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The Toshiba Libretto W100 is an innovative little computer which is either a dual screen tablet or a mini-laptop with a virtual keyboard instead of a physical one, depending on how you look at it. Toshiba plans to offer a limited number of the devices soon, but right now it’s only available in Japan — unless you’re willing to drop $1400 to order a unit from Conics, a retailer that specializes in exporting Asian computers to the West. The folks at Wow Pow managed to get their hands on a unit from Conics, with the Japanese operating system converted to English. The site has the first unboxing video for the Libretto W100 that I’ve seen. There are also a couple of video overviews of the device. You can check out all the videos after the break. As a quick refresher, the Toshiba Libretto W100 has two 7 inch capacitive touchscreen displays with resolutions of 1024 x 600 pixels. It has a 1.2GHz Intel Pentium U5400 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, and a 62GB solid state disk. The device supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi, WiMAX, and Bluetooth and has a webcam, USB port, microSD card slot, and comes with 2 or 4 hour batteries. It weighs just over 1.5 pounds. Probably one of the most interesting things Toshiba has done with this device is give it several different virtual keyboards, allowing you to hold it in two hands and type with your thumbs or place it on a tablet and treat it like a traditional laptop. You can see more about the virtual keyboards in my first look video. The list price is expected to be around $1100, but Conics charges a premium for exporting the tablet from Japan. There’s no word on when the Libretto W100 will officially launch in the US. Now on to the videos. thanks Aftermath! Read the rest of this entry » Source |
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Not happy using a 3G iPad with AT&T’s network? No problem. All you have to do is open up the iPad case, void your warranty, pull out the 3G modem, and replace it with the innards of a Verizon MiFi.
OK, this hack isn’t for anyone… or even very many people. But at least one dude managed to stuff a Verizon MiFi inside his iPad. The end result is a tablet that can not only connect to Verizon’s 3G network, but it can function as a portable WiFi hotspot, allowing you to share your 3G data connection with other devices.
He’s posted step by step instructions, which actually don’t look that difficult if you know your way around a soldering iron. One of the coolest features? He slapped a power switch in the SIM card slot which he can use to turn the MiFi on and off.
via Engadget
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 First the good news: AT&T has announced that iPad, iPhone, and other smartphone users will be able to tether their mobile to a laptop and share the 3G data connection.
Now the less good news: Tethering will cost you $20/month on top of a $25/month data plan, which brings the total to $45.
Now the bad news: Starting June 7, A&T will no longer offer unlimited data plans. That $25/month data plan I just mentioned? It has a 2GB data transfer cap each month.
AT&T is announcing a new pricing plan for mobile broadband. The DataPlus plan costs just $15 per month and provides you with 200MB of data transfer. The DataPro plan costs $25 and gives you up to 2GB of transfer. And the tethering, which is only available with the DataPro plan, costs $20.
What’s missing is an unlimited data plan, because AT&T won’t be offering that anymore. Existing customers will be able to hang onto their unlimited data plans for the iPhone or other smartphones if they don’t want to make the switch. But then you’re left without a tethering option. If you do choose to make the switch, AT&T promises to let you do so without a contract extension — which makes sense, since they’re kind of offering you less for more.
To be fair, 2GB of data really isn’t bad for a typical smartphone plan. AT&T suggests that 98% of users won’t be affected by the change, and that the 2GB plan would let you send and receive 10,000 emails without attachments, view 4,000 web pages, post 500 photos online, and watch 200 minutes of streaming video in a month. That said, I wouldn’t recommend tethering your phone to a laptop and watching high quality streaming video, which could run down your monthly allotment pretty quickly.
Update: This didn’t even occur to me at first, but when Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, one of the most exciting parts of the announcement was the news that customers would be able to sign up for a $30/month unlimited data plan, which is much cheaper than similar data plans for laptops. Since the iPad is designed as a media consumption device allowing users to watch streaming videos from ABC, Netflix, and other sites, I can see how it would be fairly easy to hit a 2GB limit pretty quickly on that particular device. A slashdot poster calls AT&T’s move a bait and switch, and it’s hard to say that’s wrong.
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Dell has finally spilled the beans on the US pricing for the company’s upcoming Dell Streak 5 inch Android tablet. It will cost $500.
That’s the same price as the WiFi-only Apple iPad. But to be fair, that’s the price of an unsubsidized Dell Streak, which still comes with a 3G modem. Those 3G modules typically sell for more than $100, so it’s not quite an oranges to oranges comparison, no matter how much some folks seem to think the price is idiotic.
It’s also worth pointing out that in the UK you can get a Dell Streak for free when you sign up for a data plan with wireless carrier O2. The unsubsidized version sells for ВЈ429 or about $525. In other words, don’t be surprised if Dell works out a deal with a US carrier to offer the Streak for a deep, deep discount on this side of the pond as well.
