Android Community |
- T-Mobile Boosts 4G HSPA+ 42Mbps Coverage: Adds 47 New Markets
- Mystery Honeycomb Tablet Appears in Verizon Ad, Could it be an HTC Tablet?
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi Version Available Nationwide Tomorrow
- Panasonic Announces its Toughbook, Professional Grade Android Tablet
- Galaxy on Fire 2 THD Now Available for Tegra 2 Devices
- Yahoo launches AppSpot for Android
- Pinger Textfree 1.2 adds Facebook chat integration
- Sony Ericsson planning NFC Android phones with chip from Nexus S
- NTT DoCoMo gets new NEC WP N-06C Medias phone
- T-Mobile and LG dual screen Android slider photos surface
- HTC Desire will lose apps to get Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade
- News360 for Tablets Review : Android Community App of the Week!
- HTC EVO Shift 4G Getting Gingerbread 2.3 OTA Starting June 20th
- HTC EVO 4G OTA Update Coming June 20th Fixing Recent 2.3 Bugs
- Sony S1 and S2 tablets headed to Europe in September
- King Kong Andy Takes on little Steve Jobs in New T-Shirt Design
- Samsung Dart now Available from T-Mobile for Free on Contract
- Lenovo Confirms Two New Tablets This Summer
- Olivetti Olipad 110 Tablet with Android 3.1 Honeycomb [pics]
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 USB Adapter for All your USB Hosting Needs
| T-Mobile Boosts 4G HSPA+ 42Mbps Coverage: Adds 47 New Markets Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:53 AM PDT Today T-Mobile announced that they are quickly adding more and more to their 4G HSPA+ Network. To help give you a little incentive to jump aboard with their 4G service they are now boosting speeds on over 47 current 4G markets and now will have over 100 markets on their blazing fast HSPA+ 42 Network. Starting today San Diego, Fresno, Salt Lake City and many others are among the locations getting 42Mbps HSPA+ support added and more coming shortly.
If you have a T-Mobile Rocket 3.0 USB modem you could be reaching theoretical 4G speeds of up to 42 Mbps for speedy download and uploads. T-Mobile suggests by mid-year over 150 million people will have access to the new 42 Network now that they have added these new markets on top of those they announced last month. Currently the Rocket 3.0 USB Modem pictured above is the only device that is able to take full advantage of these blazing fast speeds. Recently released devices like the HTC Sensation 4G can only tap into the lower speed 4G for now because of radio limits. Either way the more speed the better right? Check the full press release below for all the details and additional markets being added. Press Release:
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| Mystery Honeycomb Tablet Appears in Verizon Ad, Could it be an HTC Tablet? Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Earlier today an ad by Verizon Wireless was being shown and it looks like we were given a possible early look at an upcoming Android Honeycomb tablet. The video shows it quite well and you can clearly tell it is not a Xoom, or a Galaxy Tab 10.1 pictured in the video but clearly something else. Is it just me or does that look like a HTC Tablet?
Our friends at Droid-life were able to snap the above screenshot of the Verizon Wireless Ad but they now mention the video was very quickly set to private and we no longer have access to the video. If you watch our HTC Flyer Tablet hands-on and look at the design of the back, or look at the picture below of the upcoming HTC View 4G Tablet you’ll see the design seems pretty similar to that in the photo above. So could this be the long awaited HTC Honeycomb Tablet — and on Verizon?
This also very well could be the Motorola Xoom 2 that we recently got a small glimpse of here. We don’t have anything else to go on regarding this, but the fact that Verizon was so quick to remove the video makes you wonder what we’ve just seen. So does Verizon have a new Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet on its way they have yet to announce and will it be by HTC or maybe the Xoom 2? What do you guys think? [via DroidLife]
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi Version Available Nationwide Tomorrow Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:02 AM PDT Get your wallets and or plastic ready because tomorrow the thinnest and lightest Android tablet is being released nationwide. The extremely thin and extremely lightweight Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi version is going to be for sale across multiple sites and retailers everywhere. It will be available at places like Best Buy in-store and online, Fry’s Electronics, Amazon, Newegg.com and more. You should all know plenty about this tablet already, it is running on Android 3.1 the latest version of Honeycomb and it is super thin and impressive to say the least.
