Pocketbook A10 hands-on
PocketBook, primarily known for its e-readers, introduced the A 10 this week at IFA — that’s “A” for Android and “10” for 10-inches (well, 10.1 inches). The Android in this case is Gingerbread, nothing particularly exciting on that front, in a world that has largely moved on to Honeycomb in all its iterations, but at the very least, the company is doing some cool stuff on the design front in a world of infringingly lookalike devices. The body was reportedly inspired by an airplane wing, encased in white plastic that forms a wedge on the rear. The tablet’s a bit on the chunky side, with a row of actual physical buttons located on the bottom of the bezel. On the rear is a white plastic around a soft, rubbery back.
The tablet is a bit less exciting on the inside, with 4GB of storage, a 1GHz TI OMAP 3621 processor, WiFi and optional 3G. Not surprisingly, given the company’s history, the device is reading-minded, with proprietary software built around the e-book experience and page buttons built in. The company is also looking to possibly position the device for the educational sector.
Samsung Galaxy Note announced: 5.3-inch display, built-in-stylus, custom ‘S Pen’ apps
Until a few days ago we’d heard surprisingly little about the Galaxy Note, a handset rumored to be launching alongside the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Wave 3 at IFA. It’s ironic, really, because of all the phones to have kept a low profile, this is a memorable one. Behold, a 5.3-inch handset with a stowaway pen for note-taking, drawing and grabbing screen captures. In other words, a Dell Streak-esque hunk of a device that blurs the lines between phone and tablet. You’re looking at a Gingerbread-running HSPA+ handset with a 1280 x 800 Super AMOLED display, dual 8MP and 2MP cameras, a removable 2,500mAh battery and the same Samsung-made dual-core 1.4GHz processor you’ll find in the just-announced Galaxy Tab 7.7. For a phone this gargantuan, it’s actually quite thin at light, at 9.65mm (0.38 inches) thick and a reasonable 178 grams (6.3 ounces). We had a few minutes to handle the phone in advance of today’s press conference, and found it surprisingly easy to grip, even in our small hands. As with the Infuse 4G –whose own 4.5-inch screen once seemed impossibly sprawling — the thin shape makes it tenable, as does the lightweight, textured plastic lining the back.
As you’d expect, Android 2.3 comes layered with TouchWiz on top and, in this case, seven home screens and a touch-optimized interface dubbed “S Pen” designed to take advantage of that pen. These include S Planner, a native calendar and to-do list app, from which you can drag and drop appointments, changing time slots without having to open an entry. S Memo for note-taking, meanwhile, accepts voice, photo, text and handwritten input. We also got a quick glimpse of Virtual Whiteboard, a more collaborative form of note-taking. On top of that, Samsung says it’s releasing the S Pen SDK to third-party developers, and the company’s banking on more apps for organizing photos and drawing, among other things. For now, this is merely a global launch: Samsung says it’s still in discussions with carriers worldwide, so depending on your neck of the woods it might be awhile before you hear anything definitive about pricing or availabilit
via Samsung Galaxy Note announced: 5.3-inch display, built-in-stylus, custom ‘S Pen’ apps — Engadget.
TouchWiz UX Update Now Available For Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi
Did Samsung just release an update on time? Yep. The TouchWiz UX update is available for all you lucky Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi owners out there. Just grab your Tab, hit Settings > About Tablet > System Updates and voila. What will you be trading your stock Honeycomb experience for?
- Live Panel: Magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, news, photo gallery, all on the home screen. The visual layout of Live Panel is completely customizable for one-touch entry into each user’s most important information.
- Mini Mode Tray: One-touch access to commonly used applications–Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator, Music–which overlay in a pop-up window on display screen for powerful multi-tasking.
- Clipboard: Advanced copy & paste functionality allows Galaxy Tab 10.1 users to store photos, Web pages, YouTube links, etc., on the clipboard for easy sharing via email and social network sites.
- Indicator Quick Panel: Quickly toggle on/off Wi-Fi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display.
- Photo Editor: Rotate, crop and adjust colors on high quality digital images
For more on what you’ll be getting with this latest update I’ll refer you to the presser from the other day. Enjoy!
viaAndroidGuys ›TouchWiz UX Update Now Available For Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi
Sharp Galapagos A01SH 7-inch tablet gets official, launches in late August
The Galapagos A01SH 7-inch tablet has a slim LCD screen that measures 7-inches and has a resolution of 1024 x 600. The rear camera on the tablet is a 5MP unit and it has a 2MP front camera for video calling. It also has an internal modem supporting downloads at up to 42Mbps. The operating system for the tablet is Android 3.2 Honeycomb.
The little Android tablet has a very attractive design and looks really cool. The processor is a Tegra 2 dual-core from NVIDIA running at 1.2GHz. It also has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Sharp claims the battery inside the tablet is good for about 7.5 hours of use. Pricing is unknown but with a launch only weeks away that price should get official soon.
via Sharp Galapagos A01SH 7-inch tablet gets official, launches in late August – SlashGear.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Keyboard Dock
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (mark 2) goes on general release in the UK tomorrow (4 August – read our review here) and along with the tablet device itself, there are several accessories hitting the stores at the same time.
