You can grab a Microsoft Surface tablet from Costco while you’re maximizing on your grocery budget, grabbing 30 lb bags of potatoes and 5 lbs of chicken, swing by the electronics area. You’ll be seeing Microsoft Surface tablets join the ranks of the glass case at Costco stores in no time. Grab one down and throw it around, its Microsoft Surface days at Costco.

Screenshot from Costco inventory availability with price list:

If you’re like us, you take your iPad on the go, on the run, into meetings, out of meetings, on the train, and all over town. Believe it or not, our iPad’s are having some long days too. So what are some ways we can help our little buddy out and save some battery life?

iPad Power Saving Tips

Turn Down Brightness

A quick way to get the most out of your iPad’s battery life is to turn down the brightness of the display. You can do this by going to the iPad’s settings and choosing “Brightnesss & Wallpaper” from the left-side menu. The further to the left you move the slider, the less bright the screen will be (and the less power it will use). 33% is usually pretty solid, but your setting will depend upon the amount of ambient light in the location you are in and how bright you need your iPad to be.

Close Some Apps

You might be running a whole lot of Apps and you dont even realize it. This is going to drain some power, so do your iPad a favor and close out those Apps you arent meddling with right now. To do it, double tap the Home button on your iPad. This will bring up your App tray, or all of the Apps which you have left open unknowingly. To close some open Apps, press any App icon in the app tray and hold it down. A red circle with a minus sign will appear in the corner of the App icon. Press the red circle to shut down the App.

Turn Some Stuff Off, Seriously

Yeah I said it. Just turn off some stuff that you aren’t using. And I say stuff loosely. Think about what you need and dont need, and hit up your Settings menu to turn some of these options off. Remember  you can always turn them back on, and if you dont need them at the time, you can save yourself a lot of power.

1. Turn off GPS. The 3G model of the iPad comes with GPS, but most of us don’t use the location services on our iPad as much as we use them on our iPhone. Turning off GPS is a quick and easy way to save a little battery power while not giving up any features. And remember, if you do need GPS, you can always turn it back on.
2. Turn off Bluetooth. Many of us don’t have any Bluetooth devices connected to the iPad, so all the Bluetooth service is doing for us is waste the iPad’s battery life. If you don’t have any Bluetooth devices, make sure Bluetooth is turned off in the general section of the iPad settings.
3. Turn off Push Notification. While Push Notification is an excellent feature, it does drain battery life as the device checks to see if it needs to push a message to the screen. If you are looking to do the most to optimize your battery life, you can either turn Push Notification off completely, or turn it off for individual apps.
4.  Turn off 3G. If you have a 3G iPad and you are at home or in an area that has a Wi-Fi connection, turn off 3G.

Get a Solar Powered iPad Case

They’re out there. We have reported on them. A good one to look up is KudoCase (formerly known as Lilypad). Its a durable iPad case with a built in solar panel, charges both indoor and outdoor light. And yes it works.

When in Doubt, Charge it Out!

Be smart. If you’re on an adventure that clearly will kill your iPad no matter what, and you’re going to need it, pack a charger. There are all kinds of chargers so just be smart. When in doubt, charge it out.

How to Reboot the iPad

The iPad is no different than any other gadget or brilliant technology. When things start acting up, it’s time to reboot. But how?

Being new to iPad, assuming you are, it’s easy to confuse putting the iPad in suspend mode and with rebooting it.

To really give your iPad a fresh start, you can reboot it by following these quick steps:

1. Hold down the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds (located top right).
2. When the iPad prompts you to slide a button to shutdown, follow the directions.
3. Wait a few seconds after the screen goes blank and then hold down the Sleep/Wake button again to boot it back up.
4. When you see the Apple logo appear, you can release the Sleep/Wake button. The iPad’s home screen will appear momentarily.

That’s all folks. Simple, easy, and lovely and breezy. Enjoy.