Lucky for you readers we recently reviewed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi version and you can read all about that here. It is thinner than the Xoom, lighter than the Transformer and just an all around solid device that anyone should love to own. If you would like to see more we also reviewed the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O Limited Edition on both our sites and you can read ours here, or our sister site SlashGear reviewing the limited edition by clicking here. In case you missed it and would like a little comedy today you can also see our amazing Unboxing War Number One where we had an unboxing contest between two of our very own — at the same time. This marks the end of that contest where you the readers could win your very own Galaxy Tab 10.1 by voting for your favorite unboxer. I’ve included that video below for your viewing pleasure. Please note that we'll be picking a winner on both sites tonight at midnight, to be announced tomorrow! So there you have it, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in all its glory. Will you be picking one up tomorrow or this weekend? Let us know in the comments below. Feel free to check out the full press release below for any additional details.
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| Panasonic Announces its Toughbook, Professional Grade Android Tablet Posted: 16 Jun 2011 09:37 AM PDT Panasonic has released many laptops and notebooks in the past bearing the “Toughbook” name but this will be a first for the company. They are going after an area of the market that has yet to be filled, this will not be a thin and pretty tablet but it will be rugged and tough that is for sure. They are calling it a “Enterprise and Business Ready” tablet geared for professional and business users that need to take their tablet out in the wild and with them everywhere in the field.
They have not released any main hardware information such as Processor, Ram, or internal storage but with this being geared for business users and not all of us power hungry consumers it probably wont set any performance records but will more than do the job for professionals. They did mention a few basic specifications and I’ll post those below. One of the photos shows the Toughbook running a version of Android 2.x but we don’t have an exact version. Sources tell us the device should start shipping out to the field starting in the 4th quarter of this year. Some of the specs include: * 10.1″ 1024×786 matte-finish display that is “viewable in sunlight” The Toughbook series has been known for having a very durable construction that can handle just about any situation and this should be no different. With deep “hardware level” security and a solid build quality this device should be perfect for those “Enterprise and Business” professionals that are in the field on a daily basis. For more information and pictures check out the source link below.
[via PCMag]
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| Galaxy on Fire 2 THD Now Available for Tegra 2 Devices Posted: 16 Jun 2011 09:15 AM PDT The folks over at Fishlabs have been hard at work with this release guys, all you Galaxy on Fire players can now happily play this on your Tegra 2 tablet or smartphone. Get ready to fly through over 20 solar systems with some of the best graphics to come to a mobile device. Fishlabs and Nvidia promise that the graphics with a Tegra 2 powered device take this game far higher than on any other device including the iDevices. That is only half the battle though, not only is this game extremely pretty and graphically amazing but it has a solid story line that will take anywhere from 6-10 hours to complete.
Galaxy on Fire 2 has been available for the Xperia Play and a few other select devices for a little while now, even my brand new HTC Sensation 4G showed up as compatible yesterday but those are not Tegra 2 devices so they wont get all the amazing graphic tweaks and Nvidia Physx that Tegra devices will. If you have one of these Tegra devices you will notice all sorts of little improvements not found in the game on other phones, things like rivets in the metal on your ship, advanced lighting as well as additional Physx effects and more. The game is available in the Android Market now and it is free. Get the THD version by clicking here. They are allowing us the entire first solar system for free but if you want to continue deeper into the depths of space (and you will) you’ll have to make an in-game purchase of around $14.99 and a little less for those on a regular phone. Overall the game promises some engaging and fun gameplay that lasts for hours. Read our original pre-release version review here. Game Features: A huge galaxy with over 20 solar systems and beautifully rendered planets Tegra Features: Heavily optimized to utilize the eight-core rendering power of Tegra's GeForce GPU for console-gaming quality on mobile devices
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| Yahoo launches AppSpot for Android Posted: 16 Jun 2011 08:14 AM PDT Yahoo has added to the long list of app discovery application on the Android market with a new app called AppSpot. The app will run on any Android smartphone or tablet with Android 2.1 or higher. The app will give personalized app recommendations for your smartphone based on the app that you have installed already.
