Acer Iconia Tab A200 debuts at $329

Computer maker Acer is upping its Android tablet game, announcing its new Acer Iconia A200 Android tablet. The Iconia A200 builds on the 7-inch Iconia A100, jumping out to a 10.1-inch 1280 by 800-pixel touchscreen display and keeping the 1 GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra processor and 1 GB of memory. While the Iconia A200 will launch this month with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, Acer says it’ll be upgradable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich next month.

“The Acer Iconia Tab family of tablets is an excellent example of Acer’s ability to deliver high-performance, full-function mobile devices at unbeatable values,” said Acer America senior product manager Eric Ackerson. “Acer brings the Iconia Tab A200 to consumers at an affordable price, without making sacrifices on key tablet features such as expansion, connectivity to other devices, HD displays and cameras.”

The Iconia A200 comes with either 8 or 16 GB of onboard flash storage and a microSD slot that can handle up to 32 GB more. The table features a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi for connecting to the Internet or media servers around the house via Acer’a DLNA-compliant clear.fi technology, and Acer says the tablet sports both a full-size and microUSB port for connecting with other devices. Although Acer is keep to position the A200 as a gaming and entertainment tablet- supporting 1080p HD video, HD gaming, and of course Adobe Flash-based games that doesn’t mean it fizzles out after a bit of use. Acer says the A200 can run for up to eight hours on a single battery charge.

Acer has also bundled its own software into the A200, including the Acer Ring interface (enabling quick access to items using a double circle located on the system bar), along with Acer’s SocialJogger that combines Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking services into a single portal. Acer’s also pre-loaded Amazon’s Kindle app for ereading fans.

The Acer Iconia Tab will be available in 8 GB and 16 GB configurations starting January 15, with the 8 GB edition starting at $329.00 and the 16 GB version carrying a $349.99 suggested price. Acer says Android 4.0 Cream Sandwich will be available for the tablet in mid-February.

HP TouchPad top-selling tablet in US after iPad

Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad, which is being axed by the company, was the top-selling tablet computer in the United States after Apple's iPad in the first 10 months of the year, said market research company NPD Group.

The TouchPad accounted for 17 percent of the 1.2 million non-Apple tablets sold in the United States between January and October, NPD said, edging out Galaxy tablets from South Korea's Samsung, which had a 16 percent market share.

Taiwan's Asus accounted for 10 percent of the non-Apple tablets sold during the period followed by Motorola, maker of the Xoom tablet, and Taiwan's Acer, each with nine percent market share, NPD said.

Apple sold 11.12 million iPads last quarter alone.

HP, citing disappointing sales, announced on August 18 it was discontinuing the TouchPad - just seven weeks after it hit the market - and abandoning the webOS operating system acquired from Palm that powered the device.

Two weeks later, HP said it planned one last production run of the TouchPad, which became a hot seller following a price cut from $499 to just $99 and the announcement that it was being abandoned.

Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, said there are US tablet buyers interested in a device other than an iPad.

"Seventy-six percent of consumers who purchased a non-Apple tablet didn't even consider the iPad, an indication that a large group of consumers are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of the market to grow their business," Baker said.

"The market is filled with long-time personal computer and phone brands as well as low-cost entrants," he said. "With a limited amount of shelf space and challenges in overcoming the iPad's first mover strength, not all brands will be successful."

One that is expected to be successful is US online retail giant Amazon, which began selling a tablet computer last week, the Kindle Fire.

A survey by ChangeWave Research of 3,043 North American consumers published Monday found that 65 percent of future tablet buyers plan to purchase an iPad but 22 percent said they will buy a Kindle Fire.

ChangeWave said the survey results should have other tablet makers worried.

Toshiba unveils Thrive 7- the new Android tablet

Toshiba has unveiled its second tablet: the Thrive 7. Joining the original 10.1-inch Thrive, the new 7-inch tablet looks identical to its older brother, and internally is pretty much is the same. It has the highest resolution we’ve seen in a 7-inch tablet yet, cramming an 1280×800 pixel screen into its compact shell. In addition, it runs on the same dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, Android Honeycomb operating system, and 1GB of RAM that power the original Thrive.

