Nexus 7 shipments projected to reach 5 million by the end of 2012

Shipments of Google's Nexus 7 tablet could reach five million by the year's end, according to component suppliers.

Shipments of the Nexus 7 tablet for 2012 could be higher than the Google had originally expected – in fact, it may even double Google’s initial predictions.

At the end of this year’s second quarter, the search engine giant expected to ship 2.5 million Nexus 7 units for 2012 in total. Now, however, Taiwan players in Google’s supply chain are saying that the shipment volume could reach 5 million units based on the number of orders released, according to DigiTimes.

Shipments typically peak around October or November to meet end-of-the-year demand, but sources have told DigiTimes that Nexus 7 shipments are expected to stay strong throughout November and December. To be exact, these unnamed sources in Google’s Taiwanese supply chain expect Nexus 7 shipments to remain in the range of seven hundred thousand and one million units throughout these two months.

Following the success of its 16GB Nexus 7 ($200) and its 32GB Nexus 7 ($250), Google released another version of its seven-inch tablet just one week ago. On Nov. 13, alongside its brand new Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 devices, Google announced that a 3G-enabled edition of its 32GB Nexus 7 will be available for $300. AT&T has already sold out of this new Nexus 7 model following its launch, though no sales numbers were revealed.

The 7-inch slate has been gaining momentum since it was released back in July. Google has been relatively tight-lipped about the tablet’s sales, but its hardware partner ASUS spilled some sales secrets to the Wall Street Journal at the end of October. The Nexus 7 is reportedly coming close to selling one million units per month, which is just about double the rate of its sales at launch.

However, while Google may be seeing unexpected growth in the sales of its Nexus 7, the tablet will be facing impeding competition this holiday season. Apple’s iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad, which launched last month, reached three million in sales in their first few days of availability. While Google is projected to hit five million, Apple tablets have likely already surpassed this.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Surface issues? Splitting Touch Covers and audio glitches reported

While at this stage the problems aren't being reported in any great number, Microsoft are bound to be concerned about reports of a number of issues regarding its new Surface tablet its accompanying Touch Cover keyboard.

With any new gadget or device you buy, you expect that over time it’ll begin showing up marks and nicks. But when things start to look a bit shoddy after just a couple of weeks – usually a time when you’re still carrying it around like you would a newborn baby – then of course it’s cause for concern, as much as for the manufacturer as for the owner.

So no doubt Microsoft will be studying with interest a number of comments that have started to appear on a Surface forum in recent days regarding its Touch Cover accessory, the new ultra-thin keyboard/cover which can be used with the company’s recently launched Surface tablet.

Accounts of the edge of the cover “peeling” and “ruffling up” along the magnetic edge where the Touch Cover connects with the tablet have been reported in the forum, while a piece in The Verge claims that a split in the same place exposes a wire.

Currently, there are only a few Touch Cover owners in the forum remarking on the issue, but if it turns out the keyboard/cover has a design fault, it could become more of a problem for the Redmond-based computer giant in the coming weeks.

Commenting on the issue in a statement issued on Friday, a company spokesperson said, “Microsoft makes every effort to ensure our customers receive a high quality product. We are in active contact with our customer support operations and are aware of a small number of instances of material separation.”

Meanwhile, The Next Web has reported a number of Surface owners experiencing “random mute events” where the audio switches off for no apparent reason. According to PocketNow, the culprit may be the Touch/Type Cover keyboards, which are “misreporting a press of their ‘mute’ keys.”

While this is certainly no ‘Antennagate‘ moment for Microsoft (for a start, the problem is with an accessory and not the main device), the company will doubtless be examining these early reports carefully in an effort to ascertain what action, if any, needs to be taken to eradicate future instances of these problems occurring.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Cellular versions of the iPad Mini could start to ship next week

Although Apple hasn't provided an exact, single date on when the iPad Mini Wi-Fi + Cellular model will ship, buyers who have pre-ordered the tablet are seeing their accounts updated with various shipping dates, some as soon as five days time.

Ever since the iPad Mini was announced, there was a question mark over when the model with 3G/4G LTE connectivity would appear. Apple’s press release stated the cellular models would ship “a couple of weeks” after the Wi-Fi only Mini, putting the date somewhere around the middle of November.

It looks like Apple will keep its promise too, as reports are coming in that customers who pre-ordered the cellular Mini tablet have started to receive notices that it’ll ship “in the next five business days.” That could be on or slightly before November 16, two weeks after the iPad Mini went on sale.

