The Nvidia’s Android powered handheld console, Shield, which we originally revealed in February of this year, has finally begun taking preorders today for its upcoming June release.  The original pre-order date was the 20^th of May, but apparently has been bumped up.  The device has a reasonable $349 price, and pre-orders can be made directly to Nvidia or from participating retailers such as Gamestop, Newegg and Canada Computer.

Shield will come with full Google Play access as well as a myriad of different add ons such as TwitchTV, Hulu Plus, TegraZone, Expendable: Rearmed and Sonic 4 Episode II THD.  Nvidia stated that growing buzz for the device was the reason for the bumped up pre-sale date.  More likely they wanted to space themselves a bit from Microsoft’s reveal of it’s new next gen Xbox on Tuesday the 21^st.  Either way, this device deserves a bit of it’s own time in the spotlight.

If you haven’t yet, check it out and get yours ordered today!

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Blackberry are looking to cash-in with their new low-cost Qwerty smartphone. The Blackberry Q5 was unveiled by CEO Thorsten Heins on Tuesday in Orlando.

The Q5 features a trademark Blackberry QWERY keyboard, along with a 3.1-inch touch screen, but that’s about all we know about the entry-level handset from a hardware point of view. Blackberry have announced that the Q5 will be available in black, white, red, orange and pint and will go on sale in selected markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia from July. No pricing has been announced yet.

What’s most interesting about the Q5 is that it is clearly a budget device — something that Blackberry originally intended to keep BB10 away from for a while. What do you think of the Q5? Hope it comes stateside?

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The Game D is being designed to work with the Apple iPad mini, providing it with real console-style controls in a pretty sleek looking package.

The Game D, which is just a working name and will likely change before the final retail offering, is super slim like the Logitech Ultraslim Keyboard for iPad mini, but it discards the QWERTY in favor of a PlayStation-style D-pad and four face buttons, along with the start and select buttons.

Presumably communicating over Bluetooth, the iPad mini can be docked into the Game D one of three ways. First, it can attach magnetically so that the two devices are in line, offering an experience similar to a really big DS or PSP.

Second, there is a keyboard-style slot toward the back of the Game D where you can place the iPad mini in landscape mode on an angle, not unlike how you’d use a Bluetooth keyboard with your iPad. And third, you can use that same slot to put your iPad mini in portrait mode.

Developer Techdy is currently seeking some crowdsourced funding for the project. Pledge a minimum of $39 to secure your own Game D or upgrade to a $59 pledge for the Pro version that comes with backlit keys, vibration feedback and two analog gamepads. The crowdfunding goal is set for $500,000 with a deadline of May 12.

What do you think, could you see yourself getting a “Game D” controller or perhaps there is another iPad Mini gaming controller that has your fancy? Let us know in the comments below!

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The boffins at Fujitsu have have been scratching their heads trying to think of a better purpose for those front facing cameras on our smartphones, tablets and laptops. What they have come up with is a new imaging system which can calculate your pulse and help monitor health.

The system measures the amount of green light, which is absorbed by haemoglobin, reflected from your face to work out your blood-flow and calculate your pulse. The software can work using existing hardware and only requires users to hold still for 5 seconds to make it’s calculations.

Fujitsu aims to have the system adopted by device makers and also hopes it can be implemented to TV’s, mirrors and other household devices. What do you think of the idea, intrigued or not?

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Three new Android tablets have been announced by Lenovo at the Mobile World Congress, each of which will come with a budget orientated price tag, which could sway potential customers from a possible Nexus 7 purchase.

With three tablets to choose from and sizing from 7-inch to 10.1-inch, Lenovo looks to have a tablet for everyone.

The Lenovo A1000 and A3000 tablets both come with 7-inch 1024 x 600 resolution displays. The A1000 packs a dual-core processor, allows for up to 32GB SD cards and features large front speakers and Dolby Digital Plus audio, while the A3000 boasts a 1.2Ghz quad-core Mediatek chip, up to 64GB of external storage and the option of built in 3G. For those of you who prefer a larger tablet, the Lenovo S6000 has a 10.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280x 800 which is powered by the same quad-core chip as the A3000 and also has the option for built in 3G. 