At just about a half-inch thick, it’s the most sturdy looking 7-inch tablet since the BlackBerry PlayBook. Though it is styled almost identically to the Thrive, the rugged rubberized backing feels quite firm and the silver camera area looks more natural in this diminished size. The cameras are identical too, with a 2MP front and 5MP rear. Unfortunately, there are no full-size ports on the Thrive 7, but Toshiba has included a microSD card slot, Micro HDMI port, headphone audio jack, and a Mini USB port. And like rival PC-maker Acer, Toshiba has chosen to compete on its hardware instead of modifying Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) itself.

The big difference is in audio. Toshiba has moved the speakers and proprietary charging port to the bottom of the unit when held vertically. This makes sense as most people will be holding it more like a book than a computer, due to its size. This new default orientation has the added benefit of making the shiny silver camera look like a better design choice, as it has remained in the same location. The speakers aren’t going to fill a room, but thanks to SRS technology and a boost from some custom Toshiba software, sound was pretty loud compared to other tablets we’ve used.

The only big downside to the Thrive 7 is the same one that afflicted its predecessor. Like the 10.1-inch model, the Thrive 7′s screen is a fingerprint magnet. The tablet will hit shelves in December and will be priced “competitively”.

Lenovo announces IdeaPad A1: $199 Android Tablet

Lenovo has announced at this year's IFA conference in Berlin that it will be making a new tablet - Lenovo IdeaPad A1 - which will be priced starting at $199. And while most Android tablets at that price point come from no-name manufacturers and are saddled with plastic, resistive touchscreens, this one comes from the maker of the ThinkPad, and uses an iPad-style glass screen.

The IdeaPad's screen is only seven inches across, roughly the same as the Barnes and Noble Nook Color's and about as big as an iPad split across the middle.

The budget IdeaPad sports a single-core 1 GHz processor, plus a basic rear-facing camera and a VGA front-facing one. Video chat will apparently be possible, but don't expect the quality to be very good.

The device brings the "Gingerbread" version of Android, the top of the line version for smartphones.

Besides its external color schemes, the IdeaPad A1 will come in three different varieties, based on how much flash memory they have. The 8 GB version is the one that'll cost $199, and it won't be available in the States. It's $249 for the 16 GB model, and $299 for the 32 GB one. That'll make it the cheapest way to get a 32 GB tablet, at least until the next shipment of HP TouchPads comes in.

Amazon's 7-inch Android tablet coming in November

We have been hearing rumors about the upcoming Amazon tablet for months, but now we finally have some solid information according to TechCrunch. They have had hands-on contact with a 7-inch tablet which resembles BlackBerry’s PlayBook that is simply called the Amazon Kindle, no fancy code names here. The tablet is reported to be released sometime in November for just $250.

The $250 price point will put it in direct competition with Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color, and come in at half the price of Apple’s cheapest iPad. Both devices have 7-inch screens and highly modified versions of Android. The Kindle does not have a camera, or any buttons on the front of the device.

The version of Android on the Kindle is based around Android 2.2 Froyo, but is completely done-over by Amazon. The whole interface has been changed, and there is no sign of any Google applications on the device. Services go through Amazon for your reading, music listening, and app shopping needs. It also sounds like if the tablet receives any software updates that the end user most likely wouldn’t be able to notice due to how much the interface has been changed.

All rumors to date have predicted that Amazon would be releasing both a 7-inch and a 10-inch version as early as October. The fate of the larger tablet will be based on how well the first one sells, and if it matches Amazon’s expectations they will release the 10-inch tablet in early 2012.

Sony Tablet computer to hit Japan this month

Sony's first tablet computer will hit the Japanese market on September 17 as the company looks to take on Apple's popular iPad, the electronics giant said.

The Sony Tablet will be powered by Google's Android software, allowing users to download content such as books, movies and games.

The Sony Tablet "S" series with a 9.4-inch (23.8 centimetre) touchscreen display is expected to have a price tag of 45,000 yen ($580) for a 16-gigabyte data storage model and 53,000 yen for the 32-gigabyte version.

The product will also become available in US and European markets later this month, with a price tag of $499 and 479 euros for the 16-gigabyte model.

