But according to new data that app analytics service Localytics is publishing tomorrow, that’s not what’s happening. Rather, the big tabs are getting the lion’s share of the market, increasing their lead on other tablets.

That’s especially true for Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Samsung’s stable of tablets.

For example, the number of Amazon’s 7″ Kindle Fires that Localytics saw grew 322 percent from November to the end of December. Samsung’s Galaxy Note II grew 80 percent, it’s popular Tab 2 10.1″ tablet grew 78 percent, and the smaller Tab 2 7″ grew 72 percent. The Nook also grew, though not as swiftly, picking up an additional 62 percent.

Localytics provides data on user behavior for tens of thousands of apps that were installed on over 60 million devices as of mid-2012, which should form a significant enough sample size to at least be indicative of what’s happening in the market. Each device that runs any app that uses Localytics’ services registers as a unique devices in the company’s numbers.

The data also showed a move in iDevice market share. According to the company, the iPhone 5 now constitutes 18 percent of all iPhones in use, with the 4S still retaining the crown of most popular iPhone, with 40 percent of the market.

And the new iPad mini? Localytics’ data suggests it’s selling a little slower than the iPad 4, with the 4th-generation iPad clocking in at about eight percent of the overall iPad market, and the mini picking up six percent.

We’ll know for sure if those numbers are accurate in just a couple of weeks, when Apple reports its Q1 2013 results.

Web advertising and analytics company Chitika said today that after Christmas, iPad’s share of web traffic dropped 7.14 percent. Apple’s tablet family had accounted for 86 percent of all tablet-driven web traffic in the first part of December, but this dropped to 78.9 percent in the days immediately following Christmas as gift recipients started using their new devices.

And smartphones? Both Apple’s iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy S III showed nice upticks in use, with both adding about a percentage of web traffic share.

“The change in smartphone market share doesn’t seem to be too surprising,” Chitika’s Gabe Donnini said. “But the data on tablets that we observed was very interesting. … Android was the clear operating system of choice for consumers giving tablets in the holiday season.”

The Kindle Fire benefited most from iPad’s drop in relative traffic share, increasing its share to 3.03 percent. Samsung’s Galaxy tablet picked up an additional 1.38 percent of web browsing share, and Google’s Nexus also added almost a percentage point.

In other words, Android-based tablets — whether from Google and its hardware partners or from Amazon — did very well over the holidays, with proportionally more devices sold than iPads. Interestingly, Microsoft’s Surface made an appearance as well, adding .17 percent of browser share. That’s negligible, of course, but based on a pre-Christmas share of only .4 percent, it almost double’s Microsoft’s share.

“Surface just launched about a month ago … and the people who buy it are mostly early adopters,” Donnini told me, adding that he expected that number to grow as Microsoft continues to spend a “record” amount of advertising dollars pushing its new tablet offering.

photo credit: JD Hancock via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

iPhones and iPads may be losing ground to Android-based smartphones and tablets, but iPad is still king of online content. And online sales.

According to an IBM report on Black Friday commerce, 16.3 percent of online sales happened via mobile devices. And more than half of that volume — nearly 10 percent of all online sales — occurred on iPads.

That’s a fairly stunning figure: 10 percent of all online sales on Black Friday from iPad alone. But it gets more astonishing when you compare it with other tablets in the market. Of all tablet traffic to online retailers’ sites, iPad captured almost 90 percent of tablet traffic:

1. Apple iPad: 88.3%
2. Barnes & Noble Nook: 3.1%
3. Amazon Kindle 2.4%
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab: 1.8%

That’s pretty much right where iPad was last year, in November 2011, when we thought Kindle Fire might start to eat some of iPad’s lunch. And it’s more than iPad’s overall traffic share as measured just a month ago by OnSwipe.

Source: IBM

Online sales and traffic from mobile devices were up 65 and 68 percent, respectively

Apple devices were popular overall on Black Friday, as iPhone was second behind iPad, with another 8.7 percent of all online shopping. Android devices — phones and tablets — totaled only 5.53 percent.

Based on the data from its digital analytics product suite, IBM put this Black Friday infographic together:

photo credit: Johan Larsson via photopin cc, Hat tip: Mashable

Of all the silliness in Apple and Samsung’s international legal spats, the drama surrounding a court-ordered apology that Apple had to make on its U.K. site ranks among the most shameless.

Apple yesterday finally posted a corrected version of its apology to Samsung on its U.K. site, following issues that a U.K. appeals court had with its original note, CNet reports. What’s most funny about the news is just how much Apple made the situation worse, instead of simply taking its lumps.

After a U.K. court ruled that Samsung’s tablets didn’t copy Apple’s iPad design, Apple was ordered to post an announcement about the judgement on its U.K. site. Apple did so over a week ago, but the confusing language , reference to other court cases (where Samsung was found to infringe on Apple’s designs), and a few notes about one U.K. judge’s personal opinion of Apple’s designs made it clear the company posted the apology begrudgingly.

Last week, the U.K. court spanked Apple over that initial apology and ordered the company to post a new apology within 48 hours, link to it prominently from its homepage (the previous announcement was buried within Apple’s site), and keep it online until December 14.

Had Apple just followed through with the court’s original order instead of being cheeky with its own additions, nobody would be talking about its Samsung apology now. Instead, the company has kept the news cycle alive and ended up looking childish in the process.

Apple yesterday added the following note to the bottom of its U.K. homepage in large type:

On 25 October 2012, Apple Inc. published a statement on its UK website in relation to Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computers. That statement was inaccurate and did not comply with the order of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The correct statement is at Samsung/Apple UK judgement.

