However, following this leak, Logitech clarified that the new packaging is not meant to hit store shelves until the update is released, adding that if any retail stores are selling these newly packaged boxes that they are doing so prematurely. Furthermore, Logitech revealed that the product remains unchanged and that the new packaging is merely a sticker added to existing boxes.

Google announced back at I/O 2011 that Google TV would be getting a major update that would bring Android 3.1 Honeycomb along with Android Market, making apps available to Google TV as well as allowing developers to create apps specifically for the TV interface. The update was set to hit this summer, but that has come and gone. Google has since released the add-on SDK for developers but has yet to roll out the update.

[via Android Community]

Google TV hasn’t fared very well so far, but that may change soon with this new update, which will unify the development platform for Google TV and Android tablets by using Android 3.1 Honeycomb. This way developers can create apps that work on both tablets and TVs as well as apps specific to Google TV. Users will have access to these apps through an integrated Android Market.

A developer preview SDK for the new Google TV was released back in August with the final add-on SDK released two weeks ago. The screenshots look promising, but it’s still not clear when the update will be rolled out or what caused the delay. Perhaps Google was too focused on releasing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich? And since we’re on the topic, you ought to check out our complete guide on ICS.

[via ZatzNotFunny]

Hardware

To start with the hardware we have a quick video for you below, as well as our hands-on and unboxing post you can see here. What you get is an Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet with a bright and vivid 10.1″ 1280 x 800 resolution IPS display. The IPS looks bright, vivid, clear, and has great contrast. Like most IPS displays the viewing angles are also quite excellent so that is another plus. Powered by the all to familiar NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor at 1.0 GHz, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (16 and 64GB versions also available). Coming in around 14.5mm thin and weighs 1.65 lbs. It may be heavier than most but it also has a wide array of ports for any users needs. More hardware specs and pics can be found after the video.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet hands-on

With all the ports you could ever need for full productivity and having stylus support this truly is a do-it-all tablet. Based on the buttons, ports, and labels on bottom we can assume Lenovo expects this to spend much of its time in portrait mode so I’ll go over the hardware as such. On bottom we have 4 dedicated buttons, something we don’t see often with Android Honeycomb tablets. While I’ve found them a bit useful at times, they get in the way more than they are helpful — just my honest opinion. They are a screen orientation toggle, a web browser launch button, then the standard Android back and home buttons. They also seem a bit hard to push needing the right angle since they click toward the display rather than going down so sometimes I feel i need to almost roll my finger to get it to recognize the input.

Along with the hardware buttons the bottom also features all those convenient ports we mentioned above. With a 3.5mm headphone jack, mini-HDMI, micro-USB, a 30 pin dock connector, then a door with a full sized SD card slot as well as SIM support for 3G connectivity.

Around to the left side (bottom for landscape) we have a full-sized USB port and a single speaker grill and that is about it. Very simple design and not a lot to it, but that doesn’t matter when you have tons of ports and are aimed at productivity right?

The on top and the right side we have the volume up/down rocker as well as the power button. The top (or bottom left in landscape view) has a dedicated cutout and hole for the included stylus. the stylus fits neatly away and is for the most part out of sight. If you happen to lose the stylus or forget it, the hole where it belongs gets very irritating and can actually bother you depending on how you hold the tablet so I’d recommend leaving it in place. It has a nice design and is easy to slide in and out so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Software

Enough about the hardware, lets talk about software and what you can do with the stylus. First off I’ll mention we have Android 3.1 Honeycomb — mostly stock with a few small changes and “enhancements” from Lenovo like an additional home launcher type widget for quick and easy launching of most used applications and more. User interface is clean, neat and performs as expected for an Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet. Just like the IdeaPad K1 tablet from Lenovo the unlock screen has a good 1-3 second delay from when you hit the wake button, to when the screen will actually recognize your swipe to unlock the device on-screen. This isn’t a deal breaker but seems to slow down usage a bit as you have to wait for it when you shouldn’t need to.

Clearly a lot went into making this tablet near ready to go right out of the box. Lenovo has provided tons of application for both regular users and business professionals both. With stylus support and memo pad apps, to Documents to go and more. The pre-loaded applications are in no way bloatware and are almost all things most users would want, need, or download at some point. Below is a few screenshots of the included applications.

More of the many apps included straight out of the box are Netflix, and Angry Birds HD. Both of these many users will indeed use and how can anyone possibly call Angry Birds “bloatware” right? Lenovo also has what they call the Lenovo Launcher, and the Lenovo App Wheel — both right on the homescreen for quick and easy navigation to all your favorite or most used applications. Here are a few pictures of those as well as a hands-on video right from the Lenovo product announcement.

Lenovo Launcher and App Shop details

Performance

The performance of the NVIDIA dual-core processor is to be expected, performing right on par with most Honeycomb tablets thus far. Nothing is really any different here and just as we expected it seems stable, fast, and average in benchmarks. We won’t see anything too crazy until we get faster processors and quad-cores in our tablets. We’ve ran a few benchmarks as we always do — those being Quadrant Advanced, CF Bench, and Vellamo. Surprisingly the ThinkPad actually scored higher than any tablet I’ve tested thus far stock out of the box in the Vellamo tests.

Quadrant – 2011
CF Bench – 9332, 2399, 5172
Vellamo – 989

ThinkPad Pen

The ThinkPad Pen (aka Stylus) is actually quite convenient for daily use. Most of the time I’m perfectly happy with using my hands, especially on an OS designed for touch input but the stylus works extremely well for note taking and drawing applications. Equipped with a comfortable pressure sensitive pen you can feel free to doodle when bored, or note take during those important meetings.

We have a nice application pre-installed called Notes Mobile and after messing around with it, the features it provides are awesome for business users, or even students. While you can scribble away as much as you’d like (and as messy) you can also opt for the tablet to automatically convert your writing into not only a neat and readable font, but digital format that can be saved and emailed to others. The picture below will show a few different things. The first line being the automatically converted words into a neat font provided by Lenovo — I wrote it sloppy and it adjusted to be readable and look good both. The second line is the same thing wrote by myself with no changes from the software, just as the stylus allowed. Input is very smooth, accurate and fluid. The response is fast and I could see myself writing quick notes in class with ease here. The last line I attempted to show the pressure sensitivity. “Slash” is wrote with less pressure, and “Gear” I’m applying a bit more for a bolder ink look.

Everything is adjustable from font size, style, color, and we even have a bold option. One thing worth noting for all you lefties out there (myself included) is in settings Lenovo has provided a left hand options. The ThinkPad has something called “Palm Rejection” and when the stylus is active and you place your hand fully on the display it will only recognize the pen input. This was a little goofy at first until I found the left hand palm rejection option under settings.

While not activated on my tablet out of the box Lenovo provides a 3rd party keyboard that will enable users to quickly swap from touch input, to stylus input. Writing emails, and more can all be done with the stylus should you choose not to do the “hunt and peck” thing with the on-screen keyboard.

Security

I didn’t try these features myself but Lenovo has also added a few very neat security features for business users on the ThinkPad. We have Absolute Software recovery, and McAfee Mobile Security both installed. Absolute Software will allow security commands to take complete control of the ThinkPad tablet if lost or stolen — even if the thief wipes the device back to factory state. Included is data backup as well as full remote deletion of data for those important business documents. Absolute Software will also be able to trace the tablet using the included GPS and recover a stolen device, but this is nothing new, just an added benefit of buying Lenovo.

McAfee Mobile security also proved addition support and safety while browsing the web, and also features many of the same lost or stolen features mentioned above, including data backup/restore.

Camera

The Lenovo ThinkPad features a 5 megapixel camera around back (sadly with no LED flash) and a powerful 2 megapixel camera around front for video conference and chatting. Having a better camera on the front is one more reason the ThinkPad is geared toward business professionals that need the option to video conference. Here are a few example photos with the camera for an idea of its performance.

Then a quick shot with the 2 MP front facing camera

Battery Life

Powered by a 3250 mAh battery we have averaged pretty respectable battery life so far. While it doesn’t compare to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its 7100 mAh battery the ThinkPad has performed quite well. The image below isn’t fully accurate as far as what all I’ve ran because there should be plenty of games and benchmarks listed but it does give you an idea of what to expect. I used the ThinkPad tablet off and on throughout the day. Picking it up when needed, and leaving in standby when not in use and I’ve managed about 22 hours from a single charge with 10% remaining. For continuous use it wont last that long, and you can expect to see about 7-8 hours of straight up usage. One thing to note is the screen-dim feature where the tablet will automatically sleep the screen was set by default to 30 minutes — most tablets are 1 minute. First power up I left it alone for about 20 minutes and returned surprised it was still on. I’d turn that down first thing.

