E Fun Announces New Next 3 Android Tablet, Yet Another Cheap Android Tablet

E Fun has just announced their new Next 3 Android Tablet. By now you have probably had more than enough cheap Android tablets than you need for your entire lifetime, and E Fun’s Next 3 isn’t that different from the rest of them. The Next 3 features an 8.4 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x600, the size of which is slightly unusual, and a 600 MHz Rockchip CPU, which is underpowered and will probably cause the operating system to lag slightly. The E Fun Next 3 also features WiFi 802.11g and Android 2.1, which isn’t as outdated as the Sharp IS01 Android 1.6 mobile internet device that we looked at recently, but still isn’t the latest and greatest version of Android. The Next 3 will also come pre-loaded with the Borders E-Book store, and this along with the look of the device and the press release lead us to think that it will be primarily marketed as an E-book reader apart from an Android tablet, although it will work perfectly as an Android tablet as well. Some other features of the E Fun Next 3 are the built in speakers, 2 GB of built in flash storage, and a microSD card slot for expanding your storage. The E Fun Next 3 is available now at the Home Shopping Network and some retailers for just $230, and also comes with a case. This is a pretty good price for what you are getting, and the E Fun Next 3 could possibly be a good low end Android tablet/E-reader. Press release below.

E FUN Bows the Next3 8.4" Android Tablet Computer

New Nextbook Model Features Wi-Fi, Borders eBook Store and Multimedia Functions

WEST COVINA, CA – DECEMBER 16, 2010 – E FUN, a consumer electronics designer and marketer of fun, easy-to-use lifestyle products, is primed to add the next model to its quickly growing Nextbook line of sleek, lightweight Android tablets. The Next3, with built-in e-reader, Android 2.1 and Wi-Fi, will be introduced on HSN today. The take anywhere/read anywhere Nextbook brand is just that: the next generation of books.

"Our first Android tablet, the Next2, exceeded all expectations, selling out on HSN in less than a week in November," commented Jason Liszewski, Managing Director and VP of Sales for E FUN. "Our new Next3 tablet continues our objective to provide easy-to-use lifestyle products filled with fun and functionality. With its large touch-screen color display, Borders eBook Store app, and multimedia capability, the Next3 delivers on all counts."

Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) convenience allows users to browse the Internet, receive and answer e-mails, watch YouTube videos, listen to Internet music providers and get real-time weather reports. Turning pages and choosing applications is as easy as lifting a finger with the touch-screen feature. Additional functions include a calculator, clock, and alarm.

The Next3 features Google's powerful Android 2.1 operating system. It has a large 8.4" TFT color display, built-in speakers, 2GB flash memory with an SD card slot to increase storage capacity, and an MP3/photo viewer. For added fun, third-party applications are available. An elegant, removable case with magnetic closure provides protection.

The Borders eBook store is preloaded on every Nextbook making it easy to purchase and download favorite titles. Next3 users can choose from over one-million titles, many of which are free, including new releases and the latest bestsellers as well as biography, fiction, romance, etc., right from the comfort of their own home. 'Shopping' for an e-book is like shopping for a printed book, except the book is delivered instantly to the Next3 unit.

Accessories include an AC adapter, USB cable and protective pouch. The Next3 is compatible with Windows2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7, Linux and MAC OS.

The E FUN Next3 tablet e-reader will have a consumer friendly MSRP of $229.99. It will be available on HSN December 16 and 17, and then online and at brick and mortar retailers.

About E FUN
As its name implies, E FUN is a designer and markets fun, lifestyle e-products that are easily accessible. While appreciated by techies, E FUN products are primarily designed for consumers who desire the latest technological products, but are more concerned with what they do, not how they do it. E FUN's ongoing product innovation focuses on making electronics and computing more fun! Initial products offerings from E FUN include the APEN digital pen and Nextbook Android tablets. E FUN is headquartered in West Covina, California.

For additional information please visit E FUN at www.e-funusa.com, APEN at www.apenusa.com; and Nextbook at www.nextbookusa.com

Sharp Releases Sharp IS01 Mobile Internet Device, Short On Details, Yet Carrying a High Price Tag

Sharp has just released their new Sharp IS01 tablet, or mobile internet device to be more precise. The IS01 seems to have a boatload of features, but a few of them are fairly out-dated. The IS01 is a clamshell device with a 5 inch 960x480 capacitive touchscreen display and a full QWERTYkeyboard when you open it up, and a 5.2 megapixel camera on the back of the device. There is also a front facing camera on the inside of the device, which is lower resolution at just 0.43 megapixels. Apart from these external features there are also a few hardware surprises. The Sharp IS01 features a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 4 GB of built in memory, plus a microSD card slot for expansion, a 4 GB card is also included. As for connectivity, the IS01 features WiFi 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, a 3G radio, GPS, infrared, and some sources also suggest that it has a TV tuner of some sort. As for the battery, the IS01 includes a 1400 mAh battery, but it is unknown how much use that will actually give you. The Sharp IS01 also has a built in microphone and speaker, and a microphone and speaker jack. For data transfer you get a microUSB port. One of the most important details about the Sharp IS01 is that it runs Android 1.6, which is very outdated, especially now that Android 2.3 Gingerbread has been released, and it is also unknown if it will be upgradeable or not. The IS01 measures 149 x 83 x 17.9mm and weighs 227 grams, which isn’t exactly small. Importer Conics is selling the device in the United States for $300 in black or in sky blue for about $20 more, which is a little overpriced for the features, plus the fact that they aren’t very certain. Details on the Sharp IS01 are a little short, and with the ones that we have it seems that it has some great features like the QWERTY keyboard and 1 GHz processor, but many are outdated and insufficient. Overall, the Sharp IS01 probably won’t overtake devices like the Apple iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, or even some mid-range devices like the Archos line of tablets. I wouldn’t really recommend the IS01 for most, as it doesn’t exactly give you a great value. 

Acer Announces New 10.1 Inch Tablet, Not Many Specifications Announced

Acer has announced an entire line of tablets and this is just one of them. Although there aren't very many specifications available we are able to make some predictions about how Acer's 10.1 inch tablet will fair in the now competitive tablet market. Acer's 10.1 inch tablet doesn't actually have an official name yet, but one will probably be announced soon. The Acer 10.1 inch tablet will run on Windows 7, although there is no information available on which version of Windows 7 it will be. It will also have both a 1.3 megapixel front facing and back facing camera allowing you to take pictures and videos as well as do video conferencing. The Acer 10.1 inch  Windows 7 tablet will also feature WiFi and 3G connectivity, but there is no word on which carrier the 3G will be on. We hope that Acer will do something like what Google did with the Nexus One and make it available on all carriers, although we don't want it to be pulled from the market after just a short period of sales like the Nexus One was. Other than those specifications and speculations Acer is also saying that their 10.1 inch Windows 7 tablet will be very thin at under 15 mm and very light at under 2.2 pounds. The tablet will also run on an AMD processor, which is very unusual for a tablet, and it will also come with a docking center and keyboard, which is great so that you don't have to use a potentially problematic touchscreen keyboard all the time. As you probably already know, the Acer 10.1 inch Windows 7 tablet has a 10.1 inch display, and Acer is saying that it will be high resolution, but they haven't actually given any details on what resolution it will be. Those are absolutely all of the specifications that we have for the Acer 10.1 inch tablet, and they are very few. The device will be shipping in February of next year and there is also now word on pricing. The Acer 10.1 inch tablet seems promising from the specifications that we have, but we'll have to see it to believe it. Press release and another image below.



10.1" Windows Tablet: Versatility in a tablet form factor
Acer's range of tablets also includes a 10.1-inch device offering an extremely innovative solution that combines touch screen user-friendliness with the comfortable experience of a physical keyboard. In fact, the tablet comes with a docking device that includes a full-size keyboard and more connectivity options to enhance the user experience.

Thanks to this simple solution, this tablet will provide optimal ergonomics and ease of use both on the go and at your desk. Thin and light (only 15 mm and less than 1kg), and with a 10.1", high resolution display, it's easy to carry around and really unobtrusive. This tablet ensures outstanding entertainment and a superior touch experience.

The tablet will run on the next-generation AMD platform and will be equipped with two 1.3MP cameras, one rear and one front-facing, allowing you to take pictures, record video, chat and videoconference. Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity lets you keep in touch with your world at all times.

Available February 2011

Technological developments are changing the way we interact with devices. No longer a single product but a multitude of instruments with diverse form factors and display sizes designed to meet the specific connection need of that particular moment, allowing the digital individual to stay connected and interact with his world, anytime, anywhere.

Social networks, music, email, instant messages, photos, videos, chat and the web have become essential in everyday life. The content we produce, and the availability and accessibility to it at all times is what drives us towards new instruments.

Interaction, connecting, sharing and mobility. Welcome to the Acer tablet.

Archos 101 Now Shipping, One Of The Best Android Tablets Out There

The Archos 101 that we reported on a couple of weeks ago is finally shipping for just $300 for the 8 GB version and $350 for the 16 GB version, which is a relatively good price considering all of the the other features of the Archos 101, which include a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1024x600, 802.11n WiFi, a front facing camera, the capability to play 720p HD video and a wide variety of video formats and codecs, an HDMI output, and a pretty good battery life of up to 10 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours of video playback, and up to 36 hours of music playback. You can see all of the features of the Archos 101 in our previous post about it. The Archos 101 is currently shipping with Android 2.1 but Archos has said that it will be updated to Android 2.2 Froyo by the end of the month. The only drawback of the Archos 101 is the lack of the Android Market, but that can be easily fixed with the multitude of Andorid Market hacks that are out there. The Archos 101 is shipping now and it is one of the best Android tablet choices out there.

Coby Releases Kyros Tablet, Overpriced And Low On Features

Coby has just released its new Coby Kyros internet tablet, and it doesn't seem to have any great features, especially considering its high price point. The Coby Kyros features a 7 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x480, WiFi 802.11g, 4 GB of built in flash memory, a microSD card slot supporting up to 32 GB cards, a built in microphone, a built in speaker, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a USB host port for a keyboard or mouse, and a mini HDMI output supporting up to 1080p HD video. The Kyros runs Android 2.1 on a 800 MHz ARM processor, which doesn't exactly make it fast or up to date. As for battery life, the Kyros has a 3600 mAh battery, but there is no word on how long it will last you. The unit is also pretty bulky; Coby's site says that it measures 7.59x4.52x60 inches, but we find it hard to believe that this tablet is 60 inches thick, so we are assuming that that was supposed to be 7.59x4.52x0.6 inches. As for weight, the Coby Kyros is pretty heavy at 0.97 pounds. As you might have guessed, the Coby Kyros doesn't support the Android Market, but it does come preloaded with the AppsLib app marketplace.The Coby Kyros is currently available for $300 on the Home Shopping Network, which is extremely overpriced. The Kyros doesn't really have any of the features that you might want including Android 2.2 Froyo, a faster processor, a thin and light design, a capacitive touchscreen display, or some other connectivity options. The fact that there is very little information on it also makes it kind of shady. Overall, we would not reccommend getting the Coby Kyros, and instead you might want to get one of Archos' new tablets, which are cheaper yet better featured.  

Sylvania Launches 7 Inch Android Tablet To Join The Crowd Of Low Priced, Bargain Tablets

Sylvania has just launched its new "7 Inch MID Tablet" at K-Mart, and while details are limited we do have enough information to say that the Sylvania 7 Inch MID Tablet will be joining the ranks of the Augen Gentouch 78. The details that we do have are that the Sylvania 7 inch tablet will feature a 7 inch touch screen display with a resolution of 800x480, presumably resistive, 512 MB of RAM, 2 GB of flash storage, a front facing camera, WiFi 802.11g, Android 2.1, and a battery life of up to 6 hours. The 2 GB of flash storage can also be expanded via a microSD card slot. The Sylvania 7 inch tablet will also feature 2 mini USB slots and a HDMI output. There is no mention of whether the Android Market will be available, but we think that it's safe to guess that it won't. The Sylvania  "7 Inch MID Tablet" is available now at K-Mart for $180, which makes it a bit overpriced in my opinion. Overall, the Sylvania 7 inch tablet doesn't seem like a great option for any range of the tablet market, as it can't even dream of competing with the iPad or Galaxy Tab, yet it is both worse and more expensive than the Archos range of tablets, which we would highly recommend over the Sylvania 7 inch tablet. 

Creative Announces Two New Android Tablets, Don't Look Very Promising

Creative has just announced two new Android tablets; the Creative ZiiO 7 inch and the Creative ZiiO 10 inch. The Creative ZiiO 7 inch features a 7 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480x800, Android 2.1, a ZiiLabs ZMS-08 processor, WiFi 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.1, and a microSD card slot. Aside from this the ZiiO 7 inch also features a front facing VGA camera, a mini USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a built in microphone, and a built in speaker. All this is in a 207.4x133x13.7mm package that weighs 400 grams, pretty heavy for a tablet with these specifications. As for storage, the Creative ZiiO 7 inch comes in two different capacities, 8 GB and 16 GB. They are priced at €249, or $349 (8 GB) and €269 or $378 (16 GB), will both come in white, and should be shipping some time in December. The Creative ZiiO 10 inch features many of the same specifications, and the main difference is the screen, which is a 10 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024x600. The ZiiO 10 inch features the same ZiiLabs ZMS-08 processor, Android 2.1, Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi 802.11g, a front facing VGA camera, a built in microphone, a built in speaker, a mini USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Creative ZiiO 10 inch, like the ZiiO 7 inch, also features memory expansion, but this time in the form of an SD card slot instead of a microSD card slot. As for size and weight, the Creative ZiiO 10 inch measures 262x173x13.7mm and weighs a hefty 650 grams. Also like the ZiiO 7 inch, the ZiiO 10 inch will be available in both a 8 GB capacity and a 16 GB capacity, and will cost either €299 ($420) for the 8 GB or €319 ($450) for the 16 GB. The Creative ZiiO 10 inch should be shipping sometime in December and will be available in black. Neither of the tablets will have access to the Android Market, which is another big downside. Looking at the specifications of these tablets it doesn't exactly seem like they will be competitors to the Galaxy Tab or the iPad. The Creative ZiiO 7 inch and the ZiiO 10 inch might not even fit into the lower end tablet market as they are so overpriced. They also don't have some of the specifications that some other lower-end Android tablets do, including Android 2.2 Froyo or a capacitive display. You would think that the lack of features would make the Creative ZiiO tablets more portable, but it has actually made them more bulky and heavy. You would probably be better off looking at Archos' new line of tablets if you are looking for a lower end tablet, or the Galaxy Tab or iPad if you are looking for a higher end device. Some more images of both the ZiiO 7 inch and the ZiiO 10 inch are below.

Archos 43 And Archos 70 Now Shipping, Still No Android Market

The Archos 43 and the Archos 70 that we posted about previously have finally been released. The Archos 43, featuring a 4.3 inch touchscreen display, Android 2.2 Froyo, WiFi, and HDMI output, and 16 GB of storage, is finally shipping for $250. This seems like a fair price to pay, but unfortunately there is still no Android Market support. The Archos 70, as you might have expected, features a 7 inch touchscreen display with a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 8 GB of storage, a microSD card slot, Android 2.2 Froyo, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a front-facing camera. All this comes in an 11 ounce package that is just 0.43 inches thin. Unfortunately, as with the Archos 43, the Archos 70 does not have Android Market support. The Archos 70 has been released and is selling for $280, which seems like a great price to pay considering that the smaller screen Archos 43 is going for $250. A 250 GB hard drive version of the Archos 70 should also be released shortly for $350. If you would like to see the full specifications of the entire line of new Archos tablets, please visit our previous post. Overall, at these price points and boasting the specifications that they do, the Archos 43 and the Archos 70 seem like pretty good competitors in today's tablet market, except for the lack of Android Market support, of course. 

Viewsonic Introduces Two New ViewPad Android And Windows 7 Tablets

Viewsonic has just announced that they will be releasing two new tablets in the United States; the ViewPad 7 and the ViewPad 10. The ViewPad 7, as you might have already guessed, features a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x480 and will run on Android 2.2 Froyo. The ViewPad 7 also features WiFi 802.11g connectivity, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, and two built in cameras.On the back you will find a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, while the front features a 0.3 megapixel camera, presumably for video conferencing. For storage you get a built in 512 MB of memory, which is expandable to up to 32 GB via a microSD card slot. As for battery life, Viewsonic is saying the the ViewPad 7 will be able to give you up to 10 hours of use. The ViewPad 7 will also feature 3G connectivity, although there is no word on which carrier, and will have access to the Android Market, an impressive feat for a tablet considering all of the cheap Market-less tablets that have been released lately. The ViewPad 7 will be released sometime in November, and will be available for the hefty price of $480. This seems like a huge price to pay for a device like this, considering that you could get a decent netbook or even a cheap laptop for this price. The second device that Viewsonic has announced is the ViewPad 10, which features a 10.1 inch capacitive multitouch display with a resolution of 1024x600. Unlike the ViewPad 7 the ViewPad 10 will dual boot Windows 7 Home Premium and Android 1.6. The Windows 7 option is great, but Android 1.6 is extremely outdated. Aside from these features the ViewPad 10 will also feature a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 16 GB SSD, a microSD card slot, an accelerometer, and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera with a built in microphone for video conferencing. The ViewPad 10 will be launching in the first part of 2011 at a price of $630, which is overpriced in our opinion. The features of both the Viewsonic ViewPad 7 and the Viewsonic ViewPad 10 seem great, but the prices are immense and way too high for tablets in this range. Of course, we don't know exactly what the tablets will be like so we can't say anything about their performance, but unless they are something amazing the ViewPad 7's price of $480 and the ViewPad 10's price of $630 are too much to pay for a tablet with these features. The official press release and another image are below.

Viewsonic Unveils Android™-Based ViewPads®

Thousands of open-sourced apps available for 7” Android 2.2 3.5G capable ViewPad 7 and 10.1” dual-boot Win 7 and Android 1.6 ViewPad 10

WALNUT, Calif. – November 1, 2010 – ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today announced its ViewPad line of Android-based devices, featuring the ViewPad 7 and ViewPad 10.

“Leveraging our 20-year display heritage, these new ViewPad solutions provide users with anytime anywhere connectivity,” said Jeff Volpe, vice president and general manager for ViewSonic Americas. “With access to the universe of Android apps, our new ViewPads are perfectly suited for enjoying digital entertainment and social media. Office productivity is also a snap with robust web browsing functionality.” 

ViewPad 7 – The Android 2.2 ViewPad 7 combines a powerful processor with 3.5G capable data technology in a lightweight, pocket-sized 7” form factor. With an 800x480 WVGA LCD screen, this device is one of the only 7” tablet solutions with Android Google Mobile Services (GMS). As a result, consumers can connect to a selection of more than 100,000 apps and games along with Gmail, YouTube and more for a superior and convenient entertainment solution that fits today’s mobile lifestyle.
 
With its wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth® connectivity the ViewPad 7 supports instant messaging, VoIP, and all the web browsing and USB connectivity functions of a capacitive multi-touch device. The ViewPad 7 features 2 built-in cameras: a 3-megapixel, auto focus camera in the rear and a 0.3 megapixel camera in the front. In addition to the integrated 512MB of memory, the ViewPad 7 offers up to an additional 32GB of storage capacity via the micro SD card slot, along with battery life of up to 10 hours. The result is the ultimate device for connected fun and multitasking – in a compact size easier to carry than a netbook and with better media performance than a smartphone.

The ViewPad 7 will be available in late Q4 2010 for an ESP of $479. Third-party accessories and ViewCare™ extended warranties will also be available at launch.

ViewPad 10 – Innovative and productive, this 10.1” dual-boot Wi-Fi device gives users a choice between Windows® 7 Home Premium and Google Android 1.6 within the same device. With a high performance, high speed Intel® Atom™ 1.66GHz processor, integrated 1GB of memory, 16GB SSD hard drive and expandable micro SD slot, the ViewPad 10 is ideally designed to view Flash-based content and Office programs with Windows, and for an optimized mobile entertainment experience with Android. Additionally, the 1024x600 LED backlit panel includes a G-sensor and capacitive multi-touch for intuitive navigation across multiple applications. Teamed with a 1.3-megapixel webcam with built-in microphone, the ViewPad 10 is great for videoconferencing as well.

The ViewPad 10 with dual-boot OS will be available in Q1 2011 for an ESP of $629. Third-party accessories and ViewCare™ extended warranties will be available at launch.

For further information on ViewSonic products, please visit ViewSonic.com or follow ViewSonic on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. 

CTL 2goPad SL10 Surfaces With Windows 7, Decent Specifications

CTL has just announced their new CTL 2goPad SL10, one of the few Windows 7 tablets on the market. The 2goPad SL10 features a 10.1 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024x600, an Intel Atom N450 processor with a clock speed of 1.66 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a built in omni-directional microphone, and stereo speakers. The CTL 2goPad SL10 also has most of the ports that you would find on a regular computer including a LAN port, a microphone and speaker port, a mini VGA output (comes with and adapter for full VGA), 2 USB ports, and a microSD card reader. Battery life on the 2goPad SL10 is also pretty good; the 2goPad SL10 features a four cell lithium-ion battery which CTL says will give you about five hours of battery life with moderate use. The 2goPad SL10 has 250 GB of storage, and of course, the tablet runs on Windows 7, but there are no details on which version it is. The 2goPad SL10 also comes with a custom case. Pricing on the CTL 2goPad SL10 isn’t too bad at $550, and the 2goPad SL10 is available now. CTL is saying that they have massive demand for the 2goPad SL10 and have sold out, but more devices will ship out in November, so you might have to wait awhile to receive your device. Overall, the CTL 2goPad SL10 seems like a good Windows 7 tablet for the price. 

Five New Archos Android Tablets For Any Type of User

Archos has released a new range of tablets and they are both cheap and fully featured. There are five tablets in total, all of them running Android 2.2 Froyo. Only one of the tablets has actually been released, but the rest are soon to follow. 

The first of the five Archos tablets is the Archos 28 Internet Tablet. As you might have guessed, the Archos 28 features a 2.8 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 320x240. There is no word on whether the display is resistive or capacitive, but looking at the price point it is most likely restive. The Archos 28 runs on a 800 MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and also features WiFi 802.11n, a built in microphone, an accelerometer, and it runs on Android 2.2 Froyo. The Archos 28 doesn’t seem to feature speakers, though. If all this wasn't enough, the device also supports a large number of video and audio codecs and formats. An interesting feature is a USB 2.0 port with USB host capabilities. As for battery life the Archos 28 gets up to 16 hours of music playback, up to 4 hours of video playback, and up to 6 hours of web browsing. The device also comes with your choice of 4 or 8 GB of built in flash memory. Unfortunately, the Archos 28 doesn't support the Android Market, and neither do any of the other Archos Android devices. In terms of size and weight the Archos 28 is 100x54x9 mm and weighs just 68 grams. The Archos 28 hasn't been released yet but Archos is marketing it as being under $100, presumably for the 4 GB version. 

The second Archos tablet is the Archos 32 Internet Tablet. As you have probably already predicted, the Archos 32 features a 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 400x240. You might think that being resistive the touchscreen won't be very responsive, but there are reports that it feels like a capacitive touchscreen display. The Archos 32 also features 8 GB of internal flash memory, Android 2.2 Froyo, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, a built in microphone, an accelerometer, and the same 800 MHz ARM Cotex A8 processor as the Archos 28. A disadvantage of the Archos 32 is that there are no built in speakers.  Another feature that the Archos 32 shares with the Archos 28 is a USB port with USB host capability. The biggest improvement of the Archos 32 from the Archos 28, aside from the increased screen size is the addition of a camera with the ability to record VGA video, but no still images. Battery life on the Archos 32 is also slightly improved from the Archos 28, and you will get up to 24 hours of music playback, up to 6 hours of video playback, and up to 8 hours of web browsing. The Archos 32 also supports a large range of video and audio codecs and formats and as with the Archos 28 and all of the rest of the Archos Android tablets does not have access to the Android Market. As for the size of the Archos 32, it measures 105x55x9 mm and weighs just 72 grams. The Archos 32 is also the only Archos tablet that is currently available for purchase, and it goes for just $150. 

The next Archos tablet is the Archos 43 Internet Tablet, and you guessed it, it features a 4.3 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 480x854, and Archos is also saying that the display is high resolution. There is no word on whether the display is resistive or capactive. The Archos 43 also features Android 2.2 Froyo, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, a built in speaker, a built in microphone, an accelerometer, a built in kick stand, and a camera capable of recording HD video at 720p. The camera is also capable of taking 2 megapixel stills. A big improvement from the Archos 28 and 32 is that the Archos 43 features a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor. As for its similarities, the Archos 43 features a USB 2.0 host device and has support for a large number of video and audio codecs and formats, and the Archos 43 is also capable of playing 720p HD video. Another feature that differs from the previous Archos tablets is that the Archos 43 has a mini HDMI output and an external microSD card slot. Battery life is also improved and you get up to 36 hours of music playback, up to 10 hours of video playback, and up to 12 hours of web browsing. The dimensions are 135x65x9 mm and it weighs just 130 grams. The Archos 43 will be available with either 8 or 16 GB of built in flash memory, but the 16 GB model is available for pre-order now for just $250. There is no word on how much the 8 GB model will cost.

The next Archos tablet is the Archos 70 Internet Tablet with a 7 inch capacitive multitouch display and a resolution of 800x480. The Archos 70, like the previous Archos tablets, runs Android 2.2 Froyo. As for the specifications it features a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, WiFi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, built in speakers, a built in kickstand, a build in microphone, an accelerometer, and a front facing VGA camera for video conferencing. An interesting thing is that the Archos 70 has “speakers”, versus a “speaker” on the rest of the tablets. This leads us to think that the rest of the tablets have a mono speaker while the Archos 70 has stereo speakers. There is no back camera on the Archos 70, which is a surprise. The Archos 70, as with the previous Archos tablets, supports a large variety of audio and video formats and codecs, and also plays 720p HD video. A mini HDMI output is also included as well as a USB 2.0 host port. Battery life on the Archos 70 is great with up to 36 hours of music playback, up to 7 hours of video playback, and up to 10 hours of web browsing. An interesting thing about the Archos 70 is that there is a model with 8 GB of flash memory built in and a model with a 250 GB hard drive. These models differ slightly because, first of all, one of them has 242 more GB of memory, but also because the flash version has a microSD card slot. There is also a size and weight difference; the Archos 70 flash memory version measures 201x114x10mm and weighs 300 grams while the hard drive version measures 201x114x14 mm and weighs a hefty 400 grams. The Archos 70 is probably the best tablet of the entire lot so far because of the large screen size and resolution, the 1 GHz processor, and the capacitive display. The biggest downside is that there is no access to the Android Market, but Archos does have its own AppsLib app market available, and while it might not be the Android Market there are still some pretty good applications. You can also download applications directly to the Archos 70. There is no word on a release date or pricing for the Archos 70.

The last of the Archos tablets is the Archos 101 Internet Tablet, which is very much like the Archos 70 except for the different screen size. The Archos 101 features a 10.1 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024x600, but there is no mention of whether it is capacitive or resistive. It also runs Android 2.2 Froyo, like all of the other Archos tablets. For connectivity you get WiFi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1. The Archos 101 also features a build in speaker, a built in kickstand, a build in microphone, an accelerometer, a microSD card slot, and a front facing VGA camera for video conferencing. Some other features are a mini HDMI output, a USB host, and a USB slave. Like the Archos 70 and the Archos 43 the Archos 101 also plays 720p HD video and supports a wide range of audio and video codecs and formats. The Archos 101 also features a front facing VGA camera for video conferencing. Battery life on the Archos 101 is great and you get up to 36 hours of music playback up to 7 hours of video playback, and up to 10 hours of web browsing. The Archos 101 is obviously the biggest and the heaviest of the range, measuring 270x150x12 mm and weighing 480 grams, which doesn’t exactly make it pocketable. The Archos 101 comes in two versions with either 8 or 16 GB of built in flash memory. As with most of the other Archos tablets there is no word on the release date or pricing of the Archos 101, but I would expect it to be more expensive than the rest of the tablets as it is the largest.

Overall the Archos tablets seem great, but there are a couple of drawbacks. First of all, none of them have support for the Android Market, which is a huge drawback. To make up for this Archos has created their own app store called the Archos AppsLib, which has a large amount of applications but not as many as the Android Market. Another way to install applications to your device is by directly downloading the APK and installing it. Another drawback is the lack of GPS connectivity on any of the tablets, which is a drawback for some people, but could be unimportant for others. Other than that the Archos tablets are great. The best choice would probably be the Archos 70, as it has a capacitive display which isn’t too small or too large. The Archos 70 also has an option for the largest storage capacity. In the end it is up to you to decide which Archos tablet you will get, if any. The Archos line of tablets is great for any type of user.

CherryPal Announces Cheap New Android Tablet, The CherryPad America

CherryPal, the company that brought you the $100 netbook, has just announced a cheap new Android tablet. The CherryPad America is a 7 inch tablet running Android and has plenty of features, despite the low price point. The CherryPad America features a 7 inch resistive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800x480, Android 2.1 (An upgrade to Android 2.2 is planned to be released later), 256 MB of RAM, 2GB of memory, a microSD card slot, WiFi 802.11g, an 800 MHz ARM processor, and an accelerometer. The device will also feature a built in microphone and speaker. As for battery life, the CherryPad America runs off of a 3200 mAh battery, which should give you six to eight hours of use. The device also has an aluminum case and weighs just 1.1 pounds. Another great feature of the CherryPad America is that it will have access to the Android market, unlike other cheap Android tablets. CherryPad is saying that the CherryPad America is by no means a competitor to the iPad, but insists that it is "neither an iPad killer nor an iPad clone, it's a completely different product designed for a different market". The CherryPad America is available now through online retailer Zecozi, and will cost you just $188. Overall, the CherryPad America seems like a great tablet for the lower-end tablet market. Below is another image of the CherryPad America and the full press release. 

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct 07, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cherrypal, a California-based manufacturer of high quality, low-energy consuming and affordable personal computers, today announced the availability of its new sub $200 tablet computer, the CherryPad America.

The CherryPad was designed for consumers who are looking for an affordable, powerful, high quality, and low energy-consuming tablet computer with the ability to run the Android operating system. CherryPad is powered by the fast Samsung ARM11, (CPU + GPU + DSP, OpenGL 2.0) 800 MHz processor and runs Android 2.1 and all Android applications. An upgrade option to 2.2 is planned for the fourth quarter 2010.

The CherryPad America features a 7-inch resistive touch widescreen display (no stylus needed) at 800x480 resolution with built-in gravity sensor. Memory, storage and wireless functions include 256 MBs of DDRII RAM; 2 GB NAND Flash; Micro SD (1x) reader, and WiFi 802.11 b/g.

Standard I/O ports include USB 2.0 supported by an external adapter; 3.5 mm headphone jack, built-in speakers and microphone, DC port, optional external 3G modem. The CherryPad America's Polymer 3200 MAH battery has a run time of 6-8 hours. The device weighs just 1.1 pounds and is housed in a sturdy aluminum case. MSRP of the CherryPad America is $188.

"The CherryPad America does not compete against the Apple(C) iPad. The CherryPad addresses the sub-iPad market," said Cherrypal CTO Max Seybold.

According to Seybold, CherryPad has been designed for consumers who seek a lower cost, more compact tablet PC with the ability to run Android.

"The CherryPad is neither an iPad killer nor an iPad clone, it's a completely different product designed for a different market," Seybold said. "The screen of the CherryPad is only 7-inches big, the processor is slightly less powerful, and the CherryPad comes with Android 2.1 and not Apple's iOS." At a MSRP of $188, the price for a CherryPad is also less than half of the iPad.

"Early user tests confirmed the CherryPad user experience has been extremely positive. Users appreciate full access to the Android Market, its powerful processor, battery run time, and high quality," Seybold said.

Cherrypal Partners With Zecozi Cherrypal also announced a strategic partnership with Zecozi (www.zecozi.com), a new online shopping site for conscious consumers. All Cherrypal products will be exclusively sold through Zecozi in the United States, with the exception of volume buyers. Every Cherrypal comes with a 30-day money back guarantee, as well as a 1-year replacement warranty.

"We are a hardware manufacturer first and need to focus on our core competence in order to drive down costs and offer quality products that consumers can afford. We can offer our products for such a low price because we are frugal with non-product related costs. When we looked for a strong partner who shares our green, open and fair corporate value system, Zecozi was the obvious choice," said Cherrypal CEO John Collier.

About Cherrypal Corporation Cherrypal (http://www.cherrypal.com) is a Palo Alto, California based manufacturer of high-quality, energy-efficient and low-cost computers with worldwide sales operations. Cherrypal's products are designed in Palo Alto, California and manufactured in Asia.

About Zecozi Zecozi (www.zecozi.com) is a community-driven marketplace for conscious consumers, that enable users to shop with friends and come together in real-time with the community to collectively define sustainability. The Zecozi community is the next generation of sustainable commerce.

iPad and Apple are registered trademarks of Apple. Other products/company names are either trademarks or trade names of their respective holders.

RIM Introduces The New BlackBerry PlayBook, Looks Promising

RIM has just introduced the BlackBerry PlayBook, the long awaited BlackBerry Tablet. Most of the specifications of the PlayBook have been revieled but RIM hasn't given much pricing or availability information. Now, for the part you've all been waiting for, the specifications. The BlackBerry PlayBook features a 7 inch 1024x600 capacitive multitouch touchscreen display, a dual core 1 GHz CPU, which is extremely fast, 1 GB of RAM, a 3 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5 megapixel rear camera. Video conferencing will also be available on the PlayBook, and it should be great with a 7 inch screen and a 3 megapixel camera. The BlackBerry PlayBook also features 802.11n WiFi , Bluetooth 2.1, a micro USB port, and reported storage capacities of 16 GB and 32 GB. The storage capacities still haven't been confirmed yet, but they probably will be soon. The PlayBook will also support full 1080p HD video playback, which isn't really surprising with the dual-core 1GHz CPU. In terms of size the PlayBook is pretty small and light, at just 5.1x7.6 inches and just 0.4 inches thick. The PlayBook also weighs just 0.9 pounds. The OS on the BlackBerry PlayBook is a totally new one, created by RIM's recently aquired QNX, who created the OS, called the BlackBerry Tablet OS. The OS is reported to support Flash 10.1 and Adobe AIR applications. Multitasking will also be supported. RIM has also described the device as the first professional tablet. There is no word on an exact release date or pricing but RIM has said that the BlackBerry PlayBook will be available sometime in early 2011. RIM has also said that they intend to offer 3G and 4G models in the future, but no further details have been released about those versions. As of right now, The BlackBerry PlayBook sounds pretty promising, but I guess we'll have to wait and see. Below is the full press release, a video of the BlackBerry PlayBook in action, and some more images.

BlackBerry PlayBook Preview

Press Release

"New Professional-Grade Tablet Delivers Unmatched Power and Web Performance

San Francisco, CA – BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today redefined the possibilities for mobile computing with the unveiling of its new professional-grade BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet and BlackBerry® Tablet OS.

Perfect for either large organizations or an “army of one”, the BlackBerry PlayBook is designed to give users what they want, including uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and high performance multimedia, while also providing advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers. The incredibly powerful and innovative BlackBerry PlayBook is truly a game-changing product in the growing tablet marketplace.

“RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia.”

The Tablet You'll Want to Take Everywhere
This beautifully designed and incredibly powerful tablet is ultra portable, ultra thin and super convenient for both work and play. Measuring less than half an inch thick and weighing less than a pound, the BlackBerry PlayBook features a vivid 7” high resolution display that looks and feels great in your hand. With such a unique mix of utility, performance and portability, you’ll want to take it everywhere.

The New Benchmark in Tablet Performance
At its heart, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a multitasking powerhouse. Its groundbreaking performance is jointly fueled by a 1 GHz dual-core processor and the new BlackBerry Tablet OS which supports true symmetric multiprocessing. Together, the abundant processing power and highly sophisticated OS enable the BlackBerry PlayBook to provide users with true multitasking and a highly-responsive and fluid touch screen experience for apps and content services.

Uncompromised Web BrowsingWith support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5, the BlackBerry PlayBook provides customers with an uncompromised, high-fidelity web experience and offers them the ability to enjoy all of the sites, games and media on the web. For more than a decade, the mobile industry has worked to bridge the gap between the “real web” and mobile devices through various apps and technologies and, in fact, a significant number of mobile apps today still simply serve as a proxy for web content that already exists on the web. The BlackBerry PlayBook closes that gap and brings the real, full web experience to mobile users while also opening new and more exciting opportunities for developers and content publishers.

High Performance Multimedia
The BlackBerry PlayBook features premium multimedia features to support high-quality mobile experiences. It includes dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing that can both record HD video at the same time, and an HDMI-out port for presenting one's creations on external displays. The BlackBerry PlayBook also offers rich stereo sound and a media player that rivals the best in the industry. 

BlackBerry IntegrationFor those BlackBerry PlayBook users who carry a BlackBerry smartphone*, it will also be possible to pair their tablet and smartphone using a secure Bluetooth® connection. This means they can opt to use the larger tablet display to seamlessly and securely view any of the email, BBM™, calendar, tasks, documents and other content that resides on (or is accessible through) their smartphone. They can also use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data. This secure integration of BlackBerry tablets and smartphones is a particularly useful feature for those business users who want to leave their laptop behind.

Enterprise Ready 
Thanks to the seamless and secure Bluetooth pairing experience and the highly secure underlying OS architecture, the BlackBerry PlayBook is enterprise ready and compatible (out-of-the-box) with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. When connected over Bluetooth, the smartphone content is viewable on the tablet, but the content actually remains stored on the BlackBerry smartphone and is only temporarily cached on the tablet (and subject to IT policy controls). With this approach to information security, IT departments can deploy the BlackBerry PlayBook to employees out-of-the-box without worrying about all the security and manageability issues that arise when corporate data is stored on yet another device.

QNX Neutrino Reliability 
The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built upon the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture, one of the most reliable, secure and robust operating system architectures in the world. Neutrino has been field hardened for years and is being used to support mission-critical applications in everything from planes, trains and automobiles to medical equipment and the largest core routers that run the Internet.  The new BlackBerry Tablet OS leverages and builds upon the many proven strengths of this QNX Neutrino architecture to support a professional grade tablet experience and to redefine the possibilities for mobile computing.

An OS Built for Developers The Neutrino based microkernel architecture in the BlackBerry Tablet OS delivers exceptional performance, high scalability, Common Criteria EAL 4+ security, and support for industry standard tools that are already familiar to hundreds of thousands of developers.  The OS is fully POSIX compliant enabling easy portability of C-based code, supports Open GL for 2D and 3D graphics intensive applications like gaming, and will run applications built in Adobe Mobile AIR as well as the new BlackBerry® WebWorks™ app platform announced today (which will allow apps to be written to run on BlackBerry PlayBook tablets as well as BlackBerry smartphones with BlackBerry® 6). The BlackBerry Tablet OS will also support Java enabling developers to easily bring their existing BlackBerry 6 Java applications to the BlackBerry Tablet OS environment.

Key features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook include:

• 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording 
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
o Measures 5.1”x7.6”x0.4” (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
o Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
• Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
• RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Availability
The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011 with rollouts in other international markets beginning in (calendar) Q2.

RIM will begin working with developers and select corporate customers next month to begin development and early testing efforts.

The BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK is planned for release in the coming weeks and developers can register for early access at www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos.

For more information, visit www.blackberry.com/playbook."

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