The Asus MeMo Pad 10 tablet is expected to ship with Android 4.1 and rock a 1,280×800 HD IPS display. It is said to use a 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, have a microSD slot, a pair of front and rear cameras, 1GB RAM, and a modest 16GB of storage.

Shortly after CES concluded, Asus announced the 7-inch MeMo Pad 172V which will be shipping in April for a meager $149 USD. The MeMo Pad 10 tablet is expected to be priced modestly as well, really helping Android take a slice of the market share pie.

Oh, and what does she look like? She’s purty, and we have her on display just for you:

The Lenovo Idea Tab A2107 Specifications

The Lenovo Idea Tab A2107 is a 7-inch tablet that runs on Android 4.0, has a 1,024×600 pixel resolution, 16GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM, and 1.0 GHz Cortex-A9 SC CPU.

For inputs and outputs, the Lenovo Idea Tab A2107 has a microUSB port, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The AT&T version of the Lenovo Idea Tab tablet runs on 3G or Wi-Fi, but Lenovo independently offers a Wi-Fi-only model. The Wi-Fi-only option available through Lenova directly, and is now available in stores, has only 8GB of internal storage, 512MB of RAM, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Clearly better off with the AT&T version (providing you have AT&T service).

For more information on the Android Jelly Bean update now available for Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2, or to find out how to get your Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade, please see the full press release issued January 18, 2013:

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, today announced the availability of updates to Android 4.1™, Jelly Bean for both its award-winning Galaxy Note™ 10.1 and its popular Galaxy Tab 2 devices for the Wi-Fi versions.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 upgrade includes all the performance benefits of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as well as Premium Suite, a collection of new features that further upgrades multi-tasking and productivity, while enhancing personalization and offering new levels of creativity. Users will enjoy improved S Pen support and the ability to easily open and resize multiple apps, then view them across the screen layered on top of each other.

“Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 created a new category by delivering content creation capabilities in addition to content consumption,” said Mike Abary , senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing, Samsung Electronics America. “However, we always strive to deliver unexpected value to our customers. By providing not just Jelly Bean, but dramatic improvements to the multitasking and S Pen features on the devices, we’re ensuring that the Galaxy Note 10.1 remains at the forefront of innovation.”

A range of features have been introduced which aim to further boost the capabilities of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 including:

Multi-tasking & Productivity:

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 pioneered the innovative Multi Window feature which lets consumers experience a dual view, running two apps side-by-side on the screen. The new, updated Galaxy Note 10.1 enhances the experience further in a variety of ways:

Cascade View: The feature allows users to freely resize, move and pin selected applications in multiple views, running them simultaneously or while operating the home-screen. This PC-like feature will help users to be more productive, and actually do multiple tasks at one time.

Air View: Allows users to use S Pen to conveniently and quickly preview content without having to open it. This feature allows user to preview video while scrubbing, preview email attachments without opening, preview photos without opening the album, and more.

Quick Command: With Quick Command, the S Pen quickly activates applications and services that are used most often by allowing you to write command shortcuts using customized and preset S Pen strokes.

Enhanced Personalization:

Enhanced handwriting: Users can quickly and easily send personalized handwritten notes and memos to friends and family via email, as well as hand-write directly into their S Planner

Enhanced S Note: S Note now features additional ready-to-use templates; allows users to add effects to their digital content with Idea Sketch; and enables the insertion of video directly into not only Note templates but also other templates. Users can also launch S Note directly from their home-screen for added convenience.

Easy Clip: Allows users to select and clip content to save, paste or share in seconds.

Photo Note: Add personalized handwritten notes on the back of your photos to help capture the moment.

Creativity:

Paper Artist: Besides enabling users to enliven sketches or content with different color or pencil styles, Paper Artist enables over 30 artistic effects that can be applied to images or media. Users can also draw or write onto the content and share it with others.

A smarter S Pen: The S Pen now allows users to select writing or color modes at the touch of a button, or unlock the home-screen simply by removing the S Pen.

