Acer Iconia Tab A500 Now Getting Ice Cream Sandwich OS Update Earlier than Expected

It is reported yesterday that the Acer Iconia Tab A100 tablets are getting Ice Cream Sandwich updates a bit early, and now, it seems like the 10-inch version of the tablet will also be updated early. Users of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 are already confirming that their devices received Ice Cream Sandwich update ahead of time.

Basically, Android 4.0.3 wasn’t planned to start rolling out for the tablet before the 27^th, but it seems like Acer has made the decision to proceed and release the update for most (not all) users. If you want to check if the update is already available on your device, just go to Settings > About.

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Study Reveals More People Watch TV on Tablet PC’s compared to Computers

Do you still prefer your notebook computer your second TV? Well, it appears you are currently in the minority. Based on the latest Viacom study, the hip new way of consuming the drug of the nation -- after the 'ole tube itself -- is on a tablet. Around 2,500 individuals were surveyed across the US, and the results indicate a shift away from smartphones and computers to tablets. 15% of TV show viewings (full-length) are being viewed in tablets, with the rise of streaming services and partner apps being specified as factors contributing to the trend.

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Refurbished AT&T Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE on Sale for $199

I really like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 because it is not too small and not too big; it’s just the right size. While the tablet is a superb piece of technology in its Wi-Fi only version, AT&T went an extra mile by adding LTE capability. If it’s okay for you to have a refurbished Galaxy Tab 8.9, then you can visit theAT&T website right now and buy the tablet for only $199.99 on a 2-year contract or $399.99 without contract.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 will have the features of the 10.1 version including the 1280x800 screen resolution but in a smaller frame. The Tab 8.9 features a Tegra 2 pocessor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and Honeycomb OS flavored with Samsung’s TouchWiz. Don’t worry about the outdated Honeycomb because the Android Ice Cream Sandwich for this tablet is already in the works. But if you really can’t wait for the Ice Cream Sandwich, there are several tablet forums that can help you.

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ASUS Satisfies Transformer Prime Owners with Free GPS Extension Kit Add-on

ASUS had taken a couple of OTA (over-the-air) updates to improve the Transformer Prime’s GPS performance, but now they are taking a much more immediate solution at solving its GPS hardware reception problem. Prime owners who registered their tabs on ASUS member site are now getting messages for a free GPS Extension Kit dongle, it "may help improve signal reception and optimize the user experience." The kit is expected to ship in mid-April and will be a perfect fit at the bottom of the Prime tablet (held in landscape) and will be match the color of the Prime chassis. The GPS dongle will be available to all customers who picked up the tablet, and according to ASUS, the dongle doesn’t "replace, alter or amend any existing warranties."

Source

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Low-cost Aakash Android tablet for only $44!

In the past, you have possibly spotted a number of cheap tablet PC deals on the internet. Do you still recall the $99 TouchPad firesale? Well, let me introduce you to an Android tablet that is surprisingly cheap. For only $44 (yes you heard it right!), you can now own a tablet!

Let me take you to India, a nation where hi-tech gizmos are becoming ever so popular, despite the fact that many of them have no or little experience of using them. That is precisely the challenge that the Indian Ministry of Education is hoping to deal with. The plan is to present the Android tablets to rural schools that have minimal access to advanced technologies.

The Indian government will be buying 100,000 Aakash Android tablets at a price of $44 each. It will then be sold to schools at a lower price tag of $22.

Aakash Ubislate 7+ specifications:

• Processor: Conexant A8, 700MHz
• RAM: 256MB
• Storage: 2GB, but expandable to 32GB
• Display: 7-inch  resistive touch screen with 800×400 resolution
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPRS modem
• Battery: Up to 180 minutes (3200 mAh)
• Operating system: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• Other features: 2 USB ports, 3.5mm jack for audio, HD video playback and streaming

Aakash tablet video:

Source

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7-inch Hyundai A7 Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet for only $110

We already seen a lot of cheap Android tablets being sold in the market but this tablet has pretty good hardware. The A7 is actually not related to the car company Hyundai. For only $110, you get a 7-inch 480 x 800 Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) tablet. The touch screen is a 5-point capacitive multitouch.

