ExoPC sets a shipping schedule, now let’s see if it keeps it

Been having lurid dreams of 1080p-playin’ Windows 7 tablets with a touch-delighting UI layer on top? Probably not, but if that sounds like your kind of thing, you’ll want to know that ExoPC is about to collect its first pre-orders starting on September 3. The slate’s makers are being nice to their forum members by allowing the first 1,200 on board to have first bite at this cherry, which will be shipped out to them on September 30. Ten days before that, on September 20, is when the initial 120 production units will roll off the assembly line, though they’ve already been assigned to potential distribution partners. The really interesting date here will be October 15, as that’s when the Ciara Vibe — the first rebadged partner slate — is expected to hit retail availability in Canada. Let’s just hope this schedule isn’t written with a Sharpie Liquid Pencil, eh?

ExoPC sets a shipping schedule, now let’s see if it keeps it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab gets video preview in Korea

It sees like we can’t let a day pass without talking about Samsung’s upcoming Froyo tablet. This time there’s a whole video preview, courtesy of some of our Korean brethren. Android 2.2, WCDMA 3G, 802.11n WiFi, a 16:10 screen ratio, a front-facing camera “dedicated to video calling,” SDHC memory expandability, and a DMB tuner for those TV-crazy Koreans are all listed on the spec sheet, but you’ll be wanting to see the Galaxy Tab’s UI in motion. It really looks silky smooth and should give the iPad cause for concern. Speaking of the iPad, there’s a size comparison against Apple’s slate and Samsung’s own Galaxy S handset as well — all yours after the break.

Update: Fast-loading video embedded after the break.

[Thanks, Eric]

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab gets video preview in Korea

Samsung Galaxy Tab gets video preview in Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPADock overachieves in the best sort of way

Yeah, it’s iPAD, not iPad, for this dock. PhotoFast‘s iPADock can be configured to handle dual iPads, four iPhones, or two iPhones and one iPad, thanks to its modular design. Of course, you have to thread your own iPad or iPhone charging cables through the dock, and then jack into one of the plentiful powered USB plugs in the back (three regular, four power-only), but that’s only a minor detail. The back also harbors memory card slots galore and a stash for your iPad Camera Connection Kit dongles, so quit whining. You’ll be able to score the iPADock in Japan at the end of next month for 5980 yen (about $71 US), and PhotoFast is on the hunt for a US distributor.

iPADock overachieves in the best sort of way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp’s e-reader ready to ‘rival the iPad’ by year’s end, may have a 3D future

Sharp is going to launch its brand new e-reader in Japan this fall with US retail availability to follow by the end of the year. Riveting stuff, isn’t it? Well, the company’s President Mikio Katayama does his best to spice things up by proposing this device will aim “to rival the iPad,” and it may well sport a color LCD if earlier indications still hold true, but what’s really got us hot under the collar is the potential for 3D down the line. Katayama claims to have witnessed great enthusiasm for 3D — particularly when it comes to games — and posits it as a likely future direction for this new ebook reader. Multifunctional devices are what people want, he says, and since Sharp already has a 3D smartphone in the pipeline and a glasses-free 3D tablet display in the lab, we can’t see many technical hurdles to the realization of his vision. Let’s just hope his depth perception is accurate when it comes to measuring the interest in three-dee.

Sharp’s e-reader ready to ‘rival the iPad’ by year’s end, may have a 3D future originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 03:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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$50 Tablet Prototype Promises Low-Cost Computing in India

In July, the Indian government showed off what it claimed would be a $35 tablet for students in the country. Now, a company is showing a $50 prototype device using Android operating system that could take the low cost tablet dream one step closer to reality.

AllGo Embedded Systems, a Bangalore-based company, has created a tablet that runs on Android 1.6 ‘Donut’ version of the operating system.

As the video above shows, the tablet is built on a reference platform called ‘Stamp’ and has a 7-inch, 800 x 480 pixels resistive touchscreen display–so no iPad like smooth display. The device includes Wi-Fi, USB and ethernet port. Of course all this is in a pretty early stage, so there’s no hardware case or buttons to get a sense of how the device will actually look in consumer hands.

The device is estimated to cost $50 at a volume of about 10,000 units, says the Liliputing site.

Allgo is not the only company hoping to satisfy the desire for low cost computing in India. The One Laptop Per Child project and its founder Nicholas Negroponte have also offered to collaborate with the Indian government to create a tablet for the masses. OLPC has already partnered with Marvell in the U.S. to explore a $75 tablet based on a reference design provided by Marvell.

Indian officials have earlier said they want to offer a Linux-based tablet that will support video conferencing and have open source software on it including Open Office. The device will also have a solar-power option, they said. The Indian government hopes to bring that tablet into production in 2011.

Now clearly, the OS choice seems to have shifted to favor Android. Earlier this month, a prototype Android tablet made an appearance on Indian TV as the low cost tablet. It is not clear who built that system.

