Anyone in the mood for an Android-based digital camera or camcorder? We’ve already seen the Altek Leo push the boundaries of what can be expected from a mobile phone camera, and Polaroid seems to be ditching the phone part in favor of a dedicated digital camera powered by Android. Could Samsung being doing the same?

Sammy Hub notes that Samsung has filed for a trademark for the “Samsung Galaxy Camera” name. The USPTO filing reveals that the Galaxy Camera application is for the “Camera and camcorders” section, not for mobile phones. And since Samsung has made “Galaxy” branding so ingrained in its Android products, there’s a very good chance that we may be looking at an Android-powered camera released later this year.

The same benefits of an Android camera I mentioned in my Polaroid hands-on apply here as well – apps, apps, and more apps. Inclusion of the Android Market could enable things like automatic syncing with Dropbox, easier shares to Twitter, immediate uploads to YouTube, on-device editing with Aviary, and more. And based on the Wi-Fi direct demo seen at CES, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a way to hook into a smartphone as well.

The USPTO filing date was on January 31. Maybe this might be one of the products Samsung shows off at Mobile World Congress or perhaps its just a new device that pops up in a press release in a couple of months. I’d put my money on the Galaxy Camera being ready for its close-up sooner than later.

[USPTO] via Sammy Hub, Phandroid

If about a year ago the tablet market was all about quality, performance and design, it now seems that affordability has become the most important feature to look for in a slate. If you are one of these budget-crazed technology enthusiasts, this latest news received from Russia should make you go over the moon with excitement.

According to Mobile-Review.com, a new budget Android tablet has been released in Russia, called teXet TM-7025. Despite its pretty horrible name, which is almost impossible to remember, this 7-inch slate looks pretty good on paper.

Sure, it only runs Android 2.3.4 for the time being, but it should be updated to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich soon enough and, get this, it supports 3D video playback. Powered by a 1 GHz Boxchip A10 Cortex A8 processor and featuring 512 MB of RAM, the 7-incher looks pretty elegant and stylish, as far as I can tell from the first official photos, and only weighs 370 grams (13 ounces).

The 7-inch capacitive TFT LCD display sported by the teXet TM-7025 features a pretty modest 800 x 480 pixels resolution, but the tablet makes up for what might be a poor screen with the ports and connectivity options.

You therefore get (or rather I should say you, Russians, therefore get) WiFi connectivity, a miniUSB port, a microSD card slot, but also a miniHDMI connector, which is pretty darn good for such a cheap gagdet. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you how much it costs.

Well, in Russia it will be made available for 5,999 rubles, which would convert to around 200 bucks right now. That’s a pretty low price right there, but if we are to take into consideration the usual differences between the European and the US market, the slate might go for even less when and if it will come to America.

Other features include a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 4 GB of internal storage space, an accelerometer and a 3100 mAh Li-Ion battery with a yet to be specified autonomy. There’s also the possibility of connecting the slate to a 500 GB hard drive without using extra power.

I don’t know about you, but I for one would really love to see a, say, $150 Android 4.0 tablet with 3D video playback support around here, even though it would come from an unknown manufacturer.

Via Tablet-News.com

The Toshiba AT200 tablet, dubbed as the world’s thinnest 10-inch slate, was officially revealed way back in September 2011, but for some reason it starts hitting stores just now. The AT200 has been made available in the UK today, but unfortunately we still have no idea when (and if) it will come in the US as well.

Available for order online at carphonewarehouse.com, the Toshiba AT200, also known as the Toshiba Excite X10 or the Regza AT700, starts at £399 (the 16 GB version) and costs goes for £50 extra for the 32 GB model. That would convert into around 630 and 710 dollars right now, but surely when it will come our way, it will not be released with such ‘’premium’’ price tags.

For those of you who don’t remember many things about the Toshiba AT200 (I can’t blame you, to be honest), this slate runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb and measures 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) in depth, which (barely) makes it the thinnest 10.1-inch tablet in the world.

Sporting a 1280 x 800 pixels resolution LED backlit display, the AT200 is powered by a snappy dual-core 1.2 GHz TI OMAP 4430 processor and features 1 GB of RAM. There are two cameras on the front and on the rear of the tablet (a 5-megapixel shooter on the back and a 2 MP front-facing webcam), as well as a micro USB port, a microSD card reader, a micro HDMI connector, Bluetooth, WiFi and a battery that should run for up to eight hours between charges, if we are to believe the manufacturers’ claims.

As you probably have already guessed, this slate’s strongest point is the design, which is quite elegant and stylish, but on the other hand there’s nothing special or anything that we have never seen before.

