Vizio 8 Inch Tablet Review

Vizio 8 Inch Tablet Review. - Back in January, among many other tablet-related announcements, we also first heard about Vizio’s plans to enter the (now quite crowded) Android tablet market. The Vizio Tablet come with an 8-inch, 1,024x768 capacitive touch screen and allow people to connect to the Web via Wi-Fi, the company said. The platform will also support Bluetooth. Vizio's tablet will come with built-in GPS and feature 2GB of on-board storage. The device supports up to 32GB of storage through the use of a microSD card.

Last week, reports surfaced that claimed Vizio's tablet would be available at Wal-Mart for $349. However, the company has yet to reveal pricing or availability.

Vizio is more known for its good quality yet inexpensive TV sets. It has now come up with the Vizio Tablet that was initially designed to sync up with its Vizio home theater line to function like a universal remote control. But the Vizio Tablet is an interesting piece of device in itself.

Considering Vizio is best known for its televisions, it's no surprise that the tablet will include an IR blaster and universal remote functionality, allowing people to control their home-theater setup from the device. The platform will also feature a micro-HDMI port for video playback on a big screen, and a front-facing camera for video chatting.

Vizio's upcoming tablet is expected to hit store shelves this summer.

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Motorola XPRT and Motorola Titanium Android phones Now Available

Sprint on Thursday unveiled two new Android smartphones from Motorola — the Motorola XPRT and the Motorola Titanium. The Motorola XPRT is a dual-mode smartphone capable of roaming internationally on GSM networks, and it’s also the first Android phone from Sprint to feature enterprise-class security. Spec highlights include Android 2.2 (Froyo) with MOTOBLUR, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard with BlackBerry-style buttons, a 1GHz processor and Adobe Flash 10 support. The Motorola Titanium is Sprint’s successor to the i1, and it will be a military-grade ruggedized smartphone running Android 2.1 (Eclair). Other highlights include a full BlackBerry-style QWERTY keypad, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, Push to Talk support and dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation, high temperature and low temperature resistance. The Motorola XPRT launches on June 5th for $129.99 on contract. Pricing and availability details are not yet available for the Titanium. Hit the break for Sprint’s full press release.

Additional key features of Motorola XPRT include:

•  Android Market™ for access to more than 150,000 applications, widgets and games available for download
• Google™ mobile services, such as Google Maps™ with Navigation, Google Talk™, Gmail™ and YouTube™
• Corporate email (Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®) and personal (POP & IMAP) email
• Worldmode – CDMA (EVDO Rev. A), GSM/UMTS (HSPA) – international roaming service available in more than 200 countries
• 3G Mobile Hotspot capability, supporting up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously
• 5-megapixel camera with camcorder and dual LED flash for low-light performance
•  microSD slot, with a 2GB memory card included, supporting up to 32GB
•  Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR
• Wi-Fi® b/g/n
• 1860 mAh Lithium-ion battery

To sign up to learn more about Motorola XPRT, please visit www.motorola.com/XPRT.

Additional key features of Motorola Titanium include:

• Support for Nextel Direct Connect Services, including Direct Connect, Group Connect^®, International Direct Connect^®, DirectSend^SM, Group Messaging and NextMail^®
• Android Market for access to more than 150,000 applications, widgets and games available for download
• Google mobile services such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Talk, Google Maps with Navigation, syncing with Google Calendar™ and YouTube
• Corporate email (Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync) and personal (POP3 & IMAP) email
• 5-megapixel camera with camcorder, 4x zoom and flash
• Wi-Fi b/g
• Stereo Bluetooth
• GPS navigation
• microSD slot, with a 2GB memory card included, supporting up to 32GB
• 1820 mAh Lithium-ion battery

To learn more about Motorola Titanium, please visit www.motorola.com/titanium.

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A Few Android App Developers Rake in Millions

The iOS platform isn’t the only way to make money on the mobile apps scene.

Tech news site Electricpig took a look at eight groups that have made it big — more than six-digits big — with hit Android apps.

Better Android Apps, for example, has made approximately $1.34 million from purchases of its hits Better Keyboard and Open Home. Yongzh created emulators for the PlayStation, Sega, Nintendo and Atari systems, and gathered about $1.81 million from sales of these apps.

“Conventional wisdom told us that to be successful, we had to focus on iOS. Conventional wisdom was wrong,” said Gary Gattis, CEO of Spacetime Studios.

That certainly seems to be true with the tower-defense game Robo Defense. It has also been a big winner, netting creator Lupis Labs more than $2.09 million.

An estimated 3.7 billion Android apps have been downloaded to date, according to AndroLib. Many developers wish that number would rise at a faster rate and are counting on tools like in-app payments to spur app purchases and developer earnings. However, that hasn’t stopped developers such as Eddie Kim, creator of Car Locator, or almost anyone else on this list, from netting big profits.

These high sales figures illustrate that Android’s app market is finally coming to fruition as a solid distribution platform, where software programmers can make good money. Within months of the opening of Apple’s App Store in the summer of 2008, a few lucky programmers quickly struck gold with hot sales of their apps.