Competitors have rushed to cash in on soaring demand for tablets since the iPad was released in April last year, but Sony's devices will arrive well behind those of its rivals.

The devices will have access to Sony's cloud of online content such as movies, music, digital books, PlayStation games and other entertainment.

Sony has focused more on pushing its content such as games and music through hardware platforms including game consoles, smartphones and tablet computers.

It will release the dual-screened "P" series with a folding design, incorporating two 5.5-inch screens in Japan between October and November. The series will be launched in November in Europe and sometime later this year in the United States.

Archos unveils 10-Inch Tablet for $349

Faster, better, cheaper: Pick any two. Archos seems to have chosen better and cheaper for its upcoming "G9" Android tablets, where "better" means "more powerful" and "more storage space." But will that make either of them a better choice than the iPad 2?

The Archos G9 will come in two flavors, the 8-inch and the 10.1-inch. Both will have a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, which may make them more powerful than similarly-priced PC laptops. These are Android tablets, though, so you're not going to be running PC apps on them.

Archos' pedigree involves making media players, and the G9 tablets are designed for heavy-duty HD video watching. Both can supposedly play 1080p video without breaking a sweat, unlike the iPad 2, and will be able to output it through their HDMI ports without needing a special adapter.

A 16 GB iPad 2 can hold about half a dozen 720p HD movies, depending on filesize, and that's if you don't put any music on it or take any pictures with it. The Archos G9 Android tablets will have 250 GB hard drives, letting them hold up to 40 movies in full 1080p.

Downsides:
The G9s' biggest downside may be in the apps department. First off, the Android Market doesn't have nearly as many tablet-specific apps as the App Store does. And no, the G9s won't be able to run the 65,000 iPad apps; only an iPad can do that.

Second, app loading times. Think of how long it takes for an app or game to load on your smartphone. Well, the bottleneck isn't processor speed; it's how fast it can load the data off of whatever it's stored on. And the flash memory used by the iPad and most smartphones and memory cards is a heck of a lot faster than your laptop's hard drive.

The Archos G9s will be using hard drives instead of flash memory. So while it may be too early to tell, it's probably a safe bet that games and apps will take longer to load than on other tablets.

More downsides to the tablet:
Another thing to consider is that Archos has never been known for its devices' quality. They're harder to quantify, but they can be the difference between a tablet you love and a cheap piece of junk that won't do what you want it to.

Archos' previous devices had their fans, but they didn't have Android Market access and tended to have resistive touch screens; Nintendo DS-style single-touch screens that you used with a fingernail or a stylus. Neither of these design decisions screamed "quality."

With prices as low as $349 for the 10-inch tablet, and $279 for the 8-inch model, one has to wonder what design tradeoffs were made.

Neither tablet will ship with 3G capability, but 3G wireless Internet access can be added via a $49 adapter and a pay-as-you-go plan. The tablets will be available at the end of September.

Arnova 7 Android tablet coming for $99

It is expected that the broad availability of Android tablets would eventually trigger a race for the lowest price point in the market, and newcomer Arnova seems to be getting a jump on the competition with the Archos-designed Arnova 7, a 7-inch Android tablet running Android 2.2 Froyo that the company plans to offer for $99. The Arnova 7 lacks some features in higher-end tablets, but if you’re looking for a basic tablet that won’t give you a heart attack when it falls out of your bag into a puddle, it’s hard to argue with a $99 price tag.

The Arnova 7 features an 800 by 480-pixel 7-inch touch screen display with a virtual keyboard for basic messaging and text-entry needs -the Arnova 7 is 12mm thick and weighs about 340 grams. The tablet runs Android 2.2 Froyo on an unspecified processor, and can handle 720p high-definition MPEG-4 and Realvideo video playback at 30fps. The tablet offers 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity, microSDHC removable storage, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a built-in speaker and microphone. Folks looking to take pictures or video chat will lament the lack of cameras, but remember the key feature here: a $99 price tag.

The Arnova 7 also doesn’t connect to the Android Market, opting instead for getting apps through the AppsLib application store.

Arnova hasn’t yet announced availability dates or retail partners for the Arnova 7; however, the systems launched at European retailers last month.

