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Toshiba's tablets said to offer Tegra 2 power, have we already seen the Android version?
News continues to trickle out about Toshiba's upcoming tablets, which we learned just last week would come in both Windows and Android flavors and would be shipping before the year is through. Now it seems that both versions, despite offering different designs, will offer NVIDIA Tegra 2 internals. That both tablets will be manufactured by Compal makes us wonder if we weren't given a preview of the future Tosh model when playing with a 7-inch Android prototype at CES in January, pictured above. There's a video of that after the break to refresh your memory, a relic dating from the pre-G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra era. Simpler times, those.
ICD's Tegra 2-toting Gemini tested, briefly enjoyed
It's only been a single day since the Tegra 2-powered ICD Gemini promised us a world in which tablet PCs could magically make calls, sport webcams and play Flash content (yes, we're still a bit sore about that), but somehow one man has already managed to get his hands on a prototype of the wannabe iPad killer. The verdict? "Blisteringly fast," according to Stuff.tv, albeit buggy and thoroughly unready for market. The website liberally praised the large, 11.2-inch screen for superb color and detail even as it found the resistive touch controls sluggish, and was blown away by how quickly the 1GHz Tegra 2 dealt with web browsing on Android OS. Sadly, it seems there wasn't time to get Hulu running on the device, and important features (including those webcams) weren't working on this early prototype. But don't worry, the publication says the feature-packed slate won't even hit the company's native UK until August, when ICD expects carrier deals to be signed. Now, Stuff, assuming you haven't returned that shiny tablet -- how about you shoot us some video?
Notion Ink Adam still alive, working on Flash compatibility
It was three months ago, in the midst of the most tablet-centric CES in recent memory, that we first laid our hands on Notion Ink's impressive Adam prototype. Since then, we've been on the lookout for signs that the small Indian startup will actually deliver on the tablet's lofty promises, and while that still seems to be on track, the latest update from the company's founder is casting doubt on the originally planned June release date. Stressing the need to agree subsidization deals with telecoms for the 3G-equipped device, Rohan Shravan explains that "some want to give you Adam for Thanksgiving, some for summer holidays." Add in his resolute commitment to only going ahead with the tablet when it's fully capable of running Flash (seriously Adobe, the thing can do 1080p video, but Flash makes it wince?), and you have a significantly more elastic release window than we were originally led to believe. All the same, Rohan couldn't leave us without some titillation, and he also promises "amazing freedom" on the email front and a number of content collaborations that he's not yet allowed to announce. If you ask us, we just want something -- anything -- with a Pixel Qi display; we'll make up our own content, just give us the hardware already. [Thanks, Srikanth]
ICD's Tegra 2-powered Gemini is the most feature-complete tablet we've seen yet
Built around the 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC, the 11.2-inch ICD Gemini should provide comparable endurance to Apple's A4-sporting iPad, while besting it in the grunt stakes with its glorious ability to chew through 1080p video when required. If that wasn't enough, the rest of this thing's spec sheet reads like a wishlist. Headlined by a 3G connection that allows cellular voice calls (crazy, we know!), it also includes a user-replaceable 40Wh battery, an SD card reader, FM radio, GPS, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, MicroUSB connectivity to PCs and USB peripherals, stereo speakers, and dual webcams -- a 2 megapixel front-facing unit and a 5 megapixel autofocusing snapper on the back. Multitouch displays will be available in both resistive and capacitive flavors, with the 1,366 x 768 resolution being filled by Google's snappy Android OS. Oh, and did we mention it will run Flash? Because it will. Full specs and a comparison to its direct competitors await after the break, though we've yet to find out when this JooJoo killer will be making its arrival or at what price. Update: We've come across a couple of real (i.e. not rendered) pictures of an earlier prototype for the Gemini, which looks generic as hell but should give you a good idea of the dimensions and scale of the device in question. Yours after the break.%Gallery-89815%
Next-gen dashboards get Tegra 2, Moblin, Atom, we go hands-on
Intel Atom processors, capacitive touchscreens, NVIDIA Tegra 2 graphics, Moblin installs... sounds like a suite of hot next-gen ultra-portables, right? Think again. Those are just some of the technologies used in the dashboards of cars that will be appearing on showrooms in the coming months and years, dashes that were largely on display at CES -- minus the cars themselves, usually. There we were treated to mobile glimpses of Google Earth, Pandora, and Slacker Radio on the go, plus the ability to lock and unlock your car via Ye Olde Internets. It's the future, and it's coming soon, so click on through already and get a sneak peek.
Boxee Box confirmed to have Tegra 2, Boxee Beta now open to all
We had a hunch that it might be the case, and Boxee has now finally come out and confirmed that the Boxee Box is indeed powered by Tegra 2. What's more, while you can't get your hands on it just yet, everyone can now finally the Boxee Beta, which first became available to a select few exactly one month ago. Right now, that's available for Mac, Windows and Ubuntu, and Boxee is promising to make a version for Apple TV available at some point. Hit up the link below and scroll down a bit to find the download link.
NVIDIA Tegra 2-powered Mobinnova Beam hands-on
Right on the heels of NVIDIA unleashing its Tegra 2 (T20) platform, Mobinnova is jumping into the picture with one of the first smartbooks powered by the new platform. The device may be small, and quite thin, but it has got a lot going on. First off, the design is nothing short of cool: the back of the rounded device actually snaps down to reveal its ports and to prop up the entire chassis. Under the lid it has a flush 8.9-inch display, but its smaller size causes the keyboard to be quite cramped. The touchpad has integrated mouse buttons, but we noticed that it was tough make selections by left clicking. You'll probably want to stick with double tapping on this one. Under the hood the Mobinnova Beam is powered by Tegra 2, which is based on a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU and a GeForce GPU. It'll also have 256 MB of memory and pack 512MB of flash storage (though you can expand that with the SD card). The unit we saw was running Windows CE with a software interface developed by Mobinova, though the plan is to release an Android version. We still found it to be easy to navigate with all the applications centered on a carousel of sorts. As promised by NVIDIA, a 1080p video played on the 8.9-inch display and on a 42-inch 1080p Philips TV (take that Atom!) quite smoothly. In our brief hands-on the overall performance seemed snappier than the past Mobinovia with the first Tegra chip: Firefox opened in about 7 seconds and navigating to web pages was faster than we'd anticipated. We don't have any word on pricing, but Mobinova will only sell this bundled with AT&T connectivity. Hit the break for the full PR and some video. %Gallery-81921%
Hardware battle looms for theoretical successors to Nintendo DS and Sony PSP
It's a sorry state of affairs when a media player like the Zune HD has more polygon-pushing power than the latest handheld videogame consoles on the market. If rumors are to be believed, Nintendo and Sony will set things straight with their next-generation portables -- at least for a little while. We've already heard that the successor to Nintendo's DS will have Tegra power, but the current speculation is that it'll be a Tegra 2 chip, promising twice the power of the current iteration. On the Sony side the PSP2 is apparently shaping up to use an offspring of the IMG PowerVR graphics found on the iPhone, said to be theoretically superior to what the DS2 will be able to achieve but costing more, being more difficult to develop for, and not shipping until sometime in 2011 -- potentially a year later than the DS2. In other words it's standard operating procedure if these rumors are to be believed, but even if there aren't any surprises in this showdown we'll be there in the front row with popcorn to watch the bloodshed.