Wrap-Up

This tablet is pretty decent and should be great for business users and professionals. While the stylus works for full navigation everywhere the user needs from swiping through homescreens and choosing apps and more. Certain applications have no use for it, like Documents to Go — it has no doodle or stylus support so the stylus us useless here. We can expect to see more apps take full advantage of the pen in the future and the Lenovo App shop has a few that are confirmed to support it also.

While the ThinkPad tablet offers a great overall user experience for many users, the added features I just don’t see being all that useful unless you truly need them. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with it but would be equally happy with the Transformer. On a more business or student side of things this is a great tablet and has enough features to make it worth the added bulk and weight over other tablets on the market. This all comes down to personal needs and someone wanting a tablet will all the options and ports under the sun, that also has stylus input support as well as the latest Android 3.1 Honeycomb — this is the tablet for you.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet is available now starting at just $499 by heading over to lenovo.com

This tablet broke cover way back in April then later in August we saw the first press images of the Lenovo produced tablet. Today I’ve gone ahead and unboxed this powerhouse tablet and we’ll start with the video to get you up to speed.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet hands-on

This isn’t the first time we’ve handled these tablets in our own hands and you can see even more coverage here. This Android 3.1 Honeycomb slate is powered along by a rocking NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (16 and 64GB versions available), as well as a 10.1″ IPS display that is both bright and vibrant. Lenovo has provided a wide array of ports for all types of accessories, many specifically for business minded individuals. We have a 5MP camera on the rear and a 2MP up front for the video conference users.

Nicely featuring some dedicated Android buttons this is unlike most Honeycomb tablets to date as the OS is all touch friendly and doesn’t require the buttons. Like we mentioned, for power users we have a mini HDMI port, micro-USB, a 30 pin port for docks, keyboard accessories and more. Not only that but Lenovo went a step further and outfitted this tab with a SIM slot for 3G connectivity and then a full-sized SD slot for full storage options.

We wont get into the details too much here as that will come along shortly in our full detailed review next week. Before we let you wonder I do want to mention it has a great feel with the same soft coat matte style many Lenovo laptops have graced us with over the years. Then seen in the images below you’ll be happy to know a full sized USB port will allow users to connect a keyboard or mouse, and many other things should they find the need. It does happen to also come with a stylus for that added control and accuracy as well as for taking notes and things of that nature.

Feel free to look over a few quick photos below in the gallery and check back often as we’ll have the full review for you shortly

Hardware

Sony hasn’t strayed too far from the Honeycomb herd with the Tablet S’ core specifications. Powered by NVIDIA’s dual-core Tegra 2 paired with 1GB of RAM, its dimensions are kept compact thanks to a slightly smaller than usual 9.4-inch capacitive touchscreen. This still runs at 1280 x 800, like 10.1-inch Honeycomb slates, so the only real difference is a slightly higher pixel density. The display overall is a success, with wide viewing angles and solid contrast, though as is often the case it’s highly reflective and a fingerprint magnet.

Where Sony first pulls away from the pack is in the physical design; this is no basic slab. Sony calls it “folding design” and says the tapering form-factor is based on a folded-back magazine. The company has even carried that through to the rear panel, emphasizing the asymmetry with a ridgeline where the curve ends, and using contrasting white and black plastic to highlight. Ports – including a full-sized SD card reader, useful for quickly checking shots from your digital camera, and microUSB, though no HDMI – are clustered in the white end-caps, some under flip-out panels.

It’s a design concept we’ve seen attempted before – Notion Ink’s Adam, for instance, has a swollen battery bulge intended to offer an easier grip – but Sony’s downsizing abilities make it more successful. The Tablet S is purposefully made with off-center balance so that, when you’re holding it in portrait orientation and gripping the thicker edge, the weight is biased to your hand. That reduces the leverage effect; we found we could hold the slate single-handedly for longer than with regular tablets. The downside to the lightweight is that it feels less “premium” than, say, the aluminum iPad 2, instead being more plasticky like the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Unfortunately it’s also – even at its thinnest edge – thicker than the Samsung.

In landscape orientation, meanwhile, the Tablet S’ profile angles it on the table, mimicking the slight elevation many cases offer for easier typing. Sony says it helps avoid lighting reflections, too, though we still found ourselves shuffling around the glossy tablet frequently. A matte screen may not lead to the same eye-popping colors as a gloss-finish one, but it’s still a sacrifice we’d be happy to make.

Sony will offer two models, one with 16GB of onboard storage for $499, and another with 32GB for $599. Connectivity on both includes the usual WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, together with USB and a headphone socket. There’s no 3G/4G option at this stage, unlike the AT&T 4G support the Tablet S’ clamshell sibling, the Tablet P, will arrive with. Up front is a 0.3-megapixel camera for video calls, while a 5-megapixel camera capable of 720p HD video recording is on the back.

More surprising is the return of the infrared (IR) port, though as with Vizio’s tablet it’s here for universal remote control duties rather than sluggish file transfers. Sony preloads a Remote Control app, which, happily, works with TVs, cable boxes and other A/V hardware from other brands too. Setup is straightforward, requiring a selection of category (e.g. HDTV) and then manufacturer, and there’s a basic button layout for full control along with a swipe-gesture based channel/volume control, which lets you flick through without having to look down at the screen. What you can’t do is customize the layout: we’d like to have combined controls for several pieces of A/V kit onto a single panel, rather than have to jump between them via the app home screen, as well as ditch a few of the less frequently used buttons.

Software

Like other tablet manufacturers before them, Sony has been unable to leave Honeycomb alone. The software modifications are less obvious, initially, than say Samsung’s TouchWiz UI on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but there are more preloaded apps for what Sony says is a boosted “out of box experience.”

Preloads generally make us wary, but Sony’s choice isn’t too bad. The Tablet S will get a selection of homegrown and third-party titles, including Evernote, FourSquare and USTREAM though they weren’t present on our review unit, plus the Remote Control app mentioned before. There’s also Sony’s Reader app for ebooks, the Reader Store, a File Transfer app, along with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited. It’s also PlayStation Certified for mobile gaming, so you can load PSOne and PSP titles just as on the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play.

Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes will come with the slate, and Sony expects to launch a dedicated PlayStation Store for tablet gaming later in 2011. Since there are no hardware controls, the Tablet S uses on-screen buttons: a D-pad is on the left side and the familiar action buttons on the right. The exact positioning of these can be adjusted according to where your fingers most comfortably fall, though we reckon the clamshell Tablet P may be the gamers’ choice thanks to its more compact scale. The classic and portable titles should have no problems running on the Tegra 2 chipset, though they won’t be available to test until the tablet’s launch.

Other changes are more subtle. Sony has polished the homescreen transitions as part of what it calls “Swift and Smooth”; it did seem like there was a little less jerk or lag in swiping between homescreens, but it’s not a groundbreaking difference. Better is Quick View in the browser, baking a proprietary algorithm into the native Honeycomb app that speeds up webpage load times as well as pre-caching offscreen portions of each site. That means less catch-up when you scroll, though it may have an impact on data use if you’re relying on a mobile hotspot to get online.

While the homescreen looks like the Android norm, Sony also has its Favorites screen, a Pulse-style shortcut page with nine tiles on the right side and a dynamic preview window on the left. Apps and content can be pinned to each tile, either a single program or recently played content, your bookmarks, browser history or recently added music. There’s plenty of nice pivoting animation as you flick between each one, though we wish there was a way to set Favorites as the default desktop.

Just as the universal remote app tries to join the dots between the Tablet S and the rest of your A/V kit, there’s DLNA support on the tablet to handle media streaming. The audio and video apps have “Throw” buttons, which automatically scan for DLNA-compliant hardware – such as speakers or your network-connected HDTV – and then allow you to drag & drop the currently playing content to those outputs. It works just as you’d expect, and we were able to quickly get video recorded using the tablet streaming to our smart TV. For all Sony’s branding this is regular DLNA at its core, which means that other brands of TV and speaker system are supported (they’ll need to support MPEG4 rendering for video use, however).

Honeycomb still lags behind iOS for tablet-specific apps, and the Android Market doesn’t exactly help what with its filtering shortcomings. Sony has begun a new site, called Select App, to guide new users toward key software, split across various categories like home, lifestyle and entertainment. It’s sparse on information – just a short blurb about each app – and there’s no way for Tablet S owners to leave their own reviews or suggestions, but it’s better than nothing. What will make the difference is how often it’s updated, something Sony isn’t yet pinning down.

Battery

Sony claims iPad 2 equaling battery life from the 5,000 mAh battery in the Tablet S, and our experience suggests that’s a reasonably fair estimate. With mixed use but a solid amount of browsing and gaming, together with multimedia playback, we saw approximately ten hours of runtime. Less ambitious use, like ereading, and more casual browsing should see that extend even further.