This won’t be the same for everyone, of course, and Apple has already flip-flopped on iPad Mini LTE release dates once, with some buyers finding a November 21 and November 23 shipping date added to their account soon after launch, but this was quickly replaced with “mid-November” instead. Subsequently, these dates have been re-applied to some accounts.

So, if you’ve ordered an iPad Mini LTE, there’s a chance it will arrive sometime between November 16 and November 23, depending on when you placed your order, and your chosen delivery method.

Apple has been experiencing some delays with getting the iPad Mini into its customer’s hands, with the Wi-Fi-only tablet selling out as an online pre-order, and then again when it hit retail stores last weekend. Despite this, Apple shifted three million iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad tablets over those three days.

While still a considerable amount of iPad tablets sold, this was a little lower than some analysts hoped for, and this could have been due to the cellular model not being available on launch day. An analyst for Merrill Lynch called the 4G LTE iPad Mini “more important than people think,” reminding us that the cellular versions of the full-size iPad make up 45-percent of sales.

If you’ve pre-ordered an iPad Mini, has its delivery date been updated yet?

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Tablet survey: Apple products top holiday wish lists

Hoping to find an Apple tablet in your Christmas stocking? According to the results of a new survey, you're not alone.

For the second year running, a survey by online shopping site PriceGrabber shows Apple products at the top of consumer wish lists this holiday season.

A refreshed iPad (in fact, you could call it double-refreshed) since last Christmas, together with the introduction of the smaller 7.9-inch iPad Mini, have evidently enabled the Cupertino company to maintain strong consumer interest, with 63 percent of respondents hoping to receive a tablet this holiday season wishing for an iPad 3 or 4. Twenty-four percent said they’d like to receive an iPad Mini.

It was neither a Kindle Fire nor the Nexus 7 that placed third, with 22 percent saying they’d like to receive Samsung’s latest 5.5-inch Galaxy Note device instead. Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD was the preferred choice for 20 percent of respondents, while 13 percent went for the Surface.

PriceGrabber’s survey, which allowed respondents to select as many tablets as they liked, involved 1,475 US-based online shoppers interviewed between October 24 and November 1, 2012.

Of course, the tablet market has changed greatly in the last 12 months, with big hitters like Amazon introducing its new range of Kindle Fire tablets. Google also entered the tablet arena this year with its Asus-made Android-powered Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices. The Nexus 10 doesn’t appear in the survey results, presumably because it was announced at the tail end of the period during which the research was conducted.

Lower-priced category

In the lower-priced tablet category – a category that’s expected to generate a lot of revenue for tech companies this holiday season – PriceGrabber asked consumers not which tablet they’d like to receive but instead which one they’re most likely to buy as a gift.

The iPad Mini was chosen by 45 percent of consumers, while 27 percent went for the Kindle Fire HD. The Nexus 7 and non-HD Kindle Fire tablet tied for third spot, each receiving 19 percent. Six percent selected one of Barnes & Noble’s tablet offerings.

PriceGrabber’s Rojeh Avanesian commented on the results in a release, saying, “Tablets continue to grow in popularity as a top holiday gift, especially with the emergence of lower priced tablets in the $200 to $300 price range targeting budget-conscience consumers.”

Does it surprise you to see the Galaxy Note in third spot among consumer preferences – placing higher than the Fire HD and Nexus 7 – or, considering its feature set and portability, does it make perfect sense? 

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Microsoft reportedly building 7-inch Xbox Surface tablet

According to reports, Microsoft is moving forward with an Xbox Surface tablet. The 7-inch device will place a firm focus on gaming with a custom-built processor and modified version Windows OS. We're likely to see the tablet before we see an actual new Xbox.

According to a report from The Verge, Microsoft is entering into the hardware business with a 7-inch gaming tablet. We’ve known for a while that Microsoft has had interest in building hardware for devices running its new Windows 8 operating system, but this tablet project appears to be an entirely new beast — though it’s been rumored since June.

The sources used in the report states the 7-inch gaming focused tablet would run on a modified version of Windows, similar to the Windows RT tablets, and would include “a custom ARM processor and high-bandwidth RAM.” While gaming will be the focus of this device, it may not be its explicit purpose as some other tablet functionality may remain in place. 

It’s interesting to note the Xbox 720 is rumored to be built on Windows, likely a custom kernel of the operating system. This is the same way the Xbox Surface tablet is said to operate. The report from the Verge also made mention of the fact that the Xbox Surface tablet is being developed in Microsoft’s Silicon Valley offices and the company recently locked down Xbox-related buildings on its campus. This news means we could see an Xbox tablet before we see a new console from Microsoft.

