Ematic has released an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet for $219, it may be mid range but based on price and features its a tough on to beat. The Ematic Android tablet named the eGlide XL Pro 2 is in line with the ereaders but is a full featured tablet with specifications that are very hard to beat one of which simply being the 10-inch display.
Ematic eGlide XL Pro 2 Android 4.0 Tablet Features:
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (out of the box)
10-inch Display
1 Ghz Processor
400 mhz GPU
We aren’t sure of many more features at this point although they are in a partnership with Kobo for delivery of books and the tablet is on sale at Wal-Mart stores already. We have no idea on Google features or if Google Play even comes on the device although as soon as we get a chance to hold on to one we will let everyone know.
Most Android users take great pride in the fact that their devices can be customized entirely the way they want them to work. The Nook Color is no different, keep in mind you will need to root the device before installing a custom keyboard (in this case anyway) (Nook Color Root Instructions). The Nook Color can have a custom keyboard if you want to change it from stock … there are just a few steps you need to follow:
How to install a custom keyboard on the Nook Color:
Grab a file manager like ES File Explorer (if you don’t already have one)
Go into the file managers settings and give it root access
Set the root directory to “/”
Download and install the keyboard app that you want from the market
Open your file manager and go to “/data/app”
Find the APK for the keyboard you just installed
Long press the APK and select “Move” or “Cut”
Navigate to “/system/app” and paste the APK there
Exit your file manager and reboot your Tablet
After the Nook Color turns back on go to “NookColor Tools”
Select “Choose Keyboard” and select the Keyboard you installed
Congrats you now have the custom keyboard on your Nook Color!
If you have any issues please feel free to ask questions via comments below. Otherwise just drop a line to let us know that everything went ok for you. Also if your installing Swiftkey of Swype be sure to open the app for the keyboard after the steps above to complete setup.
There is an ongoing issue with Android tablets and their ability to see all Android applications on the Market. Even now with the new Google Play your Android tablet will likely not see all apps when you search the market. You can make the tablet see all Android applications that your tablet can run easily by following a few simple steps.
How to Fix Limited Market Visibility on Android Tablets:
Disconnect Tablet from PC if connected
Go to your Tablets settings
Go to “Applications -> Manage Applications”
Select the “All” tab
Scroll down to the Market and select it
Tap “Force Stop” then “Clear Cache”
Tap back (however your tablet allows)
Scroll up to “Google Services Framework” and select it
Tap “Clear Data” then “OK” then “Force Stop”
Exit back to your home screen then open Google Play (or Market)
If you get an error message its ok, Press “OK”
Hold your Power button and turn off the tablet
Turn the tablet back on and wait for it to load completely
Open Google Play (of Market) and enjoy!
This seems to work on most Android tablets although we have had a few people say that they are still having issues. Please post a comment below to let us know if it works with your tablet and what tablet you have to help others. If anyone has additional questions please feel free to comment those as well.
It looks like Philips will be releasing a new line of Android tablets to consumers in China. From what we currently know the Philips tablets will have a 7 inch display and will be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. The new Philips tablet will also be running a MIPS CPU instead of the popular ARM or x86 processors in most high end tablets.
Google has stated that they have plans to increase support on the MIPS processor and will bundle support in their developers kit with a compiler for it. Now that Google has taken notice and is increasing the support we may see the MIPS processor used for more than just inexpensive low end tablets. It doesn’t sound like we will see this new Philips tablet in the US.
If you own a ZTE Optik on Sprints Now Network you will be happy to know that Sprint is releasing an update for the device. It was announced yesterday that the 7 inch ZTE Optik tablet has started receiving the update to software version V55V1.1.0B09. This update comes with some nice tweaks related to apps and overall function.
ZTE Optik Update V55V1.1.0B09 Features:
Google DRM solution
Google Music
Google+
Persistent notification after BT transfer
Software version corrected in x-wap profile
Sim City closes when attempting to purchase while connected to Wifi
Sim City download issue fixed
Response when connected to a computer via USB cable
This is a normal maintenance update and the first for the Optik since its release back in February. If you haven’t received the update OTA (over the air) you can always manually check for it via “settings -> about tablet -> system updates -> update android -> check now“. Please let us know when you have the B09 update installed and anything you notice from the update.
