Acer Iconia Tab A200 arriving January 15 for $330, Ice Cream Sandwich coming mid-February

After slipping not-so-quietly through the FCC, we knew it was only a matter of time before Acer’s Iconia Tab A200 arrived here in the US of A. Well, we just got word it’ll go on sale January 15th starting at $330 — not too shabby for a 10-inch tablet on the brink of an Ice Cream Sandwich update. According to Acer, the tablet is shipping with Honeycomb (version 3.2, to be exact), but should be getting that ICS upgrade in mid-February, about a month after it goes on sale. To be clear, that $330 price gets you 8GB of storage; the 16GB version will set you back an extra twenty bucks. Either way, it has a microSD slot for expansion, NVIDIA’s dual-core Tegra 2 SoC, a modest 2MP front-facing camera, a 1280 x 800 display and a battery rated for up to eight hours of runtime. If all that sounds rather ho-hum, remember that this is still one of the only tablets with a full-sized USB 2.0 port for moving files on and off the device.

Acer Iconia Tab A200

Transformer Prime detailed: 10-inch Super IPS+ display, 12-hour battery and quad-core Tegra 3, ships in December for $499

For three weeks now, Android fans have been fidgeting impatiently. Specifically, ever since ASUS chairman Jonney Shih took the stage at last month’s AsiaD conference and teased the next-gen Transformer tablet. Though he only gave us a quick glimpse, he recited a laundry list of specs: a 10.1-inch display, 8.3mm-thick body, mini-HDMI output, microSD slot and an update to Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of the year, if not sooner. Not to mention, it’ll be the first tablet packing NVIDIA’s hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, making it the first-ever quad-core tablet. We knew this: we’d learn more on November 9th.Well, that day has come, and so have the juicy details. We just got word that the tablet will go on sale worldwide in December, starting at $499 with a beefy 32GB of storage, moving up to $599 for a 64GB model. (That signature keyboard dock you see up there will cost $149.) In addition to those basic specs Mr. Shih revealed last month, we now know this has a 1280 x 800, Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass display with a 178-degree viewing angle and a max brightness of 600 nits. It also packs 1GB of RAM, GPS, a gyroscope, SonicMaster audio and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. Rounding out the list is an 8MP shooter with an auto-focusing f/2.4 lens and a back-illuminated CMOS sensor that captures 1080p video. Touch-to-focus is also an option here, and ASUS claims a 30 percent boost in color enhancement over competing tabs.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus now shipping from Amazon, confirmed to use Exynos SoC

We’ve known all along that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus packs a dual-core 1.2GHz processor of some sort, but Samsung’s only just now finally confirmed to AnandTech that the 7-inch tablet does indeed use an Exynos system on a chip. That’s the very same SoC found in the company’s Galaxy S II smartphone, so we should be looking at some similar performance from the tablet. In case you missed the news last month, it’s officially set to hit the US on November 13th for $400. That memo doesn’t seem to have reached Amazon, however, which is now listing the 16GB model as in stock and shipping immediately. Hit the source link below if you’re ready to take the plunge.

Android Community

AnandTech, Amazon

T-Mobile unveils Galaxy Tab 10.1 and SpringBoard, combines 4G talk with HSPA+ walk

Sure, rumors and scuttlebutt clued is in that T-Mobile might be seeing a pair of slates landing sometime this year, but we loves us some confirmation. The magenta network just announced that the T-Mobile SpringBoard with Google and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are primed to launch just soon enough for you to shove some HSPA+ holiday cheer into your relatives’ oversized stockings. The SpringBoard looks very much like the dressed up MediaPad we expected, replete with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear-facing 720p camera and an SD card slot for up to 32GB of expandable memory — not to mention a 7-inch capacitive touch display, and a 1.3 megapixel camera upfront. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the same Samsung slate we already know and love, but dressed in T-Mobile’s not-quite-4GHSPA+ style. In fact, both tablets sport HSPA+ compatibility and run Android 3.2. There’s no official word on price yet (although that MediaPad was rumored to hover at about $200 on contract), but the press release promises these slabs will drop sometime before the holiday season. Oh, that PR? Just hit the “read more” button below.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Honeycomb Tablet Announced

Samsung has just announced their latest Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, which will come with the latest version of Google’s mobile and tablet OS, Android Honeycomb 3.2.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus features a dual core 1.2 GHz processor and comes with a 7 inch multi-touch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.

Other specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus include a front facing 2 megapixel camera and a rear facing 3 megapixel camera which can record HD video in 720p, it also features an LED flash and auto-focus.

