tablet

I’m sure we’re all “tired” to hear about the tablet/PC debate and which format will outsell one another next year. That being said, a new Canalys report caught my eye as it projects that in 2014 tablets will account for 50 percent of the PC market. I consider projections that indicate tablets will become half of the desktop, notebook, and tablet devices that make up the entire PC market to be notable because of the sheer size.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3x-bAWZWPM

The video may be slightly cringeworthy (hot girls are always turned on by geek tech, right?), but the concept is certainly an exciting one: a foldable display which allows a pocketable smartphone to unfold or unroll into a tablet … 
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Here we go again… It seems Google has slipped yet another as-of-yet-announced device into its KitKat promotional materials. You’ll likely recall that the Nexus 5, which was released earlier this week, was accidentally included in a video promoting Android 4.4 earlier this year.

Now Google has featured what appears to be an 8-inch Nexus tablet on the Android website. The image appears on the “apps and entertainment” page, which shows off some of the first- and third-party applications available for KitKat. The header image for the section about the Google Play media store shows a woman using a tablet that looks a little too big to be a Nexus 7, but too small to be the aging Nexus 10. The body design (specifically the bezel size) doesn’t match up with existing Nexus tablets either, so it’s pretty clear this is not one a tablet we’ve seen before.

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Update:  Amazon has now said that the phone won’t be launched this year, and it won’t be free. “We have no plans to offer a phone this year, and if we were to launch a phone in the future, it would not be free,” Amazon said in a statement to AllThingsD.

According to Jessica Lessin and Amir Efrati, Amazon is considering making its upcoming, long-rumored smartphone available to consumers free of charge. However, it is unclear what strings are attached to the deal:

There are many unanswered questions about the plan and what strings will be attached for customers. One of them is whether Amazon would require its  smartphone owners to pay for services such as Amazon Prime, the company’s loyalty program. But the people familiar with the matter said that Amazon wants the device to be free whether or not people sign up for a new wireless plan at the same time. (Wireless carriers typically discount the price of devices if customers sign up for a one- or two-year wireless contract.)

A launch date for the device is currently unclear. Like with the Kindle Fire tablets, past reports have suggested that the Amazon phone will run on a forked version of Google’s Android operating system.

Earlier this year, reports emerged with claims that Amazon is working on a bevy of products, including a phone with a 3D display, and various audio/media center devices. Amazon’s hardware development division for these products is (like Apple) situated in Cupertino.

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IDC is out today with its latest report tracking worldwide tablet shipments reporting that total shipments have experienced a sequential decline during Q2 at the expense of Apple and the iPad. Apple already announced that it had sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, a significant drop from the 17 million it sold in the year ago quarter, but today IDC gives us some insight into where that puts Apple in its lead over Samsung as the top tablet vendor.

Apple was able to pick up 32.4% of the market during Q2, continuing its lead as the top tablet manufacturer, but dropping from the 60.3% of the market it had in Q2 last year. While Apple’s tablet shipments are clearly suffering from lack of new product announcements this year, it’s also losing share to Samsung and others. IDC reports 277% year over year growth for Samsung, giving it 18% of the market with 8.1 million units shipped during Q2. All of the top 3 vendors– Apple, Samsung, and ASUS– experienced a drop compared to Q1 2013, but the Android tablet makers have experienced significant growth compared to Apple since last year.
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The Frankenstein-like NVIDIA Shield, the handheld games console whose size and weight (1.5 pounds!) makes it seem like something invented in the 1990s, has been given the tear-down treatment by ifixit.

One thing is for sure—with its shields disabled, this device looks nothing like any tablet we’ve ever taken apart … or game console … or anything

Teardown photos and review roundup below the fold … 
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As expected, Google finally took the wraps off its new Nexus 7 tablet yesterday during its breakfast with Chrome and Android chief Sundar Pichai. While there was no mention of a possible update to its 10-inch Nexus, it appears Pichai has since confirmed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati that a new version of the device would be arriving in the “near future”:

Expect to see new 10-inch Nexus 10 Android tablet (made by @Samsung) in the near future, Google's @sundarpichai tells me

— Amir Efrati (@amir) July 24, 2013

While we haven’t been hearing much about a new Nexus 10, which was first introduced back in October, we did recently hear that Samsung was working on an octa-core Nexus 11 alongside a new 11-inch Galaxy Tab for later this year. Pichai apparently confirmed that next-gen Nexus 10 would again be made by Samsung, and “near future” seems to indicate we’ll likely see the device shipping with the latest version of Android 4.3 sometime later this year.

