Tag Archives: tablets

tablets

Acer’s 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 Android Tablet Officially Unveiled

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Remember Acer’s mysterious 10.1-inch android-tablet which we’ve already seen in New York City back in November, last year? Well, there it is, live and kickin’ in NVIDIA’s booth at CES 2011, rising up again – this time with a brand new name – Acer Iconia Tab A500. Generally speaking, this is Acer’s first serious attempt to take on the iPad, and it’s a worthy one, no doubt. With “10 point multitouch” screen, Nvidia Tegra 2 chip, a built-in gyroscope and hopefully, Google’s android Gingerbread running inside, you can’t go wrong, can you? Especially when it’s going to take advantage of the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network. As for the UI, we’re looking at “Acer UI 4.5” that the company has skinned atop the the Android OS, while other specs include a bunch of embedded ports such as HDMI out, a full-sized USB plus a micro-USB one, a dock connector on the bottom, and 1080p along with 3D gaming support. Still no price or availability dates to share at the moment, but ’till then, Engadget has the hands-on video that you can find along with the Full PR, after the break.

Update1: Acer has just confirmed the UK pricing for its forthcoming Iconia Tab A500 tablets lineup and it’s pretty much within the iPad range: The WiFi-only flavors (Windows 7 or Android OS) will run you for £449 each, while the 3G-enabled W500 version will set you back for £529 when it officially gets out in the UK on April 8th. Still no word about the A500 pricing numbers.

Update2: And looks like the US official price is going to be more competitive than we originally thought, or in other words, the 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) Android Honeycomb tablet which boasts a 1GB of RAM along with a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 250 and dual cameras on the back (5MP) and up front (2MP), will set you back for only $450 on Best Buy retail stores while shipping starts on April 24. Let the competition begin!

Update3: It seems that Acer’s new Iconia Tab A500 is finally listed for sale on Best Buy. Apparently, this is the WiFi-only version of Acer’s brand new tablet and it will set you back for $450. In exchange you’re getting all the good specs we’ve already mentioned, including a Tegra 2 chip, paired with a 10.1-inch display, 16GB of storage, USB 2.0 hub and 802.11b/g/n WiFi connectivity.

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tablets

ASUS Eee Slate EP121 Officially Introduced, Has Core i5 CPU Inside

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We’ve all seen the teaser ads and now, the much anticipated Eee Slate EP121 tablet from Asus is finally here. The 12.1-inch wonder that comes with a very impressive 1280 x 800 IPS display and said to include a Wacom digitizer support, will be offered by the Taiwanese giant with a Windows 7 OS on board. Yes, a Microsoft Windows platform for a change. Specs wise, we’re looking at one of the most powerful tablets ever manufactured, with Intel’s Core i5-470UM processor, paired with up to 4GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. WOW! in case you’re wondering, the stylus pen which Asus has also included can serve you better when it comes to freehand sketching or simply for taking notes. Wanna make a video conference or pump your HD videos on your flat screen TV? No problem at all. The EP121 comes fully equipped with a front facing camera and a single HDMI port. Sounds great, isn’t it? Absolutely yes, but not if you are broke. To put it into numbers, it’ll actually start at $1,000 for the basic unit, with availability in stores set for later this month. Full specs after the break.

Update: Asus is currently offering via Amazon a pre-order deal for its upcoming Eee Slate EP121, that will save you some green on a future purchase. The 12.1-incher, that was recently introduced, has just arrived to amazon’s online store, and for a limited time is being offered for only $999. We all want it badly, aren’t we?

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General

Onkyo Rolls Out a 3G Windows 7 Tablet In Japan

A couple of months ago we reported that Onkyo is planning to release a new line of windows 7 tablets. Well, today the news finally became official, and as previously reported, the Japanese corp will be launching in-house PC slates, sometime during the week. The first model we get to see in that fancy group, the TW317A7, is likely to feature an 11.6-inch (1366×768) touchscreen, paired with a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, two USB 2.0 hubs, stereo speakers, and KDDI 3G connectivity on board. Software wise, Onkyo has tossed its latest ExTOUCH platform to help you out with the multi-touch experience, which frankly, isn’t that good when it comes to Windows 7 platforms. And with no price attached, it doesn’t bode well for those who are looking forward to it, but things could change on a moment’s notice, so please stay tuned.

