News
Amazon may currently be king of Android tablets, but the online retail giant sure isn’t willing to give up the throne without a fight. Alongside the rumored updated Kindle Fire(s), the company will continue to support this year’s model. To keep their current crop of customers happy, Amazon has just issued an update that includes a slew of enhancements. While Amazon’s Silk Browser still could use some smoothing over, the update (6.3.1) brings on much needed parental controls. It may sound minor, but this was a deal breaker to some who have young ones hell bent on clicking colorful buttons that said “Purchase”. (more…)
It seems as if it were only yesterday that the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 hit store shelves. Like most devices, the Android community didn’t have to wait long for someone to gain root exploit. Developer nycbjr over at hacker friendly forum rootzwiki has written a very simple tutorial (more…)
We reported that the new ASUS Transformer Pad is available for grabs and that if you’re on a budget, you should definitely pick it up. Well it turns out that it has hit Best Buy shelves with a price of $379.99 for the 16GB model. But as we all know, if you do just a tiny bit of searching, you can always find something better than what the brick and mortar stores are offerring. (more…)
You can now pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 online from Office Depot. The 16GB WiFi Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 will be available for $399 with free shipping. If you’re the type of person who would rather go to the store and pick one up, it will hit brick and mortar Office Depots starting May 13th. (more…)
Is your Acer Iconia A500/501 still running last year’s Android 3.0 aka Honeycomb? Have you been manually checking for updates everyday on your device since the announcement on April 27? Well you may not have to wait any longer. Acer has heard your cries and have released a companion app to finally bring your slate to the modern age.
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Samsung isn’t exactly known for timely updates. The South Korean tech company, along with the likes of Motorola and HTC, have received major flak for rolling updates several months after Google releases a new platform update. Worse, most devices fail to receive any updates at all, stuck on the firmware they shipped with. However, it seems Samsung may be turning over a maple leaf. According to a press release, our neighbors north of the border may be finally getting a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich.
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According to digital data mining company comScore, the Amazon Kindle Fire has become the number one selling Android tablet only right behind Apple’s iPad. While the Android powered Kindle Fire shares the same software as other tablets as say, the Motorola Xoom (albeit the Fire runs Android 2.3 rather than 4.0), Amazon has stripped the OS of its Google products and replaced it with their own. With their ecosystem in place, Amazon has gained additional revenue through media purchases (apps, movies, books). This is something competitors should try to keep in mind if they wish to compete in the sea of tablets. The common consumers don’t see tablets in terms of processing speed or memory, it’s the type of content they can consume. (more…)
Owners of last year’s Acer Iconia Tab A500 and Sony Tablet S have something to be grateful about — both devices will finally have a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich. While few months late is better than never, the Android 4.0 update will slowly hit both tablets in the form of OTA. While both tablets have already wielded Google’s newest and greatest thanks to to custom ROM’s, it’s nice to see both manufacturers officially deliver Ice Cream Sandwich. (more…)
Not to be left out of the spotlight, Samsung has finally unleashed the newest slate in their Galaxy Tab series. Releasing the smaller tablets first, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (say that 5 times fast) is now available to purchase on Amazon. While it’s nice to have an alternative to the everyday 10.1 inch screen, the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 ships with last year’s hardware. While it does come with Ice Cream Sandwich preinstalled, the year old specs is already ancient compared to the new batch of upcoming tablets. (more…)
With the release of our new app, LilyPad HD, we’ve been receiving a lot of requests for various instant messaging (IM) clients. Because of the new innovative ‘float’ design, we have to add each client carefully, one by one, to insure that it is stable enough to be used. As we were discussing amongst ourselves on what IM protocol we should support next, we thought, why not leave the choice up to you, our users? So with that being said, we’ve opened up the polls! Take a minute and vote in the poll below to let us know what IM client you would like to be supported next. Be sure to leave us a comment with your second and third choice (in order of preference) as well. We’re working really hard to bring you as many clients as we possibly can! (more…)
While it’s been a month (give or take) since the coveted Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich graced the original Transformer, ASUS has been surprisingly slow in addressing the major issues that shipped with the update. Random reboots, sleep of death and just plain ol’ sluggish performance crippled a number of user’s tablets. While custom roms attempted to pick up the slack, many users remained or rolled back to a much more stable Android 3.2 Honeycomb. Seems like ASUS finally heard your teary cries and has released an update to the masses. (more…)
It’s been roughly a year since we first laid our eyes on ASUS’ phone and tablet combination. The recently past Consumer Electronic Show (CES ’12) finally unveiled the device running along with a new keyboard dock similar to their Transformer cousins. Salivating consumers everywhere were finally given a chance to pre order the devices and given a release date of April 20. We’ve been counting down the days since in anticipation. Well April 20 has come and gone and many of you noticed that the hybrid device was still absent on store shelves. Unfortunately, the ASUS Padfone has been delayed until May. (more…)
