It seems SlashGear has a friendly relationship going with Notion Ink, the makers of the Pixel Qi (demo 1, 2) / NVIDIA Tegra / Android powered Internet Tablet (a winning combo in my opinion). The guys have posted new renderings of the Adam, which are said to be closer to the final design that will make its appearance at Mobile World Congress 2010 next week (above is Notion Ink’s photo collage from CES). Also revealed… Adam will have battery life capabilities surpassing Apple iPad’s 10-hour claim and that it will be available in two sizes — though no specifics other than the thickness of the two models were given (12.9 & 11.6 mm | the iPad is 13.4 mm thick). And lastly, Notion Ink will soon be announcing a “Developer Challenge” competition with a prize fund of $1 million for the best Android apps targeted for the Adam and Internet Tablets in general. FYI, I just discovered through SlashGear’s CES video (embedded below) that Adam will support Adobe AIR apps (like TweetDeck and others) in addition to Flash-based content through the web browser. That’s big news in this space… and may mean Adam will be one of the first tablets to tap into the upcoming Digital Magazine Storefront.  MORE »

We’ve seen our fair share of Android tablets at CES and many have finally sobered up after the Apple iPad unveiling. So what now? How about a Windows 7 powered device with no compromises? French firm, ExoPC, has a 8.9-inch (1024×600) tablet expected to ship this March called the ExoPC Slate. What makes this product unique is that they’ve gone through the trouble of creating a touch UI layer on top of Windows 7 Professional (something I suggested to HP) to operate the device and provide media-centric functionality. Its unclear if the ExoPC can toggle between its custom interface and the Windows 7 default environment (which, by the way, does support touch), though I’m guessing it can. Additional details should be available closer to launch, but in the meantime have a look at ExoPC’s handy comparison chart pitting their $599 32GB device against the Apple iPad and ARCHOS 9PCtablet. MORE »

Good news for Apple iPhone and iPod touch users. Logitech has added a new app to the iTunes App Store called Touch Mouse. The FREE app turns your handheld into a wireless remote for your Windows or Mac computer (requires installation of the Touch Mouse Server software). Touch Mouse’s feature highlights include: multi-touch trackpad, keyboard (including CTRL, ALT, super key), left/center/right 3-button mouse setup, two-finger scrolling, on-screen text display while typing, and landscape and portrait operation modes. Not bad, Logitech! Alternative Logitech product: diNovo Mini.

Image credit: OhGizmo!

I don’t know if the Apple reps from Cupertino were smoking dope at today’s event in San Francisco or what — with all their magical and revolutionary references? In any case, there was a mix bag of reactions from folks in the Twitterverse. I might be going out on limb here… but I got the sense from most of the Technorati following the event, via live blogs, that they were underwhelmed by the new Apple iPad and its capabilities (many saying it’s just a larger version of the iPod with scalable apps). A few heckled its name. Pricing isn’t too bad, though. Steve Jobs said Apple wanted to “aggressively price” the device and made the starting price $499 (16GB) — add $130 more for 3G connectivity. My guess all the tablets showcased at CES had something to do with that. Spec-wise… the iPad is decent. It has a 1Ghz Apple A4 processor, one month standby / 10 hours continuous use battery, a 1024×768 9.7-inch IPS touchscreen, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, 16/32/64GB flash drive options, weighs 1.5lbs, is 1/2-inch thick. The Wi-Fi version will be available 60 days from today, while the 3G version will be available in 90. Also, Apple plans on introducing iPad accessories like a charging dock (doubles as a photo frame stand), keyboard dock, and camera connection kit (USB/SD card reader). MORE »

If you’ve been looking for an easy way to connect your PC, Mac, MP3 player, or smartphone to your home stereo for audio playback, have a look at Aperion’s new Home Audio Link (HAL) system. For $149 you’ll get a HAL transmitter (w/ Audio In) and receiver (w/ Audio Out) that can stream uncompressed music wirelessly (2.4Ghz band) up to a distance of 100 feet. What’s novel is that the USB cable attached to each HAL adapter can be connected to a PC for data transfer and power connectivity or be plugged into a wall plug adapter. The kit includes a dual ended mini-plug cable (for the transmitter), a mini-plug to RCA cable (for the receiver), two USB wall plug adapters, and, as previously mentioned, a single HAL transmitter and receiver. The system can actually support three receivers — listed at $70 a piece — at once to create a whole-home audio setup. MORE »

We all got a preview of Boxee Beta back in December ‘09. Well, today it’s officially available to the public on all platforms (except Apple TV) — Windows, Mac, Linux. If your curious about what Boxee Beta is and how easy it is to setup and use, have a look Howcast’s latest video on the topic (attached below). And now for the really big news… Boxee’s Box graphics and processor specs have today been posted on the Boxee Blog. Drumroll… Boxee Box leverages NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 (T20) chipset which combines the graphics processor and dual-core ARM Cortex A9 1Ghz processor on a single chip (additional details @ AnandTech), thus making the Boxee Box an energy efficient HD video processing powerhouse capable of outputting 1080p video to your HDTV. What’s more, the Boxee Box will have full support for Adobe Flash. MORE »

Now here’s a tempting piece of gear showcased at CES. Iomega this February will be launching a $99.99 NAS adapter, called the iConnect Wireless Data Station, that will take any USB hard drive or thumbdrive and make its contents available through your home network or remotely via 802.11n Wi-Fi or Ethernet. In addition, the iConnect features a built-in DLNA / UPnP media server (for streaming photos, videos, music to computers and digital media adapters), Apple Time Machine compatibility, torrent download manager, and printer server which can all be administered through the product’s web interface. Iomega is even throwing in some of its popular EMC software to help users backup computers and keep files synchronized. Not bad for less than a hundred bucks. MORE »

Looks like 2010 is going to be the year of the web tablet. Here we have the upcoming ICD Ultra Android powered web tablet featuring a 7-inch touchscreen and a 1Ghz NVIDIA Tegra processor capable of playing 1080p video direct to your HDTV via HDMI. From the hands-on pics over at Engadget, the Ultra looks decent enough for use around the house. However, the real draw is the price point and specs. Word is that the Ultra will sell for around $249 next year and may even be subsidized completely by mobile carriers. MORE »

Today Roku has opened enrollment to their SDK program so developers and content producers can start building new Channels for their Roku Player using the company’s Windows / Mac / Linux PC tool. As far as I’m aware, enrollment and Channel distribution is free. Developers just need to get their finished Channel approved before it will be made available through the player’s Channel Store. For a glimpse of what Roku has in store, check out Chuck Seiber’s interview at NewTeeVee LIVE last month as well as the company’s press release.

Most likely you’ve never heard of the WiGig wireless standard created by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance. If you haven’t, that’s OK because today the group is announcing the WiGig version 1.0 specification, which they hope will become implemented in home networking gear as early as the first quarter of 2010. So why should you care? We’ve got dual-band 802.11n now, right? Well, because WiGig is 10 times faster than 802.11n, with transfer rates up to 7Gbps, and is backwards compatible with 802.11b/g/n. What’s more, WiGig has been designed for HD media streaming to multiple devices at once, can transfer the contents of a Blu-ray disc in under a minute, and already has the blessing of 15 technology leaders within the CE, PC, semiconductor, and handheld industries. You in…? I am. MORE »