The user has to give the app permission to look at what apps are on the smartphone. AppSpot is also available as a widget that you can use from your computer. That way you can search for apps in the office and then download them to your phone. Some of the people that have reviewed the app on the market don’t like all the features. One user claims that scrolling is clunky and more than one complained that you can’t turn the audio off that the app uses. If you use this app let us know how well it works for you.
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| Pinger Textfree 1.2 adds Facebook chat integration Posted: 16 Jun 2011 08:03 AM PDT Pinger has announced that after its Android app has been on the market for five months it has been downloaded enough to catch up with the number of downloads of the iPhone app that has been available longer. The company is also talking about version 1.2 that has added more options for free chatting with your friends and coworkers.
Version 1.2 of Pinger Textfree integrates Facebook chat into the app so you can chat with Facebook pals from your Android device. This means that the Textfree user can access Facebook and more from one app when they are in a chatting mood so they don't have to flip between apps. The app also allows the user to text from their number right from the computer. "We're excited to see the rapid growth in Android as a platform," said Joe Sipher, Co-Founder and Chief Product and Marketing Officer for Pinger. "The fact that it's already equal to iOS phone users in a few short months is nothing less than stunning." You can download Textfree on the Android Market right now.
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| Sony Ericsson planning NFC Android phones with chip from Nexus S Posted: 16 Jun 2011 07:02 AM PDT NFC support has been conspicuous by its absence in Sony Ericsson’s recent Android handsets, but that looks set to change in the not too distant future. NXP Semiconductors has announced that it will be supplying Sony Ericsson with NFC hardware “for inclusion in its Android-based smartphones.”
Specifically, it’s the “NXP PN65 NFC solution” which is basically a combination of the NFC radio chip itself, the embedded secure element, and the company’s software. That will allow Sony Ericsson phones – with the right SIM – to use the new mobile payments systems, such as planned in the UK for launch later this year. Interestingly, it’s also the same NFC chip as inside the Samsung Nexus S. Back at the launch of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc, the company told us that it was considering NFC but that the chips were too bulky to make it inside the slimline Arc. Since then it has released the XPERIA Play, a larger handset but still missing NFC. No word on when, exactly, the first Sony Ericsson NFC handsets will show up, but NXP seems to expect its shipments to rocket in the second half of 2011. Press Release:
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| NTT DoCoMo gets new NEC WP N-06C Medias phone Posted: 16 Jun 2011 05:06 AM PDT NTT DoCoMo has announced that it has landed a new Medias phone from NEC for its network that hits stores today for purchase. The phone went up for pre-sale yesterday apparently. We have seen other NEC medias phones in the past that were really thin and interesting like the Medius E-04C back in March. The new Medias phone is the WP N-06C and it is very thin.
The smartphone is 7.9mm thick and the phone is waterproof too apparently. The full dimensions of the phone are 128mm x 64mm x 7.9mm to 9.7mm thick. It weighs 113g and has a standby time on 3G networks of 340 hours and on GSM networks of 220 hours. Talk time is 250 minutes on 3G and GSM networks. The screen is a 4-inch unit with 480 x 854 resolution. The smartphone has 400MB of storage space for the contacts list. The camera on the smartphone has 5.1MP resolution and it can record 720p HD video to SD cards and internal memory. The OS on the smartphone is Android 2.3 and it has 1024MB of RAM and 512MB of RAM. The processor is a Qualcomm MSM8255 at 1GHz. The smartphone also has WiFi, IR capability, and a SD card slot for expansion.   
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| T-Mobile and LG dual screen Android slider photos surface Posted: 16 Jun 2011 03:12 AM PDT We are no stranger to leaked handsets around here, we see them quite regularly. The latest new smartphone to surface carries the T-Mobile and LG branding. The coolest feature of the slider is that it has dual screens. The main screen is on top of the slider and looks like any other smartphone at first glance. Kick the slider open and you see a keyboard that is very different from others on the market and has a smaller screen in the middle.
