Hasta La Gadget!

Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day — we dig deep into each topic’s history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.

My, how times have changed over the last eight months. At CES 2011, we ecstatically witnessed the introduction of mobile devices with dual-core CPUs and drooled over the possibilities we’d soon have at our fingertips. Now, we look down at anything that doesn’t have more than one core — regardless of its performance. Not only are these new chips quickly becoming mainstream, Moore’s Law is in full effect with our handheld devices since tri-core and quad-core systems are just over the horizon. We can’t even fathom what’s in the pipeline for the year 2015 and beyond (we don’t think we’re too far away from that 3D shark seen in Back to the Future 2).

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here, however. After all, we first need to wrap our puny human minds around the idea of what this newfound power can do, and why it’s changing the entire landscape of smartphones and tablets. In this edition of Primed, we’ll focus on why multicore technology makes such a difference in the way we use our handheld devices, whether we should even consider purchasing a handset with a single-core chip inside, and why one-core tech is so 2010. Check out the whole enchilada after the break.

Continue reading Engadget Primed: are multi-core chips worth the investment?

Engadget Primed: are multi-core chips worth the investment? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a Chinese saying that will suit most of our Western readers here: “quenching thirst by gazing at plums.” Oh yes, we’re talking about Dell’s Streak 10 Pro alright. Just as promised, said US company has skipped its home country to debut its first 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet in China (ka-ching!), and we happened to be at the Beijing press event for some intimate hands-on time. To be honest, you won’t be needing many imaginary plums for this Android’s rather mundane specs: it’s equipped with the oh-so-familiar 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 T20 chip, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 1,280 x 800 LCD (with Corning’s Gorilla Glass), 5 megapixel camera and 2 megapixel camera back and front, and regular-size SDHC expansion. That said, Chinese buyers can grab this 16GB WiFi tablet plus 2GB of cloud storage for just ¥2,999 ($465) a pop — a slightly more attractive price compared to its competitors. Check out our impressions after the break.

Update: Hands-on video added after the break.

Continue reading Dell Streak 10 Pro tablet makes global debut in China, we go hands-on (update: video!)

Dell Streak 10 Pro tablet makes global debut in China, we go hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This isn’t the first time Toshiba has showed up fashionably late to a party. Back in 2009, long after most every other consumer electronics maker big and small had jumped on the netbook bandwagon, the company belatedly released its first mini, the NB205. And it was fantastic. So we were optimistic when the outfit finally got around to releasing the Thrive, its first Android tablet for the US market. Surely, we thought, it’s learned a thing or two from everybody else’s mistakes.

And in that regard, at least, this 10-inch tablet doesn’t disappoint. It has full-sized USB and HDMI ports, an SD card slot, and a removable battery — all features you’d sooner find on a laptop. It comes with a raft of practical apps already installed, so that you don’t have to go hunting for them in Android Market. It’s one of the first out of the gate with Android 3.1, an undeniably improved version of Honeycomb. Oh, and it starts at $429, undercutting many of its competitors. Right there, in less than a paragraph, we’ve laid out why you might want this over any of the other umpteen tabs crowding the market. But should you get one? Well, folks, we’ll need more than a paragraph to tackle that. Join us after the break, won’t you?

Continue reading Toshiba Thrive review

Toshiba Thrive review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pew pew. Those are the sounds we instantly hear whenever we come across Motorola’s Photon 4G. Sadly, the soon-to-be dual-core star of Sprint’s smartphone lineup won’t come pre-loaded with a laser soundboard on July 31st, but it can be pre-ordered now — for a significant markdown. All it takes is a quick internetting trip to either Wirefly or Walmart, where this WiMAX handset’s up for a $20 – $40 discount. It’s not a massive price chop on par with free, but it should move some yellow-tinged operator inventory. If walking the straight and narrow’s your bag, you could still always opt for the direct carrier two-year contract option — but why? Hit the source to get yourself in line for this cut-rate beast.

Motorola Photon 4G gets the bargain bin treatment at Wirefly, Walmart originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The IdeaPad K1’s long, crazy journey of near-availability looks to finally be at an end. Lenovo’s ethereal Honeycomb tablet has been popping up in online retail sites since May, teasing us with availability in June, and finally offering the promise of pre-order earlier this month. It seems that the plucky 10.1 inch Tegra 2 slate has taken the final step separating itself from the hands of consumers: getting sent out for shipment. One tipster passed along shipping confirmation from Office Depot that has the device lined up for delivery today — assuming, of course that the recipient is there to answer the door in the eight and a half hour delivery window provided.

[Thanks, Dan]

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 begins shipment odyssey, courtesy of Office Depot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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