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Microsoft's $399 Surface Go is its smallest tablet yet
It's easy to think that Microsoft has given up on small tablets. In the three years since the release of the Surface 3, its last inexpensive iPad competitor, Microsoft shifted its attention towards larger and more powerful devices like the Surface Pro; the pro-grade Surface Book 2; and the traditional Surface Laptop. Along the way, the company even managed to rethink all-in-one desktops and collaboration displays. But it turns out Microsoft hasn't forgotten about smaller slates -- it was just developing one that could truly stand out. Enter the $399 Surface Go, the company's smallest and cheapest 10-inch tablet.
Amazon Fire HD 10 review (2017): A $150 tablet that's actually good
It's hard to get excited about an Android tablet in 2017. Samsung is still trying to take on the iPad with its premium Galaxy Tab S lineup, and there are countless slates from other companies that seem more obligatory than innovative. Mostly it boils down to one thing: Google hasn't done much to make Android tablet-friendly. That makes Amazon's newest Fire HD 10 tablet all the more special. It features a great 10-inch screen, it's fast enough to run plenty of apps, and, most important, it costs just $150/£150.
Microsoft's canceled Surface Mini shows up in photos
In the heady days of 2014, Microsoft had a dream of launching a smaller version of its nascent Surface tablets. The Surface Mini was a passion project of division chief Panos Panay, but it was axed by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Stephen Elop shortly before its debut. Aside from a few leaked promo images, pictures of the Surface Mini in the real world have remained elusive, at least, until now.
iPad Pro 10.5 review: Where execution and ambition meet
Never mind that Apple keeps updating its notebooks and desktops -- Tim Cook once said the iPad represented the future of personal computing. That was one year ago, when the company revealed the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and he seemed to mean it. Of course, you don't need me to tell you that a lot can happen in a year. The iPad that Phil Schiller revealed after Cook dropped that bombastic statement has already been discontinued, making way for the shiny new 10.5-inch model Apple unveiled at WWDC 2017. The Pro 10.5 ($649+) feels very familiar, not to mention surprisingly powerful, but that's no surprise -- every new iPad Pro that Apple releases is the best one out there. What's more impressive is how finally -- finally -- Apple has put together an iPad that feels capable of living up to the company's lofty words. It's not perfect, and it's not for everyone, but the iPad Pro 10.5 is still a bigger step forward than I expected.
The new iPad Pro packs a bigger screen into a familiar body
The tablet market isn't in great shape, but Apple is still convinced that the iPad represents the future of mobile computing. That's where the Pro models come in: They're designed to bring serious horsepower to everyday tasks in hopes that people could use them to replace traditional computers. Now we've got a new one, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which replaces the 9.7-inch model we reviewed last year. After a bit of hands-on time, one thing is clear: If you're looking for a premium tablet, this is one slate you can't ignore.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 35: TV Party
On this episode host Terrence O'Brien is joined by executive editor Dana Wollman and (eventually) senior editor Chris Velazco. They start by looking at the current state of cord cutting and weigh the value of YouTube's new live streaming TV package. Then they'll try to figure out what the benefit is of Netflix ditching its five star rating system for a simplified option of just thumbs up or thumbs down. Obviously you can watch YouTube and Netflix on an actual television, but portable screens are an increasingly important part of the media market. How does the new 2017 iPad stack up in that world of mobile media machines? Well, pretty good if you ask Chris -- at $329 it doesn't seem to have too many competitors. Lastly the trio sign off by recommending an album that will make you cry, a movie that will make you pee your pants and book you'll die before finishing.
Apple hopes cheap, not powerful, will turn around iPad sales
Apple has been trying to reverse declining iPad sales for several years now, without much success. For the past year and a half, that strategy could be summed up in one word: more. More power, more screen real estate, more accessories. Of course, the iPad Pro also cost more money, so it didn't help reverse waning interest in Apple's tablets. Now Apple is going in the opposite direction. The newest iPad, announced yesterday with little fanfare, is most notable for its affordable price. The 9.7-inch tablet starts at only $329 with 32GB of storage; you can get a spacious 128GB model for $100 more. It replaces the aging iPad Air 2 in Apple's lineup -- but despite the updated processor on the inside, the new tablet makes a number of compromises to hit that low price. But Apple seems to think it's found the right balance of specs and price to get more people to turn the iPad's fortunes around.
The Galaxy Tab S3 is good, but not $600 good
Samsung is continuing its quest to outdo Apple at the tablet game with the new Galaxy Tab S3. The $600/£599 Android slate improves on the already pleasant multimedia experience that the Tab S2 offered by packing a brilliant HDR display and four speakers tuned by AKG. It also comes with an S Pen for on-the-go scribbling. Plus, its beefy processor and long-lasting battery help the Tab S3 better take on rival flagships. But although I enjoy watching movies, playing games and sketching on the Tab S3, I still find its $600 price hard to swallow.
We're live at Samsung's MWC 2017 press conference
We're here in Barcelona, fingers lightly resting against our keyboards in anticipation. We know we're not seeing a flagship phone, but what could that mean? Maybe new tablets, which has always been a strong suit for the company. But nothing's ever guaranteed. Fortunately we're just about to find out, so keep checking back here for our liveblog kickoff at 1pm ET.