The keyboard has a normal QWERTY layout with the keys are split putting the ones you would use for each thumb on each side of the small LCD. The little screen will launch the apps that are on it as shortcuts. You can see in the photo that the screen has eight spots and two of them are shortcuts. I wonder if the screen will scroll after the eight slots are full. I can see that being a great place to put shortcuts for favorite web pages. Pocket-lint got to fondle the device and say it is a hefty smartphone that is fatter than the Milestone 2. It has some design similarities to the LG Quantum and Optimus 7Q smartphones. Pocket-lint also notes that there was considerable movement between the two halves of the phone and hopes this isn’t final hardware. The device turned up when Orange and Kineto Wireless has an event in London to promote the Kineto Smart WiFi solution. The scuttlebutt says this is a US exclusive smartphone. The name Flip II was bandied about at the event and no hardware specs were offered.    [via Pocket-Lint]
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| HTC Desire will lose apps to get Android 2.3 Gingerbread upgrade Posted: 16 Jun 2011 01:40 AM PDT HTC may have re-commited to an Android 2.3 Gingerbread update for the HTC Desire, but it looks like users may not be getting the full experience. After flip-flopping on the upgrade yesterday, HTC has confirmed that it will be axing some apps in order to whittle Gingerbread down to suit the Desire’s 512MB of ROM.
“To resolve Desire’s memory issue and enable the upgrade to Gingerbread, we will cut select apps from the release” HTC has revealed on its Facebook page. The exact nature of the apps that will be missing is unknown, as is whether they’ll be from HTC’s own Sense line-up or software Google normally distributes with Gingerbread itself. “Look for status updates starting next week” HTC promises, ”we apologize for any confusion.” HTC announced earlier this week that it had deleted the Desire’s Gingerbread update from the roadmap, after software engineers discovered they were unable to fit both the OS and Sense into a ROM that offered “the HTC Sense experience you’ve come to expect.” The news met with an unsurprising amount of vitriol from owners, with threats that they would boycott HTC’s future devices and accusations that it was a marketing move rather than an engineering one. We’re checking with HTC now to see if they can tell us either which apps are on the firing line or at least whether they’re from Sense or core Android. Update: HTC UK tells us that it has no word on which apps will be kept and which will go at this stage. [via SlashGear]
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| News360 for Tablets Review : Android Community App of the Week! Posted: 15 Jun 2011 09:27 PM PDT Welcome to an app that implores you to “Look at the big picture”, that meaning in this case having a read of all the most important stories from around the world in a rather convenient shell: News360. This is an app that’s made specifically for Android tablets, one that makes tablets look GOOD, and certainly one that’s more than worth the money you’ll pay for it. What’s that you say? It’s free? Well then, why not have a look at it instantly? Sod the review! On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person that likes to make sure they’re downloading only the sweetest of apps to your precious new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, allow me to show you how it’ll be flowing for you there, here.
Before we begin, let me show you where to grab this app. It’s available for Android devices in the official Android Market right this very moment [here] and it’s currently on version 1.1.2 when we do this review. It also currently requires Android 3.0 and up. Whether or not this means we’ll be able to use it on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handsets or not is unknown at the moment, but I’d suspect they’d suggest we stick to the bigger screens – like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 we’re using here.
Hands-OnWhat lies beneath this paragraph is a hands-on with the application, looking at how you’ll be interacting with it and what sort of news you’ll be able to access. Although I do mention that there’s seemingly no link to online-only publications such as blogs, I did later locate them way, way beneath the surface. They’re there, you just gotta look for them! Then you’ll see all the features that surround you reading the news in not only an easy to utilize environment, but one that’s fun to use as well! Features and FunctionalityWhat you’re also dealing with here is a rather diverse news viewer which allows you to separate by category and major topic – for example I created an Android category in which I placed the words Android, Honeycomb, and Nexus S. This category is then showing me news on those topics from the BBC, USA Today, BBC, and etcetera. Again most of the easier to locate instantly sources here are big name news sources that generally also have a print version available.
You’ve also got a 360 view [seen in this post's main image] which has the main image from each story floating in limbo, with you able to tap them to bring up a brief set of words on the story and the ability to expand to yet another way to view. This section has a browser view, blocks with other stories, and more categories. It’s like Inception – you just go deeper and deeper and deeper. This deepest level is the least impressive, however, of the three+ ways you can browse as there’s more ways to click something you didn’t intend to click than anywhere else, something that the intended audience for this app might find rather frazzling.
