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Posted on March 22nd, 2011 John Burns

Tech company, Netbook Navigator are preparing to launch their new Nav7 tablet, a device running Windows 7 Home Premium.

The 7-inch tablet was first unveiled at CES last year and will feature a multitouch display, an Intel Atom 75xx series processor and will weigh 1.2 lbs.

The tablet will be available in two specification levels; a model with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage will fetch $649 on its American release, while the top of the range unit will feature 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and will carry a $1149 price tag.

Pre-orders for the device will be available from the end of March. The device supports 3G so a UK release should follow shortly afterwards.

The Nav7 follows on from the 8.9 inch Nav9 tablet which was released in 2010 to mixed reviews. The text input options and poor viewing angles were cited as reasons why the Nav9 did not fare well on release, however the Nav7 is reported to have a much improved touchscreen facility and should have ironed out the problems surrounding its predecessor.

We will report on UK release dates and other specifications when the information emerges.

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Posted on February 20th, 2011 John Burns Microsoft are rumoured to be developing Windows 8 for tablets, ready for a release later this year.

While Microsoft’s Windows 7 hasn’t exactly set the tablet market alight, there are clutch of devices currently available which run the OS, including offerings from Dell, HP and LG. However, Microsoft now plan to start afresh and relaunch Windows as the definitive tablet operating system.

Microsoft are understood to have an army of around 1,000 engineers busying themselves developing windows 8 for use with touch screen devices. To help with the transition, Microsoft have turned away from Intel and AMD processors in favour of power-saving ARM chips.

Morgan Stanley analyst, Adam Holt has suggested that a move towards Windows 8 indicates that Microsoft are taking 2011’s battle for tablet dominance very seriously indeed, and that Microsoft are not as out of touch as we may think in terms of tablet devices;

“Microsoft are closer to competitive than some realize,” Holt said. “Where iPads are being deployed corporate are often leveraging virtual desktops to provision Windows and Windows apps. Microsoft generally get $100 per device in this scenario.”

So Microsoft have been riding on the coat-tails of the tablet ‘movement’ for some time now, maybe 2011 is the year that they come out of the shadows and take the market by storm. If the rumours are to be believed – and Microsoft are on track with their new OS – then Windows 8 devices should be available by the end of the year.

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Posted on February 9th, 2011 John Burns

London based computing firm, Premier have announced their new tablet; the Windows 7 running ePad F10.

Pioneer – not to be confused with the Japanese television manufacturers of the same name – have chosen to launch the device with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system although the device is rumoured to have a dual boot feature, allowing it to run Android also.

The 10.1 inch device will have a pixel resolution of 1024 x 600, as well as a 1.3 mega pixel camera, SD card reader and 8 hours of continuous battery usage.

The Dreambook will also be equipped with 2GB of RAM and 128GB flash storage. The device will be powered by a 1.5 GHz Intel Z670 Oak Trail processor, hopefully without the problems associated with Intel’s Sandy Bridge chip.

Pioneer’s stylish new tablet will also be available with WiFi and 3G connectivity as wall as the HDMI output feature that is becoming increasingly common on machines such as this.

Pioneer have made given no indication as to when we can expect the device to hit our shelves, nor any hint about its price, although tech bloggers have warned that software licensing fees may push up the Dreambook’s price tag a little bit.

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Posted on February 9th, 2011 Dan Mather

A Dell tablet running on the Windows 7 system from Microsoft looks set to be introduced into worldwide markets later this year

The US consumer technology giant is apparently aiming to take on Apple in the ten-inch tablet category, with a device running on a system whose tablet suitability and popularity is yet to be proven.

Seemingly keen to hedge its bets, Dell is planning to make a series of Android-operated slate computers available in the coming months as well.

A sneak peek of the up-coming Windows 7 ten-inch tablet was offered at a Dell event in San Francisco this week but it was essentially a non-functioning demonstration device, which of course leaves plenty of basic questions unanswered.

One aspect of Dell’s latest endeavour is clear enough however, the company will be aiming to build on its existing presence in the business sector and convince IT managers that they can incorporate the new tablets into their wider PC plans.

Dell’s latest announcements come during a week in which its long-time consumer PC rival Hewlett-Packard unveiled a new touch-screen desktop device dubbed the TouchSmart 9300 Elite, also believed to be aimed at potential business users.

Meanwhile, the research firm IHS iSuppli has suggested that Windows operated “PC-style tablets” will become hugely popular at some point during the next few years, as overall tablet sales get close to a quarter of a billion.

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