Hasta La Gadget!

Though “Neofonie” is the most apt name for a vaporware company we’ve heard since “Phantom,” it’s looking like that very firm’s 11.6-inch WePad tablet is actually the real deal. Fed up with all the skepticism it has received of late, the German firm just held a press conference in Berlin to show off a pair of working devices and allay our fears. Netbooknews.de was on the scene, and they took a pair of high-res videos that prove the tablets do, in fact, have a working (though somewhat laggy) touchscreen, and that fancy-pants vertical UI is quite functional. Full screen YouTube videos were choppy, but they played, and the Atom N450 CPU loaded OpenOffice and flipped through browser windows without a hitch. But don’t take our word for it — watch the whole 25-minute demonstration after the break, plus a bonus video from AndroidPIT. Then, if you’d be so kind, tell us what the nice company reps are saying.

Continue reading Neofonie’s WePad tablet shown to German journalists, seems legit

Neofonie’s WePad tablet shown to German journalists, seems legit originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feelings about the leaked HP Slate notwithstanding, the company’s already considering its tablet PC successors — and if The New York Times‘ sources are right, they may be of Android and Linux varieties. Where the forthcoming HP Slate is, erm, slated to run Windows 7, The Grey Lady reported last week that a six-inch Android tablet was also on the way. Now, a prominent magazine editor reportedly tells the paper a Linux version may also be in development. For its part, HP isn’t denying the claims. “I’m certain that we will be announcing new Slates in the future as they are a very interesting area for us,” said media relations director Marlene Somsak, whose only added caveat was that HP isn’t currently announcing an Android slate.

HP takes chisel in hand, mulls over Android and Linux slates originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve only ever seen the HP Slate in extremely controlled demonstrations and cheesy videos until now, but it looks like the Windows 7 tablet just spent a little bit of time in the wild — Conecti.ca‘s posted up a full hands-on and mini-review. Their conclusion? “The official verdict is meh.” Yeah, ouch. Apparently the Slate’s biggest strength is also its greatest weakness — it’s essentially a touchscreen netbook, and that means that while it can run everything including Flash, it can be “slow and annoying.” Unfortunately there’s not a lot of info on how well HP’s TouchSmart Windows 7 skin works, so we’ll wait till we play with one before we make a decision, but man — we definitely weren’t expecting this thing to look so chunky in the photos. No wonder the press pics and other demos are so carefully arranged — it really does look like a chopped up netbook. At least the HDMI dock is somewhat sexy, we suppose. Couple more pics after the break.

[Thanks, WikiWarrior]

Continue reading HP Slate leaks its way into the wild: ‘meh’

HP Slate leaks its way into the wild: ‘meh’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s no I in pad. Only we, of course. Yeah, we’ve been wanting to make that joke for awhile — but in all seriousness, Neofonie, makers of the 11.6-inch WePad, held a press conference in Berlin today to reveal a bit more about its Linux-based slate. According to our German counterparts there will be two versions of the Intel Atom N450-powered tablet, which has two USB ports and an onboard webcam — the 16GB / WiFi version will go for €450 and the 64GB / HD capable model for €569. We’re a bit intrigued by the promised “full HD” support of the larger version, but Neofonie was quick to say that there is no NVIDIA inside. Hmm… Broadcom’s Crystal HD, perhaps? The company wasn’t willing to let reporters play with the early build of the multitouch device, but they did show off some videos of the Linux interface. You can watch a few after the break, but the live widget-based GUI looks extremely attractive and amongst other things, the browser supports Flash. It sort of hurts that we won’t be able to get our hands on one until August, but we’re happy to hear that the company, unlike some others, is taking the time to get things right.

Updated: We can’t help but laugh at the fact that many sites are reporting that the WePad on display at yesterday’s press conference was actually running Windows 7 underneath the Linux-looking UI. Apparently the company has more work to do than we originally thought.

Continue reading WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability

WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still thinking long and hard about some of those iPad alternatives? Well, ASUS’ 10-inch Eee PC T101MT is undoubtedly for those that can’t make the call on netbook vs. tablet, and like clockwork the Atom N450-powered netvertible is creeping up on stateside order pages in search of $500 of your hard earned cash. Unfortunately, for that price you’ll only be getting single touch input since its Windows 7 Starter OS lacks multitouch support, but our guess is that slightly more expensive SKUs with Win 7 Premium will start popping up soon. We’d certainly urge you to wait on our full review, but if you’re too eager to put your fingers all over that capacitive screen and chiclet keyboard, reach for your wallet and hit one of those source links.

ASUS Eee PC T101MT now shipping to the form factor indecisive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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