Also, it will be interesting to see how will technology enthusiasts worldwide receive this gadget, as we are closer and closer to the big wave of quad-core, Android 4.0-powered slates releases. What do you think, will you get this Toshiba AT200 tablet or are you holding out for something snappier and stronger, even though it might not be as good-looking as this?

Via Gizmodo UK

Pretty much every time we hear the terms ‘’business’’ or ‘’enterprise’’ used next to a tablet, we know we should expect a robust and expensive slate running Windows. However, the folks at Fujitsu just announced the release of a tablet that, while pretty robust and sturdy, doesn’t run Windows and isn’t that expensive either.

The Stylistic M350/CA2 is set to hit Japan later this month for around ¥34,800(455 US dollars) and might come to International markets, including the United States, if it will prove successful in ‘’the land of rising sun’’.

However, if you ask me, this 7-incher does not look great on paper, at least in terms of tech specs and hardware. Set to be powered by a pretty decent 1 GHz Freescale i.MX processor, the Stylistic M350/CA2 only features 512 MB of DDR3 RAM, as well as 8 GB of internal storage space. The 7-inch screen sported comes with a 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, which is pretty much all you could expect from a tablet this small.

Other features include a mini HDMI port, a microSD card slot for memory expansion, Bluetooth 2.1 and WiFi b/g/n connectivity, which are all pretty basic things for Android tablets these days, while the OS of choice is Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Sure, I wasn’t expecting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or a quad-core processor under the hood, but then again if you are going to call a tablet ‘’business-oriented’’, you could at least come with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of on-board memory.

As far as the design goes, the Stylistic slate looks pretty elegant and is set to weigh only 420 grams (14.8 ounces), while in terms of battery life, the folks at Fujitsu are promising an estimated autonomy of around six hours based on medium use.

As I already mentioned, the 7-incher should go for sale in the next couple of weeks in Japan, but if you ask me, the slate needs a serious price cut before being released in other markets as well.

Via Fujitsu.com

Ever since the HP TouchPad was sold for 100 bucks at special offer a while back, we have all dreamed to put our hands on a similar tablet for such a low price. Unfortunately, while there are a bunch of slates available for $100 or even less, in most cases these offer very low performance, horrible designs and/or a complete and utter lack of features.

The IdolPad 7-incher was pretty quietly released a few weeks ago and, even though it didn’t draw our attention at that time, the latest official announcement about it made us intrigued. According to a press release from Idolian, the tablet’s manufacturer, the IdolPad will upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in the near future.

The upgrade is set to take place ‘’by the end of May 2012’’, but an exact roll-out date is yet to be announced. Once it will run ICS, though, the slate might become a device to watch, as it is powered by a decent enough 1 GHz Cortex A9 processor and features 512 MB of RAM.

Of course, you shouldn’t expect this to be an iPad killer or even a worthy competitor for the Kindle Fire in many aspects, but for just 100 bucks you should get a gadget that is surprisingly not awful. The 7-inch screen sported by the IdolPad features a 800 x 480 pixels resolution, while in terms of design the slate is not exactly a looker, but is decently light and thin (it weighs 11.2 ounces and measures 0.5 inches in depth).

Other features include only 4 GB of internal storage space, a HDMI port (kudos for that!), a microUSB port, WiFi 802.11 b/g connectivity, as well as G-Sensor technology and accelerometer. There’s also a microSDHC card slot for expanding the storage, as well as a battery that should go for between four and six hours on a single charge, according to the producers’ claims (I highly doubt that).

All in all, while I’m still far from sold by the idea of buying such a low-price gadget right now, I’m dying to see how Ice Cream Sandwich will look on the IdolPad once the update will be live. What do you think, would you consider getting a 100-dollar 7-inch tablet like this if it can decently run Android 4.0? Hit us with a comment and let us know.

Via Prweb.com

In the market for a new tablet but don’t want to break the bank purchasing one? Sprint’s got you covered. The Now Network today officially announced the ZTE Optik, a low-cost Android Honeycomb tablet with decent specs and an even better price.

The ZTE Optik costs only $99 when purchased with a two-year agreement for one of Sprint’s Tablet Connection plans. But users can also opt to purchase the  tablet at full price for $349.99 and not be tied down to a contract.

For the price, you’ll get a tablet with a respectable resume. The ZTE Optik runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb, but there’s no mention or promise to upgrade the device to Android 4.0 in the future. It has a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal storage. The Optik features a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with WXGA (1280×8000) resolution and a 5 MP/2MP rear and front-facing camera combination.

The device goes on sale Sunday, February 5, 2012. Anyone who has been looking to enter the tablet market on the cheap can head to Sprint retailers this weekend and dive in. Here are a few more ZTE Optik specs.

