Hasta La Gadget!

Previously, Archos has only ever given us a fleeting glimpse of the G10 xs tablets it’s planning to launch this year — FCC filings don’t count. Cogs in the company’s media machine are turning once again, as the company has posted a teaser press image on Facebook with confirmation that a launch is just three weeks away. It’s difficult to read the tea leaves from the oblique shot we’re given, although we already know that the Android 4.0 slate will support microSD, mini-HDMI and a connector for that Eee Pad Transformer-style keyboard dock. Our main questions now center on when the G10 xs pops up in the US as well as the degree of bang we’ll get for our buck.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos teases G10 xs with first press shot, vows launch in three weeks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 03:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If it feels like yesterday you read our in-depth review of the dual-core Meizu MX, you’re not too far from the truth. In reality, it’s been just over seven months and we’ve already moved onto the smartphone’s quad-core sequel, aptly named the Meizu MX 4-core. Not only is it easy to confuse the two phones by name, but good luck trying to tell which one is which. Indeed, the two handsets are quite similar both inside and out, with the exception of some improvements in a couple rows on the ‘ol spec sheet.

The biggest surprise isn’t necessarily the speed with which the company cranked out a second MX, and it’s not even the reasonable price (HK$3,099, or US$400, or the 32GB version, and HK$4,099 / US$530 for the 64GB). Nope, it’s seeing Meizu, a manufacturer known for its copycat products, evolving into a relevant player beyond its native China. So how does this latest effort stack up? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Meizu MX 4-core review

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software

Meizu MX 4-core review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Low-cost tablets are a dime a dozen in the Android world, what with no name offerings from Ainovo to budget stalwarts like Archos. But there’s always room for more competition and Energy Sistem seems intent on elbowing its way to a prominent place at the bottom. A mild update to its existing slate lineup, the Energy Tablet i8 keeps the same 8-inch LCD display and 1,024 x 768 resolution (in 4:3 aspect ratio) of its Gingerbread-baked predecessors, but this time packages it with Ice Cream Sandwich onboard. The tab also comes equipped with an Arm Cortex A8 processor clocked at 1GHz, VGA front-facing / 2-megapixel rear camera setup, 8GB of storage (expandable to 64GB via microSD), 1GB RAM, HDMI-out, a 3,800mAh battery and support for WiFi b/g/n. It’s up for pre-order now on the company’s site, with an official release slated for this August 23rd. But at €185 (about $227), you might be better off saving up a few extra bills and shelling out for the more premium Nexus 7. Official PR after the break.

Continue reading Energy Sistem beefs up its budget i8 slate with Ice Cream Sandwich inside

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Energy Sistem beefs up its budget i8 slate with Ice Cream Sandwich inside originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wikipad gaming tablet has been ticking off boxes on its way to becoming a real product, and after bedding down with Gaikai game streaming and settling in to a 10.1-inch form factor, the rest of the hardware is now set. The chunky handheld will brandish an IPS display with 1,280 x 800 resolution, NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30 quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, at least 16GB storage and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Other notable items include 8-megapixel rear / 2-megapixel front cameras, six hours continuous gaming battery life and a 2D-only screen instead of the 3D originally touted — at least, for the first model. The controller remains the same with a pair of triggers, bumpers, joysticks and start/select buttons, and will cover the slate’s speakers and route sound out the front. The rest of the story is yet to come, namely exactly what that price will be and when you’ll actually be able to pew-pew with it, but the company has promised to ‘fess up soon. Meanwhile, though airy for a tablet at 560 grams (1.2 pounds), it’s not exactly PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS XL territory — but then a heavyweight contender could be exactly what handheld gaming needs.

Filed under: Gaming, Tablet PCs

Wikipad specs get real: 10.1-inch 1,280 x 800 display, 1.4 GHz Tegra 3, Jelly Bean originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC dampened a few spirits when it dropped the Desire HD from its Android 4.0 upgrade list. The company might feel your pain, but it claims to have a good reason for denying the update that it’s been doling out elsewhere. There’s no way to shoehorn a new version into the device like there was for the Desire’s leap to Android 2.3, the company says. Fitting all that Ice Cream Sandwich into the Desire HD would require repartitioning the internal space, and repartitioning risks overwriting personal content; needless to say, the company isn’t keen on explaining why it might nuke our family photos just so we can run Chrome. Even if that weren’t an issue, a nebulous set of “other technical limitations” might not rub upgraders the right way. All of the explanations add up, although it’s nonetheless easy to sympathize with Desire HD owners now stuck in Gingerbread land — especially as owners of the closely related Thunderbolt aren’t being held back.

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC explains decision to skip Android 4.0 for Desire HD: we’d rather not wipe your data originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jul 2012 01:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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