Hasta La Gadget!

Last week, Amazon decided to expand the B&M presence of its famed e-reader by throwing Best Buy the same bone already thrown to Staples and Target, and it looks as if “this fall” is about to get going. We’ve received word that demo units are already popping up in Best Buy locations (for running advertorial loops to entice you and yours, we’re surmising), and mere mortals should be able to procure them starting next week. We suspect the $139 Wi-Fi and $189 3G model will both be making their yellow-tag debut, and we fully expect this ad right here to be looped ad naseum in whatever aisle BB decides to slot these in.

Amazon Kindle demo unit arrives in Best Buy, should populate shelves soon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like everyone else, Velocity Micro’s about to cannonball into the tablet pool with the hope of making a big splash. Its first product, the $199 Cruz Reader is already boxed up and arriving on store shelves this week. The seven-inch tablet / e-reader runs Android 2.0 and comes preloaded with Borders’ e-book application. We got a chance to check out the device this morning, and while we’re impressed with the solid build and rubbery back, it’s fairly heavy at a pound and the glossy screen results in less-than-excellent viewing angles. Still, it shows a lot more promise than the Pandigital Novel and Augen GenTouch 78 — we’ll never like resistive screens on this sort of device, but we were able to turn pages by tapping as well as scroll relatively well by dragging a nail down the screen. There’s no access to the Android Market, but Velocity has its own Cruz Market and preloads some apps like Twidroid.

But the tablet buck doesn’t stop there for Velocity Micro. The Cruz Tablet that we’ve been hearing about since April will hit a “major electronics retailer” in October for $299. The Tablet we saw today wasn’t working, but we nabbed some shots of the hardware below. This one will have a capacitive screen; however, the company isn’t planning on rolling it out with Android 2.0 — it feels the 600MHz processor isn’t quite powerful enough to handle that Froyo and Flash goodness. Not to worry: its future eight- and 10-inch capacitive tablets, which will be announced at CES, are going to be powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU and run Android 3.0. Told you it’s aiming for a big splash! Hit the break for a short hands-on video of the Cruz Reader and stay tuned for a full review of that one soon.

Continue reading Velocity Micro Cruz Reader hits stores, Cruz Tablet hitting in October along with more in January

Velocity Micro Cruz Reader hits stores, Cruz Tablet hitting in October along with more in January originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Noah, who needs a bit of assistance in making the transition from textbook to e-book. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I have a class that has gone paperless. All of our readings are posted online as PDF scans of books. I have become quite annoyed with having to read these on my computer. So I have thought about purchasing an e-reader. The best choice seems to be a Kindle, but would you recommend a Sony, Nook, or something else instead? My primary interest is great PDF support / viewing. Thanks.”

We know, you’re “too busy” with “classes” to really answer here, but everyone deserves a study break or three. Take a breather and help your fellow student out — it’s just the right thing to do.

Ask Engadget: Best e-reader for school use / PDF viewing? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We saw it this weekend for a fleeting moment, but thankfully one handy reader sent us copies of the product page for HP’s Photosmart eStation C510, which we can now confirm is the Zeus / Zeen printer and detachable tablet combination we caught wind of back in early August — and we’ve got some more details. Bad news first: as of a month ago, the Gmail app was missing and there was no support for Android Market, meaning the Zeen might not be an official “with Google” Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. (The product page conspicuously lacks any mention of the OS, so we’re thinking Android might simply be the hidden-away base layer for the TouchSmart UI, making this thing super boring.) It does have the default Android browser and at least some custom apps for printing pictures from Facebook, Yahoo, and Snapfish preloaded, but we don’t know about anything else. Major bummer, but we’re told it shouldn’t be too hard for the community at large to root the sucker. Beta testing begins this month, so that all might change before the projected September 20th release. Here’s what else we know so far:

• The Zeen is a capacitive tablet running HP’s TouchSmart skin on top of Android 2.1 — it won’t get shifted to webOS, and it’s not clear if it’ll get upped to Froyo before launch given the development time required. It has capacitive touch buttons, an SD card slot, video support, and at least some prototypes have cameras with a special webcam app installed.
• We’re told TouchSmart will be locked in, but we don’t know how deep that’ll go — right now the standard Android homescreen is still accessible. That’s supposedly going away, so don’t get your hopes up for any native Gmail / Angry Birds use.
• E-reading is a major focus, and the Zeen has “significant” integration with the Barnes & Noble Nook bookstore and ecosystem. Makes sense, as the Nook itself is based on Android, and being able to print e-books from the Zeen would be a huge differentiator — and a great way for HP to sell more ink.
• The touchscreen is apparently not very accurate at all, and we’re told the overall experience is far less satisfying than a competent Android phone. Don’t expect this to replace your Droid Incredible for all at-home use.
• The Zeen will come in two configurations: a $399 bundle with a new printer called Zeus and as a standalone unit for an unknown price. The Zeus has its own “basic” control setup, but when the Zeen is docked it provides a rich interface to the printing functions — presumably a web-connected interface like the one HP’s been moving towards with other printers. (Note: the product page listed $399.99 but provided no indication what price the Zeen might go for solo.)
• Ship date is an estimated September 20th but due to some testing issues this may be pushed back.

Until HP comes clean and inks out the details for all the world to see, check out the product page in pictorial format below.

Exclusive: HP Photosmart eStation C510 is Android-powered Zeus / Zeen, may not run Gmail or Market apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now, we don’t have any confirmation that the two are one and the same, but we just caught wind of a very intriguing printer on HP’s website. The Photosmart eStation C510 is listed for $399.99 and, in addition to usual ink-plastering duties, has a detachable wireless 7-inch TouchSmart control panel for browsing content, printing (of course), and “brows[ing] the latest e-book bestsellers or old favorites.” It all sounds well and good, and if you ask us, it rings a very eerily similar chord as the eStation Zeen / Zeus from early August. If so, that’d make this touchscreen an Android 2.1 tablet with “significant” Nook integration for e-reading. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what’s under the hood, software-wise. What say ye, HP, how about throwing us a press release yonder?

Update: And just like that, the printer has disappeared off the face of the internet, without so much as a cached Google page to its name.

Update 2: A trusted source tells us this printer is indeed the eStation Zeus of yore.

[Thanks, Julian]

HP lists Photosmart eStation C510 printer with detachable e-reading touchscreen — is this the Zeus? (update: yes) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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