Consumers and Their Evolving Relationship with Tablets - Infographic

An infographic illustrating consumer's relationship with their Tablet Computers and more interesting findings!

Motorola Mobility launches the Motorola Xoom 2 family of tablets in Sweden, elsewhere

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AppId is over the quota

Motorola Mobility is continuing their global roll out of the Motorola Xoom 2 family of tablets. This time around, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark are getting some Motorola love with the release of the Motorola Xoom 2 as well as the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition.

• Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition - Wi-Fi variant from 3595 SEK
• Motorola XOOM 2 - Wi-Fi variant from 3595 SEK
• Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition - Wi-Fi & 3G variant from 4395 SEK
• Motorola XOOM 2 - Wi-Fi & 3G variant from 4795 SEK

All variations of the tablets are available now in Sweden through El-Giganten at the various price points listed above. Need some more info? Check out the Motorola site link below or have a look at our Motorola Xoom 2 review for more details.

Source: Motorola (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark)

Larry Page on Android tablets: A lot of success on the low-end

Google CEO Larry Page wandered into the touchy territory of Android tablets during this afternoon's investor conference call. That's, of course, relevant because while there are 5 bazillion models of Android tablets out there, none has really come anywhere close to the popularity of the iPad. That, and longstanding rumors have Google putting out its own tablet this summer, likely on the 7-inch side of things with a price that may or may not compete, depending on which rumor you go by.
So did Page shed any light on what might or might not be coming? Not so much.
Here's his answer:

I think that we're very excited about tablets. I think, you know, there's a number of Android tablets out there. Obviously, we have strong competition there as well. I think you've seen us really invest substantially in things like Google Play, which really gives you great access to entertainment, media, books and videos and so on, as well as the apps. And we think that's an important component on what we're doing.
I think there's also, obviously, there's been a lot of success on some lower-priced tablets that run Android -- maybe not the full Google version of Android. But we definitely believe that there's going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market, as well, with lower-priced products that will be very significant. It's definitely an area we think is quite important and that we're quite focused on.

Not that we expected him to blurt out future plans or anything. Far from it. But you can't help but wonder that that says about the current state of Android tablets when Google's CEO trumpets the low-end ones that do more to muddy the waters than propel the ecosystem forward.

Study Reveals More People Watch TV on Tablet PC’s compared to Computers

Do you still prefer your notebook computer your second TV? Well, it appears you are currently in the minority. Based on the latest Viacom study, the hip new way of consuming the drug of the nation -- after the 'ole tube itself -- is on a tablet. Around 2,500 individuals were surveyed across the US, and the results indicate a shift away from smartphones and computers to tablets. 15% of TV show viewings (full-length) are being viewed in tablets, with the rise of streaming services and partner apps being specified as factors contributing to the trend.

IMDb Movies & TV app updated to support HD streaming of movie trailers on tablets and smartphones

When we chose IMDb Movies & TV as the tablet app of the year in our 2011 Android Central Editors' Pick Awards it was a pretty fine looking app and in that time, IMDb has continued to improve upon the app overall. The last update brought a new layout and ICS features but now a new update is available for download.

Movie buffs will want to grab this one for sure as it addresses some long standing bugs but more importantly it adds HD streaming of trailers for both tablets and smartphones. Download is past the break for you all, also if you're checking it out let us know what movies you're looking forward to this summer in the comments.

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Practice with the Excite Toshiba tablets

Toshiba has been here in New York this evening showing some of its finest new technology, including its next line Excite of the tablets. Although we have already had a look at tablets this year ' s Mobile World Congress, it ' s always fun for us to return to the upcoming devices. The three models were on hand this evening - the 7.7 inches, 10 inches and the giant 13.3 inches. All three are packing a Tegra 3 processor under the hood, and all will be delivered with Ice Cream Sandwich. They also share a 5 megapixel rear camera, a coating before 2 megapixel, a Gorilla Glass coating and a remarkably thin and slender profile.

The screens differ in size and resolution - model 7.7 inches ' s received the highest ppi of 196 because its AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800, while the 10-incher has a ppi 149 slightly low with identical resolution (LED, not AMOLED technology on it). The 13.3-inch (did we mention this is what size?) uses "Autobrite LED" technology that ups the resolution of 1600 x 900, which translates 138 ppi. Not much bad to say about the poster; While they were not the best in the biz, they ' re bright, crisp and surprisingly dynamic.

I love the Excite 7.7 inches - he ' s display to beat, and the footprint is perfect. Use with one hand or both; In any event, it ' go s to fit comfortably. The 10 inch is nothing to write home about (I ' ve view of many in my day), leaving the model of 13.3 inches, the star of the series. He ' s big and beautiful, though the size and weight can disable some. 2.2 Books, this certainly isn't a ' go t in your pocket. Toshiba described as a bridge between the Tablet and laptop computers, a description that ' s pretty darn accurate. There ' ll be perfect for watching films and television, but if you ' re used to do things with a hand on your shelf, this is not the device for you.