Huawei unveils MediaPad to take on Apple, Samsung

China's Huawei Technologies unveiled a new tablet computer called the MediaPad that it hopes could take on market leaders Apple and Samsung Electronics.

The launch would be part of an aggressive push by Huawei, the world's second-biggest supplier of telecommunications equipment behind Ericsson, into the consumer space.

"With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functionality and performance is within anyone's reach," said Victor Xu, chief marketing officer of Huawei Device.

Huawei Device is a division of Huawei Technologies that makes cellphones, smartphones and tablet PCs.

Huawei said the 7-inch MediaPad will run on the Android operating system from Google Inc and use a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor from Qualcomm. It will also come with pre-installed applications such as Facebook and Twitter.

The global tablet PC market is now dominated by Apple's iPad with about 80 percent of market share.

In China, apart from Apple, Huawei's tablet PCs also compete with Lenovo and ZTE.

Samsung and Toshiba to launch Honeycomb 3.1 tablets

News about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 spread across the web yesterday, leading to more questions about the upcoming tablet’s actual release date, its supported Android OS version, and its interface. The Galaxy Tab is expected to hit some Best Buy stores on June 8, with widespread availability on June 17. With Wi-Fi and 4G versions, an NVIDIA dual-core processor and an even thinner design than the iPad 2, Samsung’s upgraded quite a few features in its latest tablet offering. But questions still linger around its support of Honeycomb 3.1, Google’s most recent version of Android, as rumors surface that the platform upgrade may be facing delays, and whether Samsung incorporated its own TouchWiz skin in order to ship the Galaxy Tab with Honeycomb 3.1.

Either way, it seems a series of last-minute changes were made to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 release, emphasizing manufacturers’ dilemmas in producing Android-based devices for the masses. It boils down to fragmentation and consumer demand for OS upgrades, whether they occur before or after purchase. For Google, Android’s had a bumpy road in executing its smartphone and tablet platforms, delaying product releases in the past.

Toshiba wants it on Honeycomb 3.1
Samsung has been a supporter of Android’s platform for some time, among the first to launch a tablet for Google’s mobile OS. But Honeycomb 3.1 is encouraging other manufacturers to jump into the tablet game as well. Toshiba is seeking a smooth diversification beyond the laptop market with plans to release the Thrive, a 10.1-inch tablet running Honeycomb 3.1. The Thrive will feature a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, though it’s on the thicker side at 0.6 inches. You have a built-in HDMI out port, USB, mini USB and an SD card slot to blame for the thickness of Toshiba’s tablet, incorporating many laptop ports into the Thrive.

Toshiba’s aiming the Thrive at laptop lovers and mobile workers, including a number of cloud-based services pre-installed on the tablet. It’s reportedly to come with Log Me In software, providing access to home computer desktops, along with a file manager built on top of Android for browsing files stored on a USB device or SD card. There’s PrintShare software also installed on the Thrive, enabling users to print directly from the tablet, a feature competitive with iPad’s AirPrint and Samsung’s MobilePrint. Expect three sizes for the Thrive, indicating Toshiba’s immediate ambitions to appeal to the entire range of consumers.

There will be an 8GB, 16GB and 32GB tablet, priced at $429, $479 and $579 respectively. One major downside is all versions of the Thrive are Wi-Fi only.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 coming soon

A recent tweet from Samsung suggests the tablet, Galaxy Tab 10.1 is "only a few days away."

It’s another Honeycomb device that will feature resizable widgets, Google's new movie rentals service, and more. The Galaxy Tab 10.1, the big brother to the forthcoming Galaxy Tab 8.9, sports a 10.1" screen, along with a dual-core Tegra 2 processor, a front-and back-facing camera, and 1080p video recording.

At .33" thick, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will squeak past the super slim iPad 2 to become the thinnest tablet on the market.

ViewSonic to launch First 7-Inch Android Honeycomb Tablet

Big screen Android tablets with Honeycomb 3.0 were all the rage, while smaller tablets were stuck with older smartphone versions of the OS-until now. The first 7-inch tablet featuring Honeycomb is set to arrive later this month from ViewSonic, and it will be dubbed the ViewPad 7x.

