ExoPC preorders open to all from CAD $649, tablet loses GPS but gains SanDisk SSD

First the good news, for those who’ve waited months to get their paws on that 11.6-inch multitouch capacitive screen: there’s no longer anything stopping you from dropping a stack of change on the Windows 7-wielding ExoPC. Originally restricted to the first 1,200 dedicated fans, preorders are now open to all, with the 32GB tablet setting you back CAD $649 (about $624) and the 64GB version CAD $749 (about $720), with both models featuring up-to-160MB/s fast SanDisk P4 mini-SSDs and up to four hours of battery life. The bad news is that you’ll no longer find GPS on that 64GB model, as the prototype didn’t pan out, and we’re afraid that September 30th ship date has already slid back to October 15th. Take a gander at our hands-on preview (or better yet, wait for our review) if you’ve yet to make your mind up.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

ExoPC preorders open to all from CAD $649, tablet loses GPS but gains SanDisk SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ViewSonic 10-inch dual boot ViewPad preview

ViewSonic hasn’t settled on a name for this thing yet, vacillating between the ViewPad 100 and the ViewPad 10i. What it has settled on is a pretty delicious for factor for an Atom N455-based Windows 7 tablet, and the dual boot option to Android is really just gravy. Unfortunately it’s rather outdated gravy: Android 1.6 is the most recent version to support x86 processors, so we won’t be seeing any of the new Android goodness on here unless Google pulls together another Intel-friendly version of the OS in the near future — which seems relatively unlikely with Chrome OS around the corner, but you never know. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, 16GB SSD, and a 10-inch 1024 x 600 LCD (the same resolution as the new Galaxy Tab, incidentally). We weren’t impressed with the quality of the display, or with the pixel density, but at least the capacitive touch seemed to be working fine — we actually managed to do a bit of typing with Windows 7’s touchscreen keyboard, if you can imagine that. The actual hardware is delightfully thin and light, though a bit on the plasticy side, and we particular appreciated the thumb friendly buttons to the right side of the display. The tablet has a quoted price of “sub 500 euros” and a sketched in release date for later this year. Check out a video hands-on, including the super exciting boot-up process, after the break.

Continue reading ViewSonic 10-inch dual boot ViewPad preview

ViewSonic 10-inch dual boot ViewPad preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse seriously, finally, officially announced, doesn’t ship until December

After the overt teasing, leaking, and then more leaking, Microsoft’s finally ready to spit out the details on its Arc Touch Mouse, which at the end of the day is really just… a mouse. As we’ve seen, the peripheral has an incredibly unique design — the flat device arches its back to click into a mountain shape, which actually ends up powering the little rodent up. So, where does the whole “touch” factor come into play? Well, very similarly to the Mad Catz Eclipse mouse, the Arc Touch has a capacitive touch strip with sensor pads between the mouse buttons that can be used for scrolling and customizable shortcuts. We’ve got you covered with some hands-on impressions and video after the break, but that’s about all you’ll be getting for a while since the press release below says the $69.95 mouse won’t hit the market until December. Yep, December! That’s a bit odd to us, but they’ll be taking pre-orders today so hit the break to finally see this thing push the cursor around.

Continue reading Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse seriously, finally, officially announced, doesn’t ship until December

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse seriously, finally, officially announced, doesn’t ship until December originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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Toshiba Libretto W100 sells out at Amazon, really was a limited run

We know, we just told you less than 48 hours ago that the dual screen Toshiba Libretto W100 was finally on sale and after $1,100 of your hard earned cash, but it looks like those that didn’t move quick enough are out of luck. Both Toshiba and Amazon list the Windows 7-running Libretto W100 as out of stock at the moment. Now, of course, Tosh has always said the W100 was going to be available on a limited basis so there’s no telling how many of these were actually sold, but it certainly seems impressive for a very niche gadget. We’ve reached out to Toshiba to ask if they plan on refreshing the depleted stock and for a bit of information on how many they had boxed up to begin with — stay tuned, we’ll let you know what we hear.

Update: If you’re still lusting after one of these bad boys there’s still some available through Conics.com and some Japanese retailers.

Toshiba Libretto W100 sells out at Amazon, really was a limited run originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Live Essentials 2011 gets another Beta release, Facebook and Flickr video integration

Just a quick note, true believers: If you’ve been all over the Windows Live Essentials 2011 Beta that’s been making the rounds (and who hasn’t?) you might want to keep an eye on those updates. And if you’re not? Hit that source link, ‘cos Microsoft has done gone and refreshed aforementioned beta, as of 11 am (Pacific time). If you’re brave enough to take the leap, you can look forward to: Facebook Chat Integration in Messenger, Bing Maps Geotag integration in Photo Gallery, and Flickr video publishing in Movie Maker, according to the kids at ZDNet. So what are you waiting for? Go, get!