While we noticed the Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 make it through the FCC recently its now officially announced by Lenovo. The tablet wont be an iPad killer but has some great specs worth mentioning. The most notable and semi-expected feature currently is the fact that it runs Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box and has four speakers on the device.
Google seems to have been caught off guard with the insane sales of the Amazon Kindle Fire and have now decided it was time for them to follow suit. The Amazon Kindle Fire has sold more tablets that any other Android manufacturer to date and thus made incredible profits from its ability to only download apps from their Amazon Market (without rooting it). Google now with the mention of their Google Nexus tablet plan to do the same thing subsidizing profits from the tablets with the Google Play Market.
Google says that they should be able to sell their Google Nexus Tablets for around $200 helping to reposition the Android Market experience and putting the App sales back into their court. Google plans to debut tablets by Asus and maybe even Samsung and sell them under the Google or “Nexus” name for around that $200 price point.
While we don’t have all of the details now the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Google will be selling the “Nexus” tablet directly to consumers through an online web store. This should also keep costs down. As more information comes available we will be sure to let you know.
We’ve seen a few Android tablets come announced for kids with the most prominent being the Vinci which we were able to play with a bit at CES 2012. The Vinci tablet is focused on education and is protected against kids rough play. Now Archos has joined the game with the ChildPad, a kid friendly tablet.
The Archos ChildPad is a 7 inch tablet for children that runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and offers a wide range of kids games and educational materials. Archos has skinned the ChildPad tablet with a child friendlyinterface with bright colors and folders that go straight to kids games, entertainment and puzzles. The tablet was designed to meet CIPA and COPPA regulations to ensure its safe for kids.
Archos has their own app store called Appslib that now has the “Kids App Store” that the ChildPad can connect to. There are already a collection of 10,000 apps and games focused towards children available now. The categories for kids are as follows; games, entertainment, communication, multimedia, books, comics, and sports.
“As a pioneer in the portable audio and Android™ tablet market we realize the importance of providing a tablet that can offer hours of entertainment for all ages, especially kids”, says Henri Crohas, Founder and CEO. “ARCHOS strives to offer great tablets with only the best of features at affordable prices and we expect this tablet to bring a smile to the faces of kids and parents’ everywhere.”
The ChildPad will be available by the end of this month and for a very low price. As always Archos is a very affordable brand in the Android arena and set the ChildPad price at only $129. Those parent out there like me that have their kids on their expensive tablet now have another option that is affordable.
Toshiba confirmed their Excite 10 LE previously known as the Toshiba X10 will release today to stores throughout the US. This tablet is being released as a Wi-Fi only version with 16GB of internal storage for around $529. There is however a larger 32GB model that will be on sale as well for around $599.
Toshiba Excite 10 LE Features:
Android 3.2, Honeycomb (upgradeable to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich)
10.1-inch diagonal LED Backlit widescreen Corning Gorilla Glass display with IPS technology and 10-finger multi-touch support
Gyroscope, Accelerometer, GPS, eCompass and Ambient Light Sensor
Stereo speakers with sound enhancements by Toshiba and SRS Labs
Built-in 25 watt-hour rechargeable lithium ion battery
10.1” (W) x 6.9” (D) x 0.3” (H)
1.18 pounds (535g)
We aren’t sure with all of the Android tablets available today that the price points of $529 and $599 will be enticing to Android users although it is a very high end tablet for sure. We will try to get our hands on one (without purchasing it) to demo all of its features in the coming days.
Huawei has been a great name in Android phones over the last year and now they are getting into the Tablet market with an Android 4.0 quad-core powerhouse of a tablet called the Huawei MediaPad 10. The tablet is designed to render 3D graphics like no other tablet and will prove to be a leader in Video and Gaming to date. This tablet not only has a quad-core processor but 2GB of RAM to make it scream.
Huawei MediaPad 10 Tablet Features:
8 MP rear camera
1.3 MP front-facing camera
2 GB of RAM
1.5 GHz K3 quad-core processor
Supports HSPA+21/42/84 Mbps and “a number of network standards including LTE”
10-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS display
Dolby surround sound technology
8.8mm thin, 598g weight
Huawei has stated that the MediaPad 10 tablet will be released to consumers next quarter and that the price will vary by market. If your interested in this tablet we will be sure to update with release date and price when available closer to release.
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