Amazon is reportedly working on a 7 inch tablet that will come loaded with the company�s own version of operating system. TechCrunch author managed to get his hands on the device and got a confirmation from the company that the tablet will cost $250 (Rs 11,250).

Most likely to be branded as Amazon Kindle tablet, it will carry multi-touch supporting 7 inch colour display, Android operating system, and a bunch of Amazon apps.

The Amazon tablet will carry an operating system built from the scratch using the Android OS code but the prototype unit did not have any cue that indicated presence of Android, visually. The user interface of the tablet will complement to the Amazon.com redesign which is being tested currently.

The tablet will carry all Amazon Apps — Kindle Reader, Amazon Cloud Player, Instant Video Player and the Amazon App Store for apps. From the details so far, it appears that the Amazon tablet will have more of a host of cloud services apps supporting operating system.

Hardware of the tablet would be pretty similar to that of the rival Nook Color. Amazon tablet will have a two finger multi-touch supporting capacitive display and not any e-ink version. The tablet will carry a single core chip and would offer about 6 GB on-board storage. The final version should carry a micro SD card expansion slot as the 6 GB storage is too less for storing multimedia offline.

The Amazon tablet would be a WiFi version only as it seems that the company wants a wider reach compared to the headache of carrier tie up. In terms of looks, the tablet appears like the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook but with a rubberised back for better grip. Unfortunately, Amazon won�t be adding any camera on the tablet.

The upcoming Amazon Kindle tablet will compete with Barnes & Nobles’ Nook Color in terms of pricing and form factor. Apparently this tablet is meant for reading books, watching movies (online) and listening to music. From the details, the tablet does sound interesting to voracious readers who wish to carry several books in digital version while traveling and also enjoy music. Unless the Amazon�s cloud based music and Instant Video services are made available to several countries, the tablet�s fate seems limited to the USA and other select countries.

Samsung has announced a new tablet – Galaxy Tab 7.7, at the IFA 2011 event in Berlin, Germany. The new Galaxy Tab 7.7 is an improved and entirely revamped version of the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet.

The new tablet has a 7.7 inch Super AMOLED Plus display supporting 1280×800 pixel resolution, producing vibrant colours along with lots of brightness.

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 packs a dual core 1.4 GHz microprocessor with Mali-400MP graphics chip to power the Android 3.2v Honeycomb operating system. The Android Honeycomb will certainly have the TouchWiz UI and the Live Panels UX layered on the top of it.

This is the thinnest tablet from Samsung so far as it measures mere 7.89 mm thin and possibly the lightest as it weighs mere 335 grams. Samsung has added Universal Remote Control functionality that will let you control your television as well as home entertainment systems.

A distinct feature of this tablet is the support for the basic telephony and obviously you ought to use the earphones with microphone instead of sticking the tablet to your cheeks.

Samsung did fall back in terms of imaging as the tablet carries 3 megapixel Autofocus camera whereas a 5 megapixel image sensor would have been good. However, the back panel camera is capable of taking 720p HD video. In the front lies a 2 megapixel camera meant for video chat and video calls.

The tablet doesn’t have any capacitive buttons and totally reliant on the on-screen menu buttons of the Android 3.2 Honeycomb. For wireless connectivity, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 features HSPA+ 21 Mbps networks, WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) and WiFi Channel Bonding.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 will come in 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB storage options along with support for micro SD card of up to 32 GB capacity.

Lenovo, which is known for its desktop and notebook computers, has announced a low cost Android tablet, named Ideapad A1. It will become the second tablet from the company after Ideapad K1 in India. The A1 is priced at $199 which translates to approximately Rs 10,000.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the company has confirmed to The Mobile Indian that its upcoming Ideapad K1 tablet will be priced above Rs 30,000.

The Ideapad A1 is powered by a single core 1 GHz Processor with dual cameras, and up to 32 GB of storage via micro SD cards. The 7 inch display handles a Resolution of 1024 x 600 which is a standard for this size. The capacitive multi touch input also ensures a smooth web surfing.

