Android Community |
- Sony-Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Neo seen in action
- New Verizon Thunderbolt Spot hits the airwaves
- INQ Cloud Touch Facebook phone priced and dated
- Acer Iconia Tab, ASUS Eee Pad and LG Optimus Pad priced in Europe
- Toshiba 10.1-inch Android Tablet gets fully detailed
- Virgin Mobile offers free music app for Android users
- Sprint Motorola XOOM caught in wild
- Dell Streak 7 WiFi up for Amazon pre-order
- Dell Streak WiFi gets WiFi cert
- GM expands OnStar App compatibility to more vehicles
- NEC MEDIAS E-04C 7.7MM Android Phone [Hands-On in Japan] [EXCLUSIVE]
- T-Mobile Sidekick 4G Shown Off by Product Manager Joe Fernandez
- Motorola XOOM Wifi-Only on Pre-Order at Staples NOW
- Pulse News Reader Updated for XOOM, Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb
- Motorola Atrix & Xoom headed to Sprint with WiMaX 4G [Rumor]
- Android Loads webpages faster than Safari, or does it?
- NCAA March Madness Android Apps Roundup
- LG G2x and G-Slate coming to T-Mobile April 20th
| Sony-Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Neo seen in action Posted: 18 Mar 2011 11:11 AM PDT Here’s a video of the Sony Xperia Arc and Xperia Neo being taken through their thumb paces at a Press Conference in Copenhagen. Looking at the video, it’s pretty clear just how snappy the interface is in both handsets. The phones are comfortable to hold thanks to their curved in design and the menus flip by at lightning pace. The video also shows a size comparison of both cameras along side the LG Optimus X2.
What’s really cool is that according to the video post, the camera on the Xperia Neo has a continuous shooting speed of about one image per second with a 5 image burst. A nice benefit when shooting some action. I mean, you won’t be taking a shot by shot of a game winning goal from Junior or anything, but a little bit of continuous action is better than none at all. For those of you with a Sony-Ericsson X10 and wanting to see how it works yourself, we have a few links to an Xperia System Dump from our good friends at XDA. There’s a the slick Sony-Ericsson system launcher which also gives a rather nice set of widgets including a scrollable image gallery widget. The dump also includes ringtones, apps, wallpapers and more. What a great way to breathe new life in your phone while you’re waiting for the clock to run out on that two year contract!
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| New Verizon Thunderbolt Spot hits the airwaves Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:31 AM PDT A new Verizon commercial about the HTC Thunderbolt has hit the airwaves and it’s focus is how fast it can work on the Verizon 4G network. The ad, shows presents a near real time capability of the phone to transmit video over the Verizon network as it’s user attaches it to a radio controlled helicopter in order to broadcast a message of a party he’s having that night. Then, with the party in full swing, users are treated to a music video that is wirelessly streamed from the Thunderbolt to a video projector screen. Verizon is clearly positioning the Thunderbolt to those who feel the need for speed. But is the Thunderbolt really THAT fast, or is it a case of commercial artistic license?
