By Kirk Hiner | for Technology Tell With the price of 7″ tablets now plumbing the sub-$200 level, should these entry-level units be considered disposable computing devices? ZNet’s Jason Perlow posed that question in a commentary last weekend, in which he relates an anecdote about his wife falling asleep in bed while using a Google Nexus 7 he’d recently passed on to her, dropping the tablet onto a tile floor, the impact of which shattered its glass screen. Perlow vetted out the cost of replacing the screen, discovering that ASUS charges about $170 to replace the digitizer/screen/glass assembly, and the parts for a DIY repair would cost about $140. The Nexus 7′s touch digitizer,...

  By Mike McEnaney | for Technology Tell Google’s play in the tablet market is the Nexus 7, a 7-inch screen Android tablet clearly built for on-the-go use; once you play with this one for awhile, you’ll also see it was truly designed around—and for—Google Play. While little headway has been made with regard to challengers of Apple’s iPad, we have to say the Nexus 7 may prove one of the more a formidable opponents as the tablet wars roll along. First off, just to be upfront, an iPad feature the Nexus 7 doesn’t have: no rear camera. And the screen resolution, while...

  By Jeff Kleist | for Technology Tell Looking to save a little extra dough off of your holiday shopping? Visit Amazon's Facebook page, where the company is offering a $5 off $25 coupon that must be redeemed by Sunday, December 9. This deal was last offered a few weeks back, but there are a limited number of coupons available, so spend far, spend deep ... but spend it fast, before it melts like a snowman and leaves all that Facebook sharing for naught. * * *    ...

By Stephen Silver | for Entertainment Tell I used to read books and magazines. Really, I did. I’ve subscribed to Sports Illustrated for as long as I’ve known how to read, and prided myself for most of my life on how many books I could read, and on how full my bookshelf was. Heck,  I even used to read a newspaper on a semi-regular basis. Thanks to the digital revolution, sadly, those days are over in my house. Downstairs, I’ve got a stack of magazines eight inches high; upstairs, my stack of unread books is taller than both of my children. No, I...

By Aaron Kraus | for Technology Tell Apple has called reporters together for a conference on October 23, with the vague-but-suggestive line, “We’ve got a little more to show you.” Like all Apple’s announcements, the invitation to this event does not directly reveal the product(s) to be unveiled, but does contain a subtle hint: “little.” This event will likely be familiar to anyone who was around for the unveiling of the iPod nano back in 2005, and will be characterized by three key trends: Apple’s push away from hard disk drives to flash storage, Retina displays, and a move to miniaturization....

  By Kirk Hiner | for Technology Tell Didn’t we just do this? Not content with the iPhone 5 announcement and release last month, Apple will be holding another media event on Tuesday, October 23rd. (That's tomorrow!) It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that we’ll finally be seeing the iPad mini, something for which tech pundits have been clamoring pretty much since the original iPad was originally announced. The question is whether consumers want one as badly, and whether Apple has found a way to make them want one. You can find out this Tuesday, right here at the Technology Tell network, on the live blog that'll be...

By Jeremy Hill | for Gadgetell Apple spent its entire media event this past Wednesday showing off the iPhone 5, the fifth generation iPod Touch, the iPod Nano and updated software for iOS and iTunes. We didn’t hear a peep about the fabled 7-inch iPad, so it’s fair to assume that’s being saved for a later event. However, I’m not so sure it will be the Nexus 7 destroyer many have made it out to be--assuming it’s real. Here’s the problem: The 7-inch iPad is believed to be a more budget-friendly version of the full sized iPad. It’s supposed to swoop in and completely...

By Robert Nelson | Gadget Tell Ematic has announced its latest Android tablet, the EXP8. The tablet is available in three colors (black, gold and copper), and you can pick  one up at walmart.com. Those interested can expect to pay $179.99, which, honestly speaking, seems to be a bit on the high side given the current crop of competition. That being said, lets cover the specs so you can come to an educated decision on your own. The Ematic EXP8 features include: - 9.7-inch Capacitive Touch IPS display - 1.2GHz processor with 400MHz GPU - 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage - 5GB of cloud storage - A microSD...

Best Buy Canada has recently listed another tablet, although this one is not yet available. Nonetheless, it's an interesting product listing because it does offer a potential release date for the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. And on top of that, the tablet is priced at $499.99 and currently available for pre-order. Getting back to that release date—the listing notes that “this product is scheduled to arrive in our warehouse on 09/26/2012.” Simply put, those who move forward with a pre-order can expect delivery towards the end of the month. Otherwise, the tablet will include a 10.1-inch (1280 x 720) display, quad-core 1.4GHz processor,...

By Robert Nelson | for Technology Tell Sony unveiled the Xperia Tablet S back in late-August during IFA, and it looks like the tablet has since come available for purchase. Those interested will be able to make the purchase by way of the Sony Store, where the tablet is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. The tablets are priced at $399.99, $499.99 and $599.99 respectively. Also worth noting: Those who make the purchase will “get 3 digital movies on Google Play” — a $45 value. Otherwise, the Xperia Tablet S is running Andorid 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich; features include a 9.4-inch (1280 x 800) HD...

By Robert Nelson | for the Technology Tell network It looks like another low-priced Android tablet will soon be coming available. The latest is by way of Chinese tablet maker Ainol, and the device will be the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (see video below) running Ainol Novo 7 Crystal. A bit more specifically, the tablet is expected to be available later this month (September) and priced at $139. In terms of the specs, the Novo 7 Crystal will (as the name would imply) have a 7-inch display. The display will be a 7-inch IPS touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 x 600. Other specs include a...

Now that TeleRead has left the warm embrace of NAPCO's Publishing Group and has made its way across the office and into the Consumer Technology Publishing Group, I would be remiss not to share with you the consumer electronics trade-in program sponsored by Technology Tell.                 The program is just about as simple as possible: Let us know which device you're interested in selling, and we'll offer you a price. Our trade-in categories include iPhones, iPads, iPods, phones, both DSLR and point-and-shoot cameras, laptops, tablets and e-readers, and even video games, game consoles and (get this) calculators!                 Need more specifics? Click here to...