Hasta La Gadget!

The 16GB-equipped, 7-inch Flyer from HTC is making its way west this week. Best Buy, which gets the honor of exclusively launching the WiFi-only Android tablet in the US, has revealed Sunday as the official first day of availability for the Flyer, at a price of $500. As you’ll recall, the stylus that ships in the retail box just about everywhere else will be markedly missing from the Best Buy bundle, costing an extra $80 to those who simply must have it. You’ll be able to purchase your Flyer online and at all brick-and-mortar Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, but if mobile connectivity is more important to you, we’d advise holding out a little while longer for the 3G- and 4G-capable Evo View variety on Sprint.

HTC Flyer lands at Best Buy on May 22nd for $500, Magic Pen sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After 5000 music-lovin’ I/O attendees warmed up Google’s servers, it appears that the company has now finished its presumed installation of four zillion exabytes of new hard drive capacity. We’re exaggerating, obviously, but probably not by much — we’ve received a flood of tips today (as well as an invite amongst ourselves) noting that Music Beta is finally being opened up to Earthlings in the “real world.” Specifically, Motorola Xoom owners. In case you’ve forgotten, that entitles you to free (for now) access to a cloud storage locker where 20,000 of your hits can be saved and streamed. Curious to know if it’s worth the time to upload? Have a peek at our in-depth preview right here, and be sure to let us know if your invitation has come through in comments below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Music Beta invites now flying to Xoom owners, Google’s server farms seen weeping in the distance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 18:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we’ve seen oodles of light pen drawing boards, and e-readers that support doodling, but Toshiba’s “R&D project” at SID Display Week just… struck us. Weighing far less than the notepad used to jot down notes about it, this encapsulated device evidently sports a built-in battery, E Ink tendencies, a microSD card slot, proprietary charging port, an on / off toggle switch and support for stylus input. Drawing on it was both enjoyable and simple, and we were actually able to erase our typos with the press of a button (and a bit of eraser work with the pictured pen). Enough chatter — have a look yourself in the video past the break.

Continue reading Toshiba Write-Erasable Input Display hands-on at SID 2011 (video)

Toshiba Write-Erasable Input Display hands-on at SID 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 08:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may be a bit difficult to pay attention to the spate of Honeycomb tablets that seem to be popping up left, right and center — you know, now that Ice Cream Sandwich has been officially promised — but what’s not easy to overlook is an 8.6mm slate. Checking in at a sliver of a pinch thinner than the illustrious iPad 2, Samsung’s rethought-out, redesigned and definitely-not-renamed Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the first Android tablet to date that seriously goes toe-to-toe with Apple in both specifications and design. Granted, the consumer models aren’t slated to ship out until June 8th, but given that Google handed us one last week during its annual I/O conference, we figured we’d spend the following weekend wisely. You know, photographing, benchmarking and testing this thing to the hilt. (Of note, the unit tested here was the Limited Edition model, devoid of TouchWiz, 3G and a microSD card slot, but is otherwise identical to shipping units aside from the design on the rear.)

The Tab 10.1 — not to be confused with the older, since-relabeled Tab 10.1v — weighs just 1.31 pounds (marginally besting the iPad 2’s 1.33 pound chassis), and if looks could kill, few people would’ve made it out of Moscone West with all organs functional. But as you well know, style only gets you in the door — it’s the guts, the software, and the marriage of it all that makes or breaks the tablet experience. Hop on past the jump to find out why we think Samsung truly delivered on the promise of a Google-powered tablet, and why you should all seriously consider socking away funds as early June approaches.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brits eager for a taste of the first 7-inch BlackBerry device have just under a month of anticipation left to go. UK retailers have today revealed the date and prices at which they’ll be selling RIM’s PlayBook: depending on how much integrated storage you want, you’ll have to pay up £400 (16GB), £480 (32GB), or £560 (64GB) for your slate, starting from June 16th. Aside from the gigabytes, you’ll be getting the gigahertz too, with a dual-core 1,000MHz TI OMAP4430 processor keeping the PlayBook’s insides warm and its outsides responsive. Availability will be widespread, with Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4u, Insight, and Best Buy UK having already announced they’ll be stocking the tablet. You can even hit up the source links now and lay down some cash to secure your pre-order.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook coming to the UK on June 16th, 16GB model costs £400

BlackBerry PlayBook coming to the UK on June 16th, 16GB model costs £400 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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