Apple’s new iPad is out and in circulation among the public, but many question whether it’s any different from its predecessor, the iPad 2.

When comparing the two models side by side, there are in fact subtle differences, the main difference between the two models is the new retina display on the new iPad and the increased battery life.

The new retina screen on the new iPad is revolutionary.

When comparing the two screens, a user can differentiate between the two. The new iPad has 4 times the amount of pixels than the iPad 2.

Retina Display:

If a user looks closely they can see the difference in the sharpness and clarity around icons and text. The retina display has more pixels than most HD tv’s.

The battery in the new iPad is the other biggest difference between the new iPad and the iPad 2, The new battery can power the device for 10 hours and with the LTE turned on, 9 hours.

The new iPad is barely larger than the iPad 2 so the increase in battery life is quite an achievement. There are speculations surrounding possible new battery technology in the new iPad battery.

Although the new battery and screen are achievements, the complaints towards the excessive heat of the device have overshadowed the positives.

The device has been known to get up to 116 degrees and has caused consumers to become very uncomfortable. According to rumors, the cause of the excessive heat happens to be coming from the new AX5 processor in the new iPad.

So considering the lack of major differences between the iPad 2 and new iPad and the overheating issue, I would say that it is not worth it to invest in the new iPad. I would much rather spend less money on the iPad 2 and not have my hands burned then enjoy a new screen. Please leave thoughts and comments below.

Here’s what you can expect out of the new iPad:

[arrowlist]

[/arrowlist]

At a lower price, the same popular iOS, and a more portable size, the “iPad Mini” could become the kind of the tablet industry. Amazon should take caution as the Mini could prove to be detrimental to the Kindle’s success. Will you buy the “iPad Mini” when it is released later this year?

There would appear to be a magic figure that Apple want all iPads to be able to deliver and that is 10 hours use of their tablets on a single charge.

So how do you ensure that this desirable 10 hour figure stays the same when the new version of the iPad will offer 4G LTE (a notorious battery drainer) and a densely packed 3 million pixel high definition screen consuming power via quad core graphics processing?

One answer would obviously be to put in a bigger battery, but when you have got a product that is selling like hotcakes and has no reason to reinvent itself, why on earth would you redesign a winning formula to accommodate a bigger battery. Even though the new iPad is heavier and slightly larger it is hardly a full redesign.

The other would be to reduce the overall power consumption by redesigning the chip architecture.

New battery technology ensures great performance:

But the answer for Apple has come from working on the battery itself and this has resulted in an iPad 3 battery that has nearly double the capacity of the iPad 2 battery meaning you get a whipping 42Wh in teh iPad 3 compared to to only 25Wh in the iPad 2 which from my tests on wi-fi and general use is hardly a poor battery anyway.

This when measured in milliamps means that the new iPad 3 will offer 11,666 mAh compared to the iPad 2’s 6944 mAh, so almost double.

But, like we have mentioned prior, the iPad 2 is considerably less power hungry on the screen side and also with the 4G LTE option that the new iPad 3 will offer, so Apple had to do something.

So what is going on in this battery to make it so powerful without the associated weight and size growth that it would seem to need?

Apple battery labs are hard at work:

Until we see the final product and get some wise ass to do a “teardown” we can not fully say, but, it appears that Apple’s battery laboratories have been hard at work testing new technology and improving the power of their Li-ion cells, and with the battery world in serious need of a catch up to keep up with new mobile technology that is so power hungry, could Apple have found more technology with which to sue every other company who tries to take a bite.

Are you happy with your iPad battery life currently and how do you think they will manage to pull this off when the new device will be so power hungry?

Rumors are that Google have been snapping up domains linked to the term Google Play but in all honesty we have no idea what the name of their new tablet will be….and woudl Google really leave thing that late to ensue they had A) the right domain and B) potential affiliate marketing variations that could muddy their brand….unsure myself though when seize and desist letter are pretty cheap.

Anyway the likelihood of their new tablet being called “Google Play” does make sense, as Google have been releasing various multimedia options for Android devices in the music, video and applications sector, and have now re-branded their marketplace Google Play….a direct competitor to iTunes.

Google Play – Kindle Fire Rival?

Google are likley to be mixing it in tablet land pretty soon with either the Google “Play” or some other name such as keeping the “Nexus” device name.

Their new 7 inch “Google Experience Device” will be packing an Nvidia Tegra quadcore SoC, with ASUS being the manufacturer and incorporating Android Ice Cream Sandwich as the O/S of choice. There are also talks of a 10 inch larger brother to this new entreat to tablet land.

The expected price point for the smaller tablet is a Kindle Fire competing $199.

News sources:

Started at the Mobile World Congress last week, the talk of the new tablet device is no revelation in the tech industry, Google have been worried about the rise of various devices and were bound to forge some plan to capitalize on their traffic, reach and operating system before too long just as they have done with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

With Android being “open” to developers Google have seen two things happen:

1 – Devices are developed with a pure Android O/S (Ice Cream Sandwich etc) and access Google owned markets and service such as the Android Application Market and Gmail.

2 – Companies such as Amazon developing tweaked versions of the Android O/S (non-certified devices) and taking owners of these devices to a totally separate marketplace controlled by their company.

The latter version is where the issues for Google stem and the fact that the Amazon Kindle Fire is the runaway tablet success on Android means that Google are now tipped to bring out their own competing tablet.

Talking at the MWC last week, Android chief Andy Rubin talked up the potential of Google stepping up to Amazon on the tablet front:

“2012 is going to be the year that we double down and make sure we’re winning in that space,….we’re going to do a better job at making people understand what ecosystem they’re buying into.”

Loss leader to gain market control:

Google will likely take a hit financially per device, just as Amazon did in order to lock people into their own marketplace, such is the lucrative benefits of gaining a client who buys apps and downloads films for the duration of tablet ownership that this initial hit is deemed worthwhile long term.

Release Date?

Expect to see the tablet getting into production next month and perhaps being retailed properly in June/July, we will keep you posted on any further news we hear.

Back in the fall of 2011 Amazon released its newest innovation to the tech world, the Kindle Fire. In doing this, Amazon itself became a new player in the tablet market.

The Kindle Fire has a dual-core processor, free cloud storage courtesy of Amazon, and access to millions of shows, movies, and books from Amazon’s large database. The Kindle Fire has everything a good tablet should have, but for me there is something missing. While the Fire has been a success thus far, it still seems subpar to other major tablets such as the iPad and the Asus Transformer.

Amazon Kindle Fire Screen Size:

In my opinion, the major downfall does not come in the OS, it is in the screen size. The screen of the Kindle Fire is a 7” multitouch display, comparable to the size of the Blackberry Playbook, but not the more successful iPad. If a tablet wants to become a major threat in the industry, it needs to have the option of having a larger screen such as the iPad’s or Transformer’s. Many people sought for a larger sized Fire. When Amazon was questioned about a possible 10” Fire they said, “Stay tuned”.

Ever since that comment, rumors have been flying all over the tech community. Rumors have it that Amazon will be launching a 10” Kindle Fire in their second quarter, specifically this summer. What does this mean? It means that Amazon would then be in competition with Apple’s iPad and the likes of the Asus Transformer. With a larger screen and Amazon’s outstanding support for the device, the Fire would be put in the elite tablet category. The Kindle Fire already has the media, hardware, and support to compete with the big dogs, all it needs now is the screen. Amazon Kindle Fire 10”, summer 2012?

At a key event held in San Francisco, Apple will give further news on the anticipated release date of the new iPad 3 and offer a glimpse of the device teasing us all with some carefully chosen words to describe what to expect.

“Something you really have to see. And touch”

So sort of like the iPad 2 and pretty much any other device that uses touchscreen technology.

Aside from the fact that we know bugger all really about the expected release date, it is clear for many that the date is imminent and advice to ditch your iPad 2 now to ensure the largest sale price prior to an official release date is common.

So let us have a look at some likelihoods of the new iPad version:

[arrowlist]

• Quad Core Processing
• 2048×1536 Retina display
• Identical looking

[/arrowlist]

No big Kahuna:

So as you can see it looks like not much will really have altered on the device cosmetically apart from the insides being beefed up. And when you think that neither the Samsung nor the Amazon Kindle Fire has really affected the growth in sales of the iPad, the old adage of “why mend what’s not broken” springs to mind as the new device looks set to offer a seriously hi-res retina display and a very powerful quad core processor, meaning that the iPad moves ahead (for a while) of its nearest rivals in terms of tech inside until the next update.

Yes I am looking forward to the next iteration of the successful Apple tablet and can fully understand why they may keep with simply updating the innards rather than providing us with a whole new tablet, after all it is what it does rather than what it looks like that is the most appealing aspect of Apple products even though they also look far better than their rivals anyway.

