Category: Tablets

Google builds own Tablet-e-reader

Posted by Charbax – April 13, 2010
Category: Tablets, E-readers, Pixel Qi, Android

Google Chrome Tablet
Image by nDevilTV via Flickr

The New York Times reports:

Google hopes to make its own apps marketplace available for new slate-like devices.

But Google is going one step further, exploring the idea of building its own slate, an e-reader that would function like a computer.

Yes! Things are going to happen fast!

Obviously, it wouldn’t make sense for Google not to provide the Marketplace on Android Tablets and e-Readers to compete with the ipod touch and the ipad.

Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive of Google, told friends at a recent party in Los Angeles about the new device, which would exclusively run the Android operating system. People with direct knowledge of the project — who did not want to be named because they said they were unauthorized to speak publicly about the device — said the company had been experimenting in “stealth mode” with a few publishers to explore delivery of books, magazines and other content on a tablet.

In a second blog post by the New York Times:

Another person who has been briefed on the Google slate project, but asked not to be named, said that Google was still wrestling with several parts of the project, but that it would most likely come with the Chrome Web browser from Google.

Google’s big push to consumers and developers with the device will be to offer a completely open platform — an approach that runs counter to Apple’s closed App Store model.

In the article, HP is said to be working on a 6″ Android tablet. Nokia is also working on an e-reader.

Logically, all those e-reader and tablet combos will have to use the Pixel Qi LCD screens to provide e-reader and a color Tablet in one device.

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Archos Generation 8 Android Tablets, prices and sizes rumored

Posted by Charbax – April 12, 2010
Category: Tablets, PMPs, Texas Instruments, Archos, Android

The prices are said to be $100 to $350, the sizes 3″ to 10″, ARM Cortex processor from 800mhz to 1ghz, with multi-touch and 3D acceleration.

My guesses are, based on this slide presented by Henri Crohas in China:

2x Archos 3 Android Gen8: starting at $100, what would the second 3″ model be about?
1x Archos 5 Android Gen8: starting at $200?
2x Archos 7 Android Gen8: $200-300? Why two 7″ models?
1x Archos 10 Android Gen8: $350? Pixel Qi dual-mode screen (my huge wish, so it can be readable for e-books and run 50h on the battery)?

The slide mentions multi-touch, a big question would be, does Archos now use Capacitive touch-screens? The the case of 3″ and 7″, might it be that the second skew is to provide a cheap resistive choice as well as a $50 to $100 more expensive capacitive type? The thing about capacitive screen is this, as far as I understand, and as far as one can find by just looking at what’s available on the market, it might be capacitive screens are really much more expensive and hard to come by in sizes other than some very definite sizes decided to be mass manufactured by the smart phone industry.

OpenGL acceleration and multi-touch features are clearly stated in the slide. Which may mean that Android 2.1 support is pretty much for surely available. Another hardware feature would be interesting to know about would be how well those devices will integrate 3G connectivity. We know Archos does Bluetooth tethering well, and one can buy a Mifi for WiFi to 3G tethering, how about Archos building 3G modems directly into skews of those Android tablet devices, and how about them making sure that power is managed in a way so that Voice-over-IP and other instant messaging over IP applications can constantly be active and stand-by on 3G and WiFi connections.

Logically to reach 1ghz they will use the Texas Instruments OMAP3640 series of processors, which is a significant upgrade on OMAP3440 of the current generation. This is not only a matter of increase of mhz speed. OMAP3640 is built on a 45nm process instead of the 65nm process of the current processor, which means the processor is significantly smaller and uses a lot less power, which probably brings better battery runtime. You can watch my video comparing OMAP3630 with OMAP3430. The performance increase for 3D rendering with the new processor is more than 62% going from 92fps to 156fps on the same 3D rendering animation. I don’t know if video decoding and encoding performance has been improved. And I don’t know how much things like website rendering is improved, if it’s just 25% faster based on 800mhz vs 1ghz or if it is more than that.

I do not know if OMAP3640 can do 1080p decoding and much higher HD video decoding bitrates. I don’t know if OMAP3640 simplifies the integration of mini-HDMI output directly into the device. If Archos includes a camera, it could probably record 720p video which would be really awesome, if a wireless microphone using Bluetooth or mini-jack input also can be used for good sound recording.

