Hasta La Gadget!

After initiating the first on-contract Galaxy Tab price cascade back in December that quickly led Sprint to respond, T-Mobile may chop subsidy prices again today for the 7-inch tablet to just under $250 (after a pesky $50 mail-in rebate). Together, that’s only $62 more than the bargain bin CherryPad, which should infuriate early adopters who paid double that only a few months ago, not to mention sober up Samsung. However, when you consider that pseudo-4G tablets like the Dell Streak 7 and LG G-Slate will join Magenta’s lineup soon, it is a viable strategy for extending the Tab’s consumer appeal in this viciously competitive Android tablet world we live in. Then again, if the dual-core processors teased for the Tab’s successor actually pan out, we doubt Samsung will need any assistance getting back to its smug position on top of the Android heap. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled on T-Mobile’s site today and be sure to update should the price change actually materialize.

Update: A recent peek at T-Mobile’s site shows the price drop is now official. If you’re in the UK and prefer buying the Tab unsubsidized, Amazon and Tesco have also chopped their prices to a palatable £341.24 ($542) and £359.20 ($571), respectively. Thanks, Raphael and Rupert!

T-Mobile expected to cut Galaxy Tab pricing to $249.99 (update: drop is official!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After seeing Android tablets galore at CES, it seems strangely fitting that a device bearing the CherryPad moniker could top off this month’s tablet news dog pile. Specifically, Mobile Magazine is sharing “unconfirmed details” about a new 7-inch Cherry-branded tablet that’s said to run Android 2.2 “at a minimum” and feature a 1024×600 capacitive multi-touch display, front and rear three megapixel cameras, a 1GHz Cortex A8 cpu, and either 8 or 16GB of flash memory. Other goodies on the sequel’s spec list include an integrated HDMI output, accelerometer, microSD slot and even an unlocked GSM antenna. Unfortunately, these enhancements won’t be available at the old CherryPad’s $200 price point — which was pretty much the only thing the original had going for it. Instead, the new device is rumored to cost $300 to $400. The same source also reports that an official announcement is expected in just a few weeks, so in the meantime, we’ll pass the hours debating whether it makes more sense to name tablets after fruits or rocks.

Second-gen CherryPad rumored to feature better specs for a bigger price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just when it seemed the Notion Ink Adam had escaped the pit of dubious pre-orders and moved onto the glowing preview stage, here comes another hurdle to trip up its 10-inch PixelQi screen. Android Police reports that US buyers have received email notifications that their orders are ready to ship out, except for that little matter of FCC approval. We’ve yet to see the Adam pass the FCC — perhaps because it hasn’t done so quite yet — and the tablet will need to have its paperwork in order and be properly labeled before it can be imported into the US. Notion Ink insists that all the red tape will be taken care of “within this week,” and that some international orders have already shipped out. We’re hoping that’s the case — we’d hate to think of all those poor slates sitting in boxes, instead of getting some sun.

Notion Ink Adam delayed pending FCC certification originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In case you’re not already sick of tablets, here’s another one that we spotted at a small Taiwanese booth at CES. Sure, this Anadem Q07 — a rebadged Quanta device — was just a dummy, but even this could easily beat the lot of cheap Android slates in a beauty contest. Encased within the chrome bezel and silver body will be a 7-inch 800 x 480 display (which is slightly underwhelming), along with a Samsung S5PV210 processor — essentially the Hummingbird chip but in a different package — underclocked to 800MHz, but still capable of handling 1080p video playback. There’s not much else on the spec sheet, but we did see a micro-USB port, HDMI mini connector, microSD slot, SIM card slot, and stereo speakers on the Q07. Naturally, you’ll hear from us when we stumble upon this Froyo tablet again.

Quanta’s 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viliv had its new Android tablets on display for us to get our grubby hands on, and the company continues to impress us with its sleek designs and attractive feature sets. The X10’s claim to fame is its monstrous 8300 mAh battery which should yield over ten hours of use even with its 10.2-inch display. What we saw was only a prototype, but it doesn’t seem that the battery added any additional bulk to the svelte design. The X7 seven inch model should look pretty familiar, considering it has essentially the same exact enclosure as that X70 slate we spent time with earlier (the only difference is the OS and some tweaked buttons). Both tablets have a Cortex A8 processor chugging away at 1 GHz, front and rear 1.3 / 3 megapixel cams respectively, and support for 3G. They were currently running Froyo but will ultimately ship with Gingerbread. When we mentioned Honeycomb we couldn’t exactly get a straight answer, but it’s a safe bet that won’t happen off the bat and a very vague “3.0 (TBD)” note in the press release doesn’t make anything more clear. Check out these twin tablets getting cozy in our gallery shots below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Viliv X7 and X10 Android tablets hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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