The new announcement is just two short paragraphs, and though it still doesn’t mention the iPad by name, it’s much clearer than the original. Apple was also ordered to post the same announcement in U.K. papers, which started appearing last Friday.

Here’s the full note:

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9 July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computers, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s Community registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of
the High Court is available from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available from www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the Community registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

Illustration by Tom Cheredar

After losing a UK court appeal last week, Apple today posted a note on its UK site saying that Samsung didn’t copy the iPad’s design with its Galaxy Tab tablets. But of course, Apple did this in the most confusing language possible.

The full note, available below, avoids mentioning the iPad by name early on. Instead, Apple says that Samsung didn’t infringe on “Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001.” After going over a portion of the judge’s ruling, Apple goes on to mention that Samsung was guilty of infringing on its designs in the U.S. and Germany.

It’s the sort of concession note you’d expect from a politician, not a consumer electronics company.

The news is part of an ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung. Back in August, a U.S. jury ruled that Samsung willfully infringed on Apple’s iPhone design patents and awarded Apple $1 billion in damages. Apple also requested that several Samsung smartphones be banned from sale in the U.S., but it will have to wait until a December 6 hearing to start arguing those injunctions.

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic(UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

“The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design.”

“The informed user’s overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool.”

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal’s judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple’s far more popular iPad.

Via iMore

Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

They said they were going to do it. Now they’ve done it.

Samsung lawyers have added the iPhone 5 to the company’s patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, two weeks after threatening to do so. That lawsuit, one of many ongoing between the two mobile giants, concerns eight patents on data transfer, media syncing, touch screen technology, and more that Samsung says Apple violates.

Source: Apple

iPhone 5

The pre-emptive announcement had seemed suspiciously timed to interrupt the news cycle ramping up to the iPhone 5 launch, which broke records by pre-selling two million units in the first day.

Adding the iPhone 5 to the infringement lawsuit was completely expected — the iPhone 5, after all, shares much with the iPhone 4 in terms of operating system and user interface — but hugely significant. Initial estimates peg potential iPhone 5 sales at 50 million for the U.S. alone in just the first three months of its release.

That’s a lot of units, a lot of dollars, and a lot of infringement — if the courts agree.

In other news from yet another related Samsung v. Apple case, the temporary Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban has been lifted. According to FOSS Patents, that’s simply due to the fact that in the landmark billion-dollar Apple win in August, the jury did not find any infringement in the Tab.

That was, of course, the famous D899 “rounded corners” patent.

The courtroom soap opera continues …

photo credit: NASA Goddard Photo and Video via photopin cc

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

While we’re still waiting on the jury’s response to the Apple v. Samsung case in San Jose, a South Korean court has issued its own verdict, which finds that both companies infringed on the other’s patents.

The court granted small damages to both Apple and Samsung, and it also ordered them to stop sales of the infringing devices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Luckily for both companies, the sales ban only affects older products: the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 for Apple, and the Galaxy S (I and II), Galaxy Nexus, and Galaxy Tab (both the original and 10.1 model) for Samsung.

Notably, the court ruled against one of the most prominent arguments in the U.S. Apple v. Samsung case: It found that there was “no possibility” that consumers would confuse smartphones from the companies. Additionally, the three-judge panel said Samsung’s icons don’t infringe on Apple’s design patents, but they did say Samsung infringed on Apple’s “bounce back” technology, which occurs when a user reaches the end of a mobile screen.

As with the other court cases happening worldwide, Apple was arguing that Samsung copied its designs, while Samsung was arguing that Apple is infringing on its wireless technology. The particular case was started by Samsung in June 2012 to counter Apple’s lawsuits in other countries, which led Apple to countersue in South Korea.

While both Apple and Samsung were seeking damages of 100 million won (around $90,000), the court ordered Apple to pay up 20 million won (around $17,650) for each patent it violated. Samsung has to pay 25 million won (around $22,000) per infringed patent.

The judges ordered Apple to pay 20 million won, or $17,650 in damages, for each violated patent. Samsung was ordered to pay 25 million won, or $22,000. Both companies had sought damages of 100 million won, or about $90,000, from the other.

Apple and Samsung can appeal the decision, but thanks to the complexities of South Korean courts, that would an involve a rehearing of the entire case, according to the WSJ. While the damages weren’t too significant in this case, both companies will likely fight back to be able to sell their older products (the iPad 2 is still a great bargain for tablet buyers, and the Galaxy Nexus remains one of the best Android devices).

Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple won a split-decision in a German court against Samsung’s Galaxy tablets. The Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court banned Samsung’s smaller Galaxy Tab 7.7 in all EU countries, but the iPad maker lost an appeal to block sales of the Korean company’s larger Galaxy Tab 10.1N. The ruling in favor of  Samsung confirmed “that the Galaxy 10.1N does not infringe” upon Apple patents, the rival firm announced.

In February, the same German court ruled that design changes made to the Galaxy 10.1N was enough to withdrawal the initial injunction won by Apple. Apple was unable to change the court’s thinking on appeal.

However, Apple was able to further limit sales of the smaller Galaxy 7.7 tablet from the original ban in Germany to now across all EU member states.

“We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union,” Samsung said in a statement to the tech blog The Verge.

Besides all of this preliminary back-and-forth, the two companies are still scheduled to face off in a trial in German courts. The German court’s rulings on the two injunctive measures appear to throw new focus on Samsung’s comments Monday that Apple ‘prefers lawsuits over licensing.’

Additionally, the split decision in Germany is just the latest round in a long-running battle between Apple and Samsung as the two competitors vie to control the hottest mobile sectors: tablets and smartphones. As we showed yesterday, Apple has had more courtroom wins aimed at the U.S. market, while European courts have not been so overwhelmingly favorable to Apple’s arguments.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

When is being uncool cool? For Samsung, it’s when it gets you out of a potentially nasty legal battle with Apple.