Because Google rushed Android 3.0 to the market to counter the popularity of the Apple iPad, the company was unable to optimize the OS for different-sized tablets fast enough. This meant that you could get Android 3.0 Honeycomb on 10-inch tablets such as the Motorola Xoom, but not on 7-inch tablets such as the HTC Flyer.

Now it seems that ViewSonic will be the first to get on the market a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet at the end of May, if Pocket-Lint's sources are accurate. The tablet will be called the ViewPad 7x, and will reportedly be sold alongside the ViewPad 7. Pricing and exact availability are unknown by this time for the ViewPad 7x.

While the details on the ViewPad 7x are sketchy, it runs on a 600MHz processor and has 512MB of RAM and 512MB of on-board storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card). The 7-inch screen has 800 by 480 pixel resolution, and the tablet also features 3G antennas along Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The original ViewPad 7 sells for around $400.

HTC Flyer Tablet Priced at $499

The 7-inch Android tablet, HTC's Flyer goes up for pre-order in Best Buy stores. The tablet will cost $499 for a 16 GB model with Wi-Fi, but there's no firm release date. For now, Best Buy is going ahead with a vague timeline of "later this spring." A 4G model will launch on Sprint this summer as the HTC Evo View.

The Flyer's claim to fame is an optional pen-HTC calls it the "Scribe"-that doesn't quite behave like a stylus. The Scribe isn't used for navigation, but for marking up web pages and creating handwritten notes. A built-in notebook app allows the user to record audio. Eventually, HTC will open up Scribe to third-party developers who want to add notation to their own apps. No word on HTC Scribe pricing just yet.

It's a neat-sounding feature that distracts somewhat from the Flyer's potential drawbacks. Instead of Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the Flyer will ship with Android 2.4 and tablet optimizations through HTC's Sense interface although HTC's Flyer only matches it. The Flyer is also a bit chunky, at 0.51 inches thick.

Best Buy is taking pre-orders for HTC Flyer at $499.

Sony enters tablet PC market with S1, S2

Sony launched its first tablet computers in an ambitious attempt to grab the No.2 spot from Samsung in a fast-growing market dominated by Apple's year-old iPad.

The gadgets, based on Google's Android 3.0 operating system, could be some of the Japanese company's most important new products since the Playstation game console made its debut in 1994.

Sony, also the inventor of the Walkman and once a symbol of Japan's high-tech, is now struggling to come up with hit devices and improve profit margins as it competes with Apple, Samsung Electronics and Nintendo.

Sony's tablets join more than 100 iPad challengers based on Android, and may struggle to differentiate themselves, although Sony does have the advantage of being able to link the tablets to its gaming and entertainment offerings.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is Apple's strongest competitor while Motorola, LG Electronics and HTC are flooding the market with tablets running Android.

Sony's black, glossy devices, code-named S1 and S2, will be the first tablets to enable the use of PlayStation games.

Sony is banking on the unusual, off-center design of the S1 and access to first generation PlayStation games and its other networked content to differentiate the products from the flood of tablets in the market.

RIM has priced its PlayBook to match the iPad, has struggled to win consumer fans since launching the device last week. Hewlett-Packard Co unveiled its entrant in the tablet race in February.

Sony's tablets will be WiFi and 3G/4G compatible. S1 has a 9.4-inch display and a curved design that Sony said makes it easier to hold for long periods of time. The S2 has two 5.5-inch displays in a clamshell design.

