Hasta La Gadget!

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 specs 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.

Filed under: Tablets

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

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Glimmers of a new Samsung tablet have appeared, with suggestions that the company is readying a new, 7-inch Note complete with more pen-controlled Android. The new model – teased as the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 – has cropped in in two forms at the DLNA Alliance, the Samsung GT-N5100 and GT-N5110, with the same GT-N prefix as sported by the Galaxy Note II and Note 10.1.

The listings for the mystery Samsung gadgets – here and here [pdf links] – aren’t particularly enlightening, and nor is the sparse description the Alliance gives. “Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 OS upgrade version derivative model – Icecream Sandwich version – Tablet” is the only hardware detail, the GT-I9100 being the Galaxy S II, but the tablet mention would seem to belie suggestions that it’s a simple upgrade.

According to AndroidSlash, there are indications that the GT-N5100/N5110 could be a 7-inch Note to slot in-between the current “phablet” and its full-sized tablet counterpart. That would take on the iPad mini and Nexus 7, though obviously provide pen input unlike either of those rivals.

Interestingly, the GT-5100 also passed through the Wi-Fi Alliance certification program recently as well, though there’s some confusion around certification IDs. According to Google’s copy of the record, the GT-5100 is described as a “WiFi and other” tablet with WiFi 1/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz) support and WiFi Direct, though the certificate itself [pdf link] is for the GT-T8025, a different tablet.

With no record to be found at the FCC, it’s hard to know whether the Note 7 would follow in the tablet-focussed footsteps of the Note 10.1, or attempt to be a phone too, like the Note II. The two variants – N5100 and N5110 – could well indicate WiFi-only and WiFi/cellular models for mobile data use.

[via IntoMobile; via SamMobile]

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 tipped as GT-N5100 clears testing is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Now who would have thought that we’d see Tetris make its big comeback on a pumpkin? With Halloween upon us, I suppose that this themed ‘console’ is totally appropriate.

It’s definitely a step up from all the usual jack’o’lanterns that people usually put out this time of the year. Nathan from HaHa Bird got the idea to grow Tetris-shaped pumpkins last year, but never got around to doing it.

So instead of growing pumpkins shaped like Tetris pieces, he decided to install an actual Tetris game into a hollowed out pumpkin. Hence, the Pumpktris.

The stem of the pumpkin acts as the controller, with about 128 LEDs illuminating the game ‘screen’ with puzzle pieces. Happy Halloween, Tetris style!

[HaHa Bird via Geekologie]

Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed December as the launch timeframe for iPhone 5 in China on the investor call last week, and now the smartphone is one step closer to launch; AllThingsD notes that it has received approval from China’s State Radio Management organization, meaning only a network access license remains to be granted before it can be legally sold in the country.

The State Radio Management organization approved both a CDMA network version for China Telecom, and one that’s thought to be compatible with China Unicom’s 3G network. The iPhone 4S debuted on China Telecom starting in March this year, ending China Unicom’s 18-month exclusivity deal with Apple. China Telecom and China Unicom represent roughly 127 million 3G subscribers between them, but both still trail the country’s leading service provider, China Mobile, which has 75.6 million subscribers.

Reaching a wider audience isn’t that much of a problem for Apple in China, however. In fact, the company had to halt sales of the iPhone 4S shortly after its launch in January owing to riots and frustration based on a lack of initial device supply. Demand for the iPhone 5 is likely also going to be high, since it seems as though consumers are waiting in that country for the latest device, leading to stalling sales of older versions. Gray market sales have also indicated a strong appetite for the iPhone 5, with consumers buying them up at more than twice the turnover rate of the iPhone 4S just after launch, according to Alibaba’s Taobao index.

Apple is still facing “a significant state of backlog” regarding iPhone 5 production right now, according to Cook on the investor call, so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of stock levels are available for its initial Chinese rollout once that last certification hurdle is cleared.

Carphone Warehouse is now taking pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 820 handset, and there’s good news for the cash bereft — it’s free on contract, and the reseller will toss in a £45 wireless charging plate to boot. You can commit £29 per month to O2, Vodafone or Orange to avoid paying up front, or grab an unencumbered handset at £380 for the 4.3-inch Windows Phone 8 device in black, red or white. For that, you’ll get a 4G-capable smartphone with an 800 x 480 OLED screen, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8-megapixel camera. The free extra offer will expire when shipping starts, so if the WP8 launch has you all charged up, hit the source.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 820 up for UK pre-order: free on contract or £380 sim-less, wireless charger thrown in

Filed under: Cellphones, Nokia

Nokia Lumia 820 up for UK pre-order: free on contract or £380 sim-less, wireless charger thrown in originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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