U.K. Judge Colin Birss ruled today that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab Android tablets don’t infringe on the iPad because they’re simply not as hip, Bloomberg reports.

The Galaxy Tabs “do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” Birss said. “They are not as cool.”

More specifically, Birss said the Samsung slates were clearly different from the iPad because they were thinner and sported “unusual details” on the back. Indeed, it’s hard to mistake an iPad for the Galaxy Tab if you have it in your hands, or can look at them from all angles.

Last week, Apple won a preliminary injunction against Samsung over sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S.

The news, obviously, is a double-edged sword for Samsung. While it no longer has to worry about fighting with Apple over the Galaxy Tab’s design, it’s also a very public declaration that Samsung’s tablets lack something special.

This ruling won’t affect Samsung’s sales, but in the vicious high school mentality of gadget geeks, it’s a dig that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible — visually and experientially. MobileBeat 2012, taking place July 10-11 in San Francisco, is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

More bad news for Samsung. The company asked courts to delay a ban on sales of its Galaxy Nexus phone, but it was denied the extra time today.

According to All Things D, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who recently approved Apple’s request for an injunction against the smartphone, refused the delay and will instead wait for Apple to post a $95.6 million bond. The bond acts as a safety net for Samsung, should the courts rule in its favor, and will cover any losses sustained from being unable to sell the Galaxy Nexus.

Samsung made the appeal on Sunday after the ruling was issued, saying the judge had “legally insufficient evidence” that Apple would face its own losses should the sale of the Galaxy Nexus continue throughout the trial. Apple says that Samsung is infringing on its patents in the Galaxy Nexus and has already won an injunction against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, which Apple says is too similar to the iPad. In that case, Apple forked over a $2.6 million bond to cover the injunction.

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging,” Apple said in a statement at the time. “This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

All Things D notes that Samsung and Google are said to have a software update in the works, which will take care of the infringing aspect of the Galaxy Nexus. All this in the hopes of getting the Nexus back on retailers’ shelves.

via All Things D; Galaxy Nexus photo via TAKA@P.P.R.S/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung, with some purposeful timing right before the iPad HD launch event today, announced it has filed another lawsuit against Apple in a South Korean court over the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

The Korean company filed suit against Apple on Tuesday, saying that the Apple devices above infringed on three of its patents. Reuters reports that the suit “covers three utility patents and involves methods of displaying data, the user interface, and short text messages.”

Apple first sued Samsung last year over “slavishly” copying the iPhone and iPad’s design in the Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S Android devices. Samsung called foul, and since then the two companies have been engaged in a seemingly endless legal back-and-forth that has spanned over 30 cases in 10 countries, including Australia and Germany.

Samsung certainly knew what it was doing by filing its latest lawsuit against Apple yesterday, but the move was likely a symbolic gesture, as Samsung hasn’t had the best track record in its litigation against Apple. All of Samsung’s adjudicated claims against Apple were dismissed, FOSS Patents points out, and it hasn’t been able to fight off all of Apple’s claims against it.

Foss Patents’ Florian Mueller notes that Samsung desperately needs to win some of its cases, otherwise its patent portfolio will seem weakened. Mueller also points out that it would be suspect if Samsung ends up winning this latest claim in its home country:

It would certainly be odd if Samsung lost all (or almost all) of its lawsuits in the other eight jurisdictions in which it is suing Apple (United States, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Australia) but then succeeded big-time in its own country. I heard that Samsung accounts for approximately 20 percent of South Korean GDP. Based on its revenues, I think the figure would be closer to 10 percent, but the 20 percent figure might include some indirect effects. Whether the right number is 10 percent or 20 percent, if a single company group is so pervasive in a given country, I wonder if it’s even possible to find a single judge who doesn’t have family members who work for such a company or other indirect relationships.

The company crunched numbers from the 600 publishers that are using its Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) to produce tablet content. Currently, there are 1,500 iPad, Kindle Fire, Nook, Samsung Galaxy, and other Android tablet publications created with DPS, including 12 out of the 20 top-grossing iPad Newsstand titles.

The first promising stat is that tablet publications keep readers’ attention, with 56 percent of DPS content being read for 25 minutes to 2.5 hours each month. Nine percent of readers spend up to 5 hours a month reading tablet publications. One of the reasons for these un-Internet-like attention spans might be interactivity. Tablet publications are packed with slideshows, videos, 360-degree images, and constantly updated content from the web.

These statistics show how far the medium has come in the two years since Apple first launched the iPad, and the almost five months since it rolled out the Newsstand feature — a hub for all digital publications that live on the iPad home screen. With 16 million DPS digital publications downloaded in the past year, tablets are giving hope to publishers that are hemorrhaging print subscribers.

One of the big missteps in online publishing has been putting content online first, worrying about how to make money off of it second. Most pay walls aren’t working, and online ads don’t make the amounts of money print publishers need to fund high-quality content. Tablet publications are trying to remedy that.

“When we push content online, we’re inviting people to come into the shop and steal our candy without paying,” said Declan Moore, president of National Geographic Publishing. National Geographic uses DPS to make tablet versions of its magazines. “With the app we have a cash register in place, which we didn’t have before.”

The cash register doesn’t appear to be scaring off customers used to getting things for free. Adobe found 68 percent of tablet readers were paying for their reading material: 15 percent paid for a single issue, 26 percent purchased subscriptions, and 27 percent are shelling out for a bundle of print and digital issues.