Source Samsung

Toshiba announces 7-inch Thrive tablet, we go hands-on (video)

It looks like the AT200 isn’t the only Toshiba tablet poised to land in time for the holidays. The company just announced the Thrive 7″, a (surprise!) 7-inch version of the original. Like its big brother, it runs on Tegra 2 and packs twin 5 MP / 2 MP cameras, though this time around that textured, rubberized back isn’t removable, and the rear-facing camera comes paired with an LED flash. As you’d expect, in exchange for a smaller form factor (0.88 pounds, half an inch thick), you’ll be giving up the full-sized ports that made the original so unique. Instead, it offers a more typical selection, including mini-USB and micro-HDMI sockets, a headphone jack, docking connector and a microSD slot. Like pretty much every 7- and 8-incher trickling into the market, it runs Android 3.2, and Toshiba did us the favor of leaving it completely unskinned (it did include Swype as a keyboard option, though). No word yet on pricing or availability, though a Toshiba rep confirmed that 16GB and 32GB models will go on sale by early December with a starting price of “less than $400.” How low is Toshiba willing to go? Your guess is good as ours but until then, you can meet us past the break for some early impressions and a short vid, too.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 official: dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, Android 3.2, HSPA+

Here it is, official as official gets: Samsung just announced the Galaxy Tab 7.7. As the name suggests, it has a 7.7-inch (1280 x 800) display — specifically, a Super AMOLED Plus panel. Like so many other 7-inchers hitting the market, it runs Android 3.2 and yes, that’s a skinned flavor of Honeycomb, with Samsung’s tablet-optimized TouchWiz UX layered on top. Inside, it runs the same Samsung-made dual-core 1.4GHz processor found in the new Galaxy Note, along with an HSPA+ radio promising theoretical download speeds as high as 21Mbps. Other specs for the 0.74-pound (335-gram) tablet include 16GB to 64GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, a 5,100mAh battery rated for 10 hours, 802.11n WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and dual 3MP and 2MP cameras. In a nutshell, it’s the in-between-sized do-over a lot of folks have been awaiting since the original Galaxy Tab grew stale — a slate that promises faster speeds and some seriously improved viewing angles. We’ll be the judge of that in our review, but in the meantime stay tuned for some early hands-on impressions.

Sony officially renames the S2 the Tablet P, opens up about the software (video)

Compared to the S1 tablet — make that the Tablet S — Sony’s dual-screen tab remains something of an enigma. AT&T hasn’t said how much it’ll cost on contract, nor do we know when it’ll finally go on sale. Still, the tablet just get one step closer to becoming a real, shipping product, with Sony renaming it the Tablet P, as rumored, and clarifying the full range of specs — namely, that it weighs in at 0.82 pounds and runs a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 SoC with twin 5.5-inch (1024 x 800) displays, dual 5MP and VGA cameras, an HSPA+ radio, a 3,080mAh battery, a full-sized SD card slot, 4GB of internal memory, a micro-USB socket and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Those displays use the same TruBlack technology found in Sony’s Bravia TVs, promising blacker blacks and whiter whites. What’s more, Sony is opening up about the software, a topic it pointedly ignored when we first handled the hardware, then codenamed the S2. For starters, by the time it ships, it’ll join the ranks of a growing number of tablets (most of them 7-inchers) running Android 3.2. And guess what? We recently sat down with the Tablet P a second time for a preview of how the outfit’s optimized Honeycomb for those dual displays. Here’s what to expect.

Sony S1 and S2 hands-on

Now that Sony has spilled the carrier-exclusive beans on at least one of its tablets, the S2 clamshell, the company kindly gave us a chance to get some long-awaited hands-on time with both it and its sibling, the S1 slate. And at time when it feels like we handle a new Honeycomb Android tablet every other day, these at least usher in some pretty unusual form factors. On the one hand, you’ve got the S1, a 9.4-inch number whose rounded wedge profile was designed to mimic a folded magazine. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s the S2, which opens to reveal twin 5.5-inch displays — all the more of a novelty since we’ve barely seen Android 3.0 running on devices that don’t have 10-inch displays. Alas, we only had a few minutes to poke around, and in particular we would have loved to spend more time sinking our teeth into Sony’s spin on Honeycomb. For now, though, enjoy those close-up shots below and head on past the break for some early impressions.

Olivetti's OliPad 110 tablet runs on Honeycomb, olive oil

Just a few months after unleashing what it called Italy’s first tablet, Olivetti is turning its attention to what might be Italy’s first tablet upgrade — the OliPad 110. Much like its predecessor, this 1.3-pound slate rocks an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and a 10-inch touchscreen, but runs on Honeycomb and boasts a higher-res, 1280 x 800 display. There’s also a two-megapixel camera strapped to the front, a five-megapixel lens ’round back and 16GB of onboard memory. No word yet on pricing or availability, but you can check out more pics of this bella signorina at the source link, below.

Notebook Italia

Toshiba Thrive hands-on (video)

Toshiba didn’t exactly jump into the tablet market head first, but now that it’s come clean with the Thrive, its first pad for the US market, it’s wasting no time — we just got some hands-on with the 10.1-inch, Android 3.1-powered slate — which, by the by, is the first we know of to sport a removable battery. It’s also got a few more rarities: full-sized USB and HDMI ports and a full-sized SDHC / SDXC slot. Oh, and its $429 starting price ain’t bad either. So was Toshiba’s entry into the world of Android tablets worth the wait? Join us for a tour past the break, and decide for yourself.