Acer Iconia Tab A500 Priced at $449

Acer's first tablet based on Google's Android 3.0 OS will ship later this month for US$449. The Acer Iconia Tab A500 will have a 10.1-inch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities and will ship for the U.S. market on April 24, an Acer spokeswoman said. The A500's price is lower than the $499 entry-level price for Apple's iPad 2. Acer has said that the A500 will ship worldwide starting in April. The company has also announced an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) version of the A500 and a W500 model that will run Windows 7. Shipment dates for the tablets were not disclosed. The company announced the shipment date for the Acer Iconia Tab a week after President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci resigned over disagreements with the board about the company's future direction. Analysts said reasons for Lanci's resignation included the company's unwavering commitment to the PC market and lack of aggression expanding in the burgeoning tablet market. The Iconia Tab A500 was first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January. The tablet is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor running at 1GHz, a chip that is also used in Motorola's Xoom and LG's G-Slate tablets. The Tegra processor has a powerful graphics core that will allow users to play high-definition games and 1080p video, Acer said in a statement. Users will be able to watch 720p video on the tablet, with an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) port to connect to TVs to watch 1080p video. The tablet will handle up to eight hours of gaming or high-definition video time, or 10 hours of Wi-Fi Internet browsing, on one battery charge, Acer said. The A500 weighs around 1.69 pounds (0.76 kilograms) and measures 0.52 inches at its thinnest point. It includes a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 16GB of internal storage and a Micro SD card slot for up to 32GB of extended storage. The Android 3.0 OS is Google's tablet operating system with a specialized user interface optimized for larger screens. The OS lets users navigate back and forth between multiple applications and has features that enable tablets to be used as gaming consoles.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer launched in US

Taiwan’s AsusTek has brought its Eee Pad Transformer to U.S. consumers by April by launching the device at electronics retailer Best Buy for a starting price of $399.99. The availability of the Eee Pad Transformer not only increases the number of Android tablet devices on the market running Android 3.0 “Honeycomb,” but also hits a very important price point: it undercuts the Apple iPad 2. The Eee Pad Transformer features a 10.1-inch display with a 1,280 by 800-pixel resolution, so it has more pixels than an iPad, and is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 1 GB of LPDDR2 memory. Rather than relying on flash storage, the Eee Pad Transformer carriers a 16 GB hard drive but the device still measures just half and inch thick, although it weighs a rather un-svelte 2.2 pounds. The Eee Pad Transformer features a 1.2 megapixel webcam with mic, a 4-in-1 media card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless networking, and is available in brown or black. The Transformer’s claim to fame is that it can dock with an optional keyboard and that keyboard contains a whole separate battery system, so the combined devices can run 16 hours rather than the 8 hours users can expect from the tablet alone. The keyboard is optional and Best Buy doesn’t seem to have it in stock yet but even with the keyboard dock the Eee Pad might give an iPad-and-keyboard combination some serious price competition. Asus is also launching the Eee Pad Transformer in France and the United Kingdom. In the UK, the 16 GB edition will apparently sell for £379, with a 32 GB edition selling for £50 more, with keyboard docking stations going for another £50. In France, the 16 GB version will apparently be priced at €399, but won’t be available until May.

Lenovo launches Android-powered LePad tablet in China

China’s largest computer maker, Lenovo has launched its own tablet computer at home as it tries to compete for a share of an increasingly crowded market dominated by Apple's iPad. The LePad - powered by Google's Android software - was launched in China on Monday at a Chinese-media only event. Lenovo will begin selling LePad directly to Chinese consumers this week through its own retail stores and it will put it on sale outside China by June. The firm said in a statement that it was aggressively pursuing the mobile Internet device business and established a special division - the Mobile Internet and Digital Home Business Group - this year to better compete. "The LePad is the first major launch since the business group's founding, we are confident in it and will continue to enrich its product line with better performing products and a richer selection of styles," Lenovo said. In addition to the iPad, Lenovo's new tablet will compete against gadgets from other major electronics companies such as Dell, Samsung Electronics and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion. LePad - which was first unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas - has a 10.1-inch colour screen and connects to the Internet using WiFi or 3G telecom services. In China, models equipped with WiFi wireless technology will carry a recommended price tag of 3,499 yuan ($533) for the 16-gigabyte version. The pre-orders for LePad have began on March 16. Lenovo, which bought IBM's PC business in 2004 for $1.25 billion, had roughly 27 percent of its home market last year and was ranked fourth in the world with a global share of about eight percent, according to data from IDC intelligence firm.

AsusTek launches Android-powered EEE Pad Transformer

AsusTek Computer Inc. has unveiled a sleek tablet computer, after the Taiwanese firm saw the sales of its once popular line of mini-laptops stall following the launch of Apple's hit iPad.

AsusTek says the EEE Pad Transformer, which runs on the Android 3.0 operating system, distinguishes itself with an optional keyboard that is superior to docking options for other tablets because of its light weight and flexibility.

