Hasta La Gadget!

ASUS’ Eee Pad Slider is fast becoming just as mythical as the flying horse the company’s named after. We’ve had several encounters with potential release windows for the slate, only to see it continually creep back into fall. Well, judging by a recent report from Notebook Italia and the tab’s new product page, it looks like we may actually see a September launch for the 10.1-incher — in Italy. Contrary to prior rumors, the company will be offering the Slider in two storage configurations — 16GB and 32GB at potential €479 and €599 price points overseas, while $400 and $550 models should hit the US. We’ve also got a slew of official specs for the Honeycomb-based device, which should ship with Android 3.1 installed, with a promised 3.2 upgrade to follow. The QWERTYfied tablet packs a 1280 x 800 WXGA display, dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of memory, 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, USB 2.0, mini-HDMI, microSD card reader, WiFi and Bluetooth. The company’s also thrown in one year of “unlimited ASUS Web Storage” for your cloud computing needs. Will the electronics maker finally commit to a concrete launch for the Slider? We’ll find out in a month’s time.

ASUS Eee Pad Slider shows off its specs, may launch in September originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An updated version of Skype just appeared on the Android Market sporting a crucial improvement: it now supports two-way video calling on a wide range of current Android handsets, rather than the meager four that had previously received preferential treatment. If you have a recent phone from HTC, Samsung or Sony Ericsson (excluding the Arc), then you’re probably in luck. Oh, and LG Revolution (Verizon) and Acer A5 owners can get their vogue on too. Running Gingerbread is a must, though, because Froyo will only let you use your device’s rear camera, which is obviously quite difficult to pose for. Check out the source link for the full list of supported handsets and let us know if you run into problems.

[Thanks, Nathan]

Skype two-way video chat finally arrives on more Android handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is the world’s next showstopping Gingerbread smartphone seriously coming from Huawei? The same company that shocked us all with the S7 Slim tablet (and pulled a similar stunt with the MediaPad) has just taken the wraps off of its newest handset in Beijing, and the curtly-titled Vision offers quite the stat sheet. While it still falls short of Samsung’s Galaxy S II and HTC’s EVO 3D in terms of raw horsepower, it’s still more than capable of holding its own. Within the unibody frame, you’ll find a 3.7-inch capacitive touchpanel, a five megapixel autofocus camera (with LED flash and 720p video recording), 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8255 processor and a 1,400mAh battery.

Moreover, there’s 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of ROM, a microSD slot capable of holding 32GB, and a micro-USB 2.0 socket to boot. Per usual, A-GPS, an FM radio tuner, proximity sensor and light sensor are thrown in, and for those with varying moods, you’ll likely appreciate the availability of silver, gold and charcoal back covers. The chassis measures 9.9 millimeters at its thinnest point while weighing 121 grams, which Huawei curiously points out is “less than a bottle of perfume or aftershave.” We’re told that it’s loaded with a “3D interface,” but given that we’re not hearing anything about a “3D display,” it’s probably little more than spruced-up 2D. We’re still waiting to hear back on a price, but “select markets” can look for it to land in September.

Continue reading Huawei Vision smartphone: Android 2.3, 1GHz CPU, unibody construction

Huawei Vision smartphone: Android 2.3, 1GHz CPU, unibody construction originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought Android was killing it in the US? Try the rest of planet Earth, bud. The latest from our friends at Canalys has Google’s mobile OS on 48 percent of smartphones worldwide, or nearly one out of every two sold. Mountain View’s stratospheric rise came at someone’s expense, and it looks like Nokia’s the loser here folks, which corroborates the data from last week’s IDC report. Espoo’s foibles are troublesome in a market that grew 73 percent year over year, especially when Samsung shipped 421 percent more handsets than it did a year ago. As a result, the Korean company has surpassed Nokia in smartphone marketshare, just like its rival in Cupertino. Despite the rampant growth, the research firm suspects Sammy could have done better, noting that it had failed to capitalize on Nokia’s “weakened state around the world” with its “global scale and channel reach.” We’ll see if Samsung takes Canalys’ constructive criticism to heart in Q3, but while you wait, you can read the full report after the jump.

Continue reading Canalys: Android rules the smartphone world, Samsung could’ve done better

Canalys: Android rules the smartphone world, Samsung could’ve done better originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, it wouldn’t even bother us if it didn’t look so amazing. But alas, the Eee Slider from ASUS is easily one of the most anticipated Honeycomb tablets around, and our unending love for the since-departed HTC Advantage ensures that the flame for this guy will keep burning, too. Just a few weeks after hearing from ASUS’ UK branch that the Slider was being delayed until ‘autumn,’ in flies word from The Netherlands that we may be able to fix our gaze on September. Based on reports from Tablets Magazine, the 16GB model will be canned altogether in favor of a lone 32 gigger, which should sell for €499 across the pond. As for the 3G-enabled variant? We aren’t apt to see that surface until Q1 2012. It’s tough to pinpoint the reason for the holdup, but our guess is software — earlier in the week, a hands-on video emerged showcasing the Slider with Android 3.1, paying particular attention to the newfound USB accessory support. Have a gander at the video just past the break, and feel free to console one another in comments.

Update: Seems that ASUS’ Polish arm thinks that the 16GB model may ship in that corner of the world. Hmm… maybe these folks should start talking to one another.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012

ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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