[via Akihabaranews]

tablets

Viewsonic Rolls Out New 7 and 10 Inch Viewpad Tablets Stateside

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Viewsonic has made a bold move to dethrone Apple’s iPad in the US market. The Taiwanese company announced late yesterday it would launch two new Viewpad tablets – that will maintain the Viewsonic logo – sometime between November of this year and the first quarter of 2011. And while first model in that new series, the Viewsonic 7, is claimed to run the Android 2.2 platform, preloaded with Google apps and full access to Google’s Market, the second, Viewsonic 10, will boast Microsoft’s Windows 7 Home Premium OS along with a 1.66GHz Atom processor, 16GB SSD, and 1GB of RAM on board. The latter has a 10-inch capacitive display and is expected to retail for $629 while the smaller one, which runs for $479, will likely house a 7-inch touchscreen, paired with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, dual cameras (rear and front), and 3G connectivity support. It’s going to be a long, hot winter for the tablet computer market. At the meantime, make sure you checkout the Full PR right after the break.

Update1: Oh look, isn’t it the new ViewPad 7 tablet? YES. And looks like it’s already up on sale at Amazon.com, priced a little more than we’ve expected – $599(!). Is that for real or another one of those ‘let the early adopters pay the price and then we’ll make it cheaper?’

Update2: We’re not so sure whether you’ll like it or not but here’s the deal: ViewSonic is now offering you a trade program – send in your old laptop or netbook and get up to £125 cash back when buying a new ViewPad tablet. What do you say?

Update3: Fellow US gadgeters, check this out: Office Depot’s retail stores are now offering Viewsonic’s 10-inch (1024 x 600) Android 2.2 G Tablet for $399 only. Remember, it’s a Tegra 2 device that can easily pump out 1080p videos on your tele. So make sure you check out the full PR after the break or the local store next to your house.

 

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tablets

Augen Rolls Out a New Android Tablet Lineup With Six Different Models

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Augen’s tablet division has been very active lately. First, it was the company’s 7-inch Android 2.1 tablet…and now here they are again, ready to trailblaze the next major tablets evolution with six(!) different Android 2.2 “Espresso” / “Latte” contenders. And while some models are aiming for the low-mid markets, others are featuring some top-notch technologies on board. A primary part of the upper-class department includes two very interesting models: the Espresso Doppio and the Espresso Firma. The 10.2-inch Doppio, which runs for $599.99, appears to be this sort of netbook-tablet hybrid device hosting a 1024 x 768-capacitive touchscreen paired with a built-in accelerometer, and a 3mp camera on front. Digging inside, there’s a powerful 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU, tucked with a 6000mAh battery, claimed to deliver up to 15 hours of work. The other thing that deserves mention is the bundled “hybrid” solution which comes in the form of a cool docking cradle that can instantly transform the Doppio into a portable seashell netbook while adding a backlit keyboard along with multitouch trackpad capabilities and 160GB of storage that enables bigger space for uploads. The Firma tablet, on the other hand, is substantially cheaper than previous version (only $349.99) and mainly based on a 7-inch platform with handwriting technology support. This result can be achieved thanks to this special ink pen stick that Augen is giving you as part of the box.

Nothing to really get excited about, but there are four additional tablets in Augen’s upcoming collection: The Latte, which runs for $199 and sports a 7-inch resistive touchscreen with 2GB of storage capacity to store. The $249.99 Latte Grande which strikes with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer and an 800MHz processor, and the final two in this group, that apparently go under the Espresso lineup – one that will cost you $349.99 and is said to arrive with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen along an 8GB of internal memory, 3mp front-facing camera, and Cortex A9 processor, while the other, the $429.99 Espresso Dolce, that offers Cortex A8 CPU inside, with a 10.2-inch display, and a 1024×768 screen resolution. Full PR after the break.

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tablets

CTL 2goPad SL10 Windows 7 Tablet Up For Pre-orders

There is no single day that passes without the news of yet another splashy tablet coming out into the overcrowded pond. The recent, CTL 2goPad SL10 (you got that right), offers a 10.1-inch (1024×600) capacitive touchscreen, with Intel’s Atom N450 processor under the lid and a Microsoft, yes a Microsoft Windows 7 platform running on board. The $499 slate which is already up for your pre-orders, also features 2GB of RAM, along with a 250GB hard drive, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, Micro SD Card Reader, audio jack, 2 USB ports, 2 built-in stereo speakers, Ethernet, mic, and both Flash / HTML 5 video players support. Shipping should take no more than a month while a quick hands-on video is just after the break.

[2go PC]

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News, tablets

Samsung’s Galaxy P1000 Tablet is Rumored To Include a 1GHz Hummingbird Processor

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While no official confirmation has been made, rumor has it that Samsung’s next Android 2.2 tablet, the Galaxy Tab P1000, will presumably include a 1.0GHz S5PC110 processor unit – the one which you’re also going to find in the company’s brand new Galaxy S mobile device (on the left). In addition to that, the 7-inch 840 x 480 capacitive slate reportedly packs dual camera components, a 3.2mp rear camera and a front-facing VGA webcam, both to join other neat features such as integrated WiFi connectivity and a built-in GPS navigation system that Samsung is apparently planing to add to the box. Stay tuned for more to come.