Even with these up-front payments, ad sales remain an important source of revenue for tablet pubs. Adobe found readers are engaging with ads just as much on tablets as they do in print, and one in every five tablet page views is an advertisement.

“Different mediums lend themselves to different types of ads. Online they’re in a hunt-and-gather mode, on the iPad they’re in a lean-back-and-entertain-me mode,” said Moore. He said tablet magazine ads are more suited for “brand advertising” than online direct-response advertising, where success is measure by click-through rates.

Tablet-magazine advertisements are ahead of online ads in some respects — they are attractive, have high-production values, and can be interactive without being intrusive or annoying. That makes them ideal for big companies like Lexus that are trying to increase brand recognition, not get you to click-through and buy a car right this second.

However, in order for tablet issues to be counted toward a magazine’s general circulation numbers, publishers have to follow rules from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. These regulations are partiality responsible for limiting tablet-ad innovation, and put them behind online ads in areas such as behavioral and demographic targeting.

Interestingly, National Geographic has had impressive success on non-iPad tablets. Moore explained that iPad users own their devices for a variety of purposes — watching movies, playing games, or browsing the Internet. But many Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook owners bought those tablets because they love to read.

The iPad isn’t the only tablet for magazines, and DPS isn’t the only creation option for publishers. Many magazines are using similar tools such as Mag+ (from the makers of Popular Science), Aquafadas, Woodwing, or their own custom solutions (like the New York Times) to create tablet content.

What the tablet publications have in common is they are all hoping to have finally hit on a digital business model that pays.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple is in the process of testing a smaller version of its iPad tablet, a product that could help it steal away market share from smaller tablets like the Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy Tab, according to a report by the
Wall Street Journal.

While the iPad is still by far the number one selling tablet in the world, Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire has had a relatively strong debut — though Amazon refuses to tell anyone exactly how many units it has sold. And then there are other smaller tablets in the market like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet and Motorola’s Xyboard tablets. Arguably, Apple has a good opportunity to create a smaller tablet to compete against these other devices.

Apple’s latest 10-inch iPad tablet, the iPad 3, will almost certainly be announced the first week of March and see release in the middle of that month. The iPad 3 is rumored to have a 2048-by-1536-pixel Retina display, a quad-core A6 processor, and 4G LTE networking. But we may not see a small-screened iPad debuting alongside the iPad 3 since Apple is still in the early stages of the development process. However, there has been previous speculation from Taiwanese publication Digitimes about a smaller iPad form factor would start production in mid-2012 and see release late in the year.

The Wall Street Journal report suggests that Apple has shown a new smaller tablet to suppliers that has a screen around 8 inches in size. The company is also reportedly working with Taiwan’s AU Optronics Co. and South Korea’s LG to create the test panels.

Ideally, the smaller form factor and a lower price could attract those who have small hands and feel the $500 base price for the iPad is too much. There are some consumers that simply prefer the 7- or 8-inch form factor simply because its lighter and better for reading during extended periods.

Would you be interested in buying a smaller version of the iPad?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung has unveiled the successor to its first 7-inch Android tablet, but this time the device will run the latest feature-rich version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will be one of the first tablets available with Ice Cream Sandwich, which has a haltingly beautiful design and tons of new features like facial recognition unlocking that make using Android elegant and fun. The Galaxy Tab 2 will join Samsung’s diverse family of tablets like the Tab 8.9 and 10.1, which compete the best they can against Apple’s iPad, the most popular tablet in the world.

“Two years ago, [the] Samsung Galaxy Tab began to offer customers more possibilities on the go,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Samsung, in a statement. “Since then, Samsung has actively enhanced our tablet line-up with several tablets in different sizes.”

On the spec side, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 7-inch screen with 1,024-by-600 resolution, a 1-GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 3-megapixel camera on the rear, and a front-facing VGA camera for video chat. There will be both Wi-Fi and 3G models available. For 3G connectivity, the device will support HSPA+ downloads up to 21 Mbps (if you can ever find a network that actually can deliver that.)

The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 will launch first in the U.K. in March and then spill out into other markets. While the U.S. isn’t mentioned, the device will almost certainly arrive stateside like its other tablets.

You can see a few more Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) photos below:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Good sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet led to significant gains for Google’s Android operating system in tablet market share during the fourth quarter of 2011, according to new data from mobile analytics firm Flurry.

Flurry, which purports to measure application sessions on more than 90 percent of all Android devices, found that Android tablets gained 10 percent share from Q4 2010 to Q4 2011 and now represent 39 percent of the overall tablet market.

The Kindle Fire, which only just debuted this past November, has managed to best Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in terms of application session usage (a session represents an application launch and exit that is longer than 10 seconds). The Kindle Fire already represents 35.7 percent of total Android tablet application sessions, while the Galaxy Tab has been reduced to just 35.6 percent (down from 63 percent in November), according to Flurry data that accounts for most of January 2012.

From the data, one could easily infer that Amazon has not only helped Android carve out a larger slice of the tablet pie, but has done so at the expense of Samsung, and in just a matter of months. The deduction makes sense: the Kindle Fire is the most successful product Amazon has ever launched, and it was the e-retailer’s most popular gift and its top best-seller for the holiday season.

“In January, after the holiday boom in devices and in apps, we see that strong adoption of Kindle Fire, combined with significant downloads driven from the Amazon App Store, resulted in a massive surge in session usage that just edges out the Galaxy Tab,” Flurry vice president of marketing Peter Farago said.

Farago partially attributed Amazon’s success to an Apple-style Fire launch, its decision to offer a more consumer-friendly version of the Android OS, and an improved application purchase and download experience. Farago pointed to Flurry’s January analysis of five top paid Android apps as proof. The Kindle fire, he said, drove upwards of 2.5 times more paid downloads then the Samsung Galaxy Tab, even though the Tab is estimated to have double the install base of the Fire.