Accessories

Sony has two key Tablet S accessories initially, a Bluetooth Keyboard ($79.99) and a Desk Cradle ($39.99). The former – which in fact works with any Bluetooth tablet – is a low-profile ‘board with a similar layout to the keys on Sony’s VAIO laptop range. It has a line of dedicated keys for Android tablets, such as Home, Search, the contextual menu, etc., which work with models from other companies.

The Desk Cradle, meanwhile, is a little less useful. It only charges the Tablet S, and has no ports or other connectivity. While it can be adjusted for angle, it only has two positions rather than free movement. Drop the slate in, and a menu offers a choice of displaying the gallery, a desk clock or the preloaded chumby app with its various widgets. With no HDMI output on either tablet or dock, there’s currently no way to hook the Tablet S up to a big-screen TV, Sony instead relying on the DLNA support.

Wrap-Up

Sony’s UX series VAIO UMPCs were, with their tiny slide-out keyboards and futuristic design, innovative enough to still show up in motion pictures as space-age props long after their actual hardware was outdated. The company has attempted some of that creativity with the Sony Tablet S, too, though it’s far more in line with what other Android device manufacturers are pushing out. We’ll have to wait for the dual-display Tablet P, with its pair of 5.5-inch touchscreens, for the truly eye-catching hardware.

Starting at $499 when the Tablet S goes on sale in mid-September, Sony matches the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 pricing. That’s perhaps a brave strategy given the Apple slate’s current dominance, though viewed against the Samsung each has its strengths and weaknesses. Sony has packed the Tablet S with a higher resolution rear camera than that in the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the custom apps are arguably more useful than Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, especially the universal remote; on the flip-side, it’s a chunkier tablet than the Samsung and the asymmetrical design forces compromises in terms of bulk that have to be balanced against the increased ease of holding it in portrait orientation. Performance and app selection are in the same ballpark, for the most part.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet sports a 10.1-inch WXGA 1280×800 16:10 IPS panel display covered with Gorilla Glass. It runs on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and has a storage capacity of up to 64GB. It has USB 2.0 and micro-USB ports along with HDMI-out and SD card slot. It delivers a professional multimedia and entertainment experience and fully supports Adobe Flash.

But it’s main differentiators are in its optional digital stylus and its enterprise security features. It offers network passwords, full device and SD card encryption, as well as lost-device disablement and anti-theft software. The 16GB WiFi-only model is listed at $499, the 32GB WiFi/3G model is $569, and the 64GB WiFi/3G model is $669. They are all available to order now and estimated to ship by August 29.

[via Lenovo]

The FCC filing includes a line drawing of the ThinkPad’s backside, but reveals nothing about the tablet that we don’t already know. We’ve seen plenty of leaked press shots previously that show both the front and back sides of the tablet in great detail. Plus, we’ve also gotten our hands-on videos demonstrating the tablets unique interface.

The ThinkPad tablet will be sporting an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, dual cameras, and plenty of ports including micro-USB and HDMI. An optional digitizer pen for the capacitive touchscreen will also be available, but at an additional cost. The tablet is priced from $499 for the 16GB model and from $529 for the 16GB model plus the stylus.

[via Android Community]

Hardware

The Lenovo IdeaPad K1 sports a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor along with 1GB of RAM. Its 10.1-inch multitouch display has a 1280 x 800 resolution with a 16:10 aspect ratio and very good viewing angles all around as can be expected from an IPS panel. It has an internal storage of 32GB that can be doubled with a microSD card of up to 32GB. It also has a front-facing 2-megapixel camera as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash.

When it comes to connectivity options, however, the IdeaPad K1 is a bit lacking. It doesn’t help that we just finished reviewing the Toshiba Thrive, which spoiled us with full-sized ports. Still, we’re not asking for that much—a micro-USB port would suffice. But the IdeaPad K1 has no USB ports whatsoever. Neither does the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, but at least that device is so crazy thin and light that we’ll make an excuse for it.

In lieu of a USB port for data transfer and charging, the IdeaPad K1 comes with its own proprietary pin connector port. Two of these cables are included in the box, one ending with a USB male and the other ending with a wall socket adapter. But do note, like with other Honeycomb devices, that if you’re a Mac user, you will need the Android File Transfer app for your computer to recognize and access the tablet.

You can always transfer data using a microSD card, but getting to it is a pain on the IdeaPad K1. The microSD card slot can only be popped open by poking something into a tiny pinhole next to its cover. Lenovo was kind enough to provide a small metal clip specifically for this job, but it’s just the kind of thing you’ll lose within the first week.

The IdeaPad K1 does have a micro-HDMI port and it supports 1080p full HD video-out and video playback. It also supports Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

Physically, the IdeaPad K1 feels comfortable to hold. At 1.65lbs it’s not much lighter than the Toshiba Thrive, which weighed in at 1.66lbs, but it does feel much lighter, possibly an illusion created by its thinner profile measuring 13.3mm.

The tablet comes in four colors of black, red, white and brown. We have the black model and the backside is covered with a dense honeycomb pattern that adds both a sleek industrial look and a grippy texture. The design for the back camera cutout, the Lenovo logo, and the two stereo speaker grilles are all pleasantly subtle.

Other external elements include the physical power on/off button, volume rocker, screen-lock switch, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Additionally, there’s an unmarked physical home-screen button that also makes it easy to take screenshots by simply holding down the button until an onscreen indicator pops up.

Software & Performance

So the interface is where the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 is supposed to really shine. Instead of the stock Android 3.1 Honeycomb, Lenovo has put a lot of effort into adding some personal touches to improve usability straight out of the box. This is a move that could either innovate on or detract from the Honeycomb experience.

Let’s start off with what’s probably the best feature of Lenovo’s customized interface, and that’s the ability to close apps from the task switcher. A red circle with a white “X’ appears in the top right corner of each layer thumbnail, on which you can press to close the individual app instantly. This is rather convenient and an improvement that stock Android 3.1 Honeycomb should consider.

Less favorable is the Lenovo Launcher, which appears on the home screen as four squares that can be customized to show the functions you use most. To the left of the squares is a button for customization and to the right is the Android settings button. This feature seems rather unnecessary, unattractive, and a bit redundant given that an App Wheel feature is also offered.

The App Wheel button sits at the center of the bottom menu bar. When pressed, the App Wheel appears on the right side of the screen, where thumbnails of your favorite apps can be rotated through. The selection of apps in the App Wheel is fully customizable and is not representative of your most recent or most used apps.

Lenovo also offers its own App Shop that takes the uncertainty out of shopping on the Android Market by vetting apps for validity, usefulness, and to avoid apps that contain malware or viruses.

Furthermore, the IdeaPad K1 supports Flash content right out of the box and is preloaded with over 30 apps. These include both free apps as well as those that would normally cost you to purchase, such as Documents To Go, which sells for $14.99. Among the preloaded apps is Netflix. Lenovo proudly asserts to be the first to offer the app preloaded on a tablet coupled with hardware-enabled DRM for streaming Netflix movies, TV shows and more anywhere, anytime.

The video quality was excellent and the two stereo speakers worked well and surprisingly better than those on the Toshiba Thrive, which were too quiet. Despite being situated on the back-side, the speakers are angled such that they are never covered up completely no matter what angle the tablet is held.

Now for performance figures, we used the synthetic benchmarking tools Quadrant Pro, Vellamo, and Smartbench 2011. In both the Vellamo and Smartbench 2011 benchmarks, the IdeaPad K1 scored behind the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Battery

The IdeaPad K1 has a 2-cell battery rated for up to 10 hours of standard use. After intermittent use of the tablet with 100% screen brightness while surfing the web over WiFi and watching YouTube videos, we were able to get around 8 hours. This is a bit better than the Toshiba Thrive, which pulled in about 6 hours. The IdeaPad K1 does take awhile to charge back up, so keep the charging cable handy. And, definitely make sure not to lose the cable, since the proprietary pin connector port makes it more difficult to replace.

Wrap-Up

The Lenovo IdeaPad K1 offers some unique features at a $499 price tag for a 32GB tablet that, for some, could make it worth the minor trade-offs. Plus, it does sport competitive specs that yield good performance and excellent battery life.

It may not be as productivity-oriented as the Toshiba Thrive with all its ports, but it also doesn’t carry the undesirable bulk. However, starved of ports, it’s still not quite as thin and light as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 or the iPad 2. And if having 32GB onboard storage is of no concern, then a cheaper alternative could be the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer.

For you to ultimately choose the Lenovo IdeaPad K1, it will be because you desire the storage capacity at the lower price, you don’t mind not having a USB port or difficult access to the microSD card slot, and you like the custom interface features.