There is a reason why they are so successful, they tick the boxes of the modern tech consumer on every level.

Tired of watching movies and browsing websites on your phone’s miniscule screen? Do you wish that that you could plug it into a bigger display and navigate your phone on that same display? Well, apparently somebody is and does, because AsusTeK is marketing a product that does exactly that. Due to release in April, it’s called the Padfone, and it consists of a high-end smartphone that can plug into a tablet dock. This dock boosts the phone’s battery life and provides much more screen real estate. It looks to revolutionize the smartphone market the way their Transformer series did for tablets. But will it gain even a fraction of the acclaim that its tablet brethren did? Actually, I think Asus’s attempt at mad genius might very well pay off.

ASUS Padfone hardware:

First of all, the hardware is there. The phone itself comes packing with an incredibly powerful 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, up to 64 GB of storage, a super AMOLED display, and a front and rear camera duo, the latter of which is 8 Mega-Pixels, has autofocus, and comes with a flash. This phone was not at all scraped together from parts they had lying around on the floor; it looks like a very high-quality build. On top of that, it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which offers the very latest features. It’s sure to resonate with consumers the same way that the Transformer Prime did.

Increased battery life:

Next, Asus has given consumers a good reason to actually use the tablet dock it comes with: increased battery life. With many complaining of poor battery life on smartphones, including our own Anthony Munns, everyone is clamoring for more juice. The Padfone’s dock provides it’s own internal battery to boost that of the phone. And if that’s not enough, consumers can purchase an additional keyboard dock to enhance the battery even further. Asus claims that the battery life will increase five-fold with the tablet dock, and nine-fold with the keyboard dock in addition to the tablet dock. That’s quite a bit of power to be wielded.

Minor bug bears:

That’s not to say that Asus has done everything absolutely right. Engadget complains of the tablet dock’s girth and weight, and I personally would have liked the tablet to be compatible with the Transformer and/or Transformer Prime docks. There’s also the objection that Motorola has done similar things with its phones, and they haven’t exactly set the world on fire. Ultimately, though, I feel that Asus’s Padfone will carve out a significant chunk of the market simply because of it’s build quality, and Asus’s sensitivity to it’s customer’s needs and wants.

So what is the ASUS Padfone release date? Who knows just yet, but we will keep you posted.

Samsung has now added another size to their new Galaxy Tab 2 range with a showing of their 10.1 inch version at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Yesterday.

March release date for UK:

Coming days after the release of the smaller 7 inch model it is thought that this new version will be on sale in the UK from March, the new model will offer both 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and will be very lightweight and ultra portable which is what we come to expect form tabs in all honesty.

That said we are seeing an increase in weight due to larger batteries being placed into smartphone so all is not so obvious I guess.

This new tablet from Samsung will see Ice Cream Sandwich preloaded and as the default operating system, which is nice for those who like their new Android 4.0 operating system to be native and not a dodgy upgrade!

The processor will be a dual core 1Ghz and the display will be a 1024×800 PLS TFT with a 3 megapixel camera on the rear and VGA for front communication calls.

Other options worth noting will be the size of the on board storage, with 8, 16 and 32 GB options, with an upgradable MicroSD card up to 32 GB.

The 3G version will also offer HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100, offering A-GPS, Glonass, connectivity as well as the usual.

With access to Samsung new Video Hub, this new device looks likely to be welcomed by many new entrants to tablet computing who want something decent and affordable with the new Android OS on board.

A few things have happened of recent to make me think that the release date of the next iPad will actually be early March, with some saying the 4th.

[arrowlist]

• We already predicted it!
• Certain stores are now selling discounted iPad 2’s
• Other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange are stating that they are running out of iPad 2’s
• Reliable sources at iMore say the same…so it has to be true….;)

[/arrowlist]

So with all this in mind what is all this we hear about 4G on the iPad 3?

Will the iPad have 4G capabilities?

With some 38 or so frequencies that 4G will run on internationally, it is not as easy as manufacturers would like to simply offer 4G connectivity globally, yes it can be done but it currently comes at a price, so with this in mind and the alternative being a domestic 4G device that only works within your own territory what is the likelihood of the next iPad having international LTE 4G capabilities?

Well it seems that the iPad will certainly be 4G enabled in the US as the WSJ has confirmed suspicions that AT&T and Verizon will be host to the new 4G enabled iPad 3. Wether this extends to being global 4G connectivity is doubtful but perhaps an option will emerge at a price.

Unfortunately and rather annoyingly for the UK, the delays that have presented themselves in the roll out of 4G will mean that this new technology will not be available on mass for a few years, so we will probably be on the iPad 4 or 5 by the time this becomes truly relevant in the UK.

New apps means new screen?

It is likely that the much touted retina display will finally get a showing and new Apps being developed will make the most out of the 2048 x 1536 display, processor wise things are a little unclear with reports of an A6 quad core and an improved dual core ARM Cortex A9, which, if any, make the grade I am unsure of.

With Apple being attacked about their human rights policies and lack of action at plants they use in China, run primarily by Taiwanese based Foxconn (yes its complicated).

And with the Cupertino based company now open to looking more closely to how they operate in this territory, it is interesting to note that a home grown tablet manufacturer is actually looking to outsell Apple’s iPad in their own backyard.

ErenEben

Have you heard of ErenEben?

Well you probably will have if you live in China as they currently hold the second largest tablet share in China, this is according to Analysys International, this figure is currently set at 6% which is a far cry from being a major threat to Apple but it is interestingly more than Lenovo or Samsung have in terms of market share in this vast country.

China not vast consumers of tablets yet:

Chinese gadget lovers bought around 5 million units last year and are expected to buy some 18 million tablet PC’s in 2012, a huge increase from 2011, and this is where ErenEben hope to tap into the latent potential in this niche.

ErenEben are hoping that unique hand writing technology will allow users to write on screen using a stylus which they are calling the “Mind Mark” feature, plus the installation of a Chinese copy book application that will appeal to an older, less tech savvy generation, and hopefully win hearts and draw in some more of the huge population of China that have not yet embraced tablet technology.

Writing in China different to the West:

Many of us do not think about how the East communicate in terms of writing but it is a totally different relationship than we have in the West, and for this reason ErenEben are proud to now be named the “hand-writing computer of the meeting” by the Chinese People Political Consultation thanks to there Mind Mark feature.

Not cheap:

With the tablet based on Google’s Android operating system, the actual cost for each device comes in at a considerably high 5,000 yuan compared to the base price of an iPad which is 3,688 yuan, but just under the current top priced iPad which costs some 5,288 yuan.

ErenEben’s Chief Operating Officer Fang Liyong told the South China Morning Post.

“Most government officials and business leaders are of the older generation and are used to writing in their own style. And they are the ones with strong purchasing power,”

He went on to say that these people were the ones with buying power so they believe they are pitching to the right audience with the right feature set.

Relying on one technology is dangerous:

The trouble with this new technology is that Apple will most likely just develop a fantastic Chinese application that offers exactly the same option of writing on the tablet in the Chinese style with a stylus, either that or many apps will emerge with a clear leader offering the same functionality.

Your thoughts?

Anyone familiar with non linear editing (NLE) for video on Apple Macs and PC’s will have probably heard of AVID, and in my opinion a f**** nightmare to use and totally defunct when you have equally capable (for most instances) options such as Adobe’s Premiere Pro which has grown over the years to be very capable and nice to use and Apple’s Final Cut Pro (FCP) which has stayed rather stale until very recently but still packs a punch and works pretty well.

Having said all this I will not judge this application based on the fact that I dislike AVID on PC’s with a passion and would advise any sane member of the human race to steer clear.

So let us begin:

AVID App review:

With the iPad showing its versatility and strength in the music production department which I covered last week with the Akai MPC Fly review, I am pleasantly surprised to see this new release of the video editing AVID application for the device.

And at £2.99/$4.99 it is cheap enough to trial for 30 days (with the full app costing a couple more pounds after this period £4.99/$7.99).

But, does the app need you to already own the daddy AVID on your desktop to make any use of it, or can you use this application like a cut down version much like iMovies is intended?

Well the answer is, it is up to you. But you do not need the fully blown Avid software for a desktop PC at all to use this iPad application.

With the application working with video, audio and photos, it does mean you can edit more than just some crappy video footage on your iPad and are able to bring in a bit more to spice things up.

Effects and transitions:

As you would expect from an application that has iMovie to compete with, it includes some basic effects and transitions to add a touch of your own style to the video editing process, even though you will see that less is more in this art form as you gain more skills and confidence…;)

But with Photobucket stating that they have seen Photo Sharing Trends with mobile uploads of content such as photo and video to their site on the increase, it is perhaps likely that we will see many more videos been shot with smartphones and tablets and edited on the same devices and released pretty much without ever leaving this framework of technology, WOW.

