Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware Asus is about to join the U.S. tablet market frenzy this month as the arrival of its Eee Pad Transformer has been confirmed for release this month. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer is an exciting new tablet because of several reasons - it will be priced relatively cheap, it can double up as a traditional notebook or netbook by way of an optional keyboard dock, and of course it is from Asus, one of the major players in the netbook market before tablet devices such as the iPad and other Android tablets started to eclipse its popularity. So, the question now is - will the Asus Eee Pad Transformer gather enough interests to bring back Asus into the mobile game? Can, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer compete with the likes of the iPad 2, BlackBerry PlayBook, Motorola XOOM, HTC Flyer among other Android tablets? Based on specs and price, it seems that Asus won’t really have a hard time joining the tablet market. At its price point of $399, it’s $100 cheaper than the iPad 2 and most Android tablets available right now. Specs-wise, the Eee Pad Transformer has some powerful stuff to offer including - a 10.1-inch screen display, NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 16GB of storage, and up to 16 hours battery life. The Eee Pad Transformer can also be used with an optional keyboard dock which will cost you additional $150. It will be interesting to see how the industry will take the arrival of the Eee Pad Transformer. That we will find out this month, if Asus push through in releasing the Eee Pad Transformer. via [Notebooks.com] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware  Archos is currently testing out a new Android model of its Archos 7c Home Tablet. This updated model will be loaded with a more powerful 1.2GHz Rockchip 2918 ARM Cortex-A8 processor. It will also feature a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display and will be running on Android 2.3. Take note, that’s still the latest version of the Android OS meant specifically for mobile phones. This makes me wonder, why it won’t be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, considering that the device is supposedly more powerful than its predecessor. Another issue, that you might find with this Archos tablet as in the case of others who took the plunge and got the previous models - is the lack of support for the Android Market app. So, your chances of getting some nice apps from the Android Market is by way of a hacked version. Anyway, if you don’t mind these minor setbacks, you’ll have to wait until this summer to get the new Archos 7c tablet. Expect a price point of a little more than $200. via [Liliputing] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones The Verizon Wireless smartphone receiving all of the buzz as of late is the Samsung DROID Charge. Just yesterday, Walmart posted a product page for the DROID Charge without revealing pricing or launch information, much to the dismay of Android enthusiasts. However, today, some Walmart stores are putting up displays with pricing information for the DROID Charge. Unfortunately, the leaked pricing states that it will cost $298.88 on a two year contract, and even though it is a 4G LTE capable device, still seems like too much. Even though it has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Display, 1GHz processor, 8MP rear facing camera, 1.3MP front facing camera, and Android 2.2, I don’t think a near $300 price tag justifies its high-end specs. As Droid-Life points out, if Samsung decides to announce a dual-core processor within the DROID Charge last minute, then perhaps the high price tag is justified. Hopefully Walmart is wrong and the DROID Charge launches for a slightly lower price such as $199 or $249. Either way, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any further pricing or launch developments. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware To our friends in the UK waiting for a nice, little tablet bearing the Dell markings, your wait is finally over. Dell UK has started offering the Dell Streak 7, a 7-inch Android 2.2 Froyo running tablet for a nice price of £299. Just to differentiate this Dell Streak 7 from the one released in the U.S. through T-Mobile, it’s only Wi-Fi only. Hence, Dell is directly selling the said device. At any rate, the absence of 3G module should not discourage you from getting the Dell Streak 7 as it has all the goodness of the 3G version. These include - a vibrant 7-inch multi-touch display with full Adobe Flash 10.1 support, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 5MP regular camera with auto focus, NVIDIA® Tegra 2 mobile processor, 16G of internal storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and built-in GPS which is practically useless unless your going to tether device with your Android phone. For its price point, the Dell Streak 7 seems like a pretty good deal. Any takers? via [Dell UK] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Video, HDTV, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers  Best Buy outlined its plans to grow its business today. Best Buy will attempt to leverage online sales, accessories and services moving forward. Best Buy will also put more resources behind Best Buy Mobile within the next five years.