Android has been around for about the same time, and only now are we beginning to see comparably high sales figures for Android app makers. Though Google’s app market has been slower to mature, these success stories should give programmers more incentive to make killer apps for Android-powered tablets and smartphones.

Beautiful Widgets netted its maker, LevelUp Studio, more than $934,000. Halfbrick Studios (maker of Fruit Ninja) has netted more than $242,000 after porting its iOS favorite to Android.

Other big winners, thanks to pop-up advertising, include Rovio, for (what else?) Angry Birds, and Arron La for Advanced Task Manager.

Spacetime Studios‘ Pocket Legends, a 3-D MMO, has managed to garner profits of $8,000 per day from in-app payments, making it a shoo-in for six-figure earnings in the not-too-distant future.

“The Android platform has seen phenomenal growth, and it’s great that new avenues for app distribution are opening up,” Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said in a recent news release.

The addition of new marketplaces like Amazon’s App Store is proof, showing that Google’s OS has the potential to be just as lucrative as Apple’s, and companies want to get in on the action.

Spacetime’s Gattis summed up the Android app scene pretty nicely: “In some ways, it’s kind of like the wild, wild West,” he said, “but that’s where the Gold Rush people made their claim.”

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Sony Ericsson X10 to get Android 2.3 after all

On the same day that O2 decided to hold back the release of its exclusive white Xperia PLAY, Sony Ericsson was busy announcing good news to Xperia X10 owners. Later this year, X10 owners can expect to receive an update to Android 2.3. Surprised? So were we!

Sony Ericsson claims that the work it has carried out getting Android 2.3.3 on to the new Xperia models (that’s the arc, neo, pro and PLAY) has enabled them to port the code over to the X10. Sadly, that won’t include the X8, X10 mini or X10 mini pro that all stay stuck on Android 2.1.

After recently giving X10 owners multi-touch (despite Sony Ericsson insisting for over a year that the hardware wasn’t capable), it seems like this handset is getting more attention than most smartphones on the market. It’s a considerable switch from a company that was being criticised for not supporting or updating devices quickly enough. At the start of 2011, Sony Ericsson stated its intention to ensure that future models will be updated regularly, and quickly.

So what next? Sony Ericsson tells everyone that the X10 actually had a dual-core processor with one core disabled, or the screen is actually stereoscopic 3D-ready?

The free update should arrive in Q2 or Q3, and we’ll excuse the company from being more specific, given the fact that this was not supposed to be happening at all.

There will be some compromises though. The key reason for not being able to easily upgrade the X10 was down to the deep integration of the Timescape and Mediascape apps, which Sony Ericsson has wisely separated from the OS to become more like standalone apps and widgets.

This will mean that come the update, users will lose Mediascape completely – and Timescape will become a separate app. The backup utility will also stop working, so another third-party solution will have to be used because the update WILL erase all personal data and installed apps from the device. The camera app will also be replaced for the vanilla Android camera app, which means losing things like face recognition and smile shutter, but hopefully this will also mean that the camera will now have a proper flash control – rather than the totally stupid advanced menu option to turn the light on, constantly, like a torch mode.

The update will also be available via the PC update software only, so no OTA (Over-The-Air) update. It can’t be reversed either, so should anyone really want to keep 2.1 and the old software, don’t do the upgrade!

So where’s the catch? Well, it seems that the update will be issued to generic, SIM-free, handsets and that could mean no updates for users of handsets issued by certain networks.

You can find out more on the Sony Ericsson Blog.

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Cobra iRadar for Android

Cobra Electronics has been a leading manufacturer of radar detection devices for quite some time.  I remember my first Cobra radar detector when I got one for my 18th birthday.  Believe it or not, i still have the unit and it works 10 years later!  Granted i should upgrade it to a newer model to take advantage of the latest detection for all the new type of radar/laser "THE MAN" is using to punish those of us with the the "lead foot disease".  I envision this time coming very soon, perhaps around April 4th, 2011 when Cobra releases their iRadar application for Android!!!

I wont hold anything against them for being on that "other platform" first and making us wait so long to try it on our beloved Android devices.  I plan to embrace this new ability and quite frankly I'm looking forward to this April release date.  The application will be FREE to download via the Android Market as soon as its released.

Features of the iRadar system include:

    * A sleek, compact, dash-mounted detection unit, providing state-of-the-art radar and laser detection technology
    * Cobra’s exclusive AURA Camera & Driving Hazard Database, for up-to-the-minute speed and red light camera alerts, known speed traps and dangerous intersection alerts — all 100-percent verified and updated twice daily
    * Smartphone hardware technologies, including GPS, Bluetooth short-range data connectivity, 3G/4G data services, a brilliant LCD display for rich informational content, and more
    * A smartphone app (for Android and iPhone) for safety alerts, configuration, mapping software, compass heading, car battery status, and more
    * Cloud-based services with social media-like safety alert sharing.  Cobra iRadar users can now submit database updates and alert other iRadar customers in real time to upcoming threats based on their GPS location

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response and accolades we’ve received for iRadar for iPhone from customers, journalists, trade associations and technology pundits, and we’re pleased to extend this powerful driver safety system to the Android smartphone community,” said Sally Washlow, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Cobra Electronics.  “We’ve created a very flexible and dynamic platform for delivering in-car safety, peace-of-mind and protection to our customers.  We will continue to expand this platform, its capabilities, and our iRadar user community.”

