BMODO12 WINDOWS TABLET REVIEWED

The bModo12 is a Windows tablet with an 11.6 inch display. It has an Intel Atom N450 processor and a Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. Other specifications are pretty standard. The tablet has 32GB SSD, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS and an accelerometer.

In terms of looks the bModo12 isn't all that different from the ExoPC Windows tablet. Both machines are probably based on the same design and were built by the same OEM. The software, on the other hand, is different. ExoPC runs the custom ExoPC user interface on top of Windows 7, while the bModo12 runs a few custom apps.

All Touch Tablet has posted a detailed review of the bModo12. The reviewer is impressed with the tablet's performance and software. On the flip side, the tablet gets only around 3 hours of battery life. It also has a huge price tag. The base model with 1GB of RAM is priced at $799. $849 will get you the 2GB version.

The bModo12 is now available for purchase from Amazon and bModo stores.

LENOVO THINKPAD T420 AND T520 LAPTOPS COMING IN FEBRUARY

According to leaked info, the Lenovo ThinkPad T420 and T520 business laptops with Intel's 2nd generation Core i series 'Sandy Bridge' processors will start shipping in February.

The ThinkPad T420 has a 14 inch display. It will be available with screen resolution options of up to 1600 x 900 pixels. The T520 has a 15.6 inch display that goes up to full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels. Both laptops have 16:9 display ratio. They also feature the NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics technology for automatically switching between the integrated and discrete graphics options. Other specifications have not been revealed but the T520 will reportedly be available with up to Intel Core i7-2820QM quad-core processor clocking at 2.3GHz.

The ThinkPad T420 and T520 weigh 4.9 and 5.7 pounds respectively. No word on pricing at the moment.

APPLE SELLS NEARLY 15 MILLION IPADS IN 2010

In the quarter ending December 25th Apple sold 7.33 million iPads. But that is not the number of iPads sold during the whole number... that's just the numbers for the fiscal quarter. During the previous quarter the company sold 4.19 million iPads. The quarter before that saw 3.27 million iPads reaching the hands of its owners. That means Apple sold nearly 15 million iPads since launching the tablet in April 2010.

Part of this success can be attributed to the fact that Apple faced little competition in the tablet space during the year. Sure, a number of Chinese companies launched cheap Android tablets in 2010 and Samsung introduced its Galaxy Tab. Although, the Samsung Galaxy Tab was indeed a success, it couldn't diminish the popularity of iPad.

Apple will, however, face real competition in 2011 now that companies like Asus, HP, Motorola and RIM have also announced their tablets. It will be interesting to see if Apple manages to sell equally impressive numbers of iPads during this year.

ASUS EEE SLATE EP121 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The Asus Eee Slate EP121 is a Windows tablet with a 12 inch capacitive touchscreen display. It was introduced at CES and now the folks at Blogeee have posted a short review of the tablet.

The Eee Slate EP121 is different from most other tablets that are going to flood the market in the coming months. For one thing, it has a larger 12 inch display. Most tablets have 7 to 10 inch displays. It also comes with a Wacom active digitizeer which will help with handwriting recognition, drawing and some other tasks. What's more, EP121 has an Intel Core i5 processor which makes it way more powerful than other ARM-based tablets on the market.

Other specifications too are pretty impressive. The tablet has 2GB of DDR3 memory, up to 64GB SSD, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and HDMI output. But premium features command a premium price tag. The base model of EP121 is priced at $999.

At 2.6 pounds, the EP121 is a bit heavy to hold in one hand. Real world reviews are not yet available, but the machine is expected to get only around 3 hours of battery life.

MEET NET SURFER PRO: THE 10 INCH ANDROID NETBOOK FOR THE UK

UK retailer Next has introduced a 10 inch laptop running Google Android. The netbook called the Next Surfer Pro has a 1GHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 16GB of storage. It runs Android 2.1 and also has WiFi, a flash card reader and 2 USB ports.

Next hasn't revealed the detailed specs of the device, but a Japanese website says that the netbook has an ARM11-based processor. In terms of looks, the Surfer Pro is an attractive little laptop. It has a nice keyboard. The touchpad isn't very big and seems to have just one button.

