Tag Archives: Honeycomb

World’s Biggest Honeycomb Tablet Measures 65 Inches in Diagonal, Would Fit Gulliver (Video)

Posted by on November 15, 2011 No comments

This is not the Microsoft Surface version with Android, but an entirely different story… This is actually a huge TV with 65 inch diagonal and support for 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. Plus, it’s running Honeycomb, unlike any other television set out there.

Turkish company Arctic Technology is responsible for this product and this prototype is a one of kind unit at this time. A lot of work went into the resolution boosting, video output and making the touch input to work on this huge display. The result is sort of a giant tablet with multitouch control and even the Android games that people love so much, like Fruit Slice.

A mere Tegra 2 CPU is behind all of this, plus 1GB of RAM, so the scalability in Android is to be admired. The system involves a normal tablet, that looks like a Galaxy Tab 10.1 or XOOM model, that once placed in a dock syncs instantaneously with the huge TV. Motorola may be aiming at this, as they’re known for their lapdock integration.

Here’s the contraption in action:


Android 4.0 NDK Updated: Developers Get Moving On New Streaming Audio APIs

Posted by on November 13, 2011 No comments

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We’ve seen the Galaxy Nexus up close and personal, and it’s design and functionality are quite a diversion from what we’ve seen in Gingerbread and to a lesser extent Honeycomb. It’s great that the OS itself has improved, but giving developers greater access to equally improve their own apps is the second half of the battle. Google made that step on Friday, updating the Android 4.0 NDK to Version 7 which provides access to two new APIs associated with improving streaming audio-performance within apps:

Low-level streaming multimedia: A new API based on Khronos OpenMAX AL 1.0.1 provides a direct, efficient path for low-level streaming multimedia. The new path is ideal for applications that need to maintain complete control over media data before passing it to the platform for presentation. For example, media applications can now retrieve data from any source, apply proprietary encryption/decryption, and then send the data to the platform for display.

Audio decoding into PCM: Extensions to the existing native audio API based on Khronos OpenSL ES let native apps decode compressed audio assets to PCM format.

Any developers out there want to tell us how or if they plan on incorporating these new APIs into their apps?

T-Mobile Springboard Units Begin Arriving in Magenta Stores

Posted by on November 11, 2011 No comments

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While rumored release dates for the T-Mobile Springboard have continuously failed us as we approached each respective one, it looks like the rumored November 16th date is going to be it. Today, units of the Honeycomb tablet from Huawei began arriving in T-Mobile stores, meaning they could go on sale today if T-Mobile wanted them to. That won’t happen, of course, so we’re all just going to have to be patient.

For $350 ($180 + $10 per month for 20 months, or other options available) you’re getting a 7 inch device with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor by Qualcomm. Also in store are a 5 megapixel camera, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal storage, HSPA+ 14.4 radios for T-Mobile 4G and more. It could be a very decent tablet for the price when it does launch next week. [via TmoNews]

Refurb Motorola XOOM Is Woot’s Deal of the Day, 32GB for $329.99

Posted by on November 10, 2011 No comments

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When the Motorola XOOM first launched it wasn’t exactly selling like hotcakes. Blame it on the excessive price tag initially assigned to the world’s first Honeycomb tablet. With the Motorola XOOM 2 recently announced, now would seem like a perfect time to snag the late model at a bargain price, right? Right. Today’s woot.com deal can get you the 32GB version of the dual-core Tegra 2 slate for only $329.99. The catch? You are paying for a refurbished (by Moto) device. If you don’t mind being one iteration behind and the idea of using a refurbished unit doesn’t scare you off, the original XOOM still makes a great tablet. For the price, you really can’t argue with that.

[via woot]

Huawei Announces UK Plans for MediaPad Tablet, Vision Smartphone

Posted by on November 10, 2011 No comments

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The Huawei MediaPad, which will launch in the US as the T-Mobile SpringBoard, is headed to the UK. The manufacturer confirmed as much, pointing to a release in early 2012. The 7-inch tablet was one of the first to give us a glimpse at Honeycomb (specifically Android 3.2) tailored for a slightly smaller screen, though others have since beat it to market in some regions. For £275, buyers in the UK will get a WiFi-only slate with a dual-core CPU, dual cameras, and HDMI output.

Also announced for the UK was the Android 2.3 Huawei Vision The handset will arrive in time for Christmas and be affordably priced at about £25 after carrier subsidies are accounted for. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it offered for free in many places.

