Hasta La Gadget!

It took me a while, but I’m starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven’t loved a gadget for a long while. There’s something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that’s still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn’t even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I’m finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple’s 10-inch tablet.

But I have one “big” problem with the tablet that doesn’t look like it’ll be solved anytime soon: it’s not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over?

Continue reading Editorial: My next iPad won’t be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be

Editorial: My next iPad won’t be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those wily shoppers at QVC have beaten the world once again in securing an exclusive on Pandigital’s 9-inch Novel tablet. You’ll recall that we weren’t exactly overwhelmed with joy after handling the 7-inch Novel, and sadly this new slate looks like nothing more than a growth spurt, bringing as it does the same resistive touchscreen, B&N ebook store access, 2GB of integrated storage, and 802.11b/g WiFi highlights. Admittedly, QVC throws in a 4GB microSD card and prices it at an affordable $214, but we’re always wary of Android devices that neglect to state which version of the OS they’re running. Hit up the source link if you’re more courageous — or if you just want to watch the longest infomercial of your life.

Pandigital’s 9-inch Novel now on sale… as a QVC exclusive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The $249 Nook Color has decided its November 19th shipping date wasn’t soon enough so it’s jumped ahead of it with pre-order deliveries starting today. Barnes and Noble’s Nook-with-a-hook will be cheering those who reserved or pre-ordered it as shipping ramps up through this week, and there’ll even be some “very limited” quantities that you’ll be able to buy at retail locations like B&N, Best Buy, Walmart, and Books-A-Million stores. All of them should be getting live units for the curious to try out the Nook Color as well. As to the older, less chromatically able Nooks, B&N is promising a firmware update next week. Skip past the break for the full PR.

Continue reading Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail

Nook Color now shipping to early birds, limited retail originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video)

Nook Color first hands-on! (updated: with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble just unveiled its all-new Nook Color, an Android tablet fronted by a 7-inch color touchscreen… so long, e-ink! (Not really, the $149 original Nook is sticking around for now, owns 20 percent of the e-reader market, and is about to get a major software update). B&N is billing it as a hybrid of e-reader and tablet device, and has beefed up its software with a full-on tablet-style UI, along with Facebook and Twitter integration. There’s built-in WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and 8GB of storage, but no 3G at this point. Thankfully, the price stays aggressive as a result: $249. You might think that means the screen is going to be weak, but B&N has managed to put an impressive-sounding “VividView,” 16 million color, 1024 x 600 IPS display in this thing. Interestingly, there’s a “full lamination screen film” on top of the LCD to reduce glare, apparently from the backlight, not just from external light sources.

Build-wise, there’s that striking corner handle we saw before (smacks of the XO-3, doesn’t it?) and a microSD slot, with a 0.48-inch thick body and a 15.6 ounce overall weight. Battery life takes a notable hit, of course, with a rating of 8 hours of reading with the WiFi off. Of course, underneath it all is still Android, and Barnes & Noble is launching the Nook Developer program to allow third party apps on the device, and it even ships with a few favorites like Pandora and Lonely Planet. The color screen also enables a new library of “Nook Kids” children books, full-color magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and video playback if you’re in the mood. The Nook Color ships on November 19th, pre-orders are available now.

Looking for more? Check our hands-on video, photos, and impressions of the Nook Color!

Continue reading Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed

Barnes & Noble Nook Color revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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