Samsung may have revealed a real hardware baseline for the new Android 4.0 operating system when saying that any device had to have at least WVGA at 400×800 to receive an upgrade.

Android 4.0 will help most the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S II, both of them getting major phone interface changes. The changes are subtler on a tablet and mainly include updated core applications and face unlock, as well as others that are not dependent on the size of the screen.

While showing Samsung decided to support its older hardware, it is still clear that the Galaxy Nexus is the only device of Samsung to carry Android 4.0 in the near future. Other devices are likely to appear at the CES expo in January and in February at Mobile World Congress.

Elop said that when one sees the user experience from Nokia’s Lumia environment appearing on many hundreds of millions of PCs and tablets, it becomes clear that a synergy exists between both environments.

The Finnish-based company is not a newcomer in the world of tablets. It was one of few companies putting a mobile operating system on a tablet through the Maemo-based N800 and N700 models. Nokia has kept itself completely outside of competition when the iPad era began. However, the company had plans that included two design patents that may not be finalized as shipping hardware. Elop resisted pressure to involve the company in the competition and said he would do this only if Nokia could be unique.

There would certainly be some risks for Nokia in moving to Windows 8 for an eventual tablet, mainly when it would not be unique and would have to compete with devices coming from Dell, Hewlett Packard and others. Nokia’s last attempt related to a Windows PC was the Booklet 3G, which was well built but could not compete against netbooks with similar features but including cheaper parts that helped them cost significantly less.

Further details show that it will still use the 9.7-inch LCD-size as does the iPad 2. The rumors did not mention a 2,048×1,536 display as certain.

A March release is expected and may have an advantage in the holiday season in China. The Chinese New Year is on the 23rd of January and overlaps with national holidays between the 22nd and the 28th of January. As a consequence, it will not have as much interruption. The full assembly of the device could be started by late January.

The rumor related to the dock has not been corroborated directly elsewhere, although production has been rumoured sooner, in December.

A smaller design for the dock is considered a big break for Apple, but the company may have set the groundwork for an expected change since last year. Owners of the AirPlay are able to stream audio and video content, including live mirroring, but do not need to have a dock. Apple’s determination to get thinner and thinner devices is encountering the Dock Connector as a possible source of limitation.

By switching away, compatibility would be dropped with about nine years of hardware at the time of shipment of the iPad 3. However, it would work thanks to electrical consistency, but would need some add-ons and would use an adapter.

Applications cannot require in-app purchases and GMS (Google Mobile Services). They neither can require a camera, gyroscope, Bluetooth, microphone, 3G module, microSD card or GPS to function because none of them exist in hardware. Amazon says they are removed from current applications or are generating error messages when they are called for. The application cannot manipulate the user interface of Amazon.

As in the case of all Amazon Appstore applications, usual policies related to the content are to be respected. Applications requiring root access are not supported by the Kindle Fire, although this was supposed to happen as Amazon wants to kill piracy for its video and music shops.

Paul D’Arcy, from PC builder, said that some benefits were obvious when getting a tablet, such as mobility, mainly for retail or health care. However, he expressed his doubt they could ever replace PCs immediately. In his opinion, adding these devices would present another challenge to workers who already support personal computers and smartphones.

D’Arcy says tablets can be substitutes for paper-based systems and are supposed to bring new productivity standards, but they would be no more than companion devices and in no case replacements for existing PCs. According to D’Arcy, as long as strategies are still evolving in the market and the ecosystem is not yet mature, PCs are not dead.

The study, however, revealed significant interest in tablet devices and contradicted in part Dell’s conclusions. For example, 53 percent of IT officers interviewed manifested more than low interest in tablets, the majority being executives that had asked for their own device. Expectations of companies are that a large part of their staff would find tablets more useful. One piece of the survey showed last summer that 82 percent saw official sustenance for smartphones and tablets increasing at least five percent for the next two years.

Some doubts are related to the study that Dell and Intel paid for in February, as both would benefit from keeping the iPad and others out of the workplace. The non-PC tablets of Dell have been limited to the Streak line, which is home oriented, while all its business sales are focused on notebooks and desktops. Intel has a minority stake in tablets because of its Atom processors, but also makes significantly more money from desktop and notebook chips.

Specific effects manifested on corporate buying have not been mentioned, but the iPad has determined a decrease in overall PC sales, as businesses were supposed to delay their system upgrades. At the same time, mobile OS tablets like those of Apple or those based on Google’s platform only in some cases have desktop-level software and usually do not reach the expansion needed or wanted by companies. However, they have appeared into top firms as alternatives for notebooks used for e-mail, presentations or mobile-friendly applications like Salesforce.

