Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s do a roll call, shall we? Who doesn’t have a Honeycomb tablet to shill in the states? Acer, ASUS, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba all have something to their names, with Dell possibly bringing its China-only Dell Streak 10 Pro here too. Until now, Lenovo was one glaring exception. The company already had a head start selling the LePad tablet in China, but it was only last month that it announced not one, but two Honeycomb slates for the US market: the IdeaPad K1 for mainstream consumers, and the ThinkPad Tablet for business users (and a fair share of geeks, too). Now, we could easily roll our eyes at how saturated the market for Android tablets is becoming, but Lenovo isn’t just any old OEM. The brand has won such an avid following that we bet the company could have essentially slapped its name on a plain-Jane black slab and waited for loyal fans to line up.

In fact, though, you’re in for a bit more than name recognition. The K1 goes after mainstream consumers with a winsome design, sure, but also a software package designed to make Honeycomb easier to use, and to help ensure that flummoxed, low-tech users don’t have to spend too much time downloading apps out of the box. What’s more, it ships with Android 3.1 and has a two-cell battery that promises up to ten hours of battery life. Oh, and the 32GB model rings in $499, undercutting the 32GB iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by $100. But is that enough for it to stand out? Let’s see.

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We spied a mystery FCC listing just the other day, filed under a no-name company but bearing some unmistakable Lenovo markings. Now we have another unidentified device bearing the same branding and, according to our friendly neighborhood tipster, this is the company’s 7-inch IdeaPad, which might be (internally) dubbed the A1-07. It’s said to be powered by a TI OMAP3621 processor (which also drives the Nook Color), features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, a Broadcom GPS unit, 3G wireless with a SIM slot, and room for a microSD card as well. A 3,700mAh battery supposedly keeps things juiced, both front- and rear-facing cameras are on offer, and it’s all wrapped in a glossy plastic styling that makes it look a little like a TouchPad with some bare metal highlights. It also features three buttons up front that we’re hoping don’t mean it’s been relegated to Android 2.x. Now, the image above (and the second one, below) have obviously been crudely modified to hide something, and we can’t be sure of what we’re looking at here, but it’s interesting enough for us to pass these along. Have a gander and let us know what you think in comments.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Lenovo’s 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam?

Lenovo’s 7-inch IdeaPad caught by Mr. Blurrycam? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The number of Android devices officially compatible with the Netflix streaming app has more than doubled in v2.3, growing from 9 to 24. Last night the description was updated with a new list of devices but the actual updated APK only started pushing this afternoon, bringing Netflix not only to the Lenovo tablet announced last night but also to the Droid 3, HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Atrix, several Galaxy S phones including the Epic 4G and Fascinate and more. Fragmentation is clearly still an issue for DRM’d apps like this and Hulu Plus, but at least now there’s a growing number of recent superphones supported instead of sitting on the sidelines. We’ve got the updated list of devices after the break, hit the source link to download the app from the Android Market.

Update: As multiple commenters have noted, sideloading the Netflix APK will still work for devices that haven’t yet made the list. We were able to confirm the app works fine on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola Xoom, however we’re hearing it’s not up and running on the Tegra 2-based Transformer just yet. Itching for some Watch Instantly on your Honeycomb tablet? Check XDA-Developers for a download link.

Update 2: Alex wrote in to let us know that things are now operational on the Transformer, too. Check out xda-developers for the details.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Netflix app on Android updated to work on 24 models including Galaxy S, Droid 3 (update: tablets too!)

Netflix app on Android updated to work on 24 models including Galaxy S, Droid 3 (update: tablets too!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s ThinkPad comes complete with stylus. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)

Better late to the tablet game than never, Lenovo announced three new tablet offerings Wednesday, officially unveiling designs and specs on the products for the first time.

The IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad tablets are set to debut in August, with the IdeaPad P1 to arrive at an unspecified date later in the year. The K1 and the ThinkPad will run Android Honeycomb 3.1, while the P1 will run Windows 7.