The Hyundai A7 tablet should run most apps and games because it features a Cortex 1.5 GHz A8 processor and a 512 MB of RAM. It also features an 8 GB of internal storage, micro-SD extra storage, and a micro-HDMI port for watching High Definition movies on a larger screen.

Even though the tablet’s design is not the prettiest around, the Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) OS is enough for you not to judge its looks. The tablet has been around for more than a month now and has lately in-stock again.

If you already have this tablet, please leave a comment below and give us your opinion if the Hyundai A7 is worth your money.


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Google plans to make a Low-priced tablet

Google is partnering with hardware makers based in Asia on a budget friendly 7-inch tablet to challenge what Apple and Amazon.com is offering, according to a report.

According to Wall Street Journal and Digitimes, the hardware will be built by Asustek and Samsung, while the software side will run Android supported by the California Internet Giant. It is set to go against Kindle and iPad devices.

The Asustek tablet is expected to be released on May 2012 with a competitive price of $199. It should be an option for consumers considering the Amazon.com made tablet called Kindle Fire, according to Digitimes.

This action by Google will surely pressure other tablet manufacturers to lower the price of their tablet PC’s.

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How to Root the Sony Tablet P (Dual-screen tablet)

To those who played with the dual-screen tablet of Sony for quite a long time now, we have good news. The tablet can now be rooted and it is not difficult to do it. RayIczer, a forum member from Pocketables goes over a process of requiring a Sony Tablet Root program and an ADB installer. So, if you are interested to root your dual-screen tablet, just hit the source link below.


Source: Pocketables

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Archos reveals $129 Ice Cream Sandwich 7-inch Child Pad tablet

When we talk about gadgets for the kids, what immediately enters our mind is it should be durable to withstand kid’s beating. How about if you give your kid an Ice Cream Sandwich-equipped 7-inch tablet? Called Child Pad, this tablet is finger friendly and sticky with an impressive 1 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. Since it is designed for kids, Archos is making this $129 tablet access the AppLibs Kids App Store where there are about 10,000 apps, books and games. It is sad because there is no information yet about the ports of the Child Pad, but the good news is adults will also enjoy using this tablet according to Archos.




Press Release:

ARCHOS Announces the Child Pad, a 7" ICS Kid-Friendly Tablet

The new Child Pad will provide kid's a safe, fun, full tablet experience at $129

Denver, CO – March 01, 2012 – ARCHOS, an award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, announced today a themed 7" Android™ tablet for children, called the Child Pad. The 7'' Child Pad features a compact light weight design, the latest Android version, 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich", a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. The Child Pad will be available at the end of March for $129 SRP.

"As a pioneer in the portable audio and Android™ tablet market we realize the importance of providing a tablet that can offer hours of entertainment for all ages, especially kids", says Henri Crohas, Founder and CEO. "ARCHOS strives to offer great tablets with only the best of features at affordable prices and we expect this tablet to bring a smile to the faces of kids and parents' everywhere."

Key Features & Benefits
Kid friendly features of the Child Pad include access to the Kids App Store powered by AppsLib which is filtered down to 14-friendly categories and 10,000 apps including games, entertainment, communication, multimedia, books, comics, sports and more.

In addition, ARCHOS has created a kid-friendly user interface with colored icons, home screen folders with direct access to games, entertainment, learning and puzzles and the top 28 kids' apps pre-loaded including Angry Birds, Pig Rush and Flight Frenzy.

ARCHOS has also designed the Child Pad to comply with both CIPA and COPPA regulations, ensuring a safe tablet environment for kids and peace of mind for parents. The parental controls and safe web browsing is powered by Editions Profil, whose "Mobile Parental Filter" is ranked as the most efficient parental control software in worldwide benchmarks.