Then the greatest addition, in my opinion, is the Local button which, seeing your location if you’ve activated GPS, grabs stories from your area. You can also use this function creatively by disallowing your GPS on the app, adding then a custom location anywhere in the world. Use this to find out what’s going on in the state you’re going next week – avoid that riot!
Wrap-UpIt’s tough not to love this app given that it’s designed so very nicely and works so well coupled with the fact that it’s free. Plus, and this is no small factor, I assure you, the icon this app uses, an icon they use for the logo and for representing the app in the Android Market and in your app shortcuts, is excellent. It’s a sort of blue propeller with a yellow and orange ring around it, with a white dot in the center. I admire it wholly!
The news is good, the news is proven, the news is here in an utterly professionally crafted package and it’s brought to you by the generous folks at News360 LLC for free. What more could you ask for? I ask that they next work on a completely separate app that also allows me to add RSS feeds at will. That would be the ideal product for my needs, thank you. ALSO again, you can grab this app in the Android Market NOW for FREE.            
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| HTC EVO Shift 4G Getting Gingerbread 2.3 OTA Starting June 20th Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:14 PM PDT Uh oh, it looks like someone has some insider information regarding a few of those EVO branded devices. A new report is just coming in that the HTC EVO Shift 4G will also be receiving an OTA update on Monday June 20th, but this will be the update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. We can assume that the fixes that are said to start rolling out on the 20th for the EVO 4G will be included in the Shift 4G’s update to fix any of the same issues.
Apparently our friends over at Android Police stumbled into a few updates for the EVO line this evening and were nice enough to share all the juicy details. For those that don’t know much about the EVO Shift 4G you can see our original review on the device by clicking here. The EVO Shift 4G is basically the little brother to the original EVO. It features a 3.7″ display with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, it is everything you loved about the EVO but in a smaller package and a updated but slightly slower CPU clocking in at 800 Mhz just like the HTC G2. The EVO Shift 4G should be getting updated to be very similar to the EVO 4G with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and will hopefully be a smoother update than the EVO had. Stay tuned for more information. [via Android Police]
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| HTC EVO 4G OTA Update Coming June 20th Fixing Recent 2.3 Bugs Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:01 PM PDT It looks like all you EVO 4G owners will be getting an update in just a short few days. Apparently in five days on June 20th an OTA update will start rolling out to fix a bunch of issues that were recently added with the EVO 4G 2.3 Gingerbread update. We have reported about a slew of issues since the update and it is nice to hear fixes may be coming so quickly.
Some of the main issues is the ghost voicemail indicator that appears for no reason at all and continues to come back even after you’ve deleted all your voicemails. Another huge issue that has caused a lot of grief lately is the Android 2.3 update for the EVO broke Netflix for many users, the update should also address this problem as well. Obviously with all updates especially something that will roll out over the air to all the users need to be tested first, we are assuming these fixes are already being tested if they plan to start rolling out as soon as June 20th. The ad mentions that updates are subject to change without notice, but that is nothing new in the world of Android updates. So stay tuned as you just might be getting that update come Monday and you’ll be back to loving your EVO all over again. [via Android Police]
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| Sony S1 and S2 tablets headed to Europe in September Posted: 15 Jun 2011 04:44 PM PDT The last time we mentioned both of these devices was back in April when they were first announced and Sony surprised everyone with that clamshell design for their upcoming Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet. Over the last few days more information has been leaking out. Last week the S2 hit the FCC, followed by the S1 the very next day. Now we are hearing a possible September launch date.
