NFL ‘currently talking’ with Verizon to distribute programming on tablets

Ah, so now we understand Verizon’s intentions to hastily roll out LTE service to NFL cities. The NFL, which has sided with Sprint over the years when it comes to cellular distribution of content, is apparently in even deeper talks with newfound partner Big Red in order to get its prized content into even more hands. As the idea of watching NFL games on-the-go because more and more sensible, the league is apparently mulling the decision to distribute games (and potentially more) on the next big thing. You know, tablets. Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy, recently said the following: “The NFL will be on a tablet. It’s a question of what shape or form. We are currently talking to Verizon about it.” VZW declined to comment on the rumblings, but it’s really not a shocker — the carrier’s doing everything it can to get a live LTE network here in the States, and inking a deal with America’s most popular sporting league would obviously bring in boatloads of revenue. The real question is this: what tablet is the NFL eying, and if it’s not the Samsung Galaxy Tab, what’s Verizon’s second tablet going to be? Inquiring minds would love to know.

NFL ‘currently talking’ with Verizon to distribute programming on tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Verizon scoop extravaganza: Motorola Venus with portrait QWERTY, Stingray LTE tablet, and more?

We’ve been tipped by multiple sources today on some interesting developments in Verizon’s roadmap over the next couple quarters, and if you’re a BlackBerry fan, an Android fan, or a fan of exceptionally fast data, you’re probably going to want to tune in. Let’s get right into the meat of it, shall we? Follow the break!

Continue reading Verizon scoop extravaganza: Motorola Venus with portrait QWERTY, Stingray LTE tablet, and more?

Verizon scoop extravaganza: Motorola Venus with portrait QWERTY, Stingray LTE tablet, and more? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

BMW shows off first ‘official’ iPad integration, convinces us to go aftermarket

Look, BMW — we appreciate that you were the first automaker to provide seamless iPod integration way back when, but seriously, did anyone on the design squad look at this abomination before shipping it off to France? As the story goes, the aforesaid automaker has demonstrated the first “official” iPad-vehicle integration setup at this year’s Paris Auto Show, and to be frank, it’s heinous. The idea here is to provide world-class rear-seat entertainment, while apparently destroying aesthetics in one fell swoop. It’s just about too hideous to be true, but the iconic “BMW” logo on the mounting brackets all but confirms the authenticity. Perhaps you folks should consult with any number of the skilled DIYers out there before shooting for the stars with version 2.0?

BMW shows off first ‘official’ iPad integration, convinces us to go aftermarket originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAutospies  | Email this | Comments

Dell Moves Closer to the Launch of a 7-Inch Tablet

Dell’s 5-inch Streak tablet may not be on a tear but the company is still moving forward with plans to introduce its second Android tablet.

Dell plans to launch a 7-inch tablet “in the next few weeks” and a 10-inch tablet within a year, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Dell’s founder and chief executive Michael Dell briefly showed the device at a Oracle conference last week but didn’t offer any details about the product.

Dell’s move to a larger screen tablet is in keeping with the company’s strategy of slowly but steadily introducing new handheld devices. In February, Neeraj Choubey, general manager of the tablets division at Dell told Wired.com that the Streak aka Dell 5 Mini would be the first in a series of devices.

“We are going to have a family of tablets,” Choubey said. “The first one is a 5-inch screen but we want to scale that up to a variety of screen sizes.”

Since the introduction of the Apple iPad earlier this year, almost every major PC maker has announced that it is working on devices that can rival the iPad.

Just this month, Samsung, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and tablet startup Kno announced new products. Samsung showed a 7-inch tablet called Galaxy Tab that will be available on four major U.S. carriers –AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile in time for holiday season shopping.

Meanwhile, RIM has announced the BlackBerry PlayBook, a 7-inch tablet targeted at business users and consumers. The PlayBook is expected to be available early next year.

Tablet startup Kno is focusing on students with 14-inch single screen and dual-screen tablets that are expected to be available by the end of the year.

Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads so far.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has canceled its planned tablet ‘Courier’ while HP is trying to integrate the Palm webOS into its tablet products.

The 7-inch Dell tablet could make the company a real contender in the tablet space. With its 5-inch display, the Streak is more like a super-sized phone than a real tablet. Dell has also priced the Streak like a phone –offering the device for $300 with a two-year contract on AT&T.

So far, there’s no word on pricing for the 7-inch Dell tablet. But Dell will have plenty of competition to keep it real with its upcoming tablet.

See Also:

Photo: Dell Streak (Jon Snyder/Wired.com)


Size Matters to Students, Says 14-Inch Tablet Maker

<< Previous
|
Next >>


kno1


<< Previous
|
Next >>

Tablet startup Kno has a message for all the other tablet makers out there: Bigger is better.

The company is counting on two things to set it apart from the increasingly heated competition in the tablet space: a clear focus on students as potential consumers — and a massive 14-inch screen size.

“From the students’ perspective you need the real estate to completely see a single page of a textbook without scrolling,” says Osman Rashid, co-founder and CEO of Kno, “and you need enough room to make notes around the edges.”

Indeed, in a hands-on demonstration at the Wired offices, the Kno’s screen made other tablets look puny in comparison, with a surface area that’s about twice as large as the iPad’s. It’s even larger than a copy of Wired magazine.

