Samsung announces Galaxy Tab 3 8-inch and 10.1-inch variants

We have already seen the 7-inch version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, which was announced back in April. Now Samsung has announced two new variants in the form of an 8-inch and 10.1-inch model.

The 8-inch model improves upon the 7-inch by offering a slightly bigger and higher resolution 1280 x 800 display, a faster 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel camera on the back, 1.3 megapixel on the front, 16/32GB internal memory with microSD card slot, 1.5GB of RAM, LTE, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth connectivity, 4,450mAh battery and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

The 10.1-inch model has similar specifications, including the same 1280 x 800 resolution, now stretched over 10.1-inches. Only differences here are a faster 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 6,800mAh battery and strangely, a lower resolution 3 megapixel camera and only 1GB of RAM. Also, as you can see from the image above, Samsung has completely dumped the on-screen keys in favor of physical buttons below the display.

Although there is no mention of it in Samsung's press release, Reuters claims that both these devices are running on Intel's Atom processors. We will need to get our hands on them to find out which exact processor is running under the hood.

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ARM unveils Cortex-A12 and Mali-622 mid-range CPU and GPU

ARM has a problem – Cortex-A9 is old and the new Cortex-A15 cores just can't seem to make it to the market (the Exynos 5 Octa and Tegra 4 both have issues getting on shipping devices). The company just announced an interim solution, the Cortex-A12.

It offers a 40% performance increase over the A9 and should bring some power saving to the table too. It supports big.LITTLE configurations so it can be paired with Cortex-A7 to improve power efficiency even further (whether it will work or not is another matter, the A15/A7 pairing doesn’t do too well).

ARM's GPU line is in a similar spot – the new Mali-600 series really only shipped on the Google Nexus 10, most current chipsets rely either on a PowerVR GPU or an Adreno. So, here comes the Mali-622, a mid-range GPU to go with Cortex-A12.

It's an OpenGL ES 3.0, DirectX 11 and OpenCL 1.1 enabled GPU that promises 50% power-saving over the 604.

A new video core was also introduced, the Mali-V500 can encode 1080p video at 60fps and decode 4K at 120fps given enough cores.

Devices using the new generation mid-range chipsets using the Cortex-A12 and Mali-622 are expected in mid-2014.

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Vodafone 3G offer for Karbonn Titanium S5, Smart A12

Karbonn has tied up with Vodafone India to offer exciting internet plans to its subscribers, buying Karbonn's flagship devices �" the Titanium S5 and Smart A12.

As part of the tie-up, customers buying Karbonn Titanium S5 will enjoy 1 GB 3G /2G/EDGE unlimited internet plan per month for free for three months on Vodafone. On the other hand, only first time 3G customers of Vodafone using Karbonn A12 can avail 500 MB 3G/2G/EDGE internet plan free for two Months.

Shashin Devsare, executive director, Karbonn said, "Vodafone to provide exciting Internet services to our consumers. Our aim remains to provide a unique user experience to the consumers and through our latest offering we seek to engage the consumer base with a power package which allows them to seamlessly navigate the internet with the best of hardware devices - the Karbonn Titanium S5 and Karbonn Smart A12 and the best of Internet network provided by Vodafone"

Karbonn Titanium S5 comes with a 5 inch screen, Android Jelly Bean operating system, quad core processor, 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, 1 GB RAM, 2000 mAh battery and is available in the market for around Rs 11,500.

The Karbonn Smart A12 costs Rs 7,500 and has a 1 GHz single core processor, 4.5 inch screen, 5 megapixel rear camera, 512 MB RAM, and Android ICS operating system.

Asus unveils 10 inch HD MeMo Pad

Asus, following the launch of its cheaper MeMo pad tablet in India , has now unveiled a 10 inch display based tablet at the ongoing Computex event in Taipei. The new Asus MeMo Pad 10 offers Android Jelly Bean operating system but has only WiFi connectivity.

The MeMo Pad's display comes with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. The tablet has Intel Clovertrail+ Z2560 processor, and not the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor as was expected . The dual core processor has a clock speed of 1.6 GHz and offers hyper threading technology that claims to offer superior multi-tasking capabilities.

The Asus MeMo Pad 10 also has 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, and 32 GB expandable memory slot. There is a 5 megapixel auto focus camera at the rear and a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front of the device. The Asus MeMo Pad 10 has WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS connectivity but the cellular connectivity is missing.

There is a 25Wh battery pack in the device which as per company claims can power the device for up to 10 hours. More details on its price and availability are awaited.

ARM launches next level anti piracy solution

ARM Holdings, the maker of mobile phone and tablet processors, has announced a new solution called as Mali V-500 to curb piracy on mobile devices.

Till now service providers or content providers have been reluctant on high definition content streaming for the simple fact that there is little control on piracy. But with the new Mali V500 chip, the devices would be able to stream videos securely, thus it would make it impossible for people to make illegal copies of them.

The new Mali V500 video chip makes this possible with the use of company's TrustZone security technology. ARM has though not revealed which of its architectures will have the Mali V500 chip.

Acer announces world's first 8 inch Windows tablet

Sometime back there was a lot of buzz about Microsoft working on a smaller 8 inch Windows tab . But now Acer has announced world's first 8 inch Windows 8 operating system based tablet, beating Microsoft in its own game.

The tablet, called the Acer Iconic W3, has Intel's dual-core 1.8 GHz Atom Z2760 processor. It will be provided in 32 GB and 64 GB internal storage variants. Along with that users will also have the option to increase the memory with additional 32 GB with the help of memory cards.

The Acer Iconia W3 is powered with Windows 8 Home operating system and will come with Microsoft office bundled for the buyers. The display of the device is an 8 inch TFT LCD display with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The tablet is claimed to have been offering a backup time of 8 hours.

In terms of accessories the Iconia W3 will come with an option al Bluetooth keyboard cum cradle solution form Acer. This keyboard will double up as the carry solution for the users and provide greater functionality as well.

The 32 GB variant of Iconia W3 is likely to be priced approximately at Rs 22,000 but Acer has not revealed when it is likely to launch the tablet in India.

Indian govt planning Aakash 4

The Government of India is now contemplating to bring a new version of Aakash tablet, which would probably named as Aakash 4, according to media reports.

According to Indian Express, the Department of Information Technology has written to the Department of Science & Technology asking whether the Aakash tablet project could be routed through them.

Reports also added that the Union HRD minister, Kapil Sibal has also written to the Prime Minister proposing a manufacturing unit for the new version of the Aakash tablet in view of the problems faced by the first Aakash tablet manufactured by Datawind.

"The draft of the specifications has been prepared, formally it has to be placed before a committee... We are waiting for a suitable date to do that," Department of Electronics and IT (DEITy) Secretary J Satyanarayana was quoted as saying by PTI.

"We should not add so many features so that the cost will go beyond," he further added.

It is to be noted that the Datawind has so far launched three versions of Aakas tablet, meant for students. All the three tablets are being sold in the market under the brand name of UbiSlate (UbiSlate 7Ci, UbiSlate7C+ etc). However, all the tablets were hammered by the experts and users alike for poor quality. The problem was further compounded by issues of non-supply by Datawind. Moreover, many Indian and Chinese brands have recently launched their tablets in the market at around the same priced as the Aakash tablet but with better specification.

Hence, the upcoming tablet is most likely to have some decent features but considering the fact that it is meant for students, the tablet would definitely have ordinary features as indicated by J Satyanarayana.