Gadgets, Tablet Computer | featured news

The discovery has added to rumours that the iPad 3 will launch in March and feature a fractionally thicker design and a significantly higher resolution display.

After more than a year of missteps by Apple's tablet rivals, at least one viable competitor, Amazon's Kindle Fire, appears to have surfaced for the popular iPad. Amazon.com Inc. on Monday trumpeted the success of its recently launched Kindle Fire tablet, part of a family of Kindle products that include low-priced e-readers. The company said it sold more than four times as many Kindle products on Black Friday last week as the same shopping day in 2010.

Does $199 sound like too much for the BlackBerry Playbook this holiday season? RIM seems to think so, but only for its employees. According to multiple sources, the 16GB 7-inch tablet is now available to RIM employees through a special corporate portal for $99. The 32GB version is $149 and the 64GB model for $199. We have also been told that employees can only order up to eight models.

If you're wondering if Amazon's Kindle Fire is up to snuff, well, it is. Turn it on and you know what to do, like with an Apple product. So much like an Apple product that Apple should be scared."

When Kindle Fire customers across the country open their boxes next week, they will be able to choose from several thousand of the most popular Android apps and games, including Netflix, Rhapsody, Pandora, Twitter, Comics by comiXology, Facebook, The Weather Channel and popular games from Zynga, EA, Gameloft, PopCap and Rovio. Kindle Fire customers will be able to download these apps and games without having to register multiple times and using Amazon’s simple and secure 1-Click payment technology. Plus, all apps are Amazon-tested on Kindle Fire for the best experience possible, customers can get a great “paid” app for free every day, and once you’ve downloaded an app from the Amazon Appstore, it’s available on Kindle Fire as well as your other Android-based devices.

Barnes & Noble is upgrading its Nook e-reader line with a device that's less like an e-reader and more like a full-blown tablet, taking up the fight with Amazon as it is set to launch its Kindle Fire tablet....

Ever since Amazon unveiled its 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet in September, a lingering phrase has been attached to the low-cost, high-profile device: "the iPad's first true Android competitor."

More consumers are discovering their mobile devices can help them compare prices, research gift ideas, redeem electronic coupons and watch for special deals. As shoppers gear up for another mad holiday scramble, smartphones and tablet computers are emerging as Santa's electronic helpers.

You want it. You want it desperately. You want it desperately, but you don't even know what it is. Such is consumer desire for 4G data connectivity in mobile handsets. Call it proof positive that the phone carriers' marketing efforts have paid off -- this despite slow 4G infrastructure roll-outs, and actual 4G data rates that fall far, far below the promise of the 4G spec.

Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth thinks Ubuntu Linux has a shot to be a contending operating system for future phones and tablets. It'll be a tough go -- Apple iOS and Google Android dominate the field now, with new Windows Phone 7 also making a play.