Who said that you had to spend an arm and a leg to get your very own tablet? Prices have come down substantially and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a tablet cheaper than the Zeepad 7.0 with Android 4.0.

No, you can’t possibly expect the Zeepad 7.0 tablet to compete with much more expensive counterparts like the newest iPad or the Asus Transformer Infinity, but you also have to realize that it sells for a fraction of the price. What you get here is a 7.0-inch multitouch tablet, powered by Ice Cream Sandwich.

The specs are actually not too shabby with a Boxchip Allwinner A13 Cortex A8 1.2GHz processor and 512MB of RAM to go along with the 4GB of internal storage. There’s a microSD slot there to give you more space for documents, pictures, music, videos and so on. You get support for such apps as Skype video calling, Netflix movie streaming and more. The customer reviews are quite positive, citing good build quality and decent performance. It’s said to handle Shadowgun and Dead Trigger without too much trouble.

Pick it up from Amazon.com for $79.90, which is 47% off the regular list price of $149.99. You get free super saver shipping too.

The post Zeepad 7.0 Android 4.0 ICS Tablet for Half Price appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

I don’t need to tell you that the African economy, in general, isn’t as strong as some other parts of the world. VMK is trying to change that, turning itself into the Congolese equivalent of a Samsung in South Korea or an Apple in the United States. VMK has revealed two of its initial designs for public scrutiny.

The first, shown above, is a smartphone called the VMK Elikia. Meaning “hope,” the Elikia is only running on Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread and a 600MHz processor, so it’s clearly targeting emerging markets (like Congo). Taking on a gentled curved back reminiscent of the Palm Pre, the Elikia features a 3.5-inch display, 512MB RAM, 123MB internal storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1300mAh battery. Expect this smartphone to sell for $170 outright.

The other product is the VMK Way-C tablet, which is similarly targeting emerging markets. Meaning “light of the stars” in the local Lingala language, the Way-C has a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage. It is powered by Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread and has a 4200mAh battery. The Way-C is expected to retail for $300.

Neither device is groundbreaking in terms of design or performance, but it’s good to see a locally-designed family of products priced appropriately for the local African market.

[Source]

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Normally, you have to pay a premium price if you want to have a tablet that has wireless broadband capabilities, but this sale on the Lenovo Think Tablet makes it a heck of a lot more affordable.

The Lenovo Think Tablet 10.1 is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 (1.0GHz) processor and 1GB of RAM, along with Android 3.1 Honeycomb and a 10.1-inch display. It’s a fairly standard Android tablet in that respect, but it complements its 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth with a Gobi 3000 WWAN module. That’ll get you online with the major cellular providers.

You also have to remember that this is part of the “Think” line of products from Lenovo, so it is geared more toward the business end of the spectrum. This is like the difference between getting an entry-level IdeaPad notebook and an enterprise-ready ThinkPad notebook. The difference in build quality and materials is like night and day.

This particular Lenovo Android tablet normally retails for $429.00, but you can pick it up now for $329.99 from Amazon.com. That includes super saver shipping. They only have a limited number available, so act quickly if you want to snatch up this deal.

The post Daily Deal: $99 off Lenovo Think Tablet 10.1, Android 3.1 and Wireless Broadband appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you’re in the market for a feature-packed Android tablet that doesn’t skimp on the build quality, the Motorola XOOM just might be for you. And it happens to be on sale for a hefty $323 off to boot.

The model of the Motorola XOOM on sale features a 10.1-inch touchscreen display, 32GB of internal memory, dual core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, NVIDIA graphics, 10 hour average battery life, and both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. There’s a 5MP camera on the back, along with GPS and Bluetooth. It is just powered by Android 3.0 Honeycomb, though I’m sure you can find a way to get a newer version of the OS on there.

This tablet is normally listed at $699.99, but it’s on sale for $376.99 on Amazon, complete with the free super saver shipping. If you hurry up and order really soon, it might arrive under your tree in time for Christmas morning.

The post Motorola XOOM 32GB Android Tablet for $323 Off appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The third generation iPad might have been the tablet to make Retina displays the thing to have, but it’s not the only device to offer all those eye watering pixels anymore!

Chinese tablet maker Wei Sijie have recently announced their latest 9.7 inch Android tablet, which not only boasts a 2048 x 1536 resolution Retina display but also 2GB RAM and a 1.6Ghz dual-core CPU!

The rest of the hardware isn’t too bad either with the 97RT boasting dual cameras, 16GB of built-in memory, micro SD card reader, 1 x USB, micro USB and even a HDMI out!

Prices haven’t been announced yet, but expect the Chinese retail price to be around 1200 Yuan ($200), while those of you in the rest of the world might be looking at closer to $250.

[ source ]

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Google Currents is a magazine-style news reader that, by default, automatically updates itself in the background to give you the latest news. This appears to the culprit for all that slowdown, so getting your Nexus 7 back up to speed, so to speak, is pretty straight forward. All you have to do is disable the background updates.

To do this, open up Google Currents, tap on the three-dot menu button in the top right corner, choose settings, and uncheck the “Enable Background Sync” box. Reboot your Nexus 7 and you should be smooth as butter again.

If not, you can go even further and disable Currents altogether. To do this, open up the tablet’s main settings menu, go to Apps, and then All (by tapping on “Running” first). Tap on Currents, then tap on the Disable button near the top. Yes, this takes away one of Android 4.2′s big features, but that’s a small price to pay to get a super snappy tablet experience again. Hopefully Google addresses this in Android 4.2.1.

Have you tried tried disabling Google Currents? Did this solve your lag problems or not?

