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Switched On: Between a Nook and a hard place
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In the 1988 comedy Coming to America, a blatant McDonald's rip-off named McDowell's draws the legal ire of the empire built by Ray Kroc. In explaining his pathetic defense that includes noting that McDowell's uses golden arcs instead of golden arches, the eatery's manager notes that while both the Big Mac and his Big Mick both include the 1970s jingle-immortalized ingredients of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, the McDowell's flagship burger bun has, in fact, no sesame seeds. This state of differentiation isn't a far cry from what characterized some of the earliest 10-inch Honeycomb devices -- a few fractions of an inch of thickness, a higher-quality display, a full-sized USB port, an hour or two of running time and some bundled apps constituted how many of the tablets asserted their competitiveness. Of course, there was the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer with its keyboard add-on and its follow up, the Eee Pad Slider, which finally brought an integrated one. But whether it's been from a lack of options for manufacturers or disadvantages of the overall Honeycomb approach, larger Android tablets have made limited inroads versus the similarly sized iPad and are now going after it more aggressively on price.
NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang: quad-core, Tegra 3 tablets will drop to $299 in a 'couple quarters'
It's inevitable: the "latest and greatest" in tech (whatever that happens to be at the moment) always comes down in price as it makes way for something thinner, faster... better. Still, it's interesting to imagine that happening when a product is still basking in its glory days. That's exactly what what we're going to see with NVIDIA's new quad-core Tegra 3 chip, according to NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. Over lunch today with a few tech journalists, he said he expects Tegra 3 tablets to plummet to $299 in just "a couple quarters." That's pretty incredible when you remember the Transformer Prime hasn't even gone on sale yet, and when it does it'll cost $500 -- a reasonable price in its own right when you stack it up against the aging iPad 2. So it's a bit dizzying to imagine 2012 ushering in a crop of high-end Honeycomb (or even ICS) tablets that cost just a little more than the Nook Tablet currently does. We'll be curious to see how such pricing might pressure the likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple, but regardless, something tells us lots of you won't wait six months to get your hands on a half-price Prime.
Archos debuts Arnova 9 G2 Android tablet, offers Gingerbread on a 9.7-inch IPS display
Archos' new Arnova 9 G2 tablet looks to be the very definition of a mixed bag. It's part of the company's budget-minded Arnova line, so it will likely be relatively inexpensive (there's still no official word on a price), and it packs some specs that range from decent to high-end, including a 1GHz ARM A8 processor and a 9.7-inch IPS display with a 1,024 x 768 resolution (the same as the iPad). But it also runs the smartphone-minded Android 2.3 OS on that decidedly tablet-sized display and, as with other inexpensive Android tablets, you'll have to make do without official access to the Android Market (Archos offers the Appslib application store instead). Still curious? Details on everything but a price and release date can be found at the source link below. Update: Matias emailed to let us know that he spotted an official listing for this device on Amazon.de, carrying a price of 250 Euro. If you're interested, that's about 340 of our American dollars.
Kobo Vox unboxing and hands-on (video)
Kobo is something of a perpetual underdog. That may well change, after Rakuten acquisition of the company goes through, but for now, it's still a small organization battling giants like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and, to a lesser extent, Sony. With that in mind, the timing for the Vox's release certainly could have been better -- the tablet has to go head to head with the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire, both on sale this week. Well, we just received ours, and with that in mind, we immediately did what any other geek would do -- we started playing with it alongside its bigger-named competitors. We'll be back with a full review soon enough, but for now, join us for an unboxing and some early impressions.%Gallery-139654% %Gallery-139652% %Gallery-139656%
Next Issue Media strikes deals with more Android tablet makers ahead of full launch
After launching its digital newsstand for the Galaxy Tab earlier this year, Next Issue Media is now looking to expand to other Android tablets, as well. The company, which was founded by a quintet of publishers including Conde Nast, Hearst and Time Inc., has just signed partnerships with a slate of slate manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, along with Verizon Wireless. Next Issue Media didn't specify which devices would support its app, but it did take the opportunity to announce new digital magazines, like Car and Drive, Coastal Living, ELLE, Golf and Real Simple. The goal is to have a full 40 titles by the end of the year, ahead of its full-fledged launch in 2012. Turn past the break for more details in the full PR.
