Out of the Nealy 80 Tablets We Saw at This Year’s CES, Here’s Our Favorites… | Mobile Marketing Watch

Out of the Nealy 80 Tablets We Saw at This Year’s CES, Here’s Our Favorites… | Mobile Marketing Watch

RIM’s Blackberry Playbook

We know there’s been a lot of press regarding RIM’s highly-anticipated entrance into the world of tablets, but it’s for good reason. The Blackberry Playbook is an awesome device, and one I see making huge strides once it’s released in the near future. Sporting a 7-inch, HD display the device is beautiful. Like most tablets entering the market this year, it comes packed with a powerful dual-core processor that facilitates multi-tasking in a way that seems light-years ahead of the iPad — even effortlessly streaming two HD-quality videos at the same time without breaking a sweat. Other goodies include front and rear HD video cameras, micro USB and HDMI outputs and full 4G connectivity. I have to say I had my doubts about the Playbook, but after going hands-on with one at CES, I must admit that RIM has done a fabulous job with its first-gen tablet.

Related articles

• CES 2011: Hands on: Blackberry Playbook review (techradar.com)
• HANDS ON: BlackBerry Playbook Tablet [VIDEO] (mashable.com)
• HANDS ON: 10 New Tablets Ready to Challenge the iPad [VIDEOS] (mashable.com)
• Blackberry Playbook Browser Demo (geekpinoy.com)
• "The Best Non-iPad Tablet: BlackBerry PlayBook CES 2011" and related posts (unplggd.com)
• CES: RIM, Sprint Announce Launch of PlayBook 4G (phonereport.info)
• Skype Spied in BlackBerry App World for PlayBook (intomobile.com)
• Sprint to Offer Blackberry 4G PlayBook (pamil-visions.net)
• "News on the BlackBerry PlayBook from CES 2011" and related posts (geekwithlaptop.com)

Velocity Micro Cruz Watch hands-on preview

Image via CrunchBaseyo!

Velocity Micro Cruz Watch hands-on preview

January 12th, 2011

We’ve always liked the idea of having a Bluetooth watch streaming feeds from our phones, because deep down inside, we all want to act like special agents in public. Sadly, there aren’t many of these wearables to choose from in the present market. In fact, with the inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry seemingly stuck in limbo, what we have left is the Europe-only Sony Ericsson LiveView for Android, and maybesomething nice from Fossil as well if its concept design gets picked up. To seize this opportunity, Velocity Micro is now working on its own connected Android watch — currently known as the Cruz Watch — that’s destined for the sub-$200 market in mid-Q2 2011.
Here’s what we learned about this cool-looking prototype during our exclusive hands-on at CES: in many ways, it’s conceptually identical to the LiveView — it’s a watch, it’s a Facebook feeds reader, it’s a multimedia remote control (for Android’s music app and Android-powered TVs), and it can show you incoming caller IDs. While the Cruz Watch may be a bit of a lightweight when it comes to apps, its hardware certainly bests SE’s offering in several ways: for starters, it has a full touchscreen that takes swipe and tap gesture inputs (instead of using navigation touch controls on the bezel), and it sports a 1.8-inch LCD instead of a 1.3-inch OLED display. There are also a few software features that we dig, especially with the interchangeable clock face: two analog, two digital; and the incoming call notifier pulls the caller’s profile photo from your contact list, which is something that the LiveView can’t do. We’re told that since this watch is powered by Android 2.0 (and possibly something different on retail units), Velocity Micro might be able to implement app installation in the near future, so we shall see. Video walkthrough after the break.

Gallery: Velocity Micro Cruz Watch hands-on preview

Continue reading Velocity Micro Cruz Watch hands-on preview

Related articles

• Velocity Micro Cruz Watch hands-on preview (engadget.com)
• Velocity Micro Announces New Line-up of Cruz Tablets (crunchgear.com)
• Velocity Micro intros Cruz Tablet L37, P38 and L510 Android tablets at CES (engadget.com)
• Velocity Micro Announces 3 New Cruz Tablets Running On Android (androidpolice.com)
• Velocity Micro expands Cruz tablet line by three at CES (slashgear.com)
• Velocity Micro's 7-inch Cruz T301 Android 2.0 tablet surfaces on Amazon, shipping now for $250 (engadget.com)
• Velocity Micro's 7-inch Cruz Tablet now shipping for $300 (android-tablet.org)
• Velocity Micro's 7-inch Cruz Reader Android tablet now shipping for $300 (engadget.com)
• Velocity Micro slips out budget Cruz T301 tablet (electronista.com)
• Velocity Micro Cruz Android Tablet Now Available for $299 (techie-buzz.com)