The Thunderbolt is plenty fast. SlashGear recently tested the Thunderbolt’s speed over 4G and found it to be lightning quick with a download speed of over 7 Mbps and upload speed of an incredible 27.59 Mbps. Even in hotspot mode, the Thunderbolt rocks at nearly 19 mbps down and 4.39 mbps up. The connections where with an iPhone 4 and a MacBook Pro working through the Thunderbolt in hotspot mode, making it a really viable option for multiple connections with little lag. But all that speed comes at a price. Vince over at SlashGear also found, battery life doesn’t even last half the day. While testing the smartphone’s computing capability, SlashGear found that the Thunderbolt, coming off a fresh full charge, was able to perform basic email, internet browsing, and some social networking through the day and dying out after just under three hours of use. That’s with no phone calls, or shooting some amazing HD video, or even WiFi. It’s just using the Verizon 4G/LTE network connection. But when Vince tested it using the 4G network in concert with WiFi, the results are much more promising as the TBolt enjoys well over twice as much battery life as relying on 4G/LTE alone. Clearly, the results are pretty slick in the quality of it’s speed and performance, but it seems that the guy throwing the party had better either have a backup Thunderbolt to switch out with, or it’s going to be an early night.     )
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| INQ Cloud Touch Facebook phone priced and dated Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:18 AM PDT INQ and Carphone Warehouse have announced pricing and availability for the INQ Cloud Touch, the company’s Facebook phone. Up for pre-order today, and expected to ship from April 6, the Cloud Touch has a Facebook app that pulls in Chat, Friends, Messages, Wall and Notifications to the Android smartphone’s homescreen. There’s also Facebook Places integration, again with easy access from a homescreen widget. OS is Android 2.2 Froyo running on a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen, while there’s a 5-megapixel camera, GPS, 3G, an FM radio and WiFi. Pricing is free on a £20 or above contract, £199.95 on a pre-pay deal or £299.95 SIM-free. The INQ Cloud Q – with a full QWERTY keyboard – will follow on in June, also with Facebook integration, and of course HTC is preparing to launch the Salsa and ChaCha in Q2 2011. Press Release: )
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| Acer Iconia Tab, ASUS Eee Pad and LG Optimus Pad priced in Europe Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:40 AM PDT European pricing details for a number of new Android tablets have emerged, courtesy of retailer PhoneHouse (the Europeean arm of Carphone Warehouse). The Acer Iconia Tab 100, Motorola XOOM, ASUS Eee Pad and LG Optimus Pad were all spotted by Androidgeek in the retailer’s online catalog. The Acer will be €349 ($493) with its 7-inch display, while the ASUS Eee Pad – exact model unspecified, and the image is one of the Windows 7 Embedded versions – will be €399 ($564). The XOOM will be €699 ($987) and the Optimus Pad a whopping €849 ($1,199). No exact release dates, but they’re all listed as “coming soon” by the retailer. [via NotebookItalia] )
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| Toshiba 10.1-inch Android Tablet gets fully detailed Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:51 AM PDT Toshiba’s Android 3.0 tablet has quietly shown up at Amazon, though still lacks a price or a release date. First tipped back in January, the NVIDIA Tegra 2 based 10.1-inch slate has a 2-megapixel front camera, 5-megapixel rear camera, and runs at 1280 x 800 resolution like the Motorola XOOM. There’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, a full-sized USB 2.0 port and a miniUSB port, a full-sized SD card slot and an HDMI port. The rubberized back panel is user-interchangeable, as is the battery, though there’s no word on how long it should last. Toshiba is also readying a docking station for the unnamed slate, with “additional connectivity ports,” and there’s obviously Android Market access. No word exactly on launch dates from Toshiba, but previous rumors have suggested the slate will drop in the first half of 2011.               [Thanks John!] Product Description: )
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| Virgin Mobile offers free music app for Android users Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:06 AM PDT
The app gives access to the Virgin Mobile FreeFest performance videos and has a check in feature to let the users check in at events and performances. The app will sync with Facebook and Twitter. It is on the Android Market right now and offers access to both live and taped performances. The live performances come from Live House at SXSW and will debut on some Virgin Mobile phones next week. The app will work for Virgin Mobile customers and those on other networks as well. )
