Archive for category: Tablets

I’m a sucker for a good portable battery!

EagleTech had a number of their new Neptor batteries on display.  First of all, I just dig it when we see accessories like this designed with some kind of style. Rounded contoured edges paired with vibrant attractive colors? Sign me up.

Also, it’s a decent capacity in a small form factor; the 5600mAh cell fits in the hand comfortably, and should be easy to carry in a bag or purse. Dual USB ports can charge two devices. One port outputs 2 amps to charge tablets.

EagleTech claims the unit should be good for more than 500 charge cycles. Expect a street price around $50.

Google waged a veritable blitzkrieg on the internet today during its first day I/O keynote presentation. So much content was released, so many products affected, it’s a little difficult to wrap our minds around. The display was impressive, and it resulted in an almost 30 point ramp in Google’s stock price.

We wanted to take a little time to digest the keynote and subsequent announcements; and rather than pack this feed full of individual posts and stories about each product and app update, we figured we’d tackle the whole kit and kaboodle in one post.

So. Let’s get to it.

In case you hadn’t heard, ABC has just revealed its latest Watch ABC app as an “open preview” for New York and Philadelphia residents. Available on the web, Kindle and iOS, it offers video-on-demand playback of the network’s shows, but also includes live network TV streaming. More cities are on the horizon, all of which is detailed in the PR after the jump.

Square just announced a new product called the Square Stand – the hardware accessory that turns your iPad into the ultimate point of sales terminal. The device currently supports the iPad 2 or 3, with Lightning connector support coming later this year. Built in is a credit card reader, and the unit accepts cash, plastic and Square Wallet payments. The new stand is available for pre-order now and will set you back $299. The device is set to ship July 8th.

With Google I/O now in full swing, we can barely keep track of every announcement being made; in fact, as soon as we put the proverbial pen to paper with one piece of news, the software giant hits us with something else–making it incredibly hard to keep up! First, Google finally unveiled its new Music subscription service called All-Access for $9.99 per month (take that, iTunes!); next, we found that Google Play was getting some upgrades in the gaming department in the form of real-time online multiplayer, cloud saves, achievements and leaderboards–but the news doesn’t stop there…

Next, we learned that Google Maps was getting some upgrades on both the front and  back-end, with UI improvements as well as enhanced tools for developers. Not to be left out, Google Now will get real-time transit info, reminder cards and music recommendations, and Google+ gets a new look–as well as mobile apps–to keep those chats going wherever you are. Whew…and that’s just scratching the service! Make sure you check back with us tomorrow morning as our own Juan Carlos Bagnell goes into more detail on everything Google. We’d also like to wish Juan a speedy recovery from the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome he’s sure to suffer from later tonight…

If you have yet to find the perfect Keyboard case for your iPad, you may want to spend some time investigating the Digital Treasures Props Powered and Keyboard case for the iPad 4, 3 or iPad 2. The case features not only a Bluetooth keyboard but also an integrated 800mAh battery giving you juice on the go, as well as multiple viewing angles. The new case retails for $109.95, and you can check the full release after the jump.

Hopefully the form-factor of the iPad mini doesn’t change much anytime soon, allowing you to equip yours with an X-Doria collection of iPad Mini cases–now available at Target and Target.com. Featuring different designs (three exclusive to Target) as well as multiple styles, X-Doria hopes to have something for every taste; check the styles out after the jump, and grab yours at Target today for $39.99.

During a grand reveal of the next great Creative Cloud software suite, Adobe unwrapped some new devices designed to make creating on a tablet a lot easier. Project Mighty is a cloud-connected stylus that pulls tools from your Creative Cloud account, offers pressure sensitivity, and the ability to carry assets from the cloud to other devices; it also features Bluetooth technology, built-in memory and is rechargeable. Second is Project Napoleon – another tablet-drawing tool which projects lines onto your tablet, allowing you to easily make straight lines, curves and other shapes with ease – think of it as a digital ruler of sorts.

Stay tuned, as we’ll have more info and videos as Adobe posts them…

Sometimes its fun to pay attention to patents–even if they never see the light of day; and this new patent from Apple looks rather attractive and worth a mention. Through both a graphical user interface and automatically, Apple intends on notifying people trying to contact you of the best way to reach you: If you’re in a meeting, send an email or text; driving, do the same. The patent means that devices will be able to dynamically know and learn the best methods to contact you in the appropriate circumstances. Very cool tech that I’d love to see appear sooner than later.

I was shocked by the audio quality of the HTC One, and now it’s time to test some tablets!

Apologies in advance, as I don’t have an iPad Mini in-house to run this test; so we had to use the full-sized iPad as the Apple “control.”

That said, Samsung is really pushing the stereo speakers on the Galaxy Note 8.0, so let’s take a listen!