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More newspaper tablets on the way, thanks to TigerDirect and Archos?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 05:42 PM PDT

Arnova 10 G2 PubTab

We could soon see more newspaper publishers offering Android tablets to digital news subscribers. TigerDirect and Archos rolled out a new program called PubTab this week that will allow publishers to customize the software on an inexpensive 10 inch Android tablet that can be bundled with a subscription package.

If that all sounds kind of familiar, it’s because this is the program that launched this month in Philadelphia. A pilot program is being run by Philadelphia Media Network, allowing customers to pick up an Archos 10 G2 tablet for as little as $99 when they sign up for subscriptions to three digital news applications.

The Archos 10 G2 features a 1024 x 600 pixel capacitive touchscreen display and a 1 GHz single core processor. It runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has a camera and 4GB of storage. It recently went on sale for $200, so you the Philadelphia newspaper version is about half price for subscribers.

Out of the box, the tablet doesn’t include the Google Android Market, run the latest tablet-optimized version of Android, or have the fastest processor around. But it’s pretty cheap as a $200 tablet.. and even cheaper if you bundle it with a newspaper subscription — assuming you were planning on spending money on a newspaper anyway.

It would be nice to see TigerDirect sign up a few other partners to provide customized tablets with better software, better build quality, or better specifications. But for now it looks like this is a TigerDirect/Archos collaboration, and I suspect that means we’ll soon see the Arnova 10 G2 tablet pop up in other newspaper circulation areas soon.

via Android Community

More newspaper tablets on the way, thanks to TigerDirect and Archos? is a post from: Liliputing

Asus Eee PC 1025C hits the FCC (gets torn to pieces in the process)

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 01:31 PM PDT

The Asus Eee PC 1025C is a 10 inch netbook that’s expected to be one of the first mini-laptops to sports a new Intel Atom Cedar Trail processor. It’s due to launch any day now, so it’s not surprising that the tablet popped up at the FCC this week.

The fine folks at the FCC were kind enough to provide a user manual as well as a series of photographs. There aren’t any big surprises in the manual. The laptop will have a screen, touchpad and keyboard… just like every other netbook on the market. But the photos include a few shots of the Eee PC 1025C without its cover, so you can take a look at the wireless card, motherboard, and other components.

There are also a few photos of the power adapter — it looks like Asus has done away with the bulky power brick and separate adapter cable for this model. Instead you have a single-piece power adapter which almost looks like something you’d get with a smartphone rather than a laptop.

This won’t the first Asus netbook to come with this sort of charger — the original 7 inch Asus Eee PC 701 netbook had a similar cable. It typically takes longer to charge a laptop using this sort of solution, but since Intel’s Cedar Trail chips should use less power than most older netbook chips, the new charger may be able to provide enough juice.

According to Asus, the Eee PC 1025C should get up to 14 hous of battery life. It will support HDMI output and feature 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and USB 3.0. The model on display at the FCC has a white lid, but we also expect to see blue and pink models.

1025_2 1025_0 1025_1 1025_3 1025_4 1025_5 1025_6 1025_7 1025_8 1025_9 1025_10

Asus Eee PC 1025C hits the FCC (gets torn to pieces in the process) is a post from: Liliputing

WinToFlash: Install Windows XP, Vista, 7, or Windows 8 with a USB flash drive

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 11:51 AM PDT

WinToFlash

For the last 15 years or so, Microsoft Windows has been coming on CDs or DVDs. But it’s increasingly common to find computers that don’t have disc drives. So how do you install Windows on those computers?

Microsoft offers a free USB/DVD tool which you can use to easily create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 or Windows 8. But if you want to go a little more old-school, the best solution I’ve found for installing Windows XP with a USB flash drive is an app called WinToFlash.

WinToFlash has been around for a few years, and makes the process of copying the installation files from your Windows disc to a flash drive pretty simple. You can check out our step-by-step guide for more details.

While WinToFlash was originally designed for Windows XP, the developer released a major update earlier this year that added support for Windows 7. Then he added support for Windows 8. It also works with Vista, Windows 2003 Server, and Windows 2008 Server. In other words, WinToFlash does everything Microsoft’s official tool can do… and more.

This month a new version was also released which fixed a few bugs affecting the Windows 8 Developer Preview and installation of Microsoft Office 2007 on computers that have used WinToFlash to install Windows.

Since Microsoft isn’t likely to release a USB tool for installing Windows XP anytime soon, WinToFlash is probably the best option for anyone still looking to install Microsoft’s 10-year-old operating system on a newer computer. The app also offers options that you won’t find in Microsoft’s USB/DVD tool, so it could also come in handy if you’re looking for a way to install Windows 7 or 8 on a computer.

