Review Horizon

We knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, the gadget prices are dropping faster and faster and eventually, we had to get some reasonable good tablet at Nook Color price point of $250. We didn’t know until today which company will launch it – Viewsonic. Their new Android tablet ViewBook 730 retails for $249.99 and brings the following:

• 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU – faster than Nook Color which runs at 800MHz
• front facing VGA camera
• 512MB RAM
• 8GB storage memory
• Android 2.2
• microSD expansion slot, up to 32GB
• 7 inches 800 x 480 with 400:1 contrast ratio and 380 cd/m2 brightness – LED backlit
• 5000mA/h battery designed to last between 8-10 hours
• mini HDMI output
• mini USB for charging / PC link
• audio jack for audio out (3.5mm – standard)

We don’t know yet whether the screen is resistive or capacitive, however it comes with a pen so 99% chances the screen is resistive (ouch). Compared with a Nook Color, the ViewBook has a cheaper screen with a lower resolution (no competition for Nook Color’s IPS 1024 x 600 wonder), no capacitive screen but faster CPU, HDMI out and VGA camera. It is up to you what device you’ll prefer. ViewBook will also come with the Amazon Android Appstore, Amazon Kindle and Amazon cloud player. To be shipped this month.

Check after the break for a ViewBook 730 video clip / additional photos. Read More…

iPad 2 won’t ship until tomorrow (orders start only at 1:00AM Pacific Time, in Apple store at 5:00PM local time), but there are already a bunch of early reviews around the web from the big guys lucky enough to get their test units early. While everybody is in awe about the reduced thickness of the new Apple device – at only 0.34 inches – amazingly enough even slimmer that the already slim iPhone 4, the general opinion seems to be that the new iteration is more an evolutionary device rather than revolutionary.

Hardware:
Everything is faster and better, that much is sure. The weight is somewhat reduced from around 1.5 pounds to about 1.34 pounds (for Europeans, from 680g to 601g), the overall dimensions are reduced a bit to 9.5 by 7.3 inches (see the comparison table) and the processor in now dual core A5 instead of single core A4.
The memory doubles as well to 512MB from 256MB and there is a new graphic beast inside, around 9 times faster than the Read More…

OK, in case you don’t live under a rock, you probably know already that Apple launched with much fanfare their next generation of tablets, iPad 2. While it is obviously an evolution of the original iPad rather than a revolution, the new iPad 2 brings up pretty much everything you would expect in a modern tablet: Dual core processor, speed, and this time it is fast enough to play every codec available up to 1080p, front / back camera for video-conference, all neatly packaged in a super thin 8.8mm device.

The problem? Well, it is exactly as I said: The new iPad 2 brings up pretty much everything you would expect in a modern tablet. That means nothing that Samsung tablets, Motorola Xoom or any one from the many decent tablets to be released this year won’t have. Suddenly, Apple sees itself in the situation of a follower, not a leader. Is this happening every time when you get too big or too comfortable with your market position ? Perhaps, and now Apple will be accused of everything Microsoft was being accused in the last decade…you know, I won’t steal your time with a list.

Don’t get me wrong, iPad 2 is a beautifully executed tablet, a nice design in a very slim package. Apple will sell millions again because of its name. The problem is…Nowadays most of the Read More…

Named yet again a true iPad killer since everybody wants to kill as many iOS devices as they can, Motorola XOOM will start selling (with a subscription of course) at Verizon Wireless stores.

The price? $599 with a two year contract and the monthly prices start at $20 / month for 1GB of data. At the beginning the data service will be 3G only but Verizon (and XOOM) will upgrade to 4G LTE speeds in the second quarter of this year. My opinion? While the hardware is excellent (10.1 inches LCD, dual HD camera – the rear one with 720p HD capture and dual core 1GHz CPU ) and the tablet should fly, the price of both the tablet itself and the data plans are high enough to scare most of prospective buyers.

And while obviously plans with higher data allowance are also available, watching a movie on the go will eat most of them in one day.

Check Verizon’s full press release after the break.

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Conform with a new study published by Strategy Analytics, Apple has a staggering lead on the tablet market selling 95% of the total of 4.4 millions tablets sold this year. At a very distant second comes Android with its multiple devices and Windows tablets are somewhere in the fog, still finding their way.

This is spelling a big trouble for the competition, especially because once an eco-system is build and applications are available for basically every user need, it is almost impossible to overcome. While there is some hope for the upcoming Android tablets as Samsung Galaxy Tab and maybe even the upcoming NOOKcolor especially considering its $249 price), we can’t stop but wonder what if Microsoft has any plans, knowing that it was them that pushed the TabletPC concept all this time.

