The legal battle between Apple and Samsung seems to be never ending, with Apple grabbing a recent victory against Samsung when the later was asked by court to pay $1.05 billion to Apple in terms of damages. But on the other hand, Samsung devices continue to sell like hot cakes and bad news for Apple is that its iPhone 5 was not as successful as was expected. Samsung Galaxy S III, on the other hand, proved to be immensely successful and turned out to be the most popular Android smartphone of all time.
The new CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, seems to be taking measures in order to retain the market leadership of Apple. He recently announced that Apple would be brining the production of some Mac devices at home which would increase the jobs in the US. Sources have further revealed that the company is also gearing up for a new version of iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5S, along with the subsequent version of its mobile operating system, iOS7. The device and the OS combined have appeared on Apple app developer logs in recent weeks dubbed as iPhone 6,1. But of course, considering that most of this is speculation, there is no information about the specifications of the either. We also don’t have any official confirmation from Apple so far.
Several business analysts have also suggested that Apple is also considering increasing the variety of its smartphone and might offer 6 to 8 colors and screen sizes on the upcoming version of the iPhone. This would be more like the strategy of Samsung which has been offering its top devices like Galaxy phones in different colors. Due to the successful Samsung strategies, its high-end devices like Samsung Galaxy Note and Samsung Galaxy S III are proving to be highly successful in the market. There are also rumors that Samsung has already started the production of the upcoming version of its Galaxy phone, Samsung Galaxy S 4.
Regarding the news about the possible availability of the upcoming iPhone in different colors and screen sizes, Apple has not released any official statement. So we would have to wait for a while until some reliable information emerges and sheds some more light on the issue.

Vizio is a relatively new entrant in the PC space and is already making its presence felt. The retailer has taken a unique approach with the announcement of their standalone Windows 8 tablet called MT 11X-A1. Unlike this move from Vizio, all of the Windows 8 tablet-styled devices available so far are more like laptops that fold into quasi-slates. We also have a few hybrid devices whose displays can be separated from the bodies.
But other than mere physical size and display types, the new Vizio device also differs from the previous Windows 8 tablets in several other ways. Windows 8 tablet-styled devices released so far, hybrids as well as convertibles, have been running on Intel Core i-series or Atom processors. Unlike these devices, the 11.6-inch system offered by Vizio is equipped with a low-power AMD Z60.
Resolution of this new device would be 1,920x,1080 pixels, which seems perfect for the Windows 8 tile user interface. However, using this resolution on a traditional Windows desktop computers running Windows 8 might not be an altogether easy experience, particularly when we consider that Windows 8 is significantly different from all the previous versions of Windows OS.
A few technical specifications of this special tablet from Vizio include 2GB of RAM memory, 64GB SSD and a weight of 1.7 pounds. Remaining technical specs would be clear with the passage of time. Considering that this device comes with a low-power AMD processor and smaller SSD, price factor would be important for it. But so far there are no details regarding the price or exact release date of the device.
This move from Vizio is quite interesting and would determine the future course of the retailer with respect to Windows devices. Windows tablets have proven to be quite successful in the market during the first few months, although exact sales figures have not been released by Microsoft. During the holiday season, it was announced by Microsoft that due to the high demand for the tablet, the company has decided to increase its production. The company also converted many temporary tablet stores into permanent stores, due to the increased demand for the devices. Let’s see how this year turns out to be for Windows 8 devices.

Finally Sony Tablet P has also been rooted and interestingly, the rooting method on this tablet is far simpler than that on most other devices. The rooting was performed recently which does not take more than a few minutes for those who have good technical information. But even those who have virtually no technical background can easily perform the rooting method without any kind of complexities. Rooting the tablet would give you enhanced control over the tablet and you would be able to enjoy the functionality and features in a much better manner. At present, Sony Tablet P runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread that has a lot of interesting features and once you root your tablet, you would be able to enjoy the full potential of those features. For rooting purpose, you need to download a few simple files, ADB installer and Sony Tablet Root Program.
 
After you have downloaded the required things, you need to run the ADB installer first.  After you have done this, just enable the USB debugging in the settings. After this, your tablet is ready to be rooted by running the command-line root program. Good thing is that this method uses the same software that has already been used in the rotting process of Sony Tablet S. So if you had Sony Tablet S and have already performed its rooting, your rooting process of Tablet P would be even simpler.
 
