Hasta La Gadget!

Still no official launch date for Asus’s funny-looking 10.1-inch hybrid, but we’ve already seen evidence of a September release and now there’s a whole drum-roll of pre-order pages up at Amazon. You’re looking at $580 for the 32GB model in white or mocha, or $100 less if you settle for the 16GB variant and cram the rest of your digital possessions onto microSD or — yes indeedy — some USB 2.0 external storage. Needless to say, all shades come with the same Tegra 2 processor, Honeycomb 3.2, 1GB of RAM, Mini HDMI out, a 5MP rear camera and 1.2MP front-facer. At this point, all these sliders need to do is turn up.

[Thanks, Peter]

Asus Eee Pad Slider up for pre-order at Amazon, starting at $480 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, you could pre-order your Tablet S direct from Sony and wait until the 16th for your slate, or you could skip over to your local Best Buy and play a round of early-release roulette. Our local shop, however, is telling us the tablet is available for “pre-order and display only,” so your mileage may vary.

[Thanks @DaHarder]

Sony Tablet S arrives at Best Buy, ready to be touched, pre-ordered originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First rule of expensive electronics 101 is don’t get’em wet. For the Japanese, however, a waterproof gadget option’s a welcome value-add to time spent soaking in that ofuro. We first got a sneak peek at DoCoMo’s H2O-resistant LTE Fujitsu tablet just last week, and now the company’s making the announcement official. Joining the Arrows Tab LTE F-01D on the carrier’s new 4G Xi (read: Crossy) network is our good Samsung friend, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 LTE SC-01D. Both slates are set to hit the operator’s Japanese airwaves next month, with Sammy’s bowing in early October and Fujitsu’s model landing a few weeks later. While we’re already privy to all the internal guts and glory of the former tab, we finally have some spec confirmation on the Arrows. The 10.1-incher boasts a WXGA display, dual-core processor running Android 3.2, 1.3 megapixel front-facing / 5 megapixel rear camera setup, up to 32GB of storage and that ever useful waterproofing. Try not to be too jealous, statesiders — there’s always that glimmer of FCC filing hope.

Continue reading Fujitsu’s waterproof Arrows Tab LTE F-01D to launch on DoCoMo next month

Fujitsu’s waterproof Arrows Tab LTE F-01D to launch on DoCoMo next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Tablet S now available for pre-order, shipping September 16th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

• The biggest update we saw this week was a widespread push of Android 2.3.3 to the Motorola Droid 2. This one is done OTA, so simply go into your settings menu and check for updates to see if it’s there. (thanks to everyone who sent this in)
• While we saw a rollout of Android 2.3 to a select few LG Optimus Ones in June, we’re hearing reports that the update’s now getting pushed out again to a few more regions. This refresh must be done manually through LG’s updater tool, so you’ll definitely want to check to see if your phone is one of the lucky recipients. [via PocketNow]
• US Cellular took to its Facebook Page to let customers know it’s working on revamping the Samsung Mesmerize to Gingerbread at some point, though no official date or timeframe was given aside from “as soon as possible.” [via AndroidCentral]
• HTC announced the arrival of Android 2.3 for the Thunderbolt and Droid Incredible this month, via its Facebook page. [via AndroidCommunity]
• In fact, some users have already reported getting Gingerbread for the Incredible, and we suspect the rollout will be complete no later than the end of the month, to fulfill the company’s promise. [via Phandroid]
• Gingerbread is in the plans for the Motorola Milestone 2, and according to the company the refresh will begin rolling out in early Q4. [via MyDailyGadget]
• The Samsung LC11 LTE mobile hotspot is getting a new build, EF07, that appears to improve its handling of multiple devices and congested WiFi locations. It also adds security patches and new protocols. [via Verizon]
• An update for the Droid 3 was apparently available to soak testers and leaked online, but was pulled from Motorola servers shortly thereafter. It appears to add video chat support in GTalk and adds a new radio that’s supposed to save battery life. The via link still has the update available for anyone interested. [via Droid-Life]

Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery

• The root method used on most Motorola Android devices has been employed to root the Droid Bionic before it’s even been released. [via Droid-Life]
• LG has released the kernel source for its Gingerbread build of the Optimus S. [via AndroidCentral]
• The HTC Dev site expanded its support for the bootloader unlock tool this week, now encompassing all versions of the Sensation — including T-Mobile’s. [via AndroidCentral]

Other platforms

• SPB Shell 3.0 is now available for Symbian^3 devices. It brings a fresh 3D-style UI to the OS, and can be yours for $15. [via IntoMobile]

Updates already covered this week

• HP planning TouchPad OTA update for added functionality
• HTC Flyer Honeycomb ROM leaks
• Samsung Nexus S updated to 2.3.6, fixes voice search and breaks tethering

Refresh Roundup: week of August 29, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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