BlackBerry PlayBook available on Tradus.in

BlackBerry PlayBook is set to hit shelves in India later this month. Prior to its official arrival, you can now book the gadget at Tradus.in. The website provides an option of booking three versions of BlackBerry PlayBook with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of storage capacity.

The website has listed the BlackBerry PlayBook 16GB at a price tag of Rs27,990 inclusive of all taxes and promises delivery within 5-7 working days. The 32GB and 64GB PlayBooks are available at price of Rs 32,990 and Rs 37,990 respectively. Explaining more about the PlayBook offer, Rahul Sethi- President of the e-commerce division at Tradus.in explains, “Lately, Gadgets have been ruling the consumer space and we are glad to bridge the gap between our customers & their gizmo needs, by offering this sensation from Blackberry. With over 10 tablets already pre-booked on Tradus.in, we are very confident that the demand of this tablet will only continue to rise”.

The pricing of PlayBook puts the gadget in direct competition with Apple's iPad 2 that starts at a price point of Rs 29,500. Talking about the features, PlayBook has a 3MP 1080p HD front facing camera and 5 MP 1080p HD rear-facing camera. With a 7-inch LCD display, the Playbook is expected to attract prospective buyers looking for a compact solution compared to the iPad 2. Running on a 1GHz dual-core processor, the Playbook does boast of very capable hardware specification, what is still unclear though is whether the Blackberry Tablet OS will be able to compete with the Android Honeycomb and the Apple iOS 5.

Source : BlackBerry PlayBook available on Tradus.in

First Android Honeycomb 3.2 Tablet By Huawei

Manufacturer Huawei claims the title for the first Android Honeycomb 3.2 tablet, with its 7-inch MediaPad announced on Monday.The tablet runs version 3.2 of Google's Android operating system for tablets, which is essentially the same version found on Motorola's 10-inch tablet, but tailored to the 7-inch screen of the MediaPad.

The MediaPad is expected to ship in Q3 in the U.S., but Huaweit offers no availability date or pricing. The tablet runs on a 1.2GHz processor and Huawei claims you can squeeze out six hours of battery life, which is still around four hours less than market leader, Apple's iPad. Huawei's tablet will be more in line with HTC's Flyer tablet, which runs on non-tablet optimized version of Android.

The MediaPad is lighter than an iPad, coming in at 0.86 pounds, but it's slightly thicker at 0.4 inches, versus the iPad's 0.34-inches. Huawei's tablet also features dual cameras, one 5MP lens at the rear, which can record HD video (but no mention on whether it's 720p or 1080p), and a 1.3MP sensor on the front for self-portraits and video calls.

Along with 3G (HSPA+) and Wi-Fi support, the MediaPad can play 1080p videos and offers 8GB of internal storage, as well as microSD (up to 32GB) and HDMI slots. Huawei promises Flash Player 10.3 will be on board at launch, together with preloaded Facebook, Twitter, and Documents To Go apps, and the Let's Golf game.

When the MediaPad hits the U.S. shores this fall, the tablet will be likely sold though carriers at a subsidized price (but tied to a monthly data contract), as Engadget reports Huawei has no plans to release a Wi-Fi-only model of its Honeycomb 3.2 tablet.

Source : First Android Honeycomb 3.2 Tablet By Huawei

Dell Exec: iPad Too Costly, Closed, Complex

On a recent trip Down Under, a Dell executive made an over the top slam against Apple's iPad. Head of global marketing Andy Lark apparently went on a bit of a verbal Walkabout in an interview with PCWorld's sister publication CIO Australia, calling the iPad too expensive, closed and complex to keep up with Android.

"I couldn't be happier that Apple has created a market and built up enthusiasm but longer term, open, capable and affordable will win, not closed, high price and proprietary," Lark told reporter Lisa Banks.

Lark was particularly pointed in his criticism that the popular tablet doesn't work for enterprise users.

"Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex."

"Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex."

"We will do Windows 7 coupled with Android Honeycomb, and we're really excited. We think that giving people that choice is very important."

Dell recently unveiled a ten-inch Windows 7 tablet aimed at business users. Previously, the company failed to gain much traction with its five-inch Streak, a cross between a smartphone and tablet.

Lark's other central rip against the iPad was price.

"An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you'll be at $1500 or $1600; that's double of what you're paying," he said. "That's not feasible."

 

Apple should take some comfort in the fact that Lark's stinging criticism wasn't only directed at the iPad during his trip to Sydney. He also complained to his foursquare followers that Wi-Fi at the Sheraton where he stayed was overpriced... a critique he posted via his Apple iPhone.

Source : Dell Exec: iPad Too Costly, Closed, Complex

Google: Android 3.0 Needs More Work to Be Smartphone Ready

Google will not release the source code for Honeycomb, the version of its Android mobile OS optimized for tablets, until it completes work to make the software better for smartphones and other devices, the company said Thursday.

"Android 3.0, Honeycomb, was designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes and improves on Android favorites... While we're excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones," Google said in a statement.The company said it will publish the Honeycomb source code "as soon as it's ready" but did not say when that will be.

The comments reflect the fact that Google designed Honeycomb for tablets, devices with screens larger than the smartphones earlier versions of Android were designed for, and needs more time to tweak it for other devices, such as smartphones and TVs. Companies in the red-hot tablet sector had demanded a tablet version of Android, but now that it's arrived, open source advocates and smartphone lovers want Honeycomb, too. News stories and blog postings in the wake of the decision have pilloried Google for the delay.

"While large manufacturers already have the access to Honeycomb, small companies and developers will have to wait for some months before getting their hands on the code. It will surely [anger the] majority of open source enthusiasts," wrote Gaurav Shukla on his AndroidOS.in blog, which is not affiliated with Google. The success of Apple's iPad last year in grabbing global attention and becoming an instant best-seller sent companies scrambling to compete with rival offerings. Device makers around the world needed an OS for the job, and many talked to Google about designing a version of Android specifically for tablets, including Samsung Electronics, which put an earlier version of Android in its first Galaxy Tab it launched last year.

Google responded to the requests by designing Android 3.0 "from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets," according to the official Google Mobile Blog. Google's success with Android has made it a big player in mobile OSes, and its work with hardware makers around the world means it has to respond to their requests, not just move in its own direction. Indeed, market researcher Ovum predicts Android will emerge as the dominant smartphone platform in coming years, "dramatically outperforming Apple."

"The success of the Android platform is being driven by the sheer number of hardware vendors supporting it at both the high and low ends of the market," said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum, in a statement.

Source : Google: Android 3.0 Needs More Work to Be Smartphone Ready