You can discuss this news in the forum: http://forum.archosfans.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=32392

Source: p5w.net
Found via: archoslounge.net

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Sharp IS01, Android 5″ 960×480 capacitive pocketable

Posted by Charbax – March 31, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Qualcomm, Android

About 6 months after Sharp’s introduction of the Freescale i.MX51 powered PC-Z1 running Ubuntu on the Japanese market, Sharp is now announcing this Qualcomm Snapdragon powered 3G-enabled Android powered device to be released in June to the Japanese market.

Watch also an augmented reality application runing on the Sharp IS01 in this other video interview with a Sharp representative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHXv8ob7jNQ

Here are the specs:
– Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
– Android 1.6 for now
– 5″ touchscreen with a 960×480 resolution featuring Sharp’s “New Mobile ASV” multi-touch capacitive display
– Dual camera with one of 5.27Mpix and one front facing of only 0.43Mpix
– Full QWERTY keyboard with a 11.2mm key pitch
– 1Seg TV tuner (Japanese mobile QVGA 220-320 kbit/s terrestrial TV broadcast standard)
– WiFi
– IRDA
– Aquos Blu-Ray transport allowing you to rip Blu-Ray movies directly
– Bluetooth
– FM Transmitter
– 4GB of internal memory(3GB available for data usage)
– MicroSD slot
– 3G connection using AU CDMA (Japanese CDMA 3G carrier)
– Weight 227g
– Size 83×149×17.9mm

A developer version called JN-DK01 will be available in Japan starting in May.

Source: en.akihabaranews.com

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NetbookNews.com: Broadcom Powered Tablets at Mobile World Congress 2010

Posted by Charbax – March 20, 2010
Category: Tablets, Broadcom, MWC, Android

Posted at netbooknews.com, this video features the Broadcom Persona BCM11211, which I am not sure if it’s currently ARM Cortex A8 or A9 based (as Broadcom officially has announced in September 2009 to be licencing ARM Cortex A9). This video of the Broadcom Tablet reference designs feature remote DLNA remote control of a HDTV as well as a cool demonstration of 720p HD video-conferencing on Android, and actual announced products to be released by NTT Docomo and another design with video-gaming controls by Askey that is part of the Pegatron/Asus group.

Released at: netbooknews.com

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Marvell announces $99 Moby Tablet to Revolutionize Education

Posted by Charbax – March 18, 2010
Category: Tablets, E-readers, Marvell, Pixel Qi, OLPC, Android, Windows

According to this press release, Marvell is announcing the $99 Moby Tablet for Education. You’ve seen my video of Marvell’s 4.3″ Tablet prototype shown at CES based on the Marvell Armada 600 processor. The Moby tablet is based on the same Armada 600 platform but comes with a larger screen (probably 10″).


This is an image of a 10″ Marvell powered tablet recently shown at the Future of Publishing Summit in New York City as published by Harry McCracken of Technologizer.com, which may be the first $99 Moby Tablet prototype. Consider, this prototype design is most likely of a reference design, Moby won’t look like this when shipped.

Marvell’s Moby Tablet may be the first prototype of the OLPC XO 3.0:


The OLPC XO 3.0 for $75 wasn’t supposed to happen before 2012, but Marvell may now be speeding up its release for a $99 Tablet for Education within months.

Marvell’s first version of the $99 Tablet might not initially achieve all the design goals of the One Laptop Per Child XO-3, such as making it as waterproof, sturdy and with plastic unbreakable touch screen.

Will Marvell sell it directly to Governments and Schools to keep the costs low? Or does Marvell plan to have many vendors use their Tablet platform to release several versions of this Tablet platform for around $99 using many brands?

Most importantly, will the first Moby tablets come with a 10″ Pixel Qi capacitive touch screen display? Their press release does not yet mention Pixel Qi for the screen technology. But as this is targetted for replacing school textbooks, as it’s intended for reading, as Marvell is the largest sponsor of the One Laptop Per Child program of which Pixel Qi is a spin-off company and that the press release clearly says that “The ultra low power Moby tablet is designed for long-battery life“, my expectation is that it has to come with a Pixel Qi LCD touch screen display to be readable nearly as clearly as with e-ink and to be able to provide 20-30h battery runtime or more.

Powered by high-performance, highly scalable, and low-power Marvell® ARMADA™ 600 series of application processors, the Moby tablet features gigahertz-class processor speed, 1080p full-HD encode and decode, intelligent power management, power-efficient Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity, high performance 3D graphics capability and support for multiple software standards including full Adobe Flash, Android™ and Windows Mobile.