Pricing hasn’t been announced just yet but the tablets are set to be launched worldwide with the A1000 being described as priced “Very aggressively.”

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Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to a poor boy from Talladega County in Alabama. His well-meaning mother went to Wal-Mart to buy the portable gaming system for her son, but she didn’t know that the box didn’t contain a 3DS at all. Scam artists had apparently bought the 3DS, kept the system itself, but returned the box full of rocks and tissue paper to simulate the missing weight. The Wal-Mart staff never checked the box when processing the return and the faux 3DS ended up on the shelf for the Talladega mom.

This isn’t the first time that something like this has happened. There is a similar scam going around where people are returning iPad boxes filled with paper notepads. I’ve also heard of someone returning a flat panel HDTV with an oven door in its place instead. The lesson here for retail management, as if it weren’t obvious enough, is that their employees should really be checking those returns before refunding the money.

On the bright side, the Talladega Wal-Mart did give the mother a replacement 3DS after she told them what had happened, but I think that poor boy isn’t exactly feeling great about that whole experience.

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Fuhi Inc, the maker of the Nabi 2, a tablet for kids, has announced the release of the Nabi XD, a tablet made with your tween in mind. The system is just $249 and comes out of the box with full parental controls.

The Nabi XD is an Android based 10.1 inch HD tablet with all the features your tween wants, but with all the controls a parent wants.  It features an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, and a modified version of Android 4.1 Jelly bean for an OS providing for a stable platform and endless apps for entertainment, reference and productivity.

The Nabi XD has a stylish design, aluminum two toned with flared corners and an optional silicon folio keyboard case for a laptop style setup, that looks suspiciously like a cheaper version of the Microsoft Surface at first glance.

The parental controls are probably the biggest seller for the parents.  While it has the basic browser controls, it also allows the parents to decide when applications will be available.  Users have the ability to set different home screens by predetermined times. For instance, you can set only reference apps to be available after school so your child stays on task with homework and not the coolest new game.

Luckily, revolutionary games are a feature in this system as well.  Nabi introduces KINABIs, a battle game with 16 different figurines that with your nabi XD you can have amazing battles and upgrade each unique character. Nabi XD also features NFC technology, which allows the syncing of tablets by simply touching them together.

Jim Mitchell, Fuhu’s CEO says “nabi XD features the most powerful specifications and brilliant display of the nabi tablet family. We are excited about what these new features bring to gaming and content, it represents a real transition in personal portable computing with an introduction of an Android-based productivity and gaming device.”

Nabi XD is sure to be a must have for your tween with a very reasonable $249 price for the 16 GB and $349 for the 32GB.  It is set to be released late December, with a wide variety of accessories to be made available in mid January. Honestly, the specs are pretty good for the price– though don’t expect the full Google Play experience or any of the other perks that come with a device like the Nexus 7.

Are you in the market for a tablet for your tween?  Is this going to break into the Nexus 7 market?  Give us your thoughts.

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PC Gamers, listen up!  Razor has announced the Fiona, a tablet built just for you with input received by fellow gamers.  The Fiona is a hybrid tablet made for PC gaming, running on the power of Windows 8.

The Fiona features a 10.1 inch 1280 x 800 display with a full screen user interface that supports multi-touch.  An Intel Core i7 processor, 3-axis gyro, accelerometer, magnetometer, detachable controllers, WiFi, Bluetooth, Dolby 7.1 and the list goes on and on.  The system weighs in at twice that of the ipad and is also about twice as thick.

This beast will run you $1299 – $1499, a hefty price, but when you take into account the abilities of this system and the portability, it starts to sound more and more reasonable.

While there is no announced release date as of yet, it has been given FCC approval, so the release date is hopefully right around the corner.

Gamers weigh in, is this high end gaming system a must have?

