HP Android tablet coming later than you think, or not at all

Although nothing official has come from HP on this front, we got some pretty solid word back in April that the American giant was mulling an Android tablet. As it turns out, what with the WebOS acquisition that followed and HP’s dogged commitment to Windows 7, that Googly project has apparently slipped out of the limelight in HP HQ. Word from All Things Digital is that there’ll be nothing forthcoming this year (as was tentatively expected) and if an HP Android tablet is to materialize, it’ll have to come in 2011. The company seems to be in the midst of reallocating resources to its higher priority projects, and who knows, should that rumored Hurricane tablet blow us all away, Android might never gets its chance to shine at all.

HP Android tablet coming later than you think, or not at all originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAll Things Digital  | Email this | Comments

Acer said to be launching 7-, 10-inch Android tablets before the end of the year

Acer’s already offered some indication that it planned to launch at least one Android-based tablet before the end of the year, and it looks like we’re starting to get few more tidbits of information. According to DigiTimes (reasonably reliable when it comes to Acer rumors), the company is planning to launch both 7-inch and 10-inch tablets sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, both of which will reportedly be ARM-based and run Android 2.2 (complete with Flash support_. Details are otherwise still pretty light, but DigiTimes is backing up earlier talk that Acer’s looking to partner with mobile carriers on the devices, which we presume means they’ll both at least have a 3G option.

Acer said to be launching 7-, 10-inch Android tablets before the end of the year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 leaks out, brings along Mac support and microSDHC slot

T-Mobile’s webConnect Rocket has only been delivering “4G speeds” to users in search of mobile internet for a handful of months now, but already the company looks to have a successor on deck. If a pair of leaked slides are to be believed, the webConnect Rocket 2.0 is mildly overhauled version of the original USB WWAN modem, capable of delivering HSPA+ speeds on both PC and Mac platforms. There’s also a nifty microSDHC slot for loading up to 16GB of storage, but outside of that, little else is known. We’re still waiting patiently for a price and release date to come our way, but in the meantime, feel free to slam the brakes on that impending Rocket 1.0 purchase.

T-Mobile webConnect Rocket 2.0 leaks out, brings along Mac support and microSDHC slot originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceTmoNews  | Email this | Comments

Next Apple TV to offer 99 cent streaming episode rentals?

We’ve already had some indication that the next Apple TV might boast a low, low $99 price tag, and it looks like Apple might be working to make TV shows cheaper as well. According NewTeeVee, Apple is now trying to convince networks to let it offer rentals of episodes of TV shows for 99 cents. Like movie rentals, you would have 30 days to watch an episode after you purchase it, but the shows would reportedly be streaming-only, and not actually downloaded to the Apple TV, which would certainly line up with the cloud storage model we’ve heard about. Not many more details than that, unfortunately, nor is there any word that the rentals would extend beyond the Apple TV.

Next Apple TV to offer 99 cent streaming episode rentals? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ars Technica  |  sourceNewTeeVee  | Email this | Comments

Windows 7-based HP Slate referenced at WPC 2010, Ballmer says ‘hardcore’ tablet push coming

Is this the answer to the question we posed back in mid-June? Maybe. While we’re still unsure if Hewlett-Packard has a webOS-based tablet in its pipeline, those on-again / off-again Windows 7 rumors may finally be nearing an end. On the homepage of this year’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference — which kicks off in earnest today in Washington, D.C. — there’s a pane of Windows 7 slates that are on deck for this year. Er, a pane with vendors promising Win7 slates this year. Sure enough, HP’s logo is front and center, right alongside the likes of Sony, Dell, ASUS, Panasonic, Onkyo, Toshiba, MSI, Samsung, Lenovo and Fujitsu. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, but for now, feel free to let your imaginations run wild. It’s Monday, after all.

Update: During the event’s opening keynote, which was headed by none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the bigwig confirmed some of what’s pictured above: Windows 7 slates will be arriving this year. Interestingly, he never mentioned HP by name (despite teasing us gently at CES with an apparent mystery device), but he did note that devices would be available at various price points and in a variety of form factors — “with keyboards, touch only, dockable, able to handle digital ink, etc.” We already knew as much from being overwhelmed by prototypes at Computex, but it’s good to get the word straight from Ballmer himself. Now, to see if anyone’s actually interested in buying a desktop OS on a mobile form factor…

Update 2: Seems Ballmer’s drinking his own Kool-Aid in a serious way, and not just on the tablet front. He noted that Microsoft will be giving consumers “a set of Windows-based devices that people will be proud to carry at home and will fit the kinds of scenarios enterprise IT’s trying to make happen with the phone form factor,” and that Microsoft would be “working vigorously” to “drive enterprise IT and consumers.” Furthermore, Steve affirmed that the tablet sector is “terribly important” for his company, and that it’s “hardcore about this.” He didn’t shy away from calling the range of Windows 7-based tablets coming out “over the next several months” ones that would be “quite impressive,” but honestly — what else would you expect him to say?