Its 10.1-inch screen with a front and rear camera can be detached from the keyboard to allow users on the move quick Web browsing and film viewing. Plugging it to the keyboard dock, the device can then be used as a full-fledged laptop.

"In our own pursuit of perfection, we offer users more options," said AsusTek CEO Jerry Shen. "They can get a full range of functions including 10-finger touch, Flash supported video viewing, e-book reading, and a physical keyboard so they don't have to deal with any inconveniences."

The EEE Pad Transformer, which became available for pre-order in Taiwan on Friday, goes on sale in the U.K. on March 30, to be followed by U.S. sales.

In Taiwan, the 16 GB version without the keyboard sells for 14,900 New Taiwan dollars ($500), while the keyboard version costs NT$17,900 ($600). The company did not provide prices for other markets.

Another Asus tablet, the 12-inch e-Slate powered by the Microsoft Windows operating system, went on sale in January, while two additional Asus tablet models will go on sale soon. Shen said he expected total sales of the four models to reach two million units in 2011.

Taiwan's Acer Inc., the world's third largest computer vendor, has already unveiled four tablet models, as well as a 4.8-inch smartphone that doubles as a tablet. The company says all will be on sale next month.

Shen acknowledged Apple Inc.'s current dominance in the rapidly expanding tablet computer market, but predicted that its market share would fall to 50 percent by 2012, as devices run on Android and Microsoft systems pick up steam.

Asus pioneered netbooks - mini-laptops - to great fanfare in 2007. Once seen as a key to the company's growth, sales remained flat in 2010, following the iPad's appearance in the marketplace.

Samsung not to re-model Galaxy Tab 10.1

Shortly after the iPad 2 was unveiled, it was reported that Samsung would be overhauling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 to more ably compete with Apple’s new tablet.

The company’s executive VP of mobile Lee Don-Joo had said “We will have to improve that parts that are inadequate. Apple made it very thin,” and “The 10-inch was to be priced higher than the 7-inch, but we will have to think the over.”

But Samsung is now denying the whole thing. Now, the 10-inch Galaxy Tab will launch “as scheduled.” Were a remodel in order, the device would obviously be delayed, and Don-Joo says “We will continue to make every effort to provide the most powerful, well-designed and productive model device to customers.”

While the tablet itself might not be getting any work done, a change in price can’t be ruled out. The iPad 2’s low pricing is going to make it fairly difficult for competitors, who will want to undercut Apple and sway on-the-fence buyers. That means a couple of things: One, it’s obviously good for consumers, who will be able to choose from a wider selection of more affordable tablets. Two, it means Samsung might be hard-pressed to actually profit off its Galaxy Tab lineup.

On a comforting note, it appears the wheels are in motion over at Samsung. The 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab reportedly in the works.

LG Electronics to launch 8.9-inch tablet in 2011

World's No.3 handset vendor, LG Electronics Inc, plans to launch an 8.9-inch tablet device based on an upcoming version of Google’s Android OS.

The device, to run on Google's upcoming "Honeycomb" operating system tailored to tablet PCs, will be rolled out in South Korea and overseas early next year, the source said, who asked not to be identified as the new Google system has not been announced yet.

With the rollout, LG seeks to jump into the fast-growing tablet PC market that is becoming increasingly crowded with the likes of Samsung Electronis, Research In Motion and Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell.

Handset vendors and PC makers are rushing into the new category of devices, which Apple jump-started this year with its hot-selling iPad.

The upcoming LG device will be the first tablet PC for the company, after it dropped a plan to introduce tablets based on the Android 2.2 operating system, also known as "Froyo" citing the need for "the most reliable and suitable Android version," for tablets.

Samsung, however, launched Galaxy Tab, powered by Android 2.2 version, in South Korea after unveiling the 7-inch model in Europe and other Asian countries earlier.

"There's a controversy whether Froyo is a suitable system for tablet devices, but consumers will make the final call on the issue after using Galaxy Tab," said JK Shin, head of Samsung's mobile division.

The delay by LG could deal a further blow to the South Korean electronics firm, which is grappling to turn around its loss-making mobile unit due to a lack of competitive smartphone models to compete with Apple’s iPhone, RIM's BlackBerry and Samsung's Galaxy S.