Related

WinToFlash: Install Windows XP, Vista, 7, or Windows 8 with a USB flash drive is a post from: Liliputing

Samsung Galaxy Note passes through the FCC, heading to AT&T?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Samsung Galaxy Note FCC

The Samsung Galaxy Note is an Android device with a 5.3 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, a capacitive touch panel, and an active digitizer that allows you to take notes or make drawings with a digital pen. The little guy also features a 1.4 GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing camera, and weighs just 6 ounces.

Despite reports that the Galaxy Note might not make it to the US, this week it showed up at the FCC website. If you’re having a hard time figuring out whether to call the device a phone or a tablet, it looks like Samsung is referring to it as a “portable handset” in the FCC documents. So I guess it’s a phone.

Pahndroid also notes that the Galaxy Note appears to be designed to work with the 3G and 4G wireless networks operated by AT&T, so it looks like it may be available from that carrier soon. That doesn’t mean Samsung isn’t also shopping the Galaxy Note around to other carriers. Few device makers do as good a job as Samsung of making their phones and tablets are available from multiple major carriers.

There’s no word on the price or release date — and it’s still possible that the phone/tablet will never launch in the States. Sometimes companies pass devices through the FCC just to gain approval in case they later decide to launch a product.

Samsung Galaxy Note passes through the FCC, heading to AT&T? is a post from: Liliputing

HTC Flyer tablet price falls to $300 starting October 1st

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT

HTC Flyer

It looks like $300 is the new $500. Best Buy will start selling the HTC Flyer Tablet for $299.99 on October 1st. That’s down from this summer’s launch price of $499.99.

The Flyer is a 7 inch tablet with a 1024 x 600 pixel display, a capacitive touch panel, and an active digitizer and digital pen for drawing or writing. It has a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon single core processor, 16GB of storage, and runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC’s Sense software enhancements. Overall I liked the tablet a lot when I reviewed the HTC Flyer recently, but found it hard to justify the high price tag. Now you don’t have to.

This is just the latest big price drop in tablet-land:

  • Retailers in the US and Canada recently started selling the BlackBerry PlayBook for $300. That tablet also used to have a starting price of $500.
  • The Motorola XOOM WiFi tablet now sells for $499 (or less) after launching earlier this year for $599.
  • HP took the prize for the biggest price drop of the year when it discontinued the HP TouchPad webOS tablet and dropped the base price from $499 to $99.

We’ve also seen the price of budget tablets drop significantly. There are plenty of options available from second-tier vendors for less than $200, and now Lenovo, ViewSonic, and Amazon are all launching new tablets for about $199.99.

HTC Flyer tablet price falls to $300 starting October 1st is a post from: Liliputing

Deals of the Day (9-30-11)

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:00 AM PDT

NOOK Color

Is the new Amazon Kindle Fire tablet looking a little to pricey for you, what with its $200 price tag? Today you can pick up the Barnes & Noble NOOK Color for just $150.

Of course, you’ll get a tablet that’s not designed to run as many apps (unless you root it). The NOOK Color also has a slower processor than the Kindle Fire… and Barnes & Noble will likely launch a next-generation model soon. But $150 is still a pretty great price for this device with a 1024 x 600 pixel display, responsive touchscreen, and decent battery life.

Here’s a roundup of some of today’s best deals on mobile gadgets.

You can find more bargains in our daily deals section.

Deals of the Day (9-30-11) is a post from: Liliputing

Amazon’s 10 inch Kindle Fire tablet coming in time for the Holidays?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Amazon Kindle Fire

Sure, Amazon just finished introducing the world to its shiny new 7 inch tablet for reading eBooks, watching movies, listening to music, and running Android apps. But there’s a rumor going around that the Kindle Fire is just the first color Android tablet from Amazon.

The folks at DigiTimes report that Taiwanese equipment maker Foxconn could have the contract to build a new 10 inch tablet for Amazon — and that it could be released before the end of 2011, in time for the holiday shopping season.

The 7 inch Kindle Fire is reportedly built by Quanta, a different Taiwanese manufacturer — and the same company that produced the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet for Research in Motion, which explains why the two devices look so much alike.

There’s no word on how much the rumored 10 inch tablet will cost or what, if any, new features it will have that are missing from the 7 inch Kindle Fire. Personally, I think a 7 inch display is better for reading books than a 10 inch screen. But while Amazon’s other Kindle products are designed exclusively for reading, the new tablets also need to handle video playback, gaming, web browsing, and other activities — so it would make sense for Amazon to launch a 10 inch model.

