Hasta La Gadget!

Funny what a number can do, eh? Just last month, we heard that a 3G model of HP’s TouchPad would be coming to AT&T this summer, and now we’re being told that it’ll actually be called the TouchPad 4G. 4G as in HSPA+. Not 4G as in LTE. Got that? Good. Aside from the basics — 32GB of internal storage, integrated GPS and HSPA+ / WiFi radios — a newfangled 1.5GHz processor (up from 1.2GHz) will make its debut, hopefully improving those performance issues we saw during our review. Sadly, no one’s spilling details on pricing or release, with the carrier simply affirming that it’ll be on sale prior to the “back to school” season. We’re guessing the Summer of 2011 is going to be quite the confusing time to be an in-store AT&T employee — how exactly do you sell an actual 4G hotspot when you’ve got HSPA+ devices calling themselves the same? Oh, nomenclature.

Continue reading HP TouchPad 4G coming to AT&T this summer with 1.5GHz CPU, won’t support LTE

HP TouchPad 4G coming to AT&T this summer with 1.5GHz CPU, won’t support LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Go grab the Morton — you’re gonna need a grain or two. According to a “confidential HP product brief” sent anonymously to PreCentral, HP is on track to launch a new 64GB TouchPad next month, complete with a white glossy cabinet and a “processor bump,” along with support for AT&T’s HSPA+ network. The company just started shipping its 16GB and 32GB TouchPads, but even August wouldn’t be too soon for a speed boost, considering the tablet’s disappointing performance during our review. The presentation also lists the Pre 3 for a “fall” launch, along with that mysterious Opal tablet. Despite the so-called leaked confidential presentation, this rumor should be approached like any other — but on the other hand, with the Pre 3 making recent appearances at the FCC in both AT&T and Verizon flavors, HP’s latest webOS smartphone could easily be on-track to hit stores by autumn.

Leaked HP presentation hints at faster 64GB TouchPad in August, Pre 3 in fall? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Box.net will offer free online storage to new TouchPad tablet buyers. Photo courtesy Box.net

Those in the market for a tablet may have more incentive to opt out of buying the iPad.

Box.net will offer 50 GB of free online storage to buyers of HP’s new tablet device, the TouchPad. The company plans to announce the deal Friday, the same day as the TouchPad’s launch.

New TouchPad owners can download the Box.net app from HP’s App Catalog store beginning Friday.

Over a year late to market, HP needs to give potential tablet shoppers all the reason to buy a TouchPad it can muster. Along with the storage promotion, HP offers a $50 rebate to owners of Palm smartphones — like the Pixi and Pre — through the end of July.

The cloud-based storage industry has grown dramatically over the past few years.

Despite recent security issues, Dropbox attracted a considerable number of users since its launch in 2008, hitting the 25 million user mark in April. Google obviously has its entire suite of cloud-based apps, including the invite-only Music Beta. And of course, Apple’s iCloud is due to drop this fall, offering 5 free gigs of online storage, as well as backups to iOS devices.

Box.net’s offering is actually a fairly nice deal for those needing online storage. The 50 GB of free storage amounts to approximately $240 in yearly savings, as the 50-GB storage costs the average user a $20 monthly subscription fee. Though it’s difficult to compete with Amazon’s storage pricing, which costs only $1 a gig yearly (the first 5 GB are free).

But still, will these packaged freebies make it worth buying the TouchPad? Amazon’s storage locker is available on any Android device, and Google’s suite is available across most platforms (except webOS 3.0, that is). We’re not sure, but if you’re already planning to buy a TouchPad, hit HP’s App Catalog to pick up Box.net’s deal.

The TouchPad launches in the United States this Friday for $500 and $600 for the 16- and 32-GB versions, respectively. The tablet rolls out globally over the rest of July.

Oh, really Best Buy –you don’t say? Too bad… that $69.99 price tag would be so much easier to swallow if you threw in the whole kit and kaboodle.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Continue reading Best Buy sucks at product recognition: Wireless Keyboard for TouchPad, iPad sold separately

Best Buy sucks at product recognition: Wireless Keyboard for TouchPad, iPad sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These six tablets span four operating systems, multiple screen sizes and a range of connectivity features. (Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

In today’s crowded market, looking for a tablet is like buying a new car. Everything looks great when it’s slick, polished and sitting on the lot. The hard part is keeping track of what’s under the hood.

Wired.com took some of the front-runners from the current tablet field — the brand-new HP TouchPad, Apple’s iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and others — and stacked up their features side by side in the chart below.

In the wake of Apple’s iPad, which released April 2010, technology manufacturers are quickly churning out competing slates in hopes of luring customers into the new product category with fancy hardware and flashy apps. The tablet market is quickly gaining momentum with a new slate hitting stores every month.

(Speaking of apps, don’t miss our breakdown of software ecosystems, explaining the pros and cons of the app stores on each mobile operating system.)

That’s a lot of info to digest, right? Fret not, tablet shoppers: Here’s some of that info broken down across seven categories.

Body

Essentially, choosing a piece of hardware that works for you boils down to taste and utility. Want something light and airy that won’t wear your arm out while e-reading? Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 has everyone beat; It’s the thinnest, lightest 10-inch tablet out to date, even besting the super-svelte iPad 2.

Maybe you want something smaller, or with a rubberized backing to combat your butterfingers. Almost the size of a trade paperback, BlackBerry’s seven-inch PlayBook would best suit your needs.

Tablets like the TouchPad, Xoom and first-gen iPad all weigh and measure in at approximately the same range, but with some of the recent slimmer releases, they’re starting to look positively bulky.

Power

In this generation of tablets, you aren’t going to see any chips backed by less than 1 GHz of processing power. Our two Android tablets run on Nvidia’s powerful Tegra 2 processor, while Apple’s iPads are powered by the custom-made A4 and A5 series chips. RIM decided to go with a Texas Instruments OMAP, which Palm used in its Pre smartphones. Only the TouchPad clocks in at 1.2 GHz, running on a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ 8060 CPU.

Most of these tablets come with 1GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly, save Apple’s offerings — the iPad 1 comes with a paltry 256MB, while its successor doubles that amount.

It’s difficult to run a consistent processing benchmark across three different platforms, so we’re not going to give the edge to any one tablet quite yet. Still, Qualcomm’s next generation Snapdragon chip ran smooth as silk in the TouchPad — especially while multitasking — so we’re inclined to give it props.

Frontrunner: HP TouchPad

Cameras

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Shooting photos on a tablet is just weird. Like, “defending yourself in a food fight with a cafeteria tray” weird. Still, we’re all about choice here at Wired.com, and if you want to shoot photos on your tablet, some of these slates can accommodate.

Except for the first-gen iPad, which lacks any cameras at all. Similarly, the TouchPad comes with a front-facing camera for the Skype-loving crowd, but no rear camera for the shutterbugs.

All the rest come with front and back-facing cameras of variable quality, the iPad 2’s being the poorest of them all. The PlayBook has the highest resolutions on both front and back cameras, but you’ll lose viewfinder real estate with the device’s smaller screen. Conversely, the Xoom dips a touch in front-facing camera resolution while bumping up your screen size considerably.

Edge: Motorola Xoom