Binatone ReadMe Mobile: Android tablet / ereader mishmash announced

Wacky device unveiled

Binatone has unveiled a bonkers device that it is describing as an eBook reader, but what we’d call a tablet / ereader / personal organiser hybrid – the Binatone ReadMe Mobile.

The ReadMe Mobile really is a case of a jack of all trades in that it specialises as an eBook reader – although the colour screen isn’t E-Ink so there are reflection issues – but it also offers an Android OS (2.1, Éclair), Wi-Fi connectivity, web browsing, email and media playback. There’s also 2GB of storage for your digital shizzle.

There’s no touchscreen though – the display is a 7-inch, 800×400 one. Controls are via the BlackBerry-like trackpad and the full physical QWERTY. This is not only something that we don’t think we’ve seen before on an Android tablet – it also makes for a wacky looking device.

Still, at £129, it’s a device that may find a market amongst more budget conscious tech fans, who aren’t too bothered that it may be spreading its features a little too thinly. Battery life is also a bit of issue – 6 hours “reading time” is stated.

The Binatone ReadMe Mobile is out now – as is the updated version of the iHomePhone packing “a whole range of enhancements”. The iHomePhone 2 is priced at £99.

Artile: RSS via Pocket lint

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Binatone, Binatone ReadMe Mobile, eReader, QWERTY Keyboard, WiFi

Posted in Android, Gadget News, Mobile Internet Device, Other News | No Comments »

Witness the rise of Android [Infographic]

It’s been a magical ride for the Android operating system, as it wasn’t too long ago that analysts were insisting that Google was crazy to enter into this space. Now, Android has some incredible momentum in the market and the folks from Xcubelabs have put together a neat infographic about the rise of Android and its major accomplishments.

It starts out with the founding of Android by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears and Chris White in October 2003. Those of you who follow these things closely will remember that early versions of Android looked very similar to the BlackBerry operating system. Once the iPhone came out and was a hit among the tech crowd, Android quickly changed its focus.

Google purchased Android in 2005 and rolled out the Open Handset Alliance and the Android beta SDK in November of 2007. It took nearly a year for Android to land in a handset, as the T-Mobile G1 landed in September 2008.

From those humble beginnings – one device, one carrier, near-zero market share – Android has rocketed to the top of the smartphone charts in terms of market share. With Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread and Honeycomb, the platform has gotten much better with each iteration and it has resonated with consumers, carriers and handset makers all over the world. Google recently said it is activating 550,000 Android handsets a day and look for that number to continue to rise.

Check out the infographic below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Android, Android 1.0, Android 1.5, Android 1.6, Android 2.0, Android 2.1, Android 2.2, Android 2.3, Android 3.0, Android 3.1, Android 3.2, Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Google, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Mobile OS

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Only 4 percent of Android users have Gingerbread

We’ve been raving about Android 2.3 Gingerbread for months now but chances are you haven’t had a chance to play with it yet. According to Google’s monthly Android stats, only 4 percent of Android users are on the Gingerbread version of the platform. That’s sad.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread launched nearly five months ago on the Samsung Nexus S and it brought an improved keyboard, better web performance and an overall boost in across-the-board performances. Still, only 3 percent of users are on Android 2.3.3 while 1 percent are on 2.3.

The vast majority of uses are using Froyo, as 65.9 percent of consumers are on Android 2.2. The Froyo platform is still highly capable but it’s disappointing to see the lack of updates. Eclair, or 2.1, accounts for 24.5 percent, while 5.3 percent are still on Doughnut or lower.

Even worse, only 0.3 percent of users are on the Android Honeycomb platform, which doesn’t portend well for the Motorola Xoom sales. Still, we should see a variety of Honeycomb tablets in the near future, so expect that number to rise rapidly.

Who should we be blaming? Well, every party has a role to play. Handset makers like Samsung and HTC insist on putting its own customized UI layer on top and this takes time to work with new versions. For an over-the-air update, the software must go through various testing and this also holds up the process.

Google could be more open with its partners too, as I’ve heard from multiple companies which don’t get a look at what the next version will look like until the SDK is released. Heck, even end users could be making this happen if they raise a big enough stink.

With a new version already coming (learn how to manually install it here) and potentially more goodies at next week’s I/O conference, expect this issue to get worse. Sigh.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Android 2.2, Android 2.3, Gingerbread

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Sony Ericsson Silently Launches W8 Android Walkman Phone

There’s no Press Release here like you’d expect from a regular phone launch but this is no regular announcement as the Sony Ericsson W8 Android powered Walkman phone has simply appeared on the manufacturer’s website.

The smartphone bears a great deal of resemblance with the Xperia X8 — read X8 with Walkman branding and headphones — and is running Google Android 2.1 Eclair (pity, but the main purpose here is a Walkman-phone and not a smartphone) sporting a HVGA 320 x 480 pixel screen of three-inches in diagonal, up to 128MB phone memory, up to 16 GB external memory via microSD card slot, 3.2-megapixel camera at the back, FM Radio with RDS, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Like the Xperia X10, the W8 Walkman Phone has the four shortcuts on the screen corners which users can personalize. If you live in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, you’ll be able to grab one starting from Q2. There are three flavors available: Azur, Metallic Red and the iconic Walkman Orange.

Article: RSS via Pocketnow

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Music, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson, W8 Walkman, Walkman

Posted in Android, Music, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson | No Comments »

ZTE V9 Android-powered tablet arrives at the FCC

ZTE is more famous for their budget-friendly OEM feature phones, but that doesn’t mean the company is going to miss out on the tablet bandwagon after eyeing the success by other manufacturers who are in the game. Well, their latest effort in the Android market would be the ZTE V9 tablet that first appeared at MWC earlier this year, and has since gained FCC approval – which points towards a US release in the near future.

