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HP Photosmart eStation C510 printer / Android tablet now on sale
An HP Slate it isn't, but if you plop down $399.99 for the eStation C510, you'll also bring home a detachable 7-inch Android 2.1 tablet that's designed to act as a "wireless digital companion and control panel for remote printing." We'll point you to the source link if you're actually interested in the printer specs, and you can head right over here for a hands-on preview of the (admittedly lackluster) tablet. But do us a favor -- don't buy this thing for the slate alone, okay? Okay.
HP's Photosmart eStation Android tablet hands-on (update: video!)
So here it is, after months of details coming to light an inkdrop at a time, the HP eStation all-in-one printing solution. But we're not gonna dwell but on half of that: the 7-inch tablet skinned out by Yahoo and powered by Android 2.1. As we expected, though, the Google experience is decidedly less that you're accustomed to: search is Yahoo only, and our attempt to find an alternate method was met with a barebones settings menu (search via the browser page still works). Additionally, there is no access to Android Market, relegating your customization instead to HP's print-heavy app store -- sorry, no games, as that's not what the company wants to focus on here, according to the rep. That also means no native Gmail, much to our dismay. What Yahoo has provided is a suite of apps and widgets that actually work well in their simplicity, from weather to stocks and search. We were reminded at numerous points that this is a prototype build, and for good reason -- the responsiveness was questionably slow, especially in the browser. That said, the Nook store and e-reading app was as fluid as you'd ever need. WiFi is equipped on both the tablet and the printer for cloud-based connectivity on the go. Battery life is measured at four to six hours, and Android 2.2 is expected by holiday still sans Market, but beyond Flash (and at this point we question its performance on this hardware), there's probably not a lot of value-add in the update. Expect this AIO to be shipping the in the next few weeks. %Gallery-102780%
Exclusive: HP Photosmart eStation C510 is Android-powered Zeus / Zeen, may not run Gmail or Market apps
We saw it this weekend for a fleeting moment, but thankfully one handy reader sent us copies of the product page for HP's Photosmart eStation C510, which we can now confirm is the Zeus / Zeen printer and detachable tablet combination we caught wind of back in early August -- and we've got some more details. Bad news first: as of a month ago, the Gmail app was missing and there was no support for Android Market, meaning the Zeen might not be an official "with Google" Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab. (The product page conspicuously lacks any mention of the OS, so we're thinking Android might simply be the hidden-away base layer for the TouchSmart UI, making this thing super boring.) It does have the default Android browser and at least some custom apps for printing pictures from Facebook, Yahoo, and Snapfish preloaded, but we don't know about anything else. Major bummer, but we're told it shouldn't be too hard for the community at large to root the sucker. Beta testing begins this month, so that all might change before the projected September 20th release. Here's what else we know so far: The Zeen is a capacitive tablet running HP's TouchSmart skin on top of Android 2.1 -- it won't get shifted to webOS, and it's not clear if it'll get upped to Froyo before launch given the development time required. It has capacitive touch buttons, an SD card slot, video support, and at least some prototypes have cameras with a special webcam app installed. We're told TouchSmart will be locked in, but we don't know how deep that'll go -- right now the standard Android homescreen is still accessible. That's supposedly going away, so don't get your hopes up for any native Gmail / Angry Birds use. E-reading is a major focus, and the Zeen has "significant" integration with the Barnes & Noble Nook bookstore and ecosystem. Makes sense, as the Nook itself is based on Android, and being able to print e-books from the Zeen would be a huge differentiator -- and a great way for HP to sell more ink. The touchscreen is apparently not very accurate at all, and we're told the overall experience is far less satisfying than a competent Android phone. Don't expect this to replace your Droid Incredible for all at-home use. The Zeen will come in two configurations: a $399 bundle with a new printer called Zeus and as a standalone unit for an unknown price. The Zeus has its own "basic" control setup, but when the Zeen is docked it provides a rich interface to the printing functions -- presumably a web-connected interface like the one HP's been moving towards with other printers. (Note: the product page listed $399.99 but provided no indication what price the Zeen might go for solo.) Ship date is an estimated September 20th but due to some testing issues this may be pushed back. Until HP comes clean and inks out the details for all the world to see, check out the product page in pictorial format below. %Gallery-101545%
HP lists Photosmart eStation C510 printer with detachable e-reading touchscreen -- is this the Zeus? (update: yes)
Now, we don't have any confirmation that the two are one and the same, but we just caught wind of a very intriguing printer on HP's website. The Photosmart eStation C510 is listed for $399.99 and, in addition to usual ink-plastering duties, has a detachable wireless 7-inch TouchSmart control panel for browsing content, printing (of course), and "brows[ing] the latest e-book bestsellers or old favorites." It all sounds well and good, and if you ask us, it rings a very eerily similar chord as the eStation Zeen / Zeus from early August. If so, that'd make this touchscreen an Android 2.1 tablet with "significant" Nook integration for e-reading. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what's under the hood, software-wise. What say ye, HP, how about throwing us a press release yonder? Update: And just like that, the printer has disappeared off the face of the internet, without so much as a cached Google page to its name. Update 2: A trusted source tells us this printer is indeed the eStation Zeus of yore. [Thanks, Julian]
