Tag Archives: Honeycomb tablet

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 hands-on

Posted by Chris Hall on September 7, 2011 1 comment

IFA 2011: Honeycomb nugget?
Lenovo IdeaPad K1 hands-on

Lenovo surprised us with the IdeaPad U300s, its Ultrabook that guns firmly at consumers. But we were also pleasantly surprised by the IdeaPad K1, its take on the Honeycomb tablet. It's been doing the rounds for the last few months and we managed to catch up with it at IFA in Berlin.

On the specs front the K1 doesn’t offer much different from elsewhere: you get the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset, 1GB of RAM, and? a 10.1-inch 1280x800 resolution display.

It weighs 770g and is 12.7mm thick. In the hand it feels well built, with the textured back providing a modicum of grip. It feels good quality, but many of its rivals do too.?

The connectivity is impressive however, with a micro HDMI sitting on the bottom next to a 3.5mm jack and a proprietary dock connector. To Lenovo’s credit, it bundles a USB adapter for this in the box (unlike Samsung), so you can connect USB devices to this dock connector right away.

A microSD card can be slotted into the side and everything has a nice, well thought-out feel to it.

Lenovo hasn’t just left you with a naked Honeycomb device either. They’ve done some tinkering, customising the design of the icons (although they’re not alone in doing that) but also adding a central shortcut cluster for main features - videos, music, email and books.

One of the other differentiators is the selection of pre-loaded apps. Some might see this as a real benefit, meaning you are set to be entertained out of the box; some might see this as bloatware. There are a selection of ArcSoft media apps, games and some freeware.

Priced at ?369, there isn’t a killer differentiator here to really set it apart, but it’s still worth a look.

Tags: Tablets Android Honeycomb Lenovo Lenovo IdeaPad K1 Photos IFA2011

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:47:00 +0100

HP TouchPad Dual Boots Into Android 2.3.5 and webOS (Video)

Posted by Radu Iorga on September 4, 2011 No comments

After HP took the price of the TouchPad tablet down to $100, many saw this as an opportunity to get the cheapest Honeycomb tablet of the moment. How? By paying the price for the TouchPad and porting Android 3.x on it. Well, this has been taking place for days, with results being unstable builds so far.

An example of a pretty successful port is the dual boot into Android 2.3.5 and webOS from the video below. This shows the operating systems working on the TouchPad and there’s already a team fully dedicated to this purpose: Team Touch DROID. For the dual boot to take place, the device must be connected to a PC in order to receive the commands you enter manually.

Team Touch DROID wants to enable touchscreen and hardware acceleration for Android, to enhance the experience provided on this model. The development has been going smoothly, considering they started a week or so ago and a version for the general public is expected soon enough. The question is: do you prefer dual boot or straight Android 2.3.5? And what about Honeycomb?

Sony Tablet S priced and dated by Dixons

Posted by Stuart Miles on September 2, 2011 No comments

IFA 2011: Gets exclusive pre-order window
Sony Tablet S priced and dated by Dixons

The new Sony?Honeycomb tablet has gone on pre-order with Dixons.co.uk in the UK, ahead of any other retailer in the UK.

In what’s a rather strange offer, those desperate to order the new Sony Tablet S?tablet ?will be able to do so exclusively at Dixons for the next 2 weeks.

"Sony’s Tablet S is a real contender in the tablet market and one we expect to be a big success. The two week pre-order period for the Sony Tablet S will be a very exciting period for us to see how popular this tablet will be with our customers," said Mark Slater, category director at Dixons Retail.

While that might sound like a chance to get your hands on the new Honeycomb tablet before anyone else, don’t be fooled, it just means you can order it before anyone else. The Tablet S will still ship on the same day from other retailers.

The Sony S1 tablet, now called the Tablet S, will go on sale on the 23 September for ?399.99 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, ?499.99 for the 16GB 3G and Wi-Fi model, or ?499.99 for the 32GB Wi-Fi only model.

Dixons told Pocket-lint that it is still looking at whether or not to stock the other Honeycomb Android tablet from Sony, the Tablet P.

The Sony Tablet S will be available in the UK exclusively from Sony Centres, Currys & PC World, and John Lewis.

Read

Tags: Tablets Sony Sony Tablet S Sony Tablet P IFA2011 Dixons

Sony Tablet S priced and dated by Dixons originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:39:00 +0100

IFA 2011: Toshiba Announces AT200 Tablet, Incredibly Thin at 7.7mm

Posted by James A. on September 1, 2011 No comments

Toshiba is ready to make Samsung jealous, since it has just announced at IFA 2011 an incredibly slim tablet, with a mere 7.7mm waistline. If I’m not mistaking, this is the thinnest Honeycomb tablet available on the market right now, or better said, to be available soon.

The AT200 has been rumored for a while now, especially under the name Toshiba Excite, that was spotted officially days ago. As far as specs go, nothing mind blowing here: a 10.1 inch LCD display with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, a TI OMAP 4430 CPU at 1.2GHz and up to 64GB of internal memory, plus an extra from the microSD card slot.