I’m just happy to find out that users will be able to buy the unsubsidized Dell Streak from Dell.com if they don’t want to sign up fro a service contract. The tablet should be available in the US in late July.
Incidentally, I paid $529 for an unsubsidized Google Nexus One earlier this year.
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 Have your eye on that shiny new Dell Streak 5 inch tablet with Google Android, but worried it’s going to cost too much? Well, it looks like you can pick one up for free in the UK from Carphone Warehouse… sort of.
The wireless retailer will give you a free Dell Streak if you sign up for a monthly data plan with 02. You’ll either need to shell out ВЈ25 per month for a data only plan or ВЈ35 per month for a voide and data contract. If you don’t pony up, you can still buy the Streak, but it’ll cost you ВЈ429.
Those numbers come to about $36 US for the monthly data plan, $51/month for unlimited voice and data, and $622 for the unsubsidized tablet. If you were planning on using the Streak with a data plan anyway, it seems like the smart thing to do is sign yourself up for a contract.
The Dell Streak is expected to go on sale on June 4th in the UK. The 5 inch tablet has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity. It will ship with Google Android 1.6, but an update should be available later this year allowing you to upgrade to Android 2.2 Froyo.
via Engadget
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 Verizon has begun offering the HP Mini 210 netbook with a 3G modem for $149.99 for customers that sign up for a 2 year service contract. The netbook has В 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 250GB hard drive. It runs Windows 7 Starter Edition and a 6 cell battery.
In addition to 3G wireless broadband, the netbook supports 802.11b/g WiFi and Ethernet connectivity.
Verizon also offers the HP Mini 311 if you’re looking for a computer with a larger (11.6 inch) screen and NVIDIA ION graphics.
via SlashGear
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Google is expected to introduce the next version of its Android operating system for smartphones as soon as next week. Code-named Froyo, we’ve already heard some pretty cool things about Android 2.2. It will support Adobe Flash Player 10.1, and it could be more than 400% faster at some tasks. But now there’s another reason to look forward to Froyo. Word on the street is that it will ship with built-in tethering capabilities that will let you share an internet connection with a laptop over a USB or WiFi connection.
In other words, it will turn your Android phone into a sort of MiFi.
Android phones won’t be the first to offer this feature. If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer with a Palm Pre, you can already use your phone as a wireless hot spot. But there are a lot more Android phones on the market than there are Palm Pres at the moment.
Of course, it remains to be seen how many of those phones will be upgraded to Android 2.2 — and if wireless carriers will offer the tethering feature free of charge or impose additional fees to use it. But it’s still a pretty nifty feature that could theoretically change the way we pay for mobile broadband access.
via TechCrunch
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The folks at Wireless Goodness spotted FCC listings for two new Sony netbooks last night. There’s not much information about the PCG-51311L or PCG-51411L at this point, but the drawing of the laptop’s underside makes it look an awful lot lke a netbook — or a notebook with an enormous battery.
Wireless Goodness also notes that the computers use the same power adapter as the Sony Vaio W series of netbooks.
So what sets these new models apart from the older version of the Vaio W? A 3G modem, that’s what. These little guys support CDMA and EVDO mobile broadband connections. They can also handle 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth.
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Apple doesn’t plan to actually start shipping the iPad internationally until May 28th. But starting today customers in Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia can pre-order the iPad.
While we already knew that the base price of the tablet was going to be £429 in the UK and €479 in other parts of Europe, Engadget has a good roundup of mobile broadband prices for customers who opt to go for the 3G enabled iPad.
Basically if you’re in Canada, you’ll end up paying about the same amount as US iPad customers, but there’s no unlimited service. Instead you get a 5GB data cap each month. In the UK, several carriers will be offering plans ranging from ВЈ10 per month to ВЈ25 per month, and German customers will pay up to €29.95 per month for a 5GB data cap.
Pricing in Japan is much more complicated, but basically you end up paying between $16 and $48 per month depending on your plan, with the best prices actually coming to customers who sign up for a long term unlimited data service contracts which costs $32 per month.
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 Samsung has added a new version of the Samsung N150 netbook to its web site. Like all other models, the netbook has a 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 6 cell battery, and Windows 7 Starter Edition. What’s new is that this model will also come with a 3G modem for use with Verizon’s wireless broadband network.
The laptop weighs 2.7 pounds and Samsung says it should get about 7 hours of battery life.
I don’t see any information about pricing yet, but the Samsung n150 joins the HP Mini 311, HP Mini 110, and Gateway LT mini-notebooks in Verizon’s lineup.
via Netbooked
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