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Seven-inch Huawei tablet headed to T-Mobile, priced at $200 on contract?
It looks like T-Mobile is getting a seven-inch stablemate for the incoming Galaxy Tab 10.1. According to these shots from TmoNews, Huawei's dual-core MediaPad will arrive in magenta clothing, though branding is limited to a few apps and an additional press shot, included after the break. Aside from a 1280 x 800 IPS display and 4G goodness, details remain sketchy, though pricing is expected to be around $200 with a two-year agreement. No word either when it'll go on sale, but if Huawei's earlier promises of end-of-year availability apply to carrier-branded versions, you can expect to get your hands on it at some (vague) point between now and 2012.
Huawei gives October shipping date for MediaPad in Malaysia, US and China by year's end
Been wondering when you were gonna get a chance to smear fingerprints all over 7-inches of Android 3.2, courtesy of Huawei's MediaPad? Well, if you happen to live in Malaysia, it should be by the middle of October. The rest of you shouldn't fret though -- the company plans to have it on shelves in the US, China, Hong Kong and Thailand before the end of the year. Meanwhile, folks in Singapore can already place pre-orders for $598 SGD, roughly $473 USD. It's a bit later than the Q3 ship date we were originally told but, as they say, better late than never. Though, we're more apt to cry "gimme, gimme, gimme."
Android 3.2 shipping this summer for 7-inch tablets, Huawei's MediaPad gets handled
We knew that Android 3.2 was little more than a tailor-made edition of Android 3.1 for 7-inch slates, but even after speaking with Huawei, we weren't exactly sure when it would be rolling out to things other than its own MediaPad. Our pals over at This is my next managed to confirm that it'll be landing as early as this summer, and for better or worse, it'll be the last major Android release prior to Ice Cream Sandwich hitting retail devices in Q4. Moreover, it's bruited that v3.2 will bring support for Qualcomm CPUs as well as NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chipset, which could lead to HTC's Flyer getting an upgrade of its own. As for more current plans, it seems as if the Motorola Xoom -- a slate that was just recently updated to 3.1 -- will see another point increase in the coming weeks, which should give us a solid indication of what to expect software-wise with the MediaPad drops a few months later. Speaking of which, both CNET and M.I.C. Gadget were on-hand in Singapore for a look at the show-floor model of that very tablet, and you can feast your eyes on the pictorial proof down in the source links below.
Huawei MediaPad revealed: world's first 7-inch Android 3.2 tablet, dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm CPU
It's here folks -- the planet's first Android 3.2 tablet. Huawei just introduced a downright luscious new slate over in Singapore, with CommunicAsia being the launchpad for the 7-inch MediaPad. It's the first high-profile 7-inch tablet we've seen in quite some time, and somehow or another, it's managed to leapfrog most of the currently shipping Honeycomb tablets with a build of Android we've only ever joked about. Huawei tells us that Honeycomb 3.2 is essentially the same as 3.1, but specifically tailored to 7-inch tablets as opposed to 10-inch. Packed within the MediaPad's 10.5mm shell, there's a 217 pixels-per-inch IPS capacitive touchpanel, GPS, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, a battery good for around six hours of life and a bona fide racehorse as a processor: a dual-core 1.2GHz chip from Qualcomm. If all goes well, it'll ship in the United States in Q3 2011. It's a fair bit chunkier than the newfangled Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm), but still slimmer than the original Tab, which clocked in at 11.98mm. It weighs in at 390g (0.86 pounds), supports full 1080p playback, includes HSPA+ (14.4Mbps) 3G support, offers 8GB of internal storage (as well as a microSD slot) and comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Let's Golf and Documents To Go. There's also a Bluetooth module, an HDMI output for catching those high-def flicks on the go, and the Flash 10.3 player ensures that those websites won't be a problem. Unfortunately, the company's left a great deal to the imagination -- like pricing, which is being "sorted with retail partners and providers" -- and all we've got for system RAM is a promise that it's "working with partners on specifics." Oddly enough, the company has "no current plans" to produce a WiFi-only model, which definitely puts a damper on those who aren't interested in ponying for carrier data. You can bet we'll be digging for more, but even with the surrounding mystery, calling us "excited" would be a severe understatement. Update: There's a demo vid just after the break, and the first eyes-on shots have emerged from the conference. %Gallery-126693%
Huawei MediaPad debuts in weird, confusing video ad
There's a fine balance to be struck when you want to drum up interest in a device but not release too much information before its official launch. Huawei did that very nicely with its first MediaPad teaser image last week, showing us only the tablet lounging casually atop the desk of a surely sophisticated businessman. Today we've come across a followup video that also lets us peek the pad's rear -- which looks just about identical to the one on the company's Ideos S7 Pro -- but also confuses the hell out of us with its, erm, narrative. You'll have to just jump beyond the break and be befuddled with us. The MediaPad should get its proper launch in just under a week, on June 20th, though Huawei's Facebook page already shows an Android Honeycomb screenshot on it and our rough estimation from the video places the screen size at 7 inches. Not that we ever get to see it, cursed uninformative teasers!