Exporting options:

With options to upload and export to Facebook and Youtube, this will seriously add another weapon in the armory of the mobile journalist or person who simply wants to have some fun, your movie will also be included in the devices camera roll for exporting and bringing back into a real AVID.

I think this application would be best served in making more people aware of AVID and then perhaps bringing out a decent version of the desktop option for PC and Mac’s that could compete with Adobe Premiere and Apple’s FCP in terms of usability and the ability to manage work-spaces on the desktop more effectively which is an area that AVID sorely missed out on in the past, and saw many potential converts (myself included) steer well clear once we had tested other options that worked easier and pretty much did everything we wanted and perhaps more.

Talking of the shift in user behavior in how we now create video, Avid VP Tanguy Leborgne stets:

“We’ve seen a shift in how creation is happening, and it’s really happening on almost any device, we think the tablet is more than just a consumer device; more and more people are creating on it.”

I still find it really strange that AVID Technology does not bring out a version of the Avid studio software for Mac users when most creatives I know use Macs to work on, such is the level of fear most people who need their PC to work effectively daily have for windows based operating systems, yet they bring out an Apple iPad application that works on the PC version of the software.

Odd…but all in all I rather like the look of this application and will be looking forward to giving it a trial soon.

*This app works on both iPad and iPad2’s.

With ASUS first showing the world their new Padfone in 2011 at the Computex IT conference in May of last year, the overall design and look was met with some pretty curious glares, such is its odd take on a smartphone and tablet.

Smartphone / Tablets way forward?

With the Samsung Galaxy Note being rather fondly taken into the bosom of many new owners, it seems that size could after all be everything, and with the talk of the new iPhone 5 being potentially somewhat larger in the screen department, this size thing seems to be catching.

Larger screen can mean a larger battery win-win?

In all honesty there appears to be another benefit for going super size when it comes to smartphones and mobile devices, and that is the ability to place in a much larger battery and stop those annoying smartphone battery life moaners from telling all and sundry how blighted they are with their inept devices that they expect to last for 15 days through hell and high water on one charge.

So how does this actual device work?

The new Padfone from ASUS will bring together a marriage of two devices, which both run on the Android operating system, and which when combined will share common features such as internet connection, battery and storage.

The device will only need one SIM with the phone acting like a normal smartphone, but with the addition of a 10.1 inch mobile tablet monitor which makes it into a tablet in essence.

In a similar vain to the ASUS transformer prime, a docking system will allow you to connect the two together at the back of the case, giving you a much larger screen option when needed, with the screen making use of the phones 3G connection when it needs to and also offering itself as a battery charger, a pretty neat set of functions, and one which does sate many general needs and wants of modern mobile users.

Easily shift between phone and tablet:

With data synchronisation happening seamlessly, it appears that the devices sync automatically with screen layouts getting adopted across both devices.

Ice Cream Sandwich Android operating system:

It appears that the device will launch with Android’s newest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system already installed, and will utilise an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, it will be intriguing to see how this new smartphone-come-tablet is received by the attendees at MWC and what the biggest people to win over will have to say about the padfone, the general public!

Looks pretty sweet though I must say.

With the news that the iPad is hovering above the 55% of overall tablet sales globally and that Apple for a brief period have become the globes most costly company on paper beating Exonn once again, it is interesting to hear of the actual figures from the transfer of cash to developers that keep Apples iOS platform and app store as the market leader.

Huge amount paid out:

Yes, since June 2010 when the figure was still a staggering $1 billion, the official figure today suggests that Apple have now paid out around $4 billion to app developers globally,

iPad 3 to arrive in two months or less?

This figure is likely to see a surge as new devices are brought out into the market, first to be seen is likely to be the iPad 3 and later on we are told to expect the new iPhone 5 which has been a long time coming but could see a larger screen and totally new design, either way, these new devices will mean an increase in the iOS consumer base.

As a result, the growth and sale of applications should continue growing for some time coming, much to the glee of those very app developers who seem to be onto quite a lucrative thing!

Android catching up:

Of course Googles Android O/S is huge also, and Eric Schmidt is seen stating that their own marketplace will continue to grow as more developers make Android “a priority” over Apple, this is an inevitability of a very popular O/S but will not for one minute mean that Apple lose ground in a way that causes any major issues to the company….for now!

The Android ICS 4.0 upgrade has not been without problems for many devices, so it is perhaps good news that the earlier release of the ASUS Eee pad will now bring ICS but slightly later than the troubled Transformer Prime ICS update which is now seeing refunds being offered to certain users who have had issues with the upgrade and want tehir money back here in the UK.

We now hear that owners of the ASUS Eee pad will get their ICS update sometime in February with a report that the middle of the month is likely.

With ASUS promising an update this month, there are no hard statements from the company as to the specific dates of the update but according to a report on Electronista, it looks likely that mid February will see the update being released to owners.

In a reply on their facebook account to the question:

When will ICS be available for The original Transformer? Cant wait any longer!

ASUS North America replied:

Sorry for the confusion, HQ told me this morning it is looking more like mid-February for ICS on the TF101. The Slider update will come after the Transformer.

Ice Cream Sandwich update:

Once finalised and finally delivered it is expected that the new operating system will bring speed efficiency to the overall user experience and the UI as well as a new interface to use the device on.

We do hope that the ASUS Transformer Prime Ice Cream Sandwich Problems are not replicated on this earlier ASUS tablet device and that the extra time offered this upgrade will iron out issues before a full release is expected in February.

The update is expected pretty soon for Wi-Fi only devices but is not expected to be a quite as dramatic an improvement as the update delivers for Android smartphone owners, but assuming all is smooth and there are no huge issues with the update it looks like a worthy move to get your tablet up to speed with the new Android operating system.

Let us know how things go when it finally gets unleashed!

We already reported that its was likely that Motorola would officially announce that they will be releasing the Android 4.0 Xoom Ice Cream Sandwich update for the WiFi model soon enough, and we now have confirmation from the company that the update is scheduled to arrive OTA (over the air) in the coming weeks.

Starting today, the ICS upgrade will begin rolling out in phases over the course of a few weeks, so look for a notification on your device when it’s ready for download – and enjoy!

Users will start to see notifications when they are connected to the internet via WiFi, and once you decide to go for the update you should in theory be able to enjoy a better browsing experience, have access to a data manager, a new app-launcher and improved typeface to give your device that makeover it perhaps needed or you felt inclined to oblige see as it is now available!

Not the most popular of tablets:

While many thought it was a decent competitor to the first Apple iPad, honeycomb O/S proved a bit buggy and the price at launch was so steep it put many off, this trend continued and since launch the device only sold around 250,000 in its first quarter release, dropping to 100,000 in the last quarter recorded.

Motorola do however have more tablets up their sleeves with the arrival of the Xoom 2 tablets which incorporate the 10.1 and 8.2 inch Xyboard on Verizon, these new devices are more powerful, lighter and thinner than the previous Xoom and come with ICS as standard.

We just hope that the update does not come plagued with problems as it has for so many other tablets and smartphones doing the Ice Cream Sandwich dance since now.

Tablet owners helped increase amount of ad impressions:

With tablet owners generating some 11.2 billion impressions while using their device, this helped the Mobile Advertising firm increase their overall figures and saw a jump of 771% increase for tablet adverting impressions over the same time in 2010.

Similar story for smartphones:

There was a pretty similar story being told in the smartphone camp as InMobi saw increase of some 488% year on year with some 109 billion impression made in the last quarter of 2011.

Feature phones still very strong:

I would imagine that InMobi will reach a tipping point in the next year for more advanced devices to see a larger proportion of ad impressions.

But last year saw “feature phones” bringing in over 50% of the overall impressions made on their advertising network with some 54% or 125.8 billion impressions made on these devices.

Android biggest player overall:

With Apple dominating the charts of the top five most popular devices that obtain ad impression on the InMobi network, the O/S that really stands out is he Google owned Android platform which sees some 21.2% of all mobile ad impressions on one of the plethora of devices which has Android as its operating system used by various manufacturers.

Apple meanwhile, despite having four of the top five devices in the list, only achieve 16.7% of ad impressions made, which is still pretty huge considering this is one company and only four devices, with Nokia’s old Symbian O/S (now replaced with Windows Phone) accounting for a pretty hefty 18.8%, I imagine this will reduce slowly before hopefully increasing again for Nokai and Microsoft’s sake.

InMobi’s James Lamberti, VP of global research and marketing said,

“Mobile technologies have empowered the development of the media and advertising market and pushed consumer acceptance of media consumption through emerging channels. Advertisers are now on board with this trend and we expect to see strong innovation in this space as consumers spend more time on mobile devices and less on PCs.”

