Hasta La Gadget!

After seeing Android tablets galore at CES, it seems strangely fitting that a device bearing the CherryPad moniker could top off this month’s tablet news dog pile. Specifically, Mobile Magazine is sharing “unconfirmed details” about a new 7-inch Cherry-branded tablet that’s said to run Android 2.2 “at a minimum” and feature a 1024×600 capacitive multi-touch display, front and rear three megapixel cameras, a 1GHz Cortex A8 cpu, and either 8 or 16GB of flash memory. Other goodies on the sequel’s spec list include an integrated HDMI output, accelerometer, microSD slot and even an unlocked GSM antenna. Unfortunately, these enhancements won’t be available at the old CherryPad’s $200 price point — which was pretty much the only thing the original had going for it. Instead, the new device is rumored to cost $300 to $400. The same source also reports that an official announcement is expected in just a few weeks, so in the meantime, we’ll pass the hours debating whether it makes more sense to name tablets after fruits or rocks.

Second-gen CherryPad rumored to feature better specs for a bigger price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the kitty’s out of the gemstone bag, we’re slowly starting to connect the dots that obscure the details of Palm’s soon to be announced “Topaz” and “Opal” tablets. First up is information from one of our original trusted sources who claims that the Opal will measure 180 x 144 x 13mm (making it a bit shorter and wider than the 190.1 x 120.5 x 12-mm Galaxy Tab) and feature a 1,024 x 768 pixel TFT LCD display. We’re told that the bigger Topaz tablet will ship about three months before Opal and measures in at 241 x 190 x 13mm (making it nearly identical to the 242.8 x 189.7 x 13.4-mm iPad) with a pixel resolution that could be the same as the Opal (our source wasn’t 100 percent on this). We’re also hearing that the “premium audio” we saw on that leaked marketing slide will indeed be powered by HP’s Beats audio processing, and that the tablets will be provided with “tens of gigabytes” of cloud storage — so much that it dwarfs the local storage on the devices. Good, because you’re going to need it from the looks of some additional information we just received. Click through for the detail.

Continue reading HP / Palm tablet to feature Touchstone dock, cloud storage, Beats audio and Tap-to-Share smartphone integration

HP / Palm tablet to feature Touchstone dock, cloud storage, Beats audio and Tap-to-Share smartphone integration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Way back in August of last year, when temperatures were above zero and Honeycomb was still a great unknown, HP promised us the first webOS tablet will come “in early 2011.” Just yesterday, however, our noteworthy exposure of the vanguard members of the webOS tablet family led us to believe that at least one of them, the Opal, would take until September to arrive. That may still be the case, but DigiTimes is bringing us back around to HP’s original pledge, with word that Inventec has received instructions from HP to start producing and shipping a webOS slate (most probably the Topaz) in March. As usual, this comes from the (in)famous insider sources that tend to miss as often as they hit, but it does make sense for HP to follow up its February event with a relatively rapid product rollout.

HP’s first webOS tablet may start shipping in March, fulfill longstanding promise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, hello. A trusted tipster just sent in these internal renders of HP / Palm’s “Topaz” webOS tablet, which is one of two tablets currently being developed in Sunnyvale. That’s right, two tablets: the 9-inch Topaz and a 7-inch model codnamed Opal — a lineup that fits nicely into Palm’s “Something big, Something small, Something beyond” tagline for its upcoming February 9th event. Looking at the render, we’re seeing the no-button design we’d previously heard about (we’re assuming the gesture area rotates with the display), a front-facing camera, a micro USB port on the bottom, and what appears to be a Vizio Tablet-style three speaker arrangement for stereo audio in both landscape and portrait modes — that’s two speakers along the left side and a third on the right. (That’s just a guess, though.) We’d also note the back appears to be a glossy material, which might rule out a giant Touchstone for charging — Touchstone backs have heretofore been soft-touch, but anything can change, we suppose.

We’re told that units will start to arrive at Palm HQ in June as production ramps up for launch later this year — a timeline backed up by an internal marketing slide we received that lists WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions of the Opal arriving in September 2011, and on AT&T LTE in July 2012. The slide also indicates the Opal will have a particular e-reading focus, which makes sense for a 7-inch device, and there’s a mention of “premium audio,” which nicely reinforces our speaker hypothesis. Unfortunately, we don’t have any word on specs or pricing yet, but these things had better be packing some serious heat for cheap if Palm is really planning to wait until September to launch them — they’ll be going head-to-head with the Xoom, the PlayBook, and presumably the iPad 2. We’re still digging for more, so keep an eye out — things are going to get crazy leading up to February 9th.

Update: We’re told that they both have unspecified 1.2GHz processors, and that Topaz may arrive before Opal. We’ll let you know if we learn anything else.

Exclusive: HP / Palm’s webOS tablets — pictures, plans, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps Samsung’s Vibrant 4G won’t be tied to Froyo, after all. Although the initial leak suggested Android 2.2, Boy Genius Report’s managed to obtain what it suggests is an in-the-wild shot with a lock screen that looks remarkably reminiscent of the aesthetic touches from Android 2.3 Gingerbread. No TouchWiz UI here, but word on the street (i.e. from its source) is Sammy’s hard at work to remedy that disconnect and make the skin jibe with the new version. And if that’s not enough, TmoNews is claiming a leaked document that indicates Vibrant 4G will launch February 23rd. Back to the picture, though: if that timestamp is at all accurate, and this is really just hours fresh, perhaps that lucky right-handed gent can snap a few more convincing shots while it charges.

Update: As a number of readers have pointed out, there’s some odd discrepancies between this image and the Gingerbread lock screen we all know, chief among them the inclusion of AM / PM in the top bar (that option doesn’t exist in actual 2.3. we just checked to be sure). Brief Mobile’s got a more nuanced breakdown, but the point is, this looks to be either a half-baked ROM or the work of a certain Robin Goodfellow.

Samsung Vibrant 4G for T-Mobile in the wild? (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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