Below you will find the details on who the lucky few winners are but first make sure to check out our week 1 & 2 winners post. We were lucky enough to have a few more tablets to giveaway and today is the day they will learn where their new homes are. We literally had thousands of entries and had to create multiple giveaway threads over on Google+ as we continued to reach the comment limits over on the new social network site.

We loved seeing what all our readers had to say as we went through all the entries and had a blast reading the comments. Without talking too much I’ll just announce the winner of week 3 for the Acer Iconia A500 tablet below.

(drum-roll…)

Kirsty Lawer WINNAH!

Congrats! Now you can be one happy Androinerd, you are the winner and soon to be proud owner of a brand new Acer Iconia Tab A500 NVIDIA dual-core Android tablet.

We also were nice enough to have this same giveaway running strong on our sister site Android Community and they’ve been giving away a wide array of Android tablets too. This week they had the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and you can check out that giveaway right here. This was the final week for our giveaway so I might as well announce the Android Community winner here while we are at it right?

Josh Oman WINNAH #2!

And there you have it, the winners for both SlashGear and Android Community neatly for your convenience. This was an extremely awesome giveaway and we had a huge turn out and loved every minute. Now remember guys, this isn’t the first and most definitely will NOT be the last giveaway we do here at SlashGear as we have some huge plans over the next few weeks that we will be sure to announce shortly. Don’t forget to check SlashGear.com daily for not only your tech and mobile news, but for the next big giveaway when we do get things started.

In closing we would like to say thank you to everyone that entered, and give a huge thumbs up and THANK YOU to NVIDIA for the prizing and making this entire thing possible. Not only do they provide the world with amazingly fast and powerful Tegra 2 dual-core NVIDIA powered tablets, but they were nice enough to pass a few along to us for our faithful readers to enjoy. Stay tuned for our next giveaway coming shortly!

Thanks!

We’ve recently done a full review on the Toshiba Thrive and so we also checked for the update on our unit. It is indeed there as the screenshot below indicates. To get the update, you’ll have to use Toshiba’s Service Station utility app, which can be found in your apps panel. Not only should it fix the resume-from-sleep issue, it should also add some improvements to multimedia playback.

Toshiba released the following statement regarding the software update:

A limited number of Thrive Tablet users have experienced a Resume issue when in Sleep mode. Toshiba has released a software update to resolve this issue, improving the sleep-and-resume performance, as well as enhancing the multimedia playback capabilities of the device. The software update can be downloaded through the Toshiba Service Station utility app found on the Thrive Tablet.

If you experienced this issue with your Toshiba Thrive, let us know if the update fixes the problem for you. And also let us know how you’re enjoying your Thrive’s abundance of ports.

Outwardly there are very few indications that the Verizon Tab is any different. Both white and grey versions are available, each with either 16GB or 32GB of flash storage. The physical controls have shifted a little from the Galaxy Tab 10.1 we reviewed earlier this year: power and volume buttons are now on the left edge, rather than up top. A 3-megapixel camera on the back is still present, along with a front-facing webcam for video calls.

Performance is still generally slick, though we’ve found Honeycomb can bog down somewhat over time. The Tegra 2 is still swift and – although there are some hiccups in Android – the user experience is solid. The real improvement, though, is being able to get online without considering WiFi coverage, and doing so at LTE speeds.

We’ll be benchmarking the Verizon Galaxy Tab 10.1′s 4G abilities for the full SlashGear review, to see if this particular variant is worth both $529.99+ and two year’s commitment to a data plan. Until then, enjoy our hands-on video!

Samsung Tab 10.1 Specs: http://device.androidcommunity.com/galaxy-tab-10-1-89/

Android Honeycomb 3.1 review here.

Samsung Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE on Verizon unboxing and hands-on

The image was leaked on AsiaDroid showing the Dell Streak Pro looking ready to ship and running Android 3.1 Honeycomb. It’s expected to ship in China as soon as tomorrow, although no details were revealed about it coming stateside. The 10.1-inch tablet features a 1280 x 800 resolution display, 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of RAM, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Something interesting about the image is that the Dell Streak Pro is pictured alongside the 5-inch Streak and the 7-inch Streak 7, with the latter slate noticeably running Honeycomb rather than the Froyo it originally shipped with. This means that the Streak 7 could very soon be getting an upgrade to Android 3.2 Honeycomb.

[via Android Community]

Hardware

When most tablets are feeling the pressure to be thin and light, the Toshiba Thrive balks at the trend, choosing individuality instead with a weight of 1.66 pounds. Although this surpasses the Motorola XOOM and the HP TouchPad by just 0.06 pounds, it does put the Thrive at top of the heavyweight list. To make matters worse is the bulk. The Thrive measures 0.62 inches thick, almost double that of the Apple iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, on second thought, this thickness plus the textured rubbery backing do make it more comfortable to grip compared to even a slightly lighter tablet with a much slimmer profile.

The Thrive has a 10.1-inch display with a 1280 x 800 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. This makes it just a tad narrower than the iPad 2 and a bit longer. Display quality is excellent with wide viewing angles as you’d expect from an IPS panel. In landscape orientation, the widescreen works nicely for viewing movies but makes it a bit unwieldy when attempting to hold in one hand and navigate the interface with the other. But more often than not, it’ll be spending time on your lap, on the table, or on a stand, unless you’re intentionally trying to give your hands and wrists a good workout.

Inside, the Thrive has a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and three options for onboard flash memory: 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB. This brings us to one of the Thrive’s strengths, which is the full-sized SD card slot that supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC, meaning storage is expandable by up to 128GB. That’s especially convenient if you already own several SD cards used for your digital cameras. Transferring photos on a vacation would mean simply plugging in your SD card to the Thrive eliminating the need for a card reader or to haul your laptop.

The Thrive sports camera specs similar to the Motorola XOOM with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of 720p HD video capture. However, unlike the Motorola XOOM, the Thrive lacks the dual-LED flash, or any flash for that matter, rendering its cameras useless in low light conditions.

Some annoyances with the Thrive besides the bulk are the three LED indicator lights on the front for power, battery level, and Wi-Fi connection. They are rather unnecessary and distracting. Sound quality is average, slightly tinny, and on the quiet side despite the stereo speakers—not deserving its own paragraph of praise that’s for sure. The power button and volume rocker are a bit hard to press, although this helps prevent accidental impressions.

Below is the unboxing and hands-on video posted previously.

Connectivity and Battery

The Thrive’s connectivity and battery is where it really shines. Like no other tablet, it throws in a full-sized HDMI-out and a full-sized USB 2.0 port in addition to the common mini-USB port. The full-sized USB port gives the Thrive an almost laptop-like functionality allowing you to attach hard drives, flash drives, keyboards, and other accessories you normally wouldn’t be able to on a tablet. It also has the standard support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The swappable battery is another standout feature that allows you to replace the battery yourself if needed or to keep an extra in tow. You can purchase an additional 2030mAh battery from Toshiba for $80. It’s rated for up to 11 hours, although our usage alotted us about 6 hours.

The Thrive can also run without the battery when it’s plugged in. Its power cable, however, is reminiscent of a laptop cable complete with a power brick that will surely be a pain to travel with and is quite the opposite from the lightweight charging cables we’re used to seeing with other tablets.

To get to the battery, you will have to remove the back cover, which is a bit tricky. On the top edge of the tablet there is a locking switch for the cover. Once unlocked, the best way to pry it free is to dig your nails into the two speaker slots, using your thumbs and forefingers to separate.

The removable back cover can also be swapped for 5 other color options, including Silvery Sky, Blue Moon, Raspberry Fusion, Lavender Bliss, and Green Apple. They retail for $20 each.

Software & Performance

The Thrive gets extra points for having stock Android 3.1 Honeycomb without any customized Toshiba interface running on top. This not only means unhindered Android performance, but also faster updates in the future. You can check out our Android 3.1 Honeycomb review to learn more about what you can expect from this version of the platform.

We ran the Vellamo Mobile Web Benchmark, which tests browser performance and stability in the areas of JavaScript, rendering, networking, and user experience using pixel manipulation, blending, page download, reload, cache performance, WebKit, SunSpider, and the V8 benchmarking kit from Google. For user interface and experience, it uses multiple scrolling tests and sample web pages. The Thrive scored a 968, putting it just ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 also running Android 3.1 Honeycomb. In particular, the Thrive performed better in the areas of rendering and networking.

We also did an additional Quadrant benchmark for good measure, although the lack of a tablet in the comparison results isn’t quite as informative. Perhaps more useful is the SmartBench results below that also include the stats for other Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablets such as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The Thrive does come with some custom Toshiba apps including a Toshiba File Manager, which is an intuitive and convenient Windows-style file management system that lets you see and access all your files in one location. You can easily switch between viewing files on the Thrive from those on the inserted SD card or those on an attached USB device. Moving single or multiple files from one storage location to another is also very simple. Below is a quick demo.