The operating system used in the Ideapad A1 is the Android Gingerbread 2.3 which offers more compatibility for smaller tablets as compared to the Honeycomb.

Along with this, Lenovo has also announced its App store and has promised more than 200 applications by the time the store will be available for the users.

Although the launch date for the A1 has not been disclosed by Lenovo, it is being anticipated that the tablet will soon be available for launch in the market. With the Ideapad K1 expecting a September launch in India, Lenovo could probably launch the A1 in October.

Philips Go Gear line of products have been around for quite some time now and by far are considered to be one of the best media players. Expanding the Go Gear series, Philips has now unveiled the Go Gear Connect 3 media player with Android at the IFA event in Berlin.

It is by far the most advanced product in the Go Gear series. The Go Gear Connect 3 is based on Google’s Android Gingerbread 2.3 and has WiFi connectivity. The device can be used to access hundreds of applications on the Android Market. The Go Gear Connect 3 features a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen which is capable of playing 720p HD videos as well.

Boasting the best of Philips’ sound technology including FullSound, Sound Personalisation and Surround for Movies, it delivers superior sound that the Philips Go Gear range is popular for.

The Go Gear Connect 3 also comes with the PC software Philips Songbird, an easy-to-use program that makes syncing music from your PC hassle free. Plus, there is no need to sort your music library to find the perfect tracks – just pick one, click the ‘LikeMusic’ icon and the software will instantly build a smart play list basis the users preferences.

The Philips Go Gear Connect 3 also comes with DLNA capability and with the help of the Philips ‘SimplyShare’ app, it allows users to play multimedia content on a variety of Philips and third party DLNA enabled products such as Network Music Players, WiFi enabled cameras and photo frames, wireless speakers, home cinema systems or television sets as well.

Although the launch dates and the pricing information for the Go Gear Connect 3 has not been disclosed by Philips, it is expected that the mini media player will soon be available for purchase in global markets.

Image curtsey : eurodroid

Dell has told a website Thinq at the IFA Berlin that the Streak 7 operating system would be upgraded to Android 3.2 Honeycomb. The website reportedly also spotted some Dell Streak 7 tablets which were running on Honeycomb.

Though, Dell Streak 7 managed to impress users with its specification including its Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, it faltered on two counts &#151 screen Resolution and an older Android 2.2 Froyo operating system.

The company is yet to come up with a specific date for the arrival of Honeycomb update but the presence of Dell Streak 7 running on Honeycomb at IFA Berlin suggests the update is likely to arrive soon. Notably, Honeycomb is the tablet specific version of the Android operating system.

Users who suspected the death of Dell Streak 7 as well like Dell Streak 5 would be pleasantly surprised by this move of the company, though the move seems logical considering Dell Streak 7 has sold better than Dell Streak 5 in the US market.

Olive Communication is set to launch the latest version of its OlivePad tablet, named OlivePad 2. It will feature a more powerful Processor than its predecessor did, along with the latest Android 2.3 operating system.

Olive has introduced some design changes in the tablet: the new OlivePad 2 will be slimmer and lighter than the existing OlivePad. The tablet will sport a croc leather finish at the back to give it a more premium look.

Confirming this to The Mobile Indian, Arun Khanna, chairman, Olive Telecom, said, “We are going to launch our next tablet that will feature a more powerful processor and the latest Android operating system.”

Taking about the company’s plans, he said, “We will be focusing only on Android smartphones and tablets going forward. We are working on strengthening our distribution network. People are saying that they know our brand but could not find our products in stores; this is going to change”.

The first OlivePad could connect to 3G networks through a dongle, but the next version is likely to have a modem built in. The screen resolution is not known, however the size will be 7 inches, similar to the current model. The tablet will also have a GLONASS navigation system (the Russian alternative to GPS) built into the tablet. GLONASS claims to offer more accurate navigation compared to GPS.