Windows 7-based HP Slate referenced at WPC 2010, Ballmer says ‘hardcore’ tablet push coming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Twitter [simchabe]  |  sourceWPC 2010  | Email this | Comments

Tesla planting electric engines into two Toyota prototype bodies

Word on the street had it that Tesla’s $50 million deal with Toyota wasn’t formal back in late May, but evidently things have made positive progress since. According to a new (though admittedly brief) report over at CNN, Toyota is currently working with the electric automaker on a pair of prototype vehicles. As the story goes, Tesla will be delivering two prototypes to Toyota “by the end of the month,” with the vehicles using “Tesla’s electric motors and battery packs and the bodies of Toyota vehicles.” Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel has been quoted as saying that the two outfits have “made a lot of progress in a short amount of time,” and we couldn’t be more excited to see what kind of results will come from this tie-up. We can’t help but hope that those regenerative brakes do a bit more than regenerate, though. Sorry, we had to. Really.

Tesla planting electric engines into two Toyota prototype bodies originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T handing out free 3G MicroCells to loyal customers?

While we’ve no clue how widespread AT&T’s generosity is, or how you might get one, it appears that the company’s “most valuable customers” are now receiving free range-boosting femtocells. Today, loyal reader Jason got a old-fashioned paper letter in the mail, offering his iPhone-wielding family a 3G MicroCell with no strings attached. Driving down to the local AT&T store, he got the product, but the dumbfounded reps offered no explanation why. Though his calls do frequently drop at home, Jason says he wasn’t terribly vocal about the issue and only pays around $180 per month for his family plan — the only thing that might possibly qualify him, in his opinion, is that his contract was set to expire. We’ve reached out to AT&T for more information; in the meanwhile, see Jason’s letter after the break.

[Thanks, Jason]

Continue reading AT&T handing out free 3G MicroCells to loyal customers?

AT&T handing out free 3G MicroCells to loyal customers? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM’s Blackberry Tablet might be seven inches, feature dual cameras and 1GHz CPU?

The rumor mill’s been churning out quite the picture of RIM’s Blackberry tablet over the past several months, and it’s a research analyst who’s most recently picked up the brush — Ashok Kumar of Rodman & Renshaw, to be precise, who anticipates a 7-inch touchscreen device with a 1GHz processor, plus front- and back-facing cameras for video chat. Since that’s a good 1.9 inches smaller than the slate rumored a couple months back, this latest spiel fills us with doubt… but hey, it’s not like we had confirmation that RIM was even producing such a device, anyhow. It may be a while before we find out for sure, as Kumar told investors that even should the company succeed in an attempt to move up the schedule, the device still wouldn’t launch until the end of the year.

RIM’s Blackberry Tablet might be seven inches, feature dual cameras and 1GHz CPU? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MobileBurn  |  sourceCNET  | Email this | Comments

What is this tiny Apple touchscreen that just leaked in Taiwan?


Okay, we have no idea what’s going on here, but Taiwanese site Apple.pro has just posted up some shots of appears to be a tiny Apple-labeled touchscreen panel — it measures just 3cm (1.18 inches) square. Given the site’s track record with previous Apple component leaks like the white iPhone 4 and the unibody MacBook Pro enclosure, we’re somewhat inclined to believe this is real, but we have no idea what it’s for — a new iPod nano? The next-gen Apple TV’s remote control? Steve Jobs’s dream watch? — but we’re definitely interested in finding out. One more pic showing the Apple label on the ribbon cable after the break.

Continue reading What is this tiny Apple touchscreen that just leaked in Taiwan?

What is this tiny Apple touchscreen that just leaked in Taiwan? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mac Rumors  |  sourceApple.pro  | Email this | Comments

Next-gen iPod touch rumors heat up: front-facing camera, September release?

It’s a bit early to confirm anything just yet, but it’s starting to look like Apple might be working on a new iPod touch. The latest of evidence backing up that shocking fact are two separate rumors that cover some familiarly territory, but with a bit more weight than before. The more convincing of those are some purportedly authentic iPod touch parts that have turned up on a number of Chinese websites, which clearly show a hole on the front of the device that’s presumably for a front-facing camera. That’s backed up by some fresh comments from an exec at UK retailer John Lewis, who said that a major iPod touch refresh is coming in September, and that it will match many of the iPhone 4’s features, including a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording, a gyroscope and, yes, FaceTime support.

Next-gen iPod touch rumors heat up: front-facing camera, September release? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mac Rumors  |  sourcePocket-lint, 9 to 5 Mac  | Email this | Comments