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T-Mobile G-Slate hands-on (photos)

After being teased at CES, CNET finally goes hands-on with the T-Mobile G-Slate Honeycomb tablet.

Bonnie Cha
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
Bonnie Cha
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T-Mobile G-Slate

The T-Mobile G-Slate by LG was first at CES 2011, the tablet was immediately whisked away from public viewing after the announcement. Fortunately, we got a chance to get a full hands-on look at the 4G Honeycomb tablet here at Mobile World Congress 2011.

The G-Slate is notable for a couple of reasons. First, it's the first 4G (running on T-Mobile's HSPA+ network) Honeycomb tablet and it also includes a 3D stereoscopic camera, so you can shoot 1080p 3D videos and view them on the device's 9-inch screen with 3D glasses.

T-Mobile did not announce a release date or pricing for the G-Slate, but it will be available in only one model: 32GB. LG also introduced the Optimus Pad at MWC, which is the global version of the G-Slate.
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Display

Unlike the current crop of 7- and 10-inch tablets, the G-Slate falls in the middle with a 9-inch multitouch screen. It looked sharp and felt responsive during our hands-on time with the tablet.

What's more impressive, however, is the build of the tablet. It has a great, premium design that rivals that of the iPad's and feels more solid than the Samsung Galaxy Tab series.
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Top view

The top of the device (in portrait mode) features a power/lock button, a speaker, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
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Side view

Meanwhile, there's a volume rocker on the side. As you can see, it's relatively thin, but in the hand, there's some heft to it.
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Back view

There's a nice soft-touch finish on back, so it doesn't slip in your hand when you're using the tablet. The G-Slate is a Google Experience device and will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
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3D stereoscopic camera

You'll also find two cameras on the back of the device. The one on the right is a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, which you can use to take regular photos and video. However, when combined with the stereoscopic camera on the left, you can record 1080p 3D video and view it back on the tablet.
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3D video interface

Here you can see 3D camcorder interface with CNET TV's producer Ariel Nunez as the subject.
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3D glasses required

Unlike the LG Optimus 3D smartphone, 3D glasses will be required to view such videos on the T-Mobile G-Slate.
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Keyboard

With the G-Slate's 9-inch touch screen, we found the keyboard pretty easy to use in landscape mode.
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Multimedia dock

A multimedia dock will also be available to use with the T-Mobile G-Slate. When docked, you can use it as a large alarm clock.
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Multimedia dock

You can also use it to view a slideshow of your photos, watch videos, listen to music, and more.

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