[via PCWorld]

IM+ Receives Big Update to Add Honeycomb Interface, Group Chat for AIM/iMessage and More

Posted by on November 8, 2011 No comments

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Our friends at Shape Services have let us know that their IM+ Android application, a multi-protocol instant messaging client, has been given a significant upgrade. One of the biggest changes among many is the support for a native Honeycomb user interface – there’s never a shortage of apps with Honeycomb-compatible user interfaces. We’re also getting a status update widget, “typing notifications” which lets users know when you’re typing and vice versa and more. Find the full list of changes below and be sure to download the update from the Android market.

  1. Version 5.0 changes:
  2. Fully optimized for Android OS tablet computers
  3. Support of native Android OS “Share” feature
  4. IM+ widget allows to change status right from your Android home screen
  5. Typing notifications
  6. Upload your avatar right from IM+
  7. Group chats for AOL/AIM/iChat and ICQ
  8. Option to select a different notification for active chat
  9. All chats are saved under Chats tab when IM+ is restarted/reconnected
  10. Battery usage optimization
  11. …and tons of other tiny improvements

Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders

Posted by on November 7, 2011 No comments

Nominate your best tablet of the year
Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders. Tablets, Features, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Amazon, Asus, Sony, Acer, Viewsonic, HTC, BlackBerry, Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2011, Kal-El, Ice Cream Sandwich 0

With the arrival of the iPad came a sinking feeling amongst the tech competition. Is Apple going to do it again? Are they going to invent a new device we have to play catch up with for two years? Not this time they thought as every manufacturer scrambled to splurge out as many tablets as it could.

Along came Honeycomb and dual-core devices, with things like Tegra 2 and a rapid release schedule eventually putting Android ahead of Apple in the power stakes. The iPad 2 then brought the big A back up to speed and everyone could rest easy in Cupertino. Now as we approach the end of 2011, murmurs can be heard of things like Kal-El and quad-core with Ice Cream Sandwich, the new version of Android, top of the agenda for most people. Picking the best isn't easy but we've cooked up a few suggestions for you to get nominating for Best Tablet 2011 in the 8th Pocket-lint Awards.

Premium

What a year 2011 was for tablets, thanks mainly to such fierce competition between Apple and everyone else. It led to some real blinders and a few surprises along the way.

We can't really mention the words premium without uttering the phrase iPad 2. The fanboy's favourite, who can really argue with all that brushed aluminium, a beautiful IPS display and now all the fun of iOS 5 to enjoy? It was the tablet to beat in 2011 and, better still, it came in white ... oooh lovely white electronics.

?

Fighting a battle with the iPad 2, both in the court room and on the high street, was Samsung with its Galaxy Tab 10.1. Slick, super thin and with a back as tactile and textured as whatever the tasteful version of stone cladding is, it was an Android favourite. It also had a rather superb spec sheet - something of a tradition for Samsung - with stuff like 1GB of RAM and a 1GHz Tegra 2 processor.?

We mustn't forget, of course, the Honeycomb tablet that started it all, the Motorola Xoom. Sure it came with a build of Android that felt very much like a beta, but the hardware was spot on. Moto also managed to pack enough specs in there for it still not to feel too sluggish now, even against the new Xoom 2 which has just been announced.?

Sony finally jumped on the tablet bandwagon towards the end of 2011 with a pair of unusually shaped beauties. The magazine-styled?Tablet S confused Pocket-lint with some rather bizarre memory management choices but ultimately got away with it thanks to its design which?separated?it from the usual crowd of black plastic slabs. The other interesting Sony offering came in the form of the Tablet P which behaved slightly like a Nintendo DS in its split screen approach to life. We hadn't before seen Android managed via dual displays nor such a sharp 1024 x 960?resolution on just a 5.5-inch display.?

Budget

2011 proved that you didn't need to be a banker who banked all day to be able to own a tablet. Value for money Android offerings meant that cheap didn't have to equate to crap and a few affordable surprises threw even the most cynical of tech lovers.?

The first of these was without doubt the Asus EeePad Transformer. Some clever design meant that the Transformer gave off the illusion of being slimmer than the Xoom, its then competition. The real meat of the Transformer package however was its ability to dock with a keyboard peripheral, transforming it into a netbook style Android powered PC. It could even close down like a netbook, protecting the screen from damage in your bag.?

Acer wandered into the Android club with its Iconia Tab A500. Sure it wasn't the best dressed, bearing a fair few design issues, but it was cheap and chugged along smoothly and who can argue with that.?

Although not exactly as exciting as the rest of the year's offerings, we do need to mention the Dell Inspiron Duo. Sure it ran Windows 7 and had a rather flimsy looking screen, but you could spin the display like a helicopter and this is something we definitely enjoyed.?