• Google mobile services such as Google Search™, Gmail™, Google Maps™ with Navigation, Google Books™ and YouTube™
• Sprint Zone, Sprint TV, Sprint Music Plus, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Football Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM
• Wi-Fi^® (802.11 b/g)
• Swype™
• Integrated GPS
• 4000 mAh Lithium-ion battery
• Expandable memory slot, supporting up to a 32GB microSD card (not included)
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5mm headset
• Mobile Hotspot capable

[Sprint]

The second-generation Asus Eee Pad Transformer tablet, the Transformer Prime, has just been thrown into the market and already we have rumors and leaks pointing towards yet another slate from Asus.

According to the guys at nccc.cool3c.com in China, this supposed future tablet from Asus is known by a TF300T codename for now and might follow in the footsteps of the Transformer and Transformer Prime. However, aside from a couple of blurry photos showing a textured rear panel painted in red, no other details, tech specs or features are known for the time being.

This TF300T is also shown next to a certification document with a time stamp of January 19^th 2012, which might mean that the slate could well be revealed in the near future.

There has to be said that the TF300T codename sounds pretty legit, as the first Asus Eee Pad Transformer was and is still known as the TF101, while the second-generation Transformer Prime is also called the TF201. No idea what the ‘’T’’ at the end of the name stands for, though, but we can only hope it’s something cool.

Something not very cool is, as far as I’m concerned, that red back of the device shown in the leaked photos, which kind of makes the tablet look tacky and ‘’unladylike’’, but hopefully the guys at Asus will make the slate available in a bunch of different colored models.

Let’s keep our socks on for the time being and not get too carried away, as we still don’t know exactly what is it we are looking at in these leaked photos. It could be a future tablet, it could be a concept or it could only be Photoshop in action…

Via Blogeee.net

I’m going to skip talking about the Xyboard name for as long as I can. Ok. The name is ridiculous; I’m moving on. As Verizon’s newest tablet, the Xyboard has a lot of weight on its shoulders from the Xoom and Galaxy 10.1 debuts. Motorola has certainly impressed me recently, but can their smartphone success translate into tablet success? Is this a worthy successor to a less-than-one-year old tablet? If you’re looking for a 4G LTE tablet, absolutely, and here’s why.

Hardware

The look and feel of the Xyboard is one of Motorola’s highest efforts over the past few months. With shaved corners and a very thin exterior, the Xyboard feels almost like an 8″ tablet. Unlike the Xoom, the frame is solidly constructed throughout and it can rival the Galaxy 10.1 for thinness, though it is heavier than the Galaxy 10.1. Thanks to Motorola’s consistent foresight in adding a mini-HDMI output, you can play the Xyboard on your big screen which you can’t with the Galaxy 10.1.

The rest of the Xyboard’s exterior is minimalistic with a black/silver aluminum frame and a power and volume rocker on the back instead of the sides of the device. I do like what Motorola does with these buttons, and I definitely think this is a more natural positioning for your hand. However, the buttons are too flush with the back and don’t offer a satisfying click whenever they’re pressed so you may miss them or not press them if you’re not paying close attention.

Screen/Camera

The high-res screen is beautiful, as it should be, but I didn’t think it was anything overly spectacular. It could get very bright, but the automatic brightness wasn’t the most intelligent sensor so I was stuck with a blinding light while reading at night. Unlike the RAZR but similar to every other tablet I’ve tried, the screen can get very smudgy. I was wiping it off with a cleaner every other day just to make it look respectable. The colors and overall screen seem better than my Transformer too.

With the camera, I have been fairly impressed with Motorola’s latest offerings. You don’t expect to have the greatest camera on a tablet, but on the Xyboard it is more than serviceable.  The photos can speak for themselves:

While not the sharpest photos ever, they are some of the better I’ve taken with a tablet. I even got a little artsy with these.

Software Performance

Even coming from Ice Cream Sandwich on my phone, the Honeycomb bugs and lags are more evident than ever to me now. While these two versions of Android are very close to each other, ICS offers a host of new features that make you wonder why it wasn’t included on the Xyboard. The launch window for this tablet wasn’t rushed like the Xoom’s was, and I think Motorola could have pushed back the launch to make the Xyboard the first tablet with ICS instead of being the Xoom 2.0. All that being said, Honeycomb runs smooth on the Xyboard even with the bloatware from Motorola and Verizon.

The overall layout from Honeycomb isn’t changed by Motorola which is a blessing considering Samsung’s Touchwiz overlay, and despite the custom ROM on my Transformer and at least triple the apps, the Xyboard is faster changing through screens and doing other normal OS functions than other tablets I’ve used (Transformer, Tab, Xoom). It is a bit overclocked at 1.2Ghz, but with an OMAP processor instead of the Tegra like in the others. Still, I have to question the reasons not to add the newest Tegra 3 since they should have a good relationship with Nvidia after the Xoom opened the floodgates for multi-core processors.

