Pocketables

Aura Design's AuraSlate welcomes hacking, sells for cheap

One of Android's main draws is the fact that it is a supposedly "open" OS, allowing free development of things like custom ROMs and an approval-free Market. However, between locked bootloaders, which seriously inhibit custom software installation, and carriers taking certain applications out of the market on their phones, much of this freedom often lost by the time a device makes it into the hands of consumers.

Still, there are some manufacturers who promote free development around their devices. One such company is Aura Design, whose own website boasts, "Mischief encouraged, Hackers welcomed." They are currently a very small startup, but already have plans to release two new Android tablets under the Aura Slate brand.

Although we will obviously be focusing on the smaller of the two devices, both their 10-inch and 7-inch tablets appear to have the same specifications, or at least share a development board. All we know for sure, though, is that the tablets will have Gorilla Glass displays and ARM Cortex A9 processors with a clock speed of "800MHz to 1GHz."

While the hardware is likely just a rebranding of a budget OEM's design, the significant thing about the Aura Slate is software. Aura Designs will be shipping their tablets with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and source code for the both the software and hardware will be available at launch.

The 7-inch Aura Slate Model 726B Development tablet is already available on the company's website for $139, so it follows that the updated Model 726M would sell for about the same price. It won't be bringing you the consumer experience of a Kindle Fire, but for developers who need an open source reference device that always has the latest software, or if you just want something affordable to tinker with, it seems like a perfect fit.

[Aura Designs via TechCrunch]

SmartDevices 2012 lineup revealed

 

Hey, look at what we have here. It's a new lineup of SmartDevices . . . devices! For a little bit of background for our newer readers, this company hasn't made any news in the past two years, but today has announced its 2012 lineup of Android tablets. 

Since Pocketables is a site about pocketable tech, we're going to focus on the new SmartDevices S7 tablet. As its name implies, this tablet has a 7-inch display so it certainly falls into our field of expertise. The S7 also includes an OMAP 1GHz dual-core processor, Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and HDMI output. 

Unfortunately, the S7 (along with the rest of the lineup) will be released in China first, and I don't know if we'll see it elsewhere. Still, it's priced at just 元899 (Chinese yuan), which converts to roughly $142.66. If the device were to make its way over here, it would likely be priced a bit higher than the direct conversion, though. 

Even if this first batch of new devices from SmartDevices doesn't make its way to the US, it's still nice to see an old flame of ours back in the business. What do you think of the S7?

[iMP3] Thanks, Sere83!

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update to roll out on February 21st, not 17th?

If you're an owner of a BlackBerry PlayBook, I hope you're still holding onto hope for RIM and the ecosystem it manages for the tablet. I also hope that the piece of news from today about the PlayBook's market share has upped your faith in it, too. 

Still, I know how hard it can be to wait for an operating system for so long that it seems it will never come. The 2.0 update to the PlayBook OS has been in the works for a long time - and during that time, has been delayed. 

Luckily, all rumors have been pointing to a release date in the second half of February. The first date that we heard about was the 17th, which is just two days away; however, new rumors suggest that we'll see the release next week Tuesday, February 21st. 

Either date will be fine though, really. I know a few people who own PlayBooks and they've been anxiously awaiting the update for quite some time now. 

[N4BB]

BlackBerry PlayBook's market share rises following big price cuts

This month has been chock-full of news about Windows 8 and Android devices, but little has been said about the BlackBerry PlayBook. In fact, it hasn't even been mentioned since the beginning of this month with the announcement of free PlayBooks for Android developers.

Typically, a drought of information about a product would mean that it isn't a very successful one. Luckily for RIM, the exact opposite is true: PlayBook market share has increased by 10% in Canada. Before the price cut of $300 per model, the PlayBook's Canadian market share was just a measly 5%. Now, it's at 15%. 

That's a pretty massive jump in percentage, even if it is all based off of the price cuts. Obviously RIM is selling the tablets at a pretty significant loss, but the fact that market share is growing is certainly a good sign that the tablet and the platform could turn out more popular than it originally would have become. People aren't going to spend even just $200 on something that they don't use or like. 

For RIM's sake, I hope these increased numbers can drive the PlayBook to become an even more popular tablet. With a great OS experience and hardware, and a very good price, I expect more and more people to be using it soon enough. 

[The Globe and Mail]

ZTE Light Tab II released in the UK for under $400

Another day, another 7-inch Android tablet.

This time, the tablet comes from ZTE. The company has already offered quite a few 7-inch tablets, but this one seems to be behind the others. For example, its 7-inch display has a resolution of just 1024 x 600. Another component that is decidedly behind the times is a single core 1.4GHz processor. 

Other specs include 512MB of RAM, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable by way of a microSDHC slot. The tablet, like most others, also includes WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G. Plus, if you're keen on taking pictures with your large tablet, the Light Tab II also includes front and back cameras. 

All of this can be yours for about (at the time of this publication) $360, or £235. At this price point, there are plenty of options: the Kindle Fire and ZTE's own Optik come to mind. If I were deciding on a new 7-inch tablet, I'd definitely take a look at those two before I made a final decision.

[Engadget]

Samsung announces the Galaxy Tab 2, a Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus with Ice Cream Sandwich

Sometimes, I have no idea what Samsung's strategy is. Either they are trying to fill every possible need with a unique device, or their tablet strategy is just extremely disjointed.  For example, they already have two 7-inch Android tablets, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and the Galaxy Tab 7.7, but today they announced another device, the Galaxy Tab 2, with almost nothing to differentiate it from the other devices.

The Galaxy Tab 2, presumably successor to the original Galaxy Tab, will have a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, WiFi, 3MP rear and VGA front camera, and variable choices for storage up to 32GB. Cellular connectivity includes GSM HSPA+ support, and GPS is included as well.

