tablets

One in three Americans are toting tablets now -- study

One out of every three people in the U.S. is a tablet owner now, with the prevalence of the devices nearly doubling in the last year, a report from the Pew Internet Project says.

The study, released Monday, found 34 percent of U.S. adults now own a tablet, up from about 18 percent who owned one a year earlier.

Tablet owners tend to be older and more well-heeled than demographics for other consumer electronics. The majority of tablet owners, or 56 percent of respondents, are people living in households earning at least $75,000 a year. Nearly half, … Read more

Shipments of smartphones, tablets, and oh yes, PCs, to top 1.7B

The world will see combined shipments of PCs, tablets, and smartphones rise past 1.7 billion next year. And more of those will be headed toward developing markets, research firm IDC said today.

Out of that 1.7 billion figure, 1 billion devices will end up in emerging markets. China, India, Brazil, and Russia will grab around 662 million devices, for a value of more than $206 billion. Developed markets will see around 650 million units shipped, with more than 400 million devices valued collectively at $204 billion arriving in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan.

Tablets and … Read more

Acer's 8.1-inch Windows 8 tablet now up for preorder

Consumers looking for a small Windows 8 tablet can now preorder the Acer Iconia W3 through Amazon or Staples.

Dubbed the world's first 8.1-inch Windows 8 tablet, the 32GB flavor of Iconia W3 is going for $379 through both Amazon and Staples. Amazon also lists a 64GB version for $429.

Staples promises a delivery date of anywhere from Tuesday, June 11, to Wednesday, June 19. Amazon isn't nearly as quick, listing an estimated delivery time of three to five weeks for both models of the tablet.

Equipped with Windows 8, the Iconia W3 comes with an 8.… Read more

Barnes & Noble slashes Nook HD prices for one week

Wow.

Remember last month, when Barnes & Noble chopped Nook HD and Nook HD+ prices the week leading up to Mother's Day? Turns out they like Dad a little more.

This week only, you can get the Nook HD (8GB) 7-inch tablet for $129 shipped and the Nook HD+ (16GB) 8.9-inch tablet for $149 shipped (plus sales tax in most states).

Those are unprecedented deals, especially considering that these are new units, not refurbs. The Nook HD normally sells for $199; the Nook HD+, for $269.

I've written about both these models before, and you can learn … Read more

Change privacy settings for shared posts in Facebook for Android

When sharing a post from the previous version of Facebook for Android, you may have forgotten to tap the itsy-bitsy people-sharing icon before you sent it off to the Interwebs. This icon controls the settings for who can see your post, be it Public, Friends, or other groups you're part of on Facebook. Fortunately, this icon hasn't gone anywhere, but in case you forget to use it, there's a fix -- and it doesn't involve logging in on the desktop Web site.

First, make sure you have the most recent version of Facebook for Android. Just … Read more

Amazon Kindle debuts in China

The Amazon Kindle has officially landed in China.

On Friday, both the Kindle Fire HD tablet and the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader popped up for sale on Amazon's Chinese Web site. The Fire HD tablet costs 1,499 yuan ($244) for the 16GB version and 1,799 yuan ($293) for the 32GB version, while the Paperwhite e-reader costs 849 yuan ($138).

The Kindle devices will also be sold locally through Suning and Tesco Shi, two retail chains in China, according to Chinese news site Sina Tech. Chinese consumers will be able to find the Kindles at stores in Beijing, Shanghai, … Read more

Get a refurbished 1st-gen iPad for $149 shipped

The original iPad may seem a bit like of a dinosaur nowadays, but, well, it's still an iPad. Big screen. Endless apps. iTunes ecosystem. All good.

Today only, and while supplies last, DailySteals has the refurbished first-gen Apple iPad (16GB) for $149 shipped. That may be the lowest price I've seen on any iPad ever.

Consequently, this may sell out very quickly, so I'm going to toss in an extra bonus deal just in case. But as of around 8:45 a.m. ET, they were in stock -- and a company rep told me they have … Read more

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity crushes it on specs

Asus is aiming high with its release of the new Transformer Pad Infinity. The high-end tablet will house the much-anticipated Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and boast an impressively high-resolution screen that will likely cause Android aficionados to uncontrollably froth at the mouth in anticipation -- and maybe catch the wandering eye of a few Apple iPad loyalists.

The 10-inch tablet dons a 2,560x1,600-pixel resolution and houses Nvidia's latest 1.9GHz Tegra 4 processor with a 72-core GeForce GPU. Other specs include 4K output via HDMI, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, Bluetooth 3.0, and a … Read more

Apple, others to meet with law enforcement over violent phone thefts

With violent street thefts of smartphones and other mobile gear continuing to be a problem, top law enforcement officials from New York and San Francisco will meet with Apple, Google, and other manufacturers next week to discuss possible tech solutions, such as a "kill switch" that would render stolen devices worthless.

"With 1.6 million Americans falling victim to smartphone theft in 2012, this has become a national epidemic," San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said in a press release Wednesday. "Unlike other types of crimes, smartphone theft can be eradicated with a simple technological … Read more

Office 2013 to be bundled with smaller Windows 8 tablets

Microsoft will be offering a free version of Office in the smaller versions of tablets running its operating system, a new report claims.

According to The Verge, which quoted Windows CFO Tami Reller at Computex on Wednesday, Microsoft will allow vendors to bundle Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote into 7- and 8-inch tablets running Windows 8. Outlook 2013 will not be bundled with the device, despite the fact that Windows RT 8.1, the latest version of that software, will come with Outlook RT.

Like other tablet makers, Microsoft is trying to make a push for the smaller side of … Read more