Wrap-Up

If you’re considering the Toshiba Thrive, you must really desire some full-sized HDMI and USB ports along with a full-sized SD card slot and a swappable battery on a tablet form factor because that’s what sets this slate apart and makes up for the extra bulkiness. Another reason you may be interested in the Thrive is that you can get an Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet with premium specs at a very competitive price. The 8GB model retails for $429.99, the 16GB model for $479.99, and the 32GB model for $579.99.

Its obvious weakness is the bulk but its design choices don’t help either. Chrome accents around the camera are a bit tacky and the LED status indicators were better left behind for its laptop cousins. The back cover design is sort of neat with a rubbery feel, interchangeable colors, and a groovy pattern. But at the same time, it makes the tablet feel plasticky.

Futhermore, it seems as though the Toshiba Thrive is, in its own strange way, attempting to straddle the line between a laptop and a tablet. But is it the best or worst of both worlds?

It delivers the connectivity options and battery replaceability of a laptop, but also the undesirable chunkiness and brick-style power cable. Productivity-wise, it’s still not nearly as functional as a small laptop if you seriously plan on getting some work done. Laptops are also less awkward to use with screens held up by hinges, creating less strain and fatigue on your hands and wrists. But then if the Thrive is used as just a tablet for media consumption, it’s too unwieldy and unnecessarily bloated.

Either way, the Thrive is a unique option when it comes to your tablet purchase and will have a warm place for some of you out there. It reminds us of what’s nice about the Android platform, and that’s options. You can have the sexy runway Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 starved of ports or the homely Toshiba Thrive ready to support more of your needs.

[device id=567]

The Toshiba Thrive features a 10.1-inch capacitive multi-touch screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Inside, it boasts an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM. It features a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of 720p HD video capture.

And unfortunately, it is just as heavy as it looks, if not more. It’s incredibly bulky at 0.6 inches thick. But with the extra room, the Thrive does throw in some unique features such as a full-sized USB port, a full-sized HDMI-out, and a full-sized SD card slot. There’s a user-replaceable battery that’s rated for up to 7 hours of continuous HD video playback along with a back cover that has a rubberized surface with a nice grippy texture and can be swapped for different color options.

The Android 3.1 Honeycomb install is plain vanilla, which means no custom UI layer running on top that could slow things down or make future updates difficult. However, there are several preloaded items that give a little bloat. There’s the Windows-style Toshiba File Manager, the Swype keyboard UI, and also the Resolution Plus software that cleans up and upscales videos. Additionally, the Thrive comes with hardware accelerated Adoble Flash and supports console-quality gaming.

The Toshiba Thrive comes in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB models starting at $429.99. I’ll be spending some time with this big boy, so make sure to check back for the full review.

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 Tablet

The IdeaPad K1 isn’t quite as new as Lenovo might have you believe. On sale as the LePad in China for several months now, and tracing its inception back – in one form or another – to the U1 Hybrid of CES 2010, it’s the more mainstream of the two new tablets. Up front is a decent 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 touchscreen with 10-point multitouch and reasonable viewing angles, while inside are the usual 1GB of RAM, choice of 16, 32 or 64GB of flash memory and WiFi b/g/n. Lenovo will offer 3G on certain models.

Like the TouchPad, there’s a sense that Lenovo signed off on the K1′s design when the first-gen iPad was around. In comparison to the iPad 2, it’s a chunkier slate; 13.3mm thick versus, say, the Galaxy Tab 10.1′s slimline 8.6mm. Lenovo does at least use that space to accommodate a range of ports, with a micro HDMI output requiring only the right sized cable rather than, as on the Apple and Samsung tablets, adapter dongles.

Performance from the dual-core Tegra 2 is par for the course, with Honeycomb’s animations normally slick but occasionally hiccupping; whether that’s the relatively young OS or the chipset itself remains to be seen. On top, Lenovo loads its own Social Touch interface, for easy access to Twitter and Facebook – though to be honest we’d prefer native Honeycomb apps from both networks – as well as its own music and movie players with DRM support. The company is keen to point out that the IdeaPad K1 and the ThinkPad Tablet are both the first slates to be Netflix-certified for digital streaming, though obviously you’ll need a subscription if you want to use that.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet

The ThinkPad Tablet is far more in keeping with Lenovo’s heritage, endearingly blunt-edged and with distinctive physical buttons on the fascia. It’s much as you’d expect should you break off the display section of a convertible Lenovo notebook PC, slightly thicker than the K1 (at 14mm) but lighter, at 715g (for the WiFi-only models; the optional 3G modem adds a further 15g).

It also offers a digital pen for more precise control and input, again like those Lenovo convertibles. The stylus – which is topped by a TrackPoint-red end cap – supports not only handwritten text entry but also document mark-up and drawing. This isn’t a cheap pseudo-finger stylus, either; it supports pressure sensitivity, too. In practice, it’s still lacks the precision we’ve seen Windows-based tablets manage, but we like to have the option of either finger or pen input. To be clear, the pen is certainly not necessary – Lenovo’s $499 entry-level ThinkPad Tablet doesn’t include it; you’ll pay $30 more if you want the stylus – but it goes a long way in differentiating the slate.

ASUS’ Eee Pad Transformer showed us how well a keyboard dock could fit with a Honeycomb tablet, and Lenovo offers something similar in the shape of the ThinkPad Tablet Keyboard Folio. Unlike the ASUS, it lacks an integrated battery to extend the tablet’s runtime, but you do get a full keyboard – with decent travel and feel, better than the Eee Pad’s – along with a TrackPoint nubbin for navigation.

It works well, and while a regular ThinkPad notebook would probably be a more useful all-rounder, it’s worth remembering that the ThinkPad Tablet plus the $99 keyboard dock and stylus comes to just half the price of Lenovo’s mainstream X Series tablets. What we’d like to see is more custom software to use with the stylus; HTC has demonstrated, with the Flyer, the benefits of integrating apps like Evernote with a digital pen, and Lenovo could certainly better differentiate the ThinkPad Tablet by following a similar strategy.

Lenovo Android App Shop

That may well happen, of course, thanks to the new Lenovo App Shop. Co-existing on both slates alongside the official Android Market, the App Shop offers selected titles that Lenovo has hand-picked, checked over for compatibility and approved for use on the K1 and ThinkPad Tablet. At the moment it’s being positioned as a way for Lenovo customers to get a more polished experience with third-party software – having an Apple App Store style approvals process should cut down on app disappointment – but we can envisage a time when Lenovo uses the App Shop to push out its own exclusive software too.

Wrap-Up

Of the two, it’s the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet that we’re most interested in: the stylus and the styling add up to a distinctive slate that doesn’t merely attempt to ape Apple’s iPad. The IdeaPad K1, meanwhile, may struggle some: Lenovo’s custom UI isn’t extensive or comprehensive enough to act as a real differentiator for most users, while the design is chunky and none of the specifications really stand out. We’ll reserve final judgment on both models until review units drop, however, so until then enjoy our hands-on videos!

The Toshiba Thrive is a 10.1-inch tablet running Android 3.1 Honeycomb with an NVIDIA 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The tablet will also feature a special haptic display, lock-screen button, pre-installed Swype keyboard UI, a Resolution Plus software for upscaling video content, and a removable battery rated for up to seven hours. It also supports Wi-Fi, HDMI, Bluetooth, and full-sized SD card slot.

The tablet was rumored early on to have a $700 price tag, but seeing how the Motorola XOOM sales went, Toshiba chose a much wiser $430 starting price for the 8GB model. An optional docking station can be had for an extra $59.99.

For a chance to win a free limited edition of the Thrive, Toshiba has created a set of missions that a mass number of fans must complete in order to acquire a code to unlock the next mission. Right now, the contest has progressed to Mission #4 and you will need to go here to watch the video to enter the code for one more step closer to winning the tablet.

[via Android Community]

The OliPad 110 will feature an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor and a 10-inch screen with resolution bumped up to 1280 x 800. It will have 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, as well as a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. Connectivity will include a micro HDMI-out, a mini USB slot, and a microSD card slot.

The new tablet with Android 3.1 Honeycomb, hardware improvements, and better display resolution is a nice upgrade from the original OliPad 100, touted as Italy’s first ever Android tablet. The OliPad 110 is also slightly thinner than the 100, packing in more performance in a sleeker package. It’s believed to be set for a July launch with pricing to be around 399 euros or about $549.

[via Android Community]

The Archos 80 G9 features is the 8-inch version with a 4:3 ratio and 1024 x 768 resolution. The Archos 101 G9 is the 10-inch version with a 16:10 ratio and 1280 x 800 resolution. Inside, the G9 series is powered by Texas Instrument’s 1.5GHz dual-core OMAP 4 processor that Archos touts as 50% faster than NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processors. There’s also HDMI output and support for 1080p playback.

