Asus just put out a new tablet that looks pretty much like the dozen or so tablets already in or about to flood the market, but it’s certainly no iPad or Android clone. It all revolves around the 8-inch touchscreen, but the Eee Note EA800 is a totally different thing altogether. First off, it packs a grayscale (non-colored) screen, so multimedia is pretty much out on this Linux-based device (it can still play MP3s though). It’s labeled as a note taker and ebook reader—two functions that don’t really require a colored screen—but if all you’re looking for is a device that’ll let you read ebooks, handwrite notes, and sketch, then this is something you’re going to want to check out.
The holidays are a little more than a month away, and if you’re like everyone else, you probably still have no idea what to get for each and everyone on your list. Amazon just announced a good idea that could spare you from wading aimlessly through the mall: you can give them Kindle books.
If you’re looking to pick up a new notebook or desktop PC, you’ve got one less brand to choose from now. Sharp has just announced that they’ll stop sales and production of PCs now, and will choose to focus on coming up with tablets and ebook readers instead. Probably a smart move, seeing that notebook sales have been dropping all over thanks to all the tablets (we’re looking at you, iPad) selling like digital pancakes. Probably not a big deal to you if you aren’t shopping around in Japan where Sharp heavily peddles their products, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for their upcoming Galapagos tablet and e-book reader, which could reach Verizon by December.
Check out the new ad for the Amazon Kindle, where guy-with-something-that-looks-like-an-iPad can’t read anything on the glossy screen under the sunlight. Beside him? Hot-bikini-girl with the third-gen Amazon Kindle, who can easily read the screen thanks to the reader’s E-ink display. That much wasn’t explained in the short ad, although hot-bikini-girl did mention that it only costs $139. The point? We get it, and we agree to a certain extent. The Kindle’s a better all-around reader than the iPad. Way cheaper too. But if we were sitting in the lounger beside hot bikini girl, we probably wouldn’t be able to read either. Even if we had, like, a dozen Kindles. Oh, and her sunglasses didn’t really look that expensive, but they apparently were.
Velocity Micro, the brand behind the 7-inch Cruz Reader and Cruz Tablet, just started taking preorders for the two Android-based slates they previewed last month. Scheduled to ship next month, they’re a couple of the first few mainstream Android tablets to be released, so you might want to check ‘em out if you’re looking for cheaper, more compact touchscreen slates that don’t come with an Apple logo at the back.