Windows Live Essentials 2011 gets another Beta release, Facebook and Flickr video integration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI’s 10-inch WindPad 100 advances past prototype stage, gets pictured with a dock

The wait for a legitimate mass market Windows 7 tablet continues, but at least MSI is showing signs of progress. The WindPad 100, which we saw at Computex in prototype form, has now reached design maturity and the concordant gallery of pictures has been distributed to the world. There’s no word of any spec changes, meaning we’re still looking at a 1.66GHz Atom Z530 CPU, 32GB SSD, 2GB RAM, Wind Touch UI overlay, and HDMI plus 2x USB ports on the stat sheet. The 100 has been joined by a new dock in these latest images, which will throw in the typical expanded connectivity options. We can probably expect to see both reappearing at IFA in Berlin in about a month’s time.

MSI’s 10-inch WindPad 100 advances past prototype stage, gets pictured with a dock originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS prices 10-inch Android Eee Pad under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300, other tablets too

ASUS just dumped Windows Embedded Compact 7 for Android for its lower-end tablet devices, and CEO Jerry Shen is passing along the savings. He’s pledging that the 10-inch Eee Pad EP101TC, due to ship in March, will cost under $399 — and if the Notion Ink Adam is any indication that means it’ll be $398. Then there’s the EP121, a 12-inch tablet running Windows 7 that’s positioned rather higher up in the market, as indicated by its $1,000 price tag. Shen says this high cost is due to that docking station able to intriguingly transform it into a laptop when it ships around December or January. Next is yet another Eee Pad due around January, one that will run Windows Embedded Compact 7 on a 10-inch screen and at a price somewhere south of $499. Finally, there’s the grayscale Eee Tablet e-reader thing, formerly rumored to be under $599 but now priced at a solid $300 and, supposedly, shipping in October. Surely we’re mere months away from tablet saturation at this point.

ASUS prices 10-inch Android Eee Pad under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300, other tablets too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hauppauge officially announces HD PVR support in Windows Media Center

If you’re thinking about going the Media Center DVR route but can’t or won’t get hooked up with a CableCARD don’t forget there’s another option available to pull in those premium channels now that the $199 Hauppauge HD PVR is supported as a TV recorder in Windows 7. There’s been a few updates since the feature was added in beta back in June, which lets users select programs via the Media Center guide to be captured and encoded in MPEG-4 over the device’s component video inputs (HDTV resolutions up to 1080i and 5.1 surround sound are supported) while the PC controls connected satellite or cable TV set-top boxes with an included IR blaster. There’s still a limit of one tuner per PC and a thread over on TheGreenButton reveals the experience can still be a bit glitchy, but if you’ve just got to have Windows Media Center and NFL Sunday Ticket then some compromises will be necessary.

Continue reading Hauppauge officially announces HD PVR support in Windows Media Center

Hauppauge officially announces HD PVR support in Windows Media Center originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OQO crawls back from the dead, releasing Model 03 in China this month (Updated)

Holy moly! We genuinely never saw this coming. If you recall, the last we heard from OQO was when it said its final goodbye back in May 2009, and even today its website still declares the company “out of business.” Well, that’s not exactly the case anymore — a little research led us to CCW, which reports that Audiotone — OQO’s business partner in China — confirmed a successful merger with the UMPC manufacturer in April this year (on the condition that the latter’s R&D to remain in the US). This would explain why OQO’s Chinese site was still being updated with news after the “closure,” while its Western counterpart remained frozen in time.

The juicier news, however, is that OQO’s launching a Model 03 for Chinese buyers in Q3 2010 (and the website’s banner specifically says August). Don’t be fooled by the model number, though — this 15-ounce device essentially shares the same chassis with the Model 02, but is now packed with Windows 7, Intel Atom Z500 series chip, SSD, 3G radio (compatible with WCDMA, EVDO and TD-SCDMA), and a 4.8-inch 1024 x 600 multitouch LCD (previously 5-inch 800 x 480 single-touch). You’ll also get the same old Bluetooth, WiFi, built-in mic and HDMI across the four flavors: Gold, Diamond, Elite and Business, which range from 1.2GHz to 2GHz, 32GB to 128GB (1GB to 2GB of RAM), and ¥12,999 ($1,919) to a whopping ¥31,888 ($4,708). Well, these are still far from what most of us would consider as affordable, so here’s hoping the Chinese market will keep OQO alive until it can bring us some cheaper alternatives. Or at least avoid sending the company to its second funeral.

Update: Eerily, the long static OQO home page has been updated with a brief, but telling bit of text at the bottom of the page: “We did not sell out to Audiotone. Anything by them is a Clone.” So much for the ressurrection. [Thanks, Picasso]

Update 2: Looks like the previous OQO home page update is a hack… by zombies!

OQO crawls back from the dead, releasing Model 03 in China this month (Updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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