Nokia Phablet Coming Soon

Nokia

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“Strike when the iron is hot” appears to be the idiom of the day for Nokia as reports hinted at the possible release of a Nokia phablet that will go up against similar large-display smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note.

An unidentified source revealed that the Finnish multinational company is aiming to enter the phablet market with a number of devices that are set to be released before the end of the year including the reported Nokia phablet. The source revealed that the device will be a smartphone/tablet hybrid similar to the device currently being offered by the South Korean company in the market.

In addition to the reported Nokia phablet, the company is also set to release a number of high-end smartphones within the year. This comes as the Nokia Lumia product lineup continues to struggle to increase its share of the market that is currently being dominated by iOS and Android devices.

One of these high-end devices will be the first Nokia Lumia smartphone featuring the Pureview technology of the company. It will come with a forty-megapixel camera and is set to be introduced by the company by July.  Another smartphone that is set to be released is an enhanced version of the Nokia Lumia 920 along with a low-cost model, which will be released by fall.

The company revealed that it was able to deliver around 5.6 million units of its Lumia smartphone in the first quarter, which is higher than the 4.4 million units it delivered in the fourth quarter last year. However, this is nowhere near to the shipments that its competitors have reported for their respective devices.

Apple revealed that it delivered around 37 million units of its iPhones last quarter while Samsung reportedly shipped over 61 million units in the same period.

The Finnish company anticipates a 27 percent increase in shipments for its Lumia smartphones during the present quarter. Despite the upcoming release of Nokia phablet and other high-end smartphones, the company will have to double its effort in order to get a good enough share of the market that is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple.

Possible Reasonably-Priced Asus Tablet Spotted At Benchmark Site

Asus

With the flood of tablet devices in the market, manufacturers will have to think of ways in making their products appealing to consumers. One of the strategies that manufacturers can use is offering the devices at a reasonable price and it appears that Asus may be taking this route following reports that a possible reasonably-priced Asus tablet may enter the market soon.

Specs of a possible reasonably-priced Asus tablet emerged from GLBenchmark, a benchmark website.

Although the information about the upcoming reasonably-priced Asus tablet is limited, it appears that the upcoming device will feature a 1GHz processor, Mali 400 graphics chip, and will run the latest Android OS, the Jelly Bean Android 4.1 OS.

The upcoming reasonably-priced Asus tablet will also feature a display with a 1024 by 552 screen resolution, basing on the benchmark.

The reasonably-priced Asus tablet, which was given the codename Asus ME172V, does not appear to be similar to the Google Nexus 7, which was also manufactured by the same company. The information from the benchmark site also does not show the number of processors that the reasonably-priced Asus tablet will have.

The recent revelation brings to mind an earlier speculation that Google and Asus are preparing to launch another Nexus tablet that will be priced at around $99. However, the report was later clarified by Digitimes following the revelations that Quanta Computer may be the partner of Google in producing the cheaper model of the Nexus tablet.

For the moment no statements were released by the manufacturer on the reports about the supposed reasonably-priced Asus tablet.

North American Tablet Deliveries Surpass Laptop Deliveries

iPad Mini

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The popularity of tablets has gradually increased recently and it appears that tablet deliveries may surpass laptop deliveries in the fourth quarter, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Diversity and price appears to be the ace in the hole for tablets as deliveries are expected to reach 21.5 million units in the fourth quarter compared to the 14.6 million units of laptops that will be shipped in the same period.

A number of tablet models have a price tag of around $199, even as the device is offered in different sizes. Richard Shim of DisplaySearch also revealed that tablet deliveries will continue to surpass total notebook shipments in the coming year as tablet deliveries are expected to reach 80 million units. In comparison, only 63.8 million notebooks are expected to be delivered in the same period.

The release of the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire has resulted to the increasing popularity of tablets due to its rather low price point of only $199. Tablet sizes are also diverse ranging from the 10.6-inch devices down to the 7-inch devices. The release of the iPad Mini of Apple, which measures 7.9 inches has also added to the increasing popularity of tablet devices.

