Streaming TV show and movie provider Hulu on Thursday announced it has made its Hulu Plus service on seven new Android tablets. This includes the Acer Iconia Tab line, ASUS Transformer Prime and Eee Pad Transformer, LG G-Slate, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Xyboard 10.1, and Toshiba Thrive. The app (free, Google Play) will become available for more Android tablets in the future as well, Hulu added.
Industry insider estimates have claimed that the iPad 2 has reached the million-unit sales mark in South Korea. The milestone came after a late November 2010 launch and 700,000 iPads shipped just in 2011, leaving the remaining 300,000 to have been sold in two and a half months' time, the Korea Herald said. That number could be higher, Korean media thought, since many had bought iPads even before official approval.
Carrier T-Mobile will hold a New Year, New Phone Sale this weekend. The available devices include the Samsung Galaxy S II, HTC Amaze 4G, T-Mobile G-Slate, T-Mobile Springboard and Sonic 4G mobile hotspot, all for between free or up to $50, albeit after a mail-in rebate. Each phone requires a new two-year contract with a T-Mobile Unlimited Value plan.
T-Mobile is dropping the prices on all its smartphones for one day only, this coming Saturday, September 24. The "Yes, Every Smartphone Is on Sale, Sale" will apply to the purchase any smartphone, tablet or mobile broadband device for a down payment of $100 or less on any of the company’s Unlimited Value plans with 2GB or higher of data. The deals, after mail-in rebates, requires a two-year contract and will only be in T-Mobile's stores.
LG was one of the few companies to readily acknowledge that it had started work on an Android tablet as a direct reaction to Apple making the iPad. When it launched the Optimus Pad -- better known to the US as the T-Mobile G-Slate -- it set out to not only have a smaller design than the iPad but to offer a more productive model than what Apple offered. We'll discover in our review of the Optimus Pad and G-Slate if it came close or if it's lost in a sea of look-alike Android tablets.
T-Mobile has begun rolling out Android 3.1 updates for G-Slate tablets. The update, which brings the software forward from Android 3.0, enables users to take advantage of Google Videos for movie rentals and purchases, while USB accessory support can be used to connect keyboards, pointing devices or other controllers.
Other than the T-Mobile G-Slate, LG is apparently working on a second Android-powered tablet, called the P930. This may not be a tablet after all, as an XML file makes mention of an Android device with a 1280x720 display and both GPRS/EDGE and HSDPA/HSUPA 3G. Historically, LG devices prefixed with a 'P' are smartphones rather than tablets, while the G-Slate is called the Optimus Pad V900 in markets other than the US.
Android 3.0 tablets aren't selling well because their creators don't understand retail, NVIDIA chief Jen-Hsun Huang said in a talk conducted on Thursday. He believed that early manufacturers, so far including Acer, ASUS, Dell, LG, and Motorola, didn't understand how to sell their tablets at retail. Although not mentioning Apple by name, he implied to CNET that the iPad's lower pricing, clearer marketing, and better buying experience at retail were all impacting the chances of tablets like the Motorola Xoom, which he singled out as an example of what went wrong.
T-Mobile has signaled plans for another tablet in its mix with registrations for a name in less than a week. Both a USPTO trademark for "SnapPad" and several domain name registrations, such as SnapPad.biz and multiple variants such as T-MobileSnapPad.com and .net. The trademark only indicates that it's for "tablet computers."
LG early Tuesday showed its hand for some of its future mobile plans with licenses for a slew of high-speed ARM chips. Along with getting direct access to the Cortex-A9 MPCore it previously had to buy with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 in devices like the G-Slate and G2X as well as TI's OMAP chips, it now has design rights to the upcoming and much faster Cortex-A15. Its deal further landed ARM's Mali-T604 graphics and its CoreLink interconnect part.
T-Mobile on Tuesday made a late commitment to full launch details for the LG G-Slate. Its adaptation ships tomorrow, April 20, for the promised $530 on a two-year contract, though only for existing T-Mobile phone subscribers; the price rises to $630 for others. The Android 3.0 device now has a contract-free price but will set users back $750 in its lone 32GB edition, or $20 more than an equivalent iPad 2.