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| Sprint Motorola XOOM caught in wild Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:02 AM PDT A live image of Motorola’s XOOM bearing Sprint branding has leaked, adding fuel to the speculation that the carrier is next in line to grab the Android 3.0 Honeycomb slate. Shared by SprintUsers‘ r0fl, the picture doesn’t indicate whether Sprint intends to put 3G or 4G into the tablet. However, rumors earlier this week claimed that Sprint was planning a WiMAX XOOM release (as well as an ATRIX 4G version running on its WiMAX network) which suggests that the carrier’s tablet will indeed use 4G out of the box. In fact, depending on when Verizon and Motorola get their LTE upgrade for the original XOOM organized, Sprint could beat them to market with the first 4G model: the carrier is tipped to be launching the new Motorola devices sometime in April. Broader availability will hopefully help push down pricing for the XOOM as well, making it more competitive against the iPad 2. [via BGR] )
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| Dell Streak 7 WiFi up for Amazon pre-order Posted: 18 Mar 2011 04:15 AM PDT The WiFi-only Dell Streak 7 may only just have passed its wireless certification, but Amazon is already listing the Tegra 2 tablet for pre-order. Priced at $379.99, the Dell Streak 7 WiFi lacks any sort of release date information, but has the same basic specs as the original Streak 7. That means a 7-inch display running at disappointing WVGA resolution, 16GB of internal storage, WiFi and Bluetooth. Unlike the WiFi-only iPad 2, you also get true GPS. There’s a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, and Android 2.2 Froyo with Flash Player 10.1 support. Obviously you don’t get HSPA+ support for T-Mobile USA, but the lower sticker price undercuts the larger iPad 2 by over $100 and pushes brand-name Android tablet ownership into more affordable waters. Check out the full Dell Streak 7 review for more details. [via Androidos.in] )
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| Dell Streak WiFi gets WiFi cert Posted: 18 Mar 2011 03:30 AM PDT If you are a fan of the Android packing Dell Streak and have hankered for a version that lacks 3G and offers in WiFi only, this is your lucky day. A new Streak has turned up with its WiFi certification in tow and it should be hitting the market soon. The new Stream MID has a model number of M02M002.
The original Streak 7 turned up with a very similar certificate that said dual-mode on it to show the WiFi and 3G radio inside. This new certificate has single-mode on it meaning WiFi only. For shoppers that like the Streak 7, but are on a tight budget this is good news indeed. WiFi only versions are more and more common since many folks are buying tablets and MIDs and using them around the house or near hotspots only. These are also great for the folks that don't care to pony up the monthly fee for 3G when they aren’t sure they will use it often. There is no word on a price or a release date for the new Streak. [via Streaksmart] )
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| GM expands OnStar App compatibility to more vehicles Posted: 18 Mar 2011 02:28 AM PDT I really like the idea of an app on my smartphone that can unlock my car for me and do other things. GM has a cool OnStar app for people that have a compatible vehicle with the OnStar service inside that has been around for a while now. The app lets users do all kinds of cool stuff from checking fuel level and tire pressure to starting the car and locking their doors or unlocking them.
GM has announced that the app is now compatible with 15 new vehicles bringing app compatibility to more vehicles in the GM fleet. GM added 14 new Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles from 2010 model lines that can download vehicle data using the app. The app is on the Android platform and the iPhone. Downloading of data like fuel levels, oil life, scheduled maintenance, and other vehicle usage info is the most commonly used feature of the app according to GM. The second most used feature is the remote lock and unlock capability and the third most used is remote start. Different vehicles give different info with the app, the Volt will give driving ranges for instance. )
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| NEC MEDIAS E-04C 7.7MM Android Phone [Hands-On in Japan] [EXCLUSIVE] Posted: 17 Mar 2011 09:22 PM PDT Our main homie Ewdi is up in his crib over in Japan [don't worry, he's completely safe], and he found one single store that had a working model (aka not just a dummy model) of the MEDIAS E-04C 7.7MM Android phone. That’s one thin phone, I must say. Ewdi notes that this model is running Android 2.2.2 Froyo, and is not as snappy as he thought it would be – and trust me when I say Ewdi’s had his hands on his fair share of smartphones. Our man in Japan with the goods!
