All posts tagged android

Kyobo – first color eReader with mirasol and Android on market

by roko on November 22, 2011 in news with No comments

Kyobo Book Centre and Qualcomm have revealed the world’s first ereader to use a mirasol color e-paper display, the Android-based Kyobo eReader. On sale in South Korea today, priced at the equivalent of $310, the Kyobo eReader is targeted at education customers rather than would-be iPad buyers, and runs Android 2.3 with a locked-down custom UI on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 processor.

We’ve been tracking mirasol for several years now, Qualcomm’s color display technology that promises color, video-capable e-paper with battery life akin to monochrome E Ink screens. This particular panel is a 5.7-inch, 1024 x 768 display using Qualcomm’s front-light technology that uses LEDs to make the eReader usable in darkness. There’s also a projected capacitive touchscreen, as on the Nook, and WiFi, though no 3G.

This is a preview of Kyobo – first color eReader with mirasol and Android on market. Read the full post (261 words, 4 images, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

Kobo Vox revealed Android-powered tablet and joins e-reader wars

by roko on November 19, 2011 in news with No comments

It’s been a wild ride these past few weeks with surprising early launches for both the Amazon Kindle Fire and the B&N Nook Tablet, making the market that much more competitive for Kobo’s social e-reader tablet, the Vox. The holiday season is also prime time for price-slashing deals, and AT&T’s ahead of the curve with a special deal for a Samsung tablet and smartphone bundle. LG iss also hoping to broaden its Android devices, revealing plans to launch a Google TV at CES next year. It’s certainly a wide world for Android, as the platform supports a blooming array of gadgets.

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Amazon’s ‘Kindle Fire’ tablet

by roko on September 27, 2011 in news with No comments

Amazon’s tablet, reportedly named the Kindle Fire, could be the first Android device to effectively challenge Apple’s iPad. Or it could end up as just another over-hyped, under-performing tablet steamrolled by the Apple juggernaut.

With less than 36 hours until Amazon officially unveils its device, it’s hard to say which way things will go. But I do know what factors will make a difference.

Ultimately, it’s a question of how much Amazon has in common with Apple. If they have enough of the same DNA, that fact may separate the colour Kindle apart from every other Android tablet on the market – and give Cupertino a run for its money.

This is a preview of Amazon’s ‘Kindle Fire’ tablet. Read the full post (1786 words, 2 images, estimated 7:09 mins reading time)

Nook Color: Half eReader, Half Tablet, Half the Price

by roko on April 7, 2011 in news with No comments

Right about now, the iPad has pretty much cornered the tablet market. Last time Steve Jobs took the keynote stage to introduce the iPad 2, he claimed Apple held in excess of 80 percent of the global tablet market. To be sure, the iPad‘s $499 Wi-Fi-only entry-level price point has something to do with its popularity. Many argue the iPad is the most complete media tablet for the money.

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Pandigital Novel ereaders gain Android apps

by roko on March 2, 2011 in news with 2 Comments

Want an ereader that’s more than an ereader? Users of pandigital‘s 7-inch Novel can now download and run Android apps.

Although tablet devices like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab can function as ereaders as well as tablet computers, one complaint about dedicated ereaders is that they often lack the extensibility and flexibility of tablets—and it’s particularly galling when they run a capable operating system under the hood. Looking to tap in to—or perhaps ease—that frustration, Pandigital has announced a firmware update to its 7-inch Pandigital Novel ereaders the enabls users to download and run Android applications to extend the functionality of their devices.

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Hanvon details its HPad A112 ‘multimedia e-reade

by roko on February 21, 2011 in eReaders, news with No comments

Hanvon has recently confirmed its presence at CeBIT 2011 (March 1-5) and revealed its a new e-reader, an Android 2.2-powered device called HPad A112 which features a 7-inch (capacitive or resistive) touchscreen and is expected to become available in the second half of this year.

