Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!

There are certain back to school purchases we could never talk you out of. A laptop? Vital. A smartphone? Highly recommended. A printer? Necessary — if you’re the kind of person who finishes papers minutes with minutes to spare, leaving no time to swing by the computer lab on the way to class. But a tablet? We’ll be honest: we can’t think of a good reason why you need one, but we can more than sympathize if you’re dead-set. We’ve picked a few noteworthy choices for each budget, though if you’re really lucky you’ll win one of 15 Samsung Galaxy Tabs and won’t have to pay a dime. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for this year’s tablet picks for back to school.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: tablets

Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have noticed that accessory makers have a habit of churning out stuff for iDevices first and everything else second. Specifically, though, we’re noticing that in the world of tablets, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is fast becoming companies’ No. 2 once they’ve gotten the iPad squared away. Take Logitech, for example. The company just announced a keyboard case for Samsung’s deliciously thin slate — a near facsimile of the one it released for the iPad a few months back. To recap, this isn’t your garden-variety folio case with a keyboard and kickstand, but rather, an aluminum lid with a full ‘board lining the interior. Logitech also attempts to justify the steep $99.99 price with shortcut keys for copying and pasting and cushioned corners that offer a modicum of protection in the event of a drop. But does that make it worth it? We’ll leave that to your and your wallet.

Logitech trots out another keyboard case, this time for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today’s Samsung event in New York City was a strange scene — the company collected Galaxy Tabs from the journalists in attendance and handed back coat check receipts, promising to give the devices back after the press conference ended. One Samsung executive acknowledged the unusual nature of the event, explaining that, “this is the first time we’ve held a news conference for a software update, and it probably won’t be the last.”

The event marked the pre-launch of a major software update for Samsung’s slate — one that is set to get wide release on August 5th. Members of the press, however, were given a side-loaded preview of the tablet UI — as were New York City Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners who showed up to the Samsung store with tablet in-hand. We’ve been playing around with the update for a bit and have a full hands-on preview for you after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with TouchWiz UX for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Hands-on with TouchWiz UX for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re headed over as we speak to get an early look at what TouchWiz has in store for Tab 10.1-totin’ New Yorkers, but in the meantime, Samsung’s served up a laundry list of details (after the break) to clue everyone in on what it’ll bring. Aside from pushing the TouchWiz UX overlay atop Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the new digs will also enable Samsung Kies 2.0 support for PC and Mac, solving an issue we spotted a few weeks back. For those unfamiliar with Sammy’s Android dressings, this one promises to bring a Live Panel (described as a magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, and news on the home pane), a Mini Mode Tray (providing one-touch access to commonly used apps), Clipboard (it’s copy and paste, advanced), Photo Editor (it edits JPEGs, y’all) and the token Indicator Quick Panel (which enables users to quickly toggle on / off WiFi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display).

Of course, proceeding with the update means that you’ll get Amazon’s Music Cloud Player, the Kindle app and ‘Words with Friends’ preloaded, but enterprise folk can at least look forward to full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, on-device encryption and compatibility with Cisco’s VPN / Sybase MDM / WebEx. Still hungry for more? How’s about wireless printing to any “compatible” printer, as well as a bolstered Swype app that enables resizing of the keyboard and movement of the keys to any position on the panel. You’ll also find Adobe’s Flash Player 10.3, a redesigned Samsung Media Hub service and a promise that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners will start to see it beginning August 5th. If you’re eager to get prepped for Friday’s release, hit the source link to setup a required Samsung account; once registered, you’ll be notified when your device is ready for the upgrade and given drop-dead simple steps to complete it. Naturally, we’ll be bringing you an early look of the changes as soon as humanly possible.

Continue reading Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th

Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Being an honors student at the University of Southern Mississippi just got a little more awesome. The college is hooking up its highest performers with brand new Galaxy Tab 10.1s, pre-loaded with software from the popular (and widely loathed) Blackboard educational portal. As you’d expect, syllabi, textbooks, and grades can all be easily pulled up by students in the Honors College, McNair Scholars, Southern Style, and Gulf Coast programs. With only a 1,000 going out now, the initiative stops shy of similar pushes by the Webb School and Seton Hill where everybody gets an iPad. And, while the educational value of tablets is still debatable, at least they’ll be able to read Engadget in style. Check out Sammy’s guitar-laden promo video after the break.

Continue reading University of Southern Mississippi hands out Galaxy Tabs to honors students (video)

University of Southern Mississippi hands out Galaxy Tabs to honors students (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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