Nook Tablet limits internal storage for non-B&N purchased content to 1GB
Well, this is definitely a bummer. Barnes & Noble has spent a fair amount of time talking up all of the Nook Tablet's internal advantages over the Kindle Fire, a list that includes 16GB of storage to the Fire's 8GB. That particular spec may not be quite as good as it looks on paper, however. It seems that Barnes & Noble is currently limiting internal storage on the Android slate to 1GB of content not downloaded directly from B&N. Bummer, right? Especially for those expecting to store their multimedia content on the device. It's not all bad, though. Keep in mind that, unlike the Fire, the Nook's got a not-so-secret weapon -- expandable memory via a microSD card slot located behind the tablet's distinctive loop. We've reached out to B&N for comment, and we're guessing a firmware update will remedy this PR nightmare in 3... 2... 1.... Update: Barnes & Noble confirmed that the above numbers are correct, but added that future multimedia download plans from third-party vendors will utilize the space currently devoted to B&N content only.
Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet unboxing and hands-on (video)
Look what we got in our grubby hands -- it's the new Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble's attempt to elbow in on this holiday season's crowded tablet landscape. At $249, the slate is being positioned as a direct competitor to Amazon's budget Kindle Fire. Thus far, the device has yet to capture the public's imagination in the same way Amazon's tablet has -- due, at least in part, to the many similarities between it and last year's Nook Color. Externally, the Tablet is virtually indistinguishable from the Nook Color. It's got the same dimensions (8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches), making for a tall and narrow display. It also rocks that same distinctive bar looping out from its bottom lefthand corner. Barnes & Noble has opted for a lighter silver color scheme here, instead of the Nook Color's dark gray shell, and has managed to shave a bit of weight from the newest Nook -- so it comes in at 14.1 ounces, in spite of its souped-up internals. At 0.48 inches, the tablet is thicker than both the iPad 2 (0.35 inches) and the Kindle Fire (0.45 inches), if only just barely in the latter case.%Gallery-139473% %Gallery-139477% %Gallery-139478%
Netflix reveals new user interface experience for Android tablets, iPad counterpart coming soon
You've already had a peek at it in the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, but it seems that redesigned user interface is going to be hitting more than just the holiday's most-talked about duo. Netflix has made official a newly redesigned user interface experience for Android tablets -- one that "makes browsing and instantly watching unlimited TV shows and movies streaming from Netflix better than ever." The new look provides multiple rows of titles with larger artwork to scroll through, with Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix, noting that the company has seen a "threefold increase in how long Netflix members are watching on their tablets." As of today, interested consumers can simply update their Netflix app in the Android Market, while iPad users are being asked to wait "a few weeks," after which the new tablet experience will be dubbed Tabster and led on Twitter by a 17-year old methamphetamine addict.
Adobe brings Touch Apps family to Android tablets, Creative Cloud looms on the horizon
Back in October, as you may recall, Adobe unveiled its Touch Apps family -- a collection of six tools designed to make life easier and more tactile for tablet-using creative types. Today, those apps are finally available on the Android Market, for tablets running Android 3.1 or higher. The sextet includes Photoshop Touch, Collage and Proto, among other Adobe products, each of which is priced at $9.99. These applications will also play a central role in Adobe's forthcoming Creative Cloud initiative, which will allow users to share, view and transfer files across multiple devices. That isn't expected to launch until the first half of next year, while the full suite of Touch Apps for iOS users should be released by "early 2012" (Adobe Ideas is the only member currently available on iTunes). Android slate wielders can get their hands on all the Touch Apps now, though Adobe says they'll need at least an 8.9-inch, 1280 x 800 display. Check out the source link below for more details, or head past the break for the full PR treatment.
