Will launch with Android 3.1 Honeycomb

If you are one of the many who has been anxiously awaiting some official release information for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ever since the Google I/O attendees got one, the following news should make you quite happy. If you happen to live in or around New York City, the Best Buy in Union Square will have a sweet exclusivity on it from June 8 through June 17, when it will make its nationwide debut.  The Wifi version is set to launch with Android 3.1 and the 32GB version will run $599 while the 16GB version will be priced at $499. Hit the break for the full release, and be sure to hop in the forums and let us know if you will be grabbing one!

If you are an ASUS EeePad Transformer, know that the official Android 3.1 update is now available for your device. Early reports from users about the update seem quite positive and users seem to be enjoying the experience 3.1 was set to deliver, so what are you waiting for? Grab your device and check for the update if you haven't already, and be sure to hit the forums and let us know how it goes for you!

Source: Android Central Forums

Zinio, the popular magazine reading application that gained enormous popularity on iOS, is now available on Android. With the app, which is only available for tablets running Honeycomb, users can browse and consume their favorite magazines.

Zinio offers an enormous library, where users can purchase entire subscriptions or single issues. Their collection includes but is not limited to:

• Bloomberg BusinessWeek
• The Economist
• Maxim
• Esquire
• Men's Fitness
• Macworld
• PC World
• PC Gamer
• X-Box World
• National Geographic
• Consumer Reports

Users can also sync their library with their computer or other supported mobile devices. For all of those who have been waiting for Zinio, the wait is finally over. Find links to the Market after the break.

Source: Twitter

Looks like the list of retailers preparing to sell the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (read our full review) is shaping up quite nicely. First we had Best Buy, and now it looks like OfficeMax is getting into the game as well, thanks to this comparison sheet snagged by our sister site, PreCentral. We're all still operating under the June 8 date that Samsung announced back at CTIA in March, so we may well finally see public release of one of our favorite Honeycomb tablets in less than two weeks.

Source: PreCentral

While the U.S. is in holiday mode today, the rest of the world isn't taking the day off. And for manufacturer ASUS, today's a big one, with the announcement of the Padfone at the Computex conferencfe. One part Android phone, another part Android tablet, the Padfone docks inside the tablet itself. One phone, one tablet, one set of data -- no syncing. An interesting concept, indeed, from the manufacturer of the excellent EeePad Transformer tablet/keyboard combo. (Read our full review.)

Details are still a little light, being as this is far from a finished product, but you're looking at a 4.3-inch smartphone that powers the 10-inch tablet -- the larger won't work without the smaller. Should be an interesting little marriage. Check out the official videos after the break.

Source: ASUS; More: Engadget

Read our Galaxy Tab 10.1 review

We're a little more than a week away from the June 8 launch date of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (and the 8.9-inch version as well), and that means it's just about time for retailers to get their acts together. First out of the gate is Best Buy, which has just listed the Android 3.1 (guess it's going to launch with the update) tablet on its website as "coming soon" -- which, as we all know, it is.

Best Buy doesn't list pricing, but we figure it should be in line with the $499/$599 16- and 32-gigabyte versions mentioned back at CTIA in March. Just a few more days, folks.

Source: Best Buy; More: Galaxy Tab forums; Thanks, Adam!

Although it's not the Android 3.1 update that is set to arrive in June, Acer Iconia Tab A500 owners are now reporting that a system update weighing in around 38MB is now starting to appear. As reported in the Android Central forums -- the update will bring your device up to system software version 1.141.07 and appears to be mostly bugfixes but a changelog is not yet available. Some of the fixes users have been reporting:

• Daylight savings time fixes
• Calendar appointment fixes
• Fixes the screen wake/sleep issue
• Browser bugfixes
• Adobe Flash Player 10.2
• Improved Wi-Fi signal
• Improved GPS signal
• Corporate Exchange email support

One thing to keep in mind is that of you are currently rooted -- you may not see this update available as of yet. Returning to stock should help with making the update arrive, and you can re-root again using Gingerbreak. Did your device get the update? If so, jump into the forums and let us know what changes you've spotted.

Discuss more in the Acer Iconia Tab Forums

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (see our review of the special IO edition) is set to debut June 8, apparently it will be shipping with Android 3.1, the latest version of Honeycomb.

Android 3.1 was announced at Google IO and brings a number of improvements, including:

• Resizeable widgets
• Open accessory API
• USB host API
• Media Transfer Protocol and Real-time Transport Protocol improvements

The new Samsung 10.1-inch tablet with Android 3.1 will be available June 8th for $499 (16GB) and $599 (32GB).

Source: netbooknews

News360, the popular cross-platform news aggregator, is now available for Android tablets running Honeycomb.  News360 takes a bit of a different approach, combining 1,500 global sources (yes, Android Central is in there, so no worries) and a beautiful visual style.  If you're not familiar, the "360" view is a special treat, with article images floating in a spherical feeling cloud, hence the 360.  The application makes great use of the new API's with the action bar and fragments, both in the search view as well as the article view.  The developers have taken the time to really make a great example of a quality Android app, and we appreciate (and enjoy) that. 

Besides the normal use of searching for tags, users can customize their own "feeds," and the developers say that future versions will analyze a your Facebook, Twitter, TripIt, and Evernote accounts to offer automatic personalization.  That sounds like quite the feat, and I for one am very interested to see the result.  In its current state, the application connects with your social accounts (Facebook, Twitter, ReadItLater, Instapaper, and TripIt) to share articles, and can filter results based on your location.  Things are well on the way to a personal news channel.

And the best part of it all -- News360 is free.  This makes it available for everyone with a Honeycomb tablet, and makes for a very easy way to download and evaluate the app for yourself.  We've got the full press release, a series of pictures, and the download link after the break.

If you happen to be the proud owner of a Google I/O edition Galaxy Tab 10.1 you'll be interested to know that it makes interesting use of the stock Bluetooth stack. And as such, you can do some pretty cool things with it.

One of those things is the ability to load up an emulator app and start playing some Super Mario Brothers -- with a wireless controller. Of course, some other tablets are capable of this as well -- more specifically the Motorola Xoom. When paired with the exact same tools it can have the same end result -- but it's not a Google I/O edition Galaxy Tab 10.1.

PS: If you were more interested in where you may obtain the live wallpaper running in the background than you were in running Super Mario Brothers, we got you covered there as well. it's actually from ASUS EeePad Transformer and can be picked up from this thread over at XDA.

Thanks for sending this in, Murray!