What may be even more exciting is that all three tablets will run Netflix, the first of any Android Honeycomb-powered tablets to do so. Although a handful of Android phones are able to run Netflix’s Android app, Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are all able to run the streaming movie service. It’s a big deal that Lenovo’s tablets will finally offer another solution to Netflix users who don’t necessarily want to go with Apple.

The real star hardware is found in the ThinkPad, Lenovo’s business-oriented Android tablet (pictured above). It comes with an optional stylus pen, but unlike the exorbitantly priced HTC Flyer’s stylus — which cost a whopping 80 bucks to purchase with the Flyer — the ThinkPad’s stylus will cost less than half that when bought with the tablet, a modest $30.

It’s got some of the usual accoutrements found in Android tablets — dual-core processor, front and back-facing cameras — but also includes a number of uncommon connectivity options. HDMI output, USB 2.0 port, micro USB port, SIM card slot, 3-in-1 memory card reader — with this kind of connectivity, it’s like we’re looking at the back of a PC tower rather than a tablet. There’s also a dock connector to hook the tablet up to both a charging station or the optional $100 folio, which acts as both a carrying case and a keyboard.

The ThinkPad will first launch in Wi-Fi only versions, but at an unspecified date shortly after a 3G version will go on sale. The carrier for the 3G version is yet to be named.

The IdeaPad K1 is more run of the mill, touting a list of specs similar to other tablets already on the market. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)

The K1 doesn’t look much different from most Android tablets currently available for purchase. It sports a dual-core 1-GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor backed by a full gig of RAM, and it comes with a 10.1-inch display — all of which is identical to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, which was released far before the K1 will come out. And like Toshiba’s recently launched Thrive tablet, the tablet’s back casing comes in multiple colors.

The one big draw — you’ll be able to buy a 32 GB version for $500, the same as a 16 GB iPad 2.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad P1 rounds out the threesome as a Windows 7-powered tablet. (Photo courtesy Lenovo)

Last but not entirely forgotten, the P1 touts a 1.5-GHz Intel processor, can support up to 2 GB of DDR2 memory, and will come in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions upon its eventual release. Like the ThinkPad, you can also purchase the P1 with an optional stylus.

The 32 GB IdeaPad K1 will be available for preorder online for $500 beginning today, with a release set for August. The 16 GB ThinkPad will also be available for pre-order online today for $530 with the optional stylus, and $500 without. It’s also set to drop come August. Finally, the P1 hasn’t got any availability or pricing information outside of a “fourth quarter” release time frame.

You read that correctly — Netflix streaming is about to get really real on impending Honeycomb tablets. One of the nuggets that makes Lenovo’s newly unveiled IdeaPad K1 so special is the internal DRM module that allows it to play nice with a fresh build of the Netflix app. As we saw back at MWC with the LG Revolution, future Android 3.x tablets (with an unspecified hardware inclusion) will not only support native Watch Instantly streaming over mini-HDMI / HDMI, but it’ll also enable something totally new: local storage. The fresh build of the app — which will remain exclusive to Lenovo for “a short while” — will have a heretofore unseen option that’ll let subscribers store flicks locally for offline viewing. We’re told by Lenovo that files can be stored on the internal flash as well as on microSD cards, and while we’ve yet to get a hands-on look at the app, we’ll be doing everything we can to change that.

Just to answer the obvious question: no, your existing Honeycomb tablet won’t be able to support this goodness through a firmware update. You’ll actually need a slate with the requisite hardware within to take advantage, and it’s hard to say at this point who will follow Lenovo down the path. We’re hoping that the added functionality won’t lead to a boost in Netflix’s monthly rate, but given the history of the app, we can’t say we’re too terrified about that possibility. So, how fast will the APK be ripped from the fabric of a K1 and thrown out onto the web? Somewhere between “quickly” and “you’ve got to be kidding me,” we’re surmising.

Update: So, it seems something has changed since our D9 meeting. There’s no offline viewing support, but the streaming is still here. Too bad, but we’re hoping it’ll be added (back?) in a future update.

Netflix to stream natively from HDMI-equipped tablets (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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