Update: And looks like Samsung’s future tablet, also known as the Galaxy Tab, was spotted on one of Sydney’s public transportation and videotaped during the ride. Watch the video after the break.  

[via OLED-Display.net]

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News, tablets

HP Slate 500 Spotted Online With Windows 7 Onboard

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Oh what’s this? You may be consciously thinking that HP has already buried the idea of having a Windows 7 powered tablet released to the pond, right?  – but it didn’t – at least according to some official HP and Energy Star pages, recently surfaced and luckily tracked down by the good IDG News people. What’s in there? Not much besides some interesting details about an HP 500 slate which presumably runs a Windows 7 Premium OS inside, tucked with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, two cameras and a batch of extensions we already know. So where’s the promised WebOS, you may ask? We’re not sure at this point but clearly, the US giant is literally working on something these days, we think, actually we’re positive. anyway, stay tuned.

Update1: HP has officially confirmed that it’s still working on some brand new tablet products. A spokesperson from the Personal Systems group told Engadget that they’re “in customer evaluations now and will make a determination soon on the next steps.” Dear HP, we’re really looking forward to getting this into our hands and seeing what you’re going to build.

Update2: According to Todd Bradley, EVP, Personal Systems Group, for HP it seem that Windows 7 slates will officially make a debut somewhere “this fall”, targeting the enterprise markets rather than consumer pockets, as we initially thought. Regretfully, at this point, there’s no word about when or where HP’s most anticipated WebOS slates will actually go live.

Update3: Now it’s official, HP confirms a webOS tablet for ‘early 2011’. According to HP’s Todd Bradley “You’ll see us with a Microsoft product out in the near future and a webOS-based product in early 2011.”

[via PCWorld]

News, tablets

MSI WindPad 100 And 110 Spoted Live n Kickin’ at Computex 2010

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It’s been a long time since we’ve last seen a real MSI tablet in action, but that (as a fact) doesn’t necessarily mean the Chinese corp has stopped manufacturing. On the contrary, it has just introduced two of its brand new 10-inch tablets at the Computex show in Taipei. The first model, WindPad 110, is powered by an Android 2.1 OS, and seems to be capable of handling high-def content pretty well, thanks to NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor on board. The touchscreen is capacitive and very responsive if you wondered, and the chassis itself includes a USB port and video output as well. The tablet will sell for $399 by the end of this year.

Heading to the second version, the WindPad 100 (which we’ve already seen a while ago), this one runs a Windows 7 Premium platform, while specs wise, it packs a 1.66GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM, 32GB SSD, two USB ports, an HDMI output, built-in webcam and finally, a special Wind Touch UI which MSI has literally stuffed on top of Microsoft’s coat. The WinPad 100 is set for release later this year for about $499 – hundred dollars more.

Update: Now official. Prices are at $399 for the U110 and $499 for the U100. Availability is yet to be determined.

[via engadget]

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Computers, General, Mobile, News

HP To Acquire Palm For 1.2 Billion Dollars

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Hewlett-Packard has just announced that it would buy Palm for a staggering price of $1.2 billion dollars, roughly about $5.70 per share of common stock. The merge and acquisition, which are planned to close by July 31, can give the Palo Alto computer giant a great opportunity to get a bigger slice from the hot and trendy smartphones market, valued at $100bn alone and with annual rapid growth of 20% . HP executive vice president Todd Bradley said that “Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices” and also added that “Between smartphones, slates, and potentially netbooks, there are a lot of opportunities here.” And he’s right, just think about the endless potential  possibilities of having Palm’s stunning WebOS integrated in HP’s future multi-touch devices, whether these are mobile phones, tablets or other portable machines – it’s HUGE and HP, in our opinion, has clearly taken a few significant steps in the right direction, especially now when strident voices, complaining about a sluggish HP Slate performance, start floating around – WebOS can definitely improve speed reaction dramatically –  and someone at the HP headquarters has probably figured this one pretty well. Brian Humphries, HP’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development quoted saying “our intent is to double down on WebOS”. That’s very important, considering the months of speculations where Palm was desperately looking for a buyer. And given the fact that HP is getting over 1500 patents that Palm currently owns (that probably has considerable value as well, isn’t it?), along with a very good team of young talented engineers and one relentless chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, who is expected to remain with the company another few years long, this very complex deal that few months back, could easily have seemed impossible, can all of a sudden turn into a nice and promising bargain. PR announcement after the break.

Update: Digitimes says that HP Taiwan VP, Monty Wong has officially confirmed a webOS tablet to go live somewhere around October of this year. Stay tuned for more to come.

