tablets

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Verizon announced the availability of two low-cost LG tablets today. Priced at $300, LG’s full-size 10.1-inch tablet sports an HD IPS display, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter, 16GB of internal storage, an 8,000mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat. The smaller and cheaper ($250) 7-inch slate features nearly identical specifications, with the exceptions of its smaller stature and its 4,000mAh cell.

AT&T introduces longer Next 24 monthly installment program for paying off your Android smartphone

9to5 Staff Nov 4 2014 - 6:30 am PT

Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 9.27.07 AM

AT&T on Tuesday announced that it will be introducing a longer Next 24 monthly installment program on November 9th alongside its Next 12 and Next 18 plans for financing an Android smartphone. AT&T customers on Next 24 will pay $0 down and make 30 equal monthly payments between $10 – $50 depending on the device purchased.
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T-Mobile guaranteeing best trade-in values on used smartphones and tablets

Mark Hearn Sep 8 2014 - 8:30 am PT

John Legere

T-Mobile announced a new promotion today that vows to offer consumers the best trade-in value for their old mobile devices. Just in time for a new wave of smartphones and tablets, the magenta-colored carrier’s new marketing ploy guarantees the best trade-in values for your used wireless equipment compared to offerings from Sprint, Verizon and AT&T.

Sony announces super slim 8-inch Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact w/ PS4 Remote Play

Jordan Kahn Sep 3 2014 - 8:07 am PT

In addition to announcing new Xperia smartphones and its new Android-Wear powered SmartWatch wearable, Sony today announced a new 8-inch “Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact”. Sony said it’s the world’s slimmest and lightest compact tablet (compact meaning its under 7-inches) with the device coming in at 6.4mm and 270g.

Perhaps the most notable new feature for the device and other smartphones announced by the company today is a new PS4 Remote Play feature that lets the device dock into a PlayStation 4 controller and act as a remote gaming experience for the PS4 console (pictured below with Xperia smartphone):
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Samsung shares ‘Tablet Realities’ ads for Galaxy Tab S (Video)

Jordan Kahn Aug 1 2014 - 9:37 am PT

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cme5PtvdOtA&list=UUWwgaK7x0_FR1goeSRazfsQ]

Samsung shared a few new ads today for the new Galaxy Tab S series of tablets, that it officially launched back in June. The tablet, which comes in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch variants, includes a 2560×1600 Super AMOLED display and that is the focus of the marketing message in two of today’s ads titled “Mom” and “Artist”. The other ad, titled “Judge”, shows off the tablet’s multitasking features.
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AMC debuts trailer for ‘The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land’ mobile game arriving w/ season 5

Jordan Kahn Jul 22 2014 - 10:52 am PT

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aiRboM4fok]

AMC announced today that it will release a new mobile game for The Walking Dead early next year alongside season 5 of the hit TV show. The TV network is teaming up with Next Games to develop the title and today shared the first trailer for the game that it plans to show off at Comic Con International later this month.

The game, titled The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land, will allow players to experience the world of the iconic show through gameplay exclusively developed for smartphones and tablet devices. Developed by Next Games in close collaboration with AMC, the game will feature themes familiar to the TV series, where characters fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic, walker-infested world. A recurring theme of choosing the right survival strategy and making the most human choices possible is at the heart of the first-of-its-kind game.

Telltale games already publishes a game for Android based on universe of The Walking Dead comic book series, but this is AMC’s first official game based on its TV show version of the franchise. It isn’t, however, sharing many details on what we can expect from gameplay other than the description above or specifics on platforms.

The Walking Dead Season 5 is coming this October and the game, The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land, will hit smartphones and tablets early next year when the mid-season premiere of Season 5 airs.

LG announces G Pad 10.1 global launch plans

Mark Hearn Jul 7 2014 - 2:24 pm PT

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Today, LG announced the launch of the G Pad 10.1, the company’s largest tablet in its product line. As suggested by its name, this working class slate features a 10.1-inch 1,280 x 800 WXGA display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1-megapixel front-facing shooter for selfies and video calls. The two major selling points of LG’s new tablet are its beefy 8,000mAh battery and the fact that it ships with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, so it’s almost up to date in terms of software.