Microsoft has yet to comment on the speculation, but all signs are pointing to an Xbox Surface offering from the Redmond based company. After some rough reviews on the first Surface, it makes sense that Microsoft might go back into its stable and come out with another offering branded with its powerhouse product. The Xbox brand is only eleven years old but is one of the most notable names in gaming. The mobile market has proven itself as a true embracer of games and entertainment, so slapping a well-recognized name in those fields onto a tablet seems like a no-brainer for marketing. If the Xbox 720 is truly being built on Windows and Microsoft is working on some sort of OS integration between its tablet and its gaming system, the Xbox Surface may become a must-have accessory for console gamers who remain loyal to Microsoft.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Apple iPad mini stops by our office, poses for a hands-on video

With the announcement of the iPad mini, Apple will give the already handsomely growing 7-inch tablet market an extra boost. Now that the 7.85-inch slate in our hands, it’s time to take it for a quick spin and see what its deal is.

Some might say out that due to the price there isn’t any deal to be had here. Yet the really beautiful aluminum body of the iPad mini quickly makes you forget about that. The 7.85-inch LCD IPS display at the front packs a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels resulting in a pixel density of 162ppi. It’s a rather modest achievement and will have the Nexus 7 grin, but the vast catalog of tablet-optimized apps that the App Store offers might make you forgive that too.

You won’t be wrong if you view the iPad mini as an enlarged iPhone 5 (or iPod Touch if you will), mainly because of the design of the slate. The big Apple logo at the back is surrounded of aluminum, with the usual array of buttons at their usual places for an iPad.

At the back, the iPad mini sports a 5MP camera, which shoots video at full HD resolution. There’s also a 1.2MP unit at the front for video chatting.

The internals of the iPad mini are well familiar as this is the same chipset powering the iPad 2. Just like its bigger brother, the mini packs Apple’s A5 chip, featuring two Cortex-A9 processor cores. Graphics processing is taken care of the PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU.

Naturally, the iPad mini is running iOS 6 out of the box and comes with Siri to help you with your daily endeavors. As usual, we’ve prepared a quick unboxing and user interface video of the new iPad mini. Check it out below.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Samsung sells 3 million Galaxy Note 2 devices while it waits for the competition to catch up,

Samsung has announced that it has sold 3 million Galaxy Note 2 tablet/smartphone hybrid devices, despite it only have been on sale since September. That's a lot of sales for a niche product, so where is its competition?

Samsung must be looking at the latest sales figures for the Galaxy Note 2, which it has just made public, shaking its head and then having a good laugh. It has released a device nobody thought they wanted and critics instantly took against, then went on to sell millions of them. So why is it laughing? Because there still isn’t any competition.

The Galaxy Note 2 went on sale during September in Korea, reached the UK on October 1, and has steadily made its way to the US and other regions around the world since. According to Samsung, in 37 days it has racked up more than 3 million sales.

The original Galaxy Note arrived in September 2011, but didn’t reach 1 million sales until the end of December, so the Note 2‘s performance is impressive going, particularly when you take into account the Note 2 is still a niche device.

But is it so niche that it doesn’t need some competition? Who does Samsung think it is? Apple? Has it really produced an initially derided product that in reality, just caught other manufacturers napping?

Rumors and half-releases

It seems so, as viable alternatives to the Note 2 are few and far between, despite the product line having been on sale for more than a year. There’s the LG Optimus Vu, or the LG Intuition if you buy it from Verizon; but in its infinite wisdom, LG hasn’t bothered to give it a wide release, so its sales are unlikely to impress.

HTC’s bizarrely named J Butterfly phone has a 5-inch, 1080p screen, but it’s only available in Japan, while Panasonic has picked up its 5-inch Eluga Power and taken it home, after it failed to gain any traction in the European market. At least these have seen a release, as phones such as the LG Optimus Vu II, the Oppo Find 5, Lenovo’s S880 and the Thomson X-View 2 are all seemingly in some kind of release date limbo.

Huawei and ZTE have woken up and started talking about their own tablet/smartphone hybrid machines. For Huawei, it will be the Ascend D2 and the rumor is it will be equipped with a quad-core chip and a 720p 5-inch display. ZTE’s Nubia Z5 will have the same specification, but will add a 13-megapixel camera too. Neither are confirmed though, and both are likely to do the rounds in China before possibly going international sometime next year.

