Top Tech Gadgets » Tablets

High-End iPad Alternative: Motorola Xoom

Editor — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:04:18 +0000

Motorola showed off its new Xoom tablet at CES, which is packed impressive hardware and also runs on Android 3.0.
There’s no shortage of new would-be iPad competitors, but so far this is one of the most impressive models. Xoom consists of a 10.1-inch display and uses Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor.

The Motorola Xoom will be released in March and comes with support for both Wi-Fi and 3G. During the second quarter, Motorola will also release an upgrade to Xoom, which provides support for the 4G network. You can hook up a variety of devices to the Xoom via a microUSB port, hdmi, headphone jack, or the SD memory card slot. On the back is a camera with a resolution of five megapixels and an LED flash. In addition, the camera can shoot in HD resolution.

Xoom was one of the few tablets at CES to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Since Xoom comes out in March it coincides with general availalility of Android 3.0.

Creative Releases Two Ziio Android Tablets

Editor — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:17:56 +0000

Creative has launched two new tablets that both run Android. The new Android tablet PCs goes by the name Ziio Pure Wireless Entertainment Tablet and come in 10-inch and 7-inch varieties. The smallest version is white with a 480 x 800 pixel display, while the larger version is black casing and has “netbook standard” resolution, 1024 x 600 pixels. Both versions of the Ziio have Android 2.1 installed and are able to download apps from the Android Market.

Both Ziio models will be available in December.

Specifications:

* 16.8 million colors
* Android 2.1
* Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
* Wireless Internet 802.11 b/g
* X-Fi Audio Enhancements
* Audio formats: MP3, AAC, WMA9, FLAC, OGG, AAC, MIDI, WAV, Audible Format 4
* Video Support: H.264, MPEG4, WMV9, MJPEG, MOV, AVI, MKV
* HD Video Out (HDMI Out)
* Photo support: JPG, BMP, PNG
* Front camera
* Built-in microphone
* Built-in stereo speakers
* Accelerometer
* Runtime: Up to 25 hours (MP3), up to 5 hours of video
* MicroSD (7 “) / SD (10″) card slot (up to 32GB)
* Dimensions 207.4 x 133 x 13.7 mm (7 inch version) 262 x 173 x 13.7 mm (10 inch version)
* Weight: 400g (7-inch version) 650g (10-inch version)

Best iPad Feed Reader?

Editor — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:01:07 +0000

Flipboard for iPad is a new app that collects all your (social) news sources in one place. Flip Board has, in spite of its short existance, already been praised as one of the best iPad apps to date. It can best be described as a news aggregator that retrieves information from a variety of preset channels in several areas. You can choose between the default news channels, such as technology, business news, arts, culture and business intelligence.

In addition, you can also search for both individual Twitter accounts or channels that can be added to the feed, as well as updates from your own accounts at Facebook and Twitter. What makes the Flipboard unique is the design of the app, that not only makes it easy to browse the Twitter flow, the application is nicely designed and presents the information in the same way as a newspaper.

Flipboard is free from the get-go and will subsequently be funded by advertisements, which according to the company will be nicely adjusted so as not to interfere with the functionality of the program. The company with the same name as the app has promised that this funtionality be ported to additional platforms in the future.

PalmPad and LePad: Will They Blend?

Editor — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:48:08 +0000

Two real heavyweights are about to go up against Apple in the brand new “pad” industry. Apple announced on Tuesday that they’ve sold more than million copies of the iPad, making it the top selling touch-screen-only computer right now – as if there were any precedents.

In order to fight the iPad, both HP and Lenovo have declared that they intends to release similar products in the near future. HP has registered the trademark PalmPad with the idea that they will run webOS, a newly developed operating system that HP acquired when the company recently purchased Palm.

Lenovo intends to release LePad, a touchpad that runs Google’s open source OS Android. The plan is that sales will be underway before the year is over. The only question we’re asking ourselves right now is: Will any of them blend?

LG Android Tablet in Q4

Editor — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:14:30 +0000

LG has confirmed that the manufacturer will be launching an Android-based tablet in the fourth quarter of 2010. Details and specifications for the device are not yet nailed but it should hopefully run the latest version of Android, and the goal is of course to compete for potential iPad buyers.

Another Android Tablet

LG already has a few Android-based smartphones on the market, so that it’s using Android as the platform in its new device is hardly a surprise. Several other manufacturers have already launched, or are preparing to launch iPad competitors.

Wepad: Android Tablet with Netbook Hardware

Editor — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:12:16 +0000

Wepad is an Android tablet with a relatively large screen. We have seen a couple of Android tablets in every other tech blog and news outlet, and here’s another interesting model.

The German company Neofonie is the creator of the Wepad, a name that bears a slight resemblance with a recently announced device from a company with a fruit-themed logo.The Wepad boasts a 11.6-inch screen with a resolution of 1366×768. It also supports multitasking and is allegedly integrated with the Android app store. Under the hood you’ll find some netbook hardware – an Intel Atom N450 processor at 1.66 GHz, GMA 3150 graphics and possibly 3G wireless depending on which model you choose.

In addition, the specification tells us about a web camera at 1.3 megapixels, a 6-cell battery, Bluetooth and a built-in GPS receiver. Unfortunately, no price has been mentioned so far, but it wouldn’t be too farfetched to venture a guess at a price tag just below that of the iPad.