On the down side, Android as an operating system isn't quite suitable for a device like this.Although Android runs well on ARM-based processors, it is essentially an operating system designed for small screen devices like smartphones. Sure, Android is the preferred operating system for tablets and it may even make activities like web surfing a pleasant experience. However, users may have difficulty installing third party applications or navigating through some Android menus.

On the other hand, the Next Surfer Pro is quite cheap. It is priced at £155, or about $248 US.

ASUS UNVEILS EEE PC SIROCCO AKA EEE PC 1015PW

A few days ago Asus launched a teaser campaign for a netbook called the Eee PC Sirocco. The teaser had the tag line 'making waves' which kind of gave the impression that Asus would be launching an innovative product that would make waves in the industry. But now it looks like Asus was just talking about a wavy textured paint job on the lid.

Regarding specs, there is nothing particularly impressive about the Eee PC Sirocco. In fact, it has now turned out that Sirocco is just another name of the Eee PC 1015PW introduced in October.

The Eee PC Sirocco or 1015PW will be available in purple, gold or pink lids. It has a 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core processor, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB / 320GB hard drive, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The 10.1 inch display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Still no word on pricing or availability.

TOSHIBA SATELLITE C650D-BT2N15 WITH AMD FUSION APU GOES ON SALE IN THE US

The Toshiba Satellite C650D with AMD's latest Fusion APU technology has gone on sale in the US. The Satellite C650D-BT2N15 is Toshiba's first laptop based on the Fusion platform.

The configurable C650D-BT2N15 has a 15.6 inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It is available with your choice of a single core 1.5GHz AMD E-240 or a 1.6GHz dual core AMD E-350 processor. Both processors come bundled with the Radeon HD 6310 graphics and UVD3 HD video decoder.

Other specifications include up to 4GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard drive, a DVD burner, WiFi 802.11n, 2 USB ports, a VGA output port, a multi-in-one media card reader and an optional webcam and microphone.

The Satellite C650D-BT2N15 weighs 5.5 pounds. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Prices start at $399.00 at Toshiba Direct.

CLOSER LOOK AT THE ENSPERT E201 ANDROID TABLET

Dynamism will start taking pre-orders for the Enspert E201 Android tablet on February 1st. Shipping will reportedly start a few weeks later.

The Enspert E301 is an interesting tablet PC. It possesses excellent build quality and has a 7 inch display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. However, the version that Dynamism is going to sell will have a 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixels display instead.

Other features include a capacitive touchscreen display, a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor and two cameras - one on the front side and another on the rear side. The machine runs Google Android 2.2. Interestingly, it has access to the Android Market and official Gmail app. The tablet also has HDMI port for transferring HD video to an external HDTV. The supported connectivity options include WiFi and Bluetooth. There is no 3G.

The tablet will sell for a reasonable $349 in the US.

DELL STREAK 7 ANDROID TABLET REVIEWED

The Dell Streak 7 Android tablet will be available from T-Mobile for $199.99 after rebate on a 2 year service contract. It will start shipping on February 2nd. The SIM free version will run $450.

The Streak 7 has a 7 inch Gorilla Glass display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. The tablet is 4G enabled and will connect to T-Mobile's HSPA+4G network. It also has WiFi and Bluetooth.

The Streak 7 will ship with Android 2.2. It is not clear whether an update to Android Honeycomb 3.0 is anywhere on the cards. Although the tablet hasn't hit the market yet, many tech blogs have already published detailed reviews. Here is a quick overview.

Crunchgear thinks that the Streak 7 is a nice tablet. But the funky UI doesn't quite make it stand out from the rest. Gizmodo found the display's lower resolution and the tablet's inability to make phone calls disappointing. Engadget reports that besides being of a lower resolution, the display is less bright and has poor viewing angles. Engadget, however, found the tablet more responsive than the Galaxy Tab, but got only around 6 hours of battery life. In the Laptop Magazine review, the Streak 7 managed to get only 2 stars out of 5. The reviewer got only around 4 hours of battery life and wasn't impressed with a low resolution display.

