Galaxy Tab 7.7 4G LTE headed to Verizon

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 was officially announced a couple of months ago, and while it's already available for pre-order - we still don't have an official date of when it will be arriving in the US yet. Now we still don't have a date but at least we know which carrier will be selling it when it is released. According to leaked photographs of Verizon's inventory listing it looks like Samsung's 7.7″ Android tablet will be sold by Big Red.

Just in case the DROID XYBOARD 8.2″ or 10.1″ are too large for you, I guess the 7.7″ might be the sweet spot for the tablet size you want. Oh, and it looks like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 will feature 4G LTE on Verizon as well (judging by the 4G label on the side of the list). No word on pricing or a release date, but Verizon would do well to take advantage of the holiday season - especially since the Galaxy Nexus is still nowhere to be seen. Who's waiting for the Galaxy Tab 7.7?

Kindle Fire 1-Click Could Be Crack for Kids

Planning on buying a Kindle Fire for your kids? It seems like a great idea, right? All the books, all the movies and all the Angry Birds action you'd find in an iPad, but at less than half the price. Who cares if the brats break it?

Not so fast. Like the regular Kindle before it, the Kindle Fire is equipped with 1-Click shopping. Once signed in, you can buy as much as you like without needing to enter your password.

But unlike the regular Kindle, the Fire's colorful touch-screen and huge library of apps, music and movies is rather tempting to a child's little brain and fingers. And these can all be bought by little Johnny with a simple tap.

The answer is to de-register the Kindle after every purchase, something that almost nobody will do. Aside from the inconvenience, de-registering will also disable any installed apps. And you thought Android was “open.”

Speaking to Reuters, Amazon said that more parental controls will be added in the future. That probably won't help on Christmas day this year year, with parents drunk and distracted, and the kids all hopped up on sugar, manically tapping the 1-Click button and plundering Pops' credit card account.

Amazon's Kindle Fire lets kids charge up a storm [Reuters via ★]

Motorola Xyboard 10.1 and 8.2 Unboxing

The Motorola Xyboard tablets have landed at the office: there is a 10.1″ version, and a 8.2″ one. Both share a similar “design language”, but the usage model can be slightly different because of their size. For these new tablets, Motorola has used quality materials, and a “tough” design that makes both tablets look solid, and almost rugged (almost). We bet that Motorola wanted to differentiate itself by going after one of the main criticism that other Android tablets, namely the Galaxy Tab series, receive often: they feel a bit “plastic”. Motorola takes the opposite route and even shows metallic screws in the back.

Lenovo LePad S2005 Mini Tablet Now in China

Even after releasing a 3.7-inch LePhone and 7-inch A1 tablet in China, Lenovo gears up to launch a 5-incher into the mix. The company has announced that the Lenovo LePad S2005 Android smartphone-tablet hybrid is now available across China.

The Gingerbread-powered LePad features a 5-inch LTPS touchscreen with 800 x 480 resolution, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. It also comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera, as well as a 1.3-megapixel shooter at the front for video chat.

The Lenovo LePad S2005 is available in Lenovo's online stores, as well as its Taobao store for 2699 Yuan (about US$415).

Coby announces five new Ice Cream Sandwich tablets for Q1 2012

Coby Electronics has made known its plans to be among the first few companies to release Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablets onto the market next year. Today the company announced not one - but five brand new tablets that will enter the market in the first quarter of 2012 and yes, all of them will be running Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The five tablets will all feature the same specs except for the display sizes. They will pack a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, 1GB of RAM, expandable memory of up to 32GB, WiFi, HDMI 1080p output, and a streamlined experience when it comes to core features (browsing the web, playing games, email, viewing media). The tablets will be available with 7″, 8″, 9″, 9.7″ and 10″ displays - with the 8″ and 9.7″ models featuring a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Other than the aforementioned details, nothing else is known at press time, but the tablets are expected to go on sale “at incredible prices” starting Q1 2012.

Motorola's Tablet Do-Over Is Ready for Pre-Order

Look familiar? The Xyboard tablet is not all that different from the Xoom. Photo courtesy of Motorola

“Those who cannot remember the past,” George Santayana wrote, “are condemned to repeat it.”

Motorola must have a very short memory. This much is apparent in the impending release of the Xyboard, Motorola's successor to the Xoom Android tablet. The Xyboard is up for pre-order on Verizon's web site, but by most measures, the device isn't all that different from its predecessor.

For one thing, it boasts markedly similar specs. The Xyboard comes with a slightly more powerful dual-core processor (1.2GHz instead of 1GHz), a 10.1-inch screen (same as the Xoom), and front and rear-facing cameras with the same resolutions as those in the previous tablet (5 and 1.3 megapixels, respectively). The only major difference that we can discern thus far is that the Xyboard will measure in slightly lighter and thinner than the Xoom.

And for those who want more than just Wi-Fi, built-in 4G LTE connectivity on Verizon's network is also an option. That's an update to the Xoom, which required sending the device back to the manufacturer for a 4G upgrade (sheesh).

But here's the ugly kicker: Motorola is selling the Xyboard at premium (read: pricey) rates, starting at $530 for the 16GB version, and stepping up gradually to $630 for 32GB and $730 for 64GB. And those prices are after signing a two-year Verizon Wireless contract.

To be fair, these prices represent a $100 price cut relative to comparable iPad 2 models, and the Xyboard includes 4G instead of 3G. So it would seem that you're getting a deal by choosing Android over iOS.

But as the past year has vividly shown us, customers don't want to buy Android tablets at premium prices. We've only seen non-iPad tablets fly off the shelves when hitting bargain bins, and even then the parent companies have been forced to sell premium components at a loss. That's no way to run a business.

So why not learn from previous mistakes? And further, why release another device — one that is, for all intents and purposes, identical to the previous flop of a tablet launch — when both quad-core processors and a new version of Android are on the horizon?

Maybe the company knows something we don't? Or maybe not.

The Xyboard goes on sale nationwide on Monday, with pre-orders currently available on Verizon's web site.

Motorola Xoom 3G finally gets updated to Android 3.2 in Europe

In November, Wi-Fi-only Motorola Xoom tablets sold in Europe got their update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb. And now it's finally the 3G-enabled version's turn. That's right, if you own a 3G-capable Xoom in Europe, the Android 3.2 update is on its way.

As for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich… expect to be waiting a few months for that, if it ever arrives.

The Android 3.2 update is now rolling out for T-Mobile branded tablets in Germany, and for those bought unlocked and SIM-free in Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

To download the update, head over to motorola.com/myxoom or motorola.com/update.

Toshiba's Excite Honeycomb tablet confirmed for Canadian launch in January

We've already heard a fair bit about Toshiba's forthcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet, but the company has only now finally confirmed a name — Excite, previously seen in a trademark filing — and a launch date (or month, anyway) for the tablet outside of Europe. You can look for it to roll out for an as yet unspecified price sometime in January — in Canada, at least. It will come in both 16GB and 32GB versions, each of which pack a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP 4430 processor, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, a 5 megapixel cam 'round back, and a microSD card slot and a micro HDMI port. Toshiba also boasts that it's the “world's thinnest, lightest tablet,” with it measuring just 7.7 mm thick and weighing in at 558 grams (or 1.23 pounds).

Nook Tablet shipments total 1 million units, report claims

Barnes & Noble's manufacturing partners have now shipped a total of 1 million new Nook Tablets according to a recent report. Unveiled early last month and released shortly thereafter, the new Nook Tablet features a 7-inch "Vivid View" display built by LG, 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, a dual-core 1GHz processor and the Android 2.3 operating system. According to sources at component suppliers speaking to DigiTimes, more than a million new Nook Tablets have been manufactured and shipped to Barnes & Noble so far. The report also claims Barnes & Noble had to increase orders recently due to strong sales; the bookseller initially ordered 800,000 Nook Tablets to be built through the end of 2011, DigiTimes noted.

Amazon Kindle Fire users complain about WiFi issues

Some strange issues have cropped up with Amazon's debut tablet, the Kindle Fire. According to reports online, and even Amazon's own Kindle forum - quite a number of users have complained about their tablets having trouble connecting to WiFi networks. Other people have complained about the tablet being able to connect to WiFi networks, but they weren't able to access the internet.

However it looks like all hope is not lost. Apparently quite a number of forum posters have reported that installing the latest Kindle Fire update (6.2) solves the issue. And if you're wondering how the tablets installed the update without any internet connectivity, you'll need to update it via the tablet's USB port and restart your router to get it to work (though some posters have mentioned that it didn't work for them).

In our review of the Kindle Fire, it didn't exhibit such issues so we can't say for sure what the cause of this WiFi issue is. Amazon has yet to publicly address the issue but let's hope they don't take too long to come up with a proper solution to the problem.