tablet

The Wi-Fi version of Apple's new iPad is just around the corner, and I can practically hear the fanboys champing at the bit from my climate-controlled cubicle. The massive media player-cum-e-book reader is set for retail availability this Saturday, April 3. Not that you could avoid Apple's massive media campaigning efforts if you tried, but just in case you forgot what this thing looks like and what it can do, we're here to remind you. The gallery below contains up-close and personal shots of the device as well as a plethora of information on its functionality.

We might indeed be in the midst of a sea change in portable computing--at least, according to early hands-on reviews of the iPad, Apple's cannon shot at the Netbook universe at large. "They're not better at laptops than anything, they're just cheaper," Steve Jobs himself commented at the unveiling of the iPad in January.

The iPad might bring something new or refined to the equation. And the affordable, tiny, and yes, often bare-bones Atom processor-running device we've come to know and love, or hate, as the Netbook is often clunky and frequently disappointing, true … Read more

Apple's iPad is apparently a big seller even before hitting its retail release date. So if you didn't preorder, reserve a unit, or plan to line up at 5 a.m. outside your local Best Buy (which will carry iPads in 600-plus stores), it's time to start considering your touch-screen options.

As we've previously pointed out, there are many tablet/slate devices available that do things the Apple iPad simply can't. Though Apple's tablet runs a version of the company's iPhone operating system, most of these tablets run different versions of Windows, and (… Read more

We talk a bit about the iPad and Rafe reveals that his iPad is in quantum indeterminacy. He has it reserved but he hasn't paid for it. And he won't know until the last minute whether he's going to buy it. Meanwhile the Google-Apple war heats up on the Flash and the tablet front. And Facebook leaks email all over the place. Ew.

Developer enthusiasm for iPad slackens as Android surges http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9174486/Developer_enthusiasm_for_iPad_slackens_as_Android_surges… Read more

It hasn't even launched yet and already Apple's iPad is catching the eye of colleges.

Pennsylvania-based Seton Hill University, which has an enrollment of about 2,100, announced on Tuesday that starting fall semester, all full-time students will receive an iPad tablet device in an effort to boost learning ability and technical know-how.

"The iPad initiative kicks off the university's Griffin Technology Advantage Program," the school wrote on its iPad page. "This new program provides students with the best in technology and collaborative learning tools, ensuring that Seton Hill students will be uniquely suited … Read more

AT&T is already expanding its selection of products in the nascent tablet market. In addition to the upcoming Apple iPad, AT&T will market a tablet based on a future version of Intel's Atom processor.

At the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas this week, AT&T announced a tablet that will run, like the iPad, on its 3G broadband network. The tablet is based on a design from Boca Raton, Fla.-based OpenPeak, which designs and develops products for companies like Verizon and Telefonica--two of its current customers.

Inside OpenPeak's "OpenTablet" … Read more

It seems that when it comes to the company's sweetly controlling nature, Apple has slipped a Xanax into its perfectly still martini and let the online show begin.

Figures from those delightfully modern bean counters at Visible Measures suggest that the new iPad TV spot--you know, the one in which thighs play a leading role--has become the second-most-watched piece of viral footage after the E*Trade Super Bowl ad in which Lindsay Lohan most definitely does not appear.

More than 2.4 million people have already feasted their tired but excited online eyes on an ad that covers the … Read more

Samsung will be the latest to jump on the tablet PC bandwagon.

The Korean electronics company said at a technology forum in Singapore Monday that it will sell a slate-like device starting in the second half of this year, according to a report in APC Magazine. Samsung's slate will be intended for the consumer market, though details like size, operating system, and other tech specifications were not revealed.

The company did say that its slate will be faster and more powerful than that other tablet everyone is talking about, the iPad, which a Samsung executive called "a glorified MID (mobile Internet device).&… Read more

Though the shipping date for JooJoo, the underdog tablet, was recently pushed back to March 25, manufacturer Fusion Garage isn't letting that time go to waste. It's overhauled the JooJoo's interface, expanded local video playback, and given its backplate a makeover.

Engadget has shots of the tablet's new look, the most striking change being that of the home screen, which now sports a customizable wallpaper with nice, shiny icons. Here's what it looked like when we played with it in December:

The updates aren't only aesthetic, though. Fusion Garage has streamlined and updated navigation … Read more