Google’s second-generation Nexus 7 tablet will launch “around July,” powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, Reuters reports. The device will reportedly push Google deeper into the “cut-price” hardware market with yet another aggressive pricing strategy, competing with other affordable tablets like the Amazon Kindle Fire.
Asus could be gearing up to launch a second-generation Nexus 7 tablet in the coming months, according to sources in the company’s “upstream supply chain,” who also claim that the device will be followed by a new Intel-powered smartphone. Asus has already announced a number of new devices this year, but it seems it is nowhere near finished just yet.
Sharp has this morning announced a ¥10.4 billion ($112 million) investment from Samsung that will provide the latter with a 3% stake in the company. It makes Samsung the biggest individual shareholder in the Japanese display maker, and secures its access to Sharp’s LCD panel supplies.
The investment comes at a time when Sharp has been struggling. The company received a $4.4 billion bailout from the banks in October 2012, and its iPad display orders from Apple were recently cut as consumer demand shifted to the smaller iPad mini, which Sharp is not involved with.
Teardown specialists iFixit have published a new tablet repairability guide that quickly tells you how difficult it’s going to be to mend your broken Android, iOS, or Windows 8 slate. The guide features 18 popular tablets, which have been given a repairability score between one and ten. The higher the score, the easier they are to repair.
Unsurprisingly, Apple’s iPads are some of the hardest tablets to fix, second only to the Microsoft Surface Pro — the only tablet with a score of one. Amazon’s Kindle Fire’s, on the other hand, are relatively easy to repair, as are Dell’s devices.
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS — Sony’s initial unveiling of the Xperia Tablet Z came just after CES back in January, so Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona this week is the first chance we’ve had to get our hands on it. On paper, the device is very impressive, featuring a speedy quad-core processor, a high-resolution display, and a sleek form factor that measures just 6.9mm thick and boasts water resistance.
But specifications aren’t everything; we were itching to find out what the Xperia Tablet Z is like, so we went hands on with it this morning to find out.
