SkytoneAlpha680
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Skytone's Alpha 680 tablet, Android interface gets underwhelming hands-on treatment
We're still not sold on the $250 price tag for Skytone's Android-powered Alpha 680, and these video hands-on of the tablet / netbook from netbooknews.de don't help. While the apps shown off run smoothly -- browser, Maps, Skype, Office, etc. -- they also serve as painful reminders that multitasking's just not gonna work when each app takes up the full screen and can only be opened one at a time. Not that we necessarily expected to do nine things at once with an ARM-based processor, but something tells us we'd be reaching for the Jaunty Jackalope before too long. See for yourself in the two-part video series after the break.
Skytone debuts ARM-based, Android-powered netbook / tablet
Well, after months of nothing but hacks and proof of concepts, we now have not one but two Android-powered netbooks -- neither of which are actually available just yet, of course. This latest one comes from Chinese firm Skytone and, unlike the I-Buddie, boasts a slightly more unique convertible tablet design, which the company was apparently able to make happen by cutting corners in every other area. That includes a slightly underwhelming 533MHz ARM processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, a mere 128MB of RAM, 1GB of storage, an SD card slot for expansion, and even optional 3G (although that could just be a dongle). What's more, it looks like Skytone is saying that the netbook, dubbed the Alpha-680, could sell for as little as $100 if and when it's actually released -- which, as far as we can tell, could happen next week or never.[Via The Inquirer]
