Hasta La Gadget!

The inundation of tablets upon these very pages from day to day should give you an idea that manufacturers see this as a golden opportunity to grab a big chunk of a fledgling market. According to Gartner, though, the prospects are a little less rosy — for the next five years, anyway. Analyst estimates indicate that the tablet market will boom over the next five years, from 17,610,000 units last year to 294,093,000 in 2015. No, not 294,092,000. 294,093,000. Apple will be the dominant force, its market share not dropping below 50 percent until the terminal year of this study. Android will take up the lion share of the other half, with the remaining dredges shared by MeeGo, WebOS, and QNX. The latter, which powers RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook, is scheduled to have a 10 percent share. That’ll be the closest thing to a threat that Google and Apple will face — if you believe any of this.

Update: The figures above are in thousands of units.

Gartner: Apple will dominate tablet space for years, Android won’t drink its milkshake until after 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

When Apple introduced the iPad, it had but a smattering of third-party applications, but the company stressed its own. As Apple iPhone software SVP Scott Forstall stated in the iPad introduction video, “We looked at the device and we decided: let’s redesign it all. Let’s redesign, reimagine and rebuild every single app from the ground up specifically for the iPad.”

Compare this to the strategy employed by RIM, makers of the upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. One year after the iPad’s debut, Apple’s head start in apps has proven a formidable advantage against the onslaught of slates announced by its competitors in the smartphone world. Some have chosen to latch onto Android and attain backwards compatibility with over 200,000 existing smartphone apps. HP, with its TouchPad as flagship, will circle its wagons of PCs, printers and phones around the webOS platform. However, the announcement this week that RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook will support Android apps says much about how the company sees its position in the tablet wars.

Continue reading Switched On: The PlayBook polyglot

Switched On: The PlayBook polyglot originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the dead of night … pre-orders happen. RIM has snuck out the first official pricing for its 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and, true to its promise, it costs less than $500. A cent less than $500. The 16GB WiFi-only PlayBook is now up for pre-order at Best Buy and is coming to a vast list of other retailers soon. Staples, Office Depot and RadioShack are among the popular US store chains, while AT&T, Sprint and Verizon will also carry the tablet. No T-Mobile on that list. Canadian pre-orders for the same model are now live as well, also at $499.99, albeit in the local dollar currency. A 32GB WiFi model will set Canucks back C$600 and the 64GB model is C$700, which might be indicative of US pricing too if price parity is maintained throughout the range. The almost full press release (still no release date) follows after the break.

Update: A second press release has confirmed full US pricing for the WiFi versions: 16GB is $500, 32GB is $600 and 64GB is $700. Scheduled to be available on April 19th!

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook priced at $500 for 16GB WiFi model, pre-orders begin today (update: available April 19th)

BlackBerry PlayBook priced at $500 for 16GB WiFi model, pre-orders begin today (update: available April 19th) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No, not the Galaxy Mini, that low-end Android sprout — this looks like Samsung’s smaller alternative to the upcoming Galaxy S II superphone. We just got handed UK carrier Three’s entire spring-summer lineup, and the Android 2.3 handset certainly stands out, pretending to be miniature in spite of a 3.7-inch screen (think Droid), a 1.4GHz processor (think Pre 3) and 21Mbps HSPA+ connectivity. But that’s the tip of the iceberg compared to what’s in store for Three — it looks like the Nokia X7 is alive, well, and tracking for a June release (not to mention the LG Optimus 3D), and tablets will drop too, with May bringing the HTC Flyer and the WiFi-only BlackBerry PlayBook launching in June. See specs and slated launch windows in our gallery below, and join us in hoping these documents portend a rapid US release.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Samsung Galaxy S II Mini leaks out for Three, plus Nokia X7, Flyer and PlayBook release dates in UK originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A round of leaks today has potentially pinpointed the second week of April as the launch window for RIM’s slick seven-inch PlayBook. An email purportedly sent out by Sears up in Canada confirms earlier echoes, informing buyers that the device will up for grabs on April 10, with preorders possibly beginning as soon as tomorrow. On top of that, an image from Staples’ backend sent to Crackberry pegs a 33-day count down to start on the 15th, which lines up nicely with another leaked shot denoting an “ad date” of April 17. We’ve also received an unconfirmed tip from a Sprint rep saying that the PlayBook would be landing on the 15th, along with an a smattering of cases and a… stylus? Finally, we’ve been sent shots of some PlayBook signage apparently on display in a Future Shop in Canada highlighting the device’s multitasking capabilities, reminding us “it’s whats on the inside that counts.” Oddly, the same signage mistakenly attaches the Xoom moniker, though we’d imagine that’s just a blunder on the retailer’s part. Of course, all of this is still completely unconfirmed by RIM itself, so until we hear otherwise, anything could happen. Signage shot after the break, and other photo goodness available at the source links.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook launch-date palooza: tablet to finally drop in mid-April?

BlackBerry PlayBook launch-date palooza: tablet to finally drop in mid-April? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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