Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of August we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — you can hit up the hub page right here!

DNP Engadget's back to school guide 2012 tablets

Your back may be straining from the textbooks, laptop, gym gear and lunch in that dangling overstuffed messenger, but you’re still gonna want to save room for one more item — a tablet. After all, while you can surf, tweet, play games and watch video from your other devices, there’s nothing like doing it from a simple glass window that sits in the palm of your hand. As the hardware gets more powerful, these devices are rapidly becoming versatile enough to let you justify leaving the laptop at home on less-intensive days, so why not check out our picks of the finest devices you should be using and abusing before, during and after class.

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Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability

Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability

Lenovo’s been racking up its IdeaTab portfolio with slates like the S2109 and S2110, but apparently there’s a lot more where that came from. The Chinese company’s currently showcasing two new US-bound, ICS-based IdeaTabs on its website, starting with the 7-inch A2107 which had previously made the rounds in China under a different moniker, and followed by a 9-inch (1280 x 800) A2109 that’s said to be “full size fun on a small budget.” Unfortunately, full spec and pricing details are relatively scarce at the moment, though Lenovo’s product page does tell us they should both be available at some point next month. For now, feel free to head over to the source link below if you’d like to give ’em a quick view.

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Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos’ ICS-loaded 97 Carbon tablet now up for sale, priced at $230 for a limited time

Archos' ICS-loaded 97 Carbon tablet now up for sale, priced at $230 for a limited time

Its brief, mandatory appearance at the FCC a couple of weeks ago certainly let us know it’d be ready to take anyone’s cash sooner rather than later, and surely enough, the 97 Carbon’s now making itself available to all. Just as we’d heard, Archos is pricing the Ice Cream Sandwich slate at $250, though the company’s currently running a deal where it’s parting ways with the Elements slab for $20 less than MSRP — naturally, this is a “limited time only” offer, and thus it could change at any given moment. Either way, that amount of greenbacks snags you an eye-pleasing 9.7-inch, IPS display with a run-of-the-mill 1GHz, single-core CPU and 16GB of built-in storage. Obviously the spotlight’s still shining high on Google’s Nexus 7, so we’re interested to find out how many of you think this is enough to make you look past the Jelly Bean sweets — do let us know in the comments below.

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Archos’ ICS-loaded 97 Carbon tablet now up for sale, priced at $230 for a limited time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Certified testers (and tweakers) get Jelly Bean for their Honeycomb era Xoom WiFis

Testers and tweakers get Jelly Bean for their Honeycomb era Xoom WiFis

Considering that the Motorola Xoom WiFi was one of the first tabs to devour Ice Cream Sandwich, its plans to pop Android 4.1 Jelly Bean are hardly a surprise. While there’s no official delivery date for the average user, certified testers who signed up for a pre-release won’t have to wait — it’s just been pushed out to their devices. Of course, enterprising tinkerers can always get what they want as well, by installing it using a USB host cable or flashing a recovery file. If you’re one of those brave souls, you’ll score smoother performance, new search options and better keyboard — but there may still be a few bugs before the full rollout happens. Also, if you were looking forward to finally having the update’s Chrome pack-in, it missed the pre-release Jelly Bean bus and you’ll have to stop at the Play store to grab it. Check out the more coverage link below for the gritty details on how to install the latest update.

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Certified testers (and tweakers) get Jelly Bean for their Honeycomb era Xoom WiFis originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei outs MediaPad 7 Lite with Ice Cream Sandwich, doesn’t tell us when it’s coming

Huawei outs MediaPad 7 Lite with Ice Cream Sandwich, doesn't tell us when it's coming

Yesterday, we heard Huawei’s 1H 2012 numbers had turned out positive for the most part — which, of course, were helped in large part by having those rather popular Ascend D1 and P1 up for grabs in the China region. Now, it may or may not be in hopes of a better second half, but the Chinese outfit’s just very quietly taken the wraps off of its newest tablet: the MediaPad 7 Lite. As the numerical figure in the moniker would tell, this particular Huawei tablet sports a 7-inch (1280 x 800) form factor, with other features like Mountain View’s Ice Cream Sandwich and 3G connectivity (WiFi as well) also said to be included in the light package. Sadly, there’s still many deets up in the air, as Huawei hasn’t revealed where, or when, we can expect the MediaPad 7 Lite to launch. In the meantime, though, feel free to head over to the company’s site, where you’ll find some extra eye candy.