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Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830

Samsung will be launch a new Samsung Galaxy Android smartphone, namely Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830. The Samsung Galaxy Ace is powered by a 800MHz Processor (MSM7227-1 Turbo), a 3.5-inch touchscreen display that can deliver a 320 x 480 pixel (HVGA) resolution, and runs on Android 2.2 Operating System with Samsung’s Touchwiz UI.

The Samsung Galaxy S5830 Android smartphone is equipped with 5.0-megapixel photo snapper with auto focus, LED flash and video recording capabilities, 150MB of internal memory, microSD memory card slot for up to 32GB, Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive controls, 3.5mm headphone jack, FM Radio with RDSLi-Ion and 1350 mAh standard battery. The the Samsung S5830 also support Java Via third party application, MP4/H.264/H.263 file for video player, and MP3/WAV/eAAC+ for audio player.

For connectivity, Samsung Galaxy Ace is offers WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, microUSB v2.0, DLNA capabilities, GPS with A-GPS support, HSDPA 7.2Mbps 900/2100 and EDGE/GPRS 850/ 900/1800/1900. as the Android smartphone, Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 is support Google app, includes Google Search, Maps, Google Maps Navigation(Beta), Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration and acces to Android market.

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HTC EVO Shift 4G

HTC EVO Shift 4G will be available exclusively from Sprint on Jan. 9 for $149.99. MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot by Novatel Wireless debuts on Feb. 27 for $49.99

HTC EVO Shift™ 4G
As the 16th 4G-capable device from Sprint, HTC EVO Shift follows in the footsteps of the award-winning HTC EVO™ 4G, bringing customers an attractive, compact design and an impressive list of features with the addition of a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Beyond the highly acclaimed HTC Sense user experience, HTC EVO Shift also boasts the power of 4G, Android 2.2™, a 5MP camera, 720p HD camcorder and a 3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen display with pinch-to-zoom capability.

Additional key features include:
HD Video Recording
Wi-Fi®
Sprint Mobile Hotspot (supporting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices)
Android Market™ with access to more than 100,000 apps
Messaging – Personal and business e-mail, IM and text messaging
Social Networking Integration – Facebook®, Twitter™, Flickr® and more
Visual Voicemail
Google™ Mobile Services, including YouTube™, Gmail™, Google Talk™, Google Voice™ and Google Maps™
GPS Navigation
Stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology
microSD slot (supporting up to 32GB memory card)

MiFi® 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot by Novatel Wireless
With the unveiling of Novatel Wireless’ ultra-compact MiFi® 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot, Sprint brings customers the portability of the MiFi design with one-touch connectivity for up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices, including tablets, eReaders, laptops or gaming consoles. Delivering a true wireless experience with no cables or software installation required, MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot has battery life of up to four hours of usage and 60 hours of standby time. MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot easily supports all the needs of a family household, a frequent traveler who wants to avoid Wi-Fi charges, or even a small business team with a form factor about the size of a credit card.

Features:
3G EV-DO Rev. A and WiMAX capable
10mm x 35mm eInk display with status indicators for battery, signal and number of connected devices
Location based services: GPSOne, xTRA, stand-alone GPS
Browser user interface for configuration
MicroSD slot for up to 32GB memory card
Supports Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems
Datalink 3G/4G
No software required for Wi-Fi connection
Battery: 1500mAh – four hours of usage; 60 hours of standby time
4G data speeds (WiMAX) – Peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps; average download speeds of 3-6 Mbps
3G data speeds (EV-DO Rev. A) – Peak download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds of 600 kbps-1.4 Mbps.

Source: mobilegadgetnews.com

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Blackberry Dakota to save the Day of RIM?

RIM has been in a pinch lately. Their Playbook might be awesome but it’s not out yet. What’s more their smartphone market is dying fast being drowned by swarms of Android phones and mighty iPhones. Now the company is trying hard to revive its smartphone market, and that’s where the Dakota comes in. BlackBerry might be going touchscreen too this time around if this BGR report is true. Yes, it’s awkward to have QWERTY keyboard as well as a 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen on the same phone but that’s probably what RIM is doing right now. Spec wise, there is quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE device with tri-band UMTS. It also packs a 5 megapixel cam with HD video recording, 4GB of storage, plus 768MB of RAM. The phone will also have WiFi and be 3G hotspot-enabled, and it’ll run BlackBerry OS 6.1. There’s no mention when this will come out though, despite the phone looking rather neat.

Source: bgr.com

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