Best Buy will have 600-800 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores in the United States by 2016. As the popularity in smartphones and tablets increase, Best Buy Mobile has a great opportunity to take a decent share of the market. Best Buy is a highly recognizable name in the retail space, and stores that contain employees who focus solely on mobile devices could seriously drive sales. Best Buy also has an advantage with its Walk Out Working program that ensures new smartphones are set up properly before customers leave the store. Best Buy Mobile also does away with mail-in rebates, which can be annoying and confusing to customers. In the online space, Best Buy looks to grow its business from $2 billion to $4 billion within three to five years. During Best Buy Analyst Day 2011 earlier today, the company discussed ways to improve its business in the back half of 2011. Best Buy will have a dedicated section for tablets and will place an emphasis on the used gaming business. Best Buy will have more help on the floor to push used games and pre-orders. Best Buy does not expect to have a “significant rebound” in television sales. Based on last year’s performance of televisions, Best Buy has made modest expectations for this year. Via [Best Buy] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Headphones, Portable Audio, Features, Originals  Welcome back to part 3 of Gadgetell’s “Can you spot the fake?” We’ve been looking at counterfeits: the problem and an evaluation of both real and fake Beats by Dre Tour earphones. Today, we’re going to get up close with Monster, the manufacturer behind the Beats by Dre. We’ll also reveal which earphones were real and which were the fakes.
Monster sees a problem Monster is a 32 year old company that focuses on high quality products. In 2008 they jumped into the headphone market and have found tremendous success. Several artists, such as Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber have their own personalized Beats stylized earphones on the market. The company has also teamed up with American Idol to showcase the brand. In late 2008, Monster began to notice a counterfeit problem. By early 2009, Monster recognized the intrusion of fake products as a big issue. The company set out to do something about it. Brand protection experts - growth industry? Monster created a team of brand protection experts. They currently have 25 people dedicated to dealing with issues brought about by counterfeits. These folks monitor web sites - every day combing through social media, online videos, webstores and business-to-business sites. So far, Monster has issued over 200,000 take down requests on auctions. They’ve shut down over 800 websites. They repeatedly ask Google to take down paid adwords. Monster is working with Visa and Paypal to work the problem from the backend. No matter how hard Monster works or how many websites they take down, today’s web structure makes it tough to stop it all. Phishing sites, ghost sites, credit cards run in China all combine to present a daunting task. How much do you spend fighting ghosts? What is the return on the brand name? Monster didn’t put numbers on these questions, but I am not sure anyone has the answer.
 Take it to the people Another big part of what Monster is doing is consumer awareness. The company solicits feedback from consumers on counterfeit products and I am told, the VP of the company reads them personally. The Monster team assists consumers in product verification, provides help in contacting law enforcement, and even provides emotional support (people tend to get upset when they realize they’ve been duped by clever counterfeiters). The amount of calls the company recieves regarding counterfeits has gone up dramatically over the past few years. Late last year, Monster created a counterfeit awareness center, a branch off their corporate website. On the left hand side of Beats by Dre product pages is a Counterfeit Warning tab. This tab unfolds to list sites that Monster has blacklisted for selling fake product. The company provides a list of authorized dealers to assist consumers in finding authentic, quality product. Also in that tab is a link to the Counterfeit Awareness Center. “These counterfeit products are not held to the same exacting safety standards held by Monster, and may be unsafe and present a danger to you and your family. They may contain harmful amounts of lead, cadmium and other harmful substances. Plus they may not be fire-rated for in-wall use and may not meet the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standards.”
Besides the safety information, Monster provides a buying guide, tips and images on how to spot fakes, more reasons to buy from an authorized dealer, and links on reporting or to contact Monster. It’s a strong effort and is updated often. The trouble in telling consumers what to look for in fake products is the info provides a roadmap to counterfeiters on what to fix. Reveal! So which was fake? If you caught yesterday’s images, you’ll find the fake on the right in each case. That’s the smaller box with the higher contrast image of Dre, the straight earphone jack. It’s tough to tell from photos. In hand, it’s a different matter. While the box looked very, very similar, the authentic box used much higher grade cardboard and materials; it was much heftier and felt way more high quality. The earphones themselves had a similar experience. The cord of the real felt thicker, sturdier and better made than the knock-off. The screen printing was sloppier on the earbuds on the fakes. The case for the earphones, the nice soft plastic pucks, were the reverse. I thought the fake one looked better. Go figure. So did you get it right? Let us know in the comments. Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Web Apps, Web Browsers, Websites, Google 
Don’t get us wrong, it’s great the folks at Gmail are looking to help us out. But when your free email box starts suggesting you might have forgotten someone off your reply, it seems a bit creepy. Gmail has moved recipient suggestions out of the labs and into the full product today. We've received quite a bit of positive feedback from people who avoided some embarrassing situations thanks to these features. And today, we're excited to graduate them from Gmail Labs and start turning them on for everyone (they should start working in all Gmail accounts over the next day or so). Once that happens, as you type in your recipients, Gmail will automatically make suggestions based on the groups of people you email most often. When you see a suggestion to add a person you've forgotten, all you have to do is click on their name to add them.
The Gmail team is looking to help users with contacts with similar names and groups of friends, essentially Gmail is looking at your patterns in mail. This sounds great right? What’s the creepy part? For us, it reinforces the fact that Gmail is going through your mail. They say it’s just to mine for relevant keywords and helpful things, like this recipient suggestion but it still feels weird. What’s your call, is this helpful or just creepy? Read:[Gmail Blog] via [The Next Web] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Gaming, Mobile, Portable We knew the day was coming, the day when Angry Birds were going to fly on over to Windows Phone 7—and well, it looks like that day will soon be upon us. The details come by way of Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore who confirmed during the All Things D conference that Angry Birds would arrive for Windows Phone users on May 25th. So there you have it, those toting a Windows Phone 7 handset now have a little over a month to wait. But that month long wait may be a good time to get things done, because once Angry Birds arrives, well, lets just say that we know how addictive and distracting it can be. Via [All Things D] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Google According to Hitwise reports, Bing currently accounts for roughly a third of the search engine market. Surprised? Raking in 30.01% of all US searches, Bing has made some significant strides from last month’s overall share of 28.48%. Google on the other hand has fallen back a few steps from 66.69% market share to 64.42%. Here’s what the numbers look like for Bing and Yahoo on an individual level: Bing jumped from 13.49% to 14.32% while Yahoo rose from 14.99% to 15.69% According to the folks over at The Next Web, Microsoft has been putting a lot of time, effort and money behind the marketing campaigns for Bing. Could this possibly be the reason for the recent increase in non-Google searches? Is there a specific feature that has Google users jumping ship or are these number fluctuations part of a natural ebb and flow in usage? In addition, how much of Bing’s increase in market share can be attributed to those darn Windows Phone 7 devices? Regardless, Google is going to have to quickly figure out a way to stop Bing before the loveable Microsoft family cuts into more of their pie. So which search engine(s) do you use? Is there a reason behind your preference? Let us know what you think in the comments section. Read [TheNextWeb] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Apple, Communications, Smartphones  For some reason, Apple has not provided a weather application that can show you the temperature in real-time on the home screen. The stock weather application always says it’s 73 degrees no matter what time of year it is. I personally never use that application and I usually go for the official Weather Channel app. However, Fahrenheit is a relatively new weather app that tells you what the temperature is on the app’s icon.
Fahrenheit is $0.99 in the app store for any iOS device. It pushes the temperature to your device just like other apps push notifications. As the name suggests, Fahrenheit can only show temperatures in Fahrenheit. If you want Celsius temperatures, you’ll have to download Celsius which is also $0.99. In addition to real-time temperatures, Fahrenheit also opens up to show you the 10-day forecast, precipitation, humidity, UV index and plenty of other weather related goodies. There’s also a $0.99 upgrade within the app that contains wind speed maps, satellite maps and a rain radar. So far, reception for Fahrenheit has been mostly positive. The only real complaint users are having is with the app’s loading time when it’s opened. That’s something that I’d imagine could be cleared up in an update. Purchase [Fahrenheit in iTunes] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Web  Love them or hate them, Comcast is a powerful force in the internet, television and phone space. Today the company announced that its Extreme 105 service has reached over 40 million households across the country. The areas capable of this service are typical large urban cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Miami and others. Extreme 105 is the fastest residential broadband service Comcast offers. Customers can achieve download speeds of 105Mbps and upload speeds up to 10Mbps.
Comcast sells the Extreme 105 service for $105 a month for the first year when it’s included in Comcast’s Triple Play bundle. The $105 also pays for a service that Comcast says “turns an entire house into its own WiFi hotspot.” Extreme 105 can be purchased without the bundle, but chances are it’ll be more expensive this way. Comcast says 105Mbps is fast enough to download a high definition movie in five minutes. What Comcast doesn’t tell us is how much Extreme 105 with the Triple Play bundle will cost after 12 months. There’s also the matter of the 250GB a month cap that Comcast has in place. It seems all that newfound speed will just help you reach (and exceed) that cap faster than before. Via [Comcast Blog] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Bad news everyone. It seems T-Mobile’s Even More Plus Truly Unlimited plan for $59.99 isn’t going to happen. Despite being published in a press release, T-Mobile has decided to cancel the plan. A document obtained by Tmo News said the following: The Even More Plus $59.99 Truly Unlimited Data, Talk + Text plan will not launch as previously communicated. The plan is appearing in some systems but should not be offered to customers. The plan will be removed from your systems overnight.
The $79.99 Even More Unlimited plan will still be offered. This means despite everything you read or heard about T-Mobile’s new contract-less plan is useless. The $79.99 plan can only be obtained on a 2-year contract for new and existing customers. For what it’s worth, $79.99 for unlimited everything is still a good deal by today’s standards. If you’re really keen on going the contract-less route, there’s always Boost Mobile. Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Laptops HP has just showered us with three of its new and powerful Elitebook 8560w, 8460w and the 8670w mobile computing machines which are all geared for powerful computing needs. According to HP, the three new Elitebooks combine innovative design with workstation-class technology that will surely spark more creativity to its target users. The machines also feature HP’s new industrial design which caters to mobile workstations highlighted by a radial-brushed gunmetal finish, backlit jewel logo and orange-colored accents. The HP EliteBook 8760w is the most powerful among the three new machines boasting of a 17.3-inch diagonal, HD screen, a choice between AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics, up to 4GB of video RAM, and the option to have 3 hard drives and RAID suport. The HP EliteBook 8560w sports a 15.6-inch diagonal HD screen display, AMD FirePro graphics with 1GB of video RAM or NVIDIA Quadro graphics for 2GB of video memory, and optional HP DreamColor display. Finally, the HP EliteBook 8460w features a 14-inch diagonal HD panel and AMD FirePro 1GB video memory graphics cards. All three EliteBooks are loaded with Intel Core i7 and i5 dual- and quad-core processors and support for up to 32GB of RAM. For storage, you’ll have several options including SMART SATA, Self Encrypting or Solid State Drives with up to RAID 5 capability. Plus you’ll also get variety of ports such as USB 3.0, eSATA, and USB 2.0. For battery component, the HP EliteBook 8760w and 8560w will have an 8-cell battery while the HP EliteBook 8460w will have either a 6- or 9-cell battery options. The HP EliteBook 8760w, 8560w and 8460w retail at $1,899, $1,349 and $1,299 respectively. Expected availability in the US is sometime in May. via [Business Wire] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers While we still do not have any of the finer details for the HP TouchPad tablet, you know, the release date and the pricing, it does appear as if HP has taken a small step towards that release date. The step came in the form of a coming soon style page on the HP website where they are asking you to trade a bit of personal information in exchange of knowing when the tablet will be available. Of course, you can also rest assured in knowing that you will hear the same information from us right here on Gadgetell, but either way. Me personally, I am excited and may actually shell out my hard earned money so I went ahead and gave HP my info. Via [HP] and [PreCentral] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile We obviously still need something a bit more official from Verizon, however the minimum advertised pricing (MAP) for the Droid X2 and the LG Revolution have been revealed. In short, the Droid X2 MAP is $199.99 and the LG Revolution MAP is $249.99. That said, while these prices should stick once Verizon makes the official announcement, things can still change due to instant and/or mail-in rebates. Bottom line, you should not see either of these handsets come available priced higher, but there is a slight chance they will be a bit lower. Or we can hope anyway. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Broadband Cards, Mobile  If you’re looking for wireless connectivity on the go, T-Mobile wants to set you up on its 4G network with no strings attached. The T-Mobile prepaid 4G Rocket Stick is now available for $59.99. It’s possible of obtaining download speeds up to 21Mbps and doesn’t require a contract. You’ll have to pay for data as you go along. T-Mobile has three prepaid mobile broadband plans available, but starting on April 17, T-Mobile will introduce new prepaid plans.
Here’s how T-Mobile’s current prepaid mobile broadband plans break down. - 7 Days = 100MB of data for $10
- 1 Month = 300MB of data for $30
- 1 Month = 1GB of data for $50
On April 17, T-Mobile will offer two different monthly plans. You can get 1GB of data for $30 or 3GB of data for $50. It’s definitely worth holding out for a few more days to get these prepaid deals. You can get more than double the data without spending extra. Also, in case you’re wondering, the Rocket 4G Stick is compatible with PC and Mac. Via [T-Mobile] Read [T-Mobile Twitter] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile It looks like today is a day off pre-orders, just a short while back we mentioned that the BlackBerry PlayBook was available with Radio Shack and now it looks like the Nexus S 4G has come available for pre-order with Best Buy. The Nexus S 4G is priced at $199.99 on a two-year agreement with Sprint. Otherwise, features of the Nexus S 4G include a 4 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display, 4G/3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, a 5 megapixel camera on the back, a VGA quality camera on the front and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Via [Best Buy] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones  Sprint joins T-Mobile and AT&T as major US carriers who support carrier billing within the Android Market. Carrier billing makes purchasing apps in the Android Market easier by eliminating the need to tie a credit or debit card to your Android Market account. Whenever you purchase an app, the cost will show up on your Sprint bill. This option may not be available for everyone yet, but it will be within the next few days.
There are no tricks to activate carrier billing. All you have to do is select the “Bill my Sprint account” option whenever you’re going to buy an app from the Android Market. You’ll be made aware of the total price of the app after tax is applied. If you accidently purchase something, you can receive a refund within 15 minutes of the mistaken transaction. If you have an account spending limit, purchases from the Android Market will go towards that limit. Google also provides support for in-app billing. It depends on the developer to update their apps with an in-app billing option. Read [Android Developers Blog] Also Read [Android Central] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers Good news for those here in the US who have been waiting for the release of the BlackBerry PlayBook—while it is not yet available for sale—you can go ahead and place a pre-order with Radio Shack as of today. The PlayBook tablet is priced at $499.99 and is noted as being released (as expected) on April 19th. With that, for your hard earned money you will be getting a 7 inch tablet running the BlackBerry Tablet OS powered by QNX technology with features to include a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and a rear facing 5 megapixel camera along with a front facing 3 megapixel camera. Via [Radio Shack] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones According to a leaked Verizon Wireless roadmap several days ago, the Samsung DROID Charge is expected to launch tomorrow, but as you can probably guess, it will definitely not launch tomorrow as Verizon has yet to announce the smartphone. Even though the roadmap launch date is wrong, there is a good chance it will launch sometime soon and most likely in April. The online Walmart website contains a product page for the Samsung DROID Charge, yet does not list any key features or pricing information. Hopefully Verizon Wireless decides to announce the next smartphone under the DROID label because it’s been a while since the last DROID smartphone; plus, who doesn’t like a new smartphone launch? Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray  Redbox has a special offer for Thursday (April 14, 2011) only. Redbox is cutting the price for renting a DVD or Blu-ray in half for the first night’s rental. DVDs are $0.50 and Blu-rays are $1. Of course, with an offer such as this, there are some fine print details you should be aware of.
To receive the offer, you must input the promotional code “Thursday” at a physical Redbox at checkout. You can only rent a single DVD or Blu-ray with this offer. The code will only work once with a single credit or debit card. This code also can’t be used when reserving movies online. You’ll have to make your choice at the Redbox. Then again, you can always go online and see what movies are available at your preferred location. Make sure you return the movie by 9pm the day or you’ll be charged an extra $1.50 for DVDs or $2 for a Blu-rays for every night thereafter. Via [Redbox] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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