The video and photo capture are handled by a 5MP shooter at the back and a 2MP sensor upfront. The battery should be more decent than on the Thrive, reaching around 8 hours, according to Toshiba. No launch date or price was given, but we expect further details to pop up during the following days of IFA 2011. Another interesting addition to this slate are the new Toshiba stereo speakers with Adaptive Sound Device Enhancer algorithms in the work, for hugely improved audio quality.

Sony Tablet S hands-on

Posted by Chris Hall on August 31, 2011 1 comment

IFA 2011: Designed to be different?
Sony Tablet S hands-on. Tablets, Sony, Sony Tablet S, Android, Honeycomb, IFA2011, Photos 0

They may be arriving at the Honeycomb tablet game a little late, but you can never underestimate a company like Sony. Howard Stringer, Sony president and CEO, took to the stage at IFA 2011 to kick off a run of new product launches saying that it’s “not who makes it first, but who makes it better”.

Apt words indeed for the first Honeycomb tablet we’ve seen for a while that feels a little different in the hand. Much of this comes down to design which is both distinctive and has a practical application.

The wedge-shaped design looks a little like a folded newspaper and it’s noticeably lighter in the hand than rival tablets at 598g. The idea is that holding it feels more comfortable because there is something to grip on to.

In practice that rings true, especially if you want to use it in portrait to read. With Sony’s Reader Store available to the Tablet S - along with the likes of the Amazon Kindle app - it serves well as a device for reading books or comics and the lighter weight is welcomed.

But on the other hand, the plastic finish might deter some. It quickly attracts fingerprints and unlike the luxurious feel of the metal you might find elsewhere, some might say that the Tablet S doesn’t feel as premium as other devices.?

A benefit of having that wedge shape is that once laid done on a desk or table, you get a better viewing angle and it’s easier to type. As a Sony agent pointed out, you don’t need a fancy case to help you get a good typing angle, no matter how magical it is.

The design is likely to be a love it or hate it point: you’ll either buy into it being distinctly different or you won’t. Having toted the Tablet S around on the showfloor, we quite like the feeling it gives you in the hand.

Honeycomb tablets are nothing new these days and Sony have, in our opinion, taken the right approach by leaving the interface mostly unfettered. There are a few tweaks here and there like the app menu, but landing on the homepage is very much a stock Honeycomb experience.?

Sony’s differentiation comes by sucking in the world around you, so the Tablet S goes beyond just offering you DNLA connectivity. Sony have created a collection of their own apps which are unique to the Tablet S (although we’re sure that they will find their way onto the internet blackmarket).?

These apps include the likes of Select App, which is designed to make it easier to find apps from Android Market, you’ll get a Reader app and you’ll get integration with other connected devices on your network. One application here is the idea of throwing your content onto your TV.

We’ve seen other DNLA apps that will let you send video connected devices, so it isn’t unique, but in the demos we’ve seen so far, it is a little more lavishly designed than other solutions.

The Tablet S will function as a universal remote control thanks to the inclusion of an IR transmitter, so you can tell it what devices you have and it will pull up the controls - it’s amazingly simple to set up new devices so you can have full control over your entertainment system, no matter who the original manufacturer was. If you have something obscure you can teach it the controls too.

There is another trump card that Sony is going to play with the Tablet S: keeping it in the family, we have PlayStation certification. Essentially, as we saw with the Xperia Play, this means that you’ll be able to access PlayStation classics for a little gaming on the tablet. The on-screen interface offers a great deal of customisation, so you can change the control layout to suit your needs.?

It’s nice to see something a little different from a design point of view and the hardware also delivers: the 1280 x 800 9.4-inch display looks sharp and at its core you have the power of the 1GHz Tegra 2 chipset, also in most other rival devices.

The design does mean that physical connectivity is on the light side - an SD card slot and Micro-USB are joined by a 3.5mm headphone jack, but you don’t get HDMI of any variety.

Wi-Fi and 3G versions will be available, with 16 or 32GB memory options. The Tablet S is set to land at the end of September, with a €479 price tag. We overheard a Sony rep saying it would be hitting Sony.co.uk for ?399, but this price isn't confirmed.

Tags: Tablets Sony Sony Tablet S Android Honeycomb IFA2011 Photos

Sony Tablet S hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:56:44 +0100

Firefox Previewed for Honeycomb Tablets

Posted by Kevin Krause on August 30, 2011 2 comments

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If you’re looking for a great browsing experience on your Honeycomb tablet, you might need look no further than the upcoming release of Firefox. Taking advantage of the larger, widescreen display of Android 3.0 slates, the mobile browser has been designed to reconfigure its layout depending on orientation. Landscape mode provides tabbed browsing via a menu, while portrait mode produces thumbnail previews of tabs along the side of the screen. You can also look forward to a revamped “awesomebar.”

The new browser is still early in its development so there is no given timeframe for when it could be released. We’ll be waiting anxiously, however, as this browser looks to deliver in ways that its smartphone cousin has managed to fall a bit short.