There are also a few other rumored devices with 5-inch-plus sized screens coming soon. HTC may adapt the J Butterfly for international release — possibly to be named the Droid DNA and launched on the Verizon network — while the Sony C650X, codename Odin, may arrive next year too, along with a 6-inch screen version codename Yuga. Both of these and the Droid DNA are said to have 5-inch, 1080p screens.

All this gives the Galaxy Note 2 an almost entirely open playing field until well into 2013. How many Note 2 handsets will it have gone on to sell before a true alternative finally goes on sale?

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Archos 80 Cobalt is an 8-inch, Android 4.0 tablet

Archos has announced their upcoming Android tablet on their Facebook page. Called the Archos 80 Cobalt, the tablet has an 8-inch, 1024 x 768 resolution display and runs on Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Inside, the Archos 80 Cobalt runs on an unspecified SoC with a dual-core 1.6GHz CPU and a quad-core GPU with 1GB of RAM. There is 8GB of internal storage space with microSD card slot. There is a 2 megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front.

No pricing and availability information has been released so far.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Amazon attacks Apple on its homepage, compares the Kindle Fire HD to the iPad Mini

The 7-inch tablet wars just got serious. After the Nexus 7 got compared (in what I think were less than key areas) to the iPad Mini at the Apple’s event last week, now Amazon has flexed its muscle, pitting its Kindle Fire HD against the iPad Mini on its very homepage.

The online retailer has put up a big ad right on its homepage saying “Much more for much less” and made a comparison of its own 7-inch Kindle Fire HD against the iPad Mini, highlighting the display resolution, pixels per inch and most importantly – the price.

Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos looks eager not to allow Apple to steal its thunder right before the holiday Christmas season and, as demonstrated above, is prepared to do what it takes. Samsung did a similar trick with its Tab series of tablets once highlighting how its products compare to to the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s tablets, and later against the iPad 3

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

How Microsoft’s Surface just might kill the iPad

With real productivity apps, a clever keyboard cover and a well-engineered design, the Surface tablet stands a real chance of cutting into iPad sales… if Microsoft will throw enough money at the marketing.

All these “killer this” and “killer that” comparisons get out of control. Every new challenger is hyped as the killer of what came before. But sometimes, it’s true. The iPad really turned out to be a PC killer; folks bought iPads instead of buying new PCs, and that market took a pretty big hit. Apple pulled this off by building something that changed the rules for a PC, and we saw it differently.

Where the PC was about performance, the iPad was about portability. Where the PC was about mice and keyboards, the iPad opted for touch, and where the PC was generally about productivity, the iPad was about entertainment.

But it forced a hard choice that most of us didn’t really want to make: tablet or laptop? This was because the iPad was really a netbook that swapped the keyboard and mouse for a touchscreen, and the iPad’s shortcomings made it a very difficult product to live on exclusively. Most iPad buyers had to keep their PCs or buy MacBooks, and that took what was already an expensive solution and increased it.

With the Surface, Microsoft is trying to reverse the deck and do to Apple what Apple did to it.

Productivity

The Surface comes with Microsoft Office, the unchallenged, dominant desktop productivity product in the market. In fact, the ARM-based Surface actually bundles in Office, so you get productivity capability out of the box, putting it ahead of most PCs. But let’s not stop there, because unlike Apple, Microsoft isn’t being as restrictive of apps that fall into their turf. For instance, the apps can share data, so you can be looking up restaurants on one screen, and then simply click to bring up navigation, or some other app that can use the information from that initial screen. Microsoft also designed in a high degree of accuracy, so you can use a stylus, a tool typically preferred over a finger for creating art or editing pictures. These aren’t netbooks with touchscreens instead of keyboards, they are full PCs. That generally means you should be able to leave the laptop at home or in the office more often.

Designed from the inside out

Apple designs from the outside in. While this does result in beautiful products, it also results in painful problems like Antennagate, or cost problems, which may explain why the iPad mini is priced a whopping 60 percent above the rest of the market. This is also why the first iPhone, when it was presented, was pretty much a pretty brick that took months to get working. When car companies take this approach, you get rolling art that costs a fortune to maintain and isn’t very reliable.