Chili’s replacing paper menus with tabletop Android tablets

Mark Hearn Jun 10 2014 - 9:52 am PT

Chili’s menu is making a huge change. No, the casual bar and grill isn’t getting rid of its baby back ribs, we’re talking about its actual menu. The Brinker International-owned restaurant chain has installed over 45,000 Android-powered tabletop tablets in 823 of its locations. Customers can use these devices to browse the eatery’s menu, place an order, play games and pay your bill.

Toshiba’s $110 Excite Go brings KitKat to frugal tablet enthusiasts

Mark Hearn May 27 2014 - 8:17 am PT

Excite-Go

The budget tablet market has just gained a $110 contender from Toshiba and its offerings aren’t half bad. Today, the company announced the Excite Go, a 7-inch slab that features a 1,024 x 600 display, a quad-core Intel Atom processor, up to 16GB of storage space and Android 4.4 KitKat. While these specs may not knock your socks off, they’re fairly generous when compared to HP’s latest budget-friendly tablet, which ships with a similar asking price.

The $100 HP 7 Plus offers quad-core power on the cheap

Mark Hearn May 22 2014 - 11:04 am PT

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If you’re in the market for a new tablet but you’re balling on a budget, the $100 HP 7 Plus might be a contender. This low-priced slab features a 1GHz Allwinner A31 ARM Cortex-A7 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage space, a humble 2-megapixel rear-facing shooter with a lackluster 0.3Mp front-facing camera. These aforementioned goodies are powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and are wrapped up in a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 IPS display.

Vote for American Idol with your phone or tablet through Google Search

Zac Hall Feb 26 2014 - 7:27 am PT

Planning to watch American Idol tonight and vote on your favorite performers? Google is making voting through its Search apps possible through a partnership with FOX. As the live finalist performance shows debut, American Idol is allowing viewers to vote through Google.com and Google’s Android and iOS Search apps.

Voting through Google allows you to cast up to 50 votes for each contestant as the new voting system is piloted. Simply search american idol or idol during voting hours and cast your votes!

Google Search for Android is available for free from the Google Play Store.

Airlines implement gate-to-gate handheld device rules faster than expected

Ben Lovejoy Nov 7 2013 - 4:51 am PT

United and American have joined Delta and Jet Blue in permitting gate-to-gate use of portable electronic devices, following the FAA ruling making it legal to do so.

The FAA had said at the time that airlines would need to perform individual tests to demonstrate that the use of electronic devices during all phases of flight would be safe, and had suggested that this might take some time. With the announcement expected as long ago as March, however, it appears that several airlines undertook this testing in advance of the formal ruling.

There has still been no clarification on what constitutes a ‘handheld’ device, but airlines so far appear to be saying yes to tablets and ebook readers and no to laptops. With many tablet and Bluetooth keyboard combos being visually indistinguishable from ultrabooks to non-technical cabin crews, we shall watch with interest to see how the rules are enforced.

Samsung beats out iPad in J.D. Power U.S. tablet customer satisfaction study (Update: Or not …)

Jordan Kahn Oct 31 2013 - 9:40 am PT

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Update: JD Power’s math seems a little off, when you delve into the scores …

Samsung got 18 stars, Apple 18, with Samsung only ahead on price, yet took the overall lead.

J.D. Power has released its 2013 U.S. Tablet Satisfaction Study–Volume 2 today with Samsung edging out Apple’s iPad for the top spot. Apple has in the past ranked number one in the company’s customer stratification surveys for tablets, but this time Samsung has jumped up from number 3 in April to take the first position from the iPad.

Samsung ranks highest with a score of 835 and is the only manufacturer to improve across all five factors since the previous reporting period in April 2013. Samsung showed particularly strong improvement in the cost factor (25-point increase). Apple ranks second scoring 833 and performs particularly well in performance and ease of operation.

While Samsung only slightly beat out Apple with 835 points vs 833 points on a 1000 point scale, the outcome is quite notable for Samsung who in April ranked even lower than Amazon. The study measures customer satisfaction based on five metrics for 3,375 tablet owners: performance (26%); ease of operation (22%); styling and design (19%); features (17%); and cost (16%).
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Schools to be offered low-cost, low-spec ‘Education Tablets’ by Intel

Ben Lovejoy Aug 6 2013 - 6:49 am PT

Intel is hoping to help schools make the transition to electronic learning with the announcement of two low-spec Android tablets intended to be cheap enough for bulk purchase, reports PhoneArena.