Corroborating earlier rumors, a fresh leak from T-Mobile appears to confirm launch details for LG's G-Slate. The internal document again points to April 20 as the release date for the Android 3.0 tablet, which coincides with the launch date for several of the carrier's other Android-based offerings, including LG's G2X and Samsung's Sidekick 4G smartphones.
T-Mobile stores have begun receiving their units of the G-Slate ahead of its debut. One unboxing from a staffer has shown both the final, shipping kit and turned it on. The Android 3.0 tablet when fired up has a stock interface, but does come with the rumored pair of red-blue 3D glasses to see the tablet's 720p 3D video directly on the display, TmoNews found.
NTT DoCoMo announced on Monday it will begin shipping the Optimus Pad L-06C tablet in Japan beginning on Thursday, March 31. NTT will be the first to offer the tablet, as T-Mobile hasn't officially confirmed its own launch date. It was expected to arrive in the US as the G-Slate on March 23 but missed that date and is more likely to ship April 20.
An assertion from well-known leaker Eldar Murtazin would have LG tapped to make the official, reference Android 3.0 tablet. Called the Nexus Tablet as a placeholder, the design would show up sometime in the mid-summer or early fall. It might not necessarily be a publicly available, Mobile-Review said, implying that it may be an internal testing device.
T-Mobile pushed hard at CTIA with a midnight unveiling of a slew of expected but high-end devices. The G2X is its adaptation of the LG Optimus 2X and has its dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2, four-inch screen, front camera, and eight-megapixel rear camera. It ships with Android 2.2 and now with a handful of apps to use the speed and features, such as Need for Speed Shift HD and NOVA for games as well as Qik video chat.
T-Mobile's two most important launches of the spring, the LG G-Slate tablet and the similarly LG-made G2X, may have had ther launches identified by a leak from a carrier source. Both of the Android devices reportedly won't make the March 23 target but should instead ship one month later, on March 20. TmoNews didn't get a reason for the launch window and warned that it might be prone to change.
A leak late Tuesday gave out one of T-Mobile's plans for the CTIA phone show next week. Backing earlier rumors of the Kitty Hawk, the Jet 2.0 4G would provide a 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G connection for budget-minded travelers. TmoNews' copy doesn't mention most details but expects it to ship on March 23, likely the same day it's made public.
Retailer MobileCity has just listed the 8.9-inch LG G-Slate tablet up for pre-order for $700. While no ship date is revealed, the device will be tied to T-Mobile and promises to cost $100 less than a retail price for the device. The tablet will sport Android 3.0 and dual rear five-megapixel cameras that can record 3D movies.
T-Mobile's US branch swung back to losing subscribers owing to its struggles to lure customers away from the iPhone and rival Android supporters. It lost a total of 23,000 subscribers in its latest quarter, ended in January, where it had added 137,000 users the season before and 371,000 a year ago. The overall customer turnover rate was also up to 3.6 percent and about three times higher than what was seen at AT&T and Verizon.
Japan had the distinction today of being one of the first countries to get the Optimus Pad. LG's 8.9-inch Android 3.0 tablet will come to the country as the L-06C on NTT DoCoMo. Its version will be customized with a BeeTV app for Internet video as well as a 2DFacto app to read Japanese comics and e-books.
Apple may get the edge on rivals by having two iPad updates in one year. Following a purely speculative mention by John Gruber on Wednesday, a separate rumor asserted that the imminent refresh would be followed up by a "big fall surprise" that would be a second model. What it would entail wasn't given to TechCrunch but might be the 2048x1536 display for which prototypes have been circulating but which was thought to be too early for the spring model.
The LG G-slate has made another brief appearance on the web with a run through of its main features and ports. Previously given the video teaser treatment by internet personality MysteryGuitarMan, the new video appears to be a video run through for carrier T-Mobile. The clip embedded below gives a quick overview of its main hardware features including its dual cameras on the rear for shooting video and photos in stereoscopic 3D.