Microsoft made big point of designing from the inside out. Engineers got the product properly equipped, adequately reinforced, and balanced before designers wrapped the result in a pretty case. The end result is a tablet with a screen optimized for movies and video, a balance that makes it feel lighter than it is, and a full set of features. (It’s missing a 4G radio, but because only about 10 percent of tablets have WAN radios turned on.) Microsoft even put in a fast-charge battery, so you can go from dead to near full charge in around two hours. Oh, and another in-your-face move is that while Apple uses magnetic plugs to charge for their laptops (which uniquely saves the laptop if you trip over the cord), it doesn’t appear on the iPad. The Surface does have this magnetic design. When Apple and Microsoft signed the last cross licensing agreement, Microsoft agreed not to copy the iPad. Instead, it ripped a part off the MacBook to improve its own tablet. Now that really is getting in Apple’s face.

The necessity of a keyboard

A few years back, before the iPad, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were on stage, and Bill said something to the effect that tablets were the future for mobile PCs. Steve pretty much said that only idiots would buy a tablet, because a keyboard was simply too irreplaceable.

Now, both the iPad and Surface tablets have optional magnetic covers, but only Microsoft’s comes with a built-in keyboard. This makes it look like the Surface Tablet is a better presentation of Jobs’ vision than the iPad, and that is about as “in your face” as we can get.

I think it would be fun to run the clip of Steve Jobs calling tablets without keyboards stupid right after a clip of Tim Cook talking about tablets with keyboards as the ugly result of refrigerators and toasters mating, and then follow it with the number of iPad keyboards sold (the market for this has turned out to be impressively large).

Marketing is key

After seeing the cringe-worthy Olympics ads that Apple did, I’m convinced that a lot of talented people left the company after Steve Jobs passed. This gives Microsoft the potential to out-market Apple this round. Kathleen Hall’s advertising team at Microsoft is considered one of the best in the business, but Microsoft traditionally underfunds advertising. If it does that here, this potential Apple killer will follow the Zune into the dustbin of history. The initial TV ads are good, but they’ll need Apple-like seeding and sustained marketing programs (read: loads of cash) to assure this “killer” product reaches its potential. If it opens its wallet wide enough for that, Microsoft may do to Apple what Apple did to it with the iPod, iPhone and iPad, and find that revenge can be oh so sweet.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

As Surface hits stores in China, Ballmer talks it up while Apple boss calls it ‘compromised, confusing’

Microsoft's new Surface tablet launches on Friday. Ballmer's been singing its praises in various interviews, while Apple boss Tim Cook has been doing what he can to dampen any excitement.

Thanks to the earth’s rotation and the sun’s rays and the time zones and the International Date Line and the general way in which the universe has organized itself, it’s consumers in China who will be among the first to get their hands on Microsoft’s new Surface tablet.

The brand new device, which marks Microsoft’s entry into an already crowded market, launches Friday, along with the Redmond-based company’s new Windows 8 operating system.

Ballmer

In an interview with the BBC this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer described the new product launches as an “epic” moment for the company. “It’s right up there in the top two or three big moments, including Windows 95 and the launch of the IBM PC, and it really starts us on this new era of computing,” Ballmer said.

Asked about the Surface, Ballmer gave a perfectly worded answer that sounded like a voiceover for an ad, describing it as “the one device you need for work and for play, that you can just take with you; you can really do what you need to do for school or for your job, you can really enjoy movies, books, entertainment, reading, games, all in one thin, light package – there’ll be nothing like the Surface with Windows 8.”

China

Consumers in China will be among the first to discover if Ballmer’s words are baseless baloney or bang on the money, with many in the country about to tear the packaging off the new tablet in the next few hours.

IDG News reported “hundreds of buyers” lined up outside one particular Beijing electronics store overnight,

One guy waiting in line, Chen Shi, reiterated Ballmer’s comment that the device is for work as well as play. “The tablet supports more software features for office work, things that you would actually use,” he told IDG. “Basically, Microsoft is reinventing the tablet, because now people are used to using their tablets as toys, and only use them to play games. These tablets lack features to do work for the office.”

Cook

Of course, Microsoft is late to the game when it comes to tablets, with Apple’s iPad dominating the market since launch day in 2010, and other big-hitters such as Amazon and Google already in the business. Apple CEO Tim Cook wasted little time in throwing in a few choice comments about Microsoft’s new arrival, telling analysts during an earnings call Thursday that though he hadn’t yet had a chance to use it, he was getting the impression from reviews that Microsoft’s new tablet “is a fairly compromised, confusing product.” But he would say that, wouldn’t he.