HTC Jetstream review
When HTC entered the tablet game, it did so in reverse course. Where other manufacturers were jostling for elbow room in a 10-inch form factored world, the company opted for smaller, more familiar battleground, eschewing the rough-hewn Honeycomb OS for a Gingerbread-baked Sense overlay on the Flyer. Naturally, the time for that mini-slate to shine has come and gone. In its stead, we're treated to a flagship of sorts -- HTC's first 10-incher and AT&T's inaugural 4G LTE slate. Android 3.1 makes an appearance here, as does Sense 1.1 for tablets, but is the skinned experience really any different from the custom UX we've all come to love or hate on phones? Can the added Scribe pen functionality, repurposed here from its 7-inch brother, transform the Jetstream from third pillar offering to an always-on, on-the-go assistant? And will those newly hatched 700MHz speeds convince you to cough up for that weighty $700 price tag? Follow along past the break to see how it fared. %Gallery-137899%
Toys R Us' Nabi Android tablet lets junior play while mommy drinks
True, mommy may not have to drink, but as long as Toys R Us' Nabi tablet is in the house, that cabinet door will always be open. Designed to distract kids aged six years and up, this tot-sized Android slate boasts a seven-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen display, 4GB of onboard storage, and a 533MHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU. These certainly aren't the most scintillating specs we've ever come across (even by kiddo tablet standards), but keep in mind that we're talking about six-year-olds, here. They don't know anything. Plus, they'll probably be distracted by the Nabi's customized UI, tailored for so-called "kiddified" browsing, reading and TV watching. If you ever get a hankering to get in on the action yourself, you can always send the beast to time out and play with the tablet yourself, thanks to a built-in "Mommy Mode" that provides a more mature Android experience. No word yet on whether Toys R Us plans to introduce a "Daddy Mode" (or, for that matter, a "Postman Mode"), but that's probably a conversation for another day. Hands-off parents can pre-order the Nabi for $200, at the source link below.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime: 10-inch Super IPS+ display, 12-hour battery and quad-core Tegra 3, ships in December for $499
For three weeks now, Android fans have been fidgeting impatiently. Specifically, ever since ASUS chairman Jonney Shih took the stage at last month's AsiaD conference and teased the next-gen Transformer tablet. Though he only gave us a quick glimpse, he recited a laundry list of specs: a 10.1-inch display, 8.3mm-thick body, mini-HDMI output, microSD slot and an update to Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of the year, if not sooner. Not to mention, it'll pack NVIDIA's hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, making it the first-ever quad-core tablet. We knew this: we'd learn more on November 9th. Well, that day has come, and so have the juicy details. We just got word that the tablet will go on sale worldwide in December, starting at $499 with a beefy 32GB of storage, moving up to $599 for a 64GB model. (That signature keyboard dock you see up there will cost $149.) In addition to those basic specs Mr. Shih revealed last month, we now know this has a 1280 x 800, Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass display with a 178-degree viewing angle and a max brightness of 600 nits. It also packs 1GB of RAM, GPS, a gyroscope, SonicMaster audio and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. Rounding out the list is an 8MP shooter with an auto-focusing f/2.4 lens and a back-illuminated CMOS sensor that captures 1080p video. Touch-to-focus is also an option here, and ASUS claims a 30 percent boost in color enhancement over competing tabs. As for battery life, we initially heard reports of 14.5-hour runtime, but ASUS is now saying the tablet alone can squeeze out 12 hours thanks to a 22Wh battery, and that the dock will add an additional six hours of juice. In addition, the slimmed-down, 1.2-pound dock brings all the other benefits the last-gen model offered, including a touchpad, USB 2.0 port and full-sized SD slot. Software-wise, it'll ship with Android 3.2 and apps such as SuperNote and Polaris Office, and we're told we'll learn more about that ICS update in "early December." In terms of design, you may have already noticed the Prime sports the same spun aluminum digs as the company's Zenbooks, though this is the first time we're seeing clear, close-up shots of it -- and in two colors, no less! At 8.3mm (0.33 inches) thick and 586 grams (1.29 pounds) without the dock, it's a smidge skinnier than the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, which means, unsurprisingly, that your old Transformer dock won't be compatible. Finally, ASUS coated both the display and metal cover with a hydro-oleophobic coating that makes it more fingerprint-resistant. For now, we've got photos below and if you can wait a few more weeks, we'll most definitely be putting this thing through its paces in a full review. And if you're looking for something a little less expensive, well, the original Transformer should be getting Ice Cream Sandwich soon, and we wouldn't be surprised if Santa brought a few holiday rebates. %Gallery-138833%