I think the further we go towards using more mobile centric devices, the more we will see rich media type advertising shining through, with associated benefits that include more user engagement in adverts, thus ticking the boxes of social media marketeers, corporations and ad networks, and with self serve platforms like Celtra I am sure there could be some cool mobile adverts coming out soon to a tablet or smartphone you.

Do you own a WiFi Motorola Xoom?

If so you will be pleased to know that you will be getting your Ice Cream Sandwich update OTA (over the air) soon.

According to the Mobile Indian, it appears that Motorola have been testing the ICS update on the Xoom tablet and will now offer the newer Google signed Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 version to US consumers over the next weekend.

Developers on the XDA forums have been testing the original Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Xoom WiFi version and Google have apparently now signed off what they believe to a be an update worthy of release for this particular model. The assumption here is that Motorola are now going to be happy to release this update OTA now it has been tested fully.

Motorola send out confirmation email:

With Motorola sending out confirmation emails to testers stating that an OTA update will arrive soon, they also stated that because the Xoom tablet was a “Google Experience Device” meaning that it was without areas such as a user interface like Touchwiz designed by Samsung, and Motorola needed Google to help test the device this would cause some additional delays.

The new email comes after Motorola sent this email earlier last week:

“Thanks for your patience as we’ve waited for this project to begin. Because we are dealing with a Google Experience Device (GED) we have less insight to timing than we would usually have.However, I’m happy to announce that we will start the update this evening. Because it was delayed a few days, we will also have additional time to test; we will let it run through the weekend.”

The current release schedule is quite categorically only for the WiFi only device owners, and not for 3G/LTE Xoom owners who will have to wait while their device gets rigorous testing from Google and Motorola and their community of testers.

Flash update possible but tricky:

There are ways of updating to Android 4.0.3 from XDA devs and a basic way of doing this here, but the method will require certain cables and a 1-2 GB flash drive.

With Google halting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich Update due to technical problems, this method may be the road they choose to go down for future release updates, where they test the update on a community of people in the know and slowly get it approved for various devices before it gets a full release and potentially causes a whole host of problems like what happened with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus S ICS update.

Let us know if this all holds true please!

With the release of the ASUS transformer prime tablet only just occurring for US consumers, it appears that ASUS are already looking at delivering an upgrade, so what will they be changing on their Ice Cream Sandwich tablet?

Problems associated with original ASUS Transformer Prime Tablet:

With occasional issues reported for US buyers of the tablet in relation to WiFi and GPS, some are wondering if now would be a good time to wait for the actual full on improvement to the tablet.

CES unveils upgrade plans:

So what would you be getting if you decided to wait for the upgrades to actual manifest themselves and appear on the shelves?

[arrowlist]

• Fixes to the problems mentioned above
• Higher resolution to 1920 x 1200
• Front facing camera upgraded to 2 megapixel

[/arrowlist]

On top of this, owners of existing ASUS transformer primes will be able to update their device to Ice Cream Sandwich via OTA, which was due to go live on the 12th of January, but has been brought forward a couple of days and is now offered as an OTA update right now..

So with all this news of updates are you happy that ASUS do not seem to be hanging about with key upgrades to the Transformer Prime Tablet?

Or, do you get a bit annoyed when devices you buy are almost immediately made into yesterdays news?…compensation…?

Such is the way of technology I am afraid.

I think it is great that ASUS are on the ball and sharp with this update and the improvement to their devices, if there is a problem, fix it. If there is not a a problem do not mess, simple!

This news will be a nice break from ASUS v HASBRO news that has been washing the internet with more litigation talk about the use of certain terms in their products.

Are you in the market for an ASUS Transformer Prime tablet? If so, tell us why?

We have been hearing rumours that google were going to enter the tablet market in 2012, and some believe that they are quite close to actually achieving this, but what many were unsure about was what level of tablet they were going to produce.

A number of categories are emerging in the very crowded tablet PC arena, with google likely to go for the mid to upper tier.

So that would effectively mean an iPad rival right down to a Kindle fire rival, with the mid priced options skirting either side of this extreme.

Google 7 inch tablet:

It is reported in digitimes that people “in the know” are stating that the new tablet will be more of an Amazon kindle fire device, maybe of the seven inch variety.

On top of this, it will be built on Android 4.0, AKA, Ice Cream Sandwich, and will actually be delivered at an even lower cost to the consumer than the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Christ on a bike this surely can only be good for the average joe.

Technology convergence:

So with Google TV looking to rival Apple TV and Amazon not yet entering the TV market with an actual device, 2012 could be the year of the internet TV, as technology starts to morph into one, with Google and Amazon both needing a decent Siri rival to start looking like top dogs in this fast paced industry.

Amazon have already signed deals with Disney-ABC and FOX, and will be looking to rival Netflix with their own video on demand eco-system, so could it be that we see google bring in their own version of the Amazon Kindle Fire and Amazon bring in their own version of Google TV with both using their respective tablets as some form of TV controller perhaps with or without a Siri equivalent for voice control.

Exciting times ahead on this frontier that is for sure.

3D TV almost looks like black and white now!

We have heard rumours that the UK arrival of the Amazon Kindle Fire will be some time soon, with varying release dates ranging from the end of January right up to March being tipped as the correct release schedule.

We have already done a review of the Amazon Kindle Fire, and found that the device certainly had its plus points.

One of which was the obvious price level that it was being sold at, coupled with access to a huge Amazon owned eco-system and their own version of Android running the tablet.

It seems like a great alternative to more costly versions of tablets running the Android O/S, and obviously Apples own premium priced iPad 2.

Amazon sell millions of Kindle Fires over Xmas:

With Amazon selling upwards of five million units so far, it will be interesting to see if the same success is replicated in the UK.

This will likely come down in many ways to what price level they decide to sell the tablet at.

On the amazing sales so far of the Kindle Fire, Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and co-founder states:

“We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,”

Amazon Kindle Fire or iPad 3?

Of course this is an unfair comparison in many ways, but just ask yourself the question:

If you were given the choice of waiting for the arrival of the next iPad 3 release, or probably waiting a shorter period of time and saving yourself a couple of hundred pounds in the process on top, which would you choose?

That is assuming that there is only one version of the new iPad being launched. As we hear there is a strong chance that two variations of the next iPad will be offered, with one cut-price version attempting to compete with the likes of the Amazon Kindle Fire which will undoubtedly be eating away at Apples bottom line now that it is fully unleashed.

Let us know your thoughts below.

Research in motion released the Blackberry Playbook tablet to UK audiences in June last year, and we have already reported on how the Playbook price cut in the US aimed to get rid of their old stock.

UK buyers see RIM Playbook price reduction also:

Now UK consumers can benefit from RIM’s decision to “get rid”, as they have seemingly reduced the unit price for retailers in the UK, as most we have looked into are selling the models at varying prices from:

[arrowlist]

• £169,99 for the 16GB playbook
• £199,99 for the 32GB playbook
• £329,99 for the 64GB playbook

[/arrowlist]

UK buyers will have sliding price scale it seems:

As RIM do not sell their playbook tablets via their online store in the UK, and only go through high street and online retailers. It is interesting to see that the blanket price that US buyers received for their playbook tablets has not been passed onto UK consumers.

I am personally unsure if this is UK retailers and networks cashing in on what you would normally expect the price range to be, or just a reflection of the relationship that UK businesses have with the Canadian firm.

In the US, the playbooks are ALL selling for $299, for the 16GB tablet, right up to the 64GB model.

So what do you think of this deal, would you still like to get onto the Blackberry bandwagon when you have a choice of iOS or Android as an alternative to the RIM operating system.

There is no doubt that the price looks attractive, but with Amazon due to release their Kindle Fire in the UK some time soon, is it really all that attractive when there are so many options out there with perhaps better eco-systems.

It is thought that ASUS will be revealing a new mini version of the Asus transformer prime tablet that currently sees them under scrutiny from Hasbro over the use of the words “transformer” and “prime”.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this month in Las Vegas will see the arrival of many new models and it is expected that it will be the showcase of the new ASUS transformer mini.

The new version is thought to be a 7 inch model of the 10 inch version, which will come with a smaller keyboard dock, the signature of the Asus Transformer Prime.

Asus want to be big in 2012 and distinctive:

There is expected to be a few other arrivals at the CES show and these include:

[arrowlist]

• Asus Padfone, a 4.3-inch Ice Cream Sandwich based smartphone which has the ability to turn into a tablet via a 10.1-inch touchscreen dock.
• 7-inch version of the Eee Memo Pad, with a rumoured 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon processor, 1280×800 resolution display, with Wi-Fi and 3G options.