According to our friends at Engadget they have been in contact with a few people over at Sony and have some news regarding both of these tablets. Apparently they’ve received details from Sony’s marketing group outlining that the tablets should be available for pre-order starting in August and will start shipping in September. Do take note that this will be taking place in the UK and we currently have no date for a U.S. release, if you were getting excited for that clamshell design you’ll have to wait for more details on that. They mention the tablet stacks up well against the iPad 2 and they offer unique designs, but we already knew that. They also casually mention that availability will open up after the Christmas holiday. I don’t know about you but come Christmas the Sony S1 and S2 will be long forgotten by me and I’ll have my sights on the upcoming Kal-El tablet hopefully running Android 4.0 Ice Cream or whatever version it will be. Sony better hurry faster than “Christmas Holiday” or they will get left behind. [via Engadget]
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| King Kong Andy Takes on little Steve Jobs in New T-Shirt Design Posted: 15 Jun 2011 02:54 PM PDT Can you say #Winning (Yup a Charlie Sheen reference here at AC). This T-Shirt is just full of win, you must admit its pretty good when you actually look at it. This is an ongoing series of T-shirts from a guy named George Soto that has been making awesome shirts showing the Android vs Apple battle. First one was the Andy Versus shirt, then came the Unstoppable Andy and that pesky Steve Jobs trying to get him.
The latest creation is available now and it is King Kong Andy available at kingkongandy.com It features something similar to what we have seen but this looks to be Soto’s best work yet. Great graphics with a funny idea and once again Steve Jobs being a little pest flying around in his bi-plane while talking on his iPhone with what looks to be a coat hanger for an Antenna on the rear of the plane — Well Done! These are no average Hanes shirts either, they are high quality 100% cotton American Apparel shirts so they are going to fit, and will fit nicely. They are being offered for a fair price of just $18 each and they have Guy sizes small to 3x with girl shirts on request. I think I might be ordering myself one later today, I like to look in style while I sport my love for Android but do you? [via King Kong Andy]
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| Samsung Dart now Available from T-Mobile for Free on Contract Posted: 15 Jun 2011 02:23 PM PDT The Samsung Dart is now available on T-Mobile today, just like we mentioned last week. For those that might have missed it this is the perfect device for someone on a budget or that doesn’t need the best of the best when it comes to their smartphone.
I think I may have called this phone “cute” in my last post so I might as well again, this cute little phone is now available at T-Mobile stores as well as online. It features a 3.14″ 240×320 display, 2MP camera, and Android 2.2 and from what we are hearing it is slim and super lightweight and perfect for a newbie coming to the Android side. I’m thinking Fathers Day gift instead of my old MyTouch 4G. You can get this device starting today (June 15th) from T-Mobile and the kicker is you can have it completely free (with a new contract of course) or you can buy it outright for the low low price of just $199. It may not be the best Android device on T-Mobile (Sensation 4G) but it is a great little device if it fits your needs. [via T-Mobile]
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| Lenovo Confirms Two New Tablets This Summer Posted: 15 Jun 2011 02:01 PM PDT Lenovo, the Chinese company now responsible for ThinkPad laptops, as well as several China-exclusive Android devices has plans to bring Honeycomb tablets to the world this summer. The first will be the Lenovo IdeaPad, which we’ve seen spring up on websites recently, listed as out of stock, and is due out in July. The more business-centric ThinkPad (not to be confused with Lenovo’s laptops) will be available sometime in August. Lenovo is convinced that they’ve taken extra time to create tablets that will outshine the first batch 3.x devices, which were, in Lenovo’s President’s opinion “released before their time.”
Lenovo’s President, Rory Read, seems fairly confident that these tablets will outdo the current competition, like the Xoom, thanks to the extra time taken by Lenovo in development. If the specs that we got from the IdeaPad’s leak a few weeks ago are accurate, we have our reservations. Barring change to those specs, the IdeaPad is set to be a 10.1″ tablet, with a Tegra 2 and 1 GB of RAM, a familiar spec list by now. The stand out spec, is unfortunately a negative. At a rumored 1.65 lbs, the IdeaPad would be heavier than the Motorola Xoom, or even the original iPad. The ThinkPad tablet has managed to stay under cover a bit better, and we’ll have to wait to see what Lenovo has planned for it.