The smaller and presumably cheaper of the two comes with an Atom Z2420 chip running at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, and a 7-inch, 1024 by 600 pixel display. There are also 8GB of storage, a built-in speaker and mike, basic front and rear cameras, and a sealed battery that should last through 8 hours of usage. That the tablet is resistant to some water and shock damage, bearing IP41 certification, is worth noting.

The larger of the two Intel Education Tablets is powered by a 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 processor backed by 1GB of RAM and its 10.1-inch display has a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels. It offers twice the built-in storage, 16 gigs …
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Samsung announces 8-inch and Intel-powered 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 tablets arriving this month

Jordan Kahn Jun 3 2013 - 6:01 am PT

While we knew from earlier reports that Samsung was planning on unveiling a new high end tablet with an Intel processor, today Samsung has officially announced the device alongside a new 8-inch variant of its Galaxy Tab 3 line.

Adding to the 7-inch variant that it launched back in April, Samsung today announced the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 (which it later confirmed is indeed using a 1.6GHz dual-core processor from Intel), as well as an 8-inch variant of the device with a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU.

Inside the 10.1-inch model you’ll find 1280 x 800, 149PPI WXGA TFT display, a 3-megapixel main camera and 1.3-megapixel front facing cam, Bluetooth 4.0, microSD slot, and a 6,800 mAh battery. It weighs in at 510g for the WiFi only model, but will also be available with 3G and LTE capabilities when it launches running Android 4.2 later this month.

The 8-inch version comes with a 1280 x 800, 189PPI WXGA TFT display, 5-megapixel cam on the back, 1.3-megapixel on the front, Bluetooth 4.0, a 4,450 mAh battery, microSD expandable to 64GB, and the rest of the usual specs you find in Sammy’s tablets.

Samsung said both devices will be arriving in 16GB and 32GB variants sometime at the beginning of this month. Full specs for both devices below:
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New Nexus 7 NOT pictured in Hangouts video

Seth Weintraub May 16 2013 - 12:38 pm PT

There’s some noise being made about the Nexus 7 in the Hangouts video (above at 21 seconds in). I’ve just talked to a Google rep who said, “That’s not the new Nexus 7… if hypothetically there was such a thing.”
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New Nexus 7 to have 1920×1200 pixel display, 5 megapixel camera, 8mm thickness, same $199 price?

Seth Weintraub May 10 2013 - 5:37 am PT

Well-connected Analyst Mingchi Kuo from KGI securities is known for his often accurate predictions (timing notwithstanding) of upcoming Apple products. He’s got a detailed report out today on the new Nexus 7 that he thinks will be announced at Google I/O and could ship as early as June or July in large numbers.

Perhaps the most interesting bit is that the entry level price will remain at US$199, with Google likely to lose US$5-10 per unit sold according to the analyst. Why is keeping the same price interesting? Because this thing is getting supercharged according to Kuo:

We think the new Nexus 7 will come with the following major spec upgrades: Qualcomm APQ 8064 processor; narrow bezel LTPS 7-inch high-resolution panel (1,920×1,200); 5MP AF rear camera lens; and wireless charging. We also think it will be much lighter and thinner than the previous version.

How light and thin? He’s saying that a smaller bezel around the edges and 7.5-8.5mm thinness should put it near or below the size and weight of Apple’s iPad Mini. He expects the next Mini 2 later this year.

Kuo expects Google/Asus to move 5M units in the second half of the year and continue with the same distribution strategies (selling at the Google Play Store and at retailers simultaneously).

We are positive on Nexus 7’s reception ahead of the iPad mini 2 launch given that the specs have been upgraded but the price has not been increased. However, tablet PC competition has become much fiercer this year, so we reckon new Nexus 7 year-on-year shipments growth will be limited.

It will be interesting to see how close to the current display size the new screen is. 1920×1200 is a 16:10 screen ratio just like the current 1280×800 but enlarging it a few points would go a long way in making it more competitive with Apple’s 7.9-inch iPad Mini, and with the shrunken bezel size, Asus could keep the same handheld form factor.

Google Fiber TV remote app for iPad released

Zac Hall Apr 23 2013 - 11:33 am PT

Google launched its Google Fiber TV for iPad app today allowing Google Fiber customers to transform their iPads into QWERTY keyboard, TV guide yielding TV remotes.