Amazon may be helping Android snatch up tablet market share at an accelerated rate, but don’t fret about Apple. The undisputed leader in the tablet category did not see sales of its widely successful iPad slip, as previously suggested. In fact, Apple is fresh off record earnings and sold 15.4 million iPads in its first quarter for fiscal year 2012.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Amazon’s cheap Kindle Fire is indeed chipping away at the iPad’s dominance among potential tablet buyers — at least, according to one survey.

65 percent of people who said they’re interested in buying a tablet are planning to get Apple’s $499 iPad, while 22 percent are looking forward to the $199 Kindle Fire, according to the latest report from ChangeWave Research.

The company surveyed 3,043 consumers in North America, 14 percent of whom said they planned to buy a tablet within the next 90 days (the above numbers come out of this smaller portion of responses). That’s a big jump over ChangeWave’s data from last year, in which only 4 percent said they wanted to buy a tablet (when the iPad was really the only choice for most consumers). In August, the company found only 6 percent of consumers were interested in getting a tablet.

The cause of the big shift between August and this most recent survey is plain to see: The arrival of the cheap Kindle Fire is pushing many consumers to finally snap up a tablet. JP Morgan has estimated that Amazon could sell up to 5 million Kindle Fire units this year. For the more discerning customer, disappointed by the Kindle Fire’s middling reviews, its release may convince them to bite the bullet and get an iPad.

Among other tablet choices, 4 percent of potential buyers say they want Samsung’s Galaxy Tab (the exact model is unclear). ChangeWave notes that no other manufacturer reached above 1 percent of consumer demand in its survey (sorry, Barnes & Noble).

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After declaring its intention to block sales of the iPhone 4S in parts of Europe two weeks ago, Samsung now wants to stop sales of the hyped device in Australia and Japan as well, the company said today.

Apple and Samsung have been sparring in courts around the world since April, when Apple sued Samsung in the U.S. for “slavishly” copying the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung filed a counter-suit against Apple in the U.S. that didn’t do much, but the battle also extended to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which can block the importation of devices into the U.S.

Apple most recently made headway against Samsung in U.S. courts on Friday when a judge declared that Samsung infringes on Apple’s patents with its Galaxy tablets and smartphones. If Apple can prove the validity of its patents to the courts, some of Samsung’s most popular products will be blocked from sale in the U.S. Both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA opposed Apple’s request because stopping sales of Samsung’s Android devices could severely hurt holiday sales.

Samsung’s decision to fight back to block iPhone 4S sales is not surprising. But preventing Apple from selling the new iPhone in several countries, even if it’s just temporary, could hurt the iPhone 4S’ worldwide momentum. The iPhone 4S set new sales records this weekend with more than 4 million units sold in the U.S., and Apple will want to continue that pace as it launches the 4S around the world in the coming weeks.

Samsung filed for preliminary injunctions in Tokyo, Japan and New South Wales, Australia. The Korean company asked to stop the sale of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 as well, but since those devices have been on the market for much longer, a ban on the 4S would be much more damaging.

The relationship between Samsung and Apple is complicated, as Apple still purchases mass quantities of chips and other components manufactured by Samsung. Samsung COO and President Lee Jae-Yong reportedly attended Steve Jobs’ memorial service on Sunday and said he would use the opportunity to talk briefly to new Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“I will have a chance to meet Cook, but I’m not going there for business purposes. I’m going to pay tribute to Steve Jobs, and I don’t know what I will talk about with Cook,” Mr. Lee told Korean media before leaving the country for Jobs’ service.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

A U.S. judge has declared that Samsung infringes on Apple’s patents with its Galaxy smartphones and tablets, but also said that Apple has to prove the validity of its patents, Reuters reports.

The news is a half-win for Apple. If it can prove its patents valid it will be able block the sale of Samsung’s infringing products in the U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh made the statements during a court hearing on Thursday.

Apple filed suit against Samsung in April, saying that the Korean company “slavishly” copied its designs with the Galaxy S smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablets. Apple later asked for an injunction barring the sale of Samsung’s products in the U.S.

“We think we’ve clearly raised substantial questions,” Samsung attorney Kathleen Sullivan said, referring to the validity of Apple’s patents. Apple attorney Harold McElhinny argued that Apple’s patents shouldn’t be invalidated by previous designs, since Apple’s product design is a leap beyond previous tablets.

According to Reuters, Judge Koh made several references to the design similarities between the tablets. During the hearing, she asked if the Samsung attorney could tell the difference between the two devices at one point, while holding both tablets above her head.

“Not at this distance your honor,” Sullivan said, who Reuters noted was standing around ten feet away. Koh asked again if any Samsung lawyer could tell the difference between the devices, and eventually one gave the right answer.

Koh also noted that she wouldn’t grant Apple’s injunction based on a single “utility” patent, though she noted that decision is just tentative at the moment.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Chinese mobile manufacturer Huawei on Tuesday announced its 7-inch Springboard for T-Mobile, a new Android tablet that will compete with other 7-inch tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 and the red-hot Amazon Kindle Fire.

Android tablets have failed to make substantial headway against Apple’s iPad, but cheaper Android-based tablets could start to eat into the iPad’s market share since the least-expensive iPad 2 costs a hefty $499. Enter Huawei, which already offers low-priced Android phones in the U.S.

