Hasta La Gadget!

Hey, what could the maker of the 3DS‘ autostereoscopic display be doing in its spare time? Why, stealing a bit of thunder for itself, by the looks of it. Sharp has just trotted out a pair of glasses-free 3D Android handsets for Japan’s Softbank network in the form of the touchscreen slate 003SH and QWERTY-slidin’ 005SH. A 1GHz Snapdragon powers Froyo on both, with the 3D-capable displays stretching to 3.8 inches and 800 x 480 resolution. The 003SH also comes with a 9.6 megapixel camera, while the 005SH settles for 8 megapixels, although both are capable of 720p video. There are also bundled 3D content deals in place, such as the one with Capcom that will see Mega Man, Resident Evil and Ghosts ‘n Goblins titles coming preloaded on the handsets. Intrigued? The 003SH is coming this December, to be followed by the 005SH in February.

Sharp Galapagos 003SH and 005SH bring glasses-free 3D to Japanese Android lovers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen the awful, terrible, hideous things that an iPad can do to an otherwise respectable car interior, and now it’s time to see what horrors Android can unleash. Superchips, makers of chips and flash units to summon a few extra ponies under the hood, has announced the creation of the Vivid “vehicle performance programmer” — an Archos 43 Internet Tablet that’s been… augmented with some software. Thanks to this, and a Bluetooth ODB-II module, the car can monitor car performance in real-time and display data while also acting as a G-meter and even a back-up camera. No word on what any of this will cost when it ships in early 2011, but those who already have a little Android buddy will be happy to know that a standalone Bluetooth dongle called the AVID will be releasing in the summertime, enabling all the same functionality without the need for another device. What’ll we stuff in our headrests then?

Continue reading Superchips turns an Archos into a vehicle interface, dubs it ‘Vivid’

Superchips turns an Archos into a vehicle interface, dubs it ‘Vivid’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The story of the Galaxy Tab has been quite a saga, to say the least. In fact, it was actually back in May that we first heard rumblings of Samsung’s plans to unleash a 7-inch Android tablet much like its Galaxy S phones, but it was only after months of painful teasing — including a cruel look at just its packaging on the Engadget Show — that Sammy finally unveiled the Galaxy Tab to the world at IFA. The Tab certainly packed the specs — a 1GHz processor, full Flash support thanks to Android 2.2, dual cameras, support for up to 32GB of storage and WiFi / 3G connectivity — to put other Android tablets to shame, and our initial hands-on with it only had us yearning for more. Without pricing and availability, however, the story was at a cliffhanger. Of course, those details trickled out over the next few months, and here in the US, Samsung finally announced that all four major US carriers would be getting Tabs to call their own. Verizon then finally took the lead in announcing pricing, and revealed that its Tab would hit contract-free for $600 — Sprint followed with the same no-contract pricing along with a $400 two-year contract option.

Indeed, it’s been quite a long journey, but even after all of that, some of the major questions are still left unanswered. Does the Tab provide a more complete and polished experience than all the other Android tablets out there? How are Samsung’s specially tailored apps? And ultimately, has a tablet finally hit the market that can rival Apple’s iPad? We think it’s about time we answer those questions and finally open what might be the most important chapter of the Galaxy Tab story — the official Engadget review. We knew you’d agree, so join us after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab review

Samsung Galaxy Tab review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 13:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ViewSonic’s heavy foray into the tablet market has been no secret, but we’ve been a bit uncertain as to where on the map its products would land. Until now that is. According to ViewSonic’s American team, the company will be kicking off its US tablet invasion with the ViewPad 7 in November. Just as we’d heard, the 7-inch device packs an Snapdragon processor, Android 2.2, two cameras (a 3 megapixel cam on its rear and a VGA front facing one), 512MB of memory and 3G capabilities. Sure, it sounds a heck of a lot like the rest of the other Android tablets we’ve been seeing, but according to ViewSonic this one will most definitely have access to the Google Market and come preloaded with Google’s apps. Well, that’s a horse of a different color, though its $479 MSRP seems a bit high to us. What about the ViewSonic fans out there that have been eyeing the Android 1.6 / Win 7 dual-booting ViewPad 10, you ask? Well, they’ll have to wait until the first quarter of 2011 to get their hands on that one, though at least that gives ’em time to save up the $629 that it’s expected to retail for. We should note here, that the ViewPad 10 is identical in design to the Tega v2 we recently reviewed and similar in specs — it has a 1.66GHz Atom processor, 16GB SSD, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium. We’re still unsure where the 10-inch, Android 2.2 G-Tablet that was recently spotted in a Sears circular fits in, but we’re definitely getting the hint that Viewsonic’s in it to win it with tablets.

Continue reading ViewSonic ViewPad 7 and 10 officially comin’ to America

ViewSonic ViewPad 7 and 10 officially comin’ to America originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did ViewSonic’s 10-inch tablets catch your eye? We’ve got good and bad news. The good news is that the G-Tablet (with a 1GHz processor and Android 2.2) is now on sale at Sears for $379.99 — even less than we were told. The bad news is that the Intel Atom N455-powered ViewPad 10 apparently is, too. We say apparently because Sears seems to have crossed some wires when putting the latter slate up on its site, most egregiously stating that that dual-booting device does both Windows 7 and Android 2.2 for the exact same $379.99. Last we heard, the ViewPad 10 — like the eerily similar Tega v2 — could only do Android 1.6 alongside Microsoft’s OS and would cost quite a bit more. Don’t rely on Sears to cut you a deal, folks.

ViewSonic G-Tablet pops up in Sears weekly ad, mistakenly claims to be the ViewPad 10 at Sears’ website originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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