Sep 26

ZTE Smart Tab 7 reveals its Google back tattoo for the FCC

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, tablet, Today's Chili, vodafone
Another day, another Android tablet on the FCC’s site. This is the ZTE Smart Tab 7 — or the back of it, at least. We don’t know a lot about the tablet, beyond what’s available in the above drawing, including the Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G logos. It’s also rocking the Google tramp stamp on its lower back and what appears to be a rear-facing camera at the top. Judging from the chosen name, it seems likely that the device will offer up a 7-inch display, and given the recent announcement of the Vodafone Smart Tab 7 and Smart Tab 10 at IFA, we might be gawking at a rebranded version of that device for the States. Time shall tell, no?

Update: A tipster sent a link to this new tablet from ZTE. Could this Android 3.2 slate be the one in the above drawing? The similarities are certainly hard to deny.

ZTE Smart Tab 7 reveals its Google back tattoo for the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 19

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi gets US pricing, 16GB model starts at $469

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, BestBuy, exclusive, galaxy, GalaxyTab, Google, GoogleAndroid, honeycomb, leak, leaked, samsung, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

Samsung’s latest Android Tab has already gotten the in-box hands-on treatment from the blue shirts at Best Buy, but now we have official word on pricing for the 8.9-inch WiFi-only model, set to hit stores as soon as Thursday. Willing to settle for the 16GB flavor? Get ready to hand over $469 to take one of these slim slates home, or pull out another Benjamin to double capacity to 32 gigs — that beefed-up model will run you $569. You’ll also get Android 3.1 Honeycomb with “the freedom of TouchWiz,” a 3 megapixel camera on the rear with 2MPs up front, and a dual-core 1GHz processor. Check out our Tab 8.9 hands-on, or hit up the source link for the full feature rundown from Sammy.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi gets US pricing, 16GB model starts at $469 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 18

Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi shipments arrive at Best Buy, will go on sale this week

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, BestBuy, exclusive, galaxy, GalaxyTab, Google, GoogleAndroid, honeycomb, leak, leaked, samsung, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

See that there? That’s a Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi, and after months on end of mystery, it seems as if the wait to procure one in the US of A is just about over. Shipments are arriving at Best Buy stores across the nation, and according to our sources, they’ll be stocked and ready for purchase starting September 22nd. We’re still waiting to hear back on a retail price, but those who’d like to hazard a guess can extrapolate from those UK figures. So, did your Tuesday plans just get made?

Update: Select stores may be ushering them out on the 22nd, while others will be force to wait until the 25th. As for pricing? It’s “listed” at $399.99, but we’ve certainly seen Best Buy placeholders be wrong before.

Update 2: Samsung chimed in with official pricing. The 16GB model will sell for $469, with the 32GB flavor costing $100 more.

Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi shipments arrive at Best Buy, will go on sale this week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 15

Sharp to discontinue original Galapagos e-readers, 7-inch species survives

Posted in: 7-inch, Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, business, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, industry, ipad, iPhone, Japan, market, sales, Sharp, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

We’re raising our glasses to the original Galapagos e-reader this morning, because Sharp has decided to discontinue it. Today, the manufacture announced that it will stop taking orders for its 5.5- and 10.8-inch Android tablets on September 30th, just nine months after they first launched. A company spokeswoman, however, confirmed that Sharp isn’t leaving the market altogether, as it plans to continue churning out the 7-inch A01SH that launched last month. The Japan-based firm is confident that “the market for electronic books will continue to expand,” but decided to terminate its older slates because they’ve already “fulfilled the purposes that they were designed for.” Sharp declined to disclose sales figures for the doomed devices, though local media outlets are reporting that they may have been squeezed out of the Japanese market by the iPad — a decidedly Darwinian explanation.

Sharp to discontinue original Galapagos e-readers, 7-inch species survives originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 14

ASUS Eee Pad Slider arriving at month’s end, starting at $475 (video)

Posted in: 10-inch, Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, ASUS, Google, hands-on, honeycomb, impressions, preview, Today's Chili, video

It’s been more than eight months since the ASUS Eee Pad Slider was born at CES and since then, we’ve seen listings online and heard endless promises that it’s coming “soon.” Today, though, at a media event here in New York City, we managed a prolonged hands-on with the thing — along with assurance that it’ll hit the US before month’s end. According to an ASUS rep, it’ll ship with Android 3.2 and start at $475 for the 16GB model (roughly as leaked) with the beefier 32GB number fetching an extra hundred bucks. That means we’ll be putting it through its paces soon enough, but in the meantime, head past the break for some early impressions.

Gallery: ASUS Eee Pad Slider hands-on

Continue reading ASUS Eee Pad Slider arriving at month’s end, starting at $475 (video)

ASUS Eee Pad Slider arriving at month’s end, starting at $475 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Asus Eee Pad Slider up for pre-order at Amazon, starting at $480

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, ASUS, honeycomb, slider, Today's Chili

Still no official launch date for Asus’s funny-looking 10.1-inch hybrid, but we’ve already seen evidence of a September release and now there’s a whole drum-roll of pre-order pages up at Amazon. You’re looking at $580 for the 32GB model in white or mocha, or $100 less if you settle for the 16GB variant and cram the rest of your digital possessions onto microSD or — yes indeedy — some USB 2.0 external storage. Needless to say, all shades come with the same Tegra 2 processor, Honeycomb 3.2, 1GB of RAM, Mini HDMI out, a 5MP rear camera and 1.2MP front-facer. At this point, all these sliders need to do is turn up.