It’s the opinions of ordinary consumers that really matter, and these will soon begin filling forums across the Web. Only then will we have a better idea if the Surface is going to sink or swim. Or simply be used as a skateboard.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Microsoft’s Surface Tablet ‘Confusing’ and ‘Compromised’

Image credit: Apple / Microsoft

The Apple vs. Microsoft post-PC war is just getting started.

Microsoft has argued why its new software and Surface tablet are better than the iPad, but Apple’s not staying quiet.

“I haven’t played with a Surface yet, but what we are reading about it is that it is a compromised and confusing product,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on the company’s earnings call late this afternoon, which took place just hours after Microsoft’s Windows 8 launch event. “One of the toughest things you do is make hard tradeoffs and decide what a product should be, and we’ve done that with the iPad.”

Cook didn’t stop there.

“You could design a car that flies and floats, but I don’t think it would do all those things very well,” he said. “I think when people look at the iPad versus competitive offerings, they will continue to want an iPad.”

Apple and Microsoft are taking different routes when it comes to tablet software. While Apple offers its iOS mobile software on its family of iPads, Microsoft has decided to revamp Windows by bringing in elements from its smartphone operating system. Previously, Cook had compared what Microsoft was doing to combining a refrigerator and a microwave.

Microsoft, on the other hand, claims Windows 8 doesn’t have any of the compromises that the iPad has.

“We have a different perspective, a different reason why we would want to make a tablet computer and that is really rooted in PCs being a general-purpose device that works within a broad ecosystem, that connects to a lot of peripherals, and represents an open platform,” Steve Sinofsky, head of the Windows division, told ABC News in an interview.

Apple announced the iPad Mini earlier this week.

On the Apple earnings call, Cook defended the $329 starting price, which is higher than the $199 Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7.

“We try to create a product that people will love for months and years after they’ve purchased it. That’s what iPad Mini is designed to do,” Cook said.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer also noted the premium parts in the tablet, including the aluminum build, the faster processor and the iSight camera.

Apple announced that it sold 14 million iPads in the fourth quarter.

Find a full recap of the earnings here.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Behold! The Microsoft Surface skateboard

During its Surface press conference today, Microsoft showed off the most capable tablet ever made. The new Surface is actually a skateboard.

Today, Microsoft unveiled one of the most expensive skateboards ever made. After demonstrating the durability of the Surface tablet by dropping it on stage (onto carpeted floor, might we add), Microsoft’s Panos Panay showed us another way he and Windows 8 chief Steven Sinofsky have been testing the durability of the new magnesium-encased tablet. The team pasted skateboard trucks onto a regular Surface and converted it into a skateboard. A skateboard! Though they didn’t do any kickflips or ollies on stage, we did see a picture of Sinofsky sporting a massive helmet standing on the homemade sports equipment. For some reason, it didn’t seem too crazy that tablets can become laptops, and since laptops have learned Yoga, why can’t a Surface become a deck?

No, you can’t buy a Surface skateboard, but we wish you could. It could be one hell of an optional accessory. Maybe the trucks could attach with industrial grade magnets like the TouchCover. And you don’t have to worry about falling after a tough grind either. The Surface can hit the ground in 72 different ways without breaking, or so we learned today. Actually, after three hours of Microsoft press conferences, this might have been the only thing we actually learned. But… skateboard! That’s hip, right?

Somebody should call Tony Hawk. He may have found the next great way to make a skateboarding game.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Apple iPad mini enters the compact tablet battleground, faces the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD

Apple just announced their 7.9-inch iPad mini and is now officially ready to enter the fight in the ultra portable tablet market.

iOS is the dominant platform in the large tablet class, but it’s a newbie in the compact segment. So does the Apple iPad mini have what it takes to successfully challenge the already established competition from Google (ASUS) with its Nexus 7 and Amazon with its 7-inch Kindle Fire HD.

We’ve prepared a quick comparison table for you, showing how the iPad mini stacks up against the competition.