Amazon’s 10 inch Kindle Fire tablet coming in time for the Holidays? is a post from: Liliputing

Ubuntu One online storage service now available for Windows

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:55 AM PDT

Ubuntu One for Windows

Ubuntu One is an online file storage and synchronization service that lets anyone running Ubuntu Linux to keep documents, media, and other files synchronized between computers and backed up online. The Ubuntu developers at Canonical also offer Ubuntue One apps for iOS and Android, allowing you to access your files from a phone or tablet.

Now Canonical has added a Windows client to the mix.

At first, this might seem like a strange development. Why would Windows users want to sign up for Ubuntu One when there are already Windows-friendly alternatives such as Dropbox available? But like the Android and iOS apps, the new Windows client isn’t aimed at people that exclusively use Windows — it’s aimed at Ubuntu Linux users.

Since it’s hard to get by in this world exclusively using Linux, most Ubuntu users also probably spend some time with Windows — whether they maintain a computer that dual boots Ubuntu and Windows, have multiple computers, or simply have to use Windows while at work. The new Ubuntu One software lets users keep files on their Windows and Linux computers synchronized.

via Ubuntu One Blog

Ubuntu One online storage service now available for Windows is a post from: Liliputing

Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus: Thinner, lighter, faster

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 06:28 AM PDT

Samsung has unveiled a new 7 inch Android tablet called the Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus. While it might look like Samsung is just trying to be trendy, what with Amazon, ViewSonic, Acer, and Motorola bringing 7 inch tablets to market. But Samsung’s first Android tablet was actually a 7 incher. The company launched the original Galaxy Tab in the prehistoric era of 2010, and it had a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display.

In some ways, the new Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus isn’t all that different from its older sibling. Both have 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel displays and cameras on the front and back of the device for video chatting or snapping photos or videos.

But the new model is thinner and lighter than the original, measuring just 0.4 inches thick and weighing 0.76 pounds (compared with 0.5 inches and 0.84 pounds for the older tablet). It should also be faster, thanks to a 1.2 GHz dual core processor. The original Galaxy Tab had a 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird single core chip.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus also features Google Android 3.2 Honecyomb and Samsung’s TouchWiz software with custom icons, home screen widgets, and apps — including mini apps such as a calculator and calendar that open up without minimizing the app you’re currently viewing.

The new tablet supports 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 wireless connections, has a 4000mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, 16GB to 32GB of storage, and a microSD card for expansion. It can handle 1080p HD video playback and supports a wide range of video codecs including H.264, DiVX, Xvid, and MKV. The tablet can also record 720p HD video.

While a higher resolution display would be nice, the 7 inch 1024 x 600 pixel screens I’ve seen have generally looked pretty sharp.

The tablet will be available either with a white or metallic gray back panel — much like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Samsung says the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus will roll out globally starting in late October. There’s no word on pricing, but the tablet has a HSPA+ modem, which would suggest it will be available from wireless carriers, possibly with subsidized prices for customers willing to sign up for service contracts.

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Samsung Galaxy 7.0 Plus: Thinner, lighter, faster is a post from: Liliputing

Will Amazon buy Palm/webOS from HP?

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 05:22 AM PDT

webOS Kindle app

Less than a year and a half after HP acquired Palm for $1.2 billion, it looks like HP may be ready to sell — and Amazon may be first in line to buy what’s left of Palm. VentureBeat reports that HP is looking to sell off its Palm assets and that Amazon is the company most likely to actually click the purchase button.

The report comes just a few days after Amazon introduced its first tablet… running Google Android rather than HP/Palm’s webOS software. But the Kindle Fire uses a highly customized version of Android — in fact if it didn’t run third party Android apps you’d probably never even know it was Android. Meanwhile, Amazon already offers a pretty decent Kindle app for webOS and it probably wouldn’t be hard for the company to port its Amazon MP3 and Video apps to run on webOS as well.

By acquiring its own operating system, Amazon would have far more control over any future Kindle products it produces. And while Amazon has launched its own Android Appstore, any Palm purchase would likely include the HP/Palm App Catalog — so it’s not like an Amazon webOS tablet wouldn’t offer third party apps.

It might also be possible to develop tools that would allow some Android apps to run on webOS using a Java virtual machine. That would be similar to what Research in Motion plans to do with its upcoming software update for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet which runs BlackBerry Tablet OS.

There’s one thing that’s not likely to happen if Amazon does acquire webOS from HP. Amazon probably won’t resurrect the HP TouchPad line of tablets. While the tablet has proved wildly successful in its afterlife due to an 80-percent off fire sale, Amazon’s not interested in producing tablets for tablets sake.

Amazon sells media, and the Kindle Fire is delivery system for digital music, movies, books, and apps purchased from Amazon’s content stores. I suspect any future devices will look a lot more like the Kindle Fire, with its simple, media-oriented user interface than the general purpose HP TouchPad tablet.

Will Amazon buy Palm/webOS from HP? is a post from: Liliputing

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