Afraid your smart phones and tablets will head down the same road as virus, spyware and malware infested PC’s? It’s not a website or rouge apps you should be wary of. Look behind you, your over bearing boss and loved ones may be responsible. (more…)
As we reported about a week ago, ASUS has finally released their Transformer Pad 300. Like we pointed out, ASUS has dropped the “Prime” tag line in favor of something more mainstream. Don’t be fooled by the name change however, though the Taiwanese company made some minor adjustments, they did not fully take it all the way back to the drawing board. ASUS’ relatively small changes makes this slate a bit more budget friendly than the original, but is it enough to warrant your purchase? (more…)
Flying under the radar this week was the release of a new tablet in the Acer Iconia series. Dubbed the ‘Iconia A510′, this tablet packs the same quad core Tegra 3 processor found in the Transformer Prime though for a marginal price. Retailed at $450 ($50 less than the Prime) the slate sports the standard issue 10.1 inch screen with a generous 32GB on board. The tablet will also ship with Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich straight out of the box so yes, you can skip the waiting game. Like the original A500, the A510 will come with a number of ports, including a micro HDMI, microSD slot, and a microUSB so you don’t have to plunk down extra cash for accessories *ahem* Apple. (more…)
A week ago we reported that ASUS would be issuing a GPS add-on for Transformer Prime owners. Those affected by wonky GPS lock on or just a completely non functional GPS will be able to register their device and receive their free GPS kit. While ASUS has yet to actually issue any devices, we’ve gotten some images of the long awaited dongle. (more…)
It looks as if Samsung is looking continue last years tradition of releasing variously sized devices and hoping one will stick. While the Galaxy Tab 10.1 2 has just hit brick and mortar stores this month, Samsung is already looking to introduce a new line of slates. In a leaked internal document, it’s revealed that the South Korean’s newest tablet will be called Espresso 10 and Espresso 7. Of course those numbers allude to their sizes (10.1 inch for the former and 7 inch for the latter) but major details are still kept in the dark. (more…)
Despite the revelation that retailers were hesitant to put the Transformer Prime on store shelves, ASUS is poised yet again to force itself on the tablet market. Although beating Hasbro in court, ASUS has chosen to drop the “Prime” moniker in this next installment instead opted out to a more reserved “Transformer Pad” . Also not making the cut: the weird subtitled ”EE” name. Despite the popularity of the Transformer series, will ASUS newest tablets make a splash in the looming shadow of it’s upcoming Transformer Infinity?
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It seems the hands of Cupertino won’t reach stretch as far this time around. While their description of a non infringement device is pretty far fetch, it’s nice to see something that’s not just a slab of metal and plastic in form of a square. A little known company called Ematic has just revealed their new tablet called eGlide Prism. The aptly named 7 inch device has a unique prism like design on the rear which is unlike anything to hit the market. However that’s not the only thing that makes device entirely unique. Check back after the break to see what this new comer has to offer.
It seems like Google loves leaving their fans twitching and squirming. If the flying rumors around the internet weren’t enough, Larry Page, current CEO and co- founder of Google, added fuel to the fire by teasing Android lovers about the upcoming tablet.In announcing the company’s quarter earning revenue last Thursday,the CEO spoke about tablets in passing. (more…)
It’s safe to say that Toshiba’s Android tablet offering was only a few short steps away from a flop. In comparison against manufacturers such as Samsung and ASUS, their Thrive line of slates have failed to reach the height of the Transformer and Galaxy Tab series. By itself, the Toshiba Thrive and all of their various sizes are not all bad. It’s unique removable battery and numerous ports certainly made Thrive more than a powerful device. As such it did come packaged with too many issues. The battery reportedly lasted no longer than the average Angry Birds marathon (6 hours), and roughly as thick and heavy as 2 Galaxy Tab 10.1 combined (1.6 pounds). Don’t count Toshiba down and out just yet, with a new line of tablet dubbed the “Excite” the multinational Japanese company is looking to come back a bit better and definitely bigger (literally). (more…)
We’ve all heard whispered rumors and speculations about Google’s first foray into the tablet market with the Nexus Tablet, but are yet to to uncover any sustainable news. The rumored low priced $149 slate is said to be developed by Taiwanese Manufacturer, ASUS. Aside from ASUS creating the tablet Google imagined, not much news have surfaced. We’ve shamelessly gave a hand on the ongoing rumor mill but the tablet remains elusive. Well as it turns out, you won’t have to wait long. Hold on to your coin purse, Google’s first flagship tablet is slated (pun intended) to hit your nearest brick and mortar store’s this July. (more…)
If you’ve been window shopping for an Android tablet you may have stumbled upon the ASUS Transformer brand. As one of the first to be powered by NVIDIA’s quad core Tegra 3 processor the Transformer Prime quickly addressed the myriad of issues that plagued the original Transformer (Light Bleed, dead pixels, loose bezels). However, as great as the ASUS Transformer Prime is, it’s not without faults. A number of users have expressed woes concerning the tablet’s GPS. Reports spurted around various forums shortly after the slate’s release, mainly targeted at GPS failures in locking the user position. (more…)
For those folks keeping tabs on ASUS’ latest tablet and laptop hybrid, grab a hammer and prepare to crack open your piggy banks . The Taiwanese company has announced the arrival of the ASUS Padfone this month. Those unfamiliar with the Padfone may find the device(s) curious. As common with the ASUS Transformer line, the tablet can be physically attached to an optional keyboard dock to form a netbook. What separates the PadFone is the introduction of ASUS’ first smartphone. The smartphone can be docked behind a slot inside the tablet, then into the keyboard. (more…)