Hasta La Gadget!

Taipei’s been far too kind to us Westerners, and with Computex drawing to a close here on this side of the world, we can’t help but pull ourselves together for a moment and look back at the trade show that was. It’s been a fairly wild week in news, in large part thanks to the smorgasbord of tablets that have surfaced for the first time during the 30th running of this great event. Both Intel and Microsoft dropped bombshells on the tech world this week, with ASUS, iiView and even the xpPhone making bigger-than-life impressions. If you missed any of the blow-by-blow action over the past week, we’ll work on forgiving you, and while you can relive the memories by visiting the links below, you simply can’t move on with your life without living vicariously through us during our trip to the one and only Windows 7-themed ‘100 Seafood’ restaurant. So long, Taiwan — we’ll be back before you know it.

Major news / product releases:

• ARM: ‘Eagle’ to follow Cortex-A9, will support Google TV
• MSI WindPad 100 is a 10-inch, Intel Atom-powered Windows 7 tablet
• MSI WindPad 110: a 10-inch Tegra 2-powered Android tablet
• ASUS Eee Pad official: Intel CULV processors, Windows 7, and a 10-hour battery life
• ASUS Eee Tablet goes official
• NVIDIA ushers in the ‘3D PC’ with ASUS G51Jx-EE, Eee Top ET2400 and CD5390
• Intel ‘Oak Trail’ is headed for tablets in early 2011
• Intel boosts netbooks with dual-core Atom, slims ’em down with ‘Canoe Lake’
• Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz
• ASUS EPad: like the EeePad, but with less ecstasy

Hands-on / previews:

• ExoPC Slate hands-on
• ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC and EP121 preview
• ASUS Eee Tablet preview
• Exclusive: LG UX10 tablet preview at Computex
• Intel ‘Canoe Lake’ prototype netbook preview
• MeeGo Moorestown-powered tablet preview
• Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7, hosts heaps of tablets
• Pixel Qi introduces tablet-ready screens, we go hands-on (video)
• Intel demos Android 2.1 on Moorestown smartphone (video)
• Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet prototype preview
• Huawei S7 runs 1GHz Snapdragon and Android 2.1 like a champ (video)
• iiView M1Touch is a 10-inch iPhone tablet, seriously (video)
• Innoversal’s Pixel Qi-based tablet prototype: $530 for the display of your dreams
• ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video)

Everything else:

• Labor practice protest goes down at Computex, Steve Jobs called an ‘OEM profit bloodsucker’
• Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 not planned to hit tablets, Courier was always a concept
• Windows 7 tablet roundup from Computex, nay Tabletex
• Engadget dines at Taipei’s Windows 7-themed restaurant (video)
• Terror in Taipei: Computex taxi drivers watch live TV, video chat while cruising

After all of that, we’re still just skimming the surface. For the full monty, be sure to check out our Engadget Computex 2010 landing page right here.

A huge, huge thanks goes out to Andy Yang for his invaluable translation skills and all-around amazingness during the show. Another major thank you to the entire Engadget Chinese team for their hospitality and kindness. One final thank you to the nation of Taiwan and city of Taipei — without you, the world would be far less awesome.

Computex 2010 wrap-up: tablets, a Windows 7 eatery, and a few more tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, isn’t this typical ASUS. Yet another Eee Pad, or this time an ‘EPad’ as the placard says, has shown up on the Computex show floor. While the company introduced two Eee Pads at its press conference earlier this week — the 10-inch EP101TC with NVIDIA Tegra 2 / Windows Embedded Compact 7 and the 12-inch EP121 with Intel / Windows 7 — this new 10-inch version has popped up running Windows 7 at the Intel booth. We’d be lying if we said we knew what was going on here, but to us it looks like ASUS shot out a working Windows 7 model — perhaps just to have a functioning device to display on the show floor. There’s no telling if it’s being powered by Intel’s Atom Moorestown platform or a current Menlow Z Series CPU, but the design looks very similar to that of the EP101TC. We’ve sent off an inquiry to ASUS’ PR team, but you’ll still want to check out the video after the break of a very slim slate and real live “booth babe.”

