Google is planning low-ball itself with an even cheaper Nexus 7, according to an Asia-based report. Google and Asus wowed consumers with the $199 Nexus 7 and now they’re aiming at price points below $150, ultimately going as low as $99, according to Taipei-based Digitimes, citing sources at display component maker O-Film Tech. The lower-priced …

MediaTek will take on Samsung and Nvidia in the emerging market for mobile quad-core chips. The Hsinchu, Taiwan-based company today announced the MT6589, a quad-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) that integrates a modem supporting HSPA+ and other international standards. Integration of a modem into a quad-core chip is a first, the company says. The processor is based on ARM’s Cortex-A7 design, the …

Only days after a report anticipating a surge in tablet shipments, it’s official: Tablet display shipments topped laptops in October, said NPD DisplaySearch today. “In a milestone for the global industry, in October tablet PC panel shipments exceeded those of notebook PC panels,” NPD DisplaySearch said today in a research note. Because display panel shipments are always the leading indicator …

Tablet shipments will eclipse laptops for the first time in North America, driven by price and variety, says NPD DisplaySearch. Popular $199 models and a wider variety of sizes will propel fourth-quarter tablet shipments to 21.5 million units, “far exceeding” the 14.6 million laptops that are expected to ship in the same period, according to a forecast today by DisplaySearch’s …

The newest version of the Nexus 7 tablet is already sold out on Google’s online store, Google Play. The AT&T HSPA+ model, which went on sale Tuesday, marks the first time a Google tablet is being sold with 3G capability (or 4G, depending on how you define AT&T’s HSPA+). The $299 tablet comes with 32GB of storage, 1GB of memory, …

Microsoft’s Surface RT tablet topped Samsung’s Galaxy tablet in a “shoot-out” done by display testing firm DisplayMate Technologies. The Surface RT’s display outperformed all of the standard resolution full size 10-inch tablets that DisplayMate has tested to date in its Shoot-Out series, Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, said in a research note today. “On-screen text is significantly sharper, it …

Lenovo expects the growing market for 7-inch tablets to compete with large-screen smartphones, not PCs. During the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call Thursday, Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said he had just read a report on Apple’s iPad Mini and was encouraged about the trend in the tablet market. “The market accepts the 7-inch [tablet] better than the 10-inch. That’s …

Apple’s tablet market share took a hit as consumers “sat out” the third quarter in anticipation of the iPad Mini, analyst firm IDC said. Android tablets made gains as a result. After a strong second quarter, Apple’s unit shipment growth slowed in both consumer and commercial (including education) markets, according to an IDC report published Monday. “We believe a sizeable …

Microsoft and component suppliers in Asia are in the initial stages of testing a smartphone design, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal. A source cited in the report says the phone has a screen size of between four and five inches. Top smartphones from Samsung, Apple, HTC, and Motorola all have screen sizes in that range. …

On paper, at least, Google’s Nexus 10 is a remarkable-sounding tablet that challenges the iPad on key hardware metrics. Those metrics would include size, weight, and display. Not to mention price. “What we’re seeing is the establishment of the new high end,” said Richard Shim, an analyst at DisplaySearch. The Nexus news Google announces new Nexus tablets, smartphone CNET Reviews …