Hasta La Gadget!

Yet another rumor about Apple’s fabled touchscreen tablet has emerged, with sources claiming the product will hit stores in early 2010.

In its report, AppleInsider cites “people well-respected … for their striking accuracy in Apple’s internal affairs,” who claim a 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet will turn up between January and March.

AppleInsider’s article conflicts with a rumor report posted by TheStreet’s Scott Moritz earlier this week, which stated an Apple tablet was due as soon as October this year. Moritz’s report also said the tablet would be subsidized by Verizon.

Wired.com has more faith in AppleInsider’s report, because a 2010 launch of this product would be more realistic. It’s unlikely Apple would release a tablet in October 2009, because it would cannibalize sales of MacBooks during back-to-school season — when MacBooks tend to sell very well. Plus, Apple recently slashed MacBook prices, and the company would aim to capitalize on the move during back-to-school season without introducing a competitor into its own product line. Third, many rumor reports suggest a new iPod Touch is due in stores fall, and a tablet would likely cannibalize on sales of this product, too.

A January to March time frame would be a much wiser move for Apple. That’s because the Consumer Electronics Show — the largest technology convention in the United States — takes place January. Apple does not plan to attend the Macworld Expo trade show, also in January, nor does it plan to attend CES. So a tablet timed for a January announcement would be the perfect way for Apple to steal thunder from other tech companies showing off new gear at CES.

Also, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster laid out strong reasoning to believe an Apple tablet is arriving 2010:

“Between indications from our component contacts in Asia, recent patents relating to multi-touch sensitivity for more complex computing devices, comments from [chief operating officer] Tim Cook on the April 22 conference call, and Apple’s acquisition of PA Semi along with other recent chip-related hires, it is increasingly clear that Apple is investing more in its mobile-computing franchise,” Munster said in a research statement issued to clients in May.

Lastly, we’re more skeptical about TheStreet’s October prediction given Moritz’s track record, which is notoriously spotty when it comes to Apple rumors. For example, in May, Moritz wrote a story titled “Tech Rumor of the Day: Apple,” which quoted an analyst who predicted AT&T would reduce prices for the iPhone’s monthly service plan. Not only did that not turn out to be true; it wasn’t a rumor at all — just a prediction from an analyst.

Regardless, given the number of rumors floating around, and reports that Apple’s component suppliers in China are receiving orders for parts to build a tablet, an Apple tablet almost seems inevitable. With AppleInsider’s report, we’re placing more chips in the betting circle for a 2010 launch of this device.

See Also:

• Rumor: $800 Apple Tablet Coming in October
• Analyst Predicts Apple Will Unleash Touchscreen Tablet Next Year …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …
• Rumor: Mac Tablet Coming Fall 2009
• Apple COO Reveals Plans for Touch Tablet — Kinda
• Rumor: Apple to Launch MacBook Touch?

Parody, mock-up illustration of an Apple tablet: Andy on Flickr/Flickr

It’s pretty early hardware and earlier software, but the guys at CrackBerry somehow got themselves a Storm 2 to play with. First question: Yes, it still has a clickable screen, but it’s allegedly much better than its predecessor.

There aren’t any big changes on the software side (it’s still running BlackBerry OS 5.1), although remember, this is a very early pre-release model. The OS looks pretty much exactly the same as the original Storm, at least at this point. That means it’s still laggy (especially the accelerometer), a dealbreaker of a problem on the first Storm that hopefully will get ironed out before the Storm 2’s release. Verizon has promised WiFi in its future smartphones, so with any luck that’ll include the Storm 2.

In terms of hardware, the four classic BlackBerry buttons (call, end, back, and menu) are no longer separate buttons but part of the clickable screen’s display. The screen itself has a lot less give to it than the original Storm, which the guy demonstrating it seems to appreciate, saying it’s a much better typing experience (though probably not as good as a physical keyboard). The handset is slightly thinner and features darker metal, seeming classier overall.

What are we really hoping for in the new Storm? No more lagginess, a real browser based on WebKit, and a better app store would be a huge help in making the Storm 2 a step up. That stuff is all software stuff, so we’ll hold off making any base judgments about the Storm 2 just yet. But we’re keeping our fingers crossed that RIM has been listening to its customers. [CrackBerry]

It’s not officially available yet, but the fine folks at Android Community have gotten their hands on a HTC Hero and posted up a quick unboxing and overview. Their unit is an unaffiliated generic whitebox model, so it’s likely that the retail packaging the rest of us see from carriers will be different, but none of that changes the device itself, which AC thinks is the “best Android device to date.” That’s quite a statement, but we’re inclined to agree — we’ll see if anything changes when we get that US 3G version in our hands. More pics at the read link, video after the break.

Continue reading HTC Hero freed from generic box, called best Android device yet

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Hero freed from generic box, called best Android device yet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We like bubble-gum icons and ginger bread men holding “Touch Me!” signs as much as any predator. It’s just not the first motif that comes to mind when choosing an interface for what otherwise looks to be yet another mainstream digital media player. Perhaps Samsung’s YP-R1 is targeting 9-year old Korean girls — however, that sure looks like a brushed metal box to us, not teddy-bear taffeta affixed to a Mickey Mouse effigy as we’d expect. Otherwise, the YP-R1 is the same 2.6-inch touchscreen 400 x 260 pixel player with up to 32GB (€149 for 8GB model) of storage we’ve already seen only now with an expected September ship date, at least in France. One more shot after the break. What can we say — this is what you get when we hope to be surprised.

Continue reading Samsung’s YP-R1 spotted in the wild leering at kids

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Samsung’s YP-R1 spotted in the wild leering at kids originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like the Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet has made it out of the labs (and controlled show floor settings) and into the hands of Crave UK, where that seemingly-amazing resistive touchscreen continues to impress — so much so that they initially thought it was a capacitive unit. We actually pinged Crave ed Nate Lanxon to find out what was up, and the real story appears to be a mystery — either Archos PR is mistaken in telling everyone that it’s a resistive screen, or the company has somehow improved the tech to the point where it’s virtually indistinguishable from a capacitive display. Given our experience with previous Archos resistive touchscreen devices that felt like mush, we’ve got to say we’re going with Occam’s Razor on this and that it’s really capacitive, but we’re definitely ready to be proven wrong — hey Archos, you feel like sending us a new toy to play with?

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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