Hasta La Gadget!

HP has acknowledged that it’s been working on a Windows 8 tablet; it just hasn’t mentioned whether or not the rumored Slate 8 is part of its plans. Imagine our surprise, then, when we’re told that HP’s 60-second “Make It Matter” commercial ends with an unannounced yet familiar-looking tablet right at the 56-second mark. There’s only a fleeting glimpse, but it shows a metallic-looking body with a large black antenna window — the combination of which would fit in with the Slate 8’s purported aesthetics. We’ve asked HP whether or not this is a clever teaser for a real product or just as conceptual as the rest of the ad, and we’ll let you know if we hear back on the subject. In the meantime, you can inspect the video evidence for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Brian]

Continue reading Is HP showing the Slate 8 in its latest commercial? (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Is HP showing the Slate 8 in its latest commercial? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Windows Phone 8 SDK has escaped to the wild, and some sifting through the device emulator has dug up elements that Microsoft either skipped or only touched on lightly during the big unveiling in June. The most important addition may be the one customers see the least: backup. A WP7.hu search has the new OS replicating apps, settings and SMS messages in the cloud to prevent disaster, and that new SD card support will let WP8 owners shuffle photos from internal storage to the removable kind for safekeeping. There’s also more work on Internet Explorer than we saw before, with MobileTechWorld noticing that DataSense provides an option for Opera-like remote compression to save that precious cellular bandwidth.

Media fans might have the most to gain. If we go by The Verge, both the Music/Video and Xbox hubs are getting fresh coats of paint — both to integrate new ventures like Xbox Music as well as to jive more closely with the SmartGlass visual theme. Shutterbugs will like the long-awaited options to crop and rotate their work, pick multiple photos, and unify third-party camera apps under a Lenses concept. There’s even more clever features in store, such as a Maps update that finds nearby WiFi hotspots, so head on over to the sources to get a full sense of where Microsoft will be going.

Filed under: Cellphones

Windows Phone 8 SDK leaks show quiet upgrades to backup, media and the kitchen sink originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony is planning to unveil some new handsets on August 29th before IFA kicks off in Berlin, and it looks like one of those has been detailed well ahead of the event. Mobile-Review has gotten its hands on the Sony LT30p, aka the Mint. In addition to the full specs, there are a bevy of pictures of the device from every angle, plus lots of screenshots of Sony’s user interface on top of Ice Cream Sandwich, which includes some new software tweaks.

The Sony Sony LT30p features a 4.3-inch screen with a 720p resolution, a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSD card slot, microUSB capable of MHL output, microSIM slot, NFC, and a sealed internal battery. The star of the show is the 13-megapixel camera, also capable of 1080p video recording. A front-facing camera capable of 720p can also be found on the device. Mobile-Review indicates the screen is 4.3-inches, but as you can see below, it’s not far off the 4.8-inch Galaxy S III – the handset may be closer to 4.6-inches.

Mobile-Review notes that the hardware is smaller than the Xperia S, allowing for easier one-handed usage, but the most important change is that the phone uses the Ice Cream Sandwich onscreen navigation keys and ditches the physical buttons of the NXT range altogether. Still, other hardware buttons have been placed in a strange place: the power, volume rocker, and camera shutter buttons are all located on the bottom right hand side of the phone.

Software changes, meanwhile, include Small Apps, allowing you quick access to certain application from your homescreens. Mobile-Review provides screenshots of one example, a recording application that can be activated with just one tap. Other apps will reportedly be available for download from the Play Store, but as the phone hasn’t launched yet there aren’t any additional Small Apps. The site has also benchmarked the phone against heavyweights such as the HTC One S and Galaxy S III. It comes up a little short despite running the same Snapdragon S4 processor, but the software most likely hasn’t been finalized yet.

If you want the full details on the phone, head on over to Mobile-Review and take a peek. There’s a ton of screenshots for you to pour over, plus some additional benchmark comparisons.

[via Xperia Blog]

Sony LT30p “Mint” breaks cover, gets early review is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RIM has been planning a 4G-capable BlackBerry PlayBook for so long that CEO Thorsten Heins’ promises of a 2012 launch still made it feel distant. If Bell Canada information breezing past MobileSyrup‘s desk is any indicator, though, the launch is coming sooner than Heins implied — just one week away, as of this writing. The slip has at least the one carrier reportedly offering an LTE-equipped, 32GB version of the 7-inch tablet on July 31st at a price of $550 Canadian ($540 US) without a contract. And yes, it would get that rumored 1.5GHz processor upgrade if there’s any substance to the story. We’d still prefer to see the tablet jump to BlackBerry 10 more than anything, especially at that kind of price, but the RIM faithful could still find something to cheer if they’re looking for a truly definitive PlayBook to make the BB10 wait feel shorter.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

BlackBerry PlayBook with 4G LTE may reach Bell by July 31st, 1.5GHz chip tagging along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon is readying as many as six new tablet variants according to retailer Staples, with a 10-inch model confirmed among the line-up. Five or six SKUs are in the pipeline, Retail president Demos Parneros at Staples told Reuters, with a range of sizes on offer as Amazon attempts to further milk the digital content market for music, video, ebook and app sales.

It’s worth noting that six new SKUs wouldn’t necessarily mean six completely different tablets. Each SKU would relate to a single configuration: so, if Amazon had 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions of a single Kindle Fire 10-inch model, for instance, each of those variants would have a different SKU code. Models that are WiFi-only or that include WiFi + 3G/4G would also bear different SKUs.

Currently, Amazon offers a single Kindle Fire variant, with 8GB of internal storage and no 3G/4G cellular data connection, and a 7-inch touchscreen. That model is expected to be updated in the face of Google’s own Nexus 7, while a larger 10-inch version is also much-rumored, more directly challenging Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad.

The boosted range is part of an overall strategy to “broaden its offering of devices beyond e-readers and the Kindle Fire tablet” insiders claim. That could well be related to a reported swelling of staff at Amazon’s Lab126, the same development center that developed the original Kindle Fire; recent job listings at Lab126 have sought engineers with experience working with carrier certification and smartphone technology.

Amazon declined to comment on Parneros’ comments, though it’s tricky to decide whether the retailer might be frustrated at having its plans outed early, or keen to steal attention from the Nexus 7. Google has been forced to freeze orders of the 16GB variant of the Nexus 7 because of greater-than-expected demand.

Amazon readying 5-6 new tablets says Staples exec is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.