I was able to get hands on time with the new Springboard on the floor of the CTIA Enterprise 2011 show in San Diego. It’s light at 14 ounces and relatively small at 7.48-by-5.08-by-0.41 inches. It felt nice in my hands and the aluminum body felt surprisingly premium compared to Huawei’s cheap-feeling plastic phones. The tablet’s 7-inch screen has 1280-by-800 resolution and pictures and text looked good on it. There’s a 5-megapixel camera on back and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for taking pictures or videochatting.

As far as performance, the device felt slightly sluggish compared to my iPad 2, but it was still fast enough to scroll through and open apps to hardly notice the sluggishness. In runs the Android 3.2 mobile operating system, which is optimized for running Honeycomb on 7-inch tablets. Inside, the machine has a 1.2-GHz dual-core processor and HSPA 14.4 data capabilities that allow for fast processing and speedy T-Mobile “4G” data.

Unfortunately, Huawei and T-Mobile have not yet announced pricing and availability for tablet. That said, Hauwei is known for value pricing, and if it wants the tablet to compete with the $199 Amazon Kindle Fire, it would be smart to keep it under $200 with a 2-year contract. A Huawei spokesperson on the CTIA show floor said it should be available “before the holidays.”

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung plans to file patent infringement claims against Apple’s new iPhone 4S and stop it from being sold in France and Italy, the company said today. The move shows Samsung is willing to fight back hard against Apple’s lawsuits.

“The infringed technology is essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and Samsung believes that Apple’s violation [is] too severe and that the iPhone 4S should be barred from sales,” Samsung said in a statement.

The announcement comes just a day after Apple most likely killed the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. Apple sued to block the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on grounds that it violated Apple’s patents and has rejected settlement offers with Samsung in hopes of blocking the Tab 10.1′s Australian launch altogether.

Apple and Samsung have been fighting in courts around the world since April, when Apple sued Samsung in the U.S. for “slavishly” copying the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Samsung filed a counter-suit against Apple in the U.S. that did not do much, but the battle also extended to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which can block the importation of devices into the U.S.

Samsung said it also plans to try to block the sale of the iPhone 4S on patent grounds in countries besides Italy and France, but we don’t know where else at this point.

Apple just launched the new Apple 4S, an upgrade of its popular iPhone 4 smartphone, yesterday. Apple expects the 4S to be a true successor to the iPhone 4. But if Samsung can find ways to block the sale of the device through courts, as Apple has done to Samsung, Apple may not be able to sell the 4S at the same clip it expects to.

What do you think about the squabbles between Samsung and Apple?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung may scrap long-made plans to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in Australia after Apple rejected an offer to settle the dispute between the two companies.

Apple and Samsung have been fighting in courts around the world since April, when Apple sued Samsung in the U.S. for “slavishly” copying the designs of the iPhone and iPad. The battle made its way all the way to Australia at the beginning of August when Apple won a ruling to block sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on patent infringement grounds. Samsung agreed to stop advertising and launching the tablet until the lawsuit was settled.

Apple has rejected every offer to settle, including one made last week, which keeps the Galaxy Tab 10.1 off shelves. Samsung’s stance is that if the Galaxy Tab can’t be sold this holiday season, then there is effectively no reason to launch the product at all.

Technology evolves at such a pace that trying to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in 2012 would be pointless. The Tab 10.1 was launched in mid-June in the U.S. and its main competition, the iPad 2, was launched in January 2011.

In terms of future competition, the iPad 3 is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2012 with better hardware, including a higher-resolution screen, and Samsung is most likely building a better version of the Tab to launch in 2012 to compete with the iPad 3. On top of Apple, Samsung also has to contend with the new $199 Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, which will provide a strong low-cost alternative for media tablets.

Do you think Samsung’s tablet ambitions in Australia are over? Do you think Apple is playing fair?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Online retailer Amazon moved 95,000 units of its hotly-anticipated 7-inch tablet, the Kindle Fire, the first day the tablet was available for pre-order, according to estimates from market research firm eDataSource.

Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire, a tablet geared toward the newly-minted low-end tablet market, on Wednesday last week. Rather than creating a high-end tablet like the iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Amazon opted for a cheaper device that’s closer to Research in Motion’s PlayBook now that Best Buy has lowered the price of that tablet. Both the iPad 2 and the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 retail for around $500 for the cheapest model.

The Fire hits a similar price point that the TouchPad tablet’s fire-sale kicked off when Hewlett-Packard announced it would sell the 10-inch tablet for $100. The result was an almost immediate sell-out at physical retailers and online stores. The fire sale was so successful that HP said it would issue more TouchPads, though the company did not say when they would be available.

Amazon’s new tablet has a dual-core processor, a 7-inch LCD screen and runs on a modified Android operating system. The company also has its own web browser called Silk, which uses Amazon’s cloud infrastructure to speed up browsing by pre-fetching and caching pages you are likely to click on.

The online retailer can afford to sell the $200 Kindle Fire for less that it costs to manufacture it (which is around $210) because it will more than make up the difference with sales of media and other retail goods. The Fire gives Amazon a direct pipeline to its customers so that it can push them offers for everything Amazon sells — such as clothing, electronics or even furniture.

eDataSource also estimated that Amazon sold around 25,000 models of its new line of Kindle e-readers, priced at $79 and $99. The new Kindle no longer has a keyboard, while the Kindle Touch now has a touchscreen. The 3G model of the Kindle Touch costs $149. The firm made the estimates by analyzing around 800,000 receipts from individuals who have opted in to its service.

The Kindle Fire will be available November 15.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung has updated its 7-inch Galaxy Tab with better specs like a dual-core processor and Honeycomb Android OS, the company said today. It’s calling the upgraded device the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. The Galaxy Tab, first released at the end of 2010, was the first Android tablet Samsung brought to market in the U.S.

