tablets

When Google announced Android 3.1 Honeycomb was coming to the Xoom last week, I was pretty excited. Honeycomb's already a great tablet OS, so any improvements could only add to its functionality and efficiency. Unfortunately the version 3.1 update was released over the air and was rolled out in spurts. Our Xoom didn't receive its update until earlier this week. Google detailed changes to expect, but I wanted to check and see just how well some of them were implemented.

Browser Aside from a few annoyances, I thought the Chrome browser in Honeycomb 3.0.1 … Read more

We've been testing and reviewing Windows tablets for many years, the latest being the new Acer Iconia Tab W500P, but have typically found them lacking--both in comparison with more powerful Windows laptops, and with other tablets, such as Apple's popular iPad.

One Windows tablet that we've been eager to check out after seeing it at CES 2011 is the Asus Eee Slate EP121, a high-end touch-screen tablet with a separate Bluetooth keyboard. Asus is, for the uninitiated, most responsible for the (now faded) popularity of low-cost Netbooks, and the company is now pushing the boundaries of what … Read more

T-Mobile is the latest carrier to have its product lineup leaked and, to no one's surprise, it's full of Android phones and tablets.

Customers coming up for renewal between now and the end of 2011 will have plenty of Android-powered options to choose from, as it looks like the wireless provider will be rolling out nearly a dozen new phones and tablets from a variety of manufacturers starting next month.

June 8 will see the debut of two Android phones in the form of the HTC Sensation 4G and the Samsung Exhibit. As many of you know, the … Read more

Selling PCs isn't the business it used to be.

HP said yesterday that revenue from consumer notebook and desktop sales dropped 23 percent in the last quarter, Dell reported yesterday its sales of computers to consumers dipped 7 percent, and Acer's shipments dove 16 percent percent. Meanwhile, tablets, specifically the iPad, are flying off shelves. Gartner is predicting Apple will sell 47 million iPads this year, out of 70 million tablets worldwide, and that the overall number of tablets will grow to 108 million next year.

Taken together it's easy to conclude that the relatively new tablets are cannibalizing PC sales in the consumer market. And they are, but not in a way you might expect. A recent study from Forrester showed that people who buy a tablet are more likely to have purchased a computer in the last two years. Forty-four percent of them had bought a PC in the previous year, 28 percent in the previous two years.

The more accurate conclusion is that tablets are establishing themselves as a replacement for a second or third computer. Consider the tablet the replacement for that computer people would like to have but could do without. … Read more

iPads are catching on among business users, a study released today has found, but most of them don't have a clear strategy for the tablets.

Dimensional Research, in a survey of 448 businesses, found that 22 percent have deployed tablets, 22 percent plan to do so this year, and 24 percent plan to next year.

And although Apple isn't known for its corporate focus or market penetration, it's the leader when it comes to tablets: 83 percent said they would be using iPads. That compares to 17 percent for RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, 14 percent for HP'… Read more

Talk about good news/bad news. Last week, the long-awaited Netflix app for Android finally arrived--but only for five phones. If you own, say, an HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Droid 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or other incompatible device, the waiting game goes on.

Or not, if you're tech-savvy enough to root (that is, jailbreak) your device and fiddle with some settings. Over at Reddit, a user by the name of natemckn explains how to make Netflix for Android work on unsupported devices.

The hack works by fooling the Netflix app into thinking your phone or tablet is one of … Read more

After a rocky start with Android, AT&T has slowly started embracing the platform and its potential. Starting earlier this year with the Atrix 4G and continuing right up to the new Samsung Infuse 4G, the carrier is showing great momentum. Things look to get even better this summer as a trio of new HTC devices are expected to come to market, including a 10-inch tablet.

Over the last few days, preliminary details and pictures have emerged from two oft-reliable sources, Pocketnow and 911Sniper, both pointing at a solid Android horizon for AT&T and HTC.

The first handset to keep an eye on will be the HTC Lead, with its 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch display, 768MB RAM, and a 5-megapixel camera. Falling right in line with today's top Android phones, the Lead also looks to run Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) and offers support for Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 3.0 when it arrives. As terrific as this one sounds, it's actually lacking when compared to its bigger brother, the HTC Holiday.

The Holiday is expected to have a slight edge in nearly every aspect, putting it at the top of the Android food chain when it debuts. Among the details anticipated for this handset are a larger, 4.5-inch qHD display (960x540), 1GB RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera. Like the HTC Lead, the Holiday will also run Android 2.3.4, presumably with the latest version of HTC's Sense UI. … Read more

Owners of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphone and the 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet will finally receive an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread starting very soon.

Samsung announced today that the Gingerbread upgrade would also extend to its Galaxy Ace, Gio, Fit, and mini phones.

The company will kick off with an upgrade to the Galaxy S in the U.K. and Nordic countries starting as soon as the middle of this month. The upgrade would then travel through the rest of the world, reaching other European countries, North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and then other regions.… Read more

Research In Motion has recalled close to 1,000 of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablets due to a glitch in the build of the operating system for those specific units, according to a May 13 memo sent to Staples and published by Engadget.

RIM confirmed the recall in a statement sent today to CNET and said few of the defective units had made it past the distribution stage and into the hands of customers.

"RIM determined that approximately 1,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets (16GB) were shipped with an OS build that may result in the devices being unable to properly … Read more