Huawei teases MediaPad, gives its other tablets a complex
Huawei stopped just short of using the word "magical" when it sent out a note teasing its forthcoming MediaPad tablet (it's probably for the best, we're told some other company has that market cornered). The Shenzhen-based manufacturer did promise a device "guaranteed to transform" your entertainment experience, however -- hyperbole that's not particularly surprising for a company with a propensity for spicing up public statements with quotes from our 16th president. Not a heck of a lot to announce in the spec department, aside from this being Huawei's "smartest" and smallest tablet -- and certainly it does seem pint-sized in the above shot, or else that's a watch face worthy of Flavor Flav. We'll know more when the company webcasts the official announcement on June 20th, ahead of Singapore's CommunicAsia conference. In the meantime, how about an old fashioned Honeycomb upgrade, to keep the S7 Pro's spirits high?
Tegra to hit 'media pads' soon says company man Mike Rayfield
Mike Rayfield, the general manager of NVIDIA's mobile unit, sat down for a lengthy -- if somewhat restrained -- chat with Hexus recently, and he had some fairly interesting things to say about his company's Tegra strategy. The discussion mostly consists of generalities about the roadmap for the high-power, low-weight chipset, but it takes a more interesting turn when Rayfield goes into detail on the types of devices we can expect to see in the near future. At about two minutes into the conversation, there's mention of a "media pad," which prompts some further inquiry from the interviewer. Rayfield goes on to describe the device as a "3G capable touchpad" ranging in size from 7- to 13-inches. Now what's notable about the mention is that back in April reports were flying hot and heavy that Apple was working on a "media pad" device in partnership with Verizon which would "define the damn category." We don't like to wildly speculate, but since Apple and NVIDIA have a healthy history of teaming up on special projects, and since the rumored focus of the mythical Apple tablet is media playback and gaming, we wouldn't rule out a possible connection here. If you want to do your own sleuthing, check out the full video for yourself after the break -- and we recommend a frame-by-frame look at 2:23.
Apple prototyping "iPhone lite" and MacBook Mini / media pad for Verizon?
Hot on the heels of yesterday's reports of Apple and Verizon dealings comes some tantalizing, but still unconfirmed, new details from BusinessWeek. According to the publication, the gang in Cupertino has prototyped two devices for the carrier. The first one is a smaller, less expensive device that's been dubbed as "iPhone lite" by someone who's apparently seen it in person. The other is called a "media pad" (Joggler, anyone?) for music, photos, HD video, and placing calls over WiFi. Details are scant beyond that, and while that pad sounds a lot like an iPod touch to us, we can't help but wonder if it has something to do with those 10-inch displays that Quanta's rumored to be manufacturing. Don't put too much stock into this, as the reports could end up being all for naught, but one thing's for sure: you can bet the suits at AT&T are keeping a very, very close eye on this. In other, even sketchier and likely unrelated rumors, a listing for "MacBookMini" has popped up in Adium's statistics. While we wouldn't normally think anything of this -- as TUAW correctly notes, anyone can edit their computer IDs -- it was from these pages that we first heard the name MacBook Air. Chances are this is nothing, but with all this talk of 10-inch screens and media pads, it kind of makes you wonder. [Via TUAW; image courtesy of Frunny]Read - BusinessWeekRead - Adium stats
