HP Slate 500, rings up at $799
Nope, you’re not dreaming, but feel free to pinch yourself, rub your eyes or take a cold shower! You’ve read right — the HP Slate is finally official, and after all the teasing, back and forth, and (very recent) leaks, the Atom-powered, Windows 7 Slate will finally see the light of day — though in a different way than originally intended. While the first videos released by HP may have made it seem like it would be for consumers, HP’s tactfully changed its tune (don’t forget it’s got Palm / WebOS tablets on the way) and is now aiming the Slate at the enterprise and business market. Still, it will be available on HP’s site for $799 to anyone who wishes to purchase one.
So, what does $800 of your hard earned cash buy you? Well, in addition to the dock and case, which are included in the box, the tablet packs pretty much everything we’d heard over the last year — it’s powered by a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB SSD and packs Broadcom’s Crystal HD accelerator for handling 1080p video. (The included dock has an HDMI-out port if you want to hook it up to the big screen.) Obviously, the 8.9-inch capacitive touch Slate runs Windows 7 Professional, but it’s got a Wacom active digitizer for taking notes, which certainly sets it apart from the other Win 7 tablets we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. Oh, and don’t forget its front facing VGA cam and 3 megapixel camera on its back. We got a chance to finally grope the tablet earlier this week, so hit the break for our early impressions and a short video.
Lenovo: Android-Based Tablet by Summer 2011
If you happen to be enthusiastic about Lenovo, tablets, and your American residency, look away now. Lenovo still plans to ship the Android-based LePad in China some time soonish, but its US roadmap can pretty much be summed up as “wait and see.” The company’s COO Rory Read has been cited as saying there are no plans to release a slate for the US market until at least Android’s Honeycomb version comes out, agreeing with Google on the point that Froyo is not “the right base to have a fully functioning pad.” Lest you think Windows 7 will fill the void until whenever in 2011 that Android tablet does arrive, Lenovo’s director of new technology, Howard Locker, sets you straight: “Windows 7 is based on the same paradigm as 1985 — it’s really an interface that’s optimized for a mouse and keyboard,” and the Thinking machine team doesn’t intend to build a slate around it. And if you were thinking of maybe picking up a LePhone as a consolation prize, tough luck, that won’t be arriving in the US for at least another two years (which in smartphone terms is basically “never”), although it’s good to know that it’s now got 13 percent of the smartphone market in China. You know, in case you own stock in LeCompany.
HTC Android tablets delayed as Google puts support behind LG and Motorola
LG announced not too long ago that it would be delaying its tablets running Android in order to wait for a more tablet friendly version of the OS to run the tablets. Google says that current Android versions are not tablet friendly, despite other makers using the OS in tablets expected soon. A report from DigiTimes has surfaced that claims HTC’s Android tablets are delayed significantly.
According to the source, an analyst from JPMorgan, the delay in the HTC tablets will see them slip from the expected Q4 2010 time frame to Q2 2011. That means that the tablets will miss the important holiday shopping season. The change in launch of the tablets comes amid reports that Google is throwing it support for tablets on Android 3.0 behind Motorola.
After Android 3.0, LG will get Google’s attention for tablets on Android 3.5. Presumably, after that release HTC will get its turn for tablet love. There is no word on why HTC was shunned in favor of the other two firms for tablets running Android.
KDDI Japan Announces 7-Inch Android 2.2 Wi-Fi Tablet
KDDI Japan has announced a new 7-inch Android tablet made by Samsung called the SMT-i9100. Gotta love hard to remember names. Unlike the ViewSonic ViewPad 7 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (outside of the US) this tablet lacks 3G and only comes with Wi-Fi, so it’s guaranteed to lack the Android marketplace. There’s the same custom UI on top of Android as seen on their IS phone series. Most confusing is the specs listing a 2 hour battery.
The SMT-i9100 features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multi-touch display, b/g/n Wi-Fi, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash storage, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 2MP webcam, stereo speakers, mini USB and micro SDHC card slots. It’s got a 2 hour battery (you’re kidding right?), 12 hours in standby time, 6 hours to recharge. It’s 13.9mm thick and weighs 450 g. It’s expected out around the end of February next year. No word on price right now.
CTL 2goPad SL10 Review
Last time we left off in the tale of Windows 7 tablets, we’d taken a look at Netbook Navigator’s Nav 9 slate, which by review’s end had us not only wanting to send it back as soon as humanly possible, but concluding that something better just had to be on the horizon. Well, as luck would have it, just a few days later CTL’s 10-inch 2goPad SL10 showed up on our doorstep with some very promising ingredients — a capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, front facing camera, and a Win 7 software layer. As we said in our early hands-on, we’ve been more impressed with the $499 (it will go up to $599 in late October) 2goPad than we ever thought we would be, but ultimately its Atom N450 processor and its software stand in its way of being the Win 7 tablet to kill ’em all. You’ll want to hit the break to read all about it in our full review. Read more 
CTL 2goPad SL10 with Windows 7 starts shipping for $499, arrives looking better than expected
We’ve been keeping an eye on CTL’s 10-inch 2goPad SL10 since we saw it chilling out at Computex back in June, but as of today it’s no longer just another elusive Win 7 slate: the company’s finally boxing up and shipping the Atom-powered tablets. Compared to some of the other Win 7 Home Premium slates we’ve seen lately, the 2goPad has an impressive array of specs for the price — it packs a Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, an 250GB hard drive, and a front facing VGA camera all for $499 (though, it will go up to $599 on October 20). However, it’s the touchscreen experience that’ll obviously make or break the SL10, and from what we’ve seen so far, it may just be one of the better ones out there right now. We just got our review unit yesterday, but we’ve been finding the capacitive display to be very responsive to finger swipes and light taps. Our major complaint about the screen is actually its distracting glossy coating, but at least it packs an accelerometer, which rotates the orientation at a decent pace. As for software, CTL’s preloaded something called QuickBits, which is really just a menu with large shortcut buttons, but it’s certainly better than nothing.
