pricing - 4/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

HTC To Launch Two Bigger, Better Flyer Tablets With Honeycomb This Summer?

Posted by David Ruddock in Flyer, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, HTC, News

There's not a whole lot of specificity that comes with this information, but at the same time it seems pretty likely that HTC isn't putting all of its tablet eggs into the Flyer and EVO View 4G basket. DigiTimes is reporting that HTC is planning to release two Honeycomb tablets bearing the Flyer moniker later this summer, both with larger displays than the incoming Gingerbread version.

This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as the Galaxy Tab and other small, non-Honeycomb tablets have demonstrated that consumers want a device with a bigger screen and a proper tablet operating system. HTC, it seems, is going to be last of the major manufacturers to enter the Honeycomb tablet foray.

Mar

WiFi-Only Motorola XOOM Will Be Available At Costco March 27 (Sunday) For $599

Posted by David Ruddock in Motorola, News, XOOM

Great news for those of you holding out for that WiFi-only XOOM of your dreams: Costco has moved up its availability date for the LTE-less version of the tablet from April 1 to this coming Sunday, March 27. So if you walk into your local Costco this weekend, presumably the WiFi XOOM will be there to greet you for the reasonable price of $599.99.

But, if you order online, you'll get a couple of perks (even if it does mean you won't be getting your XOOM on Sunday). Namely, $10 off ($589.99), a free gel skin case, and free shipping. If you can't wait, you can pay $10 more at your brick and mortar location this weekend and let your XOOM go case-less.

Mar

The Super-Thin Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 And 10.1: As Seen From Outside A Glass Box

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Samsung

Yesterday at CTIA, Samsung unveiled its revamped Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the all-new Galaxy Tab 8.9 (check out our live coverage of the event). Unfortunately, that's about all Samsung did with them - neither was ever powered on. Samsung's CTIA exhibit housed the new devices in glass security cases (as you can see below), while early "prototypes" of the 8.9 and 10.1 running Honeycomb with Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 overlay were available for hands-on time, in order to demonstrate some of the software the company plans to include when the devices are released.

Why no demonstrations of the thinner, lighter, sexier Tabs?

Mar

T-Mobile Reveals Pricing Of The G-Slate 3D Tablet And The Sidekick 4G

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in LG, News, Optimus Pad / G-Slate, Samsung, Sidekick 4G, T-Mobile

The new G2x dual-core phone with stock Google experience is not the only device getting some attention today in a slew of T-Mobile press releases - both the G-Slate 3D tablet made by LG and the Sidekick 4G made by Samsung finally got pricing information.

First up, the 8.9" G-Slate tablet running Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" will cost $529.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate (ugh). Don't get too excited though - this price is for a 2-year contract, in addition to a voice line (hmm? Will it be making phone calls?) and EasyPay enrollment. Compared to the XOOM's contract price of $599.99 for a similar setup, adding 3D cameras, and subtracting an inch off the display's diagonal, we get a relatively decent deal, if you're interested in tying yourself down to a carrier for such a long time.

Mar

HTC Flyer Tablet Launching Mid-April In UK, Clove Taking Pre-Orders For £500

Posted by Will Shanklin in Flyer, HTC, News

While there are certainly tablets on the way that are more anticipated than the Flyer, HTC's 7" slate is coming nonetheless - and now we know when. It will launch "mid April," according to UK site Clove, which is now taking pre-orders for the tablet. Accessories that will be available for purchase along with your flyer include a spare digital stylus (£40), a Micro USB to HDMI cable (£24), and a car charger (£17).

Previous rumors suggested the stylus-toting tablet would set one back $600 in the US, and the £500 price point Clove has set totals out to £600 after VAT, so take what you will from that.

Mar

Best Buy Claims Thunderbolt Will Cost $299.99 Starting March 20 - Something Smells Rotten

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Just when we thought that news about the HTC Thunderbolt was going to die down now that the mystery of its long-anticipated launch has been solved, word comes that Best Buy will only be offering the LTE phone at the $249.99 price until March 20 -after which it will be $299.99. While the phone has generated a lot of buzz, it's hard not to view this price hike as Best Buy shooting themselves in the foot.

In a promo post from their website, Best Buy said "The HTC ThunderBolt 4G [sic], a national retail exclusive for Best Buy, will be offered at a special launch price of $249.99 through Saturday, March 19, including all pre-orders.

Mar

WiFi-only Motorola XOOM Headed to Sam’s Club, Possibly Priced at $539 - Droid Life- A Droid Community Blog

Wi-Fi-Only Motorola XOOM To Cost $539 At Sam's Club?

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, XOOM

It seems like only yesterday we were watching Steve Jobs reveal the second iPad and wondering how Android tablet manufacturers would react (actually, it was yesterday). Now we have news that the Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM will be priced at $539 at Sam's Club.

Previous rumors suggested the price for the non-carrier version of the tab would be $600, so this is a bit of a surprise. Of course, wholesale warehouses like Sam's and Costco are usually able to sell for much less than other retailers (they rely mostly on memberships for profit), but this is more of a discount than would typically be expected.

Mar

Today's iPad 2 News Could Shake Up Tablet Prices - But Not For The Reasons You Think

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, Editorials, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

While we at Android Police don't exactly wait with bated breath to hear what Steve Jobs has to say at Apple announcements like the one for the iPad 2 today, we would be fooling ourselves to pretend that Apple products don't directly affect the market for Android devices. While an Android fan's first reaction to the latest iAnnouncement is often to (understandably) bash the smooth-talking fruit company from Cupertino, I believe that today's events could shake up the tablet market for the better.

The hardware of the iPad 2 is hardly a game-changer. They didn't upgrade their display from the first generation iPad (which always looked a little bit pixelated to me), though they did make it thinner and lighter.

Mar

Wi-Fi XOOM Pre-Orders Now Live in UK: Available Next Month

Posted by Will Shanklin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Following an eerie silence regarding the Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM after the launch of the Verizon model last week, we heard that it would (at some point) sell for £449.9 in the UK. How quickly things change: it now appears, in a new listing on PC World, that the price has been jacked up to £499.99. Pre-orders are now a go at the UK site, and they promise an availability date of "the first week of April."

Only UK customers can reserve their XOOM now, as we attempted to order from the US, and under the country code option, the only possible entry was "United Kingdom" (no surprise there).

Mar

Updated: Verizon Confirms What It Has Been Saying For A Year: Unlimited Data Is Going Away, Say Hello To Tiers

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Verizon Wireless

While some people were unable to contemplate the possibility that Verizon's all-you-can-eat data plans would be coming to an end, Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo again affirmed the carrier's commitment to move to a tiered system today. When will life start to suck for new or upgrading Verizon customers? This Summer, apparently.

"But David, I already have an unlimited data contract, they have to honor that!" Why yes, they do. Until you want to upgrade to a 4G device, and you have to sign a completely "new" rate plan contract. AT&T is already doing this with the Inspire 4G - if you upgrade from any previous device to the Inspire, AT&T forces you into their limited data plans because your "service" has changed (to "4G").