For the past month, our Fiber TV customers have been able to control their TVs with any recent Android device. Using the Fiber TV app from the Google Play Store, they can search for programming, browse listings, and select shows or recordings with just the touch or swipe of a finger. Now, iPad users can enjoy this simple, intuitive experience, too.

This should come as great news to tablet owners in Kansas City, Austin, and Provo.

Google Fiber TV for iPad is available for free in the App Store.

(Source: Google)

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt talks Android activations, Chinese government, social change, and privacy

Ben Lovejoy Apr 16 2013 - 7:54 am PT

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt spoke to AllThingsD‘s Dive Into Mobile 2013 conference this morning:

Toshiba announces quad-core 13-inch, 10-inch, 7-inch tablets

Jake Smith Apr 10 2012 - 6:59 am PT

For those of you who think a 10-inch tablet is too small, Toshiba just announced a new 13-inch tablet this morning to add to its Excite tablet line. Along with the 13-inch version, Toshiba also introduced smaller 7-inch and 10-inch versions, all set to launch in May and June.

Each version of the tablet features a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and 1GB of RAM. Toshiba will also ship each version with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Toshiba is set to launch the Excite 10 in May 2012 for $449 for the 16GB model, $529 for the 32GB model, and $649 for the 64GB model. The Excite 7 is launching in June 2012 for $499 for the 16GB model and $579 for the 32GB model. The Excite 13 tablet launches in June for $649.99 for the 32GB model and $749.99 for the 64GB model.

Our own Seth Weintraub played with the 13-inch version at this year’s CES and said he was pretty impressed. What do you think about a 13-inch tablet?

Check out the full press release after the break:

OnLive Desktop hits Android Market, brings Windows 7 virtual machine, Microsoft Office and 2GB free cloud storage to your tablet

9to5 Staff Mar 1 2012 - 1:20 pm PT

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The OnLive Desktop app launched today on Android Market and costs $5, just like its iOS counterpart that released about three weeks ago. Tapping the power of the cloud and leveraging OnLive’s streaming technology that powers its on-demand gaming service, the OnLive Desktop app puts a Windows 7 virtual machine right at your fingertips and on an Android tablet. You also get access to Microsoft Office applications and 2GB of free cloud storage. The app requires Android 2.3 and is tested on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, Asus Eee TF101, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, 10.1, and HTC Jetstream.

The release notes are below.

Nvidia CEO expects strong growth of non-Apple tablets during 2012

Jordan Kahn Dec 15 2011 - 10:47 am PT

Nvidia CEO Jen-hsun Huang doesn’t typically shy away from making bold claims regarding the future of the tech industry. Just yesterday Huang claimed gaming consoles would reach “tens of teraflops” (according to MacWorld approximately a trillion floating point operations a second) by 2019. He is also, however, making some predictions about the industry on the short term, claiming non-Apple tablets (Android) will see significant growth over the next year due to increased compatibility and improved performance between hardware and software.

According to DigiTimes, Huang, not so surprisingly, expects a new wave of Android tablets and ultrabooks to experience growth during 2012, while noting that hybrid devices like the Transformer Prime from Asus will also experience increased demand. He doesn’t, however, expect the choice between various tablets, ultrabooks, and notebooks to be a huge concern for consumers with each device having its own advantages and thus its own market.

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HP open sourcing webOS, planning new tablets for 2013

Jordan Kahn Dec 9 2011 - 3:14 pm PT

As you can see from the internal email sent to HP employees by CEO Meg Whitman below (via TechCrunch), webOS is officially alive and well and on its way to open source land. Last we heard HP was soon going to come to a solid decision on the fate of webOS and rumors started flying about the company even being open to Android. However, today’s confirmation from Whitman most likely means the company hopes webOS will be picked up by vendors looking for an alternative to Google’s OS. There’s no mention of new hardware in the letter, but The Verge sat down with Whitman and board member Marc Andreessen who say there will indeed be new HP webOS tablets by 2013:

Will HP be creating any new webOS hardware?

The answer to that is yes but what I can’t tell you is whether that will be in 2012 or not. But we will use webOS in new hardware, but it’s just going to take us a little longer to reorganize the team in a quite different direction than we’ve been taking it in the past.

Are we talking printers? Or tablets and phones?

In the near term what I would imagine – and this could change, in full disclosure – is I would think tablets, I do not believe we will be in the smartphone business again.

Here’s Whitman’s full letter to HP Employees: