Digital Tech News - Digital Technology & Consumer Electronics

Samsung' announces new GALAXY Tab 2 (7.0) Tablet with Android 4.0

Samsung has officially announced the new Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) tablet with Android 4.0, which is expected to start shipping in March, and first be released in the United Kingdom.  Powered by a 1GHz dual core processor, the new light and portable Galaxy Tab 2 has a 7-inch WSVGA display with 1024×600 resolution, and it will be available in both 3G and WiFi versions with 8, 16 or 32GB.

SamsungHub reports that the Galaxy Tab 2 will be priced at around $450 for the Wifi version and about $550 for the 3G model. The tablet measures just 10.5mm thin, and also features a 3MP rear-facing fixed focus camera, a VGA front facing camera, a microSD card slot and 4,000mAh battery.

ARCHOS 70b IT internet tablet announced

ARCHOS recently announced its new 70b IT internet tablet, the company's first android 3.2 Honeycomb-based tablet, priced at $199 for the 8GB model. Described as an enhanced version of the ARCHOS 70 IT Gen 8 model, the new 70b IT internet tablet features an upgraded and higher resolution (1024 x 600) capacitive  touch screen, a 1.2 GHz processor, and double the RAM with 512 MB on-board. The slim device also packs a 3D Graphics accelerator, an HDMI output and a Micro SD card slot. As an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet, the unit delivers Google's full suite of mobile applications and access to the Android Market and over 250,000 applications as well.

The ARCHOS 70b internet tablet will hit stores in January 2012.

Motorola DROID XYBOARD tablets released by Verizon Wireless

Motorola Mobility and Verizon Wireless release the new DROID XYBOARD tablets for holiday shoppers, with several tablet sizes available. The DROID XYBOARD 10.1 model is available in 16 GB for $529.99, 32 GB for $629.99 and 64 GB for $729.99 with a new two-year customer agreement with Verizon Wireless. The DROID XYBOARD 8.2 version comes in a 16 GB model for $429.99 and 32 GB model for $529.99 with a new two-year customer agreement. A Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband data plan for the new tablets start at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data. 

The new DROID XYBOARD tablets run on Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network and are powered by dual-core 1.2 GHz processors, with 1 GB of RAM on board. The devices are equipped with scratch-resistant displays with Corning Gorilla Glass, and ship with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, soon to be upgradable to the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The DROID XYBOARD 10.1 tablet also comes packaged with a precision tip stylus.

HP Slate 2 Tablet PC for Business

You know about the budget-friendly HP TouchPad tablet which is back on the market, and maybe you remember the first HP Slate tablet, which was first teased last year, but it looks like it's all business for the new HP Slate 2 Tablet PC, which starts at $699.  Scheduled to be released in late November for workers in education, healthcare, government and retail, this multitouch tablet features enhanced multitasking performance and embedded security in a full-featured Microsoft Windows environment.

The HP Slate 2 weighs 1.5 pounds and features an 8.9-inch diagonal capacitive multitouch display with a Swype touch keyboard, as well as pen input. The tablet is powered by an Intel Atom Z670 processor with mSATA SSM technology, and it offers up to six hours of battery life. Remote workers will appreciate the front-facing VGA webcam for videoconferencing, and there's a 3-megapixel camera on the back for photo and video capture. Additional features include an SD card slot, SRS Premium Sound, and an HP Slate Dock which provides two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI port.

Pandigital to release 8-inch SuperNova Media Tablet

Scheduled to be released in mid-October, Pandigital's new Android 2.3 based SuperNova Media Tablet features an 8-inch capacitive multi-touch screen with 600x800 resolution, 1GHz Cortex A8 processor with dedicated graphics engine, 4GB internal memory, a built-in MicroSD card reader that accepts up to 32GB memory cards, mini-USB, Adobe Flash 10.3 support, HDMI-out, built-in Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as front and rear-facing cameras.

The SuperNova, priced at an affordable $229, offers one-touch access to the Barnes & Noble e-book store, GetJar app store, Facebook, YouTube, personal email, photos, movies, music, videos and more. 

Amazon introduces new affordable Kindle and Kindle Touch e-readers

Amazon has added a few new Kindle devices to their bestselling e-reader line, and they are lighter, faster, and most importantly, less expensive.

The new 6-inch Kindle (available today) is priced at just $79, while the new Kindle Touch with touch screen costs $99, and the new Kindle Touch 3G with free 3G is priced at $149. Both the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G will be released on November 21st.

 

Details from press release and commercial ad video below.

