Hasta La Gadget!

Jonney Shih has never been one to back down from his stance on anything, and in a recent sit-down with IDG News Service, the ASUS chairman delivered quite a few nuggets worth poring over. For starters, he played up (and subsequently downplayed) a “secret weapon” that would likely rival the iPad 2, but wouldn’t go so far as to confirm that said weapon would actually be a slate. His response to prying? “I think it’s best not to say now. You will have to wait until the launch.” He also noted that personal cloud computing was poised to boom, and didn’t leave much hope for the likes of webOS and QNX — he claims that there is only room for three OS camps to win, and those three slots are already occupied with Windows, Android and iOS. Finally, he took the opportunity to fling water on the 3DTV buzz, noting that he “doesn’t think that will prevail.” He did leave open the possibility for glasses-free options in handhelds to succeed, but beyond that, it’s safe to say he’s not much of a 3D advocate. Hit the source link for the full skinny, but don’t go digging for any extra details on his iPad 2 killer — something tells us you’ll be sorely disappointed.

ASUS chairman Jonney Shih promises ‘secret weapon’ to rival iPad 2, disses 3DTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s still calling this a Mobile Internet Device, but you can call it by any of its codenames: Looking Glass, M02M, iPad eviscerator, they’re all in here. Yes, the FCC has spent a month of quality time with Dell’s still unofficial, but very much upcoming, tablet and has given the go-ahead for its integrated 3G (the listed UMTS bands II, IV and V indicate compatibility with both AT&T and T-Mobile), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and 802.11n WiFi radios. Labeling for the attached (and apparently not removable) door on the back of the device indicates an SD card slot, which will sit right alongside a SIM card port. The latter will presumably be used mostly to funnel data into the Dell tablet, but voice calls aren’t completely out of the question either — there’s a (inactive) proximity sensor thrown in as well. Either way, Dell’s almost sure to launch this device, expected to feature a 7-inch screen and Tegra 2 internals, at CES next week.

Dell’s Looking Glass tablet passes through FCC, shows off SD and SIM card slots originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew good and well that Android 2.2 was sneaking out and making itself active on Dell’s unlocked Streak units, but now it seems that the backlog of older units has been cleared. That has made way for new stock over at Dell’s US site, with a 16GB Carbon Black unlocked Streak going for $579.99 with Froyo from the factory; the 32GB model is listed at $678.99. Curiously, that 16GB model is $30 more than what the unlocked Android 1.6 model went for back in August. Also, we’re left to assume that even the “unlocked” models will still be SIM-locked to AT&T, though Dell does play up the fact that unlocked Streaks can be used as a mobile hotspot for up to eight WiFi-enabled devices without ponying up extra to Ma Bell. In related news, the long-awaited Cherry Red Streak is also on sale in the US of A, but you’ll have to flip to page two down in the source link in order to find the 32GB and unlocked variants. Good luck wading through the options, champ.

[Thanks, Jar Jar Binks]

Dell US now offering Streak unlocked with Froyo, in Cherry Red originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What first we thought was the Light is actually something wholly different — and rather less exciting. What we have here is called simply the AD8000 MID, a 7-inch device from ZTE with an 800 x 480 resistive touchscreen. Power comes courtesy a 600MHz processor, smarts courtesy Android 2.2, and there’s up to 16GB of storage internally and SDHC expansion for when that’s tapped out. 802.11b/g are your wireless options, while 10 hours is rated as maximum battery life while listening to music, though that drops to six if you’re cruising the web and/or watching videos. The FCC has kindly posted the thing’s full operating manual including all specs if you’d like to know more, but since Archos already has this segment rather well covered we’ll go back to waiting for the Light to light up our lives.

ZTE’s AD8000 Android MID gets sized up at the FCC, with full specs in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We remember it like it was yesterday — pressed against the edge of our seat, speakerphone on 11, listening to Qualcomm preach about how these so-called “smartbooks” were coming to take over the world. Can’t fault ’em for trying. A little over a year after the (admittedly valiant) effort began, Qualcomm’s CEO is effectively putting this whole nightmare behind him. According to Slashgear, Paul Jacobs admitted during an event this morning that “tablets such as the iPad had already occupied the niche his company expected smartbooks to.” Essentially, the iPad delivered on the concept of an “always-on, all-day device” long before smartbooks ever had a chance at gaining traction, and judging by the fact that only a handful of these guys ever made it to market, we’d say that brutally honest assessment makes a lot of sense. We aren’t necessarily better off for it, mind you, but it definitely seems that the resurgence of the tablet (and the proliferation of the longevous netbook) has extinguished any hope of smartbooks dominating the world. Hey, at least this guy’s man enough to know when a journey’s reached its end. Sayonara, smarties.

Qualcomm’s CEO confesses: tablets killed the smartbook star originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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