T-Mobile Springboard review
T-Mobile Springboard and Galaxy Tab 10.1 finally get official launch dates T-Mobile to carry Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus with 4G, available November 16th for $250 Sprint files suit to stop AT&T / T-Mobile merger When the Huawei MediaPad was first announced in June, it was notable for being the first tablet we'd heard of to run Android 3.2. Since then, the Acer Iconia Tab A100 and others have beat it to market, but its arrival in the US is timely nonetheless: it joins the petite tablet party at about the same time as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and forthcoming Toshiba Thrive 7", to name a couple. We already knew that when the MediaPad landed here in the States it would be known as the T-Mobile Springboard, but the carrier just announced some key pricing and availability details: it'll go on sale November 16th for $430 off contract, or $180 with a two-year agreement and $50 mail-in rebate -- not surprising, given that we've been hearing this would cost less than $200 on contract. In addition to running on T-Mobile's 14.4Mbps HSPA+ network, it has WiFi and GPS radios, a dual-core 1.2GHz chip made by Qualcomm, 227 pixels-per-inch IPS display, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3 shooter up front, 8GB of internal storage, a microSD slot and support for 1080p playback. We'll return to all those specs in detail after the break, but nonetheless, it's important to get them out of the way from the get-go. After all, there's soon to be a glut of Android 3.2 tablets, and it's worth asking if this one is worth the slightly high price -- or maybe even a two-year marriage to Big Magenta. %Gallery-138087%
Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet gets real, we go hands-on (video)
Sure, we can't say we didn't see this coming -- Barnes & Noble today launched its answer to the Kindle Fire. The new Nook Tablet certainly isn't all that new from an aesthetic standpoint, compared with the Nook Color. Walking into a store blind, it would be awfully tough to distinguish the devices -- though the Tablet is bit lighter, color-wise. It's also lighter in terms of actual weight, shedding an ounce from its predecessor -- a fact that's really only noticeable when holding both devices in your hand. The Nook Color certainly did well for the company, becoming a top seller the previous holiday season, and Barns & Noble clearly took an "if it ain't broke" approach here... It really is a nice form factor, easy to hold in a single hand for reading and watching video. The company also promises that a case with a built-in stand is coming, so you can take full advantage of that wide screen when watching longer videos on Netflix or Hulu Plus. The Power button is located in the top left and corner, with volume on the right. The microSD slot can be found just behind the Tablet's distinctive metal bar. What separates Barnes & Noble's two higher end readers is largely internal. Unfortunately, the products being shown off at today's event weren't quite ready for prime time. We managed to see a bit of video demoed on the thing, and certainly the screen looked quite nice as it played back the trailer for J Edgar and flipped through the pages of a Spider-Man comic. Unfortunately, we're going to have to spend a bit more time with a final version of the product before we feel comfortable recommending the Tablet, given its $50 premium over both the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire. Check out a hands-on video with the device after the break.%Gallery-138651%
Barnes & Noble makes $199 Nook Color, $99 Nook Simple Touch official
Not that it wasn't official the moment that Best Buy lopped $50 off of the thing, but those with any lingering doubts with regards to Barnes & Noble's intentions to make the now-dated Nook Color cost competitive with with the Kindle Fire can now consider themselves amongst the believers. The company pulled the trigger at today's Nook event in New York, pricing the color reader-turned-tablet at $199 -- a nice drop from its introductory price of $249. Also on the price cutting board is the touchscreen Nook -- now known officially as the Nook Simple Touch -- which is priced at $99, putting it more on-par with the likes of the latest Kindle. And best of all, says Barnes & Noble, "no annoying ads." Ouch.