Some of the things this device (or at least this model of this device) comes with are Quickoffice, Gmail, Mail, and I’m almost certain I can see EVERNOTE in there! Could it be true that this phone comes with Evernote pre-installed? This device is created by NEC and will at first be carried by NTT DoCoMo. It features a customized dialer (which we think every phone should have, really, what better tiny thing could a group use to define themselves than the actual original main function of a phone?) – this dialer will, Ewdi notes, depend upon the carrier you’re going to get this phone on. This device features a standard camera interface, a single flash camera on the back which functions very quickly, and the entire unit is very very very thin. Now go tell all your friends how awesome this phone looks so we can get a similar product here in the states! Do it now! Before Ewdi gets marked with a red flag and isn’t allowed in phone stores anymore because he’s always got his video camera!                          )
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| T-Mobile Sidekick 4G Shown Off by Product Manager Joe Fernandez Posted: 17 Mar 2011 08:04 PM PDT What a cool guy, that Joe Fernandez, he’s the product manager for the fabulous new T-Mobile Sidekick 4G made by Samsung. He’s got not one, but two of the devices sitting right there on the desk inside T-Mobile’s gigantic towers in Bellvue, Washington. He and his pals have made this lovely video to show off the message-centric device to the world in-hand. He notes first the 5-row QWERTY keyboard and how they’ve “brought back” some unique messaging features — from the original line of Sidekicks, the ones without Android, of course.
One of the interesting things you can see while he’s talking about the device is the fact that the back and underside of the device are white and dark gray, while everything you’re able to see from the first press image (just looking straight on from the top) is also dark gray. This is of course just one of the models, the other being a lovely slightly pinker device – the pink you’ll be able to see is on the back of the display once it’s popped up, with the bottom being white. He notes that the device is very much made for landscape mode, it’s got four buttons on the side (2 on each side, though we’re not sure what they consist of yet.) One of the buttons is sort of a slide-click thing on the left *ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS THANG IS? Next Fernandez goes on to note how this is the first Sidekick with a touch screen, of course the first one with Android, it’ll have 7 homescreens and a ton of pre-loaded widgets and apps out of the box. Sound interesting to you?                  )
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| Motorola XOOM Wifi-Only on Pre-Order at Staples NOW Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:17 PM PDT While this isn’t the cheapest place we’ve seen the tablet on pre-order or for sale yet, the wifi version of the Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet is now showing up at Staples. It is there that you can pre-order the tablet for a price starting at $599.98. You are allowed to reserve yours right up through March 23rd, 2011, and your shipment of the tablet (and whatever else you order with it) will be shipping on March 25th, with the latest orders arriving on the 28th, guaranteed.
If you are a fan of tablets and you’ve decided you’d like to go Android, this is the one for you. We can personally attest to the awesomeness and longevity of interest in this device, and it sure as heck is a heavy duty piece of machinery. What I mean, of course, is that it’s not the lightest tablet on the market to be sure, but it’s definitely inside the top 2 for most obviously made to last. If you order this tablet via Staples, it comes with a 1-year warrantee. If you’d like to pick this tablet up over at Staples, we encourage you to do so via the link we’ve got [right the heck here] – shipping time, they say, should be between 1 and 3 days, and your credit card will be charged at shipment. If you’re still on the fence about this tablet, check above and to the side of this post for reviews and featured posts on its insides and workings, or go straight to our giant [Motorola XOOM portal] where all your XOOM desires will be met. — thanks for the tip, Cory! )
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| Pulse News Reader Updated for XOOM, Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:49 PM PDT Behold version 1.9.5, an update that’s just this week come through for Pulse, one of if not THE preeminent news feed reader on Android (and iOS, for those keeping track of that.) This update is marked 1.9.5 and says that it’s an update specifically for Android 3.0.1 Honeycomb. We’re rolling out with it on the Motorola XOOM and so far… it looks exactly the same. But that’s no bad thing, all updates behind the scenes – that means they were doing it right the first time!