Toshiba Thrive tablet with Android 3.1 ships in July, starts at $429

That Toshiba Thrive tablet that surfaced on J&R’s site last month? Turns out, someone got a little excited — the company just confirmed the listing went up prematurely and that the price was wrong. But, we just got word that the Thrive will indeed debut as Toshiba’s first tablet for the US market, with pre-orders beginning June 13th at Best Buy, along with the usual “office superstores” and “e-commerce players,” and a mid-July ship date (we’re hearing the 10th). The 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) tablet runs Android 3.1, and comes in three sizes: 8GB ($429), 16GB ($479), and 32GB ($579). Not bad, when you consider the 16GB model undercuts the Galaxy Tab 10.1 by $20.

If you’ve been following along, you already know it’s powered by Tegra 2 and has WiFi, Bluetooth, full-sized USB and HDMI ports, an SD slot, a 2 MP front-facing camera, and a 5MP rear one. But the company also just unleashed a slew of other details. Head on past the break for a run-down, won’t you?

The Thrive’s got a haptic display and a button to lock the screen orientation. It also comes with a Toshiba-branded file manager and Swype pre-installed — though, as always, you can switch to the stock Android keyboard. The company also bundled its Resolution+ software, which it already uses to clean up and upscale video in its TVs and laptops. And, it also has a removable battery that’s rated up to seven hours of continuous HD video playback, and promises to recharge up to 90 percent in an hour and a half.

We’re stoked to handle one of these in person, as you can imagine, but at the moment we’re a bit concerned about the weight: at 1.6 pounds, it’s about as heavy as the first-gen iPad, which, like, scads of other tablets, has since gone on a diet. Then again, Toshiba was late to the netbook market and served up one of the best minis of all time, and few other tablets let you swap out the battery, so we’ll just have to reserve judgment until we get one of these bad boys in to review.

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 tablet hits some online retailers, still not buy-able

Lenovo still hasn’t officially confirmed it, but all signs are pointing to an imminent US launch of its Android-based IdeaPad K1 tablet. It just hit the FCC under the “K1″ moniker earlier this month, and it’s now gotten a full blown listing on Buy.com, complete with specs and some pictures that show off Lenovo’s “custom-built Android interface.” Those specs include a 10.1-inch display, a Tegra 2 processor (not a Snapdragon as we had seen on the LePad), 32GB of storage, dual cameras (5 megapixel rear and 2 megapixel front-facing), a microSD card slot, a micro HDMI out, and even a SIM card slot — somewhat notably it’s also listed as coming with Netflix pre-installed. While most of those specs seem like a safe bet, others apparently aren’t quite set in stone, the listing alternatively mentions both Android 3.0 and Android 3.1, for instance, and both a 1280 x 720 and 1280 x 800 resolution (though the latter seems likely). What’s more, while Buy.com isn’t providing a price just yet, the tablet has also hit Krex Computers of all places, where it’s listed at $510. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look.

 

Acer Iconia Tab A100 delayed due to Honeycomb compatibility issues?

Acer was already kind enough to give us a heads up that it would not be launching the Iconia Tab A100 in May, as planned. But the company wasn’t exactly champing at the bit to explain why its 7-inch, Tegra 2-powered tablet is taking such a tedious trip to market. According to a DigiTimes report, at least, the hangup comes down to compatibility issues with Honeycomb, an OS that so far hasn’t been seen on many 7-inch slates. Specifically, the site’s unnamed sources say Acer has encountered problems with certain applications and that Google, meanwhile, is “busy resolving other issues.” All in all, precisely the kind of complication that Ice Cream Sandwich promises to circumvent. Oh, and speaking of delays, DigiTimes adds that the Iconia Smart might go on sale in July due to earthquake-related supply shortages. We asked Acer for clarification, but the company declined to comment, so it looks like we’ll just have to wait and see what goodies late summer brings.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 review

Last month, the Motorola Xoom was the only officially sanctioned Android 3.0 tablet available in the United States. Now there are four — the T-Mobile G-Slate arrived last week, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 this week, and the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is on sale today, assuming you can find one. All have the same basic silicon inside, but oh-so-slightly different approaches to shape, such that price might honestly be the deciding factor these days. That’s where we thought this WiFi-only Acer Iconia Tab had an edge, launching at $450, but now that ASUS has shaken the money tree with a $400 figure for the Eee Pad Transformer, we doubt other price tags will stick. It could be the tiniest of differentiators that shifts your opinion in favor of a particular slate. What’s a prospective tablet buyer to do? Join us on a tour of the Acer Iconia Tab A500′s particular perks and quibbles after the break, and we’ll tell you.