Barnes & Noble launches Nook Tablet, lights a fire under Amazon
Yep, we had a feeling this one was coming. As expected, bookstore mega-chain Barnes & Noble has launched its answer to Amazon's Kindle Fire (and to a lesser extent, Kobo's multimedia Vox slate) -- also as expected, the thing looks an awful lot like its predecessor, the recently discounted Nook Color, right down to the metal bar on the bottom corner. Granted, B&N did already make the leap into the tablet space, when the Nook Color was upgraded earlier this year -- but the Nook Tablet brings more than just a new name, of course. Barnes & Noble makes $199 Nook Color, $99 Nook Simple Touch official Nook Color goes multimedia with Hulu Plus, Pandora, Rhapsody, more Barnes & Noble launches in-store Nook stations The tablet offers up a seven-inch IPS display with full lamination, videos up to 1080p and 11.5 hours of battery life. The Nook has 16GB of built-in memory, which is further expandable by way of a microSD slot. The tablet is all about multimedia content, naturally, offering up from Netflix and Hulu Plus pre-loaded on the device. It gives users access to 250 magazines and periodicals, as well as comics from publishers like Marvel. Barnes & Noble is clearly going directly after the Kindle Fire with this device. So, why pick the Nook over the Fire? Double the storage (which is further expandable), a better display, more RAM, free in-store device support and a lighter weight body at under a pound, says Barnes and Noble. The device runs Gingerbread, and unfortunately, like the Color before it, doesn't offer open access to the Android Market. As expected, the Tablet will cost you $249 ($50 more than the competition from Amazon). Pre-orders begin now, and the slate will start shipping next week.%Gallery-138635%
Acer's Iconia Tab A200 Honeycomb tablet emerges at Bluetooth SIG
Who's amped about another Honeycomb tablet? Go on, we'll wait for the hands to rise. All jesting aside, Acer's presumably forthcoming Iconia Tab A200 has just surfaced over at the Bluetooth SIG, where a filing has proved that a) Acer's new Honeycomb tablet will look pretty much like every other Honeycomb tablet we've seen, and b) it'll have Bluetooth and WiFi. Sadly, the rest of the details are still under wraps, but you can bet we'll be bringing 'em to you as soon as we hear more.
Motorola Xoom 2 hands-on (video)
Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition hands-on (video) Panasonic Toughpad A1 and B1: the tablets you can drop and pick back up again Motorola Xoom a bit slow boomerangin' back with 4G LTE update Motorola has just unveiled two new tablets in Europe, and we've managed to get our grubby mitts on them. This one is the Xoom 2, the (almost) same-size successor to Moto's first Android tablet. Matching its older sister's 10.1-inch Gorilla Glass screen, there's now an all-over splash resistant coating (inside and out), with those intriguing cut-off corners we've seen already there to aid the ergonomics of handling the slab. Add to that, Motorola's new intelligent grip suppression, which means you can hold the screen and navigate with your other hand without hindrance. It runs Honeycomb 3.2, and gains an improved 1.2GHz dual-core processor inside, with a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, and a five megapixel shooter on the back. Comparing the tablet to its predecessor, you won't believe how much thinner it is -- this is Galaxy Tab 10.1-scale skinniness. Motorola also boast that it's now 100g lighter than the original Xoom, but we still get an HDMI port, microUSB connectivity and 16GB of storage, not to mention stylus functionality, though the capacitive pen is sold separately. The Xoom 2 itself has now been priced up at £379.99 and you can check out those cut-off corners in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-138342%
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus now shipping from Amazon, confirmed to use Exynos SoC
We've known all along that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus packs a dual-core 1.2GHz processor of some sort, but Samsung's only just now finally confirmed to AnandTech that the 7-inch tablet does indeed use an Exynos system on a chip. That's the very same SoC found in the company's Galaxy S II smartphone, so we should be looking at some similar performance from the tablet. In case you missed the news last month, it's officially set to hit the US on November 13th for $400. That memo doesn't seem to have reached Amazon, however, which is now listing the 16GB model as in stock and shipping immediately. Hit the source link below if you're ready to take the plunge.
Motorola Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition get official (video)
Not exactly one for the shocking column here, but Motorola has officially revealed the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition today.The Xoom 2 rocks a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Android 3.2, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 10.1-inch display.It also offers up front and rear-facing cameras at 1.3 megapixel and five megapixel, respectively, Motorola Xoom 2 hands-on (video) Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition hands-on (video) Motorola's Xoom 2 tablets pair up for a portrait, both at around 9mm thick plus Motorola's new Splash-guard protection. The Xoom 2 Media Edition features similar specs, save for its 8.2-inch display size, which, like the standard Xoom 2, has Gorilla Glass protection. It also promises a 20-percent improvement over the original Xoom in the graphics department, which, along with a 178 degree viewing angle make the tablet optimized for media consumption, as the name implies. Thus far, availability for the similarly named tablets has only been announced in the UK and Ireland, where the WiFi versions hit around the middle of this month through retailers like Carphone Warehouse. Update: For those wondering, Motorola has now confirmed to Pocket-lint that both tablets will indeed be getting an Ice Cream Sandwich update, which should come six weeks after Motorola receives the goods from Google (although it's not clear when that will happen).%Gallery-138297%
