SourceCode: The Tablet Situation, A Mid-year Report

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

2011, the proclaimed "Year of the Tablet," has reached the halfway point.

We now have something resembling a very young marketplace for tablets other than Apple's iPad. Most of the new models have bet the farm on Google's Android OS and hope it will succeed as wildly and as quickly on the tablet space as it did in smartphones.

Braver manufacturers like RIM and HP are pushing their own hardware and software platforms hoping that customers who want 'something different', might subscribe to their approach and buy their products. 

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First Look: HTC Flyer 7.1" inch Android Tablet

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

We've found the prospect of HTC Flyer intriguing from the first time it was leaked back in February. Well, after three long months we've finally gotten our mitts on HTC's bold new tablet during a customer event in downtown Toronto. Not only did we get an awesome walkthrough, we also got to meet Youenn Colin, one of the industrial designers from HTC"s firm One & Co. All that and a slideshow right after the jump.

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RIM releases Facebook for BlackBerry PlayBook app

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

RIM made good on its promise to start offering 'essential' apps for the two week old BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet by releasing the first official Facebook app designed for a tablet. The FaceBook for BlackBerry PlayBook is the only tablet-specific application (Android and iOS are using ill-fitting blown-up versions of their smartphone counterparts). The Facebook app was built by RIM using Adobe Air and Adobe Flash technology.

Hit jump for more screenshots of the new app.

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Tablet war heats up as Sony introduces two Android slates

The second wave of iPad 2 challengers has started to surface and consumer electronics giant Sony is fielding not one but two new Sony Tablets coming this Fall.

The S1 has a 9.4-inch display and the S2 has  two 5.5-inch displays. Aside from the requisite Honeycomb OS applications, the Sony Tablets will be tightly integrated with Sony's line of Bravia televisions and will feature tie-ins with Sony's Qriocity video-streaming service and support for the Sony-initiated Digital Living Network Alliance standards via IR port, so they double as entertainment controllers. No word yet on the price although if Sony wants to really compete in terms of price and not just features, it should price these tablets in line with the rest of the market.