Hasta La Gadget!

Well friends, if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on the 8-inch Vizio tab (and don’t live near a Costco), your time has come. The company announced today that its slate has begun shipping to retailers nationwide including Sam’s, Walmart and Amazon. The Android tablet is now priced at $299, a $30 drop from our last retail sighting — and just in time to entice those of you heading back to school in search of a new piece of tech to play with during that history lecture. Or perhaps you just want to kick it like Blake Griffin… don’t worry, we won’t judge you. Besides, what else do you need for your dorm room other than an integrated universal remote to queue up all those Lord of the Rings marathons?

Continue reading Vizio tablet now shipping nationwide, priced at $300

Vizio tablet now shipping nationwide, priced at $300 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos Arnova 8 G2 tablet makes FCC appearance, gets friendly with metal yardsticks originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s do a roll call, shall we? Who doesn’t have a Honeycomb tablet to shill in the states? Acer, ASUS, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba all have something to their names, with Dell possibly bringing its China-only Dell Streak 10 Pro here too. Until now, Lenovo was one glaring exception. The company already had a head start selling the LePad tablet in China, but it was only last month that it announced not one, but two Honeycomb slates for the US market: the IdeaPad K1 for mainstream consumers, and the ThinkPad Tablet for business users (and a fair share of geeks, too). Now, we could easily roll our eyes at how saturated the market for Android tablets is becoming, but Lenovo isn’t just any old OEM. The brand has won such an avid following that we bet the company could have essentially slapped its name on a plain-Jane black slab and waited for loyal fans to line up.

In fact, though, you’re in for a bit more than name recognition. The K1 goes after mainstream consumers with a winsome design, sure, but also a software package designed to make Honeycomb easier to use, and to help ensure that flummoxed, low-tech users don’t have to spend too much time downloading apps out of the box. What’s more, it ships with Android 3.1 and has a two-cell battery that promises up to ten hours of battery life. Oh, and the 32GB model rings in $499, undercutting the 32GB iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by $100. But is that enough for it to stand out? Let’s see.

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re headed over as we speak to get an early look at what TouchWiz has in store for Tab 10.1-totin’ New Yorkers, but in the meantime, Samsung’s served up a laundry list of details (after the break) to clue everyone in on what it’ll bring. Aside from pushing the TouchWiz UX overlay atop Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the new digs will also enable Samsung Kies 2.0 support for PC and Mac, solving an issue we spotted a few weeks back. For those unfamiliar with Sammy’s Android dressings, this one promises to bring a Live Panel (described as a magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, and news on the home pane), a Mini Mode Tray (providing one-touch access to commonly used apps), Clipboard (it’s copy and paste, advanced), Photo Editor (it edits JPEGs, y’all) and the token Indicator Quick Panel (which enables users to quickly toggle on / off WiFi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display).

Of course, proceeding with the update means that you’ll get Amazon’s Music Cloud Player, the Kindle app and ‘Words with Friends’ preloaded, but enterprise folk can at least look forward to full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, on-device encryption and compatibility with Cisco’s VPN / Sybase MDM / WebEx. Still hungry for more? How’s about wireless printing to any “compatible” printer, as well as a bolstered Swype app that enables resizing of the keyboard and movement of the keys to any position on the panel. You’ll also find Adobe’s Flash Player 10.3, a redesigned Samsung Media Hub service and a promise that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners will start to see it beginning August 5th. If you’re eager to get prepped for Friday’s release, hit the source link to setup a required Samsung account; once registered, you’ll be notified when your device is ready for the upgrade and given drop-dead simple steps to complete it. Naturally, we’ll be bringing you an early look of the changes as soon as humanly possible.

Continue reading Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th

Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, it wouldn’t even bother us if it didn’t look so amazing. But alas, the Eee Slider from ASUS is easily one of the most anticipated Honeycomb tablets around, and our unending love for the since-departed HTC Advantage ensures that the flame for this guy will keep burning, too. Just a few weeks after hearing from ASUS’ UK branch that the Slider was being delayed until ‘autumn,’ in flies word from The Netherlands that we may be able to fix our gaze on September. Based on reports from Tablets Magazine, the 16GB model will be canned altogether in favor of a lone 32 gigger, which should sell for €499 across the pond. As for the 3G-enabled variant? We aren’t apt to see that surface until Q1 2012. It’s tough to pinpoint the reason for the holdup, but our guess is software — earlier in the week, a hands-on video emerged showcasing the Slider with Android 3.1, paying particular attention to the newfound USB accessory support. Have a gander at the video just past the break, and feel free to console one another in comments.

Update: Seems that ASUS’ Polish arm thinks that the 16GB model may ship in that corner of the world. Hmm… maybe these folks should start talking to one another.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012

ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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