[/arrowlist]

Will they keep the transformer name?

With Hasbro genuinely unhappy about the choice of names of the Asus transformer tablet, it may be unwise to carry on this potential legal disaster to another model even though in my eyes it seems pretty far fetched that they would have a leg to stand on, I am no lawyer and would not be the best person to pontificate on any outcome here, so if I was Asus, airing on the side of caution would be my instinct, especially as the transformers brand is growing from strength to strength currently.

Hasbro filed the action to sue in a LA court stating that the use of the term could lead to consumer confusion, and has requested that compensation be paid for damages related to the use of the term in current and future products.

Can the word “transformer” really be trademarked/patented/copyrighted?

Are you a lawyer in this field in the US?

If so, please do shed some light on the issue if you are, as it seems far fetched to me.

Barbara Finigan, Hasbro’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.

“Hasbro continues to aggressively protect its brands and products and the specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain….the Transformers property is an incredibly popular global brand which enjoys tremendous fan support and interest around the world. The action we have announced today is in the best interests of our company and our shareholders.”

So like Apple, they are not taking things lightly and I am actually really excited to see what the outcome will be on this one.

Though if I was Asus I would counter sue Hasbro for making my new line of tablets sound like they are a kids toy….we had all pretty much forgotten the name until recently!…How rude Hasbro how rude.

We covered the arrival of the $45 Aakash tablet computer a while ago and were pleasantly surprised at the ingenuity and desire of UK based Datawind to bring computing to the masses in rural India as well as in more populated areas.

Two weeks in and talk of new factories being needed:

Amazingly at only two weeks into selling the tablet online, Datawind have said that demand for the tablet is in the region of 100,000 per day, and they have a pre-order totalling some 400,000, to keep up with demand they are looking to create three new factories, and will also be looking to release a new model in mid January. This will be a slightly more powerful 700Mhz processor and will have a SIM card slot and the ability to access GPRS and 2G connections.

Aakash Ubislate 7:

The new tablet will be named the Aakash Ubislate 7 and cost around 3000 Rupee compared to the Aakash’s price tag of 2500 Rupee, and the new device is quite simply a natural progression in terms of specification on offer from the company who are there to help the Indian population move forward in the mobile technology sector that is so prevalent in many other countries.

And with India being only second to China in terms of population, each person may not have the largest amount of disposable income but the market is so huge that this reduced level of value per person still offers rich gains for those who can go in at a lower price and offer the same kind of services that more developed countries come to expect.

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind, says:

“We never expected such a high response from both corporate and individual buyers. We plan to supply 70,000-75,000 units per day once the factories are in place by April,”

Emergency on day one of selling online:

Indeed the demand for India’s cut price tablet is that huge that on the first day of selling the tablet online they were informed by India’s computer emergency response team that the site was probably under a cyber attack, such was the high traffic shitting the site due to the demand for the new tablet.

With the iPad costing around 30,000 rupees it is easy to see why many people in India can not afford this high end model, and Datawind have obviously found a decent price level that will satisfy a large proportion of the people in the rural and city areas.

Who owns this tablet and can you please tell us your thoughts if you do, we would love to hear about it from the source so to speak.

In a move seen by many to signal a multitude of serious problems at the Canadian research in motion corporation, RIM have slashed the price of their Playbooks to a measly $299 in a bid to get rid of the stock.

And in what appears to be a pretty strange move, they are all set at that price, making me wonder if RIM have lost the plot completely, as I would not be going for the 16GB device when it is the same price as the 64GB, or maybe this is a retailers trick to get the press attention and get people parting with their cash in order to secure the bigger alternative at the price, either way the 64GB models are going to be gone pretty quick I imagine.

So with the new release of the Playbook 2.0 coming next month we wonder if they will have time to shed this unsightly skin that has been put over the first Playbook, an unlucky one, as essentially the device is pretty good by all accounts, it just suffers from being related to the blackberry family and all the issues that this currently has as an operating system.

Discounted Playbooks not on offer in the UK:

Noticeably this offer is not available for buyers of the Playbook in the UK.

With demand for Playbooks slowing month on month, it will be interesting to see if the wholesale clearance of their old stock will help clear the path for greater demand for the new model considering the associated bad press that a good old car boot sale of your wares brings in tech-land.

Would you be interested in a Playbook for $299 or would you rather wait for the arrival of the iPad 3 or indeed the new Playbook 2.0 next month?

As always please pen down your comments below, we always love to hear your views.

In an admission of guilt or simply a wise pricing strategy, the Sony Tablet S has decided to move markets from the high end Prime tablet arena with the likes of Apple’s iPad ruling supreme, and the new Transformer prime nudging shoulders alongside, down to a more affordable mid range level tablet offering.

Yes the 9.4 inch Tablet S can now be yours for a mere $400 for the 16GB version, going up to a sightly more pricey $500 of the 32GB flavour.

Sony Tablet S now a mid-level range tab:

Does a crowded mid-range market suit Sony better? Or, have they just dug a ditch that will happily allow the Sony Tablet S to bury its head in shame and never see the light of day again?

Lee us look again at the Tablet S features:

[arrowlist]

• Cameras: 5-megapixel rear, 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing
• Display: 9.4-inch LED-backlit multi-touch screen (1280 x 800 pixels)
• Operating system: Android Honeycomb (3.1)
• Processor: Dual-core 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2
• Inputs/outputs: 1 MicroUSB, 1 headphone
• External storage: Full-size Secure Digital (SD) memory card, up to 32 GB in size (for media exchange only)
• Internal storage: 16 GB or 32 GB
• Connectivity: Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n); Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (with A2DP stereo audio streaming profile); IR (infrared) remote control functionality
• Battery: Lithium-ion (5000 mAh)
• Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Weight: 21 ounces

[/arrowlist]

Sony Tablet S summary:

So while this is no slouch or ugly duckling, it is not an iPad or ASUS Transformer Prime for various reasons, but does hold its own in many areas.

So with new price tag attached, is this tablet going to be swanning around looking really rather proud amid the medium level competitors now that the price tag has put it within reach of even more potential customers?

With mixed reviews ranging from glowing to average, maybe this new mid price level is more in keeping with this current Sony Tablet.

Let us know your thoughts on this strategy from Sony.

We have already done a comprehensive review of the Samsung Galaxy note and found that the half tab, half smartphone was a big boy indeed, and perhaps not one for certain ladies, but we liked it by and large…pun of course intended.

So it is intriguing to see that despite a no-show in the US currently, the Galaxy Note smartphone, that masquerades as a tablet when it needs to, has actually shipped a whopping 1 million units globally, which seems pretty incredible considering the amount of competition it faces in the overall smartphone market.

Samsung Galaxy Note at CES?

It is thought that the Consumer Electronics Show in January could be the perfect US showcase for the mobile device to start wooing US buyers, and for the device to then start appearing on AT&T shortly after, with an expected support for LTE to be offered.

With a 5.3 inch screen and 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, we think it will appeal to quite a few Americans who still swear that big is most definitely best!

What do you think of the device? Are you looking forward to the new release of the Samsung Galaxy Note in the US?

Here is a half decent Samsung promo video for the Galaxy Note, when compared to the hilarious videos they released for the Samsung S2 which have now been pulled:

Please let us know your thoughts on the Galaxy Note in the comments, are you a Note owner already who likes or loathes the device? Tell all.

We have already discussed the iPad 3 release date in an earlier article. Now rumours seem to suggest it will arrive at a similar time as we predicted, or at least we will see a glimpse of it around the time we originally anticipated.

Digitimes, the perennial gossip mongers of the tech world have got their knitting needles out again, and they are talking of a return by Apple to a show now known as iWorld which was formerly MacWorld Expo.

At the show, which will be held next year on January 26th, Apple are rumored by supply chain partners to be demonstrating their new cut price iPad, and the new iPad 3, where these new models will join the rest of the iBrigade.

iPad 3 and iPoor 1?

The new models will see the cheaper version pitched against plucky contenders such as the Amazon Kindle Fire, and the other iPad 3 obviously holding the Apple flag high, as the kind of the tablet jungle.

Specification updates:

Processors are still rumoured to be supplied by Samsung, with Sharp delivering the new improved display that will still feature the same 9.7 inch screen.

There could be dual LED bars that will help brighten the iPads overall brightness levels. This rumour appears to have legs as Minebea are now part of this supply chain and they specialise in Backlight units (BLU’s)

Battery’s to be monsters:

Dynapack International Technology and Simplo Technology have secured orders for batteries of the iPad, with the rumour that one at least will have a very high capacity of 14,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) which will be used in the new iPad’s. Though we are not sure if one of these manufacturers will make a less powerful battery for the cut price model.

