Samsung just unveiled their new Galaxy Tab 2, the successor to the original Galaxy Tab. But those are not the only 7 inch tablets in Samsung's portfolio. Here's a visual comparison of the old Galaxy Tab, the new Galaxy Tab 2 and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. I've left out the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 because technically speaking it isn't a 7 inch model. So here goes.

It's that time again, time for the 7 inch iPad mini rumors to surface again. This time the source of the rumor is Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil. Gottheil told Computerworld  that he expects Apple to release a 7 inch iPad later this year. This iPad mini will not be the iPad 3 that is expected to launch in March. Despite several comments of Steve Jobs dismissing the 7 inch iPad mini, rumors always resurface of a 7 inch iPad. According to Gottheil a 7 inch iPad mini has always been in the planning. 

"Actually that's a good form factor for some users, and although they will also charge a premium above other similar-sized tablets, they want to protect that price flank."

LG put a video online of their new smartphone called the Optimus Vu. It has a 5 inch screen which puts this device in the phablet category (phone/tablet hybrid), just like the Galaxy Note or the Lenovo S2005. What you notice right away though, is the 4:3 aspect ratio the Optimus Vu has, which is quite uncommon. The phablet will come with Android 2.3 at introduction but is expected to get an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade later on.

RIM, producer of the Playbook will release their newest tablet software Playbook OS 2.0, unveiled during CES 2012, on February 17th. This information, according to Berryreview, comes from a very solid source.

"RIM is committed & scheduled to launch PlayBook OS 2.0 on February 17th. That seems to be with everything else I have been hearing along with the rumor mill."

According to a study by Adobe, out of all online visitors, it's tablet users that spend the most money on online purchases. Adobe, after analysing 16 billion visits to more than 150 US online retailers, reports that consumers using a tablet spend 54% more per purchase than consumers using a smartphone. Compared to PC/Laptop users, tablet users spend 21%  more on purchases.

Bloomberg reports that according to 3 sources, the iPad 3 is already in production and that Apple will release the next generation iPads in March packing a new Quad-core processor, LTE and a very high-resolution display (Retina?).

"The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The tablet will use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, two of the people said."

Update January 16th 2012:  Asus has stated that there will be no 3G version of the Asus Transformer Prime as reported earlier. This was confirmed by Asustek Taiwan as well as Asus Benelux. Asustek Taiwan stated that "no such product exists on its current roadmap,". Asus Benelux, as reported by Tablets Magazine gave a rather odd and obvious reply

"As for the Netherlands, there are no plans for a Transformer Prime 3G just yet, but technically it is possible to produce one."

In December Asus Germany confirmed that Asus won't release any 3G version Transformer Primes because of low demand for 3G tablets. . Today, however, Asus Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) revealed during the presentation of the Asus Transformer Prime, that within a few months we can expect 3G models to be released. The exact release date and price weren't mentioned.

Just recently I wrote an article about Gorilla Glass, and now I've learned, the next generation of scratch-resistant glass is around the corner. During CES2012, Corning will showcase the next generation of it's damage-resistant cover glass for consumer electronic devices like tablets and smartphones. Monday January 9th, after a planned announcement by Corning, we will know more details about Gorilla® Glass 2.

Now  this is an interesting product. Lenovo has just unveild the Lenovo X1 Hybrid. A laptop running Windows7 with Core i3, i5 or i7 processors (up to 8 GB RAM) OR  running Android with a dual-core 1.2 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 CPU (1GB RAM). It's a dual-CPU and dual-OS hybrid laptop. The laptop features a secondary Linux operating system (most probably based on Android) called IMM (Instand Media Mode).