Rooting can bring a lot of advantages for the owner of the device. The main thing behind all this is to have an enhanced control over your device and enjoy all the features and potential of the OS with complete freedom. But generally the rooting process of most smart phones and tablet devices requires a lot of effort, particularly by those who have no technical expertise. In the case of Sony Tablet P, however, the rooting process is very simple and even a person who has not performed any rooting previously can complete the process with little guidance. Tablet P is the most recent tablet from Sony in which Sony has retained the tradition of dual screen. Sony has not been doing extremely well in the domain of the tablet computers but still, the sale of the devices is quite reasonable. Good things about the structure of Tablet P are its great screen, removable battery and the way you can just fold it and place it in your pocket.

Acer was not very active in the market of the mobile devices for a while but now it seems that the tech giant is brushing the dust off. Just a few days ago, we learnt that Acer is accelerating its marketing campaign in the European market and for this purpose the company has hired the services of a leading advertising agency. The reason was that Acer’s first tablet failed to do well in the market of tablet computers where competition is already quite high.

Other than paying special attention to the marketing strategy, Acer is also set to release the next version of its tablet soon. This version is named Acer Iconia A510 and would most probably be released in April. Just like the previous version, this tablet would also be running Android. We are not sure about whether it would come with Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich but chances are that it would come with the later. A while ago, this tablet showed up at FCC, although detailed technical specifications of the device could not be revealed. Although the tablet would be equipped with Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS, there does not seem to be any support for 3G or 4G at the moment, which is no doubt a huge problem. Already we have several tablets in the market that have support for 3G and 4G and releasing a tablet without any support for these technologies can create problems. We can expect a slimmer version from Acer since the previous version was also beautiful physically. The tab would have standard 10 inch size like most other Android tablets in the market. The plastic structure of the Acer tablet, coupled with beautiful design does give it a very special look. Technical specifications of the initial version were not bad so with al the expected improvements in this version of the tablet, we are sure Acer would have something special in store.

According to the sources, this tablet would be released in April, although we are not sure about the exact release date of the tablet. During the first quarter of 2012, we are expecting the release of several new high end devices and this might be one of them. Thanks to the new marketing strategy of Acer, this tablet might be able to do something good for the company. Keep your fingers crossed till April.

According to tech expert Kevin Rivette, Apple could earn as much as $10 from each Android product sold if it decides to release the license of its patented technology to Android manufacturers. This is double the amount HTC has been giving to Microsoft over each HTC product. Previously, late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs said in an interview that Apple has no intention of releasing any such license and that he is willing to go ‘thermonuclear’ with Android developers on this issue. But if Apple decides to do this, this could certainly bring a lot of revenue for the company. Since the chances of Apple legally stopping the Android developers are now very low, it would be lot better if Apple could reach any such settlement. With this strict attitude of Apple, Android manufacturers are finding way around the patent problem which would cost Apple. This has happened previously when Samsung modified the design of its Galaxy Tablet in Germany since Apple accused Samsung of violating its patent rights. With these modifications in action, Apple would not be able to stop the sales of Galaxy Tab in Germany for too long. Microsoft, on the other hand, has adopted the strategy of releasing the license of its patents and is earning a lot of revenue through it.

Sony’s renowned tablets, Tablet S and Tablet P, would also be receiving Ice Cream Sandwich update soon. At present only one of these tablets, Tablet S, is available for sale. Besides, Sony has also not released any date when this update would take effect. The Tablet S comes with a 9.4-inch touch screen and has been available for sale since the September of this year. The official price of this tablet happens to be $500. Tablet P, on the other hand, contains quite a unique structure with two 5.5-inch touch screens which can be closed upon each other. This tablet was announced by Sony in April but the device has not yet been released. At present, both these devices have Android Honeycomb OS but the ICS update would follow in near future. The news about the update of the devices to ICS was posted on the company forum of Sony but no time frame was given about this update. Sony also announced of releasing the software development kit for Tablet R which would facilitate the developers in the process of app development specifically for this device. Other than these tablets, Sony also intends to provide ICS update for several Sony Ericsson devices next year.