Set to be on display in Hannover (at CeBIT), the A112 measures 192 x 136 x 10.8 mm, makes use of a aluminum-magnesium allow frame, and has a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, a 720 MHz ARM11 processor, 2GB of flash storage, a microSD card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth, optional GPS and 3G, a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera, USB and mini HDMI ports, and a 3300 mAh battery allowing for up to 8 hours of reading.

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Archos 70b eReader hands-on – Android tablet ereader

by roko on February 21, 2011 in eReaders, news, Tablet with No comments

The Archos 70b eReader appeared with very little fanfare. Whilst everyone is talking tablets, this 7-inch Android device appears with the eReader label, the second such device the company has made.

It offers up a 7-inch 800 x 480 resistive display, encased in a slim body, but finished in plastics. In the hand it isn’t the highest quality, with noticeable creaking when manipulated, and in truth, isn’t very far removed from any number of cheap Android tablets we’ve seen recently.

Running Android 2.1 Eclair, it offers Archos’ usual AppsLib, so you can get to some Android apps to expand the native functions of the 70b eReader.

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Samsung Officially Announces Galaxy Tab 10.1

by roko on February 15, 2011 in news, Tablet with No comments

Samsung reveals its next generation tablet

Samsung also today announced its new Galaxy Tab 10.1. This new, larger model — as its name implies — features a 10.1″ display (1280×800). For comparison, the Apple mag glass 10x10 Samsung Officially Announces Galaxy Tab 10.1 iPad uses a 9.7″ display, while the original Galaxy Tab gets by with just 7 inches of screen real estate.

Like its Galaxy S II relative, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a 1GHz dual-core processor, HSPA+ connectivity, and 8MP/2MP cameras. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs on Google’s tablet-optimized Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” operating system, and will be available in 16GB and 32GB storage configurations.

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RIM PlayBook Tablet will Offer Android Apps

by roko on February 15, 2011 in news, Tablet with No comments

130,000+ Android apps can’t be wrong

For Research In Motion mag glass 10x10 RIM PlayBook Tablet will Offer Android Apps , a lot is hinging on the success of its forthcoming PlayBook tablet. And while Android is garnering attention of its own for the anticipated Motorola Xoom tablet, RIM might be developing a plan to steal some of its thunder.

Bloomberg reports that the PlayBook software will have the functionality to run Android applications. RIM is said to be developing the functionality in-house, though the Canadian company declined to comment.

Some analysts believe that allowing access to Android’s 130,000+ applications, coupled with the increased security features of a BlackBerry, just might be enough to appeal to customers who might have opted for another choice — perhaps the forthcoming iPad 2 or the aforementioned Xoom.

“It will be a shrewd move to let Android apps run RIM without any performance or user interface hiccups,”Chetan Sharma, an independent analyst told Bloomberg. “It will make the RIM platform attractive to consumers as it lacks the strength of the rivals from an apps perspective.”

PlayBook is based on QNX software, which shares the Posix standard with Android. But RIM will not be employing Google’s Dalvik because of an ongoing dispute between Oracle and Google over the Java software used in running apps.

The deal could certainly be a boon for RIM. In Q4 of 2010, Android tablets captured 22 percent market share mag glass 10x10 RIM PlayBook Tablet will Offer Android Apps

mag glass 10x10 RIM PlayBook Tablet will Offer Android Apps

, and there are about six times more apps available for Android than there are in RIM’s App World.

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Archos 7 eReader Has A Color Display

by Alan on February 7, 2011 in eReaders, news with No comments

Archos has just announced it’s color ebook reader tablet dubbed as the Archos 70c, which is apparently the Archos 70b that was unveiled for European markets sometime earlier.

The Archos 70c is a 7” ebook reader from Archos, that aims at adding color to your ebook reading experience at an interesting price. The Archos 70c features a 7-inch resistive touch screen with a display resolution of 800×480 pixels.

It is driven by a 600MHz CPU and runs Android 2.1 OS. While the device comes with 4GB of onboard storage space, which is quite mammoth to carry a whole lot of ebooks, you can still add up storage space to carry your favorite multimedia files. Thanks to the inclusion of an SD card slot.

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