This seems to be happening now, for release soon, yet not with a confirmed release date yet:

Announcing the initiative this week during her keynote speech to the country’s leading publishers at the Future of Publishing conference in New York City, Marvell Co-founder Weili Dai said that the Moby tablet is a technology whose time had come.

Marvell will soon announce a pilot program in partnership with the District of Columbia Public School system (DCPS) where the Company will donate a Moby tablet to every child in an at-risk school as part of a multi-year program in new media and learning.

And this is definitely related to the One Laptop Per Child OLPC project:

Marvell has made a long-term commitment to supporting education at all levels and is the largest sponsor of the One Laptop per Child program which is bringing much-needed netbook computers to the developing world.

It would be really great of Marvell to speed up the release of the thin, light and cheap tablet/e-reader for education. Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of Marvell Semiconductor’s Consumer and Computing Business Unit said following at her keynote speech to the country’s leading publishers at the Future of Publishing conference:

Education is the most pressing social and economic issue facing our country and our times. (…) Marvell can help propel education into the 21st century with an all-in-one device that gives students access to the best live content, information and resources the world has to offer — from books and online sources, in text, video, news, music, data expression or any medium. With Moby tablet, students can conduct primary research, reach out directly to the world’s leading subject experts and even collaborate with one another around the globe. Best of all, the device is highly affordable. I envision Marvell’s Moby tablets to benefit all students around the world.

I am definitely eager to see and hear more on Marvell’s Moby $99 Tablet project. Look forward to more coverage on this Tablet/e-Reader for Education here at http://ARMdevices.net as I try to get more informations and perhaps even bring you videos of more prototypes soon.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marvell-drives-education-revolution-with-99-all-in-one-moby-tablet-designed-for-the-worlds-students-88376967.html

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IDTI $300 21,5″ 1080p Touch Screen

Posted by Charbax – March 17, 2010
Category: Tablets, Displays, Exclusive videos, CeBIT

IDTI, which I filmed their early prototypes at last year’s Computex, is now showing this finalized implementation of their technology in this touch screen product which is a 21,5″ 1080p screen that integrates their specific stylus based touch screen technology. IDTI’s touch screen technology claims to provide same visibility as capacitive screens but for a price closer to resistive screens, though it only works using their stylus.

Eric Schmidt confirms Android (Marketplace?) for Tablets

Posted by Charbax – March 17, 2010
Category: Tablets, Smartphones, Archos, Android

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, recently spoke about large screen Android Tablets at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit keynote (at timecode 10 minutes and 39 seconds). It’s a nice way of Eric Schmidt to indirectly confirm that Google is definitely going to support the development of Android based Tablets as alternatives on the market to the upcoming iPad.

When I say “phone”, you might have a really big phone, like a phone about “this” big (he shows a size of about 10″ diagonal for a tablet with his hands), also known as a Tablet, makes sense [to have] big screens (…) you are going to have them from many vendors including using Google’s Android Operating System.

How soon until Google announces official Marketplace support for all Android Tablets?

Of all the Android Tablets which I have filmed so many of at the last couple months at CES, Mobile World Congress and CeBIT consumer electronics shows, none of the companies presenting those tablets were able to confirm if and when they might be allowed to include the Google Marketplace on those tablets officially supported by Google. As you may know, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet and any other currently shipping Android tablets around the world, none are yet officially certified by Google to include the Google Marketplace.

As you can see from my videos of the Archos 7 Home Tablet, the Hott MD500, the $199 Freescale powered tablets, Creative Zii Egg, Altina’s 4.8″ Android GPS Tablet, the Camangi Webstation, Forsa 7″ Android Tablet, 1Cross Tech MIDhybrid, Hard Kernel ODroid and many many more which you can find at http://138.2.152.197/category/tablets/, Android Tablets can be sold for cheaper, they can come with or without 3G, they may not come with capacitive but only resistive screens to save costs, they may not include cameras or even accelerometers. They instead bring higher resolutions, larger screens, more connectors and ports (such as built-in USB host, HDMI outputs..) and most importantly, Android Tablets can be sold at more affordable prices and be sold at retail stores without the need to signup for 2-year subscription plans with telecom carriers. Basically, the Android Tablets can occupy the market segments that go from the iPod Touch to the iPad.

