Friday, March 16, 2012

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Acer Iconia Tab A200 review
Mar 15th 2012, 19:00

It's a tired promise for too many gadgets: Ice Cream Sandwich, just like the Gingerbread man before it, is coming... soon. You have to hand it to Acer, then, for bypassing those vague release schedules and actually pushing out a software update to the A200 on schedule. And though its specs are fairly run-of-the-mill (a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display and 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 SoC), it could nonetheless be a tempting deal -- after all, you don't see too many $330 10-inchers running Android 4.0.

The problem is, better things are around the corner, and the price wars rage on in the meantime. As it is, the A200 went relatively unnoticed at CES as Acer unveiled the Tegra 3-toting A700. The existence of that next-gen tab alone should raise a few red flags for consumers thinking of hopping aboard the Android tablet train. What's more, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has already promised sub-$300 Tegra 3 tablets are on the way (ASUS even confirmed one!). So is this just a case of bad timing for what is an otherwise respectable tablet? Should you hold onto those hard-earned greenbacks until the market becomes flush with affordable quad-core slates? Or will its immediate availability and reasonable price make for an irresistible purchase now? Join us after the break as we tackle those very questions and give this tablet the fair shake it deserves.

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A200 review

Acer Iconia Tab A200 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos 80 G9 Turbo slate shipping now, Ice Cream Sandwich on board
Mar 15th 2012, 18:27

Archos has been pushing out an array of slates ranging from kid-friendly to Prime contenders, leaving you with a plethora to choose from. One of which, is a souped-up variant of that 80 G9 we showed you a while back. The Archos 80 G9 Turbo ICS, to call it by its full name, is now ready to leave its warehouse status behind and head toward your front door. Perhaps, its main selling point is the ICS treat it brings along (shockingly, this inclusion is still a relative rarity), but it's also packing a 1.5GHz OMAP4 CPU, a 720p front-facing shooter as well as an 8-inch, 1024 x 768 display. Additionally, the G9 Turbo comes in two flavors: 8GB and 16GB, both priced at around $310 and $380, respectively. Folks looking to snag one of these turbolicious tabs can head over to the source link below.

Archos 80 G9 Turbo slate shipping now, Ice Cream Sandwich on board originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Central  |  sourceArchos  | Email this | Comments

Want to work for Engadget? We're hiring a copy editor!
Mar 15th 2012, 18:00

Want to work for Engadget? We're hiring a copy editor!Do you love gadgets? Do you hate typos? Do you have experience working as a copy editor or proofreader? Are you looking for work? Lucky you! We're looking for a dedicated freelancer to join our team and kill those dreadful dangling participles. Here's what we're looking for:

  • A Copy Editor / Proofreader: Part-time (freelance) living in or around New York City or San Francisco with at least two years experience working at an established publication.
Want to apply? Read on!

Continue reading Want to work for Engadget? We're hiring a copy editor!

Want to work for Engadget? We're hiring a copy editor! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PayPal Here mobile card reader: it's like Square, but with way more frozen accounts
Mar 15th 2012, 17:38

Hear that? That's the sound of coins hitting the mental floor at a breakneck pace, and if PayPal's meteoric success is any indication of how it'll do in mobile... well, stockholders should be pleased. Nearly three years after first hearing of Jack Dorsey's Square (formerly 'Squirrel') project, the most hated division of eBay is coming out with a rival. President and CEO of eBay John Donahoe took the wraps off of the device at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco today, with an aim to bring PayPal to "merchants in the offline world." The plastic triangle module plays a familiar role: pop it into an iPhone, load up an app and swipe until you just can't sell anything else. We're hearing that PayPal will charge merchants 2.7 percent (just 0.05 percent less than Square), but further details -- and even the thing's name -- are still developing.

As much as we jest about PayPal's polarizing nature, we've been victim to one too many unjustified account freezes to become overly joyous here, but we won't kvetch about a little competition. Here's hoping we see rates and fees on the decline thanks to another major player stepping up to bat, but something tells us those kinds of dreams are dreamt only by fools. That aside, the fact that famed designer Yves Behar (profiled here on The Engadget Show) and Fuseproject were tapped to engineer it gets a major thumbs-up from us.

Update: Looks like it'll go by the name Here. PayPal Here. Moreover, the hardware and app will be gratis, and shipments will begin to go out in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia today. Everyone else will need to sit tight for a few weeks, and we're still digging for information on compatibility beyond the iPhone.

Update 2: Look like Android support will be here at launch, but iOS devices will need to run iOS 4.0 or higher.

Continue reading PayPal Here mobile card reader: it's like Square, but with way more frozen accounts

PayPal Here mobile card reader: it's like Square, but with way more frozen accounts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink mike_isaac (Instagram), The Verge  |  sourceCNET, PayPal  | Email this | Comments

AllThingsD: Google diggs Kevin Rose
Mar 15th 2012, 17:37

AllThingsD: Google diggs Kevin Rose
You might know Kevin Rose from his days at TechTV, as the cofounder of the social news website digg.com, or from his awesome drunken (and sometimes quotable) ramblings on his former video podcast diggnation. However, per AllThingsD, it appears that Rose, and perhaps a bunch of his cohorts at his latest gig, Milk, have been poached to work at the Google mothership. That comes merely a day after Milk shuttered its first product, Oink -- an app enabling users to rate experiences rather than venues, think Yelp but for things. As to what Rose and any coworkers that come with him will be doing once in Mountain View is currently unknown, but unfortunately it looks like Milk's headed to the deadpool, folks.

AllThingsD: Google diggs Kevin Rose originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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