Archos Introduces Child-Friendly Android ICS 7-inch Tablet

Later this month, Archos is releasing a 7-inch Google 4.0 tablet just for kids.


Tired of the kids whining to play this or that on your sleek Android tablet? Now here's your chance to shell out $129 for an Ice Cream Sandwich pacifier called the Child Pad. While the name is a little weird, Archos  seems intent on providing the young'ns with a 7-inch gadget packed with the latest Android OS, a 1 GHz SoC and 1 GB of RAM.


"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."


Based on the slim list of details, the Child Pad won't be Google sanctioned, as the built-in Kids App Store will be powered by AppsLib instead. The store will be filtered down to 14-friendly categories and 10,000 apps including games, entertainment, communication, multimedia, books, comics, sports and more.


To make the tablet even less appealing to adults, the gadget will feature a kid-friendly user interface with colored icons, and home screen folders with direct access to games, entertainment, learning and puzzles. The tablet will even come packed with the top 28 kids' apps including Angry Birds, Pig Rush and Flight Frenzy.


Archos says that the Child Pad tablet will comply with both CIPA and COPPA regulations, ensuring a safe tablet environment for kids and peace of mind for parents. That said, the device will contain parental controls and safe web browsing provided by Editions Profil , the developer behind Profil Parental Filter.


The Archos Child Pad will be available by the end of March for $129. Check back with the Archos site later on to see a full list of specs.


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iPad 3 vs. Android Tablets at Mobile World Congress

After the 2012 Mobile World Congress wraps up in Barcelona, Spain, this week, the mobile world’s attention will turn to San Francisco, where Apple is likely to announce the iPad 3 March 7. While the iPad 3 isn’t really a product yet, at least in theory, it’s clear that the rest of the tablet industry is already trying to scramble out of the way so that their devices don’t get crushed in the onslaught.


Although Apple isn’t even at MWC, it’s still the 1,000-pound gorilla in the room.


This means that tablet manufacturers have been looking desperately for some way to appear to be different from the iPad.


Asus is an excellent example.


Instead of slugging it out with Apple in an ill-conceived struggle that it’ll never win, Asus has come up with the Padfone. This is a tablet with an embedded smartphone. The 4.3-inch phone acts as the tablet’s brains, while the tablet is really just a docking station and display for the phone. Both devices run Android 4.0—or Ice Cream Sandwich—and there’s a Bluetooth accessory that lets you answer the phone while it’s inside the tablet.


But that’s not all that’s happening at Asus. The company has also launched new models of its Transformer Pad, which lets you convert a tablet into a laptop. This is similar to what Hewlett-Packard started doing a decade ago with a series of Microsoft Windows-based tablet computers that in various configurations had either a foldaway keyboard or a removable keyboard that allowed the tablet to operate independently. The biggest difference between then and now is that the new Asus tablets use Android rather than Windows, and it reflects current practice in tablet design.


HP, meanwhile, still makes those tablets, along with a similar Slate Tablet.


Adding to the mix is something called the “super phone,” or “phablet.”


Appearing at first to be a mild-mannered Samsung Galaxy, the illusion vanishes as you approach it. This phone has a 5.3-inch screen, and recognizing its size takes away from its usefulness as a phone, Samsung has decided to call it the Galaxy Note. The big screen lends itself to note taking (thus, the name) and in a back-to-the-future change, the Galaxy Note includes an active stylus, something that other tablet makers, such as HTC, are also starting to use with their smaller tablets.


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Android: The King Of CES 2012

Image via Wikipedia

It's Android all over at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 in Las Vegas. Android just conquered the show like never before. From smartphones and tablets to televisions and watches, over 30 Android-based gadgets were launched at the tradeshow floor at CES.


Here is a list of 20 such devices that made it big at CES 2012 and are likely to impact the market patterns in future.


1. Acer Iconia Tab A200


Acer showcased Iconia Tab A200, the latest member in Acer's line of Android tablets. It comes with 1GB of RAM and boasts a 25.7-cm (10.1-inch) display, with 1280 x 800 resolution. Available in either Titanium Gray or Metallic Red, the slate is powered by NVIDIA's 1GHz Tegra 2 processor. It also comes equipped with a 2-megapixel front facing camera and Acer Ring--a multi-tasking manager that provides shortcuts to Google Maps, screenshot functions and other apps. This tablet has a full-size USB port for hooking up other devices and a microSD slot for passing data. The new Iconia Tab A200 will be available on 15 January and is priced at $329.99. 

2. Acer Iconia Tab A700


Acer has unveiled its first quad-core processor-based tablet, the Iconia Tab A700. The tablet is powered by a 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 processor and runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The Iconia A700 features a 25.7-cm (10.1-inch) full 1080p HD screen that supports 1920x1200 pixel resolution. Apart from the processor, the A700 runs on 1 GB RAM and sports an HDMI-port, microSD and a micro USB port. There are no details yet on pricing for the tablet, but the latest addition to the Iconia Tab family is expected to be released in the second quarter. If the device is priced competitively, it could make an impact in the market. 

3. Asus Eee Pad Transformer Pad MeMO


Asus has unveiled the Eee Pad MeMO that runs on Android 4.0. Primarily designed to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire with its smaller form factor and matching price range, the Asus Eee Pad MeMO sports a 17.7-cm (7-inch) display with WXGA resolution IPS panel, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear facing camera capable of shooting 1080p video and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Powered by Qualcomm 8260 dual-core 1.2GHz processor, the Asus MeMo tablet packs 1GB of memory and has an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor on the inside. The device offers up to 32GB of internal storage, and comes enabled with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. 

Read complete at efytimes.com

Tablet War: Can Google’s Android Tablets Overtake Apple’s iPad?

With Apple planning to launch the highly anticipated iPad 3 as early as February of 2012, Google appears to be planning on launching a competing device in the near future. In a recent interview with an Italian newspaper, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said; “In the next six months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality.”

Although Schmidt is normally talkative and eager to discuss Google’s future plans, he was uncharacteristically quiet regarding the details of the future tablet. However, many people are interpreting his statement that the tablet will be of the “highest quality” to imply it will compete directly with Apple’s new iPad 3.

The new iPad 3 is expected to be a much more technologically advanced model than the iPad 2 and experts are predicting it will include a high-end quad-core processor and a high-resolution screen display of 2048 x 1536 (similar to the Retina display in the current iPhone). In addition, Apple has been rumored to be considering producing a smaller version of the iPad with a screen size of 7.85 inches.

Read complete at SearchEngineJournal.com