.::REALITYRECALL::.

As promised, Toshiba is marking June 13th with pre-order availability of its Thrive Android (3.1!) tablet, a device whose life aspiration and name happen to coincide perfectly. This 10-inch Tegra 2 portable has the usual 1280 x 800 resolution, dual cameras (5 megapixel on the back, 2 megapixel up front), a gigabyte of RAM, and a 23WHr battery, but it also brings nice expandability with full-size HDMI, USB 2.0 and SD card slots. The Easy Grip back covers can be swapped — which, yes, means you can also replace the battery — though you’ll have to splash out $20 for any non-black hues. The 8GB Thrive costs $430, followed by the 16GB unit at $480 and the 32GB option at $580. You can order yours directly from Toshiba or at Amazon, Best Buy or Office Direct, with deliveries slated for mid-July.

[Thanks, Matthew]

Toshiba Thrive pre-order now live, starts at $430 and ends up in your hands in mid-July originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I remember standing in the audience of Samsung's CTIA press conference as it announced, for the first time ever, pricing and availability of its unreleased Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 before shipping. The smartphone (and early tablet) industries have gone this long without having to really compete based on price, mostly because in North America the carriers subsidize much of the cost. If every device costs $199 under contract, why get carried away with details like how much it actually costs?

The Galaxy Tab however was playing in a different space. While Apple ultimately caved to the pressures of carrier subsidies with the iPhone, the iPad remains completely unsubsidized and its followers buy it by the millions. The magical price point is $499 and it was at Samsung's CTIA press conference that it announced it would be matching Apple's $499 price point, and even dropping slightly below it for the 8.9-inch version.

At the time it seemed like a bold move, enough to give Honeycomb the fighting chance it needed. The Galaxy Tab would be thinner and lighter than the iPad 2 but competitively priced as well. This wouldn't be another Xoom.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (top) vs. ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (bottom)

Then ASUS showed up. At $399, the Eee Pad Transformer not only offered a different usage model to the iPad and Galaxy Tab, it brought a lower price tag as well. Availability has been slim thanks to component shortages, but with the Eee Pad selling for $399 the Galaxy Tab at $499 all of the sudden seems overpriced.

Based on specs alone you'd be right. Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 has the same NVIDIA Tegra 2 tablet SoC inside, 1GB of LPDDR2 and 16GB of NAND on-board. You get a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 PLS display and 802.11n WiFi support. 

Where Samsung gives you something more for your money is in build quality and form factor. While Eee Pad Transformer feels surprisingly good for a cost reduced tablet, it doesn't feel nearly as slim or portable as the Galaxy Tab 10.1. It's no wonder Samsung went back to the drawing board on this one, the result is something that in many ways feels better than the iPad 2.

The once-proclaimed “baddest man on the planet” fumbled for words that wouldn’t come. Sylvester Stallone knew exactly what Mike Tyson was feeling.

The rotating strike by Canada Post mail carriers and other workers is scheduled to hit seven provinces starting late Sunday night, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers says.

According to the latest reports, Microsoft Security Essentials is the most popular anti-virus application worldwide. Microsoft’s solution, which is free to all genuine Windows users, has taken the top spot in the second quarter of 2011, as reported by OPSWAT’s study (via Softpedia).

Microsoft Security Essentials was found running on 10.66%…

Android: Many people who buy Android phones already know all about the device they choose, but for those that don’t or who forget, Elixir can help. The app will display your Android phone’s system status, internal components, available storage, and more. It’ll even add a widget to the home screen with more information inside. More »

Most of the women interviewed in a recent study performed by Erin Cooper of Temple University said they did it to save their egos, or their energy, victims as they are of anorgasmia. There was also a small group of participants who did it to enhance their own sexual experience.
“This small subset of women who are faking orgasm for the purposes of increasing their own arousal, actually have higher levels of sexual satisfaction,” Cooper said. “So, maybe we should not be questioning their strategy; it’s one of many tools in their toolboxes for having a positive sexual experience.”
It’s tempting to believe this juicy little tid bit, in that Nassem Talib kind of way. And yet, in self-reporting their sexual satisfaction, are these women really to be trusted? (Apparently not, says more science, not by their partners at least.)
From an older study:

Don’t worry anyway, ladies. Cosmo’s got you covered. (Men, don’t pretend you don’t fake too.)

When an Audi clips a Ferrari at a 200 m.p.h. clip during a pass at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this happens. The Audi driver, Alan McNish (seen above, mid-air), walked away from the crash. [The Daily] More »

As disliked as the Canucks have become in this playoff run for their embellishment antics to the Alexandre Burrows biting incident to Aaron Rome’s late hit, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas continues to be a likable character and a remarkable story.

A cryptology instruction book…202 years old. A photograph of the U.S. Army’s cypher bureau…from 1919. A breakdown of Russian electoral districts…circa 1948. Schematics for a magnetic tape memory system…nearly half a century old. More »

With the disappointing box office results for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean and Kung Fu Panda installments, reports that 3D is in trouble have flooded a number of industry publications.

read more

A week-long mediation effort has failed to produce a new contract for Saskatchewan’s 12,000 teachers.

Chevy wants to know what it can do to get you into one of its plug-in hybrids today. A $1,000 price drop? You got it. The carmaker announced this week that the 2012 Volt base price will come in a grand lower than its predecessor, thanks to the sorts of additional configurations that come with increased availability. The 2011 version was available in seven states and the District of Columbia and came in three configurations — 2012’s Volt is available nationwide in seven different packages, ranging from $39,995 to $46,265. And keep in mind that those prices don’t factor in potential tax credits. The latest version of the plug-in vehicle is available now for order and offers up features like MyLink media streaming, OnStar driving directions, and passive locking (though the new base model does strip away a couple of features found in its predecessor). Also there’s the whole lessening your dependence on gasoline, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Continue reading Chevy drops Volt base price by $1,000 for 2012, makes saving the world slightly more affordable

Chevy drops Volt base price by $1,000 for 2012, makes saving the world slightly more affordable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s been a frequent source of frustration, teasing us with its fabulous flexible displays for years, while never giving us a date when we could buy one for our very own. However, word on the web suggests that Sammy is finally ready to unleash its pliant panels upon the world in Q2 of 2012. Apparently, the company’s mobile display division opened a new manufacturing plant with Ube (who produces the plastic substrate for the screens) last month to mass-produce bendy AMOLEDs for watches and phones. Let the countdown to the ductile display revolution begin.

Samsung to finally roll out flexible AMOLED displays for public consumption in 2012? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On June 8th, as previously reported by Neowin and other sites, hundreds of web sites participated in a 24-hour trial of IPv6. The new version allows practically unlimited IP addresses and better performance compared to IPv4. According to Ars Technica, the test day went smoothly for users. However, sites did…

Oh, ASUS — what a teaser. Especially when it comes to the release dates and exact prices of your latest keyboard-packing Eee Pad 10.1-inch Android tablets. The word remains mum regarding final pricing, but the company’s UK division recently announced via its Facebook page that the Transformer 3G and Slider tabs will be available in the region during August; and sadly, that’s about all. It’ll be letting out more details on how to snag one just before they’re out, and hopefully you’ll get a chance to before they sell clean out. For now, you can re-skim our review of the UK Transformer and additional Slider coverage — just think of it as a consolation prize.

ASUS slipping Eee Pad Slider and Transformer 3G into UK hands this August originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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