You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Until now, ASUS hasn't had much competition in dockable Android tablets. Sure, we've seen the odd model from Lenovo and other companies, but for the most part, "Transformer" has become one of those words like "Kleenex" -- you know, the kind that refers just as much to a category as a specific brand. Nonetheless, HP is throwing its hat in the ring. The SlateBook x2, only the company's second Android tablet, is a 10-inch slate that competes on price as much as performance. For $480, the keyboard dock comes included, and the tablet itself boasts some top-notch specs, including a 1,920 x 1,080 screen and a Tegra 4 processor. And, of course, in addition to being a keyboard, that dock has a built-in battery of its own, promising to extend the total runtime to up to 12.5 hours. So is it good enough that you'll remember not to call it a Transformer?%Gallery-slideshow88713%
The Envy x2 has never been our favorite Windows 8 tablet, but that hasn't stopped HP from selling loads of them. The device has been such a success, in fact, that the company is expanding the x2 series to make room for two follow-on products: the Split x2 (a Windows 8 hybrid) and the SlateBook x2 (an Android tablet). Starting with the Split (pictured above), this is the first time HP's made a laptop / tablet hybrid with a laptop processor inside, though Microsoft and others have of course done this already. In brief, it's a 13-inch slate with a 1,366 x 768 display and your choice of Core i3 or i5 CPU (these are Intel's Y-series Ivy Bridge chips we're talking about). As you'd expect, the keyboard dock packs a second battery, though it also makes room for an optional 500GB hard drive to complement the SSD inside the actual tablet. Other specs include two USB ports (one 2.0, one 3.0), HDMI, Beats Audio, WiDi and expansion slots for both microSD and full SD cards.
The SlateBook (shown below) is a 10-inch tablet with a Tegra 4 chip -- one of the first to be announced by any company, in fact. Though it's a companion to the $169 Slate 7, it packs considerably higher-end specs. There's that Tegra 4 SoC, for one, as well as a 1,920 x 1,200, 400-nit IPS display and the latest version of Jelly Bean (4.2.2). As with other dockable tablets, its keyboard has a battery built in. Here, though, the keyboard also includes a shortcut for Google voice search. There's even a laptop-style trackpad supporting multitouch gestures -- a rarity on products like this. The hardware itself weighs about 2.8 pounds in total, with a spec list that includes two USB sockets, stereo speakers and SD / microSD readers. Both products will be available in August, with the Split x2 priced at $800 and the SlateBook x2 going for $480 (docks included). Now all we need are some battery life claims. In the meantime, check out our hands-on photos below. (Pssst: the Split unit we photographed was just a mockup.)