But guess what? It looked fantastic in the first place. It appears that most of the update here has to do with “optimization” of what we were already enjoying. The things they’ve listed in this update as having been updated are thus: Support for Honeycomb platform, including hardware acceleration. Whoa! That’s a bit of a doozie. Looks like Alphonso Labs (the people who make Pulse,) are either getting on top of the Flash thing before it get applied to the XOOM specifically, or they heard about how that particular app has already leaked. Take a peek at that leak over [over here] then head into your “My Apps” area or click over [here] to update Pulse – like you knew you would!    )
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| Motorola Atrix & Xoom headed to Sprint with WiMaX 4G [Rumor] Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:49 PM PDT This is just a rumor for now, so don’t get to excited. I will mention that this rumor is said to be coming from a reliable inside source. So take it as you will. Apparently Sprint plans to keep things going in the right direction. After the EVO 4G made a huge entrance into the mobile market they’ve not really had anything big since. Many fans can’t wait for the next big Sprint device. They haven’t said much though, and that worries us.
Sprint’s CES event left a few people worried about what was in store, but it turns out they have more than a few dual core 4G devices in the pipes. Two of those include the popular Atrix 4G, and the Motorola Xoom. There is also talk of more dual core phones to soon follow. The actual rumor states that next month is when Sprint will announce the above said devices, and even better is that both will support Sprint's 4G WiMAX network. With this source being reliable in the past, this information very well could hold true. Earlier today we also mentioned the Atrix would be coming to T-Mobile UK, It would be nice to see Motorola putting powerful devices out on multiple carries as Samsung did with the Galaxy S line. Whether or not these devices have the same name on AT&T, or on T-Mobile UK is yet to be known. So as things progress and more dual core treats come to light be sure to check back at AndroidCommunity for all the latest news. [via AndroidandMe] )
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| Android Loads webpages faster than Safari, or does it? Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:15 PM PDT Earlier today there were a few reports about Android and it’s browser speeds in comparison to the iPhone 4 and Apple’s Safari. Showing that android was just about 52% faster at loading web pages. That is a pretty bold statement, and would be awesome if it was completely true. The website optimization firm Blaze came out with a study that basically showed Android having a very large lead over Apple and Safari. The story has now been proven to be a little inaccurate.
While there is way to many different variables to actually get a solid test that is actually accurate, many sites, and firms try. Apparently this group Blaze wasn’t actually using the phones and browsers themselves, but rather a browser wrapper program they built that ran the tests on something else. Blaze also used the same wifi connection for all the tests. Obviously there is lots that would come into play. The different phone models on both sides, specs, even the network congestion if not using wifi. The biggest issue is Blaze not using the devices themselves. Our sister site Slashgear reached out to the Blaze CTO Guy Podjarny to have him re-run a few tests and just to confirm some of the reports and they mention that and its results here. After all the drama and people not sure about the results the Blaze CTO pointed out to CNET some of the critical flaws, mainly that the tests were done using UIWebView instead of Safari. The Safari application has benefited from increased software improvements where as UIWebView is a simple browser that can be embedded into apps and has not benefited from the latest software enhancements. This alone makes the tests seem uneven and not very fair. Apple has since came out and debunked the testing and mentions exactly what we described above. I wonder if he also was lacking some of the performance enhancing features on the Android site as well. Either way I’m sure Apple, and Android both are doing everything they can to allow us users to have the best, and fastest possible browsing experience possible. I know from personal use that Android 2.2 and 2.3 made big leaps in all aspects of the android browser, and 3.0 Honeycomb on my Xoom is even better. It’s the best mobile browsing experience I’ve had yet. So for now, just like the picture above says, this story is debunked. Don’t worry my Android friends, we all know our phones are faster! [via SlashGear] )
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| NCAA March Madness Android Apps Roundup Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:36 PM PDT Uh oh, it is that time of the year. Time to get crazy, gamble my rent, fill out some brackets, buy a new 65″ LED 240 Hz HDTV. You name it, we all do it when March Madness comes around. The NCAA Mens Basketball Final 4 is on it’s way, and I can’t wait. (I don’t really gamble away my rent, but I do live in Vegas). Today we here at AC present you with the March Madness Android App Roundup.