This leaves software as the castle from which Lenovo will have to make its stand. Both tablets will feature a Lenovo specific UI skin. We don’t know much about what the skin will entail other than the few pictures available, but Honeycomb has been, for better or worse, lacking in many of the manufacturer skins we see layered over phones. With Samsung’s tablet version of TouchWiz not yet finished, Lenovo could be the first with a substantial Honeycomb customization. Whether or not this is a good thing, we’ll have to wait and see. The other ace up Lenovo’s sleeve, as mentioned during the leak late may, is a large base of pre-installed software including several premium games such as Need For Speed, and Galaxy on Fire 2. The list is actually quite impressive, and can be seen here.. All this premium content may come at a cost though, as the rumored price is between $450 and $900 depending on model, putting the IdeaPad squarely in the most expensive bracket of Android Tablets. On paper these may not look too exciting, but we’ll reserve judgement until we get a chance to see, and play with Lenovo’s journey into the tablet space. ThinkPad is a recognizable name in portable computers, and it may draw in a few, who would otherwise pass on a tablet for their laptop. Will Lenovo revolutionize the Android tablet for those who choose to wait out the first wave? We’ll see in the next couple months. [via Pocket-lint]
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| Olivetti Olipad 110 Tablet with Android 3.1 Honeycomb [pics] Posted: 15 Jun 2011 01:42 PM PDT Our friends over at Notebook Italia were lucky enough to get some hands-on and photos of an upcoming Android 3.1 Honeycomb Tablet by Olivetti. The Olivetti Olipad 110 will be a slightly improved version of the Olipad 100 we mentioned here. The original Olipad was very similar to the G-Tablet by Viewsonic in terms of specs and design, as well as ran older versions of Android and had a TapnTap UI over the top. The new Olipad 110 has been working out and is now ready to play with the big boys.
The Olivetti Olipad 110 will feature all of those things we have grown to love and expect from a Honeycomb tablet. It will have a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core CPU, they bumped up the resolution to the expected 1280×800 for Honeycomb 3.1 and also will be shipping this with 16GB internal storage and 1GB RAM. It will also feature a 5MP camera on the rear and a 2MP on the front. The connectivity will also have a load of options, with micro USB, micro HDMI-Out, as well as a mini-USB slot.
It is not the thinnest device we have seen but it does look pretty nice with those stereo speakers and what looks to be some sort of 30pin dock connector on bottom, so we can assume some accessories for outputs or a dock and stand can be expected as well. So far we don’t have much information other than the pictures below but pricing is said to be set at 399 euros or around $549 if my calculations are correct and we may see this device as early as July. [via Notebook Italia]
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 USB Adapter for All your USB Hosting Needs Posted: 15 Jun 2011 01:06 PM PDT One of the coolest new features in the 3.1 upgrade to Honeycomb was the ability to let your tablet act as a USB host. Unfortunately this usually requires a full sized USB port, which most Android tablets don’t have without an adapter. The Galaxy Tab 10.1, sleek and sexy though it is, unfortunately has no standard USB port to make use of it. Samsung tweeted today about an adapter, which has just gone on sale, to convert the strangely Apple-esque port on the Galaxy Tab to a full USB one, allowing you to get your host on.
USB hosting is a pretty awesome feature that has been missing from Android phones do to power restraints. Thanks to the larger batteries in tablets though, Google intro’ed the ability to host accessories like thumb drives, keyboards, and gaming controllers to the Android 3.1. The only downside to this is that since most devices are made to connect to a full sized USB port, you would need to get a micro to full USB adapter to use it. If your tablet has a micro USB adapter that is. Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 10.1 is an undeniably awesome tablet. Its battery is great, has the same dual core power of any other top tier Honeycomb Tablet, and is the thinnest 10.1″ tablet around. Unfortunately the Tab 10.1 lacks a standard USB port, opting for a 30-pin connector that looks more than a little like Apple’s 30 pin iDevice connectors. All questions of why Samsung would use something so indicative of Apple design when Apple’s already suing them for several of Samsung’s devices being too similar theirs aside, this was the only real let down I had with the Tab 10.1.
Samsung has swung to the rescue now with a 30-pin to USB adapter, but you’ll have to fork over $19.99 plus S&H (note: the $19.99 version does NOT support power over USB. Samsung’s site mentions, but lacks a version that supports charging). It is perfectly reasonable, of course, to argue that you would need adapter for any tablet with a micro-USB port, but the special port means you need a special adapter, that will only work with the Tab. I’m not sure if the lack of a normal port was a technical necessity, or just a design decision on Samsung’s part, but if you want to use USB hosting on the current Sultan of Slim in the Tablet world, you’ll have to live with it.
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