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 »

Uh, oh. It looks like Apple will soon be the only tablet manufacture able to produce a device with a touch sensitive bezel control interface. (Now it’s starting to make sense why version one the Apple iPad has such a thick bezel, instead of going flush with the display.) According the USPTO website, Apple Inc. filed for the patent (7,656,393) in 2006 and was just granted it today. I must admit… the detailed examples of how the “intelligent bezel” will work are sound — especially given the fact they work universally no matter if the tablet is in a portrait or landscape position. Elements of the bezel include: power (always top-center), menu (always in one of the four corners), up (on left/right side mid-screen), down (on left/right side mid-screen), left-click (center-bottom), select (center-bottom), right-click (center-bottom). What’s more, the touch bezel is able to ignore areas after it has been touched and held in place for a certain amount time. I’m guessing this bit is probably the trickiest part of the technology to get right. Note: the patent is not exclusive to “tablets,” but can be applied to just about any portable consumer electronics device with a bezel and display. Ouch…. I’m wondering how this will affect devices like the Palm Pre which has a bezel finger swipe control? I’m hoping not at all if the functions a touch bezel provides are significantly different than what Apple has diagrammed in its patent. [via] MORE »

It appears that Chromium OS developers have begun laying the groundwork on a custom Tablet UI layer for Chrome OS. While things are just in the “visual exploration” phase, the mockups  give us a sneak peek at what a future Google Tablet may look like — and I’ve got say… it looks pretty darn cool. In fact, some of the proposed features are so fresh that they’re difficult to describe. Quoted below is the developer’s explanation of what you’re looking at in the attached concept video, as well as the UI mockup renderings included below. 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 »

The following video gives potential buyers a closer look at the upcoming HP Slate and the thinking behind it. HP’s CTO, Phil McKinney, states that 2010 is providing the “perfect storm of innovation” for such a product to be introduced to market. In particular, McKinney is referring to the current costs associated with producing such a product as well as the availability of a touch-capable OS like Windows 7. However, while McKinney was explaining this in the video all I could think of was: Why not introduce this product with the same touch UI currently loaded on its HP TouchSmart PCs? In fact, HP, with their TouchSmart UI, could have released this product last year — if they were really on top of things — and blown everyone away. Personally, not having a custom tablet friendly UI is what I think is the problem with most of the Internet Tablets showcased recently at CES — including Android based ones and possibly even the upcoming Apple Tablet, which so far is sounding like it’s just going to be a larger version of the iPod/iPhone with scalable apps. As a side note… it seems like McKinney must have read this press release when he refers to the tablet size consumers are interested in (or not?). MORE »

For the person who owns both an iPod Touch and an iPhone, Tango (FB page) may be an app you’ll be interested in. Tango enables one to control an iPhone/iPod Touch’s music collection with another iPhone/iPod Touch over Wi-Fi. Tango, from just about any room in the house, can show you what’s playing, adjust the volume, play/pause, skip tracks (forward and backward with a shake of the control device in hand), select playlists, shuffle songs, and even create new playlists without iTunes. Not bad for 99-cents (introductory price). Plus, you’ve got to like the fact that Tango is putting your extra iPhone/iPod Touch to work in a useful way. MORE »

Analyst firm, Deloitte, predicts 2010 will be the break through year for Internet Tablets (aka WebPads, SmartPads, NetTabs, Slate). Reason being, device manufactures working on such devices have shifted the product’s focus from “work-oriented data-entry” to web browsing and media consumption. Deloitte also believes that manufactures are finally nailing down the form factor to an appropriate size that’s easier to handle and more appealing to the general consumer — something larger than a smartphone, but smaller than a notebook. On the negative side, Deloitte sees such Wi-Fi/cellular connected devices being more expensive than smartphones. I don’t agree, however, with the popular opinion that owners will want to pay up for a mobile broadband plan for their device, which can run from $40-60 a month. Wi-Fi should be sufficient for most users who plan on using their Internet Tablet around the home, in a coffee shop, library, or workplace. As for the “tens of millions” prediction, that seems a bit optimistic (most likely based on this lead) considering most people haven’t seen, used, or have been able to purchase this new media-centric generation of Internet Tablets. MORE »

If someone asked you to create your dream internet tablet, you might find that your ideal specs would line up closely to the upcoming $321 Notion Ink Adam. This little 0.6-inch thick (770 grams) beauty features a tri-mode Pixel Qi B&W e-paper reflective / basic color transflective / full color 10.1-inch touch LCD (oleophonic, anti-glare), NVIDIA Tegra chipset (1080p capable), 16 / 32GB SSD, SD card slot, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, Android OS, and a battery life unheard of in the segment — 48 hours standby, 16 hours of web surfing over Wi-Fi, 8 hours of HD video playback. And if that wasn’t enough, Notion Ink has given the Adam an HDMI port, 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, 3MP camera (rotates 180 degrees), proximity sensors, accelerometer, assisted GPS, digital compass, and built-in speakers. I don’t know about you, but I’m blown away by how much cutting-edge tech is built into this unit — especially at this price point. Expect a showing at CES 2010 (projected launch: June 2010). MORE »