LG on Friday confirmed that it would bring the G-Slate outside of the US at Mobile World Congress. It confirmed that the hardware would be badged as the Optimus Pad for other countries and would be very similar outside of the native 3G frequencies. In a surprise, it confirmed that the 8.9-inch tablet would have an even larger battery than the iPad with a 6,400mAh pack.
Google held a special event to showcase Android 3.0 at its Mountain View, California campus. The gathering explored the OS in more detail and gave users hands-on time afterwards. We were there ourselves please check our live coverage page for details as they happened.
T-Mobile this morning provided fuller details of the LG G-Slate and the respective companies' best chance at an alternative to the iPad. True to leaks, it will have dual cameras to record stereoscopic 3D, though it may not necessarily shoot video at 1080p like it can in 2D. Unlike the Optimus 3D, however, it won't have a glasses-free 3D display and will need stereoscopic 3D glasses when not showing 3D over HDMI.
LG's G-Slate was proven to have a 3D camera late this weekend with a brief teaser video (below) from Internet personality MysteryGuitarMan. While talking about 3D, he briefly showed towards the end of the clip that he has the tablet and that it has two back cameras that would be needed for stereoscopic 3D photos and movies. Like an earlier Korean music video, he didn't confirm that there was a glasses-free 3D display, though one is suspected.
Eldar Murtazin the Russian tech blogger known to get early access to pre-release devices has been previewing the forthcoming LG G-Slate. Commenting via Twitter, Murtazin states that the slate’s 10-inch is a ‘really good screen’ and is ‘comparable with iPad.’ He also mentions that the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor is ‘fast enough,’ though he has yet to view any 3D content on it.
T-Mobile's plans for its 2011 devices were given more definite details through a leaked memo on Tuesday. The company is now expected to launch the Dell Streak 7 relatively quickly and could have it in stores February 2 for $300 on contract, TmoNews found. The Galaxy S 4G would be next and ship on February 23; its price wasn't known but would likely sit at $200 on contract.
A new Tegra next month may be a 3D-capable spin on existing hardware. The Tegra 2 3D would speed up from 1GHz to 1.2GHz and add the necessary 3D output support. TechEye's slide shows separate A25 and T25 versions destined for phones and tablets, but both could reach up to 5,520MIPS at full speed.
Rumors that the LG G-Slate would go 3D may have been confirmed by a Korean music video (bellow). Seungri's clip for "What Can I Do" not only shows the device in person for the first time outside of a press event but, in brief shots of the back, appears to show the dual cameras that would be needed for shooting 3D video. The earlier tips had suggested a glasses-free 3D display that now has some added support.
A rumor from Tuesday has raised the possiblity that the LG G-Slate may have a significant 3D angle. An LG France spokesman claimed Tegra 2-based tablet's 8.9-inch LCD would not only have a glasses-free 3D display but record 3D video as well. It should have an HDMI output, but GPSAndCo didn't learn whether it would have HDMI 1.4 and output 3D to a TV.
T-Mobile may have planned a quick turnaround for the Dell Streak 7 as an uncovered memo has given it an imminent launch. The launch and promo material should go up on February 2, less than a month after the Android slate was made public. Its price still hasn't been revealed in the TMoNews scoop, but it's likely to remain competitive with the Galaxy Tab and other same-size tablets.
T-Mobile started off the week with a teaser page for its upcoming LG G-Slate tablet. The carrier is using the page to take sign-ups for interest and doesn't yet give clues of the ship date. Officially, it didn't provide more information than that it would run Android 3.0 with the "latest Google mobile innovations" and support the carrier's HSPA+ network.
The T-Mobile LG-sourced G-Slate launched at its CES 2011 Keynote has passed FCC testing. For testing purposes, the device was marked as the LG-V909. While this is an important milestone in getting the device to market, it will still be some months before the 4G-enabled tablet will be hitting the street. One of the chief reasons is the wait for the tablet-only iteration of Google’s Android OS, Android 3.0 to be officially released.
T-Mobile tonight confirmed its plans for tablets this year by unveiling its first. The G-Slate will be LG's North American adaptation of its tablet, likely called the Optimus Pad elsewhere. Officially, it would only say that the device used Android 3.0 and that it would take advantage of T-Mobile's 21Mbps HSPA+ data speeds.