Update: Samsung has denied the claim, quoted in TNW as saying:

The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse PC products according to consumer and market needs.

Samsung has been the sole manufacture producing Chromeboxes over the last couple of years, but according to a new report from the Korea Times, the company will soon close its traditional desktop business. The report claims that Samsung has decided to close its unprofitable desktop PC business to focus on tablets, all-in-ones, and hybrid laptops. The company says that “demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down,” and that it would like to dedicate its resources “to popular connected and portable devices.”

Samsung says that even those in research and technology departments are being pressured to switch to tablets and convertible laptops.

“Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung’s current focus. Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants,” said a Samsung official.

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From 9to5toys.com (Twitter, Feed, Facebook):

Just days after Barnes & Noble reversed course and began allowing NOOK owners access to over 700,000 apps and games (and books?) from the Google Play Store, both the HD and HD+ versions have received heavy price cuts.  For the next week, you can pickup a NOOK HD tablet starting at just $150 (25% savings) and a NOOK HD + for $179 (34% savings).  These savings are also available online and in-store from Best Buy.  As of right now Barnes & Noble are saying these price cuts are temporary but we’re getting the feeling that they could become the new norm.

There is a good chance these price drops are in response to the Kindle Fire HD sale Amazon launched over the weekend.

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Samsung has finally made things official for the Galaxy Tab 3 today, announcing in a press release on its website that the 7-inch tablet will become available globally starting next month. Samsung didn’t confirm pricing on the new tab, but did reveal specs including a 1.2GHz dual for process, 7 inch WSVGA (1024 x 600, 169 PPI) TFT display, 1GB of RAM, and 8 and 16GB variants expandable to 64GB via microSD.

The new Galaxy Tab 3 will be running Android 4.1 out of the box, but Samsung will only be shipping the Wi-Fi version of the device when it begins selling next month.

Other specs include a 4,000 mAh Li-ion battery, 3-megapixel main camera, 1.3 -megapixel front facing cam, A-GPS ＋ GLONASS, WiFi Direct, and Bluetooth 3.0. Rather underwhelming specs, so we assume pricing will be on the low end of things when Samsung finally decides to fill us in.

As for those waiting out for a WiFi + 3G variant, the company currently plans on beginning sales of that model in June with rollouts happening gradually and availability varying by market.

As we discussed in February,  HP is re-entering the Android tablet game after a little 4-year WebOS hiatus. Their first effort, the HP Slate 7 goes on sale today for a very reasonable $169.  On the plus side, HP offers SD Card espansion, built-in printing and Beats Audio to the package when compared to the $199 Nexus 7. Like the Nexus 7, the Slate is almost entirely Stock Android (Here Here!). Unlike the Nexus 7, however, the screen is the same 1024×600 resolution as the two year old base model Kindle which currently sells for $159.

The real news here for Android is that HP’s expansive network of international customers now have easy access to an inexpensive tablet.  I expect this to be a big deal.
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Since we first heard rumors that Microsoft was working on Office for iOS and Android as far back as 2011 and got a look at alleged leaked images of an iPad app that Microsoft later denied were real, every couple of months we’ve seen reports that say the app is coming soon. First it was November 2012, then early 2013, and others claimed “sometime after” March 2013. Along the way  The latest rumor: Microsoft has Office for iPhone and Android is scheduled for fall 2014.

Zdnet claims to have got its hands on Microsoft roadmap for next year and says on it is “iOS/Android support for Office”:
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Samsung was eyeing a display between 5.9-inches and 6.3-inches for its much rumored upcoming Galaxy Note III last we heard. SamMobile earlier this month said that device would appear at IFA in Berlin this August, but a new report from the Samsung-focused blog today claimed Samsung will introduce a new lineup of devices in the 5.8- to 6.3-inch display size.

While noting “Samsung changed the name of their expected Galaxy Fonblets,” SamMobile said Samsung would soon introduce a new lineup of smartphone and tablet hybrids dubbed “Galaxy Mega” in 5.8-inch (GT-I9152) and 6.3-inch (GT-I9200) variants.

