Hasta La Gadget!

Now that Motorola’s Xoom is ready to rock out on 4G LTE connections, the only thing missing from the original 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet is a nice suite of edutainment software… wait, what? Whether or not that’s what you asked for, it appears to be what Motorola’s giving you judging by this “Family Edition” branded Xoom that just showed up at a big box electronics store. While there’s still no hint of the subwoofer-equipped Xoom 2 Media Edition that’s been rumored, this model is differentiated by the addition of a Kid Mode with $40 of software for kids from Zoodles (trailer after the break) packed-in. We don’t have a release date or official pricing yet, but we’d expect to see the MZ505 on shelves sooner rather than later, but for now just check out a few more pics in the gallery below.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Motorola Xoom Family Edition pops up at retail sporting kid-friendly software

Motorola Xoom Family Edition pops up at retail sporting kid-friendly software originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Blurrycam-equipped tipster sent in the above images of what’s purported to be a 10-inch Windows 7 tablet from Dell. There’s not a lot of info on the thing at the moment, and what we do have ought to be taken with a few pinches of salt. But here’s the breakdown, according to the aforementioned tipster: the slate’s got 2GB of RAM (though larger options will also be made available from the company), a USB and HDMI port and a stylus holder on the back of the device. Dell is apparently looking to make it available in December for around $900 to $1,000, just in time for that holiday tablet rush. Could this be the 10.1-inch Peju tablet that we caught wind of, back in July? We can’t say for sure, of course, but it certainly seems like a possibility.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Is this Dell’s Windows 7 ‘Peju’ Tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Originally scheduled for a September launch under the VersaPro type VT moniker, NEC’s LaVie Touch Windows 7 tablet is finally hitting the Japanese market next week. Alas, there are still no plans on an international release for this 10.1-inch Atom Z670-powered device, but at CEATEC we were lucky enough to stumble upon it along with its DVD dock and wireless input peripherals — all included for ¥99,960 ($1,300), which is a huge drop from the original ¥144,000 ($1,873) customizable bundle.

Despite the slightly more sensible pricing, is the LaVie Touch still worth the money? Probably a stretch given the much cheaper offerings from the likes of Acer and Samsung, but regardless, kudos to NEC for keeping its tablet’s weight just under 730g (1.6 pounds) while promising 10.6 hours of battery life. For comparison’s sake, the Acer Iconia W500 weighs 970g (2.14 pounds) and only packs up to six hours worth of battery juice. The NEC tablet felt firm in our hands and its IPS LCD didn’t disappoint, though Windows 7 on this particular unit was slightly laggy during our hands-on, so be sure to check it out in the stores first before you hand over your hard-earned yen.

Update: We just found out that Yodobashi Camera has just started selling the LaVie Touch, so we went along to Akihabara to check out the final product. Alas, Windows 7 was still sluggish, whereas the AMD C-50-powered Iconia W500 in the next aisle handled pinch-to-zoom rather well, despite the less impressive LCD.

NEC LaVie Touch hands-on (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no back to school roadmap because, hey, you’re already there. Still, this leaked sales sheet from TmoNews shows Magenta stacking its shelves for an abundant fall mobile harvest. So, let’s dive right in as there’s a lot of two-year contracted bounty to cover. Starting things off on October 19th are a trio of high-end, 42Mbps-capable 4G handsets: the HTC “Ruby” or Amaze 4G at $259, Samsung Hercules (that would be this) at $229 and the Huawei Wayne at $99 (which comes pre-loaded with Spaghetti Westerns, we presume). Following just a week later, is Samsung’s Arnold tablet — a.k.a the Galaxy Tab 10.1 — which’ll run along the carrier’s faux-G and retail for $399. But the real wireless bonanza takes place on the 2nd of November, when six new phones will bow. LG’s Maxx QWERTY and Maxx Touch at $129 apiece are the sole 3G-only units in the bunch, leaving the HTC Omega (better known as the Radar) at $199, LG Flip II at $149, Huawei Tallsome slate at $199 and the low-end Samsung “Ancora” to surf along at 4G speeds. Making a late appearance to this Autumn party are the last two of the bunch: Samsung’s Robin (which looks to be the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus) at $299 and RIM’s Dumoine QWERTY slider. That enough options for you? We thought so.

T-Mobile’s fall roadmap leaks, cornucopia of mobile goods on the horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dropbox just not doing the trick for your design work load? Perhaps Adobe can help. The company has announced Creative Cloud, a “hub for viewing, sharing and syncing of files created by Adobe Touch Apps and Adobe Creative Suite.” Included with the service is 20GB of cloud storage, which will probably get you through that web design project you’ve been putting off. After the first of the year, Adobe expects its cloud to include access to applications software (apps too), digital publishing / business services and a global creative community for inspiration and feedback. Also unveiled were Touch Apps, a set of six applications designed to make your tablet a design machine — if you’re down to work on that small of a screen, of course. You’ll have to wait until November to find out just how much the Creative Cloud will set you back, but in the meantime check out the source link for more details.

Adobe reveals Creative Cloud, links Touch Apps to Creative Suite with 20GB storage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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