The tablet market got big news earlier this week when Amazon announced its $199 Kindle Fire, a 7-inch Android tablet connected with Amazon’s extensive services and built for e-reading, web browsing, streaming shows and more. Samsung’s decision to update its 7-inch tablet was already in the works before the Kindle Fire announcement, but it will likely have a hard time competing with that price point.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus has some nice specs. It includes a 1.2-GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 3-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, a microSD card slot and 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage. The tablet runs a TouchWiz-enabled version of Android 3.2 (Honeycomb), which is optimized for tablets.

Samsung hasn’t mentioned pricing yet, but because the original 7-inch tablet with Wi-Fi only is priced at $349.99, expect a similar base price on the new model. Pricing will escalate with more storage and data networking abilities.

The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus will first launch in Austria and Indonesia at the end of October and will likely launch in the U.S. and other countries later this year. It will face steep competition this holiday season from the Apple iPad 2 on the high end and the Amazon Kindle Fire on the low end.

Are you interested in the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, or are you more attracted to something like the Kindle Fire?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung on Monday introduced its Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet, a smaller sibling to the sleek Tab 10.1, which is currently of the best Android tablets on the market. It also showed off two updated Galaxy Player media devices.

The three new devices are not huge releases for Samsung, but they will help the company compete heavily with Apple’s popular iPad 2 and iPod touch devices this holiday season. The company first introduced the tablet to the world back in late August, but used this event at the Samsung Experience in New York City to officially show off the 8.9 (pictured above) and introduce two new products to the U.S. market — this is the first glace we’ve had of the new Galaxy Players.

Spec-wise, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 features an 8.9-inch WXGA TFT display, 1.5-GHz dual-core T250S processor and Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface running on top of Android Honeycomb. The 16GB model will retail at $469 and the 32GB version will cost $569, with nationwide availability on Oct. 2.

Samsung also used the opportunity to show off new editions of its Galaxy Player media device, which is an Android-powered alternative to the iPod touch. The device comes in two versions, one with a 4-inch screen and one with a 5-inch screen.

The Galaxy Player hardware runs Android 2.3.5 and has front-facing and rear-facing cameras, 8GB on-board memory, a microSD slot compatible with up to 32GB cards, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The 4.0 model will cost $229, while the 5.0 model will have a $269 price tag. Both devices will be available in the U.S. Oct. 16 at major retailers.

If we had to guess, we’d say these new devices are going to get dragged into the worldwide patent lawsuit battles brewing between Apple and Samsung.

More pictures of the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Player can be viewed below:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Korean electronics powerhouse Samsung on Monday confirmed it has filed a complaint against Apple in French courts on the grounds that the iPhone and iPad maker is violating three of its patents.

Samsung and Apple have been in a worldwide legal battle involving patent and copyright infringement since April when Apple sued Samsung in U.S. courts. Apple has claimed that Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones and tablets “slavishly” copied the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Extensions of the infringement case have thus far made it to courts in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Korea.

The just-revealed French complaint was filed in Paris district court in July and the first hearing is expected to happen in December. Samsung told AFP that the complaint focuses on three technology patents and not design patents. Apple’s most recent tussle with Samsung in Germany focused on design patents.

Samsung’s French complaint asserts that Apple is violating patents regarding UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). The suit targets the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPad and iPad 2.

The most recent incident between the two companies was last week when a German court upheld a preliminary injunction that bans the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Samsung plans to continue the appeals process in higher courts in Germany.

Because Apple has had some success banning Samsung products in a few countries, it’s not hard to imagine the two companies coming to some sort of settlement. If such an agreement were to occur, Samsung would most likely have to pay Apple a fee per unit on certain mobile devices it manufactures.

What do you think about the ongoing war between Samsung and Apple?

Photo from Oldboy courtesy of Show East

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung suffered yet another major blow in its patent battle against Apple today, as the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany upheld the preliminary injunction banning sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, reports FOSS Patents.

The preliminary injunction was first granted last month by the German court, which found Samsung’s tablets closely resembled Apple’s designs. It initially banned sales of the tablet across other countries in Europe, but that ban was eventually lifted in most countries.

As FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller points out, today’s news means that Samsung won’t be able to keep fighting the injunction in the Düsseldorf Regional Court, but it can appeal the case in a fast-track proceeding at the Higher Regional Court. With that plan, the injunction could be lifted within a few months.

Additionally, the main proceeding of Apple’s case against Samsung will continue automatically in the Regional Court. While slower than a fast-track proceeding (it could take a full year), Samsung could still appeal the outcome of the Regional Court’s final ruling. But if the main proceeding rules in favor of Apple, the injunction will become permanent. On the other hand, if the court rules in favor of Samsung, Apple will be held liable for damages.

For now, Samsung won’t be able to sell the Galaxy Tab 10.1 within Germany, and its German branch won’t be able to sell the tablet to other EU countries (Mueller says that, in practical terms, that means nothing, since they get their tablet stock from elsewhere). Samsung was also forced to remove its Galaxy Tab 7.7 from the IFA consumer electronics show floor last week due to a new injunction.

“The way the judge reportedly pronounced today’s decision, Samsung won’t be able to promote or sell any new products in Germany that infringe the successfully-enforced Community design for as long as the injunction is in force,” Mueller wrote. “In other words, if Samsung came out (hypothetically speaking) with a Galaxy Tab 9.0, it seems the injunction would apply.”

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

The fighting just doesn’t let up. Apple has now filed a lawsuit in a Japanese court to ban some of Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Apple and Samsung have been in a legal fist fight since April, when Apple sued Samsung in U.S. court for patent infringement, saying that its Galaxy S smartphones and tablets “slavishly” copied the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Extensions of the infringement case have thus far made it to courts in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Korea.

