Motorola Xoom Tablet - OFFICIAL

Motorola has officially announced a WiFi edition of the Xoom tablet

The tablet has a 10.1 inch screen which has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The operating system running is Android 3.0 Honeycomb which we have already seen in the original Xoom and on various other tablets that are soon to launch. Powering the device is a 1GHz Tegra 2 processor from NVIDIA. Basically, Motorola are providing the exact same hardware, but without the 3G/4G connection inside.

Other features include 1GB RAM and on the back, a 5 megapixel camera. Reviews of the 3G model were mixed though in that some cases, it was felt to be pushed out of the door too quick with an OS that wasn’t quite up to scratch. Hopefully Google will address these issues in the near future.

The Motorola XOOM will be available for purchase from Verizon Wireless for $600 with a new two-year contract or $800 without a contract. Wireless 3G data service for the Motorola XOOM will begin at $20 per month for 1GB data traffic. The tablet will be software-upgradeable to 4G LTE service at no additional charge in Q2 2011.

Price wise, the 32GB WiFi only model will cost $599. As for the launch date, expect to see it on March 27

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BlackBerry PlayBook Ready to release

Tablets are becoming a bigger part of our business everyday and the launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook will heighten the level of excitement in this category

The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet that is already being widely praised as a multi-tasking powerhouse with an uncompromised Web experience and an ultra-portable design

RIM is making the new tablet device available in over 20,000 locations around the US and Canada

This particular model is the WiFi only model. For those wanting the larger capacity devices, these are priced at $599 and $699 for 32GB and 64GB respectively.

The operating system used is based around QNX that RIM acquired in recent months. The new OS provides a fairly fluid interface as well as powerful multitasking which from our observations, works extremely well.

The technical specs reveal that the PlayBook tablet has a 7 inch screen which has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The screen uses capacitive touch. The processor is a 1GHz dual-core chip. It has 1GB of RAM as well as up to 64GB of storage (prices listed above). It includes front and rear cameras which can capture at 3MP and 5MP respectively. Wireless connectivity is built in of course.

The PlayBook also works as a companion device to a BlackBerry Smartphone.The browser looks to be quite powerful too and includes Adobe Flash as well as HTML5 compatibility.

7-inch LCD, 1024 by 600, WSVGA, capacitive touchscreen with full multi-touch and gesture support

BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing

 BlackBerry PlayBook Specifications :

• 1 GHz Dual Core processor
• 1GB RAM
• Dual cameras (3 MP front facing, 5MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• 6-axis motion sensor
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Measures 5.1" by 7.6" by 0.4" (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
• Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)

BlackBerry developer Research in Motion has also announced the PlayBook's price tag for three different models, with a 16GB model costing $499.99, a 32GB model costing $599.99 and the top-level 64GB model costing $699.99.

BlackBerry PlayBook release date for North America: April 19.

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Verizon iPhone 4 Release In February

After many months of speculation, Verizon has now announced the Verizon iPhone 4. The launch of the iPhone on Verizon marks the end of the almost 4 year exclusivity agreement that Apple had with AT&T.

The iPhone going to the Verizon network has been in testing for about a year now and is capable of connecting to the CDMA network. All the features are practically the same such as FaceTime availability, the Retina Display as well as the insides. The only main difference is the way it connects up, ie its CDMA technology inside.

So that Verizon can handle the network load the smartphone will bring to it, they have increased network capacity.

A few questions have been asked such as why they don’t use LTE technology. Using LTE chips required small design changes to the phone which Apple didn’t want to make. Using LTE would make the roll out longer, so CDMA was opted for on this version of the iPhone.

Expect to hear the exact release date and pricing revealed in the next few days, perhaps weeks.

As for the release date, expect it as early as February.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 Release ?

After a couple of hints over the past month, Samsung has now launched the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. Along with that announcement, Samsung also re-announced the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Both tablets will run the Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 has an 8.9 inch display that has 1280 x 800 pixels. Powering the unit is a 1GHz dual-core processor. The tablet is a little smaller than the iPad (1 and 2) and Samsung have also managed to cram everything in to an 8.6mm unit which also beats the new iPad 2 by a few mm.

An interesting item to find in the technical specs reveals that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 has thinned down a little and now measures 8.6mm which also is thinner than the iPad 2.

As for a release date, expect sometime in the summer for the smaller tablet and a release date of June 8 has been given for the launch of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

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