What do you think of the news? A tall story? Or, like us, can you imagine that this could have some weight?

Let us know your thoughts on the new iPad 3. And if you have heard anything remotely sounding like the truth, get in touch and let us know!

HASBRO will sue ASUS over what they believe is a copycat name from their famous 1980’s television series.

We all remember the transformers cartoons from the 1980’s and the new variations on a theme, though you may not be aware that the toy firm HASBRO owns the transformers brand and line, and they have not been too happy that ASUS have decided to release a “transformer” tablet model and even worse in their eyes, added the term “Prime” onto the end.

So with the slightly random ASUS Transformer Prime release schedule rolling out in the US, we examine what areas HASBRO have issues with.

Yes, Optimus prime was the leader of the transformers, who battled the decepticons in every episode, using their ingenious and thoroughly outrageous method of “transforming”.

HASBRO are quoted saying:

“The specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain.”

How they actually hope to prove that the word “transformer” and “prime” will have any benefit to ASUS driven from the television series or any detriment to HASBRO or the brand “Transformers” is beyond me, unless they own the copyright to very commonly used words, which they do not, then I see no way of this holding up and is seemingly an exercise in futility.

Can HASBRO really sue though?

Well they can always have go, the only real leg they have to stand on, is if they could prove that buyers of the new tablet could for one minute be under the belief that they were buying a licensed product in the ASUS Transformer Prime tablet, but it would seem a little far fetched that they would ever get anywhere as they both operate in such different markets. With ASUS hardly copying anything other than two words that are in common use anyway, but….the ASUS Transformer Prime can go from Tablet PC into Laptop in a few small moves, exactly like Optimus prime did, well…dont be stupid, its a sodding computer not a kids toy (arguably I suppose).

HASBRO you risk looking more ridiculous than if you just kept your nose out of this issue, as I see no benefit from starting another legal war related to mobile technology….spare us more of these stories for 2012 please.

Well you will not be the only one, as shipments of the new tablet have been delayed meaning that retailers such as BestBuy are holding back on offering the model for delivery, so you may now see words such as “coming soon”, which appears to have altered since they offered the device for sale prior to the delivery issues.

Demand still very high:

With the ASUS Transformer Prime being so in demand, many who have pre ordered or purchased in the hope of a quick delivery will be somewhat disappointed, but as we have found, most people understand that on release of new models, these things happen!

However it does appear that those who ordered at pre-order stage may have had some luck in receiving their ASUS Transformer Prime under the tree before Christmas, but people who were at the latter stage in ordering may have been a touch unlucky and will have to wait a little longer.

ASUS confirm shipping:

A spokesperson for ASUS has confirmed that the first release was on the way into U.S partner stores, and more will be available and shipped as and when possible over the next few weeks.

“ASUS started shipment of units to our partners last week and supply will escalate quickly over the next couple of weeks.”

Some orders cancelled:

There are stories of some retailers cancelling pre orders due to the high demand, so some lucky people will have got the first releases, but others will have to wait a while and perhaps order again.

BestBuy sell the ASUS Transformer Prime, but it appears that you can only order the exclusive Gray model currently, and this, we assume, may only last a limited amount of time until stocks run out again.

While others have been successful with their order of the ASUS prime from BestBuy, we can see now that it says “coming soon” so they must have run out of stock of the normal model.

Amazon taking orders:

Amazon are said to be:

“taking orders for the next shipment of the Transformer Prime but this batch won’t ship until four to seven weeks later, which will be well into 2012.”

We can currently see that various models are still available at a price on Amazon, with other pre-order models looking at some 4-6 weeks delivery wait.

ASUS Transformer Prime set to be record breaker:

Jonney Shih, ASUS CEO has said of the new model and tablet PC’s in general that they expect to sell upward of 3 million tablet PC’s in 2012 with a hope that they may sell 6 million if things go well and the prime proves to be such a hit. With the ASUS Prime having that unique offering of a keyboard and battery dock (optional extras), it is hoped that this model may appeal to an even wider set of people than a pure tablet.

And with the arrival of Windows 8 in 2012, Jonney Shih has said they are going to be releasing the Transformer prime with the new O/S.

Exciting times for ASUS, so what are your stories on getting hold of this cool looking new tablet PC?

At last many will be happy that the ASUS transformer prime tablet is finally on sale on BestBuy, and you can pick the item up for $499.

And owners who have already bought it are saying that the tablet is ultra responsive, perhaps a bit ugly, but great that it also includes an SD card slot.

Amazon taking orders:

The model for sale on BestBuy is a Gray 32GB tablet, and when I looked shipping was “coming soon”, the device will currently come with Honeycomb 3.2 as your operating system, but an Ice Cream Sandwich update is to follow soon.

In terms of accessories, a keyboard dock will not be included but you can always look to buy these other things later on.

What you will get with your order:

[arrowlist]

• Weighs only 1.3 lbs. and measures just 0.3″ thin: For lightweight portability. Sensors include G-sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, E-compass and GPS.
• Digital media card reader: Supports microSD cards and microSDHC formats for storing or transferring media.
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR: Easily link with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as a mobile phone or MP3 player.
• Preloaded apps: Includes Android Market, YouTube, Google Search and more.
• Built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN: Connect to the Internet without wires.
• Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system: Along with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, a 667MHz system bus and a 1MB L2 cache allows you to stay connected and productive on the go.
• 1GB LPDDR2 memory: For multitasking power.
• 10.1″ LED-backlit touch-screen display: With IPS technology and 1280 x 800 resolution showcases movies and games in stunning clarity. Gorilla glass screen provides durability.
• Built-in 1.2MP webcam: Makes it easy to video chat with family and friends. The rear-facing 8.0MP camera with autofocus allows you to capture and play back video.
• NVIDIA Tegra 3 graphics: For lush images. Micro HDMI output for connection to an HDTV.

[/arrowlist]

Please let us know what you think of the device if you have bought it already, or when you do.

In news from Italy, where many Nexus S owners are having problems with the Ice Cream Sandwich update after a seemingly early release of ICS which is full of bugs for many Nexus S owners.

The president of Google, Eric Schmidt, has stated in Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, that Google will be entering the tablet market in 2012:

“marketing a tablet of the highest quality”

And this will arrive within six months from now, so seemingly a Summer release.

Who will build the new Google tablet?

Now we would like to know if Google are going to go this alone, or use Samsung or another manufacturer to build their device, that will likely compete with the iPad if it is going to be of “the highest quality”, as we admit that the cut price versions such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Nook are not at the level that would warrant a term that extols the virtue of “the highest quality”, lovely as they are, they are not at the top of their game, hence the price tag.

So we have another question, will google aggressively compete with Apple’s iPad on price like Amazon have tried to do, or will they try to work together to differentiate their own products as more desirable and with a heftier price tag.

Google Nexus tablet?

And what will such a tablet be called? Rumours are that it will be a “Nexus” tablet, though one problem will remain for now, and that is the lack of quality Applications available on the larger screened Android tablets, and is the biggest bug bear for most people who have sampled Apples stunning eco-system of options when it comes to functionality for their tablets. And remember a tablet is only as good as what it can do, not how fast it can do it.

Kids turned off by Apple, confused by Android:

With a recent report coming out saying that “the kids” are bored with Apple but confused with Android, is it time for Google to rise up and say, hey, this is what Android stands for in the tablet space, yes we are a bit fragmented, but here is your real alternative to the iPad?

Would you get that message?

Yes, the iPad 3 release date rumors are coming thick and fast, we have already given you an overview on some important areas that may help the release date of the iPad 3 to be in February. However these are all well and truly firmly entrenched in “rumouville” for now.

So when will the next generation iPad 3 be released?

Asking this question to a group of technology journalists will get you a mixed bag of replies, some will tell you as we did, that a February iPad 3 release is on the cards, others will go with the sands of time and state that the likely date for the unveiling of the product will be in Mid-march, with an imminent release, what ever the outcome, the likelihood is a pre mid 2012 date, that is to say it should be in stores before June/July 2012 if the past is anything to go by.

And let us face it, while Apple can shock us on many occasions the release date of the iPad 3 is something that they are less likely to play with for effect.

iPad 3 Commercial

Please now take a look at the new pre-release teaser here :)…ok, so this is a send up, but enjoy:

iPad 3 features?

Yes the device looks like it has no rim and is transparent! Maybe Apple have got themselves access to that amazing new technology called Graphene, read “What is Graphene” here to enlighten yourself. But, I digress, while that device looks sweet, I doubt that this will be the new iPad 3, in looks anyway, as this video is a pure concept video by a person? calling themselves Dakota Adney, using a little bit of After effects and such like I imagine.

A Better Camera?