Overall, it looks like the Streak 7 may have a tough time competing with the dozens of tablets expected to hit the market this year. However, the snappy Tegra 2 processor, 4G mobile broadband connectivity and a relatively cheap price tag may attract some buyers.

HP PALM TOPAZ AND OPAL TABLETS LEAK

If Engadget's sources are correct, HP will soon launch two webOS-based tablets. The HP Palm Topaz and Opal tablets will reportedly support multitasking so that users can run up to 20 apps simultaneously. What's more, the tablets will also have access to 'tens of gigabytes' of cloud storage space.

The Topaz will be nearly identical to the iPad in size. The Opal will have a shorter display, but it will be wider than the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Both tablets are expected to have the same 1024 x 768 pixels display.

Other key features include Tap-to-share with which you can easily transfer a file or a document from the tablet to the phone or vice versa by simply tapping the two devices together. The Topaz and Opal will also have Beats-branded audio and a wireless charging docking station that can transform the devices into an alarm clock, a GPS device, or a digital photo frame.

The Topaz may hit the streets earlier than the Opal. Both tablets are expected to be unveiled at HP's February 9 event.

LG G SLATE COMING THIS SPRING, CAN SHOOT 3D VIDEOS

T-Mobile has released detailed specifications of the upcoming LG G-Slate Android tablet. The LG G-Slate was announced at CES. The tablet has a 1GHz dual core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 32GB of built-in storage, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. Most importantly, it has two cameras on the back side. One of these can be used to shoot 1080p HD video in 3D.To view the recorded 3D clips on the tablet's display, you will need glasses, though. The second camera on the back is rated at 5 megapixel. It is for shooting stills and has an LED flash. There is a third camera on the front side for video calls.

The G-Slate has an 8.9 inch display. It will run the tablet optimized Android Honeycomb operating system. There is still no word on pricing, but the tablet is tipped for a launch this spring.

CLOSER LOOK AT GIGABYTE'S S1080 WINDOWS TABLET

Gigabyte unveiled a new 10 inch Windows tablet at CES 2011. The Gigabyte S1080 has a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N570 dual core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. The 10.1 inch capacitive multitouch display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The tablet runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has a VGA ouput port, an Ethernet jack and a USB 3.0 port.

Unlike Android which is very touch friendly, Windows is designed for mouse input. Keeping this point in mind, Gigabyte has added a few buttons including left and right mouse buttons to the tablet. The tablet also comes pre-loaded with Gigabyte's AppPark software which is a small suite of touch friendly apps.

Gigabyte has been producing convertible tablet-style netbooks for a while, but the S1080 is the company's first Atom-powered computer without a physical display. No word on pricing or availability.

ASUS EEE NOTE EA800 TO SHIP IN EUROPE IN FEBRUARY

The Asus Eee Note EA800 will start shipping in Europe in February for 259 Euros (about $355US). The EA800 is essentially a digital note taking device which can also be used as an eBook reader.

The tablet has a grayscale display which supports 64 shades of gray. It comes with a stylus for pressure-sensitive note-taking. There is also a Wacom active digitizer for handwriting recognition. Other features include a 2 megapixel camera. Although the camera can take color pictures, you can't view them in full color on the tablet's grayscale display.

The EA800 has an 8 inch display with a resolution of 768 x 1024 pixels. It will get around 13 hours of battery life. The device comes standard with 4GB of onboard storage. There is also an SD card slot for expansion. The supported connectivity option is WiFi 802.11b/g.

TOSHIBA NB550D NOW SHIPPING IN EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA

The Toshiba NB550D with AMD's Ontario processor is not yet available in the US. However, the netbook has started shipping in many parts of Europe and Australia.

The Toshiba NB550D has a 1GHz dual core AMD C-50 Ontario processor. The Ontario processors are highly power efficient. They consume just 9W of power. And because they come bundled with the Radeon HD 6250 graphics they will deliver excellent graphics performance including 1080 HD video playback and support for DirectX 11. In fact, in many benchmark tests, these processors have delivered graphics performance comparable to NVIDIA's ION.

The Toshiba NB550D has a 10.1 inch display with 16:9 aspect ratio. Other specifications include up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 250GB storage, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and HDMI output.