Continue reading HP To Acquire Palm For 1.2 Billion Dollars →

Computers, News

WePad Tablet Gets Official, Goes For €450 In August (Update: Now Called WeTab)

Remember the WePad, a German Linux-based tablet that has literally turned the iPad phenomenon into plural shapes? Well, guess what, it just gone Official and is slated to come out sometime this August, starting at €450 ($610) for the 16GB WiFi version and up to €569 ($775) for the 64GB 3G enabled model. And based on its German creator Neofonie, that held a press conference in Berlin only few hours ago, it’d likely include most parts that your brand new iPad lacks. With specifications reminiscent of a netbook, more than a slate, this sleek 11.6-inch touchscreen device is said to have a Full HD compatibility via Broadcom’s Crystal HD graphics accelerator, along a 1.3mp camera, Intel Atom N450 processor, optional GPS antenna, integrated card reader, built-in stereo speakers, 6 hours battery, and finally, dual USB 2.0 ports. The UI itself works surprisingly smooth, as you may learn from the three downstairs videos, and the well-designed internet browser claimed to boast Adobe’s flash support. Hit the break to see the shots.

Update1: We’ve added one more video, this time showing a real-time working WePad tablet in action, after the break.

Update2: Neofonie just held another press conference to show some real and viable pictures of its latest and greatest 11.6-inch WePad tablet, powered by an Atom N450 processor stuffed inside. Three more vids after the break.

Update3: The WePad is not out yet but the name has already been changed. From now on say WeTab and never get confused with other “Pads” available in the market – it’s official. Full PR after the break.

Update4: And just when we had some good feelings about Neofoie’s WeTab slate, it seems like it won’t be available soon, probably somewhere around mid-September. Stay tuned.

[WePad]

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Computers, News

HP Slate Details Leaked, Packs Atom Z530 CPU, Two Cameras, SDHC Expansion, USB and SIM Card Slots

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There you go fellow geeks – see, it didn’t take long for all those juicy HP slate details to come out…eventually. This miraculous internal memo, you see down here, apparently explains it all – if true! – and it does look reliable, isn’t it? If so, then what we’ve got here is a head-to-head confrontation between two tech giants, HP from one side and Apple on the other. From Cupertino’s side, it’s the iPad contender, which according to this document that handed over to engadget, appears to threat HP in few different points: 1) screen resolution that stands at 1024×768, compared to the 1024×600 pixels you suppose to find on HP’s coming slate. 2) WiFi connection speed which shows faster 802.11 n-draft component inside the iPad while only “g” standard on the slate. 3) Battery wise, the iPad claims to deliver (and confirmed) up to 10 hours of working time, while HP slate is said to produce up to 5 hours of use. 4) iPad Starting price stands at $499 for the 16GB model, while HP’s handy-dandy counter slate, starts at $549, but with 32GB of storage inside.

That been said, the chart itself unveils not only potential weaknesses, but also some very significant advantages in favor of HP’s future device, amongst you’ll find: A) Stylus Pen support.  B) A 1.6GHz clock speed on Intel’s Atom Z530 processor, compared to Apple’s 1GHz A4 CPU “only”. C) Graphics accelerator with 1080P video support against Apple’s undisclosed chipset. D) The existence of an SDHC slot, which comes VERY handy when looking for an easy way to throw your photos in. The iPad, on the other hand, doesn’t have one at all. E) A USB 2.0 port available on Palo Alto’s machine, but absent from the iPad F) Two cameras (VGA on front and 3MP at the back) which let you either take pictures/videos(?) with the Slate, or even better, conduct Skype chats on-the-go. Needless to say, NO cameras on the iPad G) HP’s Dock connector crams USB and HDMI out while Apple’s dock has nothing but a power cord.

Other than that, bare in mind the Apple tablet comes with a 9.7-inch multi-touch display, against HP’s 8.9-inch multi-touch Slate (both to include accelerometers). As for Software, the iPad runs iPhone OS 3.2 while HP’s Slate comprises a Windows 7 platform. And last but not least, Apple iPad’s 64GB version seems a lot more costier than HP’s same size rival – $699 against $599, respectively.

So there you go guys, this is it, HP versus Apple, iPad versus Slate – one has already been released and is doing pretty well, while another, based on rumors, apparently has two more months to go. So stay tuned ladies and gentleman, because the battle of the titans has started!

Update: Looks like the guys at Conecti.ca were lucky enough to have their hands on HP’s soon-to-be-launched slate prototype, and they don’t really seem to point out good points at this stage, rather than saying that “The official verdict is meh” – whatever that means. Apparently, the fact that HP was trying to import a netbook UI into a portable slate device wasn’t doing good to the speed of the platform and the way it works. The first impression they had was that it’s too “slow and annoying.” Still, the HDMI dock attached to the slate made positive impressions. Real images after the break.

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