Citi analyst Richard Gardner would argue that the new iPad may not look transparent and rimless but it could well have a new camera, talking of the release date he states that:

“There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining,”

With cameras on the iPad 2 being pretty average for anything other than facetime, the camera area is one that can be upped quite easily and would help them gain a bit more respect in this department.

“Both cameras on the iPad 2 are horrible, sure, they work for FaceTime and such, but the results are pitiful. While tablets are still unwieldy for taking pictures, most of the competition is fielding tablets with 3- and 5-megapixel cameras. I don’t imagine I’ll be using a tablet for most photo-taking needs, but having a decent one on board wouldn’t hurt.”

Wrote Eric Zeman at Information Week.

So will the design change?

While it is very possible a new racial design could see the light of day, I doubt very much that we will see anything more than a few tweaks here and there in this release, make it lighter, more powerful, and simply up the specifications all round. I see probably nothing more than an improved iPad 2 coming out on this round.

Smaller iPad release?

It seems unlikely that Apple will launch a smaller version in general, as this was something Steve Jobs was not keen on discussing prior to his death, however with the rise in popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire there does potentially bring into light a new challenge that may need to be overcome, and may force Cupertino to release a cut-price version of the iPad, whether this will mean “smaller” in size remains to be seen.

Talk of new release has not hit iPad 2 sales:

Senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, Gene Munster, seems to believe that Apple will sell some 13.5 million iPad this December, which will be a huge 80%+ increase over the same months in 2010.

Quite amazing really, as I just advised my girlfriend to just go out and get one after she asked me if I should wait, a great thing about Apple products is that their resale value is high, so if a new model does come out quick, you should only lose about $100 or £60 ish if you get your old model sold on Ebay etc!

We will keep you posted on further iPad 3 news as we get it.

2012 looks like being a good year for tablets as they come of age and become seriously powerful and functional, yes, Samsung are also releasing their new flagship Samsung Tab 11.6 in early 2012.

Samsung are such copycats!

News that the iPad 3 release date may be launched earlier than anticipated, has come as quite a revelation, mainly due to the fact that there seemed to be an issue with the manufacturing process for the new ultra high resolution retina display, that will be included as standard on the new iPad 3 devices.

Samsung’s new tablet to boast same retina display as iPad 3:

So, not content with stealing Apple’s design patents (allegedly) in the iPhone and iPad in general, Samsung have also copied Apple with their own exploding phone that exploded recently just like the infamous exploding Apple iPhone.

And now in typical “I wanna be like you” flattery, the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6 will also, it is rumoured, feature a 2560 x 1600 high resolution display and a 16:10 aspect ratio.

With BGR citing a “trusted” resource for the news the article also goes on to suggest that Samsung will be unveiling the new tablet at the Mobile World Congress this coming Spring, which makes a lot of sense, as this is when they have historically displayed their new Galaxy 10.1 and 8.9 tablet devices.

The new Samsung Galaxy tab 11.6 will also boast Ice Cream Sandwich as the O/S of choice and also house a Dual Core Exynos 5250 Processor, clocked at 2GHz, similar to the A6 CPU fond in Apples new iPad 3.

I wonder if the new marketing campaign for the Galaxy tablet 11.6 will beat the utter dross that Samsung initially released as promos videos for the Samsung S2 which they now hide from Youtube viewers by “unlisting” them?

So are you looking forward to this new Android based device now that the Android market has come of age?

So you are in the market for a non Apple based media playing device that looks like a smartphone but costs less and does not come pre subscribed to a hefty contract?

Ok then, may I introduce you to the new Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0, a serious iPod rival and one that I particularly like….cheapest prices usually offered here:

So why is this gadget a real iPod contender?

The following list includes some areas that the Apple iPod does not offer:

[arrowlist]

Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 Review

• FM radio
• GPS chip
• Larger screen – two options
• Better camera with flash
• Expandable memory slot for cheap SD Micro-SD Cards

[/arrowlist]

I think that comparing the Apple iPod and Galaxy Player 4 will leave you thinking that the Apple device seems that little bit easier to use but really it is just a matter of time before you are just as quick with the Samsung device and then you may think the same about the Apple product if you switch back.

Who is the Samsung Galaxy Player aimed at?

I am finding it quite tough to see how big this market is, but there has to be some merit to a device that does not have a monthly bill attached but can perform pretty much everything that a well specified smartphone can deliver.

Having access to the full Android marketplace will also be a bonus if you have invested in the Android ecosystem heavily so far.

The fact that you can use the full google application suite such as Gmail and various other communication and productivity tools offered in the Android marketplace, means that the device is more than just a portable games player and can perform as a cut down tablet in many ways, including price.

All in all, worth a look if you are seeking an alternative to a smartphone and want something a little smaller than a tablet, and particularly dislike Apple!

The trouble is what do you call it when Apple have laid claim to the term iPod!?…”player” sounds so naff!

I have put this article under a new category called Gadget Reviews for now!

It seems that Samsung are under fire from Apple in so may territories and countries that the South Korean smartphone and tablet manufacturer can not even begin to stand up before the Apple legal team come knocking!

10 countries and 4 continents:

Yes Samsung are currently at loggerheads with Apples legal team in 10 countries in 4 continents and this includes huge wealthy territories such as Germany, UK, US, France, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

Good news at last?

Are Samsung out of the legal mire?

Additionally to potentially good news for Samsung which we reported yesterday, where the Australian federal court had ruled that a prior ban on the sale of the galaxy tab was incorrect, it seems that Samsung may have won a benchmark ruling in the US also.

A court in California has ruled that the bid to block the Galaxy tab and Galaxy smartphone from being sold is not going to be upheld.

Judge Lucy Koh said:

“It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung’s accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed. Indeed, given the evidence Samsung presented, it seems likely that a major beneficiary of an injunction would be other smartphone manufacturers.”

The preliminary injunction which would force Samsung to remove their Galaxy products from sale was deemed to be an excessive and extraordinary measure to take at this stage.

The lawsuit started in April and surrounds three design and one software patent that Apple disputed. This ruling may not see Samsung win the cases it is currently involved in, but may see a halt to the “guilty before verdict” precedents that seem to have been set in many areas.

Has Amazons “Kindle Fire” had a natural dip after a successful launch or is there another issue present?

Chitika have revealed data that shows the dip in traffic and general buzz of the Amazon Kindle Fire before during and after launch.

I gave an honest review of the Amazon Kindle Fire last month, and do have high hopes for the cut price tablet. So it is interesting to hear an analyst from Chitika talk about the areas they feel Amazon will need to look into in order for them to make a success of the Android based tablet.

Analyst at Chitika, Gabe Donnini has the following points to say about the cut price tablet:

“With the current level of competitiveness in the tablet market, currently dominated by the iPad, it appears that Amazon has a long way to go in terms of offering the complete and viable tablet experience,”

Now I am unsure that this point has much merit considering the general awareness and lack of marketing that I have personally seen.

I think it is way too early to say that a drop in general traffic surrounding the device means that the Kindle Fire is a flop, especially when Amazon are so protective of their sales data, and the device is so new.

His other points were related to the tablet being “close but no cigar”:

“The Kindle Fire certainly is a step in the right direction for Amazon and one of their most impressive tablets to date….it offers significant benefit at a relatively low cost, and if you’re willing to pay the extra mile, you can gain access to services such as Amazon’s Digital Content platform. However, if you are expecting a full-fledged tablet, you may be disappointed with functionality, given the Kindle Fire is more of an E-reader+.”

Give it a chance I say:

I feel that again the points made are based on poor knowledge of the device as the kindle fire is much more than an E-reader, offering access to movies and games is much closer to the tablet it rightly claims to be.

I do also think that the period chosen to extrapolate this data by Chitika is very misleading for a new device. The Kindle Fire was released in the Thanksgiving period with Black Friday also falling in and around that time, so this naturally sees huge peaks and troughs compared to the average internet activity for pretty much any device, never mind a brand new one.

“Pinch of salt” I would say regarding this data and report…and Chitika get a…”could do better” mark from me.

Sony have released their second tablet computer. The Tablet P will be arriving in the UK on the 4th of December and will be an interesting Android based offering from the Japanese technology giant.

At £499 the price is certainly not cheap, so how will they differentiate their own tablet from the likes of the iPad?

Portability:

Yes, the clamshell design allows two screens to be utilised and when finished can be closed and then transported slightly easier than a traditional tablet.

Connections:

The connectivity of the device is aided by offering access to 3G and Wi-Fi connections, and the tablet experience will be delivered via two 5.5 inch screens which utilise “TruBlack” technology to ensure strong clarity and colours.

Operating System:

With Android 3.2 Honeycomb powering the tablet, the weight of which has been kept down to a reasonable 370g, the new Sony Tablet P is no slouch.

