Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Tuesday evening, everyone. The afternoon started off with something of a bang with Facebook’s big event, during which the company revealed the service’s new Graph Search and explained the difference between the new feature and traditional web search. It also announced that it was partnering with Bing for search results in Graph Search, while we used the latest installment of SlashGear 101 to give you all of the details about this new feature.

We heard from one Jefferies analyst that Apple might begin preliminary production on the iPhone 5S in March, while specs for the rumored Sony Xperia Tablet Z leaked out (we’re told to expect a full HD display, among other things). A ChangeWave study tells us that iPhone demand is down though the device still dominates the charts, and Acura revealed its 2015 NSX concept car at NAIAS 2013 today. We got an up close look at the rumored BlackBerry Z10 handset in a new video, and we learned that there might be Java-based iterations of the Red October cyberespionage attacks, which would explain why the Department of Homeland Security has been so insistent in its recommendation to stop using the software.

Tesla announced today that it will open 25 new stores this year, while 2K Games and Irrational delivered the PC requirements for the incoming BioShock Infinite. A US District Court has dismissed the case against Aaron Swartz after his tragic death, and it would appear that Samsung has a new phone called the Galaxy Pocket Plus on the way. Disney Infinity was announced today, and it’s looking to take a bite out of Skylanders’ massive audience, while United has become the first international US-based airline to offer WiFi on its flights.

AT&T is offering Nexus 7 owners a $100 credit on their bill if they sign up for a data plan with it, and NASA is telling us that Curiosity may have found its first potential rock sample target on the surface of Mars. 10 more games have moved through Steam Greenlight, Call of Duty Online has kicked off alpha testing in China, and finally tonight, Simple has brought its online banking app to Android. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: January 15, 2013 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Along with the Qube and the VivoTab Smart at CES, ASUS also quietly showed off its dock for the Nexus 7 at its remote suite outside CES. Judging by the tablet’s position in the above photo, you can tell that the fairly weighty dock makes use of the tablet’s pin connectors towards the bottom of its left side. Swing to the back and you’ll see a micro-USB port plus an audio-out socket. That’s actually pretty much it for the dock, and there’s no price or availability just yet for the US so we’ll keep our eyes open for more detail.

Filed under: Peripherals, Tablets, ASUS

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On November 30, we reported that an official ASUS Nexus 7 docking station has appeared on the ASUS Japan website with a handful of information and not much else. Originally it was rumored that the dock would be available in early December, eventually with December 30 being marked as the shipping date. That day came and went without event, but now retailers are saying that the device will begin shipping later this week.

The dock is now listed on the ASUS Japan website along with a price – 3,480 yen – in addition to a note reading “I am currently out of stock.” Over at B&H, however, users can place a pre-order for $39.99, with the retailer noting that the expected availability will be on January 10. The device isn’t currently in stock, however, and so the expected availability date isn’t set in stone.

Previous reports have said that the dock would begin shipping on January 10, however, so the numbers are matching up thus far. The dock is the first official one available for the Nexus 7, and while it isn’t anything extraordinary, it offers all the things one could want in a tablet dock.

The Nexus 7 dock features a micro USB port and a standard 3.5mm stereo output port. It’s not very big at 8.6L x 2.6W x 1.2H-inches, and weighs in at just under 10 ounces (280 grams). It requires the tablet to be running Android Jelly Bean 4.2. According the Japanese Asus website, users have to keep the dock plugged in when using audio output. If you have a Nexus 7 and are in the market for a dock, you can pre-order the device online and expect to receive it in the relatively near future.

[via Android Community]

Nexus 7 official dock to begin shipping later this week is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While webOS is no longer officially around, thanks to HP‘s merciless hack and slash last year, developers are still keeping the operating system alive with the Open webOS initiative. We’ve already seen ASUS’s Transformer Prime tablet boot up on Open webOS, but it looks like the Google’s own Nexus 7 Android tablet has been given the webOS treatment as well.

The seven-inch Android-powered tablet built by ASUS from a partnership with Google was the premiere launch device for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and it’s now been unofficially webOS-ified thanks to the tablets open-source roots. While it’s a mostly unstable port at this point, a few key features appear to be working just fine, including the WiFi and web browser.

webOS Nation notes that the developer behind the Nexus 7 port got it up and running in about a week over his winter break from college — not a bad feat if you ask us, and it makes us forgive the fact that it’s not quite a stable build yet, since a lot of the essential features are still missing.

While there’s no doubt that webOS on the Nexus 7 is a downgrade in functionality compared to running full-blown Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it’s nice to see webOS continue on, even if it’s in an unofficial manner and only runs on a few devices currently. Hopefully we’ll see more from the Open webOS team in 2013.

[via webOS Nation]

Nexus 7 gets Open webOS port, still not a viable replacement is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The tablet market went through some huge changes in 2012. Apple finally introduced a (somewhat) more affordable iPad. Microsoft released Windows 8 and launched its own hardware. And for the first time, every major player had a tablet that was actually, you know, good. More »