Hasta La Gadget!

Windows 8 slates are riding a wave of 40 Xbox titles into an October launch, and now Microsoft has laid the foundation to deliver more games with a brand new studio focused on tablet development. The currently unnamed, London-based outfit will be headed by former Rare Production Director Lee Schuneman, who has shepherded Kinect Sports titles, the Xbox 360 Avatars, Fable: The Journey and the Xbox’s Sky TV app to completion. Slabs running Redmond’s latest OS won’t see a project from the team for a while, however, as the studio is still looking for new hires and won’t open its doors until November.

Continue reading Microsoft announces new entertainment and game studio focused on Windows 8 tablet development

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets

Microsoft announces new entertainment and game studio focused on Windows 8 tablet development originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, you probably didn’t even get the cellophane off your Xperia Tablet S yet (for those in the UK at least), but Sony has already beaten the likes of iFixit to the strip-down post. It’s one of the firm’s own engineers, Takuya Inaba, who takes a knife to the minty-fresh tablet — revealing its NVIDIA innards for all to see. Of course, we could tell you all about how he opened up the tablet, removing 10 screws, and breaking the splash-proof internal seal, but we gather you’d probably rather see the deed for yourselves. Full gory video after the break, but just remember, don’t try this at home or you might as well tear up that warranty, too.

Continue reading Sony Xperia Tablet S gets the full teardown, shows its NVIDIA heart (video)

Filed under: Tablets

Sony Xperia Tablet S gets the full teardown, shows its NVIDIA heart (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon’s roster of fresh Kindle Fire slates won’t just be delivering content for your entertainment, they’ll also be serving up ads. That’s right, each of the new tablets will greet users with “Special Offers” on their lock screens like some of the firm’s other e-readers, which matches previous rumors nicely. While the low-end Kindle and Paperwhite devices come in both subsidized and ad-free flavors, its tablet brethren aren’t getting the same treatment. Also, there’s no word if you’ll be able to avoid gracing the advertisements with your eyeballs in exchange for some additional cash once you have the hardware in hand. Alongside messages from other companies, the folks in Seattle promise to offer a $5 credit for both the Amazon MP3 and Instant Video Stores.

Filed under: Tablets

Every new Kindle Fire model is ad-subsidized with lock screen ‘Special Offers’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, check out this beaut. It’s the 8.9-inch version of Amazon’s new Fire HD tablet. The company trotted several of the 7-inch models, but the big daddy was a rare bird indeed — thankfully, however, we were able to get up close and personal with the thing. It’s almost a shame that this guy shares a name with last year’s model. This feels like a completely different bird — Amazon set out to make a slate that can compete with some of the top models out there, and from some passing impressions, this thing seems to stack up. Of course, we’re going to have to wait until we can actually spend some more time with it before passing judgement. Peep some more photos of the newer, bigger Kindle Fire in the gallery below.

Filed under: Tablets

Amazon’s 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to style, you know that Samsung is definitely at the forefront when it comes to consumer electronics. Well, their latest creation would come in the form of the Samsung Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs which were recently announced at the recently concluded IFA 2012 in Berlin, Germany. These two slate PCs are able to turn a standard looking clamshell PC into a slate device at the blink of an eye. Of course, Samsung is far more practical, relying more on the click of a button to get the job done. It will also be able to maximize both productivity and mobility, where it was specially designed for the Windows 8 platform courtesy of Samsung’s advanced engineering that incorporated a ten-point touchscreen display.

Both the Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs will feature a Samsung S Pen that has been conveniently embedded within a slot on the device. Sporting 1,024 levels of sensitivity, the S Pen was specially designed for natural and intuitive content creation. The S Pen will also boast of handwriting to text conversion capability, in addition to deliver various thickness whenever you draw or write, depending on the amount of pressure applied. Slate PC users are also able to make use of preloaded Samsung services including MediaHub, making it a snap to access entertainment as well as apps on your device.

Tipping the scales at under a couple of pounds, the new Samsung Slate PC was specially designed to go anywhere. The keyboard dock itself will hook up with a mechanical hinge, allowing you to up the device with one hand without worrying about it separating. You ought to know that the keyboard and display were designed as a singular device, while the components will fit seamlessly when connected.

The big question is, how much and when will these be released for? Both the Series 5 and Series 7 Slates will be available from October 26th onwards, wheer the Series 7 Slate will go for $1,199 a pop, while the Series 5 Slate with the keyboard dock will retail for $749 a pop – sans the keyboard dock, it costs $649.

Press Release

[ Samsung Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs announced copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]