[Thanks, Peter]

Asus Eee Pad Slider up for pre-order at Amazon, starting at $480 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

How would you change Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1?

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, galaxy, GalaxyTab, HowWouldYouChange, HWYC, samsung, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

It’s been around in a few different hues, and has since grown into a TouchWiz UX kind of outfit, and we’re guessing it’s about time Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 found its way into our weekly HWYC feature. It’s undoubtedly the Android slate to beat, even today, but that doesn’t mean that it’s spit-shine perfect. For those who opted for this beaut, we’re keenly interested in hearing how your experience has been. Are you still satisfied with Honeycomb as a tablet operating system? Is the screen still wowing you? Any durability issues we should know about it? And if you had the keys to Sammy’s Design Kingdom, what would you do differently on the next Tab 10.1? Realign the aspect ratio? Go matte? Up the screen resolution? Speak up in comments below — and keep it sane, cool?

How would you change Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Acer Iconia Tab A501 with HSPA+ hits AT&T on September 18th: $330 on contract

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, att, availability, Google, honeycomb, hspa, pricing, Today's Chili
As promised, the Acer Iconia Tab A501 is hitting AT&T just before summer draws to an official close. The carrier just announced it’ll start selling the 16GB model next Sunday, September 18th for $480 — or $330 with a two-year contract. When we first heard about this way back in March, we knew it would be a “4G” device, and today AT&T clarified that this means HSPA+, not LTE, so sorry to burst anyone’s bubble. Even so, five months after the A500 went on sale it remains one of a select few slates with a full-sized USB port, so there’s that to consider if you’re still on the fence about getting a tablet. As planned, it’ll ship with Android 3.0, and an Acer rep confirms 3.1 is coming via an over-the-air update, though she couldn’t say when, exactly, that’ll happen. You can sign up for a monthly plan, if you so choose, though you can also pay as you go, with $15 getting you 250MB and $25 expanding your allowance to 2GB. Customers who commit to two-year agreements will have the same choices, to be honest, except they’ll also have to contend with overage fees — $10 per gigabyte or $15 per 250MB, depending on the plan.

Gallery: Acer Iconia Tab A501

Update: We’ve added Acer’s official press release below. Heads up: you’ll notice that Acer lists the price as $499.99 for the 16GB model and $549.99 for the 32GB version. That’s just the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). It doesn’t say so in the press release, but AT&T confirmed to us before we published this story that it will actually be selling the 16GB version only, and for $480 (again, that $330 with a two-year contract).

Update 2: We’ve swapped in AT&T’s press release, which fully spells out the pricing.

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A501 with HSPA+ hits AT&T on September 18th: $330 on contract

Acer Iconia Tab A501 with HSPA+ hits AT&T on September 18th: $330 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Sony Tablet S arrives at Best Buy, ready to be touched, pre-ordered

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, BestBuy, honeycomb, pre-order, sony, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili

Sure, you could pre-order your Tablet S direct from Sony and wait until the 16th for your slate, or you could skip over to your local Best Buy and play a round of early-release roulette. Our local shop, however, is telling us the tablet is available for “pre-order and display only,” so your mileage may vary.

[Thanks @DaHarder]

Sony Tablet S arrives at Best Buy, ready to be touched, pre-ordered originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 08

Fujitsu’s waterproof Arrows Tab LTE F-01D to launch on DoCoMo next month

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, honeycomb, hspa, Japan, lte, tab, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili

First rule of expensive electronics 101 is don’t get’em wet. For the Japanese, however, a waterproof gadget option’s a welcome value-add to time spent soaking in that ofuro. We first got a sneak peek at DoCoMo’s H2O-resistant LTE Fujitsu tablet just last week, and now the company’s making the announcement official. Joining the Arrows Tab LTE F-01D on the carrier’s new 4G Xi (read: Crossy) network is our good Samsung friend, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE SC-01D. Both slates are set to hit the operator’s Japanese airwaves next month, with Sammy’s bowing in early October and Fujitsu’s model landing a few weeks later. While we’re already privy to all the internal guts and glory of the former tab, we finally have some spec confirmation on the Arrows. The 10.1-incher boasts a WXGA display, dual-core processor running Android 3.2, 1.3 megapixel front-facing / 5 megapixel rear camera setup, up to 32GB of storage and that ever useful waterproofing. Try not to be too jealous, statesiders — there’s always that glimmer of FCC filing hope.

Continue reading Fujitsu’s waterproof Arrows Tab LTE F-01D to launch on DoCoMo next month

Fujitsu’s waterproof Arrows Tab LTE F-01D to launch on DoCoMo next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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