Although ICS  updates are coming soon for some of the Samsung devices, Samsung had previously announced that no such update would be made available for Galaxy S and the 7 inch version of Galaxy Tab. The reasons for not providing this update were the memory issues related to the TouchWiz user interface. But according to the latest news, Samsung might be changing this stance and might release a limited version of Ice Cream Sandwich for the above mentioned devices. According to South Korean website Duam, this limited version of ICS would be called “Android Value Pack” and would showcase several important features that are part of ICS. However, complete version of ICS would not be released for these devices, at least not in near future. Several features of these devices would be improved with this value pack. Some of these features include enhanced web surfing, facilities of better multi-tasking, availability of several new widgets and some improvements in the camera of these devices. However, this is just a tentative plan and Samsung has not officially released any data for this update.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich is gaining all the attention and popularity that it deserved and after Samsung announced that several of its devices would be updated to this version of OS, various other manufacturers would also be upgrading their devices to this version. In certain aspects, ICS is said to be even better than iOS 5. Among the tablets that would receive this update, Asus Transformer Prime would probably be the first one. Officially the date has not been announced but it is confirmed that this tablet would receive the upgrade. Then we have Lenovo ThinkPad Table which is a beautiful piece of technology and on a corporate level, is a good alternative to iPad. The update for this device is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2012. Notion Ink Adam Tablet, though not a very successful tablet on international level even with its good specs, would be receiving its ICS update in a couple of months or so. Finally we have Motorola Xoom an update has been confirmed for this device as well. The device needed an upgrade since it was loosing its market with time and some changes needed to be done. Other than these tablets, other Android based devices would most probably follow the suit in 2012.

The latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, has been released only on Galaxy Nexus. This version of Android is certainly the very best version released so far and Android users have been craving to use it on their devices. But the problem that the owners of previous models of Android devices are facing is that the ICS update would not be available for the previous devices before 2012. However, this is what would happen officially and unofficially, you can use MIUI version that has been built upon the ICS framework. To activate this version on your device, you would have to follow a few simple steps. First of all, download Gingerbread XXJVS firmware which would be in the form of a zip file. Extract this zip file in any desired folder and then download Odin3 flash tool which would be extracted in the same folder. Execute the Odin3 v1.7.exe file present in the later download. After that, reboot your device while pressing the volume down + ok buttons. Then connect your device to your computer and open the PDA tab from the Odin3 window and select CODE_I9000XXJVS_CL565837_REV03_user_low_ship.tar  from your folder. After that, select GT-I9000-CSC-MULTI-OXAJVS.tar from the CSC tab from the same folder. The flashing process would start once you click the start button in Odin3. After that you would have to restart your device in the recovery mode.

 In case you had previously rooted your device, it would be unrooted before this update. To root it again, just download the rooting file and just keep it in the zip format. From the Odin3 flash tool, click the PDA tab and select CF-Root-XX_OXA_JVS-v4.1-CWM3RFS.zip. There isn’t any need to bother about the rest of the tabs. Start the flashing process and once it is complete, the phone would be rebooted automatically. Then you would need to download the MIUI ICS ROM for your device and copy it to the SD card of the phone. There would be a CWM Manager app which you would open and choose the option to reboot to ClockworkMod Recovery. In that mode, you would have to wipe the cache, data as well as partition. Finally, install the MIUI ICS file from your SD card that you had previously saved. Once the process completes, just reboot your device again and that’s it, you would be ready to enjoy the ICS update.

Ice Cream Sandwich has been released on a smartphone but so far we are to see this remarkable OS on a tablet. Tablets running Honeycomb could not really defeat the kingdom of iPad but we can expect a lot from Ice Cream Sandwich tablets since the OS is no doubt quite remarkable. The first tablet running this latest version of Android would be Acer Iconia Tab A200 which would be released in 2012.

This device would be launched in the UK market during the first quarter of 2012 and would have a standard display of 10.1 inches. With the rubber back, the device would provide a pretty good grip. Having 8 GB and 16 GB models, this tablet would be powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. Other important technical specifications of the device include a 1 GB of RAM memory and 2 mega pixel front end camera. However, disappointingly, there isn’t any rare end camera on the device. Although the technical specifications do not seem very impressive, we can still expect the device to be a hit, thanks to the charm of Ice Cream Sandwich. The version of device running Honeycomb would be available within the next few weeks, but we can expect Ice Cream Sandwich update during January.