Small Size

A tablet doesn't need to be over 10 inches in order to matter. Sure, some might have size issues, but remember it's width that counts. Thankfully then the smaller tablets also tended to be super thin.?

First up on the tiny scales was the BlackBerry PlayBook. Beautifully put together, compact enough to be carried around anywhere and boasting serious media flexibility, it was almost a corker from BlackBerry. Sadly the tablet was let down by a lack of proper email support (from a BlackBerry!) and no 3G connectivity.?

Samsung wasn't happy with releasing just the one tablet in 2011, it added the both the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and 8.9 to its line up. Both superb and with screens to match, our brief playtime with the tablets left us wanting to know more.?

Last, and in many ways least, was the HTC Flyer. We all expected the Android giant to enter into the tablet game in 2011 but not with something lacking Honeycomb and sporting a stylus. The cynics amongst us however had to swallow our pride when we got our hands on one and it all started making sense. Think oversized iPod Touch but for the Android fan, we became converts to its charms rather quickly but what do you think

Related links:

Tags: Tablets Features Apple Samsung Motorola Amazon Asus Sony Acer Viewsonic HTC BlackBerry Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2011 Kal-El Ice Cream Sandwich

Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders. Tablets, Features, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Amazon, Asus, Sony, Acer, Viewsonic, HTC, BlackBerry, Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2011, Kal-El, Ice Cream Sandwich 1  Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders. Tablets, Features, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Amazon, Asus, Sony, Acer, Viewsonic, HTC, BlackBerry, Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2011, Kal-El, Ice Cream Sandwich 2  Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders. Tablets, Features, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Amazon, Asus, Sony, Acer, Viewsonic, HTC, BlackBerry, Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2011, Kal-El, Ice Cream Sandwich 3 

Best Tablet 2011: 8th Pocket-lint Awards contenders originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:51:14 +0000

HP TouchPads Offered to Devs In Developer Device Program With $149.99 Price Tag

Posted by on November 6, 2011 No comments

Recently HP was telling everyone that they’re out of TouchPad units, but apparently some units are left, since the US company is offering them to developers. Said devs can purchase them for as low as $149.99, in the 32GB version.

All they have to do is send a request for the discount coupon by November 18th and you will complete the purchase by November 27th. If you won’t manage to get one, know that it’s the fault of stock problems, since everyone will be rushing to get one. People can’t wait to try to get Honeycomb on this slate, that comes at a budget price even now.

We remind you that the TouchPad fire sale began in late August and in some places it still goes on. Too bad that webOS will be given up by HP and too bad that the hardware on the TouchPad is not as good as its rivals’. Of course, if you’re a developer and want the TouchPad for the price above, know that the usual rules don’t apply, so you don’t have to send the device back.


Motorola Corvair Pics Leak, Runs Android 2.3, Acts as a Remote Control for TVs

Posted by on November 6, 2011 No comments

Motorola is not only about high end Honeycomb tablets like the new Xoom 2, but also about little weaklings like the model below. I’m talking about the Motorla Corvair, an Android 2.3 Gingerbread gadget that has the function of a TV set controller.

Nilay Patel from The Verge is the source of the leak and it appears that this device is being tested by cable companies now and they intend to capitalize on its remote control functions. Is this the ideal media controller? The slate comes with a 6 inch capacitive touch display, a 4,000 mAh battery and it’s supposedly able to work with a Motorola cable box.

The product is in pre-production phase and I can’t even guarantee that the Corvair name will stick, since it might be a codename. We’ll probably learn more about the Gingerbread Motorola tablet around Xmas time or maybe at CES 2012. What’s sure is that this is a niche product.


Acer Iconia Tab A200 Pics Leaked On the Web

Posted by on November 5, 2011 1 comment

There has been a lot of talk about the Acer Iconia Tab A100 and its affordable price, plus color versions, so the product was bound to get a successor. And that successor is the Acer Iconia Tab A200, that just got pictured thanks to an online leak.

This is a Honeycomb slate that was uncovered thanks a post on the Bluetooth SIG website. Sadly, we don’t have so many details on the product, other than the usual WiFi, Bluetooth and worldwide debut. The XDA Developers community has more info on the device and they say that it’s sort of like a low cost Iconia Tab A500.

Iconia Tab A200 is said to have a rear camera, Dolby Mobile, the new Acer Ring app and lockscreen shortcuts, plus it’s supposed to run Honeycomb 3.2.1. For the right price, this model could be a hit, although it’s no ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, that’s for sure.