Toshiba Thrive tablet on display at Best Buy, possibly on sale too?

Toshiba Thrive
Yes, what you’re looking at is a shackled Toshiba Thrive tablet out in the wild at Best Buy — not just waiting caged in a cardboard confine in some dreary stockroom. Though the device most likely won’t ship until July 10th, “Dandroid” over at Toshiba Thrive Forums is reporting that his local Austin, Texas location is evidently neglecting that memo. The store apparently has several 16GB and 32GB WiFi models ready to fly off the shelves for $480 and $580, but we won’t hold our breath until we see a proper YouTube unboxing. Still, it may be worth a detour on the way home if you’re feeling lucky or just can’t wait any longer to inspect those full-sized ports.

Toshiba Thrive tablet on display at Best Buy, possibly on sale too? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  sourceToshiba Thrive Forums  | Email this | Comments

Act Now to Keep Gorging Yourself With Unlimited Data Forever (Well, Close Enough)

In two days, the unlimited data tap at Verizon is officially going to run dry, essentially ending the all-too-brief era of all-you-can-eat data at the nation’s two largest carriers. More »

Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted

We’re seeing a heavy surge in Microsoft’s relentless pursuit of licensing deals in light of recent patent-infringement claims. Wistron Corp, a spinoff of Acer, is the latest company to make an agreement with Microsoft in a string of lawsuits and royalty clashes that’s spanned the course of two months. While we’ve seen Android suppliers such as Itronix and Velocity Micro come to agreements with the folks in Redmond, as well as others like Motorola and Barnes & Noble becoming courtroom fodder, this is the first time Chrome OS has been targeted. Wistron’s an ODM (original design manufacturer) that supplies other companies with computers, tablets and e-readers using either Google OS, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that it signed up for the Microsoft lawsuit prevention plan. Scant details are available aside from the fact that royalties will be collected as a result. Now that Chrome is involved, it not only shows that Team Ballmer isn’t backing down, it appears to have even more companies in its crosshairs — we just wonder who’s next on the list. Full (albeit brief) PR after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted

Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMicrosoft  | Email this | Comments

Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps

GalaxyTab 10.1 demo video shows off TouchWiz on Honeycomb, 'Mini apps'

Surely by now you’re mighty familiar with Samsung’s Android-conquering Galaxy Tab 10.1, but we’re still here waiting on that slate’s promised TouchWiz update. Now it’s on display, courtesy of an official video posted by the company. Whilst listening to some incredibly jazzy music that will make racing fans think they’ve accidentally booted into Gran Turismo 5, watch a disembodied hand show off some of the Honeycomb customizations that, for the most part, look fairly unobtrusive, including a bigger, friendlier settings screen. More interesting, though, is a look at the Mini Apps that are accessed by what looks to be a gesture from off the bottom of the display. Six proggies will be available at launch: a calendar, task manager, clock, note pad, calculator, and music player. We’re still not sure just when the OTA update will filter out to enable these suckers, but more importantly we’re not sure what to call them when it does. Mini Apps isn’t doing it for us, and sadly Java already has “applets” locked up tight.

[Thanks, Marc]

Continue reading Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps

Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSAMSUNGmobile (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy S II: A First Draft of Your Next Android Phone

At this point, Android phones are officially being created faster than human babies. Samsung’s Galaxy phones have been the blueprint for the last year, literally. The Galaxy S II is the new blueprint—and it’s a very nice one. More »

Sony’s new tablet teaser is just as hypnotic as the first (video)

Before stumbling back to work this morning, you might wanna take a minute to give your neurons a well-deserved massage with this new teaser for Sony’s S1 and S2 tablets. Much like last month’s spellbinding ad, this sequel features plenty of balls, levers and bizarre figurines moving together in serpentine synergy. If you look closely, you might even spot one of Sony’s Honeycomb slates. This is only the second installation in what could very well be a never-ending series — but we’d be OK with that, because these clips make our brains happy. Click play to get the ball rolling and let the symphony begin.

Continue reading Sony’s new tablet teaser is just as hypnotic as the first (video)

Sony’s new tablet teaser is just as hypnotic as the first (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceSony (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia ray up for UK pre-order, ships in August?

Do you hate proper capitalization, live in the British isles, and have a spare £350? Excellent, because Sony Ericsson’s Xperia ray has just gone up for pre-order on Play.com. Scheduled for release on August 15th, the specs of the Gingerbread-toting gizmo haven’t changed since we first spotted them. New to us, however, are the four hues we spied on the duo’s website (which you can peep after the fold). Unfortunately for pigment lovers, one can only call dibs the black version this far out, but with more than a month before shipment, we’d pull the trigger anyway — you’ve got more than enough time to sweat color choices, we say.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s Xperia ray up for UK pre-order, ships in August?

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia ray up for UK pre-order, ships in August? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Cool Smartphone  |  sourcePlay.com, Sony Ericsson  | Email this | Comments

LG Optimus 3D now available SIM-free for £500 at Carphone Warehouse

LG Optimus 3D now available SIM-free for £500 at Carphone Warehouse

It’s been mere weeks since we got the full specs on LG’s Optimus 3D (also known as the Thrill 4G for AT&T), and here it is, as promised, popping up across the pond. Yup, everyone’s favorite misnomered online retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has the glassesless Froyo phone going for a cool £500, SIM-free. You can also get 3D on your dual-core LG for £35 per month from O2, Orange, T-Mobile, or Vodafone. For those of you US patriots looking to get your hands on the thing in time for the Fourth of July, however, you’ll have to find another way to capture the weenie roast in all three dimensions — there’s still no word on when the Optimus 3D will land stateside.

LG Optimus 3D now available SIM-free for £500 at Carphone Warehouse originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink T3  |  sourceCarphone Warehouse  | Email this | Comments

Toshiba Thrive WiFi tablet hitting Best Buy on July 10th?

Toshiba Thrive
Toshiba’s Thrive — the Honeycomb tablet that went so long without a name — has evidently snagged itself a July 10th street date, according to Best Buy’s inventory database. If you’ll recall, pre-orders for the 10.1-inch pad got underway June 13th, and though we’ve long been hearing it would go on sale July 10th, Toshiba has only been giving a loose ETA of mid-July. Our tipster’s informed us that their particular location’s received “quite a few” 16-giggers in-stock, and they’re just waiting to shine under the fluorescent showroom lights. So, it’ll still be about a week’s time until you can get your paws on one, but in the meantime, scoot past the break and you’ll find some Thrive packages in the flesh, er, cardboard.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Toshiba Thrive WiFi tablet hitting Best Buy on July 10th?

Toshiba Thrive WiFi tablet hitting Best Buy on July 10th? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jul 2011 02:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Nexus S mini-game adds whimsy to list of must-have specs

In an effort to help force your ambivalent hand at the checkout, Google’s taken a decidedly whimsical approach to Nexus S marketing. The end result: an interactive, YouTube-hosted mini-game that lets you bounce and blow four Google app-labeled balls through a funnel to the Nexus S. Sound fun? It kind of is, but before you wonder where the last half-hour went, keep in mind there’s no free handset at the end of this Android rainbow — just pure fun. It’s a cute distraction that probably won’t have you forgetting about dual core processors anytime soon, but could still sway your credit card if you’re the silly type. Check the source below to get your Google-gaming on.

Nexus S mini-game adds whimsy to list of must-have specs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jul 2011 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNexus Contraptions  | Email this | Comments