Lenovo has said it would deliver multiple tablet models in the near future and one of them is supposed to be unveiled this year, in September. It is not certain whether the seven-inch tablet is the expected model.

The Chinese PC maker had one of the slowest reactions to the iPad. It produces its own tablet and had warned about the risks by arguing that tablets were necessary to stay relevant and prevent from being pushed aside because of Apple.

The move will finally limit the functionality of the app. The channel is supposed to kick out the My Apps section on the home page of the Market and determine users to bring it up by using a contextual menu. Objections already exist, some users qualifying it as “presumptive” and saying that they would prefer to check their own applications instead of visiting a branded channel.

One of them called the initiative “a little arrogant” and said that it would be better to get it as an extra function included in the menu or even placed on the screen instead of replacing a defined feature. He added that customers should have been asked what they wanted.

The new feature should already be live but it depends on individual carriers, although Sony claimed most people would get it soon.

This step is considered a premiere for an Android-based phone maker and is supposed to represent an eventual splintering of the platform. It does not require separate downloads, but creates an isolated area of the store and therefore could encourage other phone makers to provide general-purpose applications intentionally limited to their own handsets. The implementation of Sony Ericsson’s channel increases the time necessary to check for application updates and this way impedes functionality.

It is known that windows Phone 7 also has its own store included in another store, but this does not affect the interface when bringing in the custom store.

The design of the S1 should be familiar to iPad users since it reminds them the iPad in a case prepared for “typing mode”. Sony suggests that the design is meant to enhance stability and improve grip while changing the “torque” and concentrating the weight at the top of the device, which can be used in either a vertical or horizontal position, the same way people usually hold a folded-over magazine or even an iPad placed in a folio-style case. Another feature of the S1 is infrared technology which allows it to be utilized in controlling various AV devices, such as the Bravia line of Sony itself. DLNA technology allows users to simply “throw” content they are listening or watching to on the tablet to wireless speakers or HDTV.

The second unveiled tablet is the Sony S2, which has a fascinating dual-screen clamshell-like design. It sports two 5.5-inch screens with high resolution at 1,024×480 pixels. A Tegra 2 is also present like in the S1, but there is only a rear facing camera incorporated unlike the two cameras of the Sony S1. Thanks to its two screens, the device can be used in different ways, as the screens allow a flexible, simultaneous usage. For instance, when using the e-mail application, the bottom screen shows the keyboard, while the upper screen displays the message. Like its stablemate, the device is also PlayStation Certified and can support both 3G and 4G networks.

The destination of the two models is mainly entertainment consumption, but since all the abilities provided by Android 3.0 are present, web browsing or e-mail are also included, as well as the added feature permitting access to the premium cloud-based networks of Sony, which provide various content, such as the Reader store for e-books, the PlayStation Suite allowing users to purchase and play any first-generation PlayStation game, or the Qriosity network for video and music services.

Kunimasa Suzuki, the head of personal computers at Sony, declared that both new tablets would be available this fall globally, but they could probably appear sooner in the United States. As he said, the company’s goal is to be in second place in the tablet industry which is currently led by iPad and is evaluated at $49 billion by 2015.

These sources behind narrowed timeframe also hinted that the A100 was especially designed for women. The smaller size allows users to hold it only with one hand and control it entirely with the other. Acer thinks that this is more convenient for female owners than a 10-inch tablet (this would more often necessitate a grip with both hands).

However, pricing is still unknown. Acer’s A100 pre-order seen earlier this month had the tablet costing the equivalent of $485 in the United Kingdom. The Iconia Tab A500’s USA release will see the larger tablet cost $450, making a $400 or even lower price more likely.

This claim has not been confirmed but might be corroborated by earlier reports. It is known for months that Apple was making most of its touchscreen orders in Taiwan. In one of its fiscal results call, RIM had declared that it expected to have figures reflecting the expenses related to the shipping of the PlayBook by the end of its quarter ending in February. The company expected to get revenues only in March, at the start of the next quarter, suggesting an intended shipping timeframe in March. However, it had to set a release date on April 19th.

The long history of the tablet had mixed performance. The PlayBook has been shown for the first time in September last year, but a six-month delay was immediately set. Although appreciated for its speed and modern operating system, the tablet has systematically been compared to the original iPad, assuming that Apple would not have an answer too soon. Unfortunately for RIM, both the first scheduled delay and the new gap attributed to Apple gave the latter the opportunity and enough time to launch a second version of the iPad, which may cancel most of the advantages the PlayBook claimed. RIM still rushes the release as it has no native e-mail client for a time following the launch.