Both the Wi-Fi versions of Galaxy Note 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1 and 7.0) will benefit from the core improvements of Android 4.1 which features a more intuitive user interface, faster performance and response times across applications, and an overall smoother user experience. This is also complemented by an enhanced user interface optimized for the 10.1-inch screen.

For images and more detailed information, please visit http://www.samsung.com/us/article/galaxy-note-10-1-update.

About Samsung Electronics America
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., markets a broad range of award-winning, digital consumer electronics and home appliance products, including HDTVs, home theater systems, MP3 players, digital imaging products, refrigerators and washing machines. A recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology, Samsung is the HDTV market leader in the U.S. Please visit www.samsung.com for information.

SOURCE Samsung Electronics America Inc.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.samsung.com

The figure was revealed by UBS analyst Brent Thill, and the stark truth is this figure represents just 50% of the forecast of 2 million surface tablets.

“Surface RT is a consumer device with fourth quarter sales suffering from difficult iPad compare and narrow distribution.”

Surface tablets are starting to poke at the market share, slowly but surely.

The Google Nexus 7 tablet is commercially available for just $199 and boasts the following technical specifications.

SCREEN
7” 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi)
Back-lit IPS display
Scratch-resistant Corning glass
1.2MP front-facing camera

WEIGHT
340 grams

MEMORY
8 or 16 GB internal storage
1 GB RAM
4325 mAh
9 hours of HD video playback
10 hours of web browsing
10 hours of e-reading
300 hours of standby

CPU
Quad-core Tegra 3 processor

SIZE
198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm

WIRELESS
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
USB
Micro USB

OS
Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

FEATURES
Microphone
NFC (Android Beam)
Accelerometer
GPS
Magnetometer
Gyroscope

Fujitsu, the No.1 Global Windows-based Tablet PC Vendor (2011 by units shipment), has launched today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2012 –the versatile STYLISTIC Q702 business hybrid tablet, which features an 11.6-inch HD dual digitizer 10 points Touch display for pen or touch input – and a productivity-enhancing attachable keyboard docking station that turns the sleek tablet into a traditional notebook.

For business professionals requiring a tablet with a keyboard attached at all times, Fujitsu is introducing the LIFEBOOK T902 convertible tablet PC, featuring a 13.3-inch HD+ anti-glare widescreen display — the largest screen available with touch and pen support.

“Fujitsu pays close attention to what the market requires and continues to grow its mobile portfolio with form factors designed for how people work,” said Mr. Lim Teck Sin, Vice President, Product Marketing and Engineering, Fujitsu PC Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. “With the new STYLISTIC Q702 business hybrid tablet, Fujitsu is delivering the best of both worlds: the portability and ease-of-use of a tablet, which is perfect for consuming content, and an optional attachable keyboard, converting the device into a notebook with a full keyboard where it’s easier to create content, for example, when working on a spreadsheet or editing a business proposal. These are the types of distinctions, both subtle and obvious, that continue to set Fujitsu apart.”

Lightweight, powerful and secure – STYLISTIC Q702

The STYLISTIC Q702 business hybrid tablet, powered by the 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i3 or i5 processor, weighs around 850g and offers the perfect balance of mobility and productivity.

The STYLISTIC Q702 includes:

• Maximum flexibility and productivity with the optional keyboard docking featuring a removable battery and expansion ports including LAN and external display support (VGA).
• Rich Communication Options – 4G/LTE, UMTS and WiFi for superior connectivity.
• Advanced security features such as the biometric fingerprint sensor, BIOS password protection, Intel® Anti-Theft Technology, optional Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and Intel® vPro™ Technology.
• AH-IPS anti-glare display using chemically strengthened glass for increased durability and damage resistance.
• High-Definition front-facing and Full High-Definition rear-facing cameras with complementing dual microphones for smooth video conferencing and high quality video recording.