Maybe they should just hire some marketing power from Apple? Let’s not forget that Microsoft recently killed the Courier concept, the only device that in my opinion could have been an iPad killer for real.

We got all sorts of price ranges from Europe but nothing for good old USA so it is understandable that we were waiting to see when, where and how much. Today, Verizon Wireless dropped the bomb and announced that it will start selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab for $599 on November 11th. Unfortunately there is no discount if you buy a data plan so you might try a combination like smart phone – Galaxy tab or just wait for things to change. Verizon currently offers 1GB / month for $20 which might or might not be enough considering that we are talking about a tablet here which will be able to stream movies.
Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch multi-touch screen device with 1024×600 resolution, full support for Adobe Flash 10.1 (unlike Apple iPad), dual camera (front and back), full 1080p movie player, 1GHz CPU and running Android 2.2. Among the pre-installed  software packages you will be able to find Kindle for Android and Google Maps navigation.

Which format works best for you? The 7-inches Galaxy Tab or the larger Apple iPad?

2010 is shaping to be the year of the tablets…Research In Motion Ltd., the very one to make the BlackBerry smartphone, launched yet another Apple iPad competitor – the PlayBook.

There are not many technical details at this point, but RIM’s latest entry in the tablet market has a 7-inch touchscreen display and it is built around a Cortex A9, 1GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, app switching similar to the webOS, the standard eReader and of course it is capable to be connected to RIM’s BlackBerry phones. The OS seemed to be a customization by QNX. Other hardware specifications include HDMI output with full 1080p media playback, dual HD cameras – front and back (hmmmm, that’s no iPad ) and just 9.7″ thin. RIM also seems to have some gaming in mind with support for POSIX and OpenGL which is always good news. My only concern is a further fragmentation of the tablet market which will scare the developers away. Don’t forget that we already have Android, iOS, RIM’s OS, webOS, Windows 7 and several other less know players around.

Ahhhh, I almost forgot one very important aspect: PlayBook has Flash 10.1 support!!!

Check after the break for the BlackBerry PlayBook Preview video. Read More…

In an effort to sell even more millions units, and following their recent deal with BestBuy, Apple signs a deal with Target stores to sell their wonder device starting October 3rd. What is even better is that iPad is also covered under Target’s 5 percent discount (that is, if you have a Target card, of course).

The discount deal for the card itself will be available starting October 17th, just in time for the holidays. Target will sell all iPad models available in both 3G and WiFi only versions and it will become the largest department store network to sell the iPad. The lowest priced iPad available will cost you $499 (plus local tax, of course).

Meantime, we are still waiting for the device to be sold on Amazon by Amazon and skip those pesky taxes, since right right is only available from 3rd parties, and with somewhat of a price premium added.

A new video appeared, describing the HP response (even if technically was shown before) to Apple’s iPad. Sporting a Windows 7 OS, multi-touch gestures and dual camera for both pictures and video conference, this device seems to be everything iPad is not, including USB and SD memory slots, and also Flash!

If HP (together with Microsoft) can implement the UI right and hide the Windows 7 innards under a layer of user friendliness, the only thing left to do is to somehow create a store to gather all the applications written specifically for the new interface under one roof. Anything less than that and the device will be limited to the techies (like myself) that are willing to hunt for compatible apps in various places scattered all over the internet (and even I am getting lazier and lazier – iPhone made me like that…).

Update: Engadget just published some new price/specs, apparently taken from a HP internal memo:

Price – $549 in basic configuration
Hardware:
Display: 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multi-touch display
Processor: 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor
Graphic: UMA graphics with  1080p video playback
Memory: 32GB of flash storage and 1GB of non-upgradeable RAM.
Battery: five-hour battery
Peripherals: an SDHC slot, two cameras, a USB port, a SIM card slot for the optional 3D modem, and a dock connector for power, audio, and HDMI out, Pen/Digitizer support.

Check after the break for the video in all its HD glory.

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Intro:

Those fortunate enough to attend last year’s Microsoft PDC conference had a really nice surprise waiting for them at the lobby in the second day. A free Acer Aspire 1420P Convertible Tablet PC for each PDC paying attendee. Happily I was among those fortunate and it soon become my favorite tablet, for the reasons I’ll detail below. After several months of heavy use my wife stole it from me and now it became HER favorite tablet .

Details:

I will not detail the aspects common to other devices in the same class, but focus on what make this convertible tablet unique. This model given to PDC attendees was customized specifically for them. Read More…