Live from Microsoft’s CES 2011 keynote

Once again we’re on the ground to deliver all the news from Microsoft’s much-talked about CES 2011 keynote event! Will we see new Windows Phone 7 devices or software? An appearance of Windows 8? A slew of new tablets? Xbox advancements? Media Center updates? The Courier? We kid.

One thing you can count on is that we’re delivering everything fresh and as-it-happens — capturing every minute of Steve Ballmer’s rage-filled presentation with the kind of joy only Engadget can deliver. So tune back in at 9:30 EST / 6:30 PST for all the action!

Live from Microsoft’s CES 2011 keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Velocity Micro intros Cruz Tablet L37, P38 and L510 Android tablets at CES

Whatever eLocity can doVelocity Micro can do better? Maybe! The aforesaid company has just revealed a trio of new tablets: the 7-inch Cruz Tablet L37, the 8-inch Cruz Tablet P38 and the 10.1-inch Cruz Tablet L510. From smallest to largest, the L37 is equipped with a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchpanel, 802.11n WiFi, 4GB of internal memory, front / rear-facing cameras, optional 3G, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 and a micro-HDMI out port. The P38 is effectively the same, but it relies on a 1024 x 768 resolution display. The L510, as the resident Big Boy in the bunch, gets equipped with a 1366 x 768 resolution display, NVIDIA’s Tegra 250 chipset and a 1GHz dual-core CPU. The whole lot is expected to ship with Amazon’s Kindle app pre-installed, and Android 2.2 or 2.3 will be running the show. There’s no mention of exactly when these guys will be out and about, nor how much each will cost, but you can catch the full release just past the break.

Continue reading Velocity Micro intros Cruz Tablet L37, P38 and L510 Android tablets at CES

Velocity Micro intros Cruz Tablet L37, P38 and L510 Android tablets at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fling joystick lets you get physical with Super Megaworm on the iPad

You know, some people take gaming very seriously, and there’s no doubt that a good portion of them will be picking up this new peripheral from Ten One Design. For $24.95, the Fling tactile game controller promises to enhance some iPad games by overlaying their virtual D-pad with a physical mini joystick. And that’s not it — the funky spiral mechanism also provides resistance to simulate force feedback, meaning your thumb will always know its boundaries. Check out the video demo after the break.

Continue reading Fling joystick lets you get physical with Super Megaworm on the iPad

Fling joystick lets you get physical with Super Megaworm on the iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AOC’s 8-inch Breeze Android 2.1 tablet goes for broke, sells for $200

No money? No problem! The world of craptablets has grown significantly over the past dozen months, and you won’t find us encouraging anyone to add another to the pile. But AOC has actually managed to make a fairly decent name for itself over the years, albeit one in the LCD industry. In fact, this here company claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of LED / LCD monitors, but it’s tough to say how that type of expertise will translate in the tablet arena. The newly launched Breeze bucks two screen size trends and splits the difference — there’s an 8-inch touchpanel here, complete with an 800 x 600 screen resolution and a row of physical keys along the right edge. You’ll also find a Rockchip processor, an outdated copy of Android 2.1, not to mention a USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm headphone, inbuilt speaker, 802.11b/g WiFi, 4GB of internal storage space, a microSD card slot and a battery that’s supposedly good for up to 12 hours of audio playback or (six hours of video). We’re still waiting to hear back on what type of CPU is under the shell, but for under $200, we’re going to hazard a guess that it’s not the quickest silicon in the shed. Anywho, it’ll be splashing down at “major retail chains” later this month, likely going toe-to-toe with Augen for your bargain-bin bucks.

Continue reading AOC’s 8-inch Breeze Android 2.1 tablet goes for broke, sells for $200

AOC’s 8-inch Breeze Android 2.1 tablet goes for broke, sells for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos 7 Home Tablet sees revision 2, with Android 2.1 and faster 800MHz CPU

The Archos 7 Home Tablet was something of a disappointment, and Archos has shipped bigger and better things since, but the firm isn’t done with the original affordable Android slate quite yet. We’ve confirmed with Archos that a “v2” revision is now shipping in Europe with three things the original lacked — an accelerometer, a relatively recent version of Android (2.1) and an 800MHz Rockchip CPU. Make no mistake, those are still budget specs, and you’ll almost certainly still have to hack your own Android Market on to get a full quota of apps, but it’s not like you’re paying any more for the extra oomph. The updated version has been spotted at Expansys for the same $200, which might actually might make it one of the best bang-for-the-buck tablets out there. Look how far we’ve come.

[Thanks, Marien]

Archos 7 Home Tablet sees revision 2, with Android 2.1 and faster 800MHz CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VerbalVictor app gives voice to disabled

With iTunes overrun with apps that do little more than find creative ways to promote products or otherwise suck time, it’s nice to see mobile technology doing something that’s, well, not so trivial. VerbalVictor, a $10 program, which should be available in the App Store next week, uses iPhone and iPad touch screens to allow people with disabilities to communicate with the outside world. Paul Pauca — whose son suffers from Pitt Hopkins Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes delays in cognitive development, motor skills, and verbal communication — developed the app as an affordable alternative to non-verbal communication devices. It touts functionality similar to the device used by Steven Hawking, but is far more accessible than the professor’s $8,200 setup. VerbalVictor allows parents and caregivers to take pictures and record accompanying audio; the entries are then turned into buttons, which the user presses when they want to communicate — sort of like a very advanced and customizable See N’ Say. The device can be used for simple expressions, like an image of a dog that speaks “dog” when pressed, or for recording commonly used phrases and complete sentences. It may never reach the popularity of, say iFart, but it’s sure to win some dedicated users.

VerbalVictor app gives voice to disabled originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Folio 100 Android tablet gains responsiveness, dignity via new firmware update

Hard to say if this injection of code will be enough to get Toshiba’s Folio 100 back on PC World shelves, but for those who already snatched one off of there, it’s bound to improve morale. Word on the street has it that Tosh has just issued a new firmware update (v2.2.5.0053) to the aforesaid device, and while it doesn’t include Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1, it does aim to improve the screen / touch responsiveness, issues with lag, pinch-to-zoom capabilities and audio / video processing. We’re also getting the impression that the genuine Android Market is staying far, far away from this build, but we’d love to hear if your slate is acting any nicer post-update. Hit us up in comments below, won’t you?

Continue reading Toshiba Folio 100 Android tablet gains responsiveness, dignity via new firmware update

Toshiba Folio 100 Android tablet gains responsiveness, dignity via new firmware update originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BenQ rumored to debut 10.1-inch R100 Android tablet in early 2011

Chances are that we’ll find out for sure next month at CES, but PC World has it on authority that BenQ will be throwing its hat into the overcrowded Android tablet ring early next year. The so-called R100 will be a 10.1-inch device, complete with a 1024 x 600 resolution touchscreen, an unspecified flavor of Android and a Samsung-built ARM CPU humming along at 833MHz. Moreover, we’re told that the battery will run for a solid 12 hours before begging for mercy (and calling it a night), and it can also be used with a stylus — you know, for handling both simplified and traditional Chinese handwriting. 8GB of internal storage, an SD slot, mini-USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a mini-HDMI socket are also marked for inclusion, and of course, an 802.11b/g/n radio will be planted right alongside a Bluetooth module. There’s no mention of a price just yet, and a company representative noted that images wouldn’t be available until the device “was officially launched.” Bah! Humbug!

BenQ rumored to debut 10.1-inch R100 Android tablet in early 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indamixx 2 music tablet now on sale: $699 for beta hardware

So, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that $699 is $300 less than the purported $999 price tag we had originally heard would be affixed to the Indamixx 2 slate. The bad news? It’s just a rebadged iiView M1 Touch, which can be had for around $500. That said, those who fork out the premium will get a copy of Transmission 5.0 running atop MeeGo, not to mention a 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, 2GB of RAM, a mini HDMI output and a 250GB hard drive. Those who’d prefer to snag a model that dual boots into Windows 7 can do so if they’re willing to part ways with $779, with both models including a mouse, free shipping and a gratis carrying case. Not exactly a bargain, but for those in desperate need of a music-centric tablet, it ain’t like you’ve got a ton of options.

Indamixx 2 music tablet now on sale: $699 for beta hardware originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video

While Acer wasn’t willing to let us power on its forthcoming Android tablets at its press event last month, it looks like the company just doesn’t have the same kind of control over its partners or employees. Three videos of what appears to be Acer’s 10-inch Android tablet have popped up on YouTube, and not only is the slate powered on, but the footage provides a pretty clear look at some of Acer’s custom Android apps. The entire UI looks like it’s still in a beta stage and the video itself looks like it is some sort of internal test demo — don’t forget Acer is planning to ship these with Honeycomb in April — but the company seems to be messing around with gyroscope-based page turns and some unique zoom gestures within the photo / e-reader application. We’re assuming the tablet is running Froyo as there’s a quick peek at the homescreen and app drawer in the first video, but other than that we’re really at a loss for details here. Hit the break for the trio of videos and to see it all for yourself. Oh, and Acer, if you send us one, we promise to go easier on the screen (see 0:12 of video three) than this lady… just sayin’!

Continue reading Acer’s Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video

Acer’s Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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