 

New Latest Generation Kindle—Fits In Your Pocket—Only $79

The new latest generation Kindle is for readers who want the lightest, most compact Kindle at an incredible price. The latest generation Kindle features a new design that is 30 percent lighter at just 5.98 ounces, 18 percent smaller, and turns pages 10 percent faster. Kindle is now small and light enough to fit easily in your pocket and carry with you everywhere, yet it still features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

The new latest generation Kindle is only $79. Kindle is available starting today at www.amazon.com/kindle.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 and 4.0 Announced

Following-up on the success of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, Samsung Mobile has announced the upcoming release of the smaller Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet, as well as the upcoming availability of the new handheld Galaxy Player 5.0 and 4.0 devices. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 goes on sale October 2nd priced at $569 for the 32GB version and $469 for the 16GB version, and it features a dual-core T250S processor, a WXGA TFT display with 1280x800 resolution, a rear-facing 3-megapixel camera and front-facing 2-megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, and a 6,100 mAh battery. Weighing in at less than one pound, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 runs Android 3.1 Honeycomb and Samsung’s TouchWiz UX which offers the following features:

- Live Panel: Magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, news, photo gallery, all on the home screen  

- Mini Mode Tray: One-touch overlay access to commonly used applications—Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator and Music Player  

- Clipboard: Advanced copy & paste functionality allows Galaxy Tab 10.1 users to store photos, Web pages, YouTube links, etc., for easy sharing via email and social network sites  

- Indicator Quick Panel: Quickly toggle on/off connectivity, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right-hand corner of the display.  

- Photo Editor: Rotate, crop and adjust colors on high quality digital images

Additional features on the Galaxy Tab 8.9 include the following:

- Samsung Media Hub: Choose from more than 5,000 popular and acclaimed movie and TV titles to download for rent or purchase. Upcoming new release additions to the Media Hub library include “Fast Five,” “Horrible Bosses” and “Green Lantern.” The added service, Media Hub Show, uses an HD Extender to playback content on TV through an HDMI cable from the Galaxy Tab 8.9 dock or adaptor.

- Samsung Music Hub: Choose from more than 13 million songs to download into an intuitive playback system. Music Hub also provides extensive background information, with access to all artist bios, discographies and reviews.

- Samsung Readers Hub: The lightweight design and large display make the Galaxy Tab 8.9 an ideal device to access the Readers Hub robust library of more than 2.2 million books, 2,000 newspapers and 2,300 magazines.

- Social Hub: Users can aggregate email, instant messaging, contacts, calendar and social network connections into a single interface through the service’s “Feeds” and “Messages” files.

- Google™ Mobile Services: A suite of Google Mobile Services is preloaded on the Galaxy Tab 8.9 including access to more than 250,000 applications on Android Market™, Gmail™, Google Search™, Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D maps and Google Talk™ with video and voice chat.

- AllShare™ service: Provides seamless content transfer between the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and other DLNA-enabled devices such as HDTV’s, monitors and digital cameras.

- Polaris™ Office: Instant access to documents, spreadsheets and presentations to view and edit while on the move

- Swype: Re-size the keyboard, move the virtual keyboard anywhere on the screen and type faster by swyping

- Mobile Printing: Print documents and pictures wirelessly from the Galaxy Tab 8.9 to any compatible printer.

ASUS to launch Eee Pad Transformer 10.1-inch TF101 tablet

Announced at CES 2011 as part of Asus' new Eee Pad Tablet PC and Handheld Slate line-up, this Eee Pad Transformer 10.1-inch TF101 tablet is about ready to ship. As you can see, the portable device has a unique design that features an expandable keyboard docking station. Asus promises combined battery life of up to 16 hours on the Eee Pad Transformer tablet which runs the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system and Asus' Waveshare user interface.

The Eee Pad Transformer tablet will be released this April in the U.S., Asus is expected to announce official pricing for the device on March 31st.

Feeatures:

- 10.1” IPS panel with LED backlighting (1280×800 resolution)

- full QWERTY keyboard with Android Function keys

- touchpad, 3.5mm audio jack, two USB ports, and built-in SD Card reader

- 12.98mm thick frame / 680g weight

- NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor

- 5MP rear, and 1.2MP front-facing cameras shoot and record video

- Built-in SRS Sound technology with dynamic 3D stereo audio

- Adobe Flash 10.2 suppoprt

- WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

- optional 3G Module

- 16GB or 32GB of storage

- mini HDMI output port

BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Pricing, Best Buy Release and Pre-Order Details

Research In Motion (RIM) recently announced pre-orders, pricing and in-store availability dates for the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Scheduled to be released on April 19th, BlackBerry PlayBook pre-orders have already begun at Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Best Buy Canada and Future Shop stores, with pricing set at  $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi, $599 for the 32GB Wi-Fi, and $699 for the 64GB Wi-Fi model. Unfortunately, customers in other countries will have to wait a bit longer for Playbook release details in their territories.

Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi tablet with 32 GB of memory priced at $599

If you're thinking about buying a Motorola XOOM tablet, but don't want to sign-up for a Verizon Wireless service or the Xoom, Motorola Mobility is set to release a Wi-Fi edition of the Motorola XOOM tablet with 32 GB of memory for $599 on March 27th. It will be available from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam's Club Staples and Walmart stores in the United States.

Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi edition has most of the same features as the Verizon Wireless version, including the 10.1-inch widescreen display, Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. Google Mobile services on the tablet include Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction and access to more than 3 million Google eBooks. Along with apps from the Android Market, a Beta of Adobe Flash Player 10.2 is also downloadable from Android Market.