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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

AT&T to sell Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Android slate on November 9

AT&T today announced that it will soon be offering the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet. Initially announced for the carrier back in late September, we've had to wait until today to learn final pricing and exact availability. That said, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet arrives on Friday with a $499.99 price tag. Subscribers can add the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 to an existing account for as low as $10 per month on a Mobile Share plan.

Like Sprint's forthcoming version of the Samsung device, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.… 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

Sprint to sell its first LTE tablet

If you're a Sprint customer but aren't interested in a new iPad Mini, perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is more your speed. The carrier just confirmed that it will sell the larger Android slate, its first to offer 4G LTE data, starting on November 11 for $549.99. … Read more

For holidays, T-Mobile goes big on Android and Windows Phone 8

Hurricane Sandy forced T-Mobile to cancel a Holiday Showcase event planned for New York City today, but the storm didn't prevent the carrier from announcing its 2012 product lineup for the holiday season. The iPhone is absent, of course, but T-Mobile will deliver a strong lineup of Android and Windows Phone 8 tablets and smartphones. As you'd expect from the carrier, some devices, like the LG Optimus L9 and Nokia Lumia 810, are decidedly midrange. Yet, other handsets, like the HTC Windows Phone 8X and new LG Nexus 5 are top of the line.

Here's the skinny … 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

iPad Mini Wi-Fi version lacks GPS found in similar tablets

The iPad Mini Wi-Fi version is missing one key feature found in many other 7-inch tablets -- GPS.

Looking at the Location specs for the iPad Mini on Apple's Web site, the cellular edition shows built-in GPS. But the Wi-Fi version doesn't include that feature.

At yesterday's iPad launch event, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller seemed to enjoy comparing the iPad Mini with Google's Nexus 7 tablet. Schiller proclaimed the iPad Mini the winner due in large part to its bigger 7.9-inch screen size.

But the Nexus 7 comes with GPS. I've used the … Read more

U.K. judge shoots down Apple's Galaxy Tab appeal

Apple has lost an appeal against Samsung in an ongoing U.K. case over design patents relating to the iPad.

A U.K. High Court appeals judge ruled in favor of Samsung at a hearing this morning, finding that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 had not infringed Apple's design patents relating to the iPad.

The original case in July heard Judge Colin Birss overseeing the case saying the Samsung tablets were not "cool" as the iPads, because the software did not feature the "extreme simplicity" that the rival Apple product has.&… Read more

Acer intros 7-inch 'mini' Iconia A110 Tablet

Fans of the iPad can keep guessing about the iPad Mini, but if you want a more concrete option to set your mind on now, Acer's offering its own mini tablet, with specs similar to Google's Nexus 7.

The company today announced the Iconia Tab A110, a lightweight pocket-size tablet with a 1,024x600-pixel-resolution 7-inch multitouch screen. This is in a way the mini version of the recently reviewed 10.1-ich Iconia Tab A700, sharing the same Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of system memory. The new tablet, however, will run the latest version of the Android operating system, version 4.1 aka Jelly Bean.… Read more