We aren’t too stoked that the V9 will come with Android 2.1 Eclair right out of the box, considering most of the newer devices are already on Froyo. The other big question to ask is this – will it be upgraded to Android 3.0 Honeycomb when the time comes, since that is a tablet-centric operating system? Only time will tell, so check out the features of the ZTE Z9 in the mean time.

A 7″ display with 800 x 480 resolution is accompanied by a Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, 1GB RAM, a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 3400mAh battery, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Oh yeah, if you don’t mind going back to the days where phones were super huge, then the V9 works as a handset, too, supporting GSM 850 and 1900 bands. This is where a Bluetooth headset becomes a necessity instead of a weird-looking tech accessory.

Article: RSS via UberGizmo

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, FCC, Tablet PC's, ZTE, ZTE V9

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Archos Arnova 8 and 10 tablets hit the bargain bin (video)

We know, Archos already makes fairly cheap tablets, but believe it or not, the company’s going after an even cheaper segment with its new Arnova 8 and 10. The two have been popping up all around the web — they stopped by the FCC earlier this week and there was an early spec leak from a Russian site — but now we’re finally getting some real details and hands-on impressions courtesy of Charbax, who is quite possibly the biggest Archos fan in the world. The $199 10.1-inch Arnova 10, which we have to say looks a lot like the Archos 101, packs a 600MHz Rockchip RK2818 processor, resistive touchscreen, 8GB of storage, and Android 2.1 — but before you gag, know that there should also be a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Rockchip RK 2918 / capacitive touchscreen version coming in April. Meanwhile, the 8-inch Arnova 8 rings up at $150 with the same processor and resistive touchscreen, but only 4GB of storage. If the cut corners don’t faze you and you’re in the mood for a closer look, we suggest you hit the break for some Charbax video originals.

Article: RSS via Engadget

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Archos, Arnova 10, Arnova 8, Tablet PC's, Video

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Sony Ericsson confirm no Froyo for XPERIA X10

Bad news for XPERIA X10 owners; Sony Ericsson has confirmed that the Android smartphone won’t be seeing any further core OS updates beyond Android 2.1 Eclair. That means no Froyo or Gingerbread, though Sony Ericsson is promising to deliver more minor software updates, such as multitouch in Q1 2011.

The decision also applies to the XPERIA X10 mini and the X10 mini pro, meaning they too will be stuck with Android 2.1. Sony Ericsson says it’s an issue that won’t affect future Android devices, such as the XPERIA Arc, because they’ve uncoupled the Timescape and Mediascape modifications from the underlying OS, and that faster upgrades are a priority for 2011.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Android 2.2, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10

Posted in Android, Smartphones, Sony Ericsson | No Comments »

AOC’s 8-inch Breeze Android 2.1 tablet goes for broke, sells for $200

No money? No problem! The world of craptablets has grown significantly over the past dozen months, and you won’t find us encouraging anyone to add another to the pile. But AOC has actually managed to make a fairly decent name for itself over the years, albeit one in the LCD industry. In fact, this here company claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of LED / LCD monitors, but it’s tough to say how that type of expertise will translate in the tablet arena.

The newly launched Breeze bucks two screen size trends and splits the difference — there’s an 8-inch touchpanel here, complete with an 800 x 600 screen resolution and a row of physical keys along the right edge. You’ll also find a Rockchip processor, an outdated copy of Android 2.1, not to mention a USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm headphone, inbuilt speaker, 802.11b/g WiFi, 4GB of internal storage space, a microSD card slot and a battery that’s supposedly good for up to 12 hours of audio playback or (six hours of video).

We’re still waiting to hear back on what type of CPU is under the shell, but for under $200, we’re going to hazard a guess that it’s not the quickest silicon in the shed. Anywho, it’ll be splashing down at “major retail chains” later this month, likely going toe-to-toe with Augen for your bargain-bin bucks.

Article: RSS via Engadget

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, AOC, AOC Breeze, Tablet PC's

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Creative Ziio 7 Android tablet hits Europe for 249 Euros and up

The Creative Ziio 7 is a 7 inch tablet running Google Android 2.1. It has a Zii Labs ZMS-08 media processor with support for a wide range of audio and video formats, and a 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel capacitive touchscreen display.

Creative introduced the Ziio tablet just over a month ago, and while it’s not available in the US yet, it looks like it’s now shipping in Italy, Germany, and possibly some other European countries.

Prices start at 249 Euros for a model with 8G of storage. A 16GB version is also available for about 20 Euros more.

There’s still no word on US pricing or availability, but the tablet did pass through the FCC web site recently, which is a pretty good indication that Creative is at least thinking about selling the tablet in the States.

Article: Web via liliputing

Tags: Android, Android 2.1, Creative, Creative ZiiO, Creative ZiiO 7, Tablet PC's

Posted in Android, Tablet PC's | No Comments »

Teclast T720 Android Tablet

After being in the PMP and digital reader space, Teclast is now pursuing the Android tablet segment with its Teclast T720-3GE tablet, which boasts a 7-inch WVGA display and runs on Android 2.1, which means that Adobe Flash content won’t work on this device. The tablet has a slim 6.5 mm thin profile, and comes with WiFi and 3G connectivity options. Other specs include a 624 MHz ARM processor, HDMI output, and 720p HD video support.

Article: RSS via Ubergizmo

Tags: 3G, Android, Android 2.1, HDMI, Tablet PC's, Teclast T720, Wi-Fi

Posted in 3G, Android, Tablet PC's | No Comments »