Tablet Computer | featured news

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) hints at Windows RT tablet prices and their release dates. Another one of Redmond's mammoth blog posts is getting the reading-between-the-lines-analysis treatment today, as the company announces more details of Windows 8-on-ARM PCs.

Well, it's official. According to the folks at Samsung, the Galaxy Note 10.1, a tablet described as offering the "functionality and precision of a pen and paper," will be here by the end of the month. The stylus-equipped Android device will have a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. The Galaxy Note 10.1 will also include features such as Samsung's Smart Stay, which tracks a user's eyes in order to make sure that the screen doesn't dim while you're using your mobile device.

Lenovo unveiled a lighter, quicker ThinkPad notebook computer on Monday to appeal to customers who like the convenience of tablets and smartphones. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon will go on sale later this month, the Chinese computer maker said. Lenovo Group acquired the ThinkPad brand with IBM Corp.'s personal computer unit in 2005. Lenovo passed Dell Inc. last year to become the second-largest PC manufacturer after Hewlett-Packard Co.

Steve Jobs was receptive to Apple Inc making a smaller tablet, a senior executive said in a 2011 email revealed on Friday, fanning speculation that Apple plans to make a mini-iPad and take on Google and Amazon products.

Research In Motion chose its home country to launch a PlayBook tablet with built-in support for cellular networks, a crucial feature that its initial models lacked.

If you happened to peruse the annual report Microsoft filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, you may notice that a rather obvious little bit of news was confirmed in the documents: That the Redmond-based company's Surface tablets will hit shelves on Oct. 26, along with Windows 8.

Two tech titans will square off in federal court Monday in a closely watched trial over control of the U.S. smartphone and computer tablet markets. Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. last year alleging the world's largest technology company's smartphones and computer tablets are illegal knockoffs of its popular iPhone and iPad products. The Cupertino-based company is demanding $2.5 billion in damages, an award that would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.

Google says the Nexus 7, its hotly anticipated new tablet computer, is shipping to customers who preordered it this week, amid reports of heavy demand.

Dell is buying Quest Software for $2.4 billion to expand its offerings as its personal computer business weakens in an era of smartphones and sleeker devices like the iPad. The deal announced Monday capped off a bidding war that began last month when Quest revealed a mystery suitor had made an offer trumping a $2 billion sale that had been worked out with Insight Venture Partners in March. The secret bidder turned out to be Dell Inc., the second largest PC maker in the U.S. behind Hewlett-Packard Co.

Apple has paid $60 million to settle a dispute in China over ownership of the iPad name, a court announced Monday, removing a potential obstacle to sales of the popular tablet computer in the key Chinese market.