Hasta La Gadget!

Consider it the fallout from a decade-plus of reality TV, but our made-by-the-masses approach has expanded into new territory: technology R&D. Or so Samsung’s very public handling of the Galaxy Note 10.1 would have us believe. Thrust into an American Idol-like spotlight at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, the still-unfinished slate, a follow-up to the pen-enabled Galaxy Note phone, was forced to perform for hordes of skeptical insiders. Sure, there was raw talent on display and we could see the promise of this 10-inch contender (we said as much in our exhaustive preview), but it was also clear the company was testing consumer waters, fishing for a vote of confidence before continuing down the development track.

Does this make Samsung’s latest flagship the Kelly Clarkson of the tablet category? It’s an apt analogy, if you think about it: Kelly wants to be country, the Note 10.1 wants to be a pro-designer tool, but neither are allowed. Why? Well, simply put, products sell better when they’re made more palatable for a wider range of tastes. Which is why the company used MWC to gauge popular opinion before molding its untested product into something wth a broader appeal. Ultimately, that meant a drastic makeover: since MWC, the Note 10.1 has received a slot for that S-Pen, streamlined software, a quad-core Exynos 4 chip and two storage configurations: 16GB / 32GB, priced at $499 and $549, respectively.

So it now has more horsepower under the hood, that much is assured, but is that chip enough to boost the Note 10.1’s mass appeal? Will savvy shoppers be able to forgive that relatively low-res 1,280 x 800 display? Will its Wacom digitizer elevate this slate past its more generic Android and iOS rivals? Or will that feature hamper its widespread appeal, attracting mainly creative professionals? Meet us after the break to see if the Note 10.1 can succeed as the multitasking everyman’s go-to tablet.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 review

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you didn’t see this one coming from a mile away, then it’s clear you haven’t been paying much attention. After countless leaks and even an early August availability from online retailers, Samsung’s ready to make its S-Pen slate, the Galaxy Note 10.1, official for the U.S. market. The TouchWiz-skinned Android tablet is set to hit retail shelves tomorrow, August 16th, and will be offered up in 16GB and 32GB WiFi-only configurations priced at $499 and $549, respectively. For the money, you’re getting an ICS tab outfitted with a 10-inch 1,280 x 800 TFT LCD display, quad-core Exynos 4 CPU clocked at 1.4GHz, 2GB RAM, microSD storage expandable to 64GB, 1.9-megapixel front-facing / 5-megapixel rear cameras and a 7,000mAh battery. The device, first introduced this past February at Mobile World Congress, stands apart from its capacitive rivals thanks primarily to the addition of a Wacom-like digitizer panel optimized for the company’s handwriting recognition software and a slew of stylus-specific, pre-loaded apps, like Adobe’s Photoshop Touch and Samsung’s own S Note. Prospective owners will be able to choose from two neutral launch colors, grey and white, when it goes on sale this Thursday.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 launches stateside August 16th starting at $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Laptop Per Child hasn’t exactly been silent about the upcoming release of its XO Touch, but details have thus far been fairly thin. The company’s offered up a little more information on the matter, while sprinkling in some extra bits on the device it’s now referring to as the XO-4 Touch. The release of the laptop / tablet “dual function” education device is now “expected in Q1 2013,” according to the non-profit. Beyond that, details of timing and price are still quite vague. The XO-4 touch will feature a multi-touch display from Neonode that can be used in sunlight and will be packing a Marvell ARMADA 2128 processor inside. Press release after the break.

Update: OLPC has offered us some specs for device including 8GB of storage, 2GB of memory, a 1200 x 900 display, SD slot, HDMI out, an accelerometer, 802.11a/b/g/n and two USB 2.0 ports.

Continue reading One Laptop Per Child’s XO-4 Touch ‘expected’ to be released in Q1 2013

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

One Laptop Per Child’s XO-4 Touch ‘expected’ to be released in Q1 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos has already been targeting kids with its Child Pad slate, and now it looks like it’s going after mom and pop, too. A recent FCC filing of a slate emblazoned with “Family Pad” shows a large tablet (13.3-inches according to the manual) that will apparently come in other — hopefully smaller — sizes. Likewise, there appears to be 8- and 16GB variants, 802.11n wireless, and an Allwinner A10 processor. The Android tablet also has a memory card slot for adding up to another 32GB, as well as a pair of USB ports, HDMI, and front- and rear-facing cameras. This choice of processor suggests it’ll be reasonably gentle on the pocket whenever it comes out, which considering it’s at the FCC, could be soon.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos MW13 ‘FamilyPad’ opens up to the FCC, bares its 13-inch soul originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, these might not be quite as elegant as, say, that 10-inch, high-res slate coming out of the famed Cupertino labs, but hey, folks working on construction sites (or doing other types of handy work) need to get some actual work done. Here’s where Motion Computing comes in. The outfit’s just taken the wraps off of its newest rugged tablet PCs, the F5t and C5t — both of which can be loaded with a choice of an i3, i5 or i7 third-gen Intel CPU, also known as Ivy Bridge. What’s more, the company’s also letting users pick between a 64 or 128GB solid-state drive, which can then be paired alongside 2 or 4GB of RAM. As you can imagine, this ruggedized duo isn’t exactly aimed at something like the Nexus 7 crowd, since the starting price point for the Windows 7 Pro couple starts off at around $2,240 ($2,236, to be exact) depending on configuration. Either way, you can give ’em both a better look after the break, thanks to a press shot gallery courtesy of their creator.

Continue reading Motion outs F5t, C5t rugged tablet PCs with Ivy Bridge and optional SSD, pricing starts at $2,240

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Motion outs F5t, C5t rugged tablet PCs with Ivy Bridge and optional SSD, pricing starts at $2,240 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 07:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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