But perhaps most impressive is the use of Seagate’s HDD with a 250GB capacity that’s the largest used on any tablet currently in the market. Archos says its 8 times more storage at the same cost of a standard 32GB tablet and with all that space you can store over 50 hours of full 1080p HD content.

Both tablets are 3G-ready, meaning that there’s only one version instead of both a Wi-Fi-only and a 3G/Wi-Fi version. The one version supports Wi-Fi and can also support 3G with the addition of a USB dongle. The Archos G9 3G Stick is designed to fit into the back of all G9 tablets to get 3G connectivity. It costs $49 for the 3G Stick.

The Archos 80 G9 is priced at only $279 while the Archos 101 G9 is priced at $349. Competing tablets with similar specs are generally priced starting at $499. This is quite an amazing deal and its scheduled to arrive by the end of September.

The XVT 6 series will be 3D TVs offered in 47-inch and 55-inch sizes. Both will run Android 3.1 Honeycomb, which Google announced to be its future Google TV platform back at I/O. This means that the Android Market will also be arriving with these new TVs, although Vizio’s Via Plus services will still remain. The TV sets will feature 480Hz LCD panels, and support for both Bluetooth and touchpad controls. They should ship by this December and include four pairs of 3D glasses.

Additionally, Vizio will be offering new XVT Razor Cinemawide screens that boast 21:9 aspect ratios similar to what you get in actual movie theaters. It will have a 2560×1080 resolution with 120Hz refresh rate and come in both a 50-inch and a 58-inch model. However, there won’t be support for Google TV or touchpad controls. But, there will be Bluetooth support, smart-dimming LED backlights, and four pairs of 3D glasses. This series is scheduled to ship this October.

And for a mid-range line, Vizio has the M3D Razor, which features a standard ratio display with 240Hz refresh rate and Bluetooth support. This series will be available in three sizes ranging from 42 to 55 inches and will begin shipping in August to September, with the smaller version due out first.

[via Electronista]

As for the delay – if you’re still understanding the device to be being released in July, you’re still good to go. The delay comes for people in locations where the device was supposed to be released much closer to now. Another factoid that’s come to light with this model number switch is that some of the original model number 23 will be sent out as planned to businesses that had pre-ordered them. Thus far it appears that Japanese groups looking to use this tablet as a business tool are the only ones affected by this situation, but the spread may hit the United States as well.

And what about those lovely silver backs you see in the image above? Certainly a cool improvement over the stark black backs we’ve seen thus far, yes? We’re hoping this comes as an option for the US release like the Motorola XOOM came in black or silver depending on if you had the Verizon carried model or the Wi-Fi only device.

This device has had several pricetags attached, everywhere from $700 all the way down to $449 back to $479 and up to $579. The last three numbers appear to be the closest to reality, all of them accounted for in this massive factoid post where the 3.1 Honeycomb rumor began.

What do you think? Sound like the Android tablet for you? For a device that was once rumored to be the next Google Nexus device, it’s certainly generally OK from what we can see here. On the other hand, more competition is always good, yeah?

[via AkihabaraNews]

Of special note, though you should by all means understand that this is true of any update to your mobile operating system, Google notes the following on safety for your data:

The update will install the latest version of the Android platform — Android 3.1 — on your device. Your apps, photos, or other stored data will not be affected in most cases.

You should of course always back up your data before updating your system an in all cases make sure any sensitive information is stored in a safe place away from the device being updated. That said, be ready for a version of Android that at first will seem rather similar to the Honeycomb you’ve been using all along, with improvements mostly coming behind the scenes. Have a look at our full review of Android 3.1 Honeycomb as done on a Motorola XOOM for a glimpse of what you’ll be working with.

Additionally you may want to check out our review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review (Limited Edition) if you’re considering purchasing one through some 3rd party source, as that’s the only place you’re going to be able to purchase said device at this very moment. Our pals over on Android Community also have a review of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wi-Fi edition which does already feature Android 3.1 Honeycomb too – thusly you could check that out before deciding if you want to update your Limited edition unit.

Now then, for the words directly from Google’s mouth, have a look here at what attendees of the 2011 Google I/O convention are receiving:

Hello,

As a registered attendee of Google I/O 2011, you may have been eligible to receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (GT-P7510) tablet at the event.

The purpose of this email is to let you know that a system update is now available for your device. The update will install the latest version of the Android platform — Android 3.1 — on your device. Your apps, photos, or other stored data will not be affected in most cases.

Android 3.1 includes a variety of new user features and developer APIs, including Open Accessory and USB host, support for mouse and joystick input, resizeable homescreen widgets, and more. For a complete overview of what’s new, see the Android 3.1 Platform Highlights. For an introduction to the new developer APIs, see the Android 3.1 API Overview.

We encourage you to install the update at your earliest convenience and give the new user features and APIs a try. If you want to use the new APIs in your apps, the Android 3.1 development platform is available through the Android SDK Manager tool. If you haven’t yet installed the SDK, you can download it from this location:

http://developer.android.com/sdk/

To download the update, you’ll have to do at least two things, the first of which being that you’ll have to set up a Samsung account. To do this, head to Settings > Accounts & Sync > Add Account > Samsung account. Once you’ve set up an account, make sure you’re signed in, and continue on to downloading and installing the update. To access the update, you’ll have to head to Settings > About Tablet > Software update. Once there, you’ll just need to accept download, install update, and reboot your device.

Google also offers the following tips on what do to in preparation of grabbing this update, all along the lines of keeping your data safe should something go awry during the process:

• Before starting the update, ensure that your tablet’s battery is fully charged. When the battery is charged, disconnect the charger from the device. During the update, do not connect the charger to your device.
• Ensure that the tablet has network access over a Wi-Fi connection.
• Ensure that you are currently signed in to your Google account in Settings > Accounts & Sync.
• If you encrypted your tablet (through Settings > Location & Security > Encryption), please note that you must disable decryption and perform a factory reset of the device before continuing. The factory reset will erase all data on the device. For automated backup and restore for your Google account, you can enable Settings > Privacy > Backup and restore. To reset your device, use Settings > Privacy > Personal data > Factory data reset.

Once you’re all set, download, install, and you’ll be good to go! Let us know how it goes for you, and good luck!

ALSO note that this should continue to pave the way for TouchWiz UX 4.0 which you can get a preview of in the video below, as captured by us earlier this year at CTIA 2011:

First off we would like to thank every single one of our readers that voted on either our SlashGear Facebook Page or the Android Community Page. Between both sites we had tons and tons of entries and it was an extremely hard choice to single it down to one lucky reader but enough of that, its time to announce the winner… (Drum-roll please)…

Jorge Conty! Congratulations Jorge! You have just won yourself a shiny new Android 3.1 Honeycomb Tablet. Hurray! Click here for his winning comment.

The entries have been counted and it looks like Ben for AndroidCommunity was the winning vote by Jorge for the Unboxing War Number One. That makes Android Community (1) and SlashGear (0) but don’t worry we plan to have more unboxing wars and giveaways coming soon so stay tuned right here at your favorite gadget and tech site — SlashGear!

Even though it looks a little different on the back it is the same amazing hardware so don’t forget to check out our Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O Limited Edition Review, or feel free to also read the review from our sister site Android Community, after all they’re who won this round anyways.

Oh and just for fun here are a few of our runner up entries that didn’t win but were worth mentioning.

Freddy Secreast
Vince won. It was close, but I think Vince’s hair helped him pull out the tough victory.

Dion Dennis
Ben Bajarin is the clear winner. Calm and collected, through in the explanation on the TAB 10.1. Vincent Nguyen review was based on speed, warp speed!! Rock on guys!!

Once again we’d like to say Thank You to everyone that entered this contest, we hope you all have better luck next time because we have more surprises coming soon. Jorge we will be contacting you shortly. Thanks Guys!

Early on, the tablet was rumored to have a $700 price tag. But, it later reappeared accidentally on electronics retailer J&R’s website for $449 for the 8GB model before the page was quickly pulled. J&R has confirmed that the page was listed in error and that the pricing was a mistake.

It turns out that the Toshiba Thrive is actually going to be priced more competitively. The 8GB model will instead be priced at $429, the 16GB at $479, and the 32GB at $579. Pre-orders for the tablet will start on June 13th at Best Buy and other major electronics retailers, but the device likely won’t ship until July 10th.

The Toshiba Thrive will come with Android 3.1 Honeycomb, running on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor, sporting a 5-megapixel rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front camera. It will also support WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI, and has slots for SD, and full-sized USB.

Other features include a haptic display with a button to lock screen orientation, pre-installed Swype keyboard UI, a Resolution Plus software for cleaning and upscaling video content, and a removable battery rated for up to seven hours and recharges to 90 percent in an hour and a half.