The devices will reportedly launch between the end of May and be available by mid-June:

The Galaxy Mega 5.8 will come in the colour white and will be available around week 22. The Galaxy Mega 6.3 will come in the colours black and white these galaxy devices need to be available around week 25.

It’s unclear what exactly this means for Samsung’s Galaxy Note III. It would be surprising for Samsung to introduce both the Note III and new Galaxy Mega tablet with a 6.3-inch display. Perhaps the Note III becomes the 5.8-inch device, and the Mega branding is reserved for the larger 6.3-inch variant? It’s also possible Samsung keeps the Galaxy Note III at the same 5.5-inch size of the Note II and introduces the Mega line to bridge the gap and cover all bases between its Note lineup and 7-inch to 10-inch tablet lines. We’ll keep you posted when we learn more. 
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The Federal Aviation Administration’s investigation into whether airline passengers can be allowed to use tablets, eBook readers and laptops throughout a flight is apparently looking hopeful, as The New York Times cited an insider saying approval would likely be granted this year.

According to people who work with an industry working group that the Federal Aviation Administration set up last year to study the use of portable electronics on planes, the agency hopes to announce by the end of this year that it will relax the rules for reading devices during takeoff and landing. The change would not include cellphones.

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Samsung’s Mobile Chief has some harsh words directed towards Microsoft. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, J.K. Shin said that Android devices such as phones and tablets are outselling Windows Phone devices and there is a clear demand for Android over Windows. 

The exact Q&A goes as follows:

WSJ: What about your relationship with Microsoft? Has it changed after Nokia began to work more closely with Microsoft on Windows devices?

Mr. Shin: Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft’s Windows operating system aren’t selling very well. There is a preference in the market for Android. In Europe, we’re also seeing lackluster demand for Windows-based products.

While it’s clearly no surprise that Android devices are outselling Windows devices, the harsh words come just months after lackluster sales of the Microsoft Surface RT and Pro. According to a report this morning from Bloomberg, “people with knowledge about the companies sales” are saying that Microsoft has sold about 1.5 million Surface devices total. Also keep in mind that Samsung just announced the Galaxy S IV, the successor to the best-selling Android phone on the planet, which’ll be sure to gather up some massive sales for Samsung.

As the PS4 keynote event unfolds, a new great feature has just been announced: Android tablets as game controllers. The specific reveal came along with the game Drive Club. It’s a first-person team-based racing game exclusive to the new PS4. EvolutionStudios, the brains behind the new game, are allowing users to create a game and challenge their friends with Android tablets while on the go. More information as to whether this feature is exclusive to this game or a new PS4 feature has yet to be announced, but we’ll be sure to update you as we get word.

Update: Well that’s all folks! The PS4 “reveal” event is over now (with no hardware sighting), and Drive Club is the only game with Android tablets as confirmed second controllers. As more games are announced and eventually released, we’ll probably see this feature included. But, for now, Drive Club is the only known game.

Over the last few days, HTC has sent out ‘teaser tweets’ pertaining to its upcoming announcement tomorrow. In its latest tweet from this morning, HTC showed a table with what looks to be new devices under black cloths. While it looks like there are over 12 devices under the cloths, one of them is substantially bigger than the rest. Moreover, it lines up approximately as the same size of a 10-inch tablet. While rumors of a tablet being announced tomorrow are scarce, judging by the photo, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if one does happen to be announced tomorrow. Take a look at the unedited picture yourself, but we’ll be there live tomorrow to blog the event!

Although the official introduction video for Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet leaked before the announcement, the company just unveiled the 7-inch device on-stage at its Google I/O keynote. While announcing the device’s specs (listed below), the company gave a number of demos for the Nexus 7’s UI, including a content recommendation page, Gmail, YouTube, Chrome (first device to ship with Chrome as default, stock browser), and a full-featured Google Maps with offline mode. Google also gave a demo of the 12-core GPU in action with some impressive 3D games, as pictured above.

Pre-orders start on Google Play today for $199 (8GB) or $249 (16GB), with the device shipping to the United States and Canada in mid-July alongside Jelly Bean.

• -1,080-by-800HD display
• -Tegra 3, Quad-core CPU
• -12-core GPU
• -4325 mAh battery- 9 hours video playback, 300 hours standby
• -Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer
• -1.2 megapixel front-facing camera
• -340 grams

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