Hasta La Gadget!

Some more details have apparently leaked out about that tablety thing that Apple is supposedly announcing on March 2nd. Apparently some of the long rumored additions won’t be hitting the next version of the iPad. The SD card slot? That one’s out. But let’s face it, Steve Jobs never really cared for those things anyway. Also off the menu is the hi-res display (which some sources were suggesting would actually be a large version of the Retina Display offered on the last version of the iPhone).

There’s a reason Garmin has a virtual lock on the GPS watch market: Garmin watches just work. When you’re getting ready to head out on a run, you want to be able to just turn on your watch, let it sync while you stretch, and go. No watch I tried out allowed for that–except for the Garmin Forerunner 110 ($249.99 direct).

Though it was the smallest of the watches I tried out by far, the Garmin still had plenty of room on the screen for all the essential stats: distance, time elapsed, and pace. Unlike the Timex’s wide range of views, the only other options for the Garmin are heart rate and time. I was sent the more expensive grey and pink women’s version of watch (The price goes up $50, because it comes with a heart-rate monitor), but there is also a red and black “male” version as well as a less expensive black and grey unisex model. I didn’t mind the faint floral design on the bezel, but many of my running companions complained that it was a little too girly for their taste.

Like the display options, the functionality of the Garmin watch is pretty bare bones. I appreciated its simplicity, but this watch can’t differentiate between athletic activities like the triathlete-friendly Timex or provide more detailed geographic information like the hiking-geared Suunto. Pressing the menu or start buttons will launch the search for satellite connection. From there, operation is simple–start, pause, and stop the watch with the start/stop button on the top right. There’s also an illumination button on the top left for night running and an option to record splits with the lap button on the bottom right. Unless you press the lap button, the watch automatically starts a new lap each mile, briefly displaying your average pace for the past mile.

Post By Nicole Price-Fasig

This technology will allow me to broadcast live video on two cameras (using either skype or FaceTime to a local studio for re-broadcast), send live location/pace/heart rate data via Runkeeperon the iPhone, transmit temperature, COx/humidity/noise levels via a custom-made Android app – and do all of this while looking incredibly cool.

It’s official: The first Honeycomb tablet is only a few days away from release. Best Buy has put up a pre-order page for the Motorola Xoom with prices, accessories and a launch date and, unlike last time, this one doesn’t look like a mistake. On Thursday, you’ll be able to walk into your local Best Buy and walk out with the dual-core, ten inch tablet for $800. If you’re planning to use the 3G-enabled version of the device over wi-fi, be prepared to pay up for some Verizon data; the 802.11n wi-fi is locked without a minimum purchase of at least one month of cell data.

The pre-order page also lists four accessories for the slate: A case, a keyboard and two docks (one with built-in speakers and one without). No word on the wi-fi-only version, which was officially announced by Motorola last week and will cost $600, $200 less than the 3G version.

[via Engadget, Best Buy]