Hasta La Gadget!

While we’ve yet to see other Honeycomb tablets materialize in the shops after the Xoom, news has it that ASUS is about to debut its Eee Pad Transformer back in its home country this Friday. There’s still no final pricing to be seen for this Tegra 2 device, but some of our watchful readers have already spotted the stricken-through $799 label — in US dollars, oddly enough — on ASUS’ Transformer countdown page on Facebook, and hopefully this price tag will cover the docking kit as well. Anyhow, anxious Android fans will be able to order this peculiar 10.1-inch slate — in 16GB or 32GB flavor — later this week, so that Taiwanese pen pal of yours will finally come in handy.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We just heard from our ASUS rep here in the US and it looks like the Transformer will be hitting the US market in early April. No word on pricing yet, but we will keep you updated.

ASUS to debut Eee Pad Transformer in Taiwan this Friday, Honeycomb confirmed (updated: coming to US in early April) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s March 20th and, right on schedule, Sprint has started taking orders for its first Windows Phone 7 handset. The HTC 7 Pro, renamed the Arrive on the Now Network, can now be had for $200 after rebate when bought with the customary two-year contract. Amazon’s doing its usual thing of undercutting carriers’ own pricing by offering it up for 50 greenbacks less at $150, and we suspect other online retailers will follow suit. So affordability shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re still wondering if the investment will be worth it, we’ll have our review of this handset early next week — just before Sprint makes it irrelevant by blowing the doors off CTIA.

[Thanks, Justin]

HTC Arrive now available for $200 from Sprint, $150 at Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The road to Android 2.1 may have been a long and treacherous one for Milestone users, but the one to Android 2.2 wasn’t even certain of reaching its goal. Thankfully, Moto has managed to conclude its “exhaustive testing process” and is now making a Froyo firmware update available to Milestone users wishing to step their software up a notch. Flash Player 10.1, a faster browser and mobile hotspot capabilities await the intrepid updater, but Motorola warns that any DRM-locked media you have on your SD card will be lost. Weirdly enough, there’s also a caution that “users may experience some adverse effects associated with the upgrade which could include slower operation of some phone functions and applications.” Once you’ve read and understood all the warnings, smash the source link to download the new software.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Milestone achieves Android 2.2 milestone at last, Froyo update ready for download originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh yes, the world’s first Android Honeycomb tablet really is here now. As Verizon announced earlier, you can snag a Motorola Xoom for $599.99 with a two-year contract, or splash out $799.99 for just the LTE-ready device. Alas, the WiFi-only version is nowhere to be seen just yet, but maybe some will show up in the stores later if not tomorrow, so hold on to your personal hotspot devices and keep believing. Either way, in case you’re still indecisive over this 10-inch goodness, maybe our review will help.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Verizon’s been in touch to inform us of a policy change: customers who purchase the off-contract Xoom will now no longer need to be on a month to month plan. That said, we still see “Month to Month” as a compulsory option at the time of updating this post.

Motorola Xoom now available for purchase straight from Verizon, no data activation required (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Right on cue, Olympus’ latest entrant into the world of Micro Four Thirds is now shipping. Just a month after receiving its official unveil at CES, the E-PL2 is finally taking over for the E-PL1. Aside from an ISO range topping out at 6,400, a 3-inch rear LCD, an SDXC slot, RAW image support and a newfangled accessory port, this guy’s also fully compatible with the Penpal Bluetooth dongle. For those unaware, that enables photos to be shared and uploaded on the fly so long as your BT-enabled, 3G-ready smartphone is by your side, though it looks as if the camera itself has beat said accessory to market. The camera’s yours for the taking at $599.99 (bundled with a ED m14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens) at the source links below.

[Thanks, Tom]

Olympus E-PL2 Micro Four Thirds camera now shipping, Penpal still has us buzzing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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