In the never ending stream of new tablets and rumors of new tablets there’s word of an HP eReader-centric tablet called the Hewlett-Packard Zeen. HP appears to be aggressively pursuing the tablet category, perhaps trying to make up for dropping the ball in smartphones.
The Zeen will run on Android with a link to the Barnes & Noble Nook eBookstore, says Engadget citing an FCC filing and anonymous tipsters.
Apart from eReading, one of the Zeen’s standout features should be its ability to connect directly to a printer, sidestepping the need for a PC. Otherwise, it is expected to offer a capacitive touch screen, SD card slot and possibly cameras. HP may offer the Zeen in a $399 bundle with a new printer called the Zeus. It seems after missing the boat on smartphones, HP is planning to take a lead in tablets.
Also new, from Austin, TX tablet maker Flat Technologies, is the FlatPad A10. It is shipping now for a very reasonable $285 running Android 2.1 (to be updated to Froyo—Android 2.2—this month). It has a 10.2-inch touch screen with WiFi, accelerometer, Google Maps and up to 32GB microSD slot. It uses a 1GHz processor, 2GB of internal memory and 256MB of RAM.
From Asustek, we can expect to see a tablet in October at $599. It will have an 8-inch 64-grayscale TFT-LCD screen without backlighting, that’s optimized for eReading, but doesn’t perform as well as an E Ink screen, said Digitimes. Apparently the company is now negotiating with carriers for wireless service.
Source: Engadget, Flat Technologies and Digitimes
Photo: FlatPad
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