Tablet

Dell's upcoming Windows 7 tablet might not hit store shelves until fall, a new report claims.

Citing an anonymous source, Forbes is reporting that Dell plans to launch its 10-inch Windows 7-based tablet as early as September.

Dell hasn't confirmed exactly when it might launch its Windows 7 tablet. When the company unveiled the device in February, it said that the tablet would hit store shelves by the middle of 2011. That announcement preceded a leak of Dell's reported "tablet roadmap," which indicated that the company could launch its Windows 7 tablet as early as … Read more

Sony might be joining the tablet craze as early as this summer, according to a new report.

According to Bloomberg, which cited a report in Japan's Nikkei newspaper, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said that his company will be launching a tablet by the end of the summer. The tablet, according to the report, will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Following that news, Engadget found a report from Japanese publication AV Watch, citing a Sony spokesperson who said the company will be releasing a tablet "this year." The representative said details on the device and the launch will … Read more

As I began my 130th or so laptop review at CNET this week, I stopped to pause on what it all means. Samsung Series 9 open on my lap, I looked at its curved lines and flowing form and wondered: is this enough?

I wondered if I was getting bored with laptops.

Moreover, I wondered if the laptop industry wasn't simply getting lazy amid a period in time that's seeing a computing revolution everywhere else.

Our current age is awash in new portable computing gadgets. Smartphones, now tablets. They get smaller, more advanced, and their designs keep changing, … Read more

It seems Best Buy has completed the first two parts of its tablet magic trick. According to a post at Engadget today, Asus' EE Pad Transformer appeared on BestBuy.com for $400 and was subsequently pulled from the site a short time later.

Back at CES 2011 in January, Asus announced that the Android 3.0-enabled EE Pad Transformer would debut some time in the spring for a price ranging from $400 to $700, depending on the storage capacity of the version purchased.

If this price holds true, this would place the Transformer a full $100 cheaper than the iPad 2 … Read more

Acer's rise in the PC world has been an impressive success story. But news today that its CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigned over strategic differences with his board clearly illustrates that its ascent has hit some major turbulence.

A quick recap of the Taiwanese company's more recent history: Acer, of course, came from nearly out of nowhere to be a leader in notebook PCs. And to demonstrate its newfound market power, in 2007 scooped up crippled American PC maker Gateway, then E-Machines and Packard Bell. The company triumphantly passed Dell as the No. 2 PC maker in … Read more

Adobe Systems, with a Photoshop-like demo on an iPad yesterday, is beginning to show more of the fruits of its tablet-computing labor. And it's a good thing, too, because there's no guarantee the company's power in desktop software will extend to tablets.

It's no secret Adobe Systems is working on graphics programs for tablets--indeed, John Nack, the leader of Adobe's tablet work, has been soliciting advice about exactly what to do since last year and Adobe has demonstrated other Photoshop features on Android and iPad tablets. But the fact that the company is shedding more … Read more

The CEO of computer maker Acer has stepped down after disagreeing with the company's board of directors over the future of the company, Acer said in a statement today.

Gianfranco Lanci, who had been chief executive at Acer since 2008, disagreed with the board over the company's ongoing strategy, according to the statement from the Taiwan-based company.

"On the company's future development, Lanci held different views from a majority of the board members and could not reach a consensus following several months' of dialogue," the statement read." [Both sides] placed different levels of importance … Read more

Back on March 14, Microsoft confirmed plans to discontinue making its Zune player, a device that arrived a little too late to be a successful challenger to Apple's iPod, but nonetheless had plenty of fans. At least enough that Microsoft still sees value in the brand and platform.

According to a statement issued to CNET by a Microsoft representative, it's "absolutely committed to providing the best movies, music, and TV show experiences through Zune on Xbox, the PC, Windows Phone 7, and Zune devices."

It was that last part about Zune devices that got me. While on the surface it could be read as "Microsoft is not going to leave Zune player owners out in the cold," it also left me wondering if a Zune tablet might be in the works. And I'm not talking about tablets from other manufacturers running a Windows OS. I mean a Zune tablet.

But, like the Zune player, is it too late for Microsoft to get in and become a leader in the category instead of a footnote? I don't think so, but it'll have to act fast. Here's what it would take to make a solid entry in the category. … Read more

Dell really appreciates that Apple has successfully created a market for tablets, but is pretty sure Apple will ultimately fail when it comes to attracting enterprise customers.

That's what Dell's head of enterprise marketing Andy Lark said in an interview with CIO Australia magazine today. He had a couple choice quotes as he ripped Apple's iPad for, among other things, being "too expensive" and incompatible for business users.

"I couldn't be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm, but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, … Read more