Archive for the ‘tablet’ Category

Motorola Drops Android Tablet Price to Match iPad’s

Motorola reduced the price of its Wi-Fi only Xoom tablet to $500. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Motorola announced on Wednesday that its Android tablet is now available for a hundred bucks cheaper than before, now priced the same as the entry-level iPad 2.

Originally priced at $600, Motorola’s Xoom tablet is now available for $500 in its Wi-Fi only version. The price reduction was announced via Motorola’s Twitter account, and first reported by The Business Insider.

Motorola’s Xoom was the first device to run Google’s tablet-optimized version of Android, (Honeycomb), beating all other major tablet manufacturers to market with its February release date. Sporting Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 processor, an interface which eschews physical buttons and a fancy black matte finish, the Xoom looked like the tablet to beat in 2011.

The head start, however, doesn’t seem to have worked in Motorola’s favor. Critics of the Xoom denounced Motorola’s high prices right out of the gate — $600 for Wi-Fi only, and a whopping $800 for the Verizon 3G capable version. Compare that to the entry-level iPad 2’s $500 price tag, or even the fellow Android-powered Acer Iconia A500, priced at $450. A $500 base price tag is the predominant standard for the field, originally set by Apple.

It’s unclear whether the 3G-capable version of the tablet will take a price hit, though Motorola’s website shows no change to the price currently.

Verizon Wireless did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 3G version can be purchased at a subsidized rate, however; a Xoom with a two-year Verizon contract will set you back $600.

Huawei teases us with the MediaPad

Picking up cues from ASUS’ teasing campaign they pulled off last week for the Padfone, Huawei has also on in the mysterious tablet game, except that Huawei isn’t as mysterious as ASUS’ giving us a full-frontal shot of the tablet, as well as a side view. Judging by the objects around the tablet, it looks like it’s going to be pretty small, relative to a tea cup and a watch. Huawei also claims “the MediaPad is our smartest, smallest and lightest tablet ever – guaranteed to transform the consumer’s entertainment experience”.

Other than that we have no clues to what it could be. We’re thinking a mini, slim, entertainment-focused Android tablet. Since Huawei has been doing pretty well in the budget phone sector, let’s see how well they can handle the tablet market. Stay tuned for more details when the tablet is revealed.

Huawei teases us with the MediaPad, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review, iPad 2 Review,

HP thinks the TouchPad will be ‘better than number one,’ if that’s even possible

HP’s expectations for its new TouchPad tablet are running pretty high — so high, in fact, that they can only be expressed with a make-believe number. During a recent press conference in Cannes, HP’s Eric Cador boldly declared that his company’s new slate won’t just be the best on the market, it’ll be the bestest. Cador explained:

“In the PC world, with fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors, we became number one; in the tablet world we’re going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.”

A spokesman later confirmed that the device will launch in the UK with apps from the Guardian, Sky and Last.fm, but promised that “thousands” of other apps are on the way. The metrics might sound a bit optimistic, but the message is clear: HP thinks the TouchPad will annihilate the iPad and blow our minds to smithereens. We’ll just have to wait and see whether it’s as explosive as advertised.

HP thinks the TouchPad will be ‘better than number one,’ if that’s even possible originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gadget Lab Notes: An iPad 2 Accessory Only a Flava-Flav Fan Could Love

The Clik Clok lets you wear an iPad 2 around the neck

Clik Clok, the Worst iPad 2 Accessory I’ve Ever Seen
Clik Clok is an iPad 2 accessory only Flava Flav—and diehard fans—could love. It is a big gold (or silver or red) chain necklace that attaches to the new iPad through its magnetic points. As soon as it’s clicked in, the clock app automatically launches, so you can… look like Flava Flav. Except with a $500 tablet around your neck instead of a large plastic clock. With all of the potential, practical uses for a high quality tablet, this is what you come up with?

Clik Clok [Pensa via Core77]

Samsung Reveals Series 2, 4, 6, and 9 Laptops
The 13.3-inch Core i5 Series 9 laptop will be available tomorrow for $1,649, providing some competition for the MacBook Air in the ultra portable market. A 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM come standard, and a scaled down 11-inch model will be available in April. If you’re on a tighter budget, the Series 2 could be up your alley, with 12.5 and 14-inch screen models and a Sandy Bridge Core i3 CPU. The Series 4 and Series 6 notebooks feature additional security features (such as a fingerprint sensor) aimed at business and IT managers and options of Core i3, i5, or i7 processors.

Samsung Series 2, Series 4, and Series 6 Laptops and Samsung Series 9 Laptop [Engadget]

iPad 2 Gets… Blended
While many are still waiting to get a hold of the new iPad 2, the folks at Blendtec got their destructive little hands on one and videoed the response to their eternal question: “Will it blend?” Yes, yes it does. Le sigh.

Video: iPad 2 Gets “Will It Blend” Treatment [Tom's Guide]

iPhone 5 Cases Pop Up Online, Adding Heft to Larger Display Rumors
iPhone 5 cases have started showing up on online marketplace Alibaba, which previously listed accurate iPad 2 cases prior to its reveal. The cases show the iPhone 5 following the same form factor as the iPhone 4 (as the engineer drawings seen last week also showed), but with edge-to-edge glass and a larger screen.

Purported iPhone 5 Cases Point to iPhone 4 Design, Possibly Larger Screen [9to5 Mac]

“Tweener” Tablet Hinted At By Nokia Executive
Nokia EVP Tero Ojanperä believes in a smaller form factor for tablets, an in-between smartphone/tablet size, that will be “a big driver in mobile games.” The company recently received a patent for a 10-inch tablet design, but may be rethinking their strategy after getting a generally negative response from European carriers.

Nokia to create new form factor tablet [My Nokia Blog via Slashgear]

Motorola Xoom up for in-store pre-order at Best Buy, $800 for Thursday availability

No more stunt prices, no more premature web appearances, this (we hope) is finally Best Buy’s fully official listing for the Motorola Xoom. It brings no great surprises to those who’ve been tracking the tablet’s progress to retail shelves, offering first dibs to buyers willing to lay claim to a pre-order in-store and promising full availability on Thursday, February 24th. The $800 3G-equipped model is accompanied on Best Buy’s site by a $40 portfolio case, a $50 basic charging dock, a $130 stereo speaker dock, and a $70 Bluetooth keyboard, but there’s no sighting of the cheaper WiFi-only Xoom. There was some suspicion that the $600 SKU would launch a little later on and that is indeed what appears to be happening. One final note of caution: even if you’re intending to use the Xoom as a pure WiFi-only device, remember that you’ll be required to activate data with Verizon for at least a month first — don’t ask us why.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Xoom up for in-store pre-order at Best Buy, $800 for Thursday availability originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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