tablet

You're going to have to listen to the show to understand the evolution of our favorite new phrase, "mucho bogo." Speaking of evolution, the HTC EVO 4G is officially available, just in time to be stomped into dust by the forthcoming iPhone. Maybe. Also, Google's going to hand over its intercepted WiFi data, to make a bad problem worse, and we're giving a big (BIG) no to the Kno.

Back at CES 2010, we saw two parallel trends developing: a renaissance of touch-screen tablets and slates, and a series of smaller-than-Netbook laptops called "smartbooks" that promised to have automatic 3G, simplified operating systems and very slim profiles.

Well, so far one has come to fruition (thanks largely to the iPad), whereas the other has gone into a state of hibernation.

Lenovo's recent announcement that its "Skylight" smartbook and U1 hybrid tablet/laptop would be delayed underlines the sudden lack of momentum smartbooks have suffered. Lenovo claims it's due to an OS switch from proprietary Linux-based software to Android, … Read more

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--While the iPad is the device that everyone is talking about, another tablet made its debut at D: All Things Digital on Wednesday.

The Kno, with its dual 14-inch screens and touch-based Linux operating system, is aimed at students and is slated to hit the market at the end of the year. Kno isn't talking price just yet, but the company's goal is for it to be well under $1,000.

I had a chance to catch up with Kno CEO Osman Rashid just after his onstage demo and got a firsthand look at … Read more

Welcome to Android Atlas Weekly! From phones to tablets to set top boxes, if it runs Android, we'll cover it. We also throw in a hot app pick of the week and a special tip that should help you get even more use out of your Android device. Justin and I will bring in special guests to help us cover everything Android! This week, Jessica Dolcourt joins us! Now, excuse a few of the rough edges. Apparently, like Google, we keep our show in Beta longer than expected.

Palm Loses Mobile Design Guru Matias Duarte to Google http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100527/exclusive-palm-loses-mobile-design-guru-matias-duarte/

Fring picks up video calling on Android http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20006181-251.html

That Extra $5 Add-On For Qik is Optional, For "Premium Features" http://phandroid.com/2010/05/31/that-extra-5-add-on-for-qik-is-optional-for-premium-features/

New Video Shows Sling Player Private Beta In Action And Its Incredible http://droidedup.com/2010/05/new-video-shows-sling-player-private-beta-in-action-and-its-incredible/

Motorola Droid 2 Might Be Released by Verizon in July http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=16611

Motorola Bets Big on Google, Verizon http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270872420145294.html… Read more

There are many intriguing new laptops, tablets, and related mobile computing devices currently on display at the Computex 2010 trade show in Taiwan. Keep in mind, however, that many of these are either proof-of-concept prototypes or products unlikely to ever see the light of day in the U.S.

With that caveat, here are a some notable show highlights (a few of which have the word "pad" as part of their names), gleaned from the coverage of our colleagues at CNET Asia.

If Google told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it? And if you did it, would you seriously try to sue Google for telling you to do it? Oh, America. You're so messed up. In other news today, Google unofficially banned Windows from its campus; anonymous sources say the DOJ is expanding its Apple probe; iPad is totally winning; and nobody quit Facebook on Quit Facebook day. Quelle surprise.

We still don't know if the Dell Streak is a tablet or a smartphone, and the new pricing for the device may confuse matters even further.

Dell's touch-screen tablet will go on sale Friday in the U.K. at retailer The Carphone Warehouse for 429 British pounds, or $630. But if you opt to buy it with a monthly data plan, you can get the Android device for free, the retailer announced Tuesday.

The lowest plan is 25 British pounds--or about $37--per month for mobile broadband access. You can also pay 35 British pounds ($51) per month and … Read more

It wasn't exactly a surprise that Asus announced its latest touch-screen tablet offerings Monday morning at Computex 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan. What was surprising to some is that the company is splitting its slate-style devices into two distinct brands.

First is the Eee Pad. Asus says it's "an ultraslim and light yet high-performance slate device designed to provide users with a real-time cloud-computing experience." A 12-inch version, called the Eee Pad EP121, is basically a keyboard-less laptop, with an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor and Windows 7. On paper, at least, that makes it much … Read more

Pop quiz: Which one is the true tablet? Apple iPad, JooJoo, Dell Streak, or HP Slate?

If you guessed any of them you're right. Or you're wrong. Because the answer seems to depend on whom you ask.

The tablet category is heating up lately. IDC expects more than 7 million tablets to ship by the end of the year and more than 46 million units to ship by 2014. That is in large part due to the success of Apple's iPad, which has flown off store shelves since its introduction in April. Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Fuijtsu, Acer, Archos, and many others have also flocked to the the decidedly gray area that tablets occupy between a smartphone and notebook.

Perhaps because the category is new, the definition of "tablet" seems sort of up for grabs, depending on who is defining it. Size, features, and specifications are the traditional way of breaking down consumer electronics and PC categories, but the few products currently for sale or coming soon are blurring those lines.

We take a crack at dampening some of the confusion around the latest crop of consumer tablets. (For a complete list of tablets, see the guide put together by CNET's Donald Bell.)

What makes a tablet a tablet? Traditionally the categories of mobile computing devices break down in terms of size: smartphones have 3- to 5-inch screens, MIDs (mobile Internet devices) range between 5 and 7 inches, and tablets are between 7 and 10 inches.

But the feature set, or what the device can do, is the other half of the equation. According to Gartner, a true tablet is any slate over 5 inches running a full operating system like Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.

IDC breaks the devices down into media tablets and tablet PCs. A tablet PC has an x86 processor, runs a desktop OS, and has a screen size anywhere from 5 inches to 21 inches. Despite what it may look like, "A tablet PC is a PC," said Richard Shim, IDC analyst. "There's no real limit to them."

These are generally the traditional idea of a tablet, the kind that look like a laptop with a screen that twists that you can close and write on with a stylus, like the Dell Latitude XT or the Asus Eee PC T91.

"A media tablet we're defining as ARM-based, running a smaller OS (non-Windows)," he said. "The screen sizes are between 7 and 12 inches." ARM is a type of low-power processor typically used in mobile devices, whereas x86 processors are used in more robust applications where power consumption isn't as much of an issue.

How do the current crop of tablets compare? There's a pretty big range in IDC's and Gartner's definitions if you compare the features of a few of the recently announced or released tablets intended for consumer use.… Read more