In addition to the iPad Mini, Apple also released its latest model of the iPad. Sales of the smaller-sized iPad Mini is estimated to reach around 2.5 million in its first weekend in the market according to Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray. Total iPad sales in the first weekend of availability of the two iPad devices are estimated to have reached 3 million units.

According to Shim, the low price point of the iPad Mini may result to increase in the market and demand for the device. On the other hand, sales of the Google Nexus 7 have reportedly averaged around one million units each month according to Asus, the manufacturer of the tablet.

Although North American deliveries of tablets will surpass deliveries of notebooks in the fourth quarter, it will not be the same in the international market. Tablet deliveries are only expected to exceed notebooks by 2015, where around 276 million tablets are expected to be delivered compared to the 270 million notebook deliveries in the same period.

Microsoft Surface Tablets Introduced During Recent Media Event

Microsoft Surface Tablet

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Microsoft recently introduced two new Microsoft Surface tablets that will use the upcoming Windows 8 and the Windows RT operating systems.

The company has broken its tradition of relying exclusively on PC partners that will provide the hardware which will use the Windows OS as it attempts to use a new business strategy with the upcoming release of its software. The two Microsoft Surface tablets signal the start of a new era in the company.

Although another company will be producing the Microsoft Surface tablets, the two tablets will feature the name of the company. This will put the company in direct competition with Apple as well as its PC partners.

For the moment the price tag of the upcoming tablet offerings of Microsoft remain uncertain since the company indicated that the pricing will be made available close to the release date of the two Microsoft Surface tablets. Some industry watchers expect the price tag of the upcoming devices to be similar to the Intel ultrabooks or the ARM tablets.

The two Microsoft Surface tablets are expected to be released for production during the summer or sometime near the end of next month. Due to this, the upcoming devices are anticipated to become available in the market sometime in August.

The Microsoft Surface tablet using the Windows RT OS will feature a 10.6 ClearType HD Display, microSD memory card slot, USB 2.0 port and Micro HD video. The upcoming device will also be offered with the MS Office Home and Student 2013 RT. The device will also feature a kick stand and an attachable cover that allows users to touch type. Two storage options will be available for the Microsoft Surface tablet for the Windows RT, 32GB and 64GB.

The Microsoft Surface tablet for Windows 8 OS will also feature a 10.6-inch Full HD ClearType Display, microSDXC memory card slot, USB 3.0 port, and mini-Display Port video. The upcoming device will also have a Touch Cover, Type Cover and a pen with Palm block. The upcoming Microsoft Surface tablet for the Windows 8 OS will have two storage options, 64GB and 128 GB.

Is the Low Price of the ZTE Light 2 Worth It?

ZTE Light 2

It appears that ZTE is making a big push into the market as the company is reportedly preparing to introduce a ZTE-branded tablet into the UK market. The upcoming ZTE Light 2 is a seven-inch tablet that will use the Gingerbread Android 2.3 OS and will come with a three-megapixel rear-facing camera.

However it appears that its features may be a bit lacking since it only offers a 4GB internal storage, which may not give enough space for the videos, music, and other files that users may want to store into the device. But the ZTE Light 2 does allow users to store additional content through a microSD memory card.

The ZTE Light 2 is slightly heavier than the seven-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab although it may still be light enough for users to carry around.

The unremarkable features of the ZTE Light 2 however reflect its price tag since it is relatively cheap compared to other tablets in the market. The ZTE Light 2 is priced at around £235 or around $370, this is cheaper compared to the iPad 2 which is priced at around £400 or around $630. However it is more costly compared to the BlackBerry PlayBook, which is priced at around £169 or around $265.

The ZTE Light 2 is anticipated to be released near the end of February or early March. However the Gingerbread Android that will come with the device may not add to the appeal of the device.

Despite these not-so-positive factors on the ZTE Light 2, some observers are actually taking the ZTE Light 2 into consideration due to its low price in comparison to a number of tablets in the market. The device will be the first tablet that comes with the ZTE brand to enter the UK market and how it fares in the market will likely set the precedent on the future tablet offerings of the company in the UK.