Kno launched the single-screen tablet Monday. In June, it showed off a dual-screen device that would have two 14-inch LCD touchscreens that fold in like a book. Both the single screen and dual-screen tablets are expected to start shipping at the end of the year. There’s no word yet on pricing.

Meanwhile, here’s a closer look at the features of the single screen tablet.

The Kno will run on an Nvidia Tegra processor and have a capacitive touchscreen. It will also come with a stylus to write notes or draw on the device.

The device isn’t lightweight, though. The massive 14-inch screen pushes its weight up to 2.6 lbs. Compare that to the 1.5 lbs of the 9.7-inch Apple iPad.

Rashid says the heft is unlikely to become a strike against the device. The Kno tablet can hold up to 10 semesters’ worth of content, or 25 to 35 books. That will make the 2.6-pound device lighter than a backpack filled with half as many paper books, he says.

The Kno divides its home screen into three tabs: My Apps, My Courses and My Library. Under the Apps tab, the tablet — which runs a version of embedded Linux operating system — has a browser, notebooks, news apps and an RSS reader. Kno plans to release a SDK (software developers kit) so independent programmers can create applications for the device.

The My Courses tab features all e-textbooks sorted by semester. The company plans to have its own bookstore where students can download textbooks.

Overall, e-textbooks from the Kno bookstore will be about 30 percent to 40 percent cheaper than their hardcover versions, says Rashid.

The Kno will have a battery life of six to eight hours and a one-hour charge time.

“We are not trying to replace a laptop,” says Rashid. “Instead we are trying to improve on it by making it better for students.”

See Also:

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com


Dell launching 7-inch Android tablet in ‘next few weeks,’ 10-incher to follow a few months later

Good news, folks. It’s looking like the tablet pool will be enriched with another 7-inch contender, running Android, within only a few weeks. The Wall Street Journal cites Dell’s Greater China President Amit Midha as saying that the 7-inch slate we witnessed Michael teasing a few short days ago will be with us “very, very soon.” Reiterating earlier promises of a family of tablets, Midha claims there’ll be “a whole slew” of new devices emerging from Dell’s labs over the next 6 to 12 months, which will include 10-inch, 4-inch and 3-inch form factors. Android is confirmed as the OS on the 7-incher, but Windows will be making an appearance somewhere along the line as well. Plenty to look forward to, then.

Dell launching 7-inch Android tablet in ‘next few weeks,’ 10-incher to follow a few months later originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Chromium OS infiltrates iPad, makes itself comfortable

What is this madness we see before us? Hexxeh, he who provides your nightly Chromium builds, has dropped a small but perfectly formed bombshell by revealing that he’s managed to install Google’s nascent OS onto Apple’s hotcake of a tablet, the iPad. He’s evidenced this feat by tweeting from the liberated slate, though one of his outgoing missives includes the dire warning that he’ll “dash your hopes later, there are a few catches.” Well, at least that gives us a little time to fantasize about Appoogle synergies before those dream-destroying details are revealed in full.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Chromium OS infiltrates iPad, makes itself comfortable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHexxeh’s Blog  | Email this | Comments

Onkyo dropping three Windows 7 slates on totally-suspicious-by-now public

Never saw this coming, did you? Oh, right, you did. Onkyo is joining the Windows 7 slate tablet fray with three new models, which will begin shipping next month in Japan. The variety is minor, though each tablet is getting its own design language: the 11.6-inch and 10.1-inch TW317A5 and TW217A5 both rock 32GB SSDs, while the TW117A4 kicks it old school with a 160GB HDD. Thanks to Windows 7 Home Premium the trio will be getting all the touch-friendly benefits the OS can offer, and Atom N450 and Z530 processors will sipping battery on behalf of the machines. No word on price, but we really prefer the “Windows 7 slate that will only ship internationally and that nobody we know will buy” more as a construct anyway.

Onkyo dropping three Windows 7 slates on totally-suspicious-by-now public originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara  |  sourceOnkyo  | Email this | Comments

HP’s Todd Bradley slips ‘PalmPad’ tablet name during analyst call

Well well, Mr. Bradley — hast thou said too much? During an analyst call today the outspoken head of HP’s Personal System Group confirmed that it’s sent more than 200 employees to work at Palm…. and then casually mentioned that HP will have “a webOS-powered PalmPad that will be set for release early in 2011.” If you’ll recall, HP filed for a trademark on PalmPad back in July, and it’s been talking about tablets since it bought Palm in May, so we’re thinking ol’ Todd just let one slip. Now let’s just hope all this “early 2011” talk means really early… like, say, CES.

HP’s Todd Bradley slips ‘PalmPad’ tablet name during analyst call originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePreCentral  | Email this | Comments

Kno Launches Single Screen Tablet Textbook

knosinglescreen.jpg

Kno–pronounced “know”–used the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in San Francisco this week to unveil a single screen version of its textbook tablet–the “world’s first” single screen textbook tablet, according to the company.

There’s not a ton of information about the device at this point. Kno–that’s short for “knowledge,” mind you–said at the event that it would be unveiling pricing, availability, and perhaps even some specs at a later date, though the device and its dual-screen predecessor will both be available before year’s end.

Both versions offer color touchscreens that let users take notes, access the Web, share media, take notes, and, you know, read stuff. The upshot of the single screen is a lighter weight (the dual-screen version was called out for being too heavy) and a cheaper price–whatever that happens to be…