The STYLISTIC Q702 is ideal for use in industries such as:

• Sales Force – Distribution, Insurance, Pharmaceutical
• Healthcare/Life science – E-prescription, visiting Nurses, etc.
• Government
• Field Force – Maintenance, Inspection
• Education
• Financial – Trading floors, Banks
• Manufacturing
• Hotels

Best-in-Class Performance convertible tablet PC – LIFEBOOK T902

Fujitsu is also introducing the popular 13.3-inch LIFEBOOK T902 convertible tablet PC, targeting mobile power users who need more performance in a work machine. Based on more than 20 generations of tablet PCs, the LIFEBOOK T902 is powered by the high-performance 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 or i7 processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, and provides business professionals with a no compromise tablet PC, which offers the best-in-class performance. The new T902 comes with a dual digitizer with multi-touch support for advanced navigation and precise drawing in a wider viewing screen. The new LIFEBOOK offers greater portability and best-in-class performance, plus thoughtful touches such as the display which can rotate in both directions.

The LIFEBOOK T902 convertible tablet PC also features:

• A built-in modular bay with quick release latch for easy inter-changeability, which supports a second battery, Super multi DVD-RW, BD-writer or weight saver.
• Complete suite of security features including a dedicated Smart Card Slot, biometric fingerprint sensor, HDD and BIOS password protection, security panel, Intel® Anti-Theft Technology, and optional Intel® vPro™ Technology.
• 4G/LTE4 for superior download speeds and connectivity.
• Stylish, spill-resistant keyboard and backlit keys that contain anti-bacterial capabilities.
• Full High Definition Camera and LED indicator.
• Bi-directional display hinge, hard drive shock sensor.

The STYLISTIC Q702 and LIFEBOOK T902 will be available in Asia Pacific from the third quarter of 2012 onwards. Further information will be released closer to the product general availability period on the Fujitsu PC Asia Pacific website – http://hk.fujitsu.com/pc

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, today announced its new Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs. The new products can easily transform from a traditional clamshell PC to a Slate device with just the click of a button, maximizing both productivity and mobility. Designed for Windows 8 with Samsung’s advanced engineering and a ten-point touchscreen, users can easily stay connected and productive from everywhere. Additionally, Samsung today announced a new touchscreen version of its popular 13-inch Series 5 ULTRA laptop.

“With the introduction of our new Slate PCs, we are providing customers with greater choice while maintaining the power of a traditional PC,” said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing at Samsung’s Enterprise Business Division. “We created our Slate PCs with a focus on beautiful design, powerful performance and ease of use, attributes that our customers have come to expect in their Samsung computing experience. Our mobile PC business has grown significantly over the past year, which is a testament to our ability to meet customer needs in this space, and we expect strong growth to continue with our new Slate PCs.”

Enhanced Creation and Consumption Experience
Both the Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs have a Samsung S Pen conveniently embedded in a slot on the device. With 1,024 levels of sensitivity, the S Pen is designed for natural and intuitive content creation, and offers features including handwriting to text conversion and varying thickness when drawing or writing, depending on the pressure applied. Slate PC users can also take advantage of preloaded Samsung services such as MediaHub, which make it even easier to access entertainment and apps on your device.

Convenient Convertible Design
Weighing less than two pounds, the new Samsung Slate PC is designed to go anywhere. The keyboard dock attaches with a mechanical hinge so that users can pick up the device with one hand without fear of the pieces separating. The keyboard and display were designed as one device and the components fit seamlessly when connected. This design also makes the device easier to use, carry and store. Samsung’s renowned design inspiration is evident through the device’s curved edges and smooth lines.

Both the Series 5 and Series 7 Slates feature an 11.6-inch display. The Series 7 display is 1920×1080 resolution; the Series 5 has a 1366 x 768 resolution. The Series 5 ULTRA features a 1366×768 resolution display with Samsung’s SuperBright™ Technology (300 nits).

