Review Horizon

The mighty successor of the second best selling tablet (after iPad) Nook Color, was officially launched today and for the price, it delivers a significantly better kick than its predecessor. Barnes & Noble newest toy, Nook Tablet claims to be the Reader’s tablet and to offer the best in entertainment, with a strong orientation toward HD. Priced at a similar price with the first model Nook Color, Nook Tablet doubles pretty much everything from the storage memory (16GB vs 8GB), RAM (1GB vs 512MB) and CPU (dual core 1GHz vs single core 800 MHz) the new model should be quite a thrill to use.

Nook Tablet won’t include Amazon or Android Markets, unless you root / jailbreak it, something that I am sure will happen shortly after the launch. However, it will include a number of applications at launch including Netflix and Hulu Plus HD variants, Pandora, a Flash supporting web browser and e-mail clients, games, magazines, etc.

Its main competitor is obviously Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The two tablets are almost similarly priced ($199 for Kindle Fire vs $249 for Nook Tablet) and also share some similar specifications, with few differences. While both are lacking a camera, Nook Tablet includes double the memory of Amazon Kindle Fire for a vastly improved multi-tasking, double the storage (16GB vs 8GB) AND the inclusion of a microSDHC slot to expand the storage up to an additional 32GB for cheap. The Nook Tablet is also slightly lighter than Amazon Fire, 14.1 ounces vs 14.6 for Amazon Fire. The display seems to be an improved IPS screen at 1024 x 600 with a remarkable 89 degrees viewing angle and the battery life is stated at up to 11.5 hours of reading and 9 hours of video (wireless off, of course).

Does this worth the additional $50 in the price over the Kindle Fire? It is up to you to decide, but don’t forget that for similarly spec’ed devices, it is the eco-system that makes or breaks a platform. We will review both devices shortly after we will receive them, so check back to our site for details, in-depth reviews and also a detailed comparison of the two tablets.

The new Nook Tablet is available for pre-order right now at B&N website for $249 and scheduled to ship on November 17th.

Check after the break for video / photo gallery / detailed technical specifications.

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Breaking news today folks – HP just announced that they won’t spin off the PC unit after all, reversing the last CEO Leo Apotheker decision. Hewlett-Packard’s current CEO Meg Whitman said that “keeping the unit within the company is right for the company, its customers, shareholders and business partners”. Another reason can be that Leo’s decision to sell it instantly devaluated it and HP just couldn’t find the right buyer.

To be honest, we were a bit sad to see an entire successful division go so keeping it is a bit of good news. Now, if only HP does some magic and ports Windows 8 onto their cheap (and recently discontinued) HP TouchPad line, we could really say that we are completely satisfied, and that wouldn’t be a small feat.

Read the full HP Press Release after the break

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If you are interested in a dirt cheap Surveillance DVR (Digital Video Recorder), the lowest price I have ever seen is this Night Owl NONB-4DVR 4 x BNC Compact H.264 Digital Video Recorder with Smart Phone Access at Newegg. They have it right now for only $69 but it doesn’t include the hard drive. In my opinion this is actually a good thing since you can get a SATA drive for really cheap nowadays.

Obviously, at this price you can’t expect HD quality, but for $69 you can’t really go too wrong. Just remember! It doesn’t come with a hard-drive so you’ll have to get a SATA one separately. Has a mouse, remote control and you can connect it to your TV for instant 4 in 1 camera viewing. I got one myself so expect a review quite soon. there is tax in California, of course so expect it for $75.06 shipped.

Today’s free Android App of the Day in Amazon’s App Store is quite a treat – and I am talking about OfficeSuite Pro 5 with a regular daily price of $14.99.

The suite lets you create, view and edit Word and Excel documents and offers viewers for PowerPoint and PDF files. If you need to use the cloud, Google Docs are supported and well integrated in the application. Both old version and new version (XML based) of Office formats are supported. Works nicely on my CyanogenMod 7.1 enabled Nook Color and HP TouchPad.