[via Engadget]

The Android 3.1 Honeycomb update is rolling out over-the-air, so you own a Transformer tablet, you can expect to see it any day now if you haven’t already gotten it. The update will bring many improvements as was demonstrated at Google I/O, including a new task switcher, resizeable widgets, and support for more USB devices.

The update will also pack improvements to the Transformer’s keyboard dock such as improved connectivity, typing speed, and mouse tracking. More recently, there were reports that the update will allow the Transformer to support gaming controllers from the PS3 and Xbox 360.

[via Android Community]

The Android 3.1 Honeycomb update will bring several new UI features including more advanced widgets, a new multi-task switcher, and overall improved stability. But for the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, this also means a docking station firmware update that will improve mouse tracking, typing speeds, and USB compatibility.

The update may come out as early as next Monday, so do keep your eyes peeled. Next Monday is also the first day of Computex 2011, where ASUS is set to debut at least two new tablet-styled devices, including a 3D tablet as well as one that will be a tablet and phone hybrid, possibly called the “Padfone.”

[via ThisIsMyNext]

Last week in gaming consoles…
Nintendo “Project Café” Wii 2 caught on video?
Nintendo ‘Project Cafe’ Wii2 Game Controller To Have Camera?
Microsoft email tips possible free replacement for older Xbox 360 consoles that can’t support new game format
Microsoft Offers Free Xbox 360 with Select Windows 7 Notebook Purchases

As Sony struggles to resurrect its network…
Sony PlayStation Network suffers new hack
Sony hosting phishing site on own server as new hacks identified
Sony hacked again? This time it’s So-Net

Android:
Android flaw could see Google & Facebook accounts snatched over WiFi
Google Confirms Android WiFi Security Fix Rolling Out Today
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Acer Iconia Tab A500 Getting Android 3.1 Honeycomb In June
Amazon Tablets ‘Coyote’ And ‘Hollywood’ Slated For 2011?
Android Honeycomb 3.1 Review

Apple:
iPad 2 supply bottleneck improving tips analyst
Foxconn iPad 2 plant explosion [Video] [Updated]
Apple Store 2.0 Top Secret Revamp Revealed?
Apple Store secret NFC payment upgrade tipped
Apple Back-To-School Sale To Start Next Week?
No NFC for iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 claim analysts
Apple iTunes iCloud Music Service Might Not Launch At WWDC?
Toshiba Reveals 367ppi LCD Display, Beats Apple Retina

Samsung:
Samsung Reveals Battle Plan Against Apple
May 24th Samsung Mobile Event Postponed

T-Mobile:

HTC Sensation unboxing & first-impressions [Video]
T-Mobile 2011 roadmap reveals HTC Doubleshot and G-Infinity, more
Samsung Hercules For T-Mobile, Like The Infuse 4G, But Dual-Core

AT&T:
HTC HD7S Windows Phone Heading To AT&T On June 5
Dell Streak Pro Honeycomb slate dropping June with Tegra 2 T20?

Verizon:
Verizon 4G LTE spreads: Nine new markets, Five boosted cities
Verizon To Drop Unlimited Data Plans, May Add Family Data Plans
LG Revolution To Launch May 26 With Netflix, Froyo, And LTE
Verizon HTC Trophy: Carrier’s first WP7 device due May 26
Droid X2 Unboxing and Hands-on [vs. Droid X]
DROID X2 now Live at Verizon Online
Verizon DROID X2 by Motorola official: 1GHz dualcore
Verizon offers pre-orders on Xperia Play starting May 19
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, Arc To Get Android 2.3.3 And Facebook Integration Next Week
Sony Ericsson Reveals Two New Feature Phones, Txt Pro and Mix Walkman

Reviews, Unboxings, and Hands-ons:
Infuse 4G Review
Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review (Limited Edition)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Review
HTC Flyer Review
HTC Flyer Hands-On and Unboxing [Best Buy]
HTC Flyer On Sale Today At Best Buy

New Features

This newest update to Android’s tablet-centric mobile operating system is one that’s not especially expansive but still has major improvements to some of the most visible elements including the row of apps you’ve got open and their scrollability and the resizability of widgets. Have a peek at this video filmed by yours truly showing the various elements you’ll be seeing in this new OS:

USB Enhancements

One of the lower visibility items on the docket here with this newest system is the enhancements made for USB support. Where before it was a big deal noting that you could use a keyboard or had hacked your device to be able to use a gaming controller, now it’s par for the course. You’ll be able to use an Xbox controller to play Cordy as they did at Google I/O, you’ll be able to roll out with a mouse for clicking through games from several feet away instead of using your thumbs, and you can finally play all those Nintendo emulator games with a real controller. More on this when we’re fully in for the long haul.

Widget Enhancements

The ability to take widgets and make them as large or as small as you like is arguable the most significant addition to this iteration of Honeycomb. While there aren’t that many widgets at present that make use of this ability quite yet, the possibilities are staggering. The example I like to use when speaking about the future of this functionality is Google’s Music Beta, acting similar to what you’ve been using Winamp and iTunes on your desktop for for years now – how about a full homescreen window dedicated to music in a nice UI? Check out our full review of [Music Beta] to see what I mean. Totally excellent.

Multitasking Improvements

While the set of tasks in rectangles had been available in the first version of Honeycomb, the simple addition of scrolling and a bigger limit of 18 apps open for switching between at once makes a big difference. While I do say “infinite” in the video above, I assure you it’s 18 – but how many more apps do you think you’re going to want open at once? That noted, you’ll supposedly never have to close another app in order to open a new one again – your memory is handled like a pro by Android’s guts.

Benchmarks

Below you’ll find a few benchmarks as performed directly after the demo was filmed, each of them played out in kind on this device which we reviewed what seems like so very long ago. Do the results of these benchmarks get a whole lot better? No, not really. In fact they get a bit worse. Is it worth it to you to have a bit more of your system taken up while using those new features? We’re hoping it’s just a temporary thing:

This update is said to be a performance increase of some sort or another, but if we’re going by the numbers, it doesn’t seem to add up. Head back to our XOOM Review or our Honeycomb 3.0 Review for more information on how this system acts before it’s upgraded.

Wrap-Up

This is definitely not an update that should be blowing your mind beyond recognition, nor should it really be influencing your decision to purchase an Android tablet or not. What it really acts as is an enhancement for those already working with the setup they’re used to. If you’re an every day user of Honeycomb in its 3.0 form, you’re going to have a fun time seeing the additional features in 3.1. If you’re not especially attuned to the system as it is before the upgrade, you probably wont notice the difference outside the widgets.

Once the USB support ramps up with compatible devices, hacks, and the like, you’ll see this version of Honeycomb really take the show and run with it.

Both ASUS and Acer have confirmed that their tablets will be getting the Android 3.1 Honeycomb update by early June. The updates will be sent over-the-air at the beginning of next month. This is certainly a good sign for future Android updates and should make ASUS and Acer customers happy with the swift transition. Previous smartphone updates have been much less speedy, with many owners still stuck with devices running Android 2.2 Froyo instead of the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The eventual shift from separate smartphone and tablet OS versions to the unifying Android Ice Cream Sandwich hopes to smooth out the kinks in future Android OS updates. But for now, we just hope everyone receives the Android 3.1 Honeycomb update without any hiccups. The 3.1 update will bring improved performance, UI enhancements including new task switcher and stretchable widgets, and support for USB peripherals. If you own a Verizon Motorola XOOM 3G, let us know how the update has gone for you.

[via ThisIsMyNext]

Google I/O Day 1
Android Honeycomb Update To 3.1 Announced At Google I/O
Google TV Gets Android Market And Android 3.1 Honeycomb
Ice Cream Sandwich, Officially Announced at Google I/O [Updated]
Google Music Beta, Cloud-Based Music Service Is Ready Today
Google Unveils Arduino-Based Android Open Accessories
All 5,000 Google I/O Attendees Receive Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for free
Exclusive: Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 unboxing by Vic Gundotra
Google I/O First Keynote Recap: Android 3.1, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Google TV, Music Beta, Movies and More
Google I/O 2011 Keynote: Entire Day One Video
Google I/O Day 2
Angry Birds for Chrome Out Today [Special Edition VIDEO]
Google Demos Chrome Speech Input, Graphics Acceleration, And 3D
Google Shows Off Trippy WebGL Project
Samsung Chromebook Announced
Acer Chromebook Announced
Chromebooks Can Work Offline, Already Hundreds Of Apps Offline-Ready
Free Chromebook for all 5,000 Google I/O Attendees
Google I/O Day 2 Keynote Recap

Various news related to Samsung, LG, and HTC
Droid Charge Goes on Sale at Verizon Tomorrow!
DROID Charge Review
Nexus S 4G smartphone lands at Sprint and Best Buy
White Nexus S For AT&T Spotted Briefly On Samsung Site
Samsung 10.1″ 2560 x 1600 tablet panel could be iPad 3′s Retina Display
LG Display promises Samsung-slaying AH-IPS high-res screens
LG Optimus Big vs Samsung Galaxy S II
LG Optimus Big hands-on [Video]
HTC Sensation 4G: An Intimate Look [VIDEO]
HTC Sensation bucks Android trend with anti-mod bootloader
HTC Flyer Unboxing & First Impressions [Video]
HTC Flyer on sale now: (partially) undercuts iPad 2 [Updated]

Sony PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network is back online [Video]
Sony’s Next PSN Challenge: Restoring Reputation
PlayStation Network service spreads: UK, Middle East, more

Microsoft and Skype deal
Microsoft to Acquire Skype for Over $8 Billion
Microsoft Skype deal official: VoIP integration with Xbox, Windows Phone, more
Microsoft Bought Skype for the Brand

Apple news…
Apple Explains To Congress: We Don’t Track The Location Of Our Customers
Apple iPhone 4S, Not iPhone 5?

