Acer plans to unveil its Iconia Tab 700 running a Tegra 3 processor at January’s CES 2012 tradeshow. However, a Russian blog managed to get their hands on the Android powered tablet early. In addition to the powerful Tegra 3 processor, the Iconia Tab 700 is slimmer than the Iconia Tab 200, features a 10.1 inch touch screen display with a high resolution of 1920 x 1200, and it comes with SIM and micro-USB ports. It comes with a unique, dedicated button for screen rotation lock, which is probably a useful feature on a tablet so the screen doesn’t rotate by accident. Its ten hour battery life should be good enough to keep the tablet up and running allowing you to capture many photos with its 5MP rear facing camera. The Acer Iconia Tab 700 isn’t expected to launch until at least March 2012, but we should be able to get a good glimpse of the device at CES in just a couple of weeks. Via [Engadget]  
It is no secret that T-Mobile is going to launch a new 4G Windows Phone smartphone known as the Nokia Lumia 710. While T-Mobile has already gone ahead and announced a release date and pricing for the Lumia 710, it’s still nice to see T-Mobile post an official Coming Soon page. The page is simple, offering details on the Lumia 710′s features and specs while providing the viewer with a few images of the sleek smartphone. If you head over to the splash/teaser page for the Nokia Lumia 710, you will see that T-Mobile expects the Windows Phone 7.5 device to launch on January 11, 2012 for $49.99 on contract. To recap the specs of the Lumia 710, it features a 3.7 inch touch screen display, 1.4GHz processor, Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), 5MP rear facing camera, 8GB internal memory, and 4G connectivity. Via [T-Mobile]  
It looks like Lenovo has revealed and begun teasing their latest netbook. Or as they seem to prefer to call it, a “mini notebook.” But regardless of what you prefer in terms of name, it looks like the IdeaPad S110 with Cedar Trail has been revealed and some online retailers already have the IdeaPad S110 listed. Of course, those are only coming soon style listings at the moment. Anyway, it looks like the netbook is going to be selling for a little more than $300 and in terms of features — those include a 10.1 inch display, Intel Atom N2600 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter. Otherwise, the S110 weighs in at 1.15kg, is 16mm thick and has other goodies such as a 98-percent full-sized keyboard along with a 2 megapixel webcam, USB 3.0, HDMI and Wi-Fi. In addition the S110 will also have an option for built-in 3G connectivity. And lastly, once available the Lenovo IdeaPad S110 will be available in a variety colors including black, white, red and blue. Via [YouTube] and [New Technik] and [The Verge]  
We have talked about Spotify on a fairly regular basis this past year, which of course came as a result of the much hyped US launch as well as other goodies such as how they launched their own app platform. And well, it looks like Spotify is getting at least one more mention here on Gadgetell before the year comes to an end. This latest mention is not coming as a result of a new announcement or anything like that. Instead, it is a bit on the lighter side — a look back, a 2011 year in review. Basically, if you are curious as to what others have been listening to on Spotify then you are in luck. The year in review offers a look at the top 100 tracks by country. Of which they break down by Finland, France, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, Spain and USA. In addition, the year in review also offers a look at the best-of according to the folks at Spotify as well as a look back at the music that was released over the past year. And nicely done, that look back at the new releases is broken down by month. Via [Spotify]  
After a bit of a leaked beginning, it looks like Facebook Messenger for Windows has officially come available for download. But that being said, Facebook still notes that app as being both new and a “trial application.” That aside though, Facebook Messenger for Windows brings the following features; - Chat and message with your friends on Facebook
- See the latest updates from your friends in ticker
- Get quick notifications about what's going on
Otherwise, it looks like the Facebook Messenger app requires Windows 7 for use. With that, those interested in checking this out a bit further can hit the ‘via’ link below. Via [Facebook] 
 
Verizon launched the Droid Xyboard tablets earlier in December and it looks like they have already received their first price cut. The Xyboard tablet, which is available in an 8.2 inch and a 10.1 inch variety is now $50 less expensive as compared to before. Of course, some will argue that even with this price drop the tablets are still a bit on the pricey side. As to that, you will have to be the judge, however we can tell you that the two-year agreement pricing for the Droid Xyboard tablets now breaks down as follows; DROID XYBOARD 8.2 - 16GB – $379.99 (was $429.99)
- 32GB – $479.99 (was $529.99)
DROID XYBOARD 10.1 - 16GB – $479.99 (was $529.99)
- 32GB – $579.99 (was $629.99)
- 64GB – $679.99 (was $729.99)
Otherwise, the off-contract pricing remains the same as it was at launch. Via [Verizon Wireless] and [The Verge]  
US Cellular announced last week that they were planning to launch the Huawei Ascend II smartphone, and well, it looks like the carrier has since made good on that promise. In short, the Huawei Ascend II is now available by way of the US Cellular website. For those looking for in-store availability, that is not expected to arrive until sometime in “early January.” Getting back to the online availability though, US Cellular has the Ascend II for free on a two-year agreement. To clarify that price, from now until January 2nd, the handset will be completely free (thanks to an instant rebate) and after the 2nd the handset will remain free, but will be free after a $100 mail-in rebate. In other words, if you were considering picking up a US Cellular branded Huawei Ascend II — sometime before January 2nd may be the best time. That all being said, the Ascend II brings specs to include Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 3.5 inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen, 600MHz processor, 1400 mAh battery and a 5 megapixel camera. And lastly, the handset is shipping with a 2GB microSD card. Via [US Cellular]  
According to recent rumors, Microsoft is finally playing to it’s strengths to help give Windows Phone an added boost. The Redmond giant is said to be developing games that would be exclusive to its Windows Phone platform. The rumors comes from WMPoweruser, and is one that’s so obvious that Microsoft should have been doing it since the start. The games in question would theoretically be so great that users would switch to Windows Phone just to play them. Maybe it could mean the Xbox 360′s most popular series will soon see portable games on Windows Phone. We can only hope for a new Halo, Alan Wake, or Gears of War on the platform, maybe even a real Fable game or Banjo Kazooie. Alongside the games Microsoft is still trying to get the best iOS apps over to Windows Phone. If Microsoft can pull of both of those strategies it could put a dent in the market. Maybe, just maybe this could mean we’ll see Microsoft acknowledge Windows Phone at E3 next year, unless the games are ready before then. Read [WMPoweruser]  
Jawbone has started to roll out refunds to unsatisfied Up users. If you asked for the refund, you should already have, or will will son be receiving an email regarding the rebate. As Jawbone stated before, the “No Questions Asked Guarantee” lets users keep their Jawbone Up and stil receive the refund. If you have an Up and haven’t yet asked for the refund, you can still do so by filling out the form at this link. For everyone else who doesn’t have an Up, just move along until Jawbone comes out with a version that doesn’t brick as often as the first one. Hopefully that version isn’t too far off. Read [Engadget]  More Recent Articles | |