[via Electronista]

Fujitsu Arrows Tab – Ruggedized Android Tablet For Active Lifestyles

Posted by Chris Chavez on August 30, 2011 No comments

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If one of your gripes with current Android tablets is how they wouldn’t be able to stand up to your active lifestyle well, Fujitsu may have something in the works for you. It’s called the Arrows Tab (F-01D) and this bad boy could be the world’s first dust/water proof rugged Honeycomb tablet when released next month on NTT DoCoMo.

Spec wise, we’re looking at a 10.1-inch, 1280×800 resolution display, 1Ghz Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, micro SD slot, 5MP rear/1.3MP front facing cameras, micro usb port, Android 3.1 and support for DoCoMo’s LTE network. Pricing has yet to be revealed. Honestly, this guy isn’t looking too bad from what I was expecting from a tablet resistant to the elements. But what do you guys think? Is there a market for more ruggedized Android tablets (providing they still keep a shapely figure)?

[Via TCMagazine]

Sony Inviting Canadian Consumers to Sony Tablet S (S1) Event in Toronto Mid-September

Posted by Quentyn Kennemer on August 29, 2011 1 comment

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If the Sony S1 – Sony’s first Honeycomb tablet (the 10.1 inch single display model) – interests your pique even a little bit, Sony’s willing to let you into their main Canadian offices to check the tablet out at a “Customer VIP” invite-only event. The event takes places September 14th and 15th. The tablet isn’t all that exotic put up against contenders – it has a 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 2.3, a 10.1 inch display and more. It will be unique, though, thanks to the ergonomically-designed form factor and its Playstation Certification. I know I can’t be the only one excited to hear more about this. If any of you lucky Canadians out there happen to get this invite and are planning on attending, let us know and be sure to hit us up in a couple weeks’ time if you’ve got impressions to share! [Mobile Syrup]

Toshiba Goes Slim for Successor to the Thrive Tablet

Posted by Kevin Krause on August 29, 2011 No comments

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Toshiba appears prepared to issue an announcement regarding a followup to the summer release of their first Honeycomb tablet, the Toshiba Thrive, and it could come next week at IFA. The new slate looks to improve on the shortcomings of their previous device, most notably with a svelte new look revealed in renders obtained by Notebook Italia. Featuring a thinner frame with brushed metal accents, little else is known about the new offering aside from the inclusion of microHDMI, microUSB, and microSD ports revealed in the leaked images.

Toshiba’s previous two attempts at entering the Android tablet space haven’t gone as successfully as they had hoped. The company would rather forget the poor performance of their initial Folio 100 and very well could be looking to erase the Thrive from their memory as well.

[via NotebookItalia]

Acer Iconia A100 hands-on

Posted by Ian Morris on August 24, 2011 13 comments

Another 7-inch Honeycomb tablet arrives
Acer Iconia A100 hands-on

It feels like it's taken a long time for 7-inch Honeycomb devices to show up. And then, as always, several turn up at once. The Acer Iconia A100 is the most recent and offers many of the usual features. Ours is a Wi-Fi only model, with 8GB of built-in storage which can be upgraded via Micro-USB.?

The first impressions we had as we took it out of the box were that it feels solid and well built. It's pleasing too, that manufacturers seems to be learning from Apple, with sleek packaging rather than a mess of nasty brown cardboard boxes.

Included in the pack is a USB cable, proprietary power connector and, of course, the tablet itself. We're disappointed that Acer hasn't dropped this power-adaptor nonsense yet. It's much easier to provide devices that charge over USB, and it means that you can have chargers in lots of places, ready to re-juice your device when it runs low.

On the plus side, there's an HDMI socket, for connecting the A100 to your TV, USB for transferring files to the tablet and, naturally, a headphone socket. Speakers are also present, giving you a way to watch video or listen to music with friends. Another proprietary connector is on board too, but this allows you to connect the Acer to accessories, and we can more easily forgive its restricted nature.

As this is a Honeycomb device, the hardware buttons have largely gone. There's a home key, but apart from that everything is handled by the OS itself. This is something of a mixed blessing, but hardware keys can get in the way when you're holding a tablet in landscape mode, so perhaps their gradual disappearance is a good thing. If anything crashes though, you're going to have to find a pin to stick into that reset switch hole.

Because it's a 7-inch tablet and we've got a Galaxy Tab, we're comparing the Iconia to the aged Samsung 7-inch device. While old, it still does everything we need a tablet to do, and it's amazing how close these devices are to one another. Both are weighty, sturdy and feel nice to hold - an advantage over cumbersome 10-inch models. Each also has a 600x1024 resolution display, although the newer Acer has far more power behind it, including an Nvidia GPU and a dual-core processor.

From our short time with Acer Iconia A100, we're pleased. The build quality and hardware specification show a lot of promise and we think the 7-inch form factor will appeal to lots of people too.?

If you're keen on a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet, you should also read our ViewSonic ViewPad 7x review. A full review of the Acer Iconia A100 will be published shortly.

Tags: Android Honeycomb Acer Acer Iconia Tab A100 Tablets Photos