Tablets

The iPad may be horrendously overpriced compared with other tablets on the market (and I suspect the rumored iPad Mini will be as well), but it does offer an option found on few Android-powered competitors: 4G LTE.

I mean, look at the most popular Android tablets -- the Kindle Fire, the Nook, the Google Nexus. They offer only Wi-Fi connectivity. You can get 3G on a couple models (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab), but 4G is rarer still.

Cut to today's deal: while supplies last, Ice Monkey has the refurbished Motorola Xoom 10.1 32GB Wi-Fi + 4G LTE tablet for $219.99 shipped.… Read more

Starting October 26, laptop shoppers will be inundated with a flood of new PCs designed around Microsoft's new operating system. In fact, I've counted about 50 new laptops, tablets, hybrids, convertibles, and all-in-ones on my back-of-the-envelope list already.

A handful of these have already been announced, a healthy chunk will be announced early in October, and the rest will simply go on sale on October 26, alongside Windows 8.

Having seen a good number of these upcoming systems in person already, I can safely outline three big trendlines that will drive laptop and related device sales through the Windows 8 launch season and into 2013. If you're looking to buy a laptop anytime soon, keep these in mind as you dig through the dozens of upcoming new choices. … Read more

Well, yesterday was kind of a train wreck, huh? Believe me that I get just as frustrated as you when a vendor suddenly jacks up the price on a product, as TigerDirect did yesterday on the Vizio sound bar. It's worse than a sellout, because it smacks of bait-and-switch tactics (even though the company's own promotional e-mail showed it at the higher price, so that accusation doesn't hold water).

Anyway, I still feel bad about it, which is why I'm giving you five -- count 'em, five -- deals today. Without further ado:

1. Wal-Mart has … Read more

There was quite the hullabaloo last week regarding Amazon's new Kindles.

Turns out that the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD tablets were all "Special Offers" models, meaning they'd display ads on their lock screens and main home screens.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos neglected to mention this when announcing the prices for all these Kindles, causing a minor uproar in the hours that followed -- especially when Amazon reps said there would be no way to opt out. Then, barely a day later, Bezos and Co. reversed course and gave Kindle Fire customers the option of … Read more

Well, the iPhone event finally happened, and now we have nothing to talk about.

Just kidding!

We decided that everyone must be sick of talking about the new iPhone, so we did everyone a favor -- including ourselves -- and talked about everything but that. Hallelujah!

On this week's show, we continue to not care about HTC's possible tablets; we talk to TechCrunch's favorite sources and learn that a browser-based version of Spotify might be in the works; and on Thursday we will finally learn Wii U pricing and its release date -- that's almost two … Read more

Windows 8 is about to unleash a tsunami of strange devices upon us all. Call them tablets, ultraportables, hybrids, convertibles, tiny touch-based mobile computers...they're everywhere, and they're multiplying.

HP has them. Samsung does, too. So does Dell, and Lenovo, and Toshiba, and Asus, and Sony. Everyone has them. That's because Windows 8 promises a better environment for touch in mobile computing, and the promise is too tempting not to experiment. Or, alternatively, all these companies need a product out there to plant a flag into this strange soil -- a territory that Microsoft's already visiting via the Surface.

The big problem I see with them is that for every device that emerges, the landscape gets ever-more-cloudy. … Read more

Think you've got a handle on what Windows 8 means for laptops and tablets? Based on Asus' announcement of a bevy of new products at IFA, you're not even close.

Asus has been a champion of aggressive design ideas for years, and to the company's credit, a lot of these products seem like clever ways to explore the touch potential of Windows 8. There are no fewer than three detachable tablet-cum-hybrid laptop products, two touch-screen laptops -- one of which has a two-sided screen -- and a large, standard but very stylish ultrathin 15-incher. Let's take a walk through the magical Windows 8 zoo, shall we?… Read more

It's time to get real: the iPhone 5 is probably almost here. Though Apple hasn't sent out an invitation, the tech world seems united in the belief that the company will hold a huge party on September 12 to reveal a new iPhone to the world. Here is a reason to doubt that assumption: Moscone Center, where Apple has held many major launch events, is fully booked that day for a microbiology conference!

Does that make us think the rumored release date is false? Not necessarily, as Apple could always hold the event here, which is where it … Read more

This is an update of a deal I posted a couple months back.

Sometimes I have trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that Apple still charges $499 for the entry-level iPad when there are deals like this to be had.

While supplies last, RedTag has the refurbished Acer Iconia Tab A200 10.1-inch tablet for $149, plus $1.95 for shipping. That's the lowest out-the-door price I've seen on any 10-inch tablet, ever.

Update: Sorry, folks, it's already sold out. (Check back throughout the day, though, in case RedTag frees up more inventory.) I realize this … Read more