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Toshiba AT330 gets FCC approval, on track for June 10th launch date
Toshiba's 7.7-inch and 10.1-inch Excite tablets (known also by their respective model numbers, AT270 and AT300) have had their time in the FCC spotlight, and now it's the 13-incher's turn. The ARM-powered AT330 looks to be on track for its on-sale date of June 10th, so it has a good month to sit tight alongside its 7.7-inch sibling. As for that FCC report, no surprises there: Toshiba hasn't slipped in an LTE radio without warning us or anything scintillating like that -- just Bluetooth and WiFi tests here. So you can rest assured that the AT330 will be safe to use, but the jury is still out on how many people want a $650, 13-inch tablet.
Will Windows 8 for ARM tablets cut the cord on desktop mode? (Update: Maybe not)
Is it us, or is the dream of a full Windows experience on low-power ARM tablets getting steadily eroded? We've long known that these slates would sacrifice backwards compatibility with legacy software, but now it seems the familiar desktop mode could be getting the chop too. Paul Thurrott from SuperSite for Windows says he has good insider information that this mode will be limited to x86 devices, which would rule out using the traditional keyboard-and-mouse UI on an ARM tablet and force users to stick with the Metro UI at all times. By the sound of it, though, the matter is still being argued over within Microsoft and it's unclear whether the decision will apply to ARM-based notebooks too. All Thurrott could be sure of is that "the people who don't want there to be a desktop mode [in ARM tablets] have apparently won the day." Man, and just when we thought everyone was starting to get along so nicely. Update: Paul Thurrott has just provided a bit of an update that he heard from a different source that, yes indeed, Windows 8 will include a desktop mode, even when running on ARM. Paul indicates he trusts these two sources equally, leaving us somewhat stuck in the middle.
FirstView's $95 Android / Windows CE PC607V tips a craptablet iceberg at CeBIT
Doesn't look too bad for a $95 Android tablet, huh? Well, there's plenty more where that came from. Scattered along the main halls of CeBIT are dozens of Chinese and Taiwanese consumer electronics resellers looking to sell products to new customers, and this year they sure loaded up the suitcases with cheap Android / Windows CE tablets. For the most part all these tablets (or small smartbooks) have ARM 9 or 11 processors and 5 to 7-inch resistive touch displays. While some like the FirstView PC607V tablet (pictured above) have attractive skins on top of Windows CE, others from companies like Forsa and Huawei have gone with stock versions of Android. In truth, all of the ones we played with felt chintzy, but it was easier to lower our standards when we learned they wouldn't draw more than $150 from our wallets. We've got a hands-on video with FirstView's Android tablet after the break, but if that doesn't fill your cheap tablet needs hit the more coverage links for videos by some serious Android / ARM tablet lovers. %Gallery-87499%