In case you missed our coverage of the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, let me just tell you that the specifications match up almost exactly. In fact, the 7.0 Plus even has a slightly faster clock speed at 1.2GHz. Only software differentiates the Tab 2, which will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the Plus's Honeycomb. 

Frankly, I am confounded by this decision. Not only is the Galaxy Tab 2 nearly the same device as the Plus, it will supposedly be retailing around $450. With the 7.0 Plus at $350, this is simply unacceptable. In fact, it appears that Samsung is actually trying to charge users for the upgrade to Android 4.0, while leaving Plus owners out in the cold. 

Even if Samsung is planning to update the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, as far as I can tell it would have made much more sense for the company to focus resources on getting that update out instead of releasing an entirely new device. I have no idea what Samsung's reasoning for this release may be, but this is one of the clearest symptoms of Android fragmentation I have seen.

[SammyHub]

KDE Plasma Active Spark tablet shown off in video

 

KDE Plasma Active's $265 Spark tablet is looking to be one of the better tablets out there; it's a little more expensive than the Kindle Fire and a few other tablets, but the Spark has one special differentiating factor: it runs Linux.

By running linux, the Spark is completely open, meaning that owners can hack, customize, and do whatever they want to the tablet. And the tablet comes with some good specs, too: a 1GHz processor, Mali 400 GPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage round out the innards. 

The video that was released today shows off how well the tablet performs. It's very reponsive to touch, and the animations look very smooth as well. Hopefully the Spark will ship sometime in May, but there's no guarantee exactly when it will ship. 

When it is released, are you going to pick one up? 

[Aseigo Blog]

Enspert E201 Identity Tab available for just $149

This week has been pretty dedicated to Windows news, but that doesn't mean other companies haven't made announcements and product releases of their owns. One of those companies is Enspert, who today announced that its E201 Identity Tab is purchasable for a mere $149 today.

The tablet is already a little over a year old. In fact, the last time it was covered on Pocketables was when Jenn unboxed it on January 31st of 2011. Of course, back then it was a still reasonable $349, but today's cut of over $200 makes the device actually worth taking a look at this far into its life. 

Let me tell you about the specs as a refresher, since it has been a year since you last heard about them. It's got a 7-inch display with a low resolution of 800 x 480, 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 512MB of RAM, HDMI out, SD card slot, 8GB of internal storage, and 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1.

Naturally, when considering devices in the $100-$200 range, one also has to take into account the Kindle Fire which, for $50 more than the Identity Tab, will get you a higher resolution screen and a dual-core processor. You don't get HDMI out, SD storage expandability, or cameras with the Kindle, but the decision is obviously yours; pick whichever one fits your needs the best. 

Hit up the Dynamism source link below to order yours. 

[Dynamism via Liliputing]

Steven Sinofsky reveals more Windows 8 information

Hey! Are you tired of hearing about Windows 8? No? Good. Neither are we!

Today, Windows President Steven Sinofsky wrote a blog post on the Building Windows 8 blog, detailing the process that went into developing Windows for use on the ARM architecture, as well as confirming (and denying) a few myths about the next iteration of Microsoft's desktop operating system.

First off, WOA (Windows on ARM) will be able to run the traditional Windows desktop. Devices using those processors will have complete access to the desktop, along with desktop versions of apps — including Microsoft Office. In Sinofsky's own words: 

"...we’ve designed WOA to look and feel just like you would expect. WOA enables creativity in PC design that, in combination with newly architected features of the OS, will bring to customers new no-compromise experiences."

Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. Sinofsky stated that you won't be able to install WOA on other devices, nor will you be able to install apps from outside the Windows Marketplace. That certainly won't go over well with people who are used to Windows; after all, in existing Versions of Windows, users can install apps from wherever they want.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, WOA PCs are estimated to ship at the same time as their x86/x64 counterparts. This means that WOA should take off at a rapid rate when compared to the competition, especially given the fact that you can get a full desktop experience with better battery life. 

I won't make any rush decisions on what I feel about Windows 8 just yet, but I am super happy to hear that ARM tablets/PCs will be able to access the traditional desktop. Let's just hope we can also access the traditional Start button, too.

[Building Windows 8]

SDG Systems's Trimble Yuma is a ruggedized tablet that runs Ubuntu

Android is being used more and more on all kinds of devices, including business tablets and smartphones. However, sometimes you just need to have a full operating system to get something done. While Windows 8 is certainly looking promising for mobile users who need that kind of functionality, SDG Systems has already announced a rugged tablet with a full desktop operating system that is based on Ubuntu.

The tablet, called the Trimble Yuma, is actually a slight redesign of a previous Windows 7 business tablet, but with slightly updated specs. Its hardware matches up nicely with netbooks, as it includes a 7-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 32GB or 80GB SSD. It does have some additional consumer/business oriented features, like GPS, dual cameras, and SDHC and ExpressCard slots.

As far as ruggedized goes, the Yuma looks very good compared to some other "ruggedized" hardware we have seen. It has a magnesium alloy case to protect everything, is water and dust-resistant, meets the United States Military Standard for durability, and has an Ingress Protection rating of 67.

Last year, we heard of Canonical's (Ubuntu's parent company) plans to bring the Ubuntu OS to mobile devices, and while it doesn't appear that SDG Systems is affiliated with Cannonical, they have done just that. Unfortunately, their device has been designed strictly for the business side of things, with a consumer shocking $3695 a device sticker price.

Still, the Trimble Yuma is pretty cool simply for being a practically indestructible tablet with a unique OS, and something that I would own if I could afford it. The KDE Spark tablet may be a better fit for consumers, this might serve as a good baseline example what Ubuntu and Linux can be on a full fledged Micro PC, and get people interested in full featured operating systems on tablets.

[PCWorld]