One of those is the Keyboard Dock, a sturdy, reasonably weighty keypad that has a slot and connector just begging to be coupled with the new Tab. It’s excellently built, has a full QWERTY key layout (naturally), but also carries some proprietary buttons to make navigation on the touchscreen device that bit easier.
via Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Keyboard Dock hands-on – Pocket-lint.
Verizon announces Android 3.2 update for Motorola Xoom 3G, available today?
It looks like Motorola Xoom 3G owners will soon be able to reap the same benefits as their WiFi-only brethren, now that Verizon has published more details on a forthcoming Android 3.2 update. According to the company’s support page, software update HTJ85 will bring essentially the same features we saw in last month’s, exclusively Wi-Fi refresh — microSD card support, movie rental improvements and, of course, that “zoom to fill screen” option for non-tablet optimized apps. Verizon hasn’t announced an official release date for the 15.4MB Honeycomb update, though rumor has it that it could drop as early as today. For more details and installation instructions, check out the pair of PDFs below.
via Verizon announces Android 3.2 update for Motorola Xoom 3G, available today? — Engadget.
HTC Flyer 2 with 3D Camera?
3D.. the biggest gadget gimmick of all time and some manufacturers were silly enough to go with it (for differentiation’s sake). Just look at the LG Optimus Pad (G-Slate in the US) or watch out for the upcoming Asus Eee Pad MeMo 3D.
HTC might be among those big names with a 3D tablet and thus dual cameras – possibly with a HTC Flyer 2, if this image below is to be believed, if it’s not the most easily photoshopped image ever. HTC is already in the 3D dual camera game with the Evo 3D smartphone. Other than the image above, we’re left to speculate. Speculate features like.. solar panels!
via HTC Flyer 2 with 3D Camera? | Netbooknews – Netbooks, Netbook Reviews, Smartbooks and more.
Lenovo intros 10.1-inch IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Windows 7, should’ve waited for Windows 8
We know, we know — Windows 8 isn’t splashing down on consumer devices for a good long while, but seriously, how’s a boy to get excited about something that’s already old hat? And moreover, something that has never, ever worked out. Every single Windows 7 tablet that we’ve tested has suffered a similar fate: too bulky, too sluggish, not longevous enough and too difficult to to operate sans a keyboard and mouse. That said, Lenovo’s providing a darkhorse option for those uninterested in its duo of new Honeycomb tablets, with the IdeaPad Tablet P1 bringing Windows 7 into a familiar 10.1-inch shell. Within, you’ll find a 1.5GHz Intel processor, a 1280 x 800 capacitive touchpanel, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, up to 64GB of SSD storage, built-in Bluetooth / 3G / WiFi, a USB 2.0 connector, microSD card slot and a docking port.
You’ll also get an integrated 2 megapixel webcam up front, support for stylus input and an enclosure that’s 14.5mm thick; for perspective, the absolutely delectable Galaxy Tab 10.1 measures just 10.9mm from top to bottom. The company’s giving you the option of snagging this in silver-gray or “Clementine Orange,” the latter of which is obviously the frontrunner in the race to awesome. The sealed two-cell battery is said to be good for six hours of use, compared to the 8.7 hours that the same cell gets while situated in the Android-powered K1. Lenovo’s not serving up pricing details on this one just yet, but you can look forward to not looking forward to its Q4 2011 arrival.
via Lenovo intros 10.1-inch IdeaPad Tablet P1 with Windows 7, should’ve waited for Windows 8 — Engadget.
Archos G9 Tablets get officially priced
Remember the Archos G9 tablets we told you about last month? Well they didn’t come in as cheap as we originally thought, but they are still a pretty good deal.
We also thought they were only going to offer 250GB versions, but it looks like they are going to offer 8GB and 16GB versions as well, which will be a lot lighter for those that don’t need the extra storage. Archos is marketing these devices as the fastest tablets on earth with the 1.5GHz dual-core processor, but it will only be offered in the 250GB versions. According to their site the official prices are:
Archos 101 G9 – 10.1-inch screen
- 8GB – $369.99
- 16GB – $399.99
- 250GB – $469.99
Archos 80 G9 – 8-inch screen
- 8GB – $299.99
- 16GB – $329.99
- 250GB – $369.99
Product features after the break:
Sony’s S2 tablet coming to AT&T, price and availability remain a mystery
It’s been a few months since Sony made its (tardy) entrance into the tablet market, and since then it hasn’t been sharing details so much as teasing them in whimsical, perplexing ads. Finally, the outfit’s ready to take specifics. We’re sitting at a roundtable with Sony executives, and just learned that its clamshell S2 tablet is headed to AT&T’s “4G” (read: HSPA+) network, confirming what we already suspected after peeping a tell-tale FCC report. Sony’s is quick to remind us that “S2” is just a codename, so don’t be surprised if it surfaces with a completely different moniker. Otherwise, the company didn’t get too chatty: we still don’t know how when AT&T will begin selling it nor how much it will cost on contract. Also still MIA: details on when, where, and for how much you’ll be able to nab that folded magazine-inspired S1. Check out the press release below.
via Sony’s S2 tablet coming to AT&T, price and availability remain a mystery — Engadget.
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