Hasta La Gadget!

Today is the day in BlackBerry land. The wait for a dual-core device with an up-to-date operating system and that stylized BB logo is now over, and a vast array of stores in the US and Canada are now ready to sell you your PlayBook. Whether you’ll actually want to buy one is less clear-cut, however, as basic productivity apps like native email and calendar aren’t yet available, Android app compatibility hasn’t yet been rolled out, and the PlayBook has an unfavorable dependency on having a BlackBerry smartphone nearby in order to be the best tablet it can be. Still, if you believe in RIM’s ability to overcome those early software hurdles, the PlayBook’s ready for ownership in exchange for $500 for the 16GB model, $600 for the 32GB version, or $700 for the 64GB-equipped top option (prices are the same in both US and Canadian dollars).

BlackBerry PlayBook now on sale in the US and Canada, starting at $500 with 16GB of storage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoa! In the world of big-time lawsuits, this must be just about the biggest. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has sued Samsung Electronics for copying “the look and feel” of its iPad tablet and iPhone smartphone. This relates to the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the iPhone 3G / 3GS models, and the slightly less obvious Epic 4G, Nexus S, and Galaxy Tab (presumably the older 7-inch model, since the newer ones aren’t out yet) devices. The claim for intellectual property infringement is phrased as follows:

“Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California on Friday and seeks injunctions against Samsung, damages (both actual and punitive), and a finding that the infringement was willful. Lest we forget, the rarest outcome in such legal tussles is for an actual judgment to actually be handed down, so the greatest likelihood is that this will just lead to another round of grudging handshakes and licensing going one way with money going the other way, but still, it’s fun to see the big dogs barking at each other.

Another aspect to these proceedings that shouldn’t be overlooked is that, on the software front, they boil down to iOS versus Android (again). When Apple calls Samsung uninventive in its user interface, it’s talking more about Android’s perceived imitation of the iPhone’s interface than whatever TouchWiz tweaks Samsung has slapped on top. And hey, if you’re going to sue Google indirectly, you can’t leave a major player like Samsung outside the courtroom, it just wouldn’t be fair.

Apple sues Samsung for ‘copying’ the iPhone and iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feel free to ingest this with a healthy helping of salt for now, but if a spate of Newegg product listings are to be believed, Toshiba’s heretofore unnamed Honeycomb tablet will boast a tremendously unflattering moniker: ANT. Priced at $449.99, $499.99 and $579.99, the Tegra 2-powered slate is seemingly dubbed ANT-100, ANT-102 and ANT-104. Each one includes Android 3.0, a 10.1-inch panel (1280 x 800) and NVIDIA silicon, with the extra dollars on the latter two changing that 8GB of internal storage to 16GB or 32GB. There’s still no hard release date promised, but surely the shot above is proof that the day is near, right? Right?

Toshiba’s Honeycomb tablet to be dubbed ANT, start at $450? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been keeping our eyes on Motorola’s plans to sink its claws into the enterprise market for at least the past couple of months, and it looks like the company is ramping up its efforts with a rugged Android tablet fit for the workplace. A presentation provided to us by a helpful tipster outlines Moto’s plans to be the “first physical embodiment defining Android for the Enterprise,” with a Gingerbread-equipped tablet entering beta testing this October. As you can see from the slide above, the slate will sport both a 1.3MP front-facing camera and an 8MP rear-facing camera “with illumination and aiming” for barcode scanning. It’s also carrying a dual-core 1GHz OMAP 4 CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB NAND, a 7-inch LCD display, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, and USB connectivity. It should also pack enough juice to supply five and a half hours of streaming video, and should be able to withstand a four foot drop, extreme temperatures, excessive dust, and splashing water. From the look of things, this tablet’s going to be more at home in the workshop than the boardroom, but we’ll just have to wait and see what becomes of it once the thing makes it out of beta.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Motorola to begin beta testing rugged Android tablet, steps up enterprise efforts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you might recall, we weren’t exactly head over heels for eFun’s new line of tablets when we got our hands on the things at CES. Well, we’ve yet to see much of the sluggish Next4, but both the Next5 and Next6 have quietly made their way to market. Like we said before, the Next6 is more of an e-reader than a tablet, and the same goes for its sibling. Both sport Android 2.1, 7-inch LCD touchscreens, 800 x 480 displays, and WiFi connectivity — the Next6 sports 4GB of memory, while the Next5 offers 2GB and a 600MHz dual-core processor, based on the ARM926EJ. We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again, the best thing about these slabs is probably the price: the Next5 rings in at $200 and the Next6 at $230. But feel free to judge for yourself — both are currently in stock at the source link below.

[Thanks, Nathan]

eFun’s Nextbook Next5, Next6 now available, likely not the next big tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The eBook Reader  |  JR (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments