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Panasonic VIERA tablet

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has developed a tablet styled computer that it hopes to offer globally this year. The new tablet line will be based on Google’s Android operating system, which was confirmed by CNET UK) and will come in an array of sizes from 4-inches up to 10-inches.

Panasonic is showing its VIERA tablet off this week at CES in Las Vegas as a prototype and is hoping to show off the tablet’s value – including its ability to work as a sub-screen for a connected television and offer cloud services. The only specifications provided have been that the devices will offer an LCD touchscreen display attached to a slim and lightweight tablet that will offer long hours of operation. We hope to hear more on Panasonic’s tablet line-up in the future.

We had an inkling that the Olympus E-PL2 would launch this week and we weren’t disappointed. The new model is a little light on spec changes but under the hood you have a larger, brighter screen, improved ISO up to 6400, and new layered effects for adding multiple effects at the same time. The new kit, priced at about $600, comes with a m14-42mm. The new camera supports the new PenPal Bluetooth, a $60 device that allows you to send HD images from your camera to any mobile device (except the iPhone, at least for now). The new lenses are movie/still compatible, a feature that considerably reduces lens noise when recording video.

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Motorola’s Atrix Android Phone: Twin CPU Cores And a Laptop Dock!

It runs Android 2.2, with HTML5 support, and is AT&T’s first dual-core processor in an Android phone. And it docks into a laptop. They’re calling it the world’s most powerful smartphone. ORLY?

It also has 1GB RAM, a 1900mAh (that’s ginormous) battery, and 2x faster than competing web browsers. You can “view HD video”.

Also! There’s a Motorola Atrix Webtop Application, which docks your phone into a laptop, using it to power the entire laptop. This is like Palm’s Foleo idea, but, you know, maybe not crappy. Firefox browser inside, running on this device, using the desktop version.

In short, the Motorola HD Dock, the thing that hooks the Atrix to a laptop, is going to let you use your phone as a laptop, taking advantage of the keyboard and mouse on the laptop. Still wondering about the employment of android 2.2 instead of something more contemporary, though!

Here are the official specs:
• Dual core processor, each at 1GHz
• 1GB RAM
• qHD resolution (960×540)
• 24-bit color
• 16GB internal, 32GB microSD expansion
• 802.11n
• AT&T hotspot service
• 11m thickness
• 1930mAh battery
• dual microphones

As for the docks:

The Motorola HD Multimedia Dock has three USB ports and an HDMI port enabling connections to a keyboard, mouse, speakers and HDMI-compatible monitor for working at your desk/office, or connecting to an HDMI-compatible television and home theater audio system for interacting with content and enjoying video, music, games and more in your living room.

The Motorola Laptop Dock has an incredibly thin design with an 11.6-inch screen, full keyboard, stereo speakers, 36Wh three-cell battery that delivers up to eight hours of battery life and weighs just 2.4 pounds. Users simply dock their Motorola ATRIX 4G into the back of the Laptop Dock to turn it into an active, connected machine to experience true mobility at work, home and playing on-the-go in a form factor that’s lighter and smaller than most laptops on the market.

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Tom_Servo 01/06/11

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The guys face in that first pic is quite humorous. Reply

sweetelectro 01/05/11

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What is up with that design?! It may be sturdy but having a phone stick out the back of my notebook doesn’t lend it any use in my bed or on the couch. Reply

UgoBogdan 01/05/11

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Wait a sec… So Motorola can do this, but the iPhone can’t download an app over 20 megs on ATT’s 3g network?

Oh where has competition gone? Reply

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darth_vato 01/05/11

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What in the hell? This thing is just as, if not more powerful than my netbook. Reply

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Jackstick 01/05/11

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I don’t get it. When would I ever really need to Kuato my phone onto my laptop? Reply

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FriedPeeps will kill for a CR-48 01/05/11

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If only the phone looked better, the laptop ran Chrome (OS?), and this was for Verizon. Reply

anitesh.jaswal 01/05/11

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Hard to believe this is coming out of the company that gave us the Razr and other piles of garbage. Reply

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redman042 01/05/11

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Didn’t Palm come out with something similar before they got gobbled up by HP? Reply

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KyleUndefined 01/05/11

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I’d buy it, but not the laptop dock.

But why Android 2.2? Reply

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H. 01/05/11

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I think I bought my G2 at the wrong time. This is incredible.

Ah, well, something awesome to look forward two in 2 years… Reply

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origosis 01/05/11

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I am sure the Dual core CPU will help. But considering desktops and game still have yet to really utilize multi cores in any meaningful way… I think this phone will be similar to desktops. Great at multitasking, but about on par app for app performance.

I hope I am wrong, but even if I am right. Once multicore CPUs become more common in phones I am sure things will get better.

Does Android 2.2 even know what to do with 2 cpus? will it divide the workload? or just run background apps on 1 core and then your main app on another core? hmmmm. Reply

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Apotheosis 01/05/11

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It’s a clever idea, probably with limited customer interest. I think they’re really missing the boat by having the computer powered by the phone instead of the inverse, plugging it in will recharge your phone, and run the laptop. Reply

AreWeThereYeti 01/05/11

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I have to say, Motorola is all over the place. Sometimes great stuff like the Droid X, sometimes bizarro stuff like this. Earth to Motorola: I’m not going to buy my phones and notebooks in custom matched pairs (for some guaranteed gigamundo price), especially if the “notebook” can’t do normal notebook functions too.

Given that the lifetime of an Android phone seems to be less than a year (if you want any kind of current Android version), people aren’t going to shell out like that every year.

Oh, and WTF with the Firefox browser built in? I’m sure it’s nice and all, but on Android I want to use Chrome, and they better not make it less-than-seamless to do so. Reply

Edited by AreWeThereYeti at 01/05/11 3:16 PM

lllbarllllcodelll 01/05/11

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I can’t wait until the software that makes the docking happen gets ported out so it can be used for any phone! Reply

mricyfire 01/05/11

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That guy looks so familiar…

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Error601 01/05/11

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This absolutely does not “simplify” things one bit. Reply

lllbarllllcodelll 01/05/11

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Why Att for Motorola? Verizon should have it!! Pleaaasse! Reply

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Unseelie23 01/05/11

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So, does the laptop dock thingie have it’s own battery or is everything powered by the battery in the phone? Reply

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Steezy McFresh 01/05/11

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What happens to the OS when you dock it? Is it Motorola’s software or does Android already have these capabilities built in? My guess is that it’s Motorola’s software, but I didn’t know they were capable of writing such sophisticated software. (This is sophisticated stuff, no?)

…Or is it actually running OSX? Reply

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TareX 01/05/11

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I love this phone the most, out of the three announced. But I’m slightly bothered by the fact it has the biggest bezel surrounding the display. I mean look at the Sammy and HTC phones. Reply

ZenInsight 01/05/11

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Gotta say. That lappy dock is brilliant. Reply

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P3nnst8rflakes: Breakfast of Champions 01/05/11

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YA RLY Reply

Almightywhacko 01/05/11

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Maybe I am missing something, but if you are going to carry around a laptop-sized object.. well wouldn’t you be better off just carrying a laptop, instead of a phone-powered netbook? Reply

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TareX 01/05/11

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They didn’t mention it, but the dock’s screen has got to be 1080p…. Reply

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mtfmuffins 01/05/11

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i *love* this concept and hope someone comes out for something similar for my Evo! (unlikely, but I can hope!)

It’s funny to me that my Evo has more horsepower than my 1st desktop computer. All I want is to be ab le to surf and type/edit doc’s. Something light, lighter than a tablet but far less expensive than a macbook air. If there were a way for me to dock my Evo like they describe here and get a larger screen w/ full sized keyboard, I’d be down. Down like a clown, charlie brown! Reply

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Samsung’s Infuse 4G: A Spectacular Google Android Phone

“Holy shit.” It’s not what usually comes to mind when I touch a new phone. But Samsung’s Infuse 4G is spectacular. Ridiculously good 4.5-inch screen. 1.2GHz processor. 4G on AT&T. Why, exactly, wasn’t this the new Nexus phone?

I pick it up. Whoa. This is quality. The first Samsung phone in ages that doesn’t feel cheap—it’s a radically better tactile experience than any Galaxy phone, even the Nexus S. The plastic is dense and matte, the back textured. The phone itself a nearly perfectly sculpted, sufficiently thin slab (AT&T’s thinnest), the expanse of the 4.5-inch screen making it seem somehow thinner. It’s what a high-end phone should feel like.

Let’s consider the specs: 1.2GHz processor. The fastest Android phone yet. The screen is comically, hyperbolically named, like the umpteenth version of Street Figher II—Super AMOLED Plus—except that it lives up to the name, in that it’s noticeably better than Samsung’s current Super AMOLED displays (which are already great), since it packs more subpixels into each pixel. The screen definitely pops more. It’s also one of AT&T’s first 4G phones. (This may sound confusing, but it’s 4G in the same sense as T-Mobile’s 4G, since it runs on AT&T’s HSPA+ network, not its LTE network.)

Any downsides? Well, I’m mildly concerned about the battery life on this beast. And it’s running Samsung’s TouchWiz UI on top of an as-of-yet unknown Android variant. A clean build of Android 2.3 would be killer, effectively making it the real Nexus. That said, it might wind up being one in a sense anyway: This is the new blueprint for building an Android phone.

Send an email to matt buchanan, the author of this post, at matt@gizmodo.com.

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mipakr 01/06/11

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but does the screen combine with the ultrazord?

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sweetelectro 01/06/11

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FOUR AND A HALF INCHES?!

That is freaking awesome! I need to see this thing in person. It could be too large but this could almost completely replace a tablet. Reply

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LearnIIBurn 01/05/11

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Not a blueprint for building Android phones, It finally does look like a nice Samsung phone though. This thing will be old news very very quickly. Reply

clearzero 01/05/11

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This is one of the first Android phones I could see myself buying. The only thing that would prevent me from doing so is the HORRIBLE skin Samsung puts on it. Why can’t we just have standard Android with no crapware.

For the Android users out there- How difficult is it to install a vanilla rom and does performance suffer from it? Touchwiz is gawd awful! Reply

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Andy Mesa 01/05/11

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Good to see every other phone manufacturer is still dismissing battery drain issues entirely. Reply

Captain K’nuckles 01/05/11

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Yep, this is the new blueprint… for another two months. This phone war is getting ridiculous. I shouldn’t be this jaded this soon.

Anyway, good news for AT&T and I’m assuming that they’re no longer tinkering with Android in capricious, disgustingly unnecessary ways, yes? Reply

weinerschnitzelboy 01/05/11

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I’m positive that Samsung screwed Google over when they made the what is now current Google Nexus S Reply

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Bender 01/05/11

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What the BALLS google? Samsung had this beast ready and waiting and you still chose the Nexus S as a flagship? It’s a nice phone, but this just clearly outstrips it. Reply

ryanr1230 01/05/11

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When is the Samsung Infuse being released? and what is the price? Reply

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Super_Pickle 01/05/11

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Two things will prevent this from being my next phone.

1. The lack of pure android.

2. at&t’s network, customer service, and pricing plans.

Hopefully this will become the next standard for smartphones, and a million more will pop up, with a pure android clone riding the wave onto a different network. Reply

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RsK 01/05/11

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finally some good android phones for AT&T. Reply

Edited by RsK at 01/05/11 5:07 PM

RsK 01/05/11

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I actually might get this phone, I would have to hold it myself first, 4.5 inch screen is big. I held my friend’s DROID X, and that phone was big, and I believe it had a 4 inch screen. Or if not this phone, I’ll get the iphone 5. Reply

HK-47 01/05/11

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Isn’t it a little too big for a mobile phone? :-S Either that or he has small hands. Reply

Edited by HK-47 at 01/05/11 5:02 PM

quillaja 01/05/11

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I thought the MID was dead? Reply

Dogen 01/05/11

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Sadly, I’ll never buy another TouchWiz phone unless Samsung puts a hell of a lot more effort into it than they did the Galaxy S variants. I’ve found so many glitches, stalls, freezes and things that kill the phone. Sorry, Sammy, you need to do better. Reply

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KyleUndefined 01/05/11

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Finally official Android phones on AT&T Reply

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brianbotkiller 01/05/11

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It’s on at&t. therefore, it is shit. The end. Reply

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dale3h 01/05/11

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I’m still happy with my EVO 4G…7 months later and it is still in the top 5 best smart phones. This is actually pretty rare for Android phones lately…

But if I HAD to switch to AT&T, I’d definitely get this phone but I would flash a vanilla ROM to it to get rid of Samsung’s (in my opinion) ugly interface.

My friend’s Captivate didn’t even have a Weather app from the factory!! WTF?

There would be a few things I miss about my HTC Sense mixed UI, but I’d get used to it. Reply

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crazypills77 01/05/11

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i stopped reading at “4.5 inch screen”

these people need to just stop. seriously. Reply

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AreWeThereYeti 01/05/11

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So, although no one says it, I’m assuming from “50% more subpixels” that they have finally dropped the crappy alternating two-color pixels?? That would be nice. But can’t *someone* somewhere figure out the actual resolution of this thing? Reply

siwex80 01/05/11

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A device of every possible size… choice or overkill?
To me, make the Tab look even more pointless.
Or this is pointless.