Continue reading ASUS EPad: like the EeePad, but with less ecstasy

ASUS EPad: like the EeePad, but with less ecstasy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft certainly made a bit of splash at Computex with the introduction of Windows Embedded Compact 7, but it’s not necessarily the easiest thing to wrap your head around right off the bat (or say three times fast). Thankfully, Microsoft has now come through with a site that explains the new OS in detail (complete with videos), and a trial download that will let you get a sneak peek at it yourself. The short of it is that the OS is aimed at devices that don’t need or aren’t well suited to the full-fledged Windows 7 (or Windows Phone 7, for that matter) — like the Eee Pad pictured above — which, incidentally, seems to address one of the major concerns from folks like NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. That added simplicity also means that the OS won’t run regular Windows applications — it is a successor to Windows CE, after all — but Microsoft does at least promise a “streamlined developer experience.” That’s not to say the OS isn’t capable in its own right, though — it boasts a full-range of media playback capabilities (including MPEG-4 and HD video), built-in support for Silverlight for Windows Embedded and Flash 10.1, a customized version of Internet Explorer with full multitouch, support for Open GL ES 2.0, support for the latest ARM v7 architectures and, of course, “seamless” integration with Windows 7, to name just a few highlights. Still hungry for more details? Then hit up the source link for the complete rundown and Microsoft’s videos, and for all the information you need to download the preview release.

Microsoft Windows Embedded Compact 7 explained, trial download now available originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know, you’re probably eager to brush off yet another “embedded” operating system, but here at Computex, Microsoft is giving the naysayers a reason to think twice with the official debut of Windows Embedded Compact 7. Showcased along with a number of Windows 7 handhelds and slates at the company’s monstrous booth, the public community technology preview of the new OS is being made, with the goal to get this onto lightweight ARM-powered devices that either aren’t powerful enough for a full-fledged copy of Windows 7, or are simply aimed at a different market. Put simply, it’s yet another product that Microsoft can offer up and coming device makers who may otherwise consider MeeGo, Android or a plethora of other mobile OS options. We’ve got an interview session lined up with Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Division, for later today, but we just couldn’t wait to show you all of the Windows 7 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 tablet PCs that were impossible to avoid. Hit the gallery below (or video past the break) for specs and the like, and don’t blame us for those plastic covers — Microsoft wasn’t about to rip ’em off, as a fair amount of these are super early beta units.

Continue reading Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex, hosts heaps of tablets

Microsoft reveals Windows Embedded Compact 7 at Computex, hosts heaps of tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hearing about / poking fun of ITG’s xpPhone since June of last year, but amazingly enough, we’d yet to actually see one in the flesh until today. Slyly stuck in the back corner of Microsoft’s Computex booth were a trio of xpPhones, at least one of which was shockingly functional. As the story goes, the company has decided to axe Windows XP in favor of a much more lightweight version of WinXP Embedded, and responsiveness seemed suitable enough given the circumstances. And by “circumstances,” we mean “the outrageous size.” You see, we’ve no qualms making and receiving calls on an ultra-sleek Dell Streak, but this bad boy was pushing a solid inch in thickness. Sure, there’s a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, optical sensor and integrated Bluetooth, but that hardly makes it viable in a world where smartphones are thinner than wallets and full-fledged laptops are rolling in at under 10mm. During our time with the device, we found the display to be surprisingly crisp, and while our finger presses were easily recognized, the omission of an accelerometer, the tremendous size, inexcusable weight and the tremendous size kept us from falling head over heels. We will say, though — it’d make a darn good weapon should someone pull a fast one in the alley, and we’d probably buy one for kicks at under $150. Comedy ensues after the break.

Continue reading ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video)

ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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