Will Apple have a hard time selling as many devices and making as much revenues and profits in a market when dozens or hundreds of Android based competitors are going to be available for a lot cheaper prices and offer if not at least the same, then likely more features because of differentiation through free market competition? Android Tablets are likely to come with Flash support, HDMI outputs, USB host ports, hard drive storage options, storage expantion, Pixel Qi screens, removable batteries, video-conferencing, full video and audio codecs support, mass storage device modes not requiring iTunes to synchronize media files, open source and even open firmware software updates for the installation of alternative Android firmwares and even alternative Linux OSes including Ubuntu, Maemo, Angstrom. Can Apple compete with that?

Also check my (off camera) interview with Andy Rubin and Eric Schmidt about Android Marketplace on Tablets and Laptops from Mobile World Congress last month: http://138.2.152.197/2010/02/22/i-interviewed-eric-schmidt-and-andy-rubin-at-mwc-off-camera-for-now-watch-eric-schmidts-keynote-video/

This following video starts at the correct 10m39s timecode when you click the play button, where you can see Eric Schmidt’s above statement regarding Google’s official support for Android Tablets:

You may copy and paste this embed code to your blog if you want the embedded video to start at that same timecode:

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I am on the Meetmobility podcast episode 45

Posted by Charbax – March 13, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, E-readers, Set-top-boxes, Opinions, CeBIT, Archos, Google

You can hear me featured on the Meetmobility podcast episode 45 with JKKmobile, Sasha Pallenberg and Steve Paine available at http://meetmobility.com/2010/03/12/meetmobility-podcast-45-cream-of-the-expo-cebit-2010-roundup/

I talk about the Archos 7 Home Tablet, Gigabyte’s Android-based e-ink e-reader, Android on set-top-boxes as well as my 10″ Firstview VIA ARM powered Android laptop which I will post a video-review of here one of these next few days.

ARMflix: ARM interviews Texas Instruments at Mobile World Congress 2010

Posted by Charbax – March 13, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Smartphones, Set-top-boxes, Projectors, Cameras, Texas Instruments, MWC, Android

ARM talks to Robert Tolbert, Director of Product Management at Texas Instruments at Mobile World Congress about their latest OMAP 4 platform showcasing multiple display capabilities.

You can also see my video interview and product showcase that I filmed at MWC at: http://138.2.152.197/2010/02/16/texas-instruments-omap4-demonstrations/

This video was released at ARM’s official Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/ARMflix

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sync-blog.com: Hands on with the enTourage eDGe

Posted by Charbax – March 13, 2010
Category: Tablets, E-readers, Reviews, Marvell, Android

For $499, http://entourageedge.com is releasing the dual-screen 9.7″ e-reader with Wacom and 10.1″ Android Tablet combo based on the Marvell PXA168 processor. It comes with 3G sim reader, memory expansion, USB host ports and plenty more. I filmed an interview and product demonstration with an Engineer of Entourage Systems at CES: http://138.2.152.197/2010/01/17/entourage-edge-android-dual-mode-tablet-e-reader-at-ces-2010/

Once companies start getting the annotation, collaboration user interface aspects of the Android tablets and stylus touch e-reader functions right, this could unlock huge revolution in all areas where people need to collaborate on editing texts, potentially revolutionizing education, journalism, law, politics and more.

Here’s a video-review posted by sync-blog.com:

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Hott MD500, 4.8″ Android Tablet (priced $92 to distributors)

Posted by Charbax – March 10, 2010
Category: Tablets, PMPs, Exclusive videos, Rockchip, CeBIT, Android

Chinese manufacturer Hott is launching a design for a 4.8″ tablet based on a version of Android which they have customized to work for them on the ARM9 Rockchip based processor which comes with full video playback support. Check out these interesting Android customizations in this product that they proudly define as “iPad-killer”.

The design of this 4.8″ Android tablet by Hott is the most compact that I have seen so far. I think it is very nice that it only has a minimal screen bezel. Check out it’s size compared to my Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android in the following pictures posted to Picasa (click to see the full size versions on Picasa):

Hott MD500 Hott MD500 Hott MD500 Hott MD500

50 ARM Powered tablets to be released by Computex

Posted by Charbax – March 10, 2010
Category: Tablets

Dan Nystedt is reporting on Computerworld.com from a press meeting held by ARM in Taipei:

“The first tablet devices will launch in the second quarter by [mobile network] carriers,” said Roy Chen, ARM’s worldwide mobile computing ODM manager, during a press meeting in Taipei. “You’ll see a lot more in the third quarter.”

He said many tablet-like devices will be launched in China, but companies everywhere plan to launch tablets this year, including the top 10 telecommunications network operators.

