Archos teases Gen 10 tablet ahead of announcement

Archos took to its official Facebook and Twitter accounts today to give us our first glimpse of its upcoming Gen 10 tablet, ahead of the official announcement later this month. The manufacturer said it'd be officially unveiling the Gen 10 slate "in three weeks," which lines up with a possible event in the run up to IFA.

For now, the device itself remains a mystery, though we can discern a few things from the off-angle render posted on Archos' Facebook page. It looks like the Gen 10 is set to come to market as a premium offering from the French manufacturer, as the slim, white chassis is a significant departure from other Archos designs. And judging by the on-screen UI, it's running Android 4.x -- either ICS or Jelly Bean.

Any wild theories about what we might see from a possible next-gen Archos tablet? Let your imagination run wild in the comments.

Source: Archos on Facebook

Samsung Mobile Unpacked event tipped for Aug. 29, Galaxy Note 2 announcement likely

Invites are starting to appear online for the second Samsung Mobile Unpacked event of the year, which will be held at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany on Aug. 29. As you may remember, Samsung only holds these Unpacked events when it's got something big to announce -- the last one was for the Galaxy S III (Galaxy S3), and before that the Galaxy Nexus.

This time around, everyone's expecting the Korean manufacturer to show off a successor to the Galaxy Note, its 5.3-inch stylus-toting smartphone/tablet hybrid. The Note's proved a surprising success over the past year, and it'd make sense for Samsung to announce a possible Note 2 at IFA, where the original made its debut 12 months ago. What's more, the event invitation shows a stylus/magic wand alongside the Unpacked logo, in what amounts to a pretty big clue.

We'll be live in Berlin for IFA later this month, so keep it locked to AC for full coverage of the Galaxy Note 2, or whatever else Samsung announces.

Source: Mobile Cowboys (Dutch), via: SamMobile

Korean carrier says Galaxy S II ICS update coming 'tomorrow'; Samsung promises announcement 'soon'

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After a series of false starts, it appears the long-awaited Ice Cream Sandwich update for Galaxy S II (GT-i9100) owners may be about to land. Korean mobile network SK Telecom tweeted this morning that it'll begin rolling out the software update starting 10am KST tomorrow, March 13. (That's 1am GMT, or 9pm EST today, because time zones are crazy like that.) However, the tweet in question was quickly pulled down, and now SK Telecom is telling customers to check with the manufacturer for update information.

Samsung remains coy, however, saying on its official "SamsungTomorrow" Twitter account that Galaxy S II owners should make sure they're up to date through Kies, and promising an announcement "soon."

So, possibly great news for Korean Galaxy S II owners, and we're sure it won't be long before the update goes out to owners of the same hardware in Europe and other parts of Asia, too. But Galaxy S II devices in the United States will probably have a little longer to wait, due to the differences in phone hardware from carrier to carrier.

Source: @SKTelecom via The Verge, @SamsungTomorrow

Sony Xperia “Pepper” image in the wild – upcoming announcement?

A Sony roadmap leaked last January, suggesting three devices would be announced at Mobile World Congress (code named Kumquat, Nypon and Pepper). Only two of these made it to the stage in Barcelona, now named the Xperia P and Xperia U. But what about the third one? An official image of the Pepper (MT27i) has just leaked, and we might see an announcement soon.

The leaked roadmap stated that all three devices would be released next April. So this could be proof that the Xperia Pepper is ready to head out the door. It looks very nice, with all the major characteristics of Sony’s new design. The difference is that it’s lacking the translucent bar. And it looks like there’s a dedicated camera button in there.

Rumored specs include a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 5 MP camera, a 3.7-inch FWVGA screen (854×480), 512 MB of RAM and NFC support. We’re not sure what Android version it will be running. But if it follows recent Sony patterns, it should come with Android 2.3 with an update coming at a later date.

It’s not a bad device, but definitely not the best out there. We’ll have to wait and see how pricing turns out. For now, let’s stay tuned for the official announcement. As always, take this with a grain of salt; these are all unofficial details.

What do you guys think of this device? It’s definitely good looking. But would you rather get the Xperia P or U?