August 2013

The Galaxy Note 10.1 is a 10-inch Android tablet with a nicely integrated active, pressure-sensitive pen. As such, it offers content creation capabilities not generally found in media tablets. This a screamingly fast tablet, reviewer Dan Rasmus found, but it's a bit plasticky and WXGA resolution is marginal these days. Still, Rasmus tentatively recommends the Note for folks who like pens. [See Dan Rasmus' review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months
Microsoft announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. "The board is committed to the effective transformation of Microsoft to a successful devices and services company," said board member John Thompson, who will lead a committee directing the replacement process. [See Microsoft press release] -- Posted Friday, August 23, 2013

Wacom introduces pressure-sensitive active pen for iPad
Wacom introduced the Intuous Creative Stylus, a pressure-sensitive digital pen for sketching, drawing and painting on an iPad. Wacom says the stylus offers a realistic pen-on-paper feel and users can rest their palms naturally on the iPad when using compatible creative apps (such as such as SketchBook Pro, ArtRage, Bamboo Paper, ProCreate and Psykopaint). The US$99 stylus recognizes 2048 pressure levels, uses a AAAA battery, and apparently connects to the iPad via Bluetooth. -- Posted Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Review: Winmate M700D rugged 7-inch Windows tablet
With the Intel Atom N2600-powered M700D tablet, Winmate offers a straight-forward and cleanly designed basic tool for tablet jobs that require Microsoft Windows, yet also a tool that's technologically attractive with capacitive touch, and highly customizable by partners/resellers that may use their own branding. [See full review of the Winmate M700D] -- Posted Wednesday, August 14, 2013

RIM/BlackBerry considers putting itself up for sale
BlackBerry announced that, in their words, "the company's Board of Directors has formed a Special Committee to explore strategic alternatives to enhance value and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10 deployment. These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the company or other possible transactions." -- Posted Monday, August 12, 2013

2Q13 tablet unit sales up 50% over 2Q12
According to IDC, In the 2nd quarter of 2013, worldwide tablet unit shipments grew from 28.3 million to 45.1 million. While Apple declined from 17 to 14.6 million iPads, other vendors, and Samsung in particular, greatly boosted sales. Measured by operating systems platform, Android's marketshare skyrocketed from 3% to 62.6%, with Apple's iOS falling from 60.3% to 32.5%. Windows marketshare was at 4%, and Windows RT just 0.5%. [See IDC press release and tables] -- Posted Monday, August 5, 2013