ZTE Light: The budget Galaxy Tab
Like the idea of a 7-inch Android tablet that also doubles up as a phone, but put off by the hefty price-tag of the Samsung Galaxy Tab?
Well take a look at the ZTE Lite, because this could be the device for you.
And whilst prices have still yet to be confirmed, the tech on board suggests that we’re looking at an entry level 7-incher, that should be a lot more budget-concious than the SamTab.
The ZTE Lite is an Android 2.1 machine with 512MB of RAM and the same amount of ROM. It has a TFT display with a 800 x 480 resolution.
Connectivity-wise you’re looking at Wi-Fi, GPS and the Lite also supports voice calling on dual band UMTS 2100 MHZ/900 MHZ and internet access on HSUPA network, with a download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps and an upload speed of up to 5.76 Mbps.
It has a 3-megapixel camera, FM Radio, Bluetooth, SD memory card slot, compass and a G-Sensor, and you’ll likely get 10 hours battery life in a machine weighing 403g.
A ZTE statement read: “ZTE has long been committed to bringing innovative and high-quality products to its customers worldwide. With the growing demand of portable and compact devices with mobility features, ZTE Light is surely the next generation tablet PC, with its compact design and wide range of features it is ideal for all entertainment and business needs”.
Advent Vega 10″ Android tablet
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words…that is unless you want the full on tech specs on Dixons’ Advent Vega – a Tegra-powered 10″ Android tablet. Eurodroid went to investigate the details on this promising looking device that’s expected to only cost £249 (around $400 USD). Pretty well priced for the hardware this Android tablet packs under that glossy touchscreen. View full article to see the full specs. Read more
Augen will toss six new tablets onto market all packing Android
Augen will toss six new tablets onto the market with screens from 7-inches to 10-inches in size with prices running from $199.99 to $599.99 and all will use Android 2.2. The tablets will also all support Adobe DE DRM. The 7-inch units include the Latte and Latte Grande and both will pack WiFi, HDMI out, 2GB of storage, and a SDHC card slot. The normal Latte has a 7-inch 800 x 480 screen and a stylus for $199. The Grande version has a 7-inch multitouch screen and an 800MHz CPU, 800 x 600 screen, compass, light sensor, and an accelerometer for an extra $50 over the base version.
The Espresso will have support for Android 3.0 and pack in WiFi, Bluetooth, a 3MP camera, accelerometer, compass, and light sensor. The most basic Espresso has a 7-inch 800 x600 screen 1GHz cortex A9 CPU, 8GB of flash storage, microSDHC card slot and will sell for $349. The Espresso dolce will pack in a 10.2-inch screen that is multitouch capable with 1024 x 768 resolution, a 1GHz A9 CPU, 8GB of storage, and microSDHC for $429. The Espresso Doppio is a netbook style tablet convertible with dual booting of Android and Ubuntu, a 10.2-inch screen, 1GHz CPU, WiFi, Bluetooth, 8GB of storage, dual USB ports, trackpad, 160GB HDD, and HD capability for $599.
The final model is the Espresso Firma with a 7-inch screen 600MHz dual-core CPU, Bluetooth, WiFi, 2GB of storage and a price of $349. The machine is crammed into a portfolio that looks like a notepad with paper on one side that is supposed to send what you write to the tablet automatically
Microsoft creating its own software layer for Windows 7 tablets?
It’s no secret that Microsoft has a slight tablet, err Slate PC problem on its hands: Windows 7 certainly works on a “pad,” but the user interface isn’t meant for strictly finger input. The makeshift solution has been, of course, for its partners to create software skins of their own — see HP TouchSmart UI, the ExoPC “Connect Four” skin, etc. — but according to Microsoft know-it-all Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, the guys in Redmond may just be working on a layer of their own. Now, Foley says these are just recurring rumors at this point, but they happen to line up with similar whispers we’ve heard that Microsoft might develop its own optional “shell.” Foley actually believes that it could be based on Windows Media Center, and points to an article by UK blogger Mark Wilson in which Ballmer is quoted saying, “what you’ll see over the course of the next year is us doing more and more work with our hardware partners creating hardware-software optimisations with Windows 7 and with Windows 7 Media Center. We don’t need to tell you, Mr. Ballmer, that we think that sounds like a glorious idea, and it’ll certainly buy you time until Windows 8 is ready in 2012. Read more
AIVAnet 