Gadgets

Given that Hewlett-Packard (HP) just slashed the price of its TouchPad tablet to $99, now may not be the best time to launch a $500+ business-inspired touchscreen device. Nevertheless, Lenovo believes it can succeed where HP failed by targeting the ... suit-and-tie crowd. Just last week, HP abandoned its relatively unpopular TouchPad tablet. The decision prompted a widespread fire-sale that included cutting the price of the 16GB TouchPad from $399 to an unbelievable $99, while the 32GB edition went from $499 to just $149. While many consumers were wowed by the price and bulldozed their way ... (view more)

The Hewlett-Packard (HP) TouchPad hasn't proven much of a competitor for Apple's iPad, but at the right price it's an attractive alternative. And at $99, it's the kind of deal few Best Buy or Amazon shoppers have been able to pass up. The price ... reduction has a lot to do with HP's recent decision to discontinue the TouchPad tablet, a decision that came not long after the company announced it would move away from the WebOS proprietary operating system. 16GB for $99; 32GB for $149 Last Friday, HP drastically reduced the price of each version of the TouchPad. The 16GB model went down from $399 to ... (view more)

This week, Walmart announced it would bow out of the digital music business , presumably because competition from Apple's iTunes proved too fierce. Now, it appears Apple's dominance of another market is forcing hardware firm Hewlett-Packard (HP) to ... take drastic action. HP has announced it will cut $100 from the price of its tablet PC, the TouchPad. The cost of the 16GB TouchPad tablet has dropped from $500 to $400, while the 32GB edition goes from $600 to $500. That means both choices are available for roughly $100 less than comparable iPads from Apple. (Source: wsj.com ) Apple iPad Market ... (view more)

A Silicon Valley start-up company has released a new camera model that allows a user to snap first and focus later. Dubbed 'Lytro', the camera is able to capture light data from many different angles using a specialized sensor. The sensor uses what ... is called a "microlens array", which packs the equivalent of many camera lenses into a very small space. Images Become Living, Interactive Pictures The light information captured by the Lytro is significantly more than a conventional camera and is later focused and refined using a computer. Focal points of the image are navigated using a ... (view more)

Amazon's experiment with on-screen advertising for the Kindle e-Reader appears to have paid off. The cut-price edition of the device is now the best-selling product in the company's entire electronics range. Kindle with 'Special Offers' Saves $25 ... The model, known as Kindle with Special Offers, retails for $114, which is $25 off the standard price. As far as the hardware goes, it's exactly the same as the standard WiFi edition, which was previously the cheapest in the Kindle range. (Source: pcworld.com ) The big difference is two sets of advertising. The first is that when the device isn't in ... (view more)

Since high definition televisions (HDTVs) first made a splash in the electronics market five years ago, at no point have sales of these devices actually declined -- that is, until now. According to a recent report from the Consumer Electronics ... Association, consumers simply aren't buying high definition televisions right now, meaning it's expected prices could come down significantly in the coming months. The Consumer Electronics Association report points to one glaring statistic: in 2010, 34.4 million TV sets were shipped by manufacturers. That's down 500,000 from 2009, the first time there's ... (view more)

Google is once again preparing to battle Apple to win customers in the mobile gadget field. The search giant is reported to be working on a "digital newsstand": a central resource for users of devices running its Android system to get hold of ... newspapers and magazines. The newsstand would aim to solve three problems with digital publishing on Android tablet devices. First, many titles are currently only available as web pages viewable through an ordinary browser, such as Google's Chrome. While that works, it can be quite unwieldy for users wanting to "browse" an entire issue rather than simply ... (view more)

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held every January is arguably the biggest showcase of the year for mainstream tech products. Next month's CES showcase is scheduled for Las Vegas, and it's rumored that Microsoft's CEO will be unveiling new ... Windows 7 tablet PCs as part of his keynote address. Most interesting is that Microsoft won't be producing any of the tablet hardware, but instead is expected to endorse those made by third-party companies. Slide-Out Keyboard Feature in One Windows 7 Tablet Model According to the New York Times, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will display forthcoming ... (view more)

Electronic reading devices (or E-Readers) such as Amazon's Kindle are not just best-sellers, but also the most-requested items on automated online shopping wish-lists. However, until now it's not been possible to buy electronic books as a gift. ... Instead, users could only pay for gift vouchers. That's changed with two leading companies offering gifting options for eBooks. The first to launch the feature was Kobo, a Canadian company that originally started as an electronic books retail website, but later launched its own portable reading devices, stocked in stores such as Borders and Indigo / ... (view more)

Analysts from Nielson have put together the most-wanted gifts for kids this holiday season. The top-ranked item shows just how far the little tykes have come since I was eight years old, when G.I. Joe and He-Man action figures were all the rage. ... According to Nielson, among children aged six to twelve, the Apple iPad is the most-desired tech device. Almost one in every three kids interviewed responded that they wanted the popular tablet computer sometime within the next six-month period. (Source: cnet.com ) Touch, iPad Beat Out Video Game Consoles Also high on Santa's list: a computer (reports ... (view more)