Hasta La Gadget!

The Ideapad Tablet K1 is about as well known an unannounced product as there is right now, having been pictured and listed by a couple of online retailers and passed the requisite tests over at the FCC. What we weren’t quite so sure about was its price, which a tipster now informs us is $499.99, and its launch date, which looks to be fast approaching. The OfficeMax placard we’ve been forwarded promises 32GB of storage, Android 3.0 (with a “custom-built” interface on top), 1280 x 800 resolution on a 10.1-inch multitouch screen, a pair of cameras, up to 10 hours of battery life, a weight of 1.6lb (725g), and a thickness of just over half an inch (13.2mm). Not exactly an unorthodox list of specs, but more choice is rarely a bad thing.

[Thanks, GorillazKing]

Lenovo Ideapad Tablet K1 priced at $500 by OfficeMax, inches closer to release originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s here folks — the planet’s first Android 3.2 tablet. Huawei just introduced a downright luscious new slate over in Singapore, with CommunicAsia being the launchpad for the 7-inch MediaPad. It’s the first high-profile 7-inch tablet we’ve seen in quite some time, and somehow or another, it’s managed to leapfrog most of the currently shipping Honeycomb tablets with a build of Android we’ve only ever joked about. Huawei tells us that Honeycomb 3.2 is essentially the same as 3.1, but specifically tailored to 7-inch tablets as opposed to 10-inch. Packed within the MediaPad’s 10.5mm shell, there’s a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchpanel, GPS, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, a battery good for around six hours of life and a bona fide racehorse as a processor: a dual-core 1.2GHz chip from Qualcomm. If all goes well, it’ll ship in the United States in Q3 2011.

It’s a fair bit chunkier than the newfangled Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm), but still slimmer than the original Tab, which clocked in at 11.98mm. It weighs in at 390g (0.86 pounds), supports full 1080p playback, includes HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) 3G support, offers 8GB of internal storage (as well as a microSD slot) and comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Let’s Golf and Documents To Go. There’s also a Bluetooth module, an HDMI output for catching those high-def flicks on the go, and the Flash 10.3 player ensures that those websites won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, the company’s left a great deal to the imagination — like pricing, which is being “sorted with retail partners and providers” — and all we’ve got for system RAM is a promise that it’s “working with partners on specifics.” Oddly enough, the company has “no current plans” to produce a WiFi-only model, which definitely puts a damper on those who aren’t interested in ponying for carrier data. You can bet we’ll be digging for more, but even with the surrounding mystery, calling us “excited” would be a severe understatement.

Update: There’s a demo vid just after the break, and the first eyes-on shots have emerged from the conference.

Continue reading Huawei MediaPad revealed: world’s first 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU

Huawei MediaPad revealed: world’s first 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 05:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nexus 4G purportedly features a dual-core 1.2 GHZ or 1.5GHz processor. The Nexus S, pictured, has a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor. Photo: Gizmodo

The details on Google’s next Nexus smartphone may have been revealed, and tipsters are saying the phone is an “absolute beast.”

Well-sourced mobile blog Boy Genius Report claims that the Nexus 4G, as it is currently being referred to, will house a faster dual-core CPU and run the next-generation Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Tipsters also told BGR that the handset would include a 1.2-GHz or 1.5-GHz Snapdragon processor and sport a ”monster-sized” 720p high-definition touchscreen display with no buttons. A button-free display would be a major change, because most current Android handsets, including the Nexus S, have four menu buttons (menu, home, back and search) located below the screen.

If BGR’s sources are correct, the Nexus 4G would be a significant step up from Google’s current flagship phone, the Samsung-built 3G Nexus S, which sports a 1-Ghz Hummingbird processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. A 4G Sprint version of the Nexus S with very similar hardware specs (1-GHz Hummingbird processor, 16 GB of internal storage and NFC capabilities) began shipping in April.

The Nexus 4G sounds right on trend: At CES this year, we saw a smorgasbord of dual-core smartphones hit the stage, and many of the devices, like Samsung’s Galaxy S II have started dropping with 1.2-GHz processor speeds. Like most Android-powered phones, the Nexus 4G appears to make a big push on the newest, muscular hardware features to compete with Apple’s iPhone, which gets upgraded only once a year.

Other purportedly leaked specs on the Nexus 4G include a 1-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of 1080p HD video capture. The rear camera will utilize an advanced sensor for “class-leading image quality” and good performance in low-light scenarios, according to BGR.

The Nexus 4G looks like it could be the first smartphone to run Google’s newest OS, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich meshes a number of features from Android 2.3 Gingerbread with ones that were previously exclusive to the tablet-only Honeycomb, such as a holographic user interface, multitasking, and the ability to connect with USB devices like an Xbox controller. It’ll debut in the fourth quarter of 2011, so that’s probably the earliest we would see the Nexus 4G potentially being released.

Perhaps, as with Android 2.3 Gingerbread’s debut, both the OS and the smartphone will be officially unveiled at the same event. Reports peg the release around Thanksgiving.

No carrier information was leaked, leading to speculation that the Nexus 4G could be one of the first AT&T 4G LTE smartphones. Or maybe Google just hasn’t hammered out an exact carrier deal yet.

See Also:

• Google’s Nexus S Goes on Sale With ‘Half-Assed’ Strategy
• Here’s the Google Phone Apple Wants You to Have

As promised, Toshiba is marking June 13th with pre-order availability of its Thrive Android (3.1!) tablet, a device whose life aspiration and name happen to coincide perfectly. This 10-inch Tegra 2 portable has the usual 1280 x 800 resolution, dual cameras (5 megapixel on the back, 2 megapixel up front), a gigabyte of RAM, and a 23WHr battery, but it also brings nice expandability with full-size HDMI, USB 2.0 and SD card slots. The Easy Grip back covers can be swapped — which, yes, means you can also replace the battery — though you’ll have to splash out $20 for any non-black hues. The 8GB Thrive costs $430, followed by the 16GB unit at $480 and the 32GB option at $580. You can order yours directly from Toshiba or at Amazon, Best Buy or Office Direct, with deliveries slated for mid-July.

[Thanks, Matthew]

Toshiba Thrive pre-order now live, starts at $430 and ends up in your hands in mid-July originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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John Thode, Dell’s Vice President for mobile devices, has shared a Honeycomb-flavored snippet of his company’s tablet roadmap with CNET. The 10-inch Android tablet that we saw at CES and suspected could be with us this month will indeed be making its debut in the summer, according to Thode, but its launch market will be China, not the US. He points to a number of “inhibitors and barriers to success” in Dell’s homeland — such as mobile carriers dictating pricing models that stifle the adoption of tablets and users being unaware of “what exactly Android is bringing” — as the causes for Round Rock’s atypical decision. The Streak 10 Pro, as it’ll officially be known, comes with a Honeycomb-standard 1280 x 800 resolution screen, an edge-to-edge glass surface, two cameras (one of them reaching a 5 megapixel res), an SD card slot, a thickness of 12mm, and 1080p video playback capabilities courtesy of an unspecified NVIDIA Tegra dual-core processor. An additional dock will allow the 10 Pro to act as a USB host, while augmenting its connectivity with HDMI, Ethernet, and, obviously, a set of USB ports. The US may still get to enjoy this bounty of options, but we’re told it won’t happen until 2012. By which point we’ll probably have a taste for fresher, icier versions of Android.

Update: Dell has confirmed all of the foregoing in a blog post.

Dell Streak 10 Pro tablet to launch in China this summer, US may get it next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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