The design (which looks like the 3DS) will also have a Tegra 2 Dual Core processor, slots for Micro SD cards and 1GB of RAM.

Sony Entertainment Network:

Similar to Apple, Google and Amazon. Sony have gone the way of the big boys with their Sony Entertainment Network, a hub that will allow content such as music and movies to be streamed onto the tablet and other compatible devices such as TV’s using DLNA apps.

Games machine:

With applications being available straight from the Android market, another option for Sony P owners will be the ability to play Playstation games, this device, which is “Playstation-certified” will come with games such as Pinball heroes and Crash Bandicoot already installed.

Sony want to dominate:

Sony have said that they want to become the second largest supplier of tablet PC’s globally, though this seems like a bold prize to aim for. I am unsure how feasible it will be after a pretty bad year all round for the once even mightier Sony group.

What do you think of the dual screen offering?

Back in the first quarter of 2011, a poll found that a large 46% of people questioned would like a Windows 8 tablet, this has since dropped to a measly 25% so what happened to the optimism of the initial news of an imminent full release of the Windows 8 tablet.

Well as with most things that need selling, that do not sell, either the message given out was confusing or you did not shout loud enough. Perhaps the latter was the case in this situation as Forrester claim that the momentum of the campaign simply dried up.

Late comers need to shout louder or differentiate clearly:

Being a late comer in a market that is already dominated by one big Apple with a swathe of others recently joining the fray, it was vital that they sold their tablet as being both different (not Android or iOS) and desirable, and that it worked better and/or looked better.

In Microsoft’s case they did not really achieve any of these things and this is perhaps why the desirability of their capable looking device and O/S has dropped off so significantly.

Windows 8 Tablets not fully connected yet?

Nokia’s Stephen Elop (ex Microsoft) espoused the new Windows Phone O/S earlier in the year and talked about connectivity being the key to the new operating system, and I was slowly sold, and here is why.

Microsoft currently have access to their X-Box technology, their own mobile O/S, a tablet variety of this and a PC operating system. This seemed like a great opportunity to tie in products and services in much the same way that Apple and now Amazon are doing.

However the trump cards such as the X-Box integration have not really shown themselves currently and what is left is perhaps a misunderstood future O/S with potential.

One Forester analyst stated:

“Windows 8 tablets must provide consumers with a more differentiated product experience than it otherwise would have, had Microsoft entered the market sooner, they’ll have to take a lesson from Amazon’s product strategists, who fundamentally changed the tablet product experience by leading with content and services rather than feeds and speeds, at a compelling price.”

Seen as we are all unsure how the new Windows 8 operating system will allow interaction with separate devices as planned, I can not help think that they have confused me and others with so many damn varieties up to now. When will Microsoft learn that simplicity sells, and being all things to all men is great so long as you keep the concept simple as Apple have done.

I am convinced Windows will make a success of their current operating systems which will culminate in Windows 8 with the “Metro” interface being the central all dancing O/S for Microsoft devices. Though the sooner we are all talking about Windows 8 and not Mango, Tango, 7, 7.5 etc etc, the better for all.

What do you think to the new operating system. Will it be the fix all solution for Windows-based devices of the future?

It is thought that the iPad3 will be released in early-mid 2012, based on the following news about Sharp displays, with many saying that the first half of the year is more likely than the second, though clear dates on this are as of yet unknown.

Sharp to produce new iPad displays:

Sharp seem likely to be the company of choice when Apple come to upgrade their iPad display in the new iPad 3.

The Kameyama 2 plant which is owned by Sharp will be manufacturing the screens.

Sharp are already the manufacturer of choice for the displays in the iPhone 4S.

Apple are reportedly investing in Sharp’s Japanese production arm to make sure that it can meet the growing demand for the smartphone and tablets that they produce.

This news seems to suggest that the iPad will be getting a full release before mid 2012.

Display resolution to quadruple:

Currently the iPad offers a pretty reasonable but not genre beating 1024×768 display. This is likely to be increased to a much more impressive 2048×1536, which as it stands would mean that the iPad would reign as the highest resolution tablet on the market.

At this level of resolution, a 9.7 inch iPad display would deliver 264ppi, whereas current 10.1 inch displays on Android offer in the region of 150ppi, tablets would still not offer the same level of detail as smartphones, which currently offer anything up to and over 300ppi.

iPad still tablet leader:

With Apple recently proclaiming that they are not worried about the various new rival tablet contenders to hit the market. It is perhaps the fragmentation of the non Apple based tablet variety that really makes people want to stick with a stable company with a great operating system, and plenty of apps to make the experience your own.

With plenty of thanks to those techy uber geeks over at the XDA-developers forum, we give you the low down on how to get your very own Android marketplace on that brand new Amazon Kindle Fire you just bought!

Amazon Kindle Fire Android Tab With No Android Marketplace Access:

OK, we can see why this could be considered confusing. You bought your new Amazon Kindle Fire after researching for a short period of time and after unboxing and playing with your new toy for a while you went to buy some apps from the Android marketplace, and at this point you realised it was not quite the tablet you had in mind.

You really wanted to gain access to the Android market you use on your Android based phone for apps but realised that when it said the Amazon Kindle Fire was an Android based tablet, you perhaps missed the point that it was only “based” and did not run quite like the Android tablets you are used to seeing.

You see on the Kindle Fire the app marketplace is within Amazon’s own eco-system, not Google’s. Now come on, think…why would a savvy retailer offer you such a great deal?

Because they want to get you by the sort and curlies once you decide you want some more content/apps/videos etc etc, and keeping you tied into their own marketplace ensures that process and monetization is a long standing relationship…bit of a quid pro quo really as the entry fee to this technology is so reasonable.

Well fear not!

Thanks as mentioned to the guys and girls (though I sense mainly guys) over at the XDA forum. Here is the process to gaining root access to your new device and then installing the Android Marketplace.

Warning – Not that easy – But hardly rocket science:

Be warned, any changes/alterations you make to your Amazon Kindle Fire will likely result in your warranty being affected and your device not working as expected.

[arrowlist]

• Step 1: Download the GoogleServicesFramework.apk. This is to allow your rooted Kindle Fire to access Google Services. Best way to do this would be to download the whole Google Apps .apk package here. Then extract the GoogleServicesFramework.apk file from the GApps.rar folder archive using a free archive tool such as WinRAR.
• Step 2: Now download the Vending.apk file (version 3.3.11 is latest) this is essentially the Android Market application.
• Step 3: File management application needed: This is to modify read and write permissions on the routed android device, get this package here.
• Step 4: Using a Micro-USB cable transfer the .apk files to the Kindle Fire. Download and install the File Expert app, giving this application “superuser” permissions by simply opening the application and tapping the menu key, looking for the settings menu and opening File Explorer settings and then enabling the Root Explorer option, this will allow you to modify the app’s read and write permissions and thus allow and Android Market app to download and install the Android market applications on to your Amazon Kindle Fire.
• Step 5: With the FileExpert app open, select the GoogleserviceFramework.apk file, and tap to install. After this has completed go back to the Vending.apk pressing and holding this to open the file menu. Select the cut option, and after this navigate to the application folder inside your System folder. Tap the Menu key, open the Mount menu, and mount the App folder as Read-Write. Finally, tap the Menu key again and press Paste to copy the Vending.apk file into the App folder.
• Step 6: Now that you’ve moved Vending.apk into the App folder, tap and hold it to bring up the file-options menu, and select the Permissions option. Change it to match the permissions of the other apps in this folder, which should be: Owner – Read/Write, Group – Read, Others – Read. Once you’re done, tap Vending.apk and install it.
• Step 7: Reboot your Kindle Fire. You do this to ensure you can actually see the Android Marketplace launcher in the carousel, so you’ll need to download and install a custom launcher such as GO Launcher EX. Another way you can achieve this is to download and install the MarketOpener.apk, a custom .apk file provided and written by XDA Developers forum member munday. This will put a shortcut to the Android Market in your Kindle Fire launcher.
• Step 8: So, After logging in to your new Amazon Marketplace account using your Gmail address welcome to your new app store. I hope that this was not too difficult and would ask you to consult the people mentioned and credited right at the top of this page and throughout if you run into difficulty.
• Step 9: Crashes: It does appear that rebooting your Kindle Fire should stop issues when the device freezes which I am hearing is a common theme after this process has been done, but only when accessing the Amazon Marketplace and downloading apps (which is also apparently quite slow at times)

[/arrowlist]

We hope you enjoy your new Amazon Kindle and its new found access to another marketplace. Please do let us know how you find running the device using this method, though we can not personally help you out technically. Thanks again to the guys at XDA-Fourms for all the hard work.