The deal is only good for today, so grab it while you still have the chance.

via Amazon App Store

 A direct competitor to the popular ZAGGmate by Logitech Bluetooth keyboard for iPad 2 (full ZAGGmate review here) surfaces, this time from the start-up Hatch & Co. Dubbed the World’s Slimmest iPad 2 Keyboard Case, SKINNY weighs 10.4 ounces, lighter than the ZAGGmate’s 12.2 ounces and only 0.6 inches thin. The keyboard itself? An impressive 0.07 inches!!! Other technical details include 2 weeks of battery life at normal daily usage and 6 weeks in standby, Bluetooth, dedicated multimedia keys and, similar with the smart cases, it wakes/put to slip your iPad 2 when you open respectively close the case. The technology is also different than a normal keyboard, Hatch & Co replacing the standard chiclet keys with ultra-thin touch technology, similar with the one used in mobile phones.

The keyboard case is available now at Amazon for about $89 shipped, we’ll try to get ours for a full review and to see how it compares against the competition. For the photo gallery and full press release, jump after the break.

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One can hope, right? According to various rumors around the web (which at this point are only that: rumors), the HP TouchPad hardware team is working hard to prove they shouldn’t be disbanded just yet with a proof of concept illustrating how Windows 8 Dev preview works on their recently discontinued (and hugely popular) HP TouchPads. The TouchPad devices were sold at a huge discount during the last month fire sale, the 16GB version selling for $99 while the 32GB one going for $149.

If everything works well, HP could possibly resurrect the TouchPad or release a new tablet altogether, optimized for Windows 8. Take all this with a grain of salt, but the Windows 8 porting seems to be real enough and certainly, the TouchPad is more than capable of running the Android version of upcoming Windows 8, with its dual core 1.5Ghz native processor. Not only this, but a large percentage of the HP TouchPad buyers since the fire-sale are probably technology enthusiasts, many of them with enough knowledge to make their hands dirty in some low level config/installation and it might even help Microsoft assess the Windows 8 ARM version before the official release.
Before this happens though, Android was already ported on it impersonated by a CyanogenMod 7.1 release, runs really well even in early Alpha release, includes market, Games, Apps, Netflix, Hulu, etc and our tutorial can be found right here.

via FoxNews

If you call internationally a lot, you are probably familiar with Vonage’s World Premium Unlimited at $54.99/month plus taxes, a plan that let you calls pretty much everywhere you want, as much as you want and includes international cell phones as well. Vonage had an extension plan for a while already, allowing you to register another line beside your main one (including a cell phone) to use with the plan, and to also call internationally without spending a penny more.

Well, starting today, you can also use your iPhone / Android handset registered as an extension and be able to make VoIP international calls from the same Vonage account. You can even add the second extension for an additional $4.99 / month if you and your significant other have the same calling needs.

via Android MarketPlace, iTunes

If you need some popular PAID applications for free, head over GetJar alternative Android Market and get then for free. For those concerned, yes, the market is legit, but with the following caveat – it is not yet personalized so you won’t be able to upgrade those applications / games in the future. But they are free, so we can’t complain (that much).

Head over GetJat website for their Gold Apps list. For easier management, you can download their market to your Android device. And, before I forget I have to mention that it works on both CyanogenMod 7 Nook Color and HP TouchPad.

Free paid apps & games @ GetJar

Apps
Beautiful Widgets
TuneIn Radio Pro
Paper Camera
AllSport GPS PRO
Splashtop Remote Desktop
Tapatalk Read More…

Update 10/23/2011: Netflix just released yet a new version specifically to fix their recently introduced CyanogenMod 7 video compatibility issue. I can confirm that now everything works fine on both Netflix and TouchPad, including the subtitles.

Netflix released their new Netflix player version for Android devices today adding the long awaited Android 3.x support, subtitles and Canada/Latin America support. This is all nice and peachy. What is not so nice is that some CyanogenMod devices are not supported properly anymore. I was able to personally test that CMP Nook Color ad HP TouchPad don’t show video anymore, just audio (and subtitles if enabled). The previous version (1.4.1) works well and if you are in need for the Netflix apk file, you can always find them in here. Some apk versions even have the automatic update check disabled.

The new version is available for free in Android Market.