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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It’s been nine months — nine months! — since Acer first announced it was getting into the tablet game, with a promise of both 7- and 10-inch slates. Well, the 10-inch Iconia Tab A500 has been on the scene for months, but until now we’ve been tapping our feet impatiently waiting for the other tab to drop. Acer came out and said it wouldn’t be here until the second half of the year, and meanwhile we’d heard rumors it would arrive in September and that it was delayed due to “Honeycomb compatibility issues“.

Well, folks, dog years later it’s finally here. Say hello to the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the company’s first 7-inch tablet, and the first 7-inch tablet to run Android 3.2. Other than its OS, its specs are fairly run-of-the-mill: a Tegra 2 SoC, five- and two-megapixel cameras, and micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports. And rejoice, geeks, because that’s vanilla Honeycomb loaded on there — you won’t find any custom skins or proprietary widgets clogging your home screens. As much promise as these vitals might have for nerds, though, Acer is clear the tablet is for mainstream consumers (“moms,” among others, according to the press release). We’re not sure how your mother would feel about the precious pattern on the back, but chances are she’d appreciate the bargain factor: the 8GB version costs $329.99 while the 16GB number rings in at a reasonable $349.99, undercutting the 16GB HTC Flyer by $150. We’ve been lucky to get some quality time with the A100 the past few days, and let’s just say we’re coming away with some mixed feelings. But do we like it enough that we feel this little guy was worth the wait? That’s a toughie, guys.

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A100 review

Acer Iconia Tab A100 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have noticed that accessory makers have a habit of churning out stuff for iDevices first and everything else second. Specifically, though, we’re noticing that in the world of tablets, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is fast becoming companies’ No. 2 once they’ve gotten the iPad squared away. Take Logitech, for example. The company just announced a keyboard case for Samsung’s deliciously thin slate — a near facsimile of the one it released for the iPad a few months back. To recap, this isn’t your garden-variety folio case with a keyboard and kickstand, but rather, an aluminum lid with a full ‘board lining the interior. Logitech also attempts to justify the steep $99.99 price with shortcut keys for copying and pasting and cushioned corners that offer a modicum of protection in the event of a drop. But does that make it worth it? We’ll leave that to your and your wallet.

Logitech trots out another keyboard case, this time for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Using DSLR Controller, Android owners can direct their phones to take photos of posters of hot girls on dorm-room walls

DSLR Controller by developer Chainfire is a pretty good example of the difference between iOS and Android.

To control a camera with an iPhone, you need to first tether the camera to a computer or use some funky, limited BlueTooth triggering. With Android, you just plug in a USB cable.

Chainfire’s Android app does just that, allowing you to stream a live view (at about 15 fps) to a phone or tablet, and control the camera directly. And you can control almost everything, from exposure compensation (swipe to adjust) to focus point (yes, you can touch-to-focus on your SLR, just like the iPhone), toggle a histogram and of course take a photo. And if only Android had Instagram, you could process and send you photos on their way. Here it is in action:

To use it, you’ll need an Android phone or tablet with with USB host support. Currently this means the Samsung Galaxy S2 phone, or pretty much and Android tablet running Honeycomb. You’ll also need one of the following Canon SLRs: 600D, 550D, 60D, 50D, 7D, 5D MkII, or 1D MkIV.

Also unlike anything on iOs, the app is available to the public for sale in its beta form, due to popular demand. It currently costs €6 ($8.50) in the Android Market.

DSLR Controller [Android Market via PetePixel]

See Also:

• DSLR Camera Remote HD for iPad
• USB Knob Adds Remote Focus-Pulling to Canon SLRs
• DIY IR SLR Trigger Is Simple, Easy, Cheap
• GPS Bluetooth Dongle Controls SLRs with iPhone

Now that eager hackers have actually managed to shoehorn the latest flavor of Android onto Logitech Revue units, the question is what does it actually look like? We got a few screenshots at Google I/O but now there’s pictures and videos popping up all over. One of our tipsters sent a few shots over, while the Channel Android folks on YouTube have posted a video walkthrough (embedded after the break). So far it looks good, with little remaining of the original Google TV UI, now replaced by widgets, box art-style listings of TV content and more. Thinking about dropping a Benjamin on one of these units and upgrading to Honeycomb yourself? Be warned — it’s very raw, so with no Netflix and not much app compatibility to speak of, remaining a voyeur is probably advisable for now.

[Thanks, Michael]

Continue reading Logitech Revue running Honeycomb caught on camera, looks pretty good

Logitech Revue running Honeycomb caught on camera, looks pretty good originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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