Thus, you can look forward to huge amounts of hands-on video coverage of all these new ARM Powered tablets that will be released these next few months right here on http://138.2.152.197/category/tablets/

As Nvidia co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang said at the Nvidia press conference at CES in Las Vegas in January: “This is the year of the tablets”. It’s going to be really fun!

Source: Computerworld.com

JKKmobile.com: Hivision SpeedPad Android tablet at CeBIT 2010

Posted by Charbax – March 10, 2010
Category: Tablets, Samsung, CeBIT, Android

When I checked the Hivision stand on the 2nd of March, they told me someone had stolen several of their devices including their 7″ Android tablet. Luckilly, JKKmobile.com went by their booth the day before the official opening of the trade show to film this video:

Source: http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2010/03/hivision-speedpad-android-tablet-at.html

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JKKmobile.com: Mio Moov at CeBIT 2010

Posted by Charbax – March 10, 2010
Category: Tablets, Nvidia, CeBIT, Windows

New Mio Moov with capacitive multi-touch 3G ARM11 Tegra1 powered GPS navigation device, with a keyboard connected to the leather case, with an interface built on top of Windows CE.

Source: http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2010/03/mio-moov-at-cebit-2010.html

Chromium OS on a $199 Tablet powered by Freescale

Posted by Charbax – March 8, 2010
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Exclusive videos, Freescale, MWC, Android, Chrome OS, Ubuntu

Freescale is showing their reference design for sub-$200 tablets. The target is that tablets can soon be sold below $200 to end consumers that are able to run any Linux-based OS, including Android or Chromium OS – based on the open-source code available at http://chromium.org

In this video, Freescale’s product manager of Software Development demonstrates the status of their optimizations of running Chromium OS on their i.MX51 based devices, among other form factors is the recently announced $199 tablet form factor. It even supports hardware acceleration of HTML5 based video playback.

This means, full power Chromium OS could be made available in the next few months in Laptop and Tablet form factors to be sold well below $200 unlocked without contracts. The main question is how fast and how smooth will the Chromium Browser feel on ARM Powered devices? This is to be seen and tested very soon! Follow my video-blog for hands-on reports showing performance of Chromium OS running on all the ARM Powered devices very soon. Check also for Chrome browser running within Android, or for Chromium OS modified to add Android apps support, thus merging the two.

I also wonder, how much more does a $65 ARM Powered laptop cost if it uses an ARM Cortex A8 processor like the ones from Freescale instead of the ARM9 or ARM11 based ones from rockchip, VIA, Samsung and others. If the price increase is within $35, then welcome will be all the sub-$100 full power smooth ARM Powered Chromium OS laptops and tablets! Without actually knowing the real price difference between the ARM9, ARM11 and ARM Cortex based cheap laptops, my guess is that the availability of sub-$200 and sub-$100 Chromium/Android Laptops/Tablets is a possibility.

How soon will we see Google sell unlocked Chromium/Android on ARM powered laptop/tablet/e-reader convertibles with 50-hour battery life on Pixel Qi screens at http://google.com/laptop?

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Creative Zii Egg Android device

Posted by Charbax – March 6, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, ZiiLABS, MWC, Android

Creative is working on these Creative Zii Egg products based on their ARM based processor. Creative is also working on an ARM Cortex A8 based processor for their next generation of these products.

Altina 4.8″ Android GPS with ethernet

Posted by Charbax – March 5, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, CeBIT, Android

http://altina.com.tw is launching a 4.8″ Android GPS MID with built-in 3G and even an ethernet connector.

Camangi Webstation

Posted by Charbax – March 5, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, Marvell, CeBIT, Android

7″ Android Tablet.

Forsa 7″ Android Tablet at CeBIT 2010

Posted by Charbax – March 4, 2010
Category: Tablets, Exclusive videos, Marvell, CeBIT, Android

Here’s a 7″ Android Tablet powered by a Marvell xscale processor, can have built-in WiFi, GPS and 3G.

1Cross Tech MIDhybrid Android e-ink/LCD/keypad e-reader combo

Posted by Charbax – March 4, 2010
Category: Tablets, Smartphones, E-readers, Exclusive videos, Marvell, CeBIT, Android

http://1crosstech.com is showing a cool looking combination of a 6″ e-ink e-reader on one side, with a 3.2″ HVGA Android LCD on the other side, and also with a touch panel keyboard input and a whole bunch more hardware features such as a 3G sim card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth an accelererometer, VGA webcam for video-conferencing and more.