App Performance

Like I mentioned, the Xyboard has a little faster processor out of the gate than my Transformer, but it by no means blew the Transformer out of the water (with a lot less installed on it too). Angry Birds and Osmos were a second or so faster than my Transformer. Games like Rock’em Sock’em Robots, Shadowgun and Osmos ran wonderfully, and I noticed very little lag when switching between all of these at the same time. I thought it was interesting that the Xyboard kept apps running in the background instead of shutting them down after a while. When I went to pull up Osmos for the second time, the Xyboard brought it straight up to the menu screen instead of starting the whole game over again. Very convenient although I don’t know if this is the Xyboard itself or my Transformer shutting down the app too quickly.

The problem with Motorola devices on Verizon, usually, is the plethora of useless bloatware because both Motorola and Verizon believe heavily in it. Motocast, V Cast, VideoSurf, Slingbox, Netflix, and Blockbuster all come pre-loaded. Will you use one of these apps? Maybe, maybe not. But you certainly won’t use two or more because they all directly compete with one another! I know each company has deals with other companies, but directly competing apps that you probably don’t want shouldn’t be on the same device.

Final Thoughts

My first thought with these devices is usually, “Who is this made for?” With the Xyboard, I really can’t decide. It’s not for early adopters because they already bought the Xoom, and it’s not for power users because the Transformer Prime has a quad-core processor. It’s a slim device but without the weightlessness of the Galaxy 10.1, and only Verizon’s LTE makes this a stand-out device. While I didn’t see many flaws with the Xyboard (great design, runs smoothly, mini-HDMI), I also don’t know what makes someone want this instead of a cheaper Xoom or even iPad from Verizon.

If the Xyboard would have been released when the Xoom was, it could have blown most of our expectations away for a first-gen Android tablet. However, it’s launch is in the middle of an Android OS upgrade and a processor power-battle. The Xyboard’s design and slimness make it a great upgrade from the Xoom, but for Motorola’s next tablet, I want them to make a device that will usher in the next generation of tablets instead of releasing the best tablet at the end of the era.

If you have watched our blog closely during the past few weeks, you probably already know that we here at Androinica.com love ourselves a nice bargain. Which is why when we first heard that the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, one of the most popular Android-based tablets ever, is on sale, we had to let you know of it.

The Transformer on special offer is a refurbished 16 GB model and goes for 298 dollars. The deal comes from eBay and, while some of you might be frightened by the possibility of being hassled, you should know that the seller is a trusted and respected one and that you also have eBay Buyer Protection for this particular item.

Now that we have sorted out your concerns (at least I hope), let’s talk a bit about the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. This 10-incher is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, features 1 GB of RAM and sports a 1280 x 800 pixels resolution IPS Capacitive LED Touchscreen.

Even though it still runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb, the Transformer is set to be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in just a few short weeks, as we informed you a while back. Other features include some great dual cameras (a 5 MPx rear-facing one and a 1.2 MPx front-facing), as well as all you could need in terms of connectivity (WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS), but also a very strong battery.

The tablet on sale at eBay comes with a 90-day warranty, which ensures that you will get a fully functional gadget, and the payment methods accepted are PayPal, Bank Wire, but also credit cards for US order with US billing address.

If you are still ‘’not sold’’, you should know that eBay’s price is currently around 100 bucks less than what this 10-incher goes for on pretty much all other online stores right now. So, what are you waiting for, guys? This is the Android deal of the day and a great opportunity to have a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich in just a couple of weeks for only three hundred bucks!

The concept of the Asus Padfone is certainly an interesting one and was initially introduced a year ago, but will be fully unveiled at this year’s Mobile World Congress.  Essentially, the Padfone product is a smartphone that connects to a tablet and powers it in terms of data consumption and information sharing.

The Padfone smartphone component contains a 4.3 inch touch screen display that will hopefully run Android 4.0 out of the box.  The tablet contains a 10.1 inch touch screen, but there is no word on processor types, hard drives, or cameras just yet.  I’m sure both devices will contain a dual-core processor with ample hard drive space, but Asus will likely confirm the exact information in just a couple of weeks.

We’ve seen carriers and manufacteres attempt to bundle a smartphone and a tablet together at a discount for customers to purchase, but the problem with that is the customer must sign two contracts for data on each device.  The idea Asus is trying to promote is a seamless integration of smartphone and tablet where one device (the smartphone) supplies the 3G/4G data for the tablet.

I’m sure more details such as pricing and availability will be disclosed at MWC 2012, so stay tuned!

Via [AndroidCentral]