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Huawei outs MediaPad 7 Lite with Ice Cream Sandwich, doesn’t tell us when it’s coming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jelly Bean details spill for US Motorola Xoom WiFi

Jelly Bean details spill for US Motorola Xoom WiFi

Rumor has it that Xoom WiFi owners in the US could soon be on the receiving end of yet another software update, though this time ’round it’d be a virtual jar full of that colorful and buttery smooth Android 4.1. According to a recent changelog received by Droid Life, the Jelly Bean refresh will bring a number of features previously seen on Google’s Nexus 7 over to Moto’s 10-inch slate — some of which include an improved UI with the “smoothest version of Android,” a new look for Mountain View’s search, smarter overall keyboard and widgets that “work like magic.” No word on when exactly we’ll see the alleged build (JRO038) hit WiFi-only Xooms here in the States, but at least there’s some tasteful hope for you.

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Jelly Bean details spill for US Motorola Xoom WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity hits the UK on August 31st, priced at £600 for 64GB model

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity hits the UK on August 31st, starts at £600 for 32GB model

While we’ve known the pricing and availability attached to ASUS’ new flagship slate in the US for some time now, UKers had been left to wonder when they’d finally be able to get their eager palms on that rebranded and well-specced Pad Infinity. Thankfully, that’s about to change, as the Taiwanese outfit just announced the Transformer TF700 will be up for grabs from Amazon in the UK starting August 31st, with the sticker value set at £600 for the rather spacious 64GB configuration and with the useful dock included. Naturally, that’s only a small part of the entire package, given how you’d also be getting a beautiful 1920 x 1200 display and the famed Tegra 3 chip to get you through the days. The only tedious bit is you’ll still have to wait a while to place your order; in the meantime, however, you could always give our review yet another read.

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ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity hits the UK on August 31st, priced at £600 for 64GB model originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 appears in 30-second commercial (video)

Samsung Galaxy Note 101 appears in 30second commercial video

If — for some outlandish reason — you were still doubting the imminent release of the Galaxy Note 10.1, let us invite you to have a peek at the video just after the break. Sure enough, it’s an official Samsung teaser showcasing some of the more seductive features of its forthcoming Android slate — the slate that appeared for but a moment on Amazon. If you’re looking for a brief update on how we got here, you may recall us first touching the 10.1-inch Note back at Mobile World Congress in February, with the device caught on camera elsewhere as recently as last month. There’s still no definitive ship date to grab hold of, but it’s probably time you asked yourself: is okay to yearn after something that an honorable judge has deemed “not as cool” as some other tablet? Decision 2012 — we report, you decide.

Update: This post originally and erroneously made a connection between the Note 10.1 and the Judge Koh ruling on the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It has been updated.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 appears in 30-second commercial (video)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 appears in 30-second commercial (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The EdenTAB now official set to hit Japanese Store this august

Announced earlier this year in February the EdenTab or Eden TAB a 7″ Android 2.3.3 Android tablet (Set to be upgraded ton Android 4.0) that comes with a Samsung S5PC210 1.2GHz Dual Core CPU, comes with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, a WXGA resolution and SIM (Free) slot, is now set to arrive in Japan within august and will be sold between 34,800 and 36,800 Yen!

ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing ‘in stock’ at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release

ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing 'in stock' at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release

July 16th? Why wait? A full three days prior to the previously scheduled US release date, ASUS’ Transformer Prime TF700T is showing as “in stock” right now from Office Depot. For those who’ve managed to forget about it’s amenities since its original unveiling some six months ago, this one’s packing a 10.1-inch (1,920 x 1,200) display, Android 4.0, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n, 32GB of internal storage and NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 keeping the gears turning. As expected, $499.99 is the asking price, with an estimated delivery of “Just as soon as shipping partners get back to work next week.” Oh, and scalpers — it’s limit two per customer. Just a heads-up.

[Thanks, Tony]

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ASUS Transformer Prime TF700T showing ‘in stock’ at Office Depot, days before scheduled US release originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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