The 10-inch model will launch on May 6: 16 GB will cost you $449.99, while that 32 and 64 GB will set you back $529.99 and $649.99 respectively. You ' ll had to wait until June 10 for models 7.7 and 13.3 inch: the will of the smaller cost $499.99 and $579.00 for 16 and 32 GB, more will cost $649.99 and $749.99 for the same size. Hit the break for some comparison shots.

Instagram updated once again, brings support to tablets and Wifi devices

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Instagram has received another update, this time opening the app to Android tablets and other Wifi devices. Not a lot has changed, as sideloading the old version on tablets or Wifi devices worked, but it's nice to see it done officially. The camera and picture import process is still broken on the Transformer Prime, but seems to work fine on both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 7 plus. It's a bit of a bummer, but with no support yet for the HTC One X camera, we expect the Tegra 3 has something to do with it.

The cool thing about using Instagram on a tablet is viewing the images in your stream, which works very nicely. We've got the download link after the break, grab the update if you've been wanting this on on your tablet.

Thanks, ohaaron!

Google Drive screenshot hints at 5 GB of cloud storage for Android smartphones and tablets

Following up on rumors that Google would be offering a cloud service to access files and multimedia no matter what screen you're looking at, some pictures with details of Google Drive have emerged. Apparently Google Drive will be giving away 5 GB for free with the option to upgrade for more, and the source of this shot claims that it will be launching on April 16.

Google Drive (or something like it) has been rumored for a long time; if this service is actually nearing a launch, it's taken its sweet time. Obviously Google already has a ton of cloud services already synced up with Android, but the only real file locker they've pumped out for Android is Google Music. Being able to wirelessly sync individual files between mobile devices and computers is bound to garner lots of interest, not because it hasn't been done before, but because Google will be able to feed it deeply into the Android OS and make it make it completely seamless.

So, any of you already hooked up with sync services like DropBox - would you be willing to switch to Google Drive for the sake of something a little more native? 

Source: TalkAndroid

Android tablets running on Nvidia Tegra 3 to hit $200 this summer

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said in a recent interview that their recent cost reductions on the Tegra 3 processor will enable manufacturers to launch Android tablets with $199 pricetags, and that we'll see them as soon as this summer. As Huang explains, this can seriously lower the barrier for entry. 

“We took out $150 in build materials, things like expensive memory. At $199, you can just about buy a tablet at a 7-Eleven.”

$200 is a sweet price point, as proven by the success of the Amazon Kindle Fire, and now others, like the ZTE Optik, are trying to follow up. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more decently powerful Android tablets that also happen to be reasonably priced, but maintaining quality at those lower tiers is going to be a challenge. 

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Hulu Plus gets a brand new style on more Android tablets

Can’t get enough of TV? For only $7.99 per month, you could have unlimited instant streaming TV on your Android device with Hulu Plus. Today the company announced a new update to their Android app that introduces a clean design and support for additional tablets.

As many of you already know, the video streaming service offers the current season episodes of popular shows including Family Guy, The Office, New Girl, Once Upon a Time, Parks and Recreation, Misfits and America’s Next Top Model, and many more. Full series collections allow you to create an instant marathon with every episode of Community, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost.

In a company blog post, Hulu developers said, “This is just the beginning of our Android tablet rollout. Our team worked hard to build a fresh and engaging way to experience premium content on Android tablets, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.”

The new Hulu Plus show page.

New features in the Hulu Plus app include horizontal “trays” so you can naturally swipe while browsing through TV shows and movies, large thumbnails with beautiful visuals, and a better organized content library so it’s easy to discover new shows and keep up with the shows you are watching.

Seven Android tablets can now download Hulu Plus including the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Motorola XYBoard 10.1, Toshiba Thrive, Acer Iconia and LG G-Slate. With the new update, Hulu now supports over 30 Android devices.

The app currently has over 500,000 installs on the Google Play Store with an average rating of 3.3, but don’t let the low score concern you. The majority of the 1 star reviews are from people without a Hulu account or unsupported devices. Most reviewers give it 5 stars and praised the enjoyment they get from the service.

If you already grabbed the latest Hulu Plus update, let us know what you think.

ViewSonic intros affordable ICS tablets at Mobile World Congress

Just in case you haven't had enough Android hardware from Mobile Conference 2012, even little ol' ViewSonic had some stuff to show off. Along with demonstrating some of their stuff announced at CES, ViewSonic had a new tablet called the E100. Beyond its 9.1 mm profile and a decent 9.1-inch 1024 x 768 display, there's a single core 1 GHz processor under the hood. So, a bit underwhelming, yeah? Well, the Wi-Fi model will be retailing for $399, so it's got that much going for it. The E100 will be landing around late March, with a 3G version launching shortly thereafter. 

Following that, ViewSonic announced an even cheaper lower-end tablet called the E70. It's aiming for 150 Euros (which undercuts even the Kindle Fire and BlackBerry PlayBook) when it lands in Europe come Q2. The 7-inch device is also running Android 4.0 ICS on a modest single-core 1 GHz processor. ViewSonic implemented some light customizations on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but it doesn't look like much more than the SPB shell. It still supports 1080p video output through HDMI, despite the low-end specs. It includes both micro and mini USB slots, which is kind of neat. The mini slot can be used for USB host functions (like popping in a thumb drive if you've got an adapter).