[Source]

The post Google Nexus 7 Android 4.2 Lag Caused By Google Currents appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Screen Size and Resolution

Starting with the most obvious difference, the Nexus 7 is the smaller of the two with its 7-inch display running a resolution of 1280×800 pixels for a density of 216ppi. The Amazon offering has an 8.9-inch display at 1920×1200 pixels for a density fo 254ppi. The Kindle Fire HD is both bigger and has better pixel density, making for a better display.

Size and Weight

This is largely a matter of personal preference, since some people prefer one form factor over the other. Not surprisingly, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is larger and heavier than the Nexus 7. It weighs 567 grams (vs 340 grams) and measures 164 x 240 x 8.8mm (vs 120 x 198.5 x 10.5mm). It is interesting that the Kindle is thinner though.

Performance

While both tablets are perfectly capable, the Nexus 7 looks like it wins on paper with its NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core 1.3GHz processor. The Kindle Fire HD has a TI OMAP 4470 dual core 1.5GHz. That’s a higher clock speed, but the Nexus 7 has more cores. Both tablets have 1GB of RAM.

Storage

Looking at just the WiFi-only model of the Kindle Fire 8.9″, both it and the Nexus 7 are offered in your choice of 16GB and 32GB of capacity with neither offering a memory card slot. If you opt for the LTE version of the Fire, you can get up to 64GB.

Wireless

Speaking of LTE, that’s one feature that differentiates the Fire from the Nexus 7, the latter of which is only offered with up to HSPA+. Naturally, both get Wi-Fi. The downside is the LTE version of the Kindle Fire HD costs a whopping $200 more than its WiFi-only version.

Camera

Both tablets rock a front-facing camera in the one-megapixel range for video chat, lacking a rear camera for any kind of primary shooting.

Operating System

While it is certainly true that both tablets are powered by Google Android, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is heavily skinned with the Amazon OS, complete with heavy Amazon store integration. In fact, it ships with “Special Offers” advertisements that cost $15 to remove. You also don’t get the full Google Play Store. The Nexus 7, on the other hand, is a pure Google experience with the Google Play Store and no integrated “Special Offers” ads. The Nexus 7 wins here for most users.

Price

The Nexus 7 is the cheaper of the two, starting at just $200. The similarly equipped 16GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is $100 more at $300. Naturally, if you want wireless data or more storage, be prepared to pay more money.

Who Wins?

Unless you are really bent on having that larger 8.9-inch display with better pixel density or you really like the Amazon storefront being front and center, the Nexus 7 is likely the better bet here. It’s cheaper and it’s more versatile with its vanilla Android OS and Play Store access.

Buy Android Tablets

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Here’s a nice combo deal for anyone in the market for both a new tablet and a new HDTV, or even if you’re just shopping for a new television and would like an added bonus. When you buy a select Samsung HDTV from Amazon, they’ll throw in a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet for $200 off. It’s not a free bonus, but that’s a pretty big discount.

As you might remember, the Galaxy Note 10.1 takes the concept started by the Galaxy Note “phablet” devices and blows it up into the 10.1-inch Android size. You can choose between the 16GB or 32GB version of the tablet, bringing the effective price down to just $299 or $349, respectively. Remember that the Samsung optimizations on the tablet work particularly well when “speaking” with a Samsung HDTV too. Getting the discount is pretty much automatic:

To take advantage of this offer, simply add a Samsung HDTV and a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 from the list of qualifying products below to your Shopping Cart. The discount for the Galaxy Note will automatically be deducted at checkout. Qualifying products must be purchased from Amazon.com; does not include purchases from other sellers on the Amazon.com website.

The available HDTVs are mostly in the 50 to 65-inch range. These include offerings from both the Samsung plasma ranges, as well as the slim LED HDTVs. Many of these TVs are already on sale on Amazon too for up to $1200 off the regular price, so you’re saving even more!

Head over to Amazon.com to get the deal. The offer is good through to 11:59 PST on November 17, 2012 or while supplies last.

The post Daily Deal: $200 off Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 when you buy a Samsung HDTV appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As you can see in the image above, the back casing on the Nexus 7 got melted in an alleged explosion, but the melting pattern left what looks kind of like a decorative horse. I think it looks more like the knight piece from a chess set, but I’ll leave that up to interpretation. I realize this is really not that different from someone seeing the Virgin Mary in a slice of toast, but it’s still an interesting turn of events.

These images were posted on a Chinese forum, so we do have to take the story with a grain of salt. According to the original poster, the Nexus 7 was left charging for about 3 hours and then it spontaneously combusted. We haven’t heard other stories of the Nexus 7 exploding, so this is likely a very isolated incident.

The good news is that the owner of the Nexus 7 contacted Asus and got a replacement tablet immediately. That’s some good customer service!

[Source]

The post Nexus 7 Tablet Explodes, Melts, Looks Like Horse appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The new Google Nexus 10 and 4 are set to go on sale on November 13^th, however, one customer at Walmart has supposedly found the tablet today.

The customer has taken a picture of the 32GB model resting on a shelf with a $499 price tag underneath the item. Apparently, the person who took the picture did not buy it, but instead took a photo and left the store. So far there have been no other reports about possible early releases like this one, so there’s probably quite a small quantity of Nexus 10 tablets in public reach at this point. In this case, it’s most likely that an employee at Walmart made a mistake with stocking the shelves. But it could be possible a small number of users now have their hands on the tablet, seeing as the official release is only 4 days away, it’s not likely to cause any issues or hurt sales.

The Nexus 10 32GB version will sell for $499 from the Google Play website, and will also make an appearance across the States in various stores and supermarket chains.

[Source]

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