Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on sale at NYC Best Buy today, pre-orders now open

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is finally among us. At noon Eastern Time today, Best Buy’s New York City store at Union Square will start selling Samsung’s extra-slim 10-inch Tegra 2 tablet, with the first 200 buyers also receiving a matching leather pouch to store their precious inside of. Geographically challenged Android tablet lovers will also be able to pre-order the Tab 10.1 from Best Buy today (eventually, the pre-order button doesn’t currently work) and widespread US availability is still expected on June 17th. Pricing isn’t explicitly listed on Best Buy’s landing page, but we presume it’s the same as we’ve been told earlier: $499 for the 16GB or $599 for the 32GB WiFi-only versions. If you can’t live without some LTE goodness in your mobile life, Verizon’s also promised pre-orders for the 4G-capable Galaxy Tab 10.1 today, though that costs a far less palatable $530 (16GB) and $630 (32GB) on top of a two-year data contract.

[Thanks, Jack and Arturo]

Update: Best Buy has sorted out its systems and all four WiFi variants (black or white, with 16GB or 32GB storage) are up for pre-order.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 on sale at NYC Best Buy today, pre-orders now open originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio Tablet (VTAB1008) priced at $349 within Walmart’s system

Wait, Vizio’s concocting a tablet? For those with chronic short-term memory loss, you may have forgotten that America’s so-called low-cost TV leader branched out a bit during this year’s Super Bowl, but it’s been dead quiet on the tablet front ever since dropping the Via and sticking with Tablet. Looks like that’s about to change, though — a courteous tipster handed off the screenshot you see above, highlighting the appearance of a ‘VTAB1008’ within Walmart’s inventory system. The device was just added a couple of weeks ago, and while we’re still no closer to knowing if Vizio’s done the right thing and settled on Honeycomb, we do know that it’ll be pricing this thing competitively. How competitively? $349… competitively. We’ll keep you abreast of any release dates we see, but for now, catch up by having a gander at our preview video from a few months back.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Vizio Tablet (VTAB1008) priced at $349 within Walmart’s system originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400

The HTC bonanza that Sprint has been cooking up for a while now has its official launch date: June 24th. That will be the day when the 4.3-inch EVO 3D and its tablet buddy, the 7-inch EVO View 4G, launch on the Now Network, both equipped with WiMAX radios and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) as their OS. The 1.2GHz dual-core EVO 3D costs $200 on contract, with pre-orders available right now provided you buy a $50 Sprint gift card, whereas the 1.5GHz single-core EVO View 4G will set you back double that, at $400, while still requiring a two-year contract. Skip past the break for the full press release details.

Oh, we’ve also just noticed that Sprint Premier customers will be able to buy the EVO 3D online on June 21st — a three-day headstart on the competition to say thank you for being so damn premier.

Continue reading HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400

HTC EVO 3D launches on June 24th for $200, joined by EVO View 4G tablet at $400 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 is ‘a better choice’ than the iPad (update: video!)

We were making our way through Taipei’s sublime metro system this week and what did we see on the side of the stairway? Why, it was a collection of iPad images, but rather than an Apple-funded advert, this was an Acer-instigated bit of spec sheet trash talk. The captions beneath the images read, in order: “no open operating system, no high resolution display, no Dolby Surround Sound, no Flash, no microSD, no USB port. Why do you want to choose this type of tablet?” Gracing the opposite wall was the tablet that ticked the “yes” boxes to all those items, Acer’s own Iconia Tab A500. Perhaps once Acer figures out the answer to its own question, it can stop overhauling itself and get back to the job of chopping the iPad’s market share down to size. Check out the full ad in the gallery below.

Update: Looks like there’s a video ad to go along with the print campaign! Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Visualized: Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 is ‘a better choice’ than the iPad (update: video!)

Visualized: Acer’s Iconia Tab A500 is ‘a better choice’ than the iPad (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: should I get a 7-, 8.9- or 10-inch tablet?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Johan, who can’t seem to determine which size is sizable enough. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’m in the market for a tablet, mostly for content consumption but also for checking emails and being somewhat productive when I feel like it. I’ve never owned one before, so I’m wondering what size is best. I could get a 7-inch, 8.9-inch or 10-inch tablet — I’m more concerned with the size than the OS, frankly. I need it to be portable, yet still feel “bigger” than my Droid X. Any opinions from those that have used multiple sizes? Thanks!”

A great question. There’s obviously pros and cons to each of those sizes, and your options are certainly constricted down at the 7-inch end. That said, the now-discounted Galaxy Tab and the still-growing BlackBerry PlayBook would fit the 7-inch bill, and the choices spread out significantly when creeping up to 10-inches. So, what say you?

Ask Engadget: should I get a 7-, 8.9- or 10-inch tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leadtek AMOR 8218 DECT phone with Tegra 2 Android tablet hands-on

While combing through the show floor at Computex, our fortunate selves stumbled upon a new phone-tablet duo at Leadtek’s booth. Oh, don’t worry, this isn’t yet another phone-in-pad design; but actually a VoIP / home phone docked next to an Android tablet. Dubbed AMOR Multimedia Phone 8218, the idea here is that the docking station acts as both a DECT base and a WiFi router, but also packs ZigBee radio to relay data from compatible devices (for healthcare, home surveillance, home automation, etc.) to the web.