Availability & Price
The Child Pad will be available in stores starting the end of March with the recommended retail price of $129.

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Rockchip announces RK30 for the Low-cost tablet PC’s of today

Rockchip, a budget ARM licensee has been bawling out its products on the Barcelona streets as they announced their latest RK30xx platform. The company supplies the internals for a range of inexpensive android tablets, which is based on a past year’s technology. The latest system will be based on dual-core Cortex-A9 ARM CPU, Artisan Physical IP Process Optimazation Pack and Mali-400 GPU. The processesor will run at 1.4 GHz and will be capable of supporting 3D displays and decoding 1080p video. This will ship as a whole package solution which means a lot of budget tablets with identical internals will be available in this year’s second half. If you are willing to start a tablet business then look at the press release details below because the 1^st engineering samples will arrive in March.

Press Release:

Rockchip Licenses a Wide Range of ARM IP for Turnkey Solution Targeting Mass Market, Cost-Effective Android Tablets
Rockchip RK30xx platform significantly lowers Bill of Materials (BOM) cost and reduces design complexity for customers
FUZHOU, China & CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rockchip, a leading Chinese fabless semiconductor company and mobile Internet System-on-Chip (SoC) solution provider, today announced its next generation RK30xx platform, targeting the mass market, cost-effective Android tablets. The new platform is based on wide range of ARM® Intellectual Property (IP) that Rockchip has licensed, including dual-core ARM Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ processors, ARM quad-core Mali™-400 MP Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and an ARM Artisan® Physical IP Process Optimization Pack (POP) for the Cortex-A9 processor. The RK30xx platform is a turnkey solution that reduces design complexity and enables faster time-to-market for Android tablet manufacturers, enabling them to address fast changing consumer demands.
"The tablet market is growing rapidly, and putting greater demands on semiconductor companies to deliver cost-effective solutions that can sustain an ever-increasing level of graphics, video and gaming performance, while still being energy-efficient"
The combination of Rockchip's market-leading design experience for mobile Internet devices and high-performance, energy-efficient processor and GPU technologies from ARM has resulted in a platform that delivers captivating 3D gaming experiences and fluent HD video playback, as well featuring a rich set of memory interfaces and peripherals.
"The tablet market is growing rapidly, and putting greater demands on semiconductor companies to deliver cost-effective solutions that can sustain an ever-increasing level of graphics, video and gaming performance, while still being energy-efficient," said Mr. Feng Chen, Chief Marketing Officer, Rockchip. "The partnership enables us to use proven mobile Internet technologies from ARM and provide a high-performance, low-cost and easy-to-design platform. This turnkey solution is ideal for customers to quickly adopt for their Android-based tablet devices. The combination of the ARM Cortex-A9 processor and the POP has enabled the highest performance with the lowest power in the fastest time possible. Rockchip has been able to deliver a highly efficient processor implementation on a 40nm LP process."
"ARM is committed to providing advanced processor, GPU and physical IP technologies to our Partners. This enables them to innovate for complex, smart system applications, such as mobile Internet," said Mike Inglis, executive vice president and general manager, processor division, ARM. "We are pleased that Rockchip, whose solutions are already being used in many mobile Internet products, has chosen a range of ARM IP for their innovative, next generation RK30xx platform. We look forward to their continued success in the Android tablet market."
The Rockchip RK30xx platform features:
Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor with up to 1.4GHz speed, implemented with Artisan Processor Optimization Pack (POP)Quad-core ARM Mali-400 MP GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 and OpenVG 1.1Full memory support, including DDRIII, DDRII, and LPDDRIIHigh performance dedicated 2D processor1080P multi-format video decoder1080P video encoding for H.264 and vp8Stereoscopic 3D H.264 MVC video codecEmbedded HDMI 1.4a, supporting 3D displayEmbedded 60bit/s ECC, supporting MLC NAND, E-MMC, i-NAND and bootingSupport of dual panel display and dual camera
Availability
Samples of the Rockchip RK30xx platform will be available in March 2012.

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