Hasta La Gadget!

Motorola's Xoom — the first Honeycomb-powered tablet device to hit the market — isn't selling as well as Apple's iPad. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Nvidia’s head honcho knows that sluggish sales of Android tablets are a problem, but says it won’t be that way forever.

“I think that the vast majority of tablet users are actually buying from retail, and Wi-Fi only,” said Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on a quarterly earnings conference call with reporters, explaining why sales for Android-powered tablets have been lackluster so far. But, he explained, you couldn’t buy Wi-Fi-only versions at retail outlets. “The first generation of tablets initially came out from our carriers, and with 3G,” said Huang, whose Nvidia Tegra 2 processors can be found inside multiple Android tablets currently on the market.

Despite a wealth of options from different hardware manufacturers, Android-powered tablets don’t have the same momentum as the iPad. Apple’s tablet still accounts for 82 percent of the tablet market, according to Nielsen.

Huang’s statement places much of the blame squarely on Motorola’s release strategy for the Xoom, Google’s flagship tablet product running Android’s tablet-optimized version 3.0 (Honeycomb) software. The Xoom debuted on Verizon’s 3G network in February for $600 with a two-year Verizon contract, or without a contract for a whopping $800.

And some say that’s not the way we want to buy our tablets. “Our data shows that [people] don’t want to be tied in to a fixed data contract, and they don’t want to buy from a carrier,” wrote Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps in a blog post. “Meaning that pricing strategies that work for mobile phones won’t work for tablets.”

Apple’s baseline, Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 costs just $500.

Take a look at some of the raw numbers for the sake of perspective: In the first weekend of the original iPad’s release, Apple sold more than 1 million devices. Compare that to the 220,000 units shipped in the Xoom’s first month of release.

Last month, Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha cited a different reason for the Xoom’s relatively poor sales: Android’s app ecosystem. “Consumers want more apps for Android tablets,” Jha said during the company’s quarterly earnings call in April.

Huang agreed with Jha to a degree. “It’s a software richness-of-content problem,” Huang said in an interview with Cnet.

The forecast for Android-powered tablets to come in 2011 isn’t entirely grim. Huang — whose company certainly has skin in the game — remains optimistic. “We’re going to expect another wave of tablets that are coming out to the marketplace now. Ones that are even thinner and even lighter than the best offerings from any place,” Huang said, most likely referring to Samsung’s soon-to-debut Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Huang is also betting big on the new version of Honeycomb released for Android tablets (3.1), currently available only for the Motorola Xoom tablets but will roll out to other Android tablets in the next few weeks. The update includes support for peripheral USB devices and user-interface enhancements, among other improvements.

And finally, Huang hinted at Nvidia’s integration with Google’s software: “We’re working very closely with [Google’s] teams on the Ice Cream Sandwich,” Huang said, though he wouldn’t go into further detail. Google teased details of the upcoming Android software version, codenamed “Ice Cream Sandwich,” at its I/O developer conference in San Francisco last week.

As for issues with Android’s app ecosystem, Google seems to be trying to remedy the situation. The company recently added a number of lists and sections highlighting the most popular apps across specific categories — gross sales, number of downloads over a seven-day period, top free apps downloaded — in an attempt to make the market easier to browse for consumers, as well as a more lucrative venue for developers who want to sell their apps.

LG’s Optimus 2X just scooped up official recognition from the Guinness World Records crew for being the very first dual-core smartphone, which sounds like a good thing, but really it kind of isn’t. In its rabid pursuit of the “First!” badge, LG neglected to polish up the 2X’s software, leaving a lot of early users feeling high, dry, and in need of a good custom ROM. On the other hand, that very same phone’s US variant, the T-Mobile G2x that came a couple of months later, arrived with a nice and shiny stock Android build that really showed off the underlying hardware’s true capabilities. So yeah, kudos on another Record, LG, but next time let’s have less haste and more awesome, mmkay?

LG Optimus 2X scoops up Guinness World Record for being first dual-core smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plowing through bug reports is a reliable way to dig up juicy morsels of info, and thanks to that timeless tactic we’ve got some specs on a pair of unannounced Chrome OS devices. First up is a netbook from Acer codenamed ZGB which, according to a recently filed report, will have a 1366 x 768 panel, presumably in the 10 to 12 inch range. We also know that you can hook up an external display to it via an HDMI port powered by an encoder chip from Chrontel. Since AMD’s Fusion netbook platform supports HDMI natively, we can also safely assume that the ZGB will be running the web-only OS on an Atom processor. That’s where the details end for now but, hey, it’s better than nothing.

The other device, Seaboard, has been floating around the Chrome OS flaw depot for some time, but reports are finally starting to reveal some tantalizing details. We now know that it is powered by a Tegra 2 and sports a touchscreen — the perfect place to test out those finger-friendly tweaks we’ve heard so much about. There are also mentions of a “lid switch” and a physical keyboard, indicating it may be a convertible or something in the vein of the Eee Pad Slider rather than a pure slate. The hybrid form factor would make perfect sense since it will house a pair of USB ports and an HDMI jack, which could make for a rather chunky tablet. Obviously, neither of these devices are confirmed yet (and Seaboard is most likely being used for internal testing only) but at least we’ve got a better idea of what to expect when the browser-based OS comes to consumers later this year.

Chrome OS machines leaked in bug reports: Acer netbook and touch-friendly Seaboard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s hosting a press event in Tokyo today where it just made the first announcement: a pair of Android 3.0 tablets — yes, the very two Honeycomb slabs we told you about exclusively back in February. The first is the Qriocity-focused 9.4-inch S1 media tablet with both front- and rear-facing cameras and a curved wrap design that resembles a folded magazine. The S1 features a Tegra 2 SoC and customized “Quick and Smooth” touch panel UI with “Swift” web browser. It can also be used as a remote control for Sony gear thanks to integrated infrared.

The second tablet is the dual-screen S2 clamshell with its pair of 5.5-inch 1,024 x 480 pixel displays, Tegra 2 SoC, and camera. While it sounds bulky, Kunimasa Suzuki just pulled the hinged tablet from his jacket pocket on stage. Sony takes advantage of the two screens with a custom book-style UI layout for its e-reader app, split keyboard and messaging displays for email, and split display and game controllers for PS One gaming. Both the S1 and S2 are PlayStation Certified, support DLNA, and are WiFi and 3G/4G “compatible” according to Sony. See the Sony tablets codenamed “S1” and “S2” in action after the break on their way to a global release in the fall — possibly sooner in the US.

P.S. While the company isn’t ready to talk prices yet, our sources told us back in February that Sony was considering a $599 MSRP on the S1 while the S2 would likely come in at $699. Still no word on the Windows 7 slider but with the other two leaks official, it’s now only a matter of time.

Continue reading Sony S1 and S2 dual-screen Honeycomb tablets get official (video)

Sony S1 and S2 dual-screen Honeycomb tablets get official (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yearning for some diversity in your hunt for a Honeycomb tablet? Acer’s new Iconia Tab A500 doesn’t really stray from the Tegra 2 norm when it comes to internal specs, but it does have that brushed aluminum back, a full-sized USB 2.0 port, and a sane $450 price point going for it. You’ll get 16GB of storage and 802.11b/g/n WiFi connectivity for your money, though ASUS’ similarly outfitted Eee Pad Transformer should also be prominent on your radar as it’ll ask for an even humbler $399 when it makes its slightly delayed US launch tomorrow. Let’s hope the arrival of these Taiwanese cousins nudges other Android tablets makers into engaging in a bit of price competition, eh?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Acer Iconia Tab A500 now on sale, $450 for aluminum-clad WiFi-only model originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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