Promising as Allgo’s tablet prototype seems for now, it is still in very early stages. Much will depend on the final industrial design–if it is too heavy, students might find it uncomfortable to use. But it is an ambitious attempt and it will be one to watch.

See Also:

Video: Allgo Embedded Systems


Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab gets spied in the wild (video)

Man, you just can’t hide your gadgets from curious onlookers these days. Case in point: Samsung’s Galaxy Tab was innocently doing some testing rounds through Sydney recently, only to be happened upon by the Electronista scribes, who diligently videotaped it — seemingly without the knowledge of the tablet’s possessor. The video confirms what we already know, it’s a 7-inch tablet, it’ll be driven by an Android, and it looks very much like a giant cellphone. The Samsung employee described it as “awesome” and very different from the iPad’s experience, while the UI apparently looked very responsive. Go after the break to see for yourself.

Continue reading Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab gets spied in the wild (video)

Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab gets spied in the wild (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stamp $50 Android tablet prototype raises eyebrows in India and beyond (video)

Stamp (no relation to Terence) is an Android-powered tablet that’s making waves mostly for its price: $50. AllGo Embedded Systems has been leaking information out since April, and while there’s nothing incredible revolutionary here (Android 2.1, MPEG-4 / H.264 Video playback, USB mass storage support, WiFi connectivity, FM radio, NAND or SD-card boot), in light of the much-ballyhooed $35 tablet it’s good to see a comparatively priced platform that you won’t need to be either a student in India (or purchase a million units) to get your hands on. Of course, a lot can happen between now and… whenever the thing is released, but don’t let that get you down. It looks like the age of low-powered Android tablets is coming closer every day. And that can only be a good thing, right? Video after the break.

Continue reading Stamp $50 Android tablet prototype raises eyebrows in India and beyond (video)

Stamp $50 Android tablet prototype raises eyebrows in India and beyond (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s JT Wang: iPad’s market share will drop to about 20 percent, maybe less

You can read that as bitter hype; then again, we’re looking at a company that’s known to live up to its words. In a recent interview with UDN, Acer Inc. Chairman JT Wang echoed ASUS’ recent forecast regarding the iPad’s erosion of the netbook market in the US and UK, although he also pointed out that netbooks are still selling like hotcakes in developing countries. As for the tablet market itself, Wang believes that Apple’s closed camp operation will ultimately bow to other joint forces once the market matures, thus lowering the iPad’s current near-100 percent share to somewhere between 20 and 30 percent. Hell, the man even suggested this could be an over-estimation, and referred to the Mac’s minuscule 5 percent global share over the last few years. And you know what? He might be right. That doesn’t mean that the iPad’s days are numbered though since Apple’s never been interested in taking part in the “race to the bottom.” Apple measures success by profits, not market share — even a small percentage of high-margin laptop and smartphone sales has proven to be a very good thing for Apple’s bottom line. Besides, if open is such a great thing, we’d like to question Wang on what caused the Windows-based tablets to flop in the first place? Regardless, this would certainly be another prediction to look out for in a few years’ time.

Acer’s JT Wang: iPad’s market share will drop to about 20 percent, maybe less originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba Smart Pad imagery emerges, claims to be the real deal

Technically speaking, we already know what Toshiba’s Smart Pad will look like. It was waved around in Australia briefly, and these shots seem to match it perfectly, but corroboration for their validity is otherwise light on the ground. Should you opt to trust them, after the break you’ll find visual confirmation for the HDMI and USB ports already promised by Toshiba, along with a memory card reader and a pleasingly slender profile. The four touch buttons on its right side just scream Android as the operating system, and the whole thing again reminds us of the Compal tablet we saw back at CES and subsequently accused of being a Toshiba-in-waiting. Notebook Italia expects this bad boy to step out of the shadows properly at IFA this year, and we already know Toshiba is cranking hard on bringing us a tablet of some description by the end of October. Fun times ahead, eh?

Continue reading Toshiba Smart Pad imagery emerges, claims to be the real deal

Toshiba Smart Pad imagery emerges, claims to be the real deal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy ‘making tablets a focus’ this holiday season, might stock one from Rocketfish

If you waltz into your local Best Buy today, you’ll find precisely one tablet for sale: Apple’s iPad. By the time this holiday season rolls around, though, that’ll all be different. We’ve heard from Steve Ballmer that Microsoft intends for Windows 7 to be powering quite a few tablet devices in the near future, but it’s been somewhat difficult to nail down exact time frames for release outside of Samsung’s Q3-bound Galaxy Tab (which won’t even run Windows). According to Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile, the company will be making “tablets a focus… going into the holidays.” He continued: “Like e-readers over the last couple years, we think customers will think of Best Buy for tablets and expect us to have the right ones.” He wouldn’t go so far as to confirm the models or brands of any headed Best Buy’s way, but we’re seeing even more hints that those Rocketfish images tweeted a few weeks ago may indeed foreshadow a holiday launch. We sure hope Santa’s ready to deal with the onslaught.

Best Buy ‘making tablets a focus’ this holiday season, might stock one from Rocketfish originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 00:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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