Samsung's vision of the mobile future is 4K-and-VR ready RAM
While Samsung's customers (and stock price) are still reeling from the Galaxy Note 7 immolation debacle, the tech giant is focusing on the future. As such, the company has introduced a new type of memory that should "greatly improve mobile user experiences, especially for those using Ultra HD, large-screen devices," according to a statement. Specifically, it's 8GB LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate 4) that takes advantage of 16Gb LPDDR4 chips working in concert with 10-nanometer class process technology. Now, note that's not 10nm proper, but somewhere between 10-and-20 nanometers. It seems 1-nm is too far in the future for now.
Softbank buys mobile chip designer ARM for $32 billion
Japan's Softbank, which owns US carrier Sprint and many other firms, is set to buy mobile chip company ARM in a blockbuster £24.3 billion ($32 billion) deal. The UK company designs the processors used in virtually every mobile device, including most models from Apple, Samsung and HTC. While it doesn't build them itself, it licenses the tech to Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung and others. If the deal goes through, it would be one of the largest acquisitions of a European tech firm ever, and a vote of confidence by Softbank in ARM's business in post-Brexit UK.
Dell discontinues its Android tablets in favor of Windows 2-in-1s
Another Android tablet maker bites the dust. Dell has decided to end distribution of its Android tabs and will instead focus on Windows 2-in-1 devices. This means several things: One, the company will no longer offer its Venue brand of Android tablets or the Android-based Wyse Cloud Connect, which can be used to turn displays into viable PCs. The reason isn't so complicated, either. Dell simply believes that the slate-style tablet market has become oversaturated. Customers aren't demanding these types of products as often, which lead to this decision. What is in demand, Dell notes, is the 2-in-1 computer line.
McDonald's places a large order of Samsung tablets in the UK
If you make a trip to a McDonald's in the coming months, expect to see a few tablets. As part of an agreement with device management company SOTI, the fast food chain plans to install Samsung Galaxy Tabs in the "majority" of its UK restaurants, giving you the chance to play games, check Facebook or browse the web while you eat.
ZTE's Android projector/tablet combo is crazy like a fox
Even more intriguing than new mid-range phones is ZTE's Spro Plus, which might just be the craziest projector design I've seen yet. The company basically managed to fit an 8.4-inch Android tablet right on top of a projector. And while that may sound a tad useless, it's actually a convenient way to access video content without relying on another device. It's like the inverse of Lenovo's Yoga Tab 3 Pro, an Android tablet with a built-in pico projector.
Exploring Barcelona's greatest museum with Project Tango
Lenovo and Google are hard at work on the first consumer-friendly Project Tango smartphone, but actually building the thing isn't the only hurdle that needs clearing. The bigger problem is an existential one: How do these huge companies convince people that spatial-sensing smartphones are worth buying over another shiny flagship? The key is building fun, useful experiences that are possible only with the fine-grained location data Tango devices can capture, and I got to play with a couple on a field trip to Barcelona's gorgeous Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.
The big VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu merger is still on
We've been reporting on rumors that three of Japan's PC makers, VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu are planning to merge their computing divisions for a while. Now, Bloomberg has apparently received confirmation that a deal is on the cards thanks to Hidemi Moue, CEO of Vaio's parent company. If the news organization is to be believed, the agreement to bring together the three businesses will be signed by the end of March. The new firm (which is likely to be called VAIO) will control more than 30 percent of Japan's market, making it bigger than current number one Lenovo.
Ubuntu's first tablet doubles as a desktop, goes on sale in Q2
Remember that time Spanish device maker BQ started promoting a new, Ubuntu-powered tablet before Canonical was ready to start talking about it? Well, the Ubuntu developer finally decided to get chatty. As expected, the device is a Ubuntu-fied version of BQ's existing Aquaris M10 tablet, with just about everything from the 10.1-inch display to the quad-core MediaTek MT8163A chipset left unchanged. The biggest difference centers on what Canonical calls "Convergence" — the updated M10 is the first bit of consumer Ubuntu hardware that acts like a full-blown PC when you connect a keyboard, mouse and display to it.
Amazon's 7-inch Fire tablet discounted to £40 in the UK
Amazon's newest 7-inch Fire is all the tablet most people need, which is why it's such incredibly good value for money at only £50. Or it was, anyway, before Amazon decided it wasn't quite cheap enough. As of today, you can pick up the entry-level slate for just £40, or £48 if you absolutely can't bear the lock screen adverts.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 pre-orders start today
We know what the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 looks like, but what about the important stuff? Namely, when we'll be able to get our paws on it and how much it'll cost? Well, boy howdy the Korean electronics juggernaut's answered both of those questions this morning. You can pre-order the slate starting today and the device hits "select" US retailers and carriers come September 3rd. A WiFi model packed with 32GB of storage and a 9.7-inch screen will set you back a cool $499.99 while the 8-inch model with the same capacity is $100 less.
Smartphones become the most popular device for keeping Brits connected
It was only a matter of time, but smartphones are now officially the UK's most popular internet-connected device. For the first time, more people are choosing smartphones to get online than laptops, according to stats published today in Ofcom's annual Communications Market Report. Smartphones are now considered the most important way of staying connected by 33 percent of Brits, with 30 percent preferring their laptops. That's a significant change from last year, when laptops were favoured by 40 percent of people and smartphones by only 22 percent. This coincides with smartphones also becoming the most widely owned web-connected device, with a presence in 66 percent of households compared with a 65 percent figure for laptops. Shipments of PCs have been declining for many years as mobile devices have become increasingly popular windows onto the web, and in the UK, tablet ownership is growing faster than anything else. In another first, Ofcom notes that over half of UK households (54 percent, to be exact) now have at least slate for the family to poke at.