	Apple iPad Mini	Kindle Fire HD	Nexus 7
OS	Apple iOS 6	Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Display	7.85-inch IPS LCD	7.0-inch IPS LCD	7.0-inch IPS LCD
Resolution	1024 x 768 (163 ppi)	1280 x 800 (216 ppi)	1280 x 800 (216 ppi)
Height Width Thickness	200 mm 134.7 mm 7.2 mm	193 mm 137 mm 10.3 mm	198.5 mm 120 mm 10.45 mm
Weight	308 grams	395 grams	340 grams
Processor	1GHz dual-core processor A5	1.2GHz dual-core processor TI OMAP4460	1.3GHz quad-core processor NVIDIA Tegra 3
GPU	PowerVR SGX543MP2	PowerVR SGX540	GeForce ULP
RAM	512 MB	1GB	1GB
Storage	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	16GB / 32GB	8GB / 16GB
microSD card slot	No	No	No
Primary camera	5 MP, 2592×1944 pixels, autofocus, 1080p video recording	No	No
Front camera	1.2MP Camera	“HD” Camera	1.2MP
Battery Life	10 Hours	11 Hours	10 Hours
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, dual-antenna	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, dual-antenna	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes	Yes
Network	2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G Network HSDPA 4G Network LTE	No	No
NFC	No	No	Yes
Speakers	Mono	Stereo, with Dolby Audio	Mono
Availability	November 2, 2012	Currently available	Currently available
Price	$329 / $429 / $529	$199 / $249	$199 / $249

It’s way to early to be drawing any conclusions, but at first glance it seems that Apple isn’t really understanding what the compact tablet class is about. The way we see it – it’s about getting nicely performing and compact tablets at bargain prices.

Of course, no one was expecting Apple to pack their top-of-the-line A6 chip in the iPad Mini and start selling it for $199. But both the display and the pricing are disappointing. We were hoping to see a higher-res display or at least a more up-to-date CPU that could be relevantly put against the Nexus 7′s and the Kindle Fire HD’s.

Instead, the company that introduced Retina displays announced a 7.9-inch tablet featuring a display with just 162 ppi pixel density for the premium price (for the segment) of $329 (16GB).

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

As iPad Mini launch looms, Amazon says $199 Kindle Fire HD is the biggest-selling product on its site

Of all of Amazon's tablet and e-reader products, the $199 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is the most popular, the e-commerce giant announced on Monday. The news came the day before Apple is expected to enter the mini-tablet market with the launch of a smaller version of its popular iPad device.

The day before tech titan Apple is expected to unveil a smaller version of its iPad tablet, Amazon has piped up to remind everyone that it also has some mini-sized tablets on the market, with the announcement that its $199 Kindle Fire HD device has become the biggest-selling product on its website worldwide. That’s not bad going for a product which – outside of the US – is only currently available in five countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Even then, in these locations it can only be pre-ordered, with its release date listed as October 25.

Of course, it would be wonderful to know exactly how many of the 7-inch tablets have been snapped up (or pre-ordered) by consumers since its launch in September, but true to form, the company hasn’t released specific sales figures. Instead we’ll have to make do with what a spokeswoman for the e-commerce giant told Reuters – that its best-seller status is based on unit sales, as opposed to revenue or some convoluted percentage-based calculation.

That puts it ahead of the cheaper $159 Fire and pricier 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD devices. It also means it’s selling in greater numbers than its family of Kindle e-readers, including the recently launched Paperwhite device. Incidentally, it was reported earlier on Monday that Amazon has quietly retired its Touch e-reader, with a message on the Touch’s old landing page directing consumers to the Kindle Paperwhite, described on the page as “a newer model” of the Touch.

But how will Amazon’s tablets shape up against Apple’s expected iPad Mini, a device likely to sport more features, but also a heftier price tag? Or are they targeting two entirely different sets of consumers?

Either way, all eyes are now on the California Theater in San Jose where on Tuesday Apple will (almost certainly) pull the covers off a smaller iPad, entering the mini-tablet market for the first time – a space currently dominated by the likes of Google with its Nexus 7 device and Amazon with its Fire tablets.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Microsoft Stores have stashes of vouchers for the Surface RT tablet

Microsoft is excited to release its tablet line-up along with Windows 8 next week, but it want to make sure it gets the Surface in as many hands as possible. Reports show a voucher program that may be in place to move units on launch day.

The happiest moment of Charlie Bucket’s life was finding the Golden Ticket that allowed him to tour Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Microsoft fans are finding their dream ticket is more of a light blue color. PC World is reporting a post on the WPCentral forums has revealed a voucher that is redeemable for a Surface RT tablet on its launch day, October 26.

There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the actual program that the certificate appears to be a part of, but the directions on the card make its purpose pretty clear. The holder of the voucher is guaranteed a Surface with Windows RT as long as he or she shows up before noon on October 26. Obviously, purchase is still necessary, as the voucher isn’t currency. 

The original poster in the WPCentral forums stated his belief that it is likely early in the voucher-for-tablet program as his particular voucher was stamped with a “002″ at the bottom, signifying it is one of the first his particular retailer had given out. Follow up research has yielded information that supports this idea, as it seems most Microsoft Store employees haven’t even heard of these certificates. They are not a part of a pre-order program and appear as though they weren’t meant for mass consumption — they were meant to be handed out by managers, likely as a way to incentivize launch day purchases.

