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.

AT&T releases Pantech Element Tablet and Pantech Burst Smartphone deal

AT&T has announced a new deal for customers which bundles two new Android devices, the Pantech Element tablet and the Pantech Burst 4G LTE smartphone.  AT&T’s customers can now buy the Pantech Element for $249.99 and recieve the Burst phone for free. That's a savings of about $100 if you bought these devices separately.

The Pantech Element is unique in that it is a waterproof tablet device, so you can whip it out in the rain if need be. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, runs Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) and it features an 8-inch HD screen, front and rear-facing cameras.

Pantech Element features include:

• Vivid 8” HD capacitive touch screen, 4:3 display ratio
• Android 3.2 Honeycomb
• 4G LTE capability (700/AWS)
• Waterproof (IP57 rated) – submergible for up to 1 meter for 30 minutes (with all ports tightly closed)
• 1.5 GHz dual core processor
• 5 MP rear-facing camera with flash and 4x digital zoom
• 2 MP front-facing camera for video chat over Wi-Fi®
• 16GB internal memory
• Expandable memory slot for microSD™ card supporting up to 32 GB
• Bluetooth® v2.1+EDR
• Tabbed browsing, Adobe® Flash® support Vivid HD Video record and playback with a micro HDMI output (cable not included)

LG announces Optimus Pad LTE 4G Tablet

LG Electronics has just unveiled the new Optimus Pad LTE, the company's first LTE-capable tablet device. Set to launch first in South Korea, the Optimus Pad LTE tablet is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and it runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS.

Main features on this tablet include a 8.9-inch 1280 x 720 True HD IPS display, an 8 megapixel camera with HD video recording, an SD memory card slot supporting up to 32GB, an HDMI port, and DLNA support.

The Optimus Pad LTE also offers easy-to-use controls and functions like the Smart Movie Editor for editing pictures and videos more easily, and Web Duet for e-mailing, messaging and SNS sharing with search functions, and On-Screen Phone (OSP) which makes this LG tablet compatible with LG smartphones.

Huawei MediaPad Tablet to get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system

The new Huawei MediaPad is expected to be one of the world's first tablets to come pre-loaded with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system when it hits select markets in Q1 of 2012. Customers who have already purchased the original MediaPad since it was released in June 2011 will also be able to update to Android 4.0 as well. The 7-inch Android tablet offers a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels at 217 PPI and supports 1080P Full HD video playback.

Thin Toshiba Excite X10 tablet PC announced at CES 2012

Toshiba has announced its new Excite X10 tablet PC, which will be available in mid-Q1 2012 starting at $529.99 for the 16GB model and $599.99 for the 32GB model. The Excite X10 tablet is said to be the world’s thinnest 10-inch tablet, measuring 0.3 inches (7.7mm) thin and weighing in at 1.18 pounds

Toshiba Excite X10 tablet PC specifications:

- Latest Android operating system

- 10.1-inch diagonal LED Backlit widescreen Corning Gorilla Glass display with IPS technology and 10-finger multi-touch support

- 1280 x 800 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio

- Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor; 1.2GHz with 1GB LPDDR2 RAM

- 16GB and 32GB configurations

- 2 megapixel front-facing camera

- 5 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash

- Micro USB, Micro HDMI ports

- Micro SD card slot

- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

- Gyroscope, Accelerometer, GPS, eCompass and Ambient Light Sensor

- Stereo speakers with sound enhancements by Toshiba and SRS Labs

- Built-in 25 watt-hour rechargeable lithium ion battery

- 10.1” (W) x 6.9” (D) x 0.3” (H)

- 1.18 pounds (535g)

XO 3.0 Tablet Computer designed for classrooms around the globe

Marvell and non-profit organization One Laptop per Child are announcing the new XO 3.0 low-cost, low-power, rugged tablet computer at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show this week.

"We're proud to introduce the XO 3.0 tablet, showcasing the design, durability and performance features that make it a natural successor for our current laptops, which have been distributed to more than 2.4 million children in 42 countries and in 25 languages," said Edward McNierney, Chief Technology Officer of One Laptop per Child. "The XO 3.0 builds on many of the technology breakthroughs we made with the XO 1.75, including the use of the Marvell® ARMADA® PXA618 processor, resulting in a significant decrease in power consumption—a critical issue for students in the developing world."

XO 3.0 tablet features include:

- Marvell ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor and Avastar Wi-Fi SOC

- Unique charging circuitry; the XO 3.0 is the only tablet that can be charged directly by solar panels, hand cranks and other alternative power sources

- Standard or Pixel Qi sunlight-readable display

- Android and Linux operating system support

Along with the new XO 3.0 Tablet announcement, Marvell and One Laptop per Child also announced that the XO 1.75 laptop featuring a Marvell ARM-based ARMADA PXA618 SOC processor and sunlight-readable screen, will begin shipping in March 2012 after taking in over 75,000 orders by OLPC projects in Uruguay and Nicaragua.

New 10.1-inch Acer Iconia Tab A200 Android Tablets

On January 15th, Acer's new 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A200 Android tablet will be released in the United States. Two models will be available, the Acer Iconia Tab A200-10g16u with 16GB of memory priced at $349.99, and the Acer Iconia Tab A200-10g08u with 8GB of memory which will sell for $329.99.

The new Acer Iconia Tab A200 tablets come loaded with Android Honeycomb 3.2 operating system, and the company promises a free upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS sometime around mid-February. The tablet weighs 1.5 pounds, and it features a HD multi-touch display with 1280 x 800 resolution, NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core mobile processor and integrated GeForce GPU, a six-axis motion sensing gyroscope, and it's equipped with a full-size USB 2.0 port, a MicroSD slot and micro-USB port, and a two megapixel front-facing web camera for video chats and photos.

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.

Case-Mate protective covers and cases for Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet

Case-Mate introduced new protective cases and covers for Amazon's popular Kindle Fire tablet, available in a variety of colors, textures and materials, and priced from $50-$130.

 

Coby Electronics announces Android 4.0 OS Internet Tablets

Coby Electronics is readying its collection of Android 4.0 OS "Ice Cream Sandwich" Internet tablets, with five models scheduled for release in Q1 2012. The brand-new Coby Android 4.0 OS tablet collection will be officially unveiled at CES 2012, from January 10-13.

In the Android 4.0 tablet line-up, there's the 7" MID7042, 8" MID8042 (4:3 aspect ratio), 9" MID9042, 9.7" MID9742 (4:3 aspect ratio),  and 10" MID1042 models, which will all feature 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU and offer capacitive multi-touch screens, up to 1GB of RAM,  expandable memory up to 32GB, Wi-Fi  and HDMI 1080p output. Pricing to be announced.