For those that love and follow March Madness, this is a crazy time of year, with upset after upset, Duke & Ohio going down (maybe), BYU’s amazing Jimmer Fredette shooting 3′s from 30 ft like it’s a free throw shot, things are sure to be exciting this year. So to help all of you running the ever so popular and evolving Android OS, we have decided to do a small round up of the best Android apps for March Madness. I also have some hands on of my favorite app to show you all on my Xoom. The next few apps listed are my top pics for March Madness apps on Android. ESPN Bracket Bound 2011 *Top Pick* ESPN’s Bracket Bound is my top pick. This is my favorite app I’ve found so far for the actual tournament. I recommend you all go download this. It is available now in the Android Market. It has everything you’d want. From news, video’s, highlights, analysis, and even research. This can and will do everything you need. I fired it up on my Motorola Xoom and watched some video’s. It seems to work great and it has loads and loads of content. Check out some screenshots below.
March Madness Fan Zone Next up is the Fan Zone, this takes my number 2 spot for the best Android app for the tournament. It has social media integration like Facebook & Twitter so you can talk trash with all your friends that are also following the madness in march. It has real time news, scores, and schedule updates. You can even add info to MMS and send it to your friends. This is another good app for March Madness to keep you in the loop for everything. I highly recommend this also. Download it now in the Android Market. Live Scores by Yahoo! Sports We also have Live Scores. I use this app almost every single day as I am big into sports. Mainly Football and Basketball. Live Sports is probably my favorite overall app for all things sports. It has everything. From NCAA, to NFL, NBA, WNBA, NCAA Womens, Tennis, and more. You name it and they have it. This does video’s, news, updates, scores, highlights, and stat tracking. I use this to check scores almost everyday and see how many points someone has put on the board. This isn’t aimed at March Madness but is very useful either way. Download it now in the Android Market also. Bracket Bracket is another good app, not to be confused with Pocket Bracket or Bracket Tracker. Just “Bracket”. It is one of the more polished trackers on the Android market and will allow you to get everything set up and good to go. This tracker for the March Madness tournament, includes easy editing and score tracking, and live updates. Give this a go if you’d like to follow your own bracket more precisely. *Note that it does not work well on Tablets Download it now in the Android Market. Lastly I’ll just mention a few more apps that I think could be very useful for you readers as well. There is ESPN ScoreCenter for that don’t like Yahoo’s Live Scores, it is very much the same and has a huge user base. Also there is a paid app called Watch Live Sports. It is $2.99 in the Market but not everyone wants to pay for that. It does work great over Wifi though. Personally I just go to ESPN3.com on my Adobe Flash enabled phone and watch what I want right from my phone or Tablet. I hope a few of these app suggestions help you enjoy March Madness a little more. Feel free to comment down below or visit our forums as we’d love to see you all there. Now enjoy the month of March, I wish whatever team you love the best of luck, and hopefully no one gets hurt while cheering, or from remotes being thrown. Enjoy the rest of the Basketball week guys. )
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| LG G2x and G-Slate coming to T-Mobile April 20th Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:52 PM PDT The T-Mobile LG G2x also known as the Optimus 2x and G-Slate are both solid LG devices that are soon to be released to T-Mobile. Back when we first heard a release date it was an internal document saying March 23rd for the G-Slate. Turns out that was a little early.
TmoNews, who has been right more than a few times has just dropped some more news about both of these upcoming powerhouse Tegra 2 devices by LG. They have just got word that both the T-Mobile LG G2x and the G-Slate will be released on April 20th. Most likely with pre-orders starting before that. They also go on to mention that LG plans to fully announce this release time frame at CTIA. Lucky for you readers we know this ahead of time. The G-Slate should be a great device that is sure to get the market going, if they beat Samsung it will be the second Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet to market. Its great spec sheet means it should do well if priced right. I’d love the 8.9″ screen size, sounds just right. For a little hands on with the G-Slate here is our sister site Slashgear handing the G-Slate. Some news about pricing, and here is LG’s latest G-Slate Video. Can’t leave out the G2x so here it is doing a little Quadrant Benchmark. We will bring you any and all news about these upcoming devices as soon as we get word. [via TmoNews] )
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