Oh. I dunno Reply

garmonestes 01/05/11

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According to another article the Infuse will not be released until 2nd quarter of 2011. That would explain the decision to go with the Nexus S. Reply

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verditsgerman 01/05/11

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The world according to giz commenters.

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00000000 01/05/11

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This is great! Now HTC has something to BEAT. Reply

Nigra 01/05/11

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So… there was a 5″ tablet out there, right? How is that any different than this?

I don’t see the size to be too different to tell them apart. Reply

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Devices

Viewsonic announces two Android tablets; one dual-boots Windows 7

November 1, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka

Tablets

Viewsonic has announced that it will soon begin selling two Android tablets, one of which can also boot to run Windows 7. While the Viewpad 7 will go on sale this month, the Viewpad 10 will arrive early next year. Here’s a look at each device.

The ViewPad 7 is a 7-inch LCD capacitive tablet with 800×480 WVGA display. It sports Android 2.2, and unlike many Android tablets we’ve seen in the pass, the ViewPad actually has support for Google Mobile Services. That means buyers will have access to Google-owned apps like Gmail, YouTube, and the Android Market. There’s a 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus on the rear and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera. The ViewPad has WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, USB, 512 MB memory, and up to 32 GB microSD support. The ViewPad 7 is $479 and goes on sale in Q4 2010 (this month or next).

The ViewPad 10 has a 10.1-inch touchscreen with 1024×600 resolution and LED backlit panel. There’s a 16 GB SSD harddrive and microSD slot, 1.66Hz processor and 1 GB of memory. These upgraded stats will be important because the ViewPad 10 can dual-boot into Windows 7. That’s a nice feature to have, but buyers will have to sacrifice versions because the 10-inch model of ViewPad only runs Android 1.6. The device also supports video conferencing through a 1.3 megapixel camera and built-in microphone.

The cost for the ViewPad 10 is $629 and will go on sale in Q1 2011.

android tablet, Android tablets, tablets, ViewPad 10, ViewPad 7, viewsonic, windows

CherryPad: This is What a $188 Tablet Looks Like

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By: David Pierce

• 10.28.2010
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$499. $399. These are the prices we’re seeing for tablets (and those are the cheapest ones). But how about $188? That’s what Cherrypal is asking for its Android tablet, the CherryPad. Cherrypal is best known for its $99 computer, so the $188 CherryPad comes as no surprise. It’s a 7-inch, Android 2.1–running tablet that weighs a little over a pound, has built-in WiFi, an 800-MHz processor, resistive touch screen, 2GB internal memory with a slot for more, and lots of the other trappings you’ll find on much more expensive tablets.

But is the CherryPad any good? That remains to be seen. Based on the few minutes I had with the device, it’s totally functional, and is faster and more responsive than I expected, but you’re very much getting what you pay for—from the exposed screws to the resistive touch screen, there’s none of the beauty and polish of a device like the Apple iPad (which the CherryPad’s design essentially copies as much as possible). But if $188 is what you want to pay, the CherryPad might not be such a bad idea.

We’ve got the CherryPad in our labs for testing, and we’ll report back with a full review. Before we do, we took some shots to show you what you can expect to see with the CherryPad, so hit the slideshow to see exactly how much tablet you’ll get for your $188.

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Sony’s getting creative with its Playstation 3 bundles, adding a 320 GB console for $350.

That’s $50 less than a console with the same size hard drive and the Playstation Move starter kit, which includes the camera, the motion controller wand and Sports Champions. It’s $50 more than Sony’s basic PS3 with 160 GB hard drive.

I’ve read the opinion that the $350 price point shows Sony’s willingness to subsidize the Playstation Move. On its own, the Move starter kit costs $100, so in essence, Sony is cutting the Move price in half when bundled with a $400 console. I think of it in a different, admittedly unsubstantiated way: Sony’s putting out the sans Move bundle mainly to lure people towards its new motion controller.

I can already envision the pitch at Gamestops across America: So you’re buying the 320 GB PS3. Why not spend an extra $50 for the Playstation Move bundle? That’s a $100 value for less than the cost of one game, which you’re already getting in Sports Champions.

The upsell isn’t so much in the initial Move bundle as the purchases that will inevitably follow: New games for the Move, the subcontroller that’s required for certain games, more wands so people can play together. Clever.

Of course, it’s also possible that Sony’s trying to get buyers of the 160 GB model to pay $50 more for twice the storage (that’s the current pitch at Sony’s official Playstation blog). I wonder, then, how many people will be double-upsold?

For more smart takes on technology, visit Technologizer.com. Story copyright © 2010, Technologizer. All rights reserved.

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