Alas, there’s no direct interaction between the phone and the tablet, but we were still intrigued by the latter’s specs: Android 2.3 (although this demo unit had 2.2), Tegra 2, 7-inch 1,280 x 720 LCD, HDMI-out, and a front-facing camera for video calls. For a home device, this is actually a pretty powerful package and certainly a significant upgrade from the AMOR 8210 announced earlier this year. No word on US availability, but Taiwanese buyers will be able to grab hold of an 8218 starting in September.

Leadtek AMOR 8218 DECT phone with Tegra 2 Android tablet hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA Kal-El reference tablet hands-on (video)

As if showing up in two of the first four reference devices for Windows on ARM wasn’t enough of an achievement for NVIDIA’s quad-core Kal-El superchip, it decided to visit us in person here at Computex to demonstrate its splendid graphical prowess. Running Android 3.1 on a 10-inch, 1280 x 800 screen, it gave us a first-hand look at the Glow Ball demo that wowed us in video form just a couple of days ago. What we saw on the dev tablet before us was no less impressive; lighting was being rendered in real time and scattered over a multiplicity of surfaces, while the cloth simulation was, to use a terrible pun, silky smooth. NVIDIA also ran us through a sightseeing tour of the Unreal Development Kit and Lost Planet 2, noting that the PC game took only a couple of months to port over to work on the Kal-El architecture. Unfortunately, no new details were forthcoming about when Kal-El devices might be coming or what developers we should expect to see coding games and other content to exploit the platform’s evidently mighty capabilities. For now, we’ll just have to sate ourselves with the video after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA Kal-El reference tablet hands-on (video)

NVIDIA Kal-El reference tablet hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 04:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft reveals ARM-powered Windows 8 prototypes (eyes-on)

Remember how Microsoft unveiled that whole “Windows 8” thing earlier today? It’s back for more: here at Computex 2011 in Taipei, prototype ARM-based Windows 8 slates and smartbooks are coming out of the woodwork. Foxconn, Wistron and Quanta all unveiled early hardware for the new OS, with chips from Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and NVIDIA powering their live tiles — including NVIDIA’s upcoming Kal-El, which got both a tablet and a super-slim prototype notebook to call its own. Dell’s also got a XPS development station up on stage, which Microsoft used to demo the UI — it’s bulky and ugly as such things are, but it suggests that Dell’s also likely to have a portable Windows 8 machine at some point. For its part, Qualcomm is promising a chip that can instantly wake from sleep, and one of the devices showed that USB host support works fine and dandy. Unfortunately, none of these machines will make their way to market, but it’s nice to know that the OEMs care enough to show their solidarity here.

Update: Video now added after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft reveals ARM-powered Windows 8 prototypes (eyes-on)

Microsoft reveals ARM-powered Windows 8 prototypes (eyes-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ICE Computer shows off Trinity modular tablet concept, aims for Q1 2012 release (video)

First the ASUS Padfone, then the CMIT TransPhone, and now a third phone-docking tablet but with a little extra spice. Our latest contender comes from a Taiwan-based startup dubbed ICE Computer, who has just announced its partnership with ECS over its Trinity concept, a mobile display that lets you dock either a PC module or a smartphone (not necessarily an iPhone, let alone an iPhone 5 as reported by some sites; the dummy’s just for show and convenience). From our quick chat with ICE product manager Jaryson Wu, we learned that the company’s been working on this project for quite some time, though ike ASUS and CMIT, ICE also lacked a working prototype to show us.

So the idea is simple: slide in a PC module or phone of your choice, and you have yourself a fully functioning touchscreen tablet that has an upgradable core — that’s one tick for environmental friendliness, and another tick for potentially more powerful upgrades. But that’s not it, as ICE may also throw in USB 3.0 ports, additional internal storage, and even a fan inside the Trinity tablet, but that will depend on the clients’ needs. Jaryson indicated that there are no plans to launch products under the startup’s own brand, nor is it going to develop its own phone to go with the add-on any time soon — we’ll just have to wait and see what it’ll deliver in the first quarter of 2012. Video interview after the break.

[Thanks, @Stagueve]

Continue reading ICE Computer shows off Trinity modular tablet concept, aims for Q1 2012 release (video)

ICE Computer shows off Trinity modular tablet concept, aims for Q1 2012 release (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia M500 runs MeeGo on an Atom CPU, coming at the end of this year (hands-on video!)

Acer’s David Lee just hijacked Intel’s netbooks and tablets Computex keynote to unveil a brand new 10-inch tablet: the Iconia M500. It’s the first in the company’s new M Series and runs MeeGo atop an Atom (Moorestown) processor. Its appearance and dimensions are strikingly similar to the company’s Android tablet, the A500, and that similarity extends to the resolution of the screen as well: 1280 x 800. The MeeGo interface is a custom Acer skin offering what was described as a “snackable UI.” The point seems to be to offer instant access to the things you care about, and the brief demo we saw featured a set of live widgets organized around an “Acer circle.” Mr. Lee, an Assistant Vice President with the company, tells us Acer’s new 10-incher will be on sale at (not by, sadly) the end of this year.

Update: We’ve just added a gallery of hands-on shots below and you’ll find video of the M500 after the break.

Continue reading Acer Iconia M500 runs MeeGo on an Atom CPU, coming at the end of this year (hands-on video!)

Acer Iconia M500 runs MeeGo on an Atom CPU, coming at the end of this year (hands-on video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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