Now Japan can be added to that long list. Apple’s suit to ban sales of Galaxy S and S II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet was filed with the Tokyo District Court, according to Reuters. The first hearing was reportedly held on Wednesday.

Samsung filed its own suit against Apple in Japan in April, and Apple filed a countersuit on Aug. 23. Apple is also seeking $1.3 million in additional damages.

The global battle has taken a few interesting turns before now. Just last week, Apple used a court-ordered injunction to force Samsung to remove its new Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet from the floor of the IFA trade show in Berlin. And the week before that, a Dutch judge ruled that several Galaxy devices violated Apple’s patents and forced Samsung to take some of its products off shelves in Europe.

This is certainly not the last we’ve heard of the fight between these two tech titans. Keep your eyes on VentureBeat for the latest on the ongoing legal struggle.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Samsung is now allowed to sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet again in most of Europe after a German court lifted an injunction on the device requested by Apple.

Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis, thinks Samsung should be pleased with the win but said the company should expect similar legal battles in the coming days and weeks.

“Samsung is certainly breathing a sigh of relief,” Greengart told VentureBeat. “Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting legal development.”

Last week, Samsung said it was “disappointed” when the German court blocked the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the EU (except the Netherlands) on the grounds that the Tab imitated the iPad so closely it infringed on Apple’s intellectual property rights. Samsung could have faced fines up to $350,000 per unit sold under the ban.

The Duesseldorf regional court took this back today by saying it was questionable whether it had the authority to bar the sale of an international product outside of Germany. Since Samsung is based in South Korea, the court said the ban should be lifted for now.

The news is yet another continuation of Apple’s legal squabbles with Samsung, which started in April with a lawsuit in the U.S. concerning the company’s Galaxy Android smartphones and Galaxy Tab. Apple argued that Samsung’s devices considerably imitated the iPhone and iPad. Samsung filed a counter-suit against Apple, but the battle also extended to the U.S. International Trade Commission, which can block the importation of devices into the U.S.

What do you think of the ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Android-based tablets have wrested away 20 percent of worldwide market share from the Apple iPad in the past 12 months, according to ABI Research.

Tablets running versions of Google’s Android OS include the semi-popular Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom (left), and today saw the release of a new one, with the Acer Iconia Tab A100, the first 7-inch tablet running the latest Honeycomb version of Android. The sheer variety of Android tablets available, with different price points and features, makes it possible for these tablets to hit all segments of the market.

“If we look at Apple, they want to deliver one form factor,” Kevin Burden, vice president of mobile devices for ABI Research, told VentureBeat. “But with Android, manufacturers can differentiate and offer it at lower prices. The value of Android is choice.”

The Android tablet market growing similarly to how the Android smartphone market grew a few years ago. But despite the variety of tablet offerings, there is less demand for tablets than phones. Because of those two factors, no single tablet has had stand-out sales, and none of the tablets can compare sales-wise with the iPad, said ABI.

“Many vendors have introduced media tablets, but none are separating themselves from the pack to pose a serious threat to Apple,” said Jeff Orr, ABI Research mobile devices group director, in a statement. “In fact, most have introduced products at prices higher than similarly-configured iPads. Apple, never a company to be waiting for others, has introduced its second-generation iPad media tablet while keeping product pricing unchanged.”

Orr said consumers look somewhat less favorably on the Android tablet segment because of OS fragmentation and the introduction of lower-cost units that have fewer features.

“De-featured, low-cost media tablets are being introduced by more than 50 vendors in 2011,” Orr said. “This will certainly help bolster year-over-year growth for the category, but it also creates a negative perception in the minds of the mass consumer audience about the readiness of media tablets to be fully functional within the next several years.”

Although consumers may not favor Android tablets over the iPad, Android tablets’ market share could still rise considerably. Gartner projects that in 2015 the iPad will have 47.1 percent of the tablet market, while Android will jump to 38.6 percent. While I’m sure Google would like even higher numbers, those would be fairly big gains if the projection turns out accurate.

Do you think Android tablets will continue to rise up in market share? Could one end up seriously challenging the iPad?

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

The high-stakes patent battle between Samsung and Apple took yet another turn on Tuesday when Apple filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that seeks to bar many Samsung mobile devices from the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

Watching the legal battle between these two companies is like watching a hot tin of popcorn that’s waiting to explode: Every day, there’s a new pop, and you wonder when the whole thing is going to go off. Earlier today, we found out that Microsoft was using its patents related to Android to coax Samsung into paying Microsoft $15 for each Google Android phone it makes.

Samsung’s ITC complaint mirrors Samsung’s own ITC complaint that was filed about a week ago, which asked for an import ban on all Apple mobile products, including the iPhone and iPad. Then, on Friday, it was revealed that Apple had filed an injunction against four Samsung products, asking for the immediate removal of four Samsung devices from the U.S. market.

Apple’s ITC complaint says Samsung is violating four technical patents and two design patents, which apply to six smartphones and two tablets. The smartphones include the Galaxy S 4G, Fascinate, Transform, Captivate, Intercept, and Infuse 4G. The two tablets are the original Galaxy Tab and the new Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Apple and Samsung have been sparring since April, when Apple first sued Samsung for violating its patents with the Galaxy series of phone and tablet devices.

“Samsung has followed each of Apple’s groundbreaking products with imitation products that incorporate Apple’s technology and distinctive design,” Apple wrote to the ITC.

Now that Samsung and Apple have both sued each other in federal courts and both filed ITC complaints to block the other’s imports, there are likely more chapters to go before this story concludes. Rest assured, we’ll be there with updates as they happen.