Galaxy Tab 10.1 for Verizon, hands-on with the new 4G speed king

By Terrence O'Brien  posted Jul 28th 2011 6:15PM

Hands-On

By now, you should be familiar with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. We've done countless hands-ons with the super-svelte Honeycomb slate, and even reviewed it... twice! Now it's back, again, and this time its packing an LTE radio tuned to the frequencies of a little company known as Verizon. Outside of a few tiny cosmetic changes -- the brushed, gray plastic back and the rumored Micro SIM slot up top, nothing else has changed. We won't waste too much time rehashing what you already know, but we figured it was worth firing up the latest version, which officially went on sale today, and putting that 4G antenna to the test. You know the routine, keep on keepin' on after the break.

Galaxy Tab 10.1 for Verizon hands-on

Obviously, the first thing we did once we had the Galaxy Tab powered on was launch the browser and head straight for Speedtest.net. Now, we've done plenty of testing of Verizon's LTE network before, but this time something was different. The data rates we were seeing didn't just put most cable modems to shame, they were competitive with our FiOS connection. We ran the speed test 15 times just to make sure it wasn't some anomaly, and used a few different servers. We averaged 28.25Mbps down and 7.93Mbps up -- the Thunderbolt maxed out at 21.77Mbps. We saw speeds up to a positively face-melting 44.44Mbps down and 9.39Mbps up. Even our ping times were reliably low, never topping 75ms and averaging just shy of 67ms.

The connection feels just as fast as those numbers would indicate too. The browser loaded up full desktop sites, even those weighed down with Flash, in no time at all. Engadget popped up just as quickly as did on our Thinkpad and HD clips from the movies section of the Android market started playing almost instantaneously.

What isn't clear is why exactly we were seeing such dramatically faster speeds. It's possible that there is beefier hardware inside the Galaxy Tab than in the LTE phones we've seen so far. But, it could also simply be that there were no 4G Verizon customers in the area, allowing us to hog those 700Mhz frequencies. Regardless, we came away impressed. We expected the slate would keep pace with its network peers, but we never anticipated it would so decidedly blow them out of the water.

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ASUS Eee PC X101 product page goes live, still no release date

By Joseph Volpe  posted Jul 28th 2011 7:05PM

ASUS has gone and made its super svelte Eee PC X101 official with a dedicated product page live on its site. We'd already gotten our hands-on with the crimson-colored ultraportable, but now there's a whole list of specs to flesh out this 920g wonder. The MeeGo-running netbook's rocking a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 display, 1.33 GHz Intel Atom N435 (or N455) processor, 8GB SSD, Bluetooth, WiFi, SDHC card support and USB 2.0. Oh, and did we mention this 17.6 millimeter thin beauty comes in three shades of awesome? That's right, when this $199 netbook finally hits retailers' shelves, you can also snag it in white and brown (a Zune homage, we presume). There's still no word on just when this slight badboy's going to be available, but at least you now have a place to go and drool in anticipation.

Notebook Italia (Translated) ASUS

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BOSS's Micro BR-80 digital multitrack and field recorder fits the band and studio in your hand -- Engadget

BOSS's Micro BR-80 digital multitrack and field recorder fits the band and studio in your hand -- Engadget

By Joe Pollicino posted Jul 24th 2011 7:35AM

Who needs a recording studio -- or even a full band -- for that next demo? Grab your guitar, BOSS' latest portable Micro BR digital recorder and a fistful of ego for a do-it-yourself session that only a mother could love. The BR-80 lets you record two tracks at once and offers eight tracks of playback along with 64 virtual tracks to mix and master any epics you're dreaming up. For hookup, it's packing aux and 1/4-inch inputs, a headphone out, and even a USB port to interface with a computer. You can also record using its onboard stereo field mics if you lose your cables at a gig. Inside, it's packing four and six-string COSM effects, DNA from its VE-20 to spice up your vocals, and eBand options. There's support for WAV and MP3 formats, but better yet, SD cards up to 32GB giving you a whopping 550 hours of recording time to lay those burnin' licks down. It's currently available and shipping for about 300 bones -- eRoadies not included. Full PR after the break.

New Macbook Air Teardown Shows SSDs Not Bolted Down Just Yet

 Kyle Wagner — Hey, this is good news:iFixit's teardown of the new Macbook Airs, which were released yesterday, shows that the SSDs aren't soldered to the motherboard, making them user-replaceable.

That's helpful for users who'd like a bit more space, but don't want to pay Apple's $300 premium for the move to a 256GB drive. Sadly, the same doesn't go for the RAM. That's still soldered in, so you'll need to load up at the time of purchase. Though, since Apple didn't manage to up the max capacity past 4GB, that's maybe not so big of a deal. [iFixit via 9to5mac]

Klipsch's AirPlay-enabled Gallery G-17 Air soundbar pleases ears sans cords for $530

By Joe Pollicino  posted Jul 20th 2011 4:32AM

No, that's not some oversized Kinect KIRF. What you're looking at is Klipsch's latest soundbar, the Gallery G-17 Air. Seem familiar? If you'll recall, back at CES it was known as the Gallery Studio -- the smallest of three AirPlay-enabled speaker systems the company let us demo at CES. Although not totallynew, its full specs have been revealed and its price re-vamped from $400 to a slightly spendier $530. The bi-amplified stereo rig features four individually powered drivers that aim to deliver full-range sound via two Tractrix-horned .75-inch tweeters (10 watts each), and dual 2.5-inch, 20 watt woofers. Although you'll probably be streaming music over WiFi from iDevices or iTunes, the unit's equipped with USB and 3.5mm inputs should you ever want to plug-in directly or juice-up your battery. There's an ultra-svelte grill-cloth magnetically attached to the front, playback and power buttons on the side, and it also comes with a remote. The system itself sits atop a tempered glass base, but if space is at premium it can be mounted to a wall. The G-17 is set to release this fall, but if your ears are already tingling you'll find more info in the source link below.

T-Mobile unveils flexible new Value plans: unlimited talk, text, and / or data for any device

By Michael Gorman  posted Jul 20th 2011 6:47AM

We'll give T-Mobile credit, it isn't afraid to shake things up to try to gain ground on Big Red and Ma Bell in the cellular arms race. Mere months after rolling out new prepaid options for its customers, T-Mo is bringing Value plans to the people. These new plans come in various configurations, but all are available with any of the carrier's phones, tablets, or broadband accessories. In exchange for a two year commitment, you get 2, 5, or 10GB of high speed data, with limitless websurfing at slower speeds. Full pricing hasn't been announced, but we do know you'll be able to get two lines with unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data for $100, while the data alone will run $20 per month. Sound good? Well, the plans go live next Monday, so you've got plenty of time to read up on your options in the PR after the break.

Charlie Hunter - High Pockets and a Fanny Pack

Alienware M14x review roundup: a lovely blend of poise and power

By Darren Murph  posted Jul 16th 2011 9:02PM

Know what happens when you split the difference between an M18x and an M11x? The M14x, of course! We managed a bit of hands-on time with Alienware's middleman back in April, and now the web at large has had a chance to spit their opinions on it. By and large, critics were overwhelmingly pleased with performance, and hardly anyone could find too many griping points. Hot Hardware dished out an Editor's Choice badge, noting that the 14-incher exhibited a near-perfect blend of portability and power -- it's not often that a machine capable of running today's latest 3D titles can also get four hours of battery life. Having Optimus onboard is certainly a boon, but just about everyone also suggested springing for an SSD to really round things out. Folks also seemed to love the apparent lack of bloatware, and while the $2,000+ price tag was certainly steep, the top-tier numbers it delivered definitely helped soften the blow. The long and short of it? Folks looking for a nice balance of mobility and raw horsepower need look no further, but you can humor yourself anyway by digging into the links below.

Pioneer's SE-CL331 earbuds are just begging to be washed

By Darren Murph posted Jul 9th 2011 6:49AM

The first-ever earbuds designed to be drenched they aren't, but they just might be one of the first to actually be "washable." Sure enough, Pioneer's new SE-CL331 headphones ($59.99) -- available in white, pink and bright blue hues -- can reportedly be "soaked and washed after every sports session without damaging sensitive electronic equipment." Furthermore, they boast a newfangled ear holder that keeps 'em in place while your body's in motion, and there's a two-layer mesh and rubber ring that'll prevent water from seeping in while submerged up to one meter of goop. The built-in 9mm drivers probably won't live up to Westone standards, but then again, you can't exactly take your ES5s into the kiddie pool.

Acer AC100 Server – Just add Office 365, mix, and serve. (Great for Windows Home Server too.)

AC100

The Acer AC100 delivers essential server-class features and expandability along with unique Acer utilities¹ and Microsoft^® Small Business Server 2011 Essentials¹ to ensure the success of startup and small-size businesses. The ultra-micro tower server is ENERGY STAR^® certified and features an 80 PLUS^® efficient power supply that saves space and energy while keeping your employees and office highly productive.
Coming Soon

• Benefits

Smart investment for growing businesses

A brand-new Intel^® architecture drives the AC100 ultra-micro tower server with an industry-leading 32 nm processor, greater memory capacity, and higher performance to handle large workloads more efficiently. A PCI Express^® x8 expansion slot and multiple USB/eSATA ports are available for external expansion. Four hot-swappable hard disk drives for up to 6 TB of data storage satisfy the demands of growing businesses.

Server-class reliability and security

The AC100 is packed with dependable server-class hardware: an integrated Gigabit Ethernet controller transmits data quickly and safely; ECC memory protection enhances data integrity and reliability; pre-configured RAID 0, 1, 5 models¹ ensure data security; and automatic backup protects valuable data and enables secure remote access from the web.

Friendly UI and add-ins optimize office productivity

Acer Dashboard¹ and Acer ITSmart¹ include powerful utilities to ease office IT operations and increase employee productivity: Sever Health Monitoring, Client PC Power Saving, Printer Sharing and Fax Notification, Intel^® vPro™ Management²

Cost-effective expandability, green computing

The AC100 is designed with a tool-less micro tower chassis that allows easy component access, reducing maintenance and service costs. What's more, this tower server is ENERGY STAR^® certified and equipped with an 80 PLUS^® power supply for maximum energy efficiency.

ViewSonic ViewPad 7x rebranded as Camangi Mangrove 7, lands in Japan mid-August -- Engadget

 

By Christopher Trout posted Jul 6th 2011 4:39PM

One of the front-runners for the title of the world's first 7-inch Honeycomb tablet finally has a release date, and a prospective price, but it might not make it out of the gate as the ViewSonic ViewPad 7x. No, this Tegra 2-powered slate has been rebranded as the Camangi Mangrove 7 for a mid-August Japanese release, sporting an estimated retail price of 49,800 yen (about $615). Aside form the name, not much is new here, but you can expect 8GB of storage and 1GB of DDR2 RAM. Here's hoping the Mangrove 7 outperforms Camangi's last 7-inch affair. Unfortunately, there's still no word on when the ViewPad 7x will make its American debut, or how much it will cost when it arrives, but we'll keep you posted.

ViewSonic ViewPad 7x rebranded as Camangi Mangrove 7, lands in Japan mid-August -- Engadget