Powerful Performance Tailored to Meet Varied Demands
The Samsung Series 7 Slate was designed with power users in mind. With an Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it satisfies the needs of even the most demanding users. Whether you’re building a presentation while multitasking on email and the web or editing photos while listening to music, the Series 7 Slate has the power to get the job done.

The Series 5 Slate is also a powerful device, designed with the everyday user in mind. With an Intel two-watt processor, 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD, this device keeps you connected to work and play from everywhere.

For users looking for a traditional clamshell laptop, the touchscreen Series 5 ULTRA laptop offers powerful components including a third generation Intel® Core™ i3 or i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive with 24 GB of ExpressCache. ExpressCache results in faster boot-up and start times for frequently used programs.

The Series 5 and Series 7 Slates, as well as the touchscreen Series 5 ULTRA, will be available beginning on October 26, 2012. The MSRP for the Series 7 Slate is $1,199. The Series 5 Slate will be available both with the keyboard dock, for an MSRP of $749, or without, for an MSRP of $649. The MSRP of the new Series 5 ULTRA will range from $799-$849.

Key Specs: * All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, to benefits, design, components, performance, availability and capability of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), based in Ridgefield Park, NJ, is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The company markets a broad range of award-winning consumer electronics, information systems, and home appliance products, as well as oversees all of Samsung’s North American operations including Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, Samsung Semiconductor Inc., Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Mexico, Inc. As a result of its commitment to innovation and unique design, the Samsung organization is one of the most decorated brands in the electronics industry. The company was ranked #19 in BusinessWeek/Interbrand “100 Best Global Brands,” and named as one of Fast Company’s “50 Most Innovative Companies of 2010.” For more information, please visit www.samsung.com. You can also Fan Samsung on www.Facebook.com/SamsungUSA or follow Samsung via Twitter @SamsungTweets.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

New iPad users may find these symptoms to be extremely concerning:

When trying to open an app, it appears to open for a second or two, the screen flickers black when attempting to open it, and the app closes. No error message.

Huh? Now all my other sweet Apps arent opening either?

Fear not, there are a few simple fixes you can try:

Synchronize your iPad, reboot it, or to download a new free App. Believe it or not, the last one actually always works.

Double tap the Home button on your iPad. This will bring up your App tray, or all of the Apps which you have left open unknowingly. You need to close some of these down so other Apps can be used.

To close some open Apps and clear the way for others to run smoothly, simply press any App icon in the app tray and hold it down. A red circle with a minus sign will appear in the corner of the App icon. Press the red circle to shut down the App.

Viola! After closing some of your Apps, you can finally get back to your Plants vs Zombies binge.

If you have been following along with TableMonsters, then you should know all about the world’s sweetest solar powered iPad case.  As Lilypad pre-orders are piling up, our friend Dave over at Wireless NRG decided to share some great new production photos with us.

Have a look  below to see what could be in your hands soon. If you havent done so already, check out our previous articles on Lilypad to learn more.

If you’re in love with it, stay tuned. TabletMonsters will be receiving one of the first Lilypad’s, and we’ll let you know what we think after we’ve rocked it for a little bit.

Previous Articles

• Solar Powered iPad Case Now Available for Preorder
• Solar Powered iPad Case Loaded with Features Coming Soon

Lilypad Production Photos

After months of wild speculation, Amazon finally released full details of their rapidly approaching Kindle Fire tablet. It a nut shell it runs Android, has a 7″ touch screen, and is tricked out with all of Amazon’s great services.

The best part is the price point. At $199.00, you cant get any better. The release date is November 15, 2011 and orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis. Get all of the details and pre-order it today. Link is below – enjoy!

Preorder Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet

The new Amazon Kindle tablet will likely be shown to the world on Wednesday, September 28, 2011. Amazon traditionally makes big hardware announcements in New York City, and guess where the conference is being held? Yup, the Big Apple.

The upcoming Kindle tablet is expected to be a game changer, as Amazon not only intends to largely undercut the industry leading iPad, but also wrap their e-commerce and Cloud services around the hardware. It’s a force to be reckoned with.