Samsung galaxy tab

Android dominated smart devices in Q1, says Canalys

Android dominated the global smart mobile device market in the first quarter, according to a new report from Canalys.

That market -- which combines smartphones, tablets, and notebooks -- hit 308.7 million units in the first quarter, representing year-on-year growth of 37.4 percent, according to Canalys, which released the report on Thursday.

By operating system market share, Android was on top with 59.5 percent of all smart mobile devices shipped. Apple was second with a 19.3 percent share, while had Microsoft had an 18.1 percent share.

Global tablet shipments grew 106.1 percent year-on-year to … Read more

Samsung plans a hard-core Galaxy S4, says report

Samsung wants you to be able to take a Galaxy device with you wherever you may roam... or swim, or sandboard.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Korean monolith plans to release a variant of the much anticipated Galaxy S4 Android smartphone dubbed the Galaxy S4 Active that will be waterproof and dust proof but still have the same look and feel as the flagship S4.

The report, which cites an anonymous source, also says Samsung plans a new 8-inch Galaxy tablet and a smaller, 4.3-inch version of the Galaxy S4.

All this, while unconfirmed, seems in … Read more

Microsoft's tablet blip versus Android's boom

As Android tablet shipments surge, probably the best thing that can be said about Microsoft is that it's not going away.

Android tablet shipments totaled about 30 million in the fourth quarter, IDC reported today. And that number (total market) jumps to 50 million if you throw in Apple's iPad.

"There is no question that Microsoft is in this tablet race to compete for the long haul," an IDC analyst said today in a statement, trying to put Microsoft's tablet debut into perspective.

In fact, that's probably about as positive a statement that can … Read more

Samsung releases red Galaxy 2 7.0 tablet

For a limited time Samsung will be selling the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 in "garnet red." The tablet is priced at $220 and comes with a matching case in the same deep red at no additional cost.

The 7-inch tablet houses a dual-core CPU and will ship with Android 4.1. The tablet has a built-in microSD slot, Bluetooth 3.0, integrated IR for home theater control, and a USB 2.0 port.

Late last year Samsung introduced new colors to invigorate its lineup of products, including the garnet red the Galaxy 2 7.0 will sport. … Read more

Election, iPhone 5 top Yahoo's list of 2012's popular searches

The iPhone 5 couldn't quite edge out the election to be No. 1 on Yahoo's list of most-searched terms for 2012. But it came pretty close.

Yahoo today released its data for the most-searched terms in 2012. The lists include information on "obsessions" (viral sensations), memes, gadgets, Olympians, sports teams, songs/music lyrics, TV comedies, "what is" searches, how-to searches, recipes, and several others.

At the top of the list of terms most searched overall, unsurprisingly, was "election," followed by iPhone 5. Rounding out the top five were Kim Kardashian, Kate Upton, … Read more

Microsoft Surface edges out Samsung in display tests

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet topped Samsung's Galaxy tablet in a "shoot-out" done by display testing firm DisplayMate Technologies.

The Surface RT's display outperformed all of the standard resolution full size 10-inch tablets that DisplayMate has tested to date in its Shoot-Out series, Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, said in a research note today.

"On-screen text is significantly sharper, it has a better factory display calibration, and also significantly lower screen reflectance than the iPad 2 and all full size 1,280x800 Android tablets," Soneira said in a statement.

For example, it bested … Read more

Android gains in tablets, Apple slows in third quarter, IDC says

Apple's tablet market share took a hit as consumers "sat out" the third quarter in anticipation of the iPad Mini, analyst firm IDC said. Android tablets made gains as a result.

After a strong second quarter, Apple's unit shipment growth slowed in both consumer and commercial (including education) markets, according to an IDC report published Monday.

"We believe a sizeable percentage of consumers interested in buying an Apple tablet sat out the third quarter in anticipation of an announcement about the new iPad Mini," said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli in a statement.

Apple's … Read more

For some tablets, iPad Mini is a big threat in a little package

Apple's introduction of the iPad Mini this week generated two lines of thinking about competition in the tablet space.

The first, articulated by some analysts, holds that lower-cost tablets have nothing to worry about. Reuters collected their comments in an article giving shape to their general lack of concern. The reason? The entry-level Mini's $329 price, enough to give it distance from cheaper tablets on the market. A note from Nomura Equity Research indicated that "demand for Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire is unlikely to be much affected by the launch of the … Read more

Google's Nexus 7 is inching its way into Web-traffic stats

In the first three months since it was introduced, Google's Nexus 7 tablet has begun making a dent in web traffic, according to new data.

Compared to the iPad, which accounted for 91 percent of all tablet traffic in the latest Chitika tablet market share report, the Nexus 7 is just a blip. But Google has to start somewhere, and so it may be heartened to see that the tablet's share of traffic jumped 135 percent from July.

Of course, it was basically starting from zero, and still represents only 0.33 percent of Web traffic. The heaviest … Read more

Sprint to sell LG Optimus G, LG Mach, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1

Sprint Nextel expanded its lineup of 4G LTE devices, nabbing the LG Optimus G quad-core smartphone, the LG Mach QWERTY slider, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet, and a 4G USB stick.

Apart from the previously announced LG Optimus G, Sprint announced the new devices at the MobileCon wireless trade show today. No pricing or availability information was available.

The brand-new LG Mach features a full QWERTY keyboard and is expected to be a more affordable device. The smartphone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, has a 5-megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera, and is … Read more