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The LeapFrog Leapster Explorer is billed in some circles as a kids tablet, but it’s probably closer in form factor to a handheld gaming system like the old Sega Game Gear. The key difference is that this is a learning game system and it features a touchscreen display, complete with stylus. There are also the conventional gaming face buttons, like the d-pad and the A/B buttons on the front.

The device ships with more than 40 games and activities that will help the kids learn about math and science, all while hanging out with fun characters like the penguins of Madagascar, Disney princesses, Ni Hao Kai-Lan, Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer.

If you want to get this in time for stuffing under the Christmas tree, you’ll want to order really soon. The LeapFrog Leapster Explorer is on sale for $39.99 on Amazon, which is $30 off the list price of $69.99 and it comes with free super saver shipping.

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While many people have turned to their iPads and Android tablets for the purpose of reading e-books, there is still very much a market for the dedicated eReader. The e-ink display is so much easier on the eyes and the battery life is way better than what you’d get from a tablet. But, which one is best?

A quick comparison has been put together with some of the heaviest hitters in this space, taking a look at the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, Nook Simple Touch, and Kobo Glo. There are others to be considered, like those from Sony or other Kobos, but these are some of the most popular and their comparison should help narrow down your choices.

Display

All six of the eReaders featured in this overview use some form of e-ink technology for their displays rather than the regular backlit LCDs you find on tablets. You’ll also notice that they’ve all congregated on the 6-inch form factor, though you’ll find other variations from Amazon, B&N and Kobo that come in other sizes. The resolutions are mostly the same, though the Paperwhite and the Glo have significantly better PPIs. It’s also noteworthy that the Glo, Paperwhite and Nook with Glowlight are the ones with lit displays for dim reading situations.

Size and Weight

Since they all have six-inch displays, the overall dimensions of all these eReaders are roughly the same. They measure approximately 165 x 120 x 10mm with some variation and they all weigh right around 170-210 grams or so. The lone exception is the Kindle Keyboard, since it has that physical QWERTY keyboard beneath the display, stretching its length to 190mm and bumping its weight to 247g.

Storage Space

Not surprisingly, all six of the eReaders also have roughly the same amount of storage space. After all, e-books are very small files and you don’t need much space. The Paperwhite and Kindle both have 2GB, while the Kindle Keyboard has 4GB. The Nooks and Kobo Glo all have 2GB, plus a microSD expansion slot. That memory expansion could prove to be an important feature for people who want to carry a lot of content with them.

Wireless

They all have Wi-Fi, but you can opt to get the Kindle Paperwhite as a WiFi+3G mdel. The Kindle Keyboard is sold only as a WiFi+3G eReader.

Battery Life

The Kindle, Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, and Kobo Glo all have batteries rated in the 4 week range, while the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Keyboard and Nook Simple Touch (sans GlowLight) last twice as long at about 8 weeks. Of course, your mileage will vary based on usage, especially when it comes to how much you use the lighting features. Charging any of these eReaders will take you 3 to 4.5 hours.

Other Considerations

If you want to read in dimly lit situations, you’ll want to opt for one of the eReaders that comes with some form of lit display. That’s the Kindle Paperwhite, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight or the Kobo Glo. If you want to take advantage of Amazon’s gigantic library, then you’ll want one of the Kindles. If you want a keyboard, then you’ll want to the Kindle Keyboard. Of course, there are some tradeoffs if you want, say, a keyboard and a backlight, because that just doesn’t exist.

Price

This will be a big deciding factor for many people. The cheapest of the bunch is the regular old Kindle that starts at $69, but you could also consider something like the Kobo Mini (5-inch) that starts at around the same price range. It is worth noting that all Kindles come with the “Special Offers” advertising that you’ll have to pay $20 to eliminate. If you hate ads, you’ll need to factor that into the price. It’s also debatable whether the Kindle Keyboard is really worth its premium just for a keyboard.

At the end of the day, which eReader you choose will really depend on several factors. Price is one, to be sure, but you’ll also want to think about size, backlighting, and the ecosystem. Whatever the case, it’s a good time to be a consumer, because we are offered a lot more choice than when the original Kindle was the be-all and end-all of e-book readers.

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