Oct 20

Lenovo says no Android tablet in US until Honeycomb; no Windows 7 tablet, period

Posted in: Android, Google, honeycomb, lenovo, plans, roadmap, schedule, slate, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, us, usa, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

If you happen to be enthusiastic about Lenovo, tablets, and your American residency, look away now. Lenovo still plans to ship the Android-based LePad in China some time soonish, but its US roadmap can pretty much be summed up as “wait and see.” The company’s COO Rory Read has been cited as saying there are no plans to release a slate for the US market until at least Android’s Honeycomb version comes out, agreeing with Google on the point that Froyo is not “the right base to have a fully functioning pad.” Lest you think Windows 7 will fill the void until whenever in 2011 that Android tablet does arrive, Lenovo’s director of new technology, Howard Locker, sets you straight: “Windows 7 is based on the same paradigm as 1985 — it’s really an interface that’s optimized for a mouse and keyboard,” and the Thinking machine team doesn’t intend to build a slate around it. And if you were thinking of maybe picking up a LePhone as a consolation prize, tough luck, that won’t be arriving in the US for at least another two years (which in smartphone terms is basically “never”), although it’s good to know that it’s now got 13 percent of the smartphone market in China. You know, in case you own stock in LeCompany.

Lenovo says no Android tablet in US until Honeycomb; no Windows 7 tablet, period originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 15

Android ‘Ice Cream’ the sweet toothed followup to Honeycomb?

Posted in: Android, honeycomb, Today's Chili

Ah, the age old alphabetical dessert guessing game. Pretty soon we’ll have more future Android versions named than existing ones on the market. And you know what? That’s okay, because we’re hungry. Apparently the President of ARM, Tudor Brown, spilled the vanilla beans to Elizabeth Woyke of Forbes, saying that Android 4.0 will be called “Ice Cream,” and while it seems like a bit of an obvious choice for an “I” dessert, that’s never stopped Google’s crack naming crew before. (Donut, anybody?) Somehow we get the feeling that Google spends a lot less time thinking about potential names for desserts than we do, and that’s alright: they’ve got a lot of OS work to do. Us? We just have to whine about Android fragmentation for an hour or so a week on the podcast. Hardly a full load.

Android ‘Ice Cream’ the sweet toothed followup to Honeycomb? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 23

10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager (updated)

Posted in: 10-inch, Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, breaking news, BreakingNews, GalaxyTab, gingerbread, honeycomb, plans, roadmap, samsung, samsung galaxy tab, SamsungGalaxyTab, schedule, slate, tablet, Today's Chili

Tucked away at the bottom of a news story about who’ll be carrying the 7-inch Galaxy Tab in Ireland this year is the promise of a 10-inch Tab (presumably for the whole world) next year. This comes straight from local General Manager Gary Twohig, who seems to have casually disclosed his company’s plans for a 10-inch Android slate in the first half of 2011. Beyond that, all we know is that it’ll include the V8 JavaScript Engine that first showed up as a touted feature in Froyo, though if we had to bet our Led Zep record collection, we’d probably say this 10-incher will be holding out for Android 3.x — either Gingerbread or Honeycomb — for an experience better optimized to run on larger screens. In fact, that may be the likeliest reason why this new tablet didn’t debut with its 7-inch sibling: waiting on a better OS.

[Thanks, Iain]

Update: The original story has undergone a bit of massaging since we first reported on it and the connection between Gary Twohig and the 10-inch Tab has now been removed. We’re still inclined to believe the content, however, as Samsung itself has not been shy about its plans to bring multiple Galaxy Tab sizes to the world.

10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011 by Samsung Ireland General Manager (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSilicon Republic  | Email this | Comments

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Sep 10

Google: Android 2.2 ‘not designed’ for the tablet form factor

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, froyo, gingerbread, Google, GoogleAndroid, honeycomb, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, slate, Software, tablet, tablet pc, TabletPc, Today's Chili

Hello, obvious! Anyone who has actually used an Android-based tablet for any length of time would probably tell you that the experience is far from optimal. It works, sure, but it doesn’t take a CSC major to understand that Google’s existing builds of Android were crafted for smartphones and nothing more. Thankfully for those who are tired of arguing the point, Hugo Barra, director of products for mobile at Google, is stepping up to the plate and giving you some backing. Quoted over at Tech Radar, Hugo noted that “Android is an open platform, and we saw at IFA 2010 all sorts of devices running Android, so it’s already running on tablets; but the way Android Market works is it’s not going to be available on devices that don’t allow applications to run correctly.” He followed up by proclaiming that “Froyo is not optimized for use on tablets,” and while he wouldn’t go so far as to affirm that Gingerbread would be built for use on the aforementioned form factor, he did say that the company’s working “to ensure our users have [the] right experience.” How’s that strike you, Galaxy Tab?

Google: Android 2.2 ‘not designed’ for the tablet form factor originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

Samsung exec says next tablet will use Android ‘Honeycomb,’ Galaxy Tab getting Gingerbread

Posted in: Android, GalaxyTab, gingerbread, honeycomb, samsung, Today's Chili
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab has only just finally, officially been revealed, but it looks like the company is already doing at least a bit of talking about its next tablet (and the future of the Galaxy Tab). According to Tech Radar, Samsung’s head of product planning, WP Hong, has said that “moving forward, with Honeycomb, that will be used in the next generation tablet, as it is specifically optimized for different type of tablet, and will be used on another product only.” Not only is that the most official word we’ve had so far of a Galaxy Tab followup (curiously described as a “different type of tablet”), but it’s also seemingly the first time that an ODM has publicly referred to a future Android version as “Honeycomb” — a name that Tech Radar had previously heard from “multiple sources.” It seems that Honeycomb won’t be making it to the current Galaxy Tab, however, but Hong did say that “depending on our international partners, we’ll be working to upgrade from Froyo to Gingerbread.”

Samsung exec says next tablet will use Android ‘Honeycomb,’ Galaxy Tab getting Gingerbread originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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