Editorials
It’s Official: Xbox 360 Is the Best Console of This Generation
Sony’s Next PSN Challenge: Restoring Reputation
How (and Why) to Save Best Buy
The Five Technologies That Impacted My Life
What’s Google TV’s Key Selling Point?
Movie Review: Thor
Sure, the iPad has 82% Market Share, But Will it Last?

Reviews
iMac Core i5 3.10GHz review (mid 2011)
HP TouchSmart 610 Review

At the same time, Intel is working closely with Google and with manufacturers to get its chips into tablets and into phones as well, instead of being relegated to only PCs, notebooks and netbooks. Acer, ASUS and Lenovo will all be launching Oak Trail/Android 3.1 tablets soon, further adding to consumer choice in the tablet market.

Acer, ASUS and Lenovo will also be launching Cedar Trail/Chrome notebooks in the second half of the year. We will be looking forward to trying those out and reviewing them when they appear. Especially with the merging of NVIDIA and Icera, Intel is making a major effort to make sure they are not shut out of the mobile processor market. NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 has been the go-to processor for tablets, and Intel is pushing to have its x86 in more tablets going forward.

[via DigiTimes Systems]

Google’s emphasis from the very beginning with Android was to provide a framework for the OS and the devices then let the market dictate where it goes. The problem with that strategy was that the market needed more direction than Google originally expected. This led them to get more involved in processes and spec decisions than they had originally desired.

The last few releases and the creation of the Nexus line of products were by design created to be examples for the market. It was never about having just one great Android device on the market rather the Nexus line was to set the bar. Andy Rubin summarized this point in our Q&A when he said: “The power of Android is that it isn’t just one device.”

Instead of focusing their entire Android keynote on new features, apps, etc they spent time showing new out of the box applications for Android. Like how visual computing and motion sensing could be integrated into the software in the future. Or how by adding a USB host feature you can plug in USB accessories like game controllers. Another out of the box feature was when they showed an Android device controlling a physical labyrinth board where the gyroscope physically moved the actual board.

Even announcing the Android @Home initiative was out of the box and showed potential ways the framework can be used in home automation and maybe even healthcare or tele-health in the future. The examples they showed were less about saying people will do those things but rather to get developers thinking about the possibilities.

The point of telling this broader story rather then just focus on new features was to highlight potential and create a broader vision for Android. The more I observe how Google orients themselves in the market the more I am convinced they would prefer to not get involved in having to dictate Android’s future. They constantly talk about how its the developers and hardware makers who have an opportunity to take Android and create value.

However the reality is right now as Android is maturing it is their responsibility to get involved in setting those standards and take initiatives to support their hardware partners with Android’s market adoption. This however may not always be the case in the future and therefore what Google did by painting the broader vision was important for Android’s future.

There is no questioning Android’s momentum. Google has a vision to get Android on as many screens, and even devices without screens, as possible. Again Andy Rubin in our Q&A said, “We are going to see the next wave of Android devices flood the market and they will represent all kinds of form factors and use cases.”

That is a pretty broad statement and I think that is the point. My key takeaway and the message I think Google is sending to developers is this:

“Don’t limit Android’s potential, don’t put it in a box and define it’s borders, let it loose and let’s see where it goes.”

In fact, Motorola says that those other owners will have to be patient for a while, with the 3.1 upgrade only expected to arrive for them “within the next several weeks.” Among the changes will include access to Google’s new Android Market movie rentals, resizable homescreen widgets, USB peripheral support, extra Bluetooth features and Adobe Flash Player 10.2 support.

There’s a demo of the new functionality in the video below, and more details in our Google IO coverage from yesterday.

Update: Interestingly, despite Motorola’s warnings that WiFi XOOM owners will have to wait, there are reports from owners on XDA-developers that in fact the Android 3.1 update is rolling out now. [Thanks Ben!]

[via Android Community]

Press Release:

Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) Software Update, Coming First to Motorola XOOM™, Delivers Support for Android Market Movie Rentals and Numerous Other Enhancements

Over-the-air software update rolling out this week to Motorola XOOM tablets on Verizon Wireless

Motorola XOOM users on the Verizon Wireless network will soon be able to rent movies, use a Bluetooth® headset during video chats, resize their widgets and more with an over-the-air software update for Android™ 3.1 (Honeycomb) that makes the Motorola XOOM experience even more powerful than before. The software update, coming first to Motorola XOOM and rolling out this week, delivers a wide range of new features and expanded functionality, including:

Support for the new Android Market movie rentals service with thousands of titles available for immediate viewing on the Motorola XOOM’s high-resolution display or on a larger screen via HDMI
Full support for the final release of Adobe® Flash® Player 10.2, delivering significant performance enhancements when viewing rich Flash content on the web
Resizable widgets to enable further customization of home screens
Support for USB-connected peripherals and accessories, such as keyboards, mice, game controllers and digital cameras
Expanded Bluetooth features to support Bluetooth headsets in Google Talk™ video chats and Bluetooth mouse support in addition to additional shortcut keys with the Bluetooth keyboard
Picture Transfer Protocol Feature support to enable easier transfer of photo files to your PC without the need for drivers
Motorola XOOM with Wi-Fi tablets and other variants of Motorola XOOM will receive the update within the next several weeks. If users have questions or need support, they can visit www.motorola.com/myxoom or www.motorola.com/support, or get help from other owners on our online community at https://supportforums.motorola.com.

Certain features, services and applications are network dependent and may not be available in all areas; additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. Specific functionality and features with each software version of Android may vary. Contact your service provider for details.

Our good friend Vic was kind enough to both take the device out of the box and show it off for SlashGear exclusively. He being the generous and kind fellow that he is, we could not deny such niceness. This device is the thinnest tablet PC on the market, with a 10.1″ display, Android 3.0 Honeycomb – soon to be Android 3.1 Honeycomb with all its fantastical features. Check out the box, check out the excellence of the feel in the hands, and get a can of soda because your mouth will have no choice but to water, you’ll want something cool to wash down all that extra spit gathering in your mouth.

Again this is only the tip of the ice flow, have a look at our bigtime portal at [IO 2011] for all the info you need. See the Everybody Gets One post, see our hands-on from last night, and even see a recap of Android 3.1 Honeycomb if you dare!

Each new device, Google says, will not be receiving the newest updates for 18 months after their release depending on if their hardware will allow it. This means that devices will no longer be left in the dark after they’ve been out for a tiny amount of time. This has been a problem for Android device users in the past and this change is definitely going to create a net for those wishing to have the support they desire for the future. Android is stacking up!

Keep your eyes peeled to both SlashGear and our sister site Android Community for all the I/O announcements you’ll ever be able to bare! See our bigtime portal and keep your shorts on because this is only be beginning!

Instead of just switching between a few tasks, the 3.1 can now switch between much more apps by scrolling through a list of your most recent tasks. Android supports true multitasking, but in order to run efficiently, they’ve developed a unique technology that automatically shuts down and restores apps transparently. This manages your resources automatically and helps reserve memory.

Widgets now can be resized, stretching both horizontally or vertically. Developers can easily update their apps to support this new widget feature with just a few additional lines of code.

The update has also improved Android’s USB support. Android devices can now act as USB hosts, meaning you can do things like importing photos directly from your digital camera to your tablet. Android devices can now also take on various USB accessories such as keyboards, mice, game controllers and more.

Additionally, Android 3.1 Honeycomb will be coming to Google TV. This means that developers can develop for both Android tablets and Google TV using the same 3.1 Honeycomb SDK. Android Market will also be coming to Google TV this summer. Current owners of Google TV will receive a platform update over-the-air. More revelations on Google TV should come tomorrow.