One X+ is a sensible addition, which caters specifically to storage-hungry power users and audiophiles. (Note: We'll be reviewing the HSPA+ UK version of this handset here, and comparing it mainly to the HSPA+ One X. We'll test the US-destined LTE variant very soon.)

More Info

• One X+ for AT&T hands-on
• European One X review
• One S review

There are other improvements aside from the bigger storage option, of course! . The NV IDIA Tegra 3 processor has had a speed bump to 1.7GHz -- perhaps in an effort to challenge the Galaxy S III's benchmarking might. There's a larger 2,100mAh battery to stay in step with that more power-hungry silicon; the front camera module has been replaced with a higher-res chip and better image processing; and, there's also some new audio circuitry to improve the speaker's sound quality. The One X+ also runs HTC's updated Sense 4+ skin, based on Jelly Bean, which will eventually arrive on older One-series phones as well. As for the rest of the spec sheet, all the good and not-so-good stuff from the One X has carried over -- the stunning 4.7-inch, 1,280 x 720 Super LCD2 display is still here, thank goodness, and so is the 8-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera. However, there's still only 1GB of RAM (LG and Samsung flagships boast double that). So, what's needed here is an upshot: if you haven't made the leap to a 2012 superphone just yet, how does the One X+ carry itself relative to its cheaper predecessor and the latest competition? Read on and we'll endeavor to find out.

Gallery: HTC One X+ review

Continue reading HTC One X+ review: it's the One X, and then some (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

HTC One X+ review: it's the One X, and then some (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 4.2 camera, gallery ported to Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean 4.1.1

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/android-4-2-camera-gallery-ported-galaxy-nexus-4-1-1/

So, you're loving the new gallery and camera options we saw on Jelly Bean 4.2 and have no intention of waiting for that OS for your former flagship Galaxy Nexus? A certain dmmarck on Android Central's forums has sorted that, and you can now grab the camera app for your so-last-month 4.1.1 OS on that handset. Other than a Photo Sphere bug, it's apparently working like the factory version, but newbies beware -- the installation requires some Android hacking chops. You can grab it at the source.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung, Google

Android 4.2 camera, gallery ported to Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean 4.1.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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