Sales shouldn’t be a major issue for Microsoft, as it appears on its site that the 32GB model of the Surface with Windows RT without the cover already has a 3 week shipping delay due to demand. Pre-orders are still available for launch day for the 32GB model with a Black Touch cover and 64GB with Black Touch Cover.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

A photo taken with a Samsung Google Nexus 10 tablet shows up on Picasa

A photo uploaded to Picasa confirms the existence of a Google Nexus 10 tablet manufactured by Samsung.

Unfortunately, the photo doesn’t reveal much besides its resolution of 2,560 x 1,920 and the Android build number, which is JVP12C.

Could this be the long rumored high-resolution tablet that analyst Richard Shim was talking about a few weeks ago? We can know for sure, but it’s fairly logical to assume that the tablet gets its beef from the new dual-core Cortex-A15 Exynos chip by Samsung that resides in the just announced Chromebook.

Google’s Android event on October 29 is approaching ever so rapidly, so let’s hope the new tablet gets it announcement then, in addition to the almost certain 32GB Nexus 7.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Acer Iconia Tab A110 arriving in the US and Canada on October 30 for $230

We have reported several times in the past about the 7-inch Acer Iconia Tab A110 Android tablet. We knew that the tablet was going to be priced competitively, somewhere around the $200 mark.

Now Acer has finally announced the pricing and launch date for the US and Canadian market. The Iconia Tab A110 will be launching on October 30 and will be priced at $229.99.

For that price, you get a tablet with a 7-inch, 1,024 x 600 resolution display, NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory with a microSD card slot, front facing camera, HDMI-out, 7.5 hour battery life and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box.

Compared to the Nexus 7, the only advantages the Acer Iconia Tab A110 has are the microSD card slot and the HDMI out but is it worth spending the $30 extra for? Not to mention get a lower resolution display and none of the stock-Android, quick update business you get with the Nexus 7? I don’t think so.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

New Surface ad launches, this time more than just dancing (and clicking)

Microsoft has launched a second ad for its Surface tablet, which launches next week. The new ad highlights some of the device's features and contains no dancing.

The first ad for Microsoft’s new Surface tablet may have been an all-clicking all-dancing affair, but its second has a little more substance. For a start, there’s a voiceover telling us a few things about the device, and look, occasional text appears on the screen too – words like “sleek”, “light”, and “durable”.

Most of the ad’s participants seem to be aged around 20 to 40. There are no kissing senior citizens in the 97-second promo, nor any dancing schoolgirls – both of which featured in the first ad, in case you thought I was just mentioning some odd, random scenarios.

The Redmond-based company is still going big-time with the Touch Cover and and kickstand, two features which it believes help make it stand apart from competing tablets. According to a report yesterday, however, it seems most people pre-ordering the device are going for the lowest-priced $499 Surface, which comes without the Touch Cover.

The new ad takes time to mention some of the features of the new tablet, which launches on October 26, including its HD video-out port, USB 2.0 port and microSD card slot.

“From touch to type, office to living room, from your screen to the big screen, you can see more, share more and do more with Surface,” the voiceover tells us at the close of the ad.

If you thought Microsoft’s first ad for the Surface was a bit light on information (like, there wasn’t any information), you’ll definitely prefer this one.

And if gradually increasing the amount of information while decreasing the amount of fluff is going to be a trend with these Surface ads, perhaps the next one will feature Steve Ballmer in a sparsely furnished room sitting at a desk staring straight down the barrel of the camera explaining in no uncertain terms exactly what’s so darn great about Microsoft’s new tablet. Without that clicking sound.

[Image: Imagemaker / Shutterstock]

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

32GB Microsoft Surface sold out in the US, is still available in other countries

The Surface tablet pre-orders has started a fire in the US and as a result Microsoft has already sold out all its US stock of the base 32GB model (without Touch Cover). If you pre-order this version now it will only be delievered to you in three weeks, while the other two available models are still scheduled to arrive on October 26.

The RT tablet is still available in the rest of the countries where Microsoft started the pre-order yesterday.

If the success of the pre-order is anything to judge by, Microsoft is going to have a pretty successful Surface launch come October 26. However, Microsoft should do its best to bring the device to more countries if it is to mount a serious challenge to the Apple iPad.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com