Hasta La Gadget!

Three months is a long time in tablet-land, it seems. Since we last brought you a buyer’s guide, a few things have changed. In fact, this is probably the biggest shake-up yet, with not only the long-rumored iPad mini making an appearance, but also new offerings from two other big guns — Microsoft and Google. Oh, and that means there’s a whole new species of device altogether. With Windows RT finally shipping, there’s new hardware to go with it, and we expect to see more popping up on the list in the months to come. This is all good news for you prospective tablet owners, as more competition can only mean more choice. With more options, though, comes more confusion. That’s where we come in, armed with a few notable picks. Read on to find out what made the cut this season.

Continue reading Engadget’s tablet buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition

Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, ASUS, Google

Engadget’s tablet buyer’s guide: fall 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s iPad saw its market share slip more than 15-percent in Q3 2012, according to new research, with Android tablets from Samsung and Amazon clawing away sales amid a growing market overall. While still dominating the tablet market overall, with a 50.4-percent share in Q3 so IDC reports, the iPad faced huge growth from Samsung in particular, which saw a year-on-year increase in market share of 325-percent.

According to the researchers, Samsung jumped from 6.5-percent market share in Q3 last year, to 18.4-percent in Q3 this year. It also saw a 115-percent increase from Q2 2012, and overall takes second place in IDC’s global leaderboard.

Amazon, too, took a bite out of Apple’s dominance, with the Kindle Fire HD line-up propelling it to third place and just under a tenth of the market. ASUS was helped to fourth place, Google’s Nexus 7 working its budget magic, while Lenovo snatched fifth place.

According to IDC’s number counters, it’s Samsung’s range of size options that helped it find so many buyers in 2012. “Samsung took advantage of an opportunity in the second quarter,” program manager Ryan Reith suggests. “The company offers a wide range of tablet offerings across multiple screen sizes and colors, and that clearly resonated with more buyers this quarter.”

The fact that the iPad mini extends the company’s tablet footprint into new screen sizes both works for and against Apple’s sales, IDC argues. The long-standing rumors of a smaller model may have dissuaded buyers of the existing, 9.7-inch version, it’s believed, though there’s the potential for a good quarter ahead now that the 7.9-incher is on sale.

However, pricing could still leave room for Android tablet OEMs to slip through. “[The] mini’s relatively high $329 starting price leaves plenty of room for Android vendors to build upon the success they achieved in the third quarter” research director Tom Mainelli highlights. Google in particular reacted aggressively to the iPad mini, ditching its 8GB Nexus 7 and replacing it with a 16GB $199 model.

iPad dominance slides as Samsung and Amazon tap tablet sales is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve seen many drop tests conducted on phones and tablets before. They’re rather cringe-worthy but if you’re looking for a new tablet that can withstand an accidental drop or two, we guess those videos can come in handy. That being said, the folks at SquareTrade have come up with a drop test video in which three tablets were tested – the iPad mini, the Nexus 7 and the iPad 3. Now typically drop tests basically involve the tester using their hands to hold and drop the tablet, hardly scientific, right? Well SquareTrade has come up with a contraption in which all three tablets are dropped at the same time and at the same angle. Next up they dunked all three tablets in water and ultimately ruled that the iPad mini did the best. However in the drop test the Nexus 7 came away with less damage, something worth taking into consideration. In any case you can be the judge, just check it out in the video above.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Don’t buy an iPad 3 today unless you like the old 30-pin connector, Apple sold 3 million iPads in 3 days,

Apple releases sales numbers, but none of the major Android manufacturers do, so market share comparisons–especially of the tablet market–are hard to do. Which is why it was interesting when Asus executive David Chang let this goodie slip to the Wall Street Journal:

“At the beginning, [Nexus 7 shipments] was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K. This latest month, it was close to 1 million.”

Wow! One million Nexus 7 tablets sold in a month–that’s a lot, but nothing compared to Apple’s 100 million iPads sold. From Chang’s context, it’s difficult to know whether this figure refers to tablets shipped or whether it refers to tablets sold. Shipping counts are often used to inflate and conflate sales numbers: Asus may have shipped a million tablets, but 900,000 could be languishing on shelves. Still, that’s an impressive number, and probably makes the Nexus 7 the most widely adopted Android tablet–except for the Kindle Fire, which, of course, we have no idea how many have sold either.

Google’s spokesperson said the company hasn’t released official sales figures.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google’s Nexus 7 tablet reportedly selling nearly 1 million units every month, Chromium OS Nexus 7 port,

With the Google Nexus 7 offering Android tablet users an unadulterated Android experience, many assumed that it could prove to be a serious competitor to Apple’s iPad. On the flipside there were probably some who expected the Nexus 7 to flop – after all Android tablets, save for a few, have not exactly been success stories. Well as it turns out, ASUS (via WSJ) has announced that sales of the Google Nexus 7 are reaching almost a million units a month, a pretty impressive feat we have to admit considering that the tablet was released a few months ago. With the Nexus 10 tablet having been made official, along with new Nexus 7 variants of different sizes and mobile connectivity, it is very likely that tablet sales of the Nexus 7 will achieve even greater numbers.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nexus 7 tablet is best selling Android tablet in the UK, Google Nexus 7 does 720p webcam recording,