But are tablets really taking over? Will they replace the laptop as the mobile computer of choice?

It’s still early days, but one thing’s for certain: Tablets have finally gained a strong foothold in the gadget/computer market. Once the domain of younger men with above-average income, women account for nearly half of tablet users now.

And more than half of tablet users earn less than $100,000. While that’s still a hefty income, consider that 38 percent of tablet owners take home less than $75,000. Still above “average,” but certainly not in the 1%, either.

Older consumers are beginning to catch up with young’uns in ownership, as well. Their ease of use, light weight and portability have made them popular with the senior set.

Check out this infographic from Litmus for more details:

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With the rise of mobile and online payments, it’s more of a question of “What’s on your smartphone?”

The rise of Jack Dorsey’s Square and other mobile payment apps – plus mobile apps from eBay and many retailers, where you can buy on the go – means a permanent change in the way we conduct commerce.

Already, many people walked around with little to no cash, because virtually every store took credit cards. Is it unreasonable to think that in a dozen years or so, the credit card could seem quaint and we all pay with our mobile devices?

This infographic from Intuit shows how alternative means of paying have been growing and where they’re going.

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The original Razr has become a legend in the history of mobile phones, first released in 2004 to wide acclaim.  While the 176 x 220 pixel display and 5.5MB of internal storage on the original Razr were very different to the new model, Motorola are attempting to capture some of the enthusiasm that came with the original design.

“We wanted to build a device that could live up to the RAZR brand and carry on its legacy,” said Motorola senior vice president of Portfolio and Product Management, Alain Mutricy, in a recent interview with BGR.  The new Droid Razr is notable for being only 7.1mm thin, and also incredibly light at 4.48 pounds.

Other features of the Droid Razr include 4G LTE network access, a large 4.3 inch display with 960 x 540 pixel resolution, and an 8MP front facing camera with 1080p video recording capability.  This phone is both thinner and lighter than the new iPhone 4S, and also features a larger display.

“Like the original, DROID RAZR by Motorola is super thin, super light and super innovative. We kept various elements of the original design, such as aluminum accents, but added new ones that the smartphone market hasn’t seen, such as KEVLAR fiber. The new DROID RAZR by Motorola is the RAZR of the future.” said Mutricy.

“It combines two iconic brands, but also combines the wildly successful characteristics of the original device – thin, innovative, sleek – with Motorola’s revolutionary smartphone features available today.” added Mutricy.  The Motorola Droid Razr is out now and sells for $300 with a two year Verizon contract.

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While there are lots of Bluetooth and USB keyboards on the market, many of them are designed for one device only and can not easily be switched between gadgets.  The ZAGGkeys FLEX Tablet Keyboard is one of the few exceptions, working with Apple iDevices, Android devices, and a number of smartphones.

The ZAGGkeys FLEX Tablet Keyboard works with a 510 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery, which Zagg promise will last for months of use between charges.  There are a number of special key functions on the keyboard, allowing you to easily operate the most essential features of your device.  However, the island style keyboard is in US layout, with no plans to translate to other countries at this stage.

The ZAGGkeys FLEX Tablet Keyboard & Stand works through a standard Bluetooth connection, with a USB to microUSB cable included for charging purposes.  The included stand is “one of a kind” according to Zagg, presumably because it also acts as a keyboard cover.

The ZAGGkeys FLEX Tablet Keyboard & Stand is on sale now for $79.99.

Size and Weight

• Length: 9.4 inches (242 mm)
• with Smart Stand: 9.4 inches (242 mm)
• Width: 4.8 inches (120 mm)
• with Smart Stand: 5.0 inches (127 mm)
• Height: .65 inches (12 mm)
• with Smart Stand: 0.75 inches (17 mm)
• Weight: 6.3 ounces (128 grams)
• with Smart Stand: 11.3 ounces (320 grams)

Compatibility

• Works with Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices, Galaxy Tabs, Android devices, and some smartphones

Battery

• Type: ZAGGkeys FLEX Bluetooth keyboard uses a 510 mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery.
• Duration: Battery will last several months of normal use without charging.

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The original Asus Eee Transformer tablet was one of the most popular offerings this year, although it is fair to say it didn’t really blow anyone away with its charms.  While the spec sheet was reasonable enough, it didn’t really do enough to differentiate itself from the competition.

The original Transformer tablet also featured an uninspiring design, something which has been fixed with the new version.  The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime features an aluminium casing and an extremely thin and light design.  It measures in smaller than the iPad at 8.3mm and is also lighter at only 586 grams.

To top it off, the Transformer Prime is also slightly larger than the iPad, with a 10.1 inch display in comparison to the iPads 9.7 inches.  The display is a Super IPS+ under Gorilla Glass with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, with Asus promising 178 degree viewing angles.

Just like the original Transformer, the Prime comes with a separately sold keyboard dock, although this one is aluminium to match the casing on the tablet.  In terms of battery life, Asus are promising 12 hours of real usage, although real world tests may prove a little smaller.  Once the tablet has been attached to the keyboard dock however, this figure goes up to about 18 hours.

Other features include dual cameras (8MP on the back and 1.2MP on the front), a microHDMI port, and a standard USB and SD card slot on the dock.  Android 3.2 is the officially supported operating system at the moment, although there are plans to support Ice Cream Sandwich within the next month.  December is the official launch month (no exact date given), with the 32GB version selling for $US500 and the 64GB model for $US600.

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Many of the apps will be available through Amazon’s one click payment system, including offerings by Pandora, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Zynga, EA, and Rovio.  Other niche apps will also become available right away, although the big question is whether Amazon has the ability to cater to everyone.

While thousands of apps may seem like a lot, with the iPad having hundreds of thousands, Apple may still seem like the logical choice for many.  It is also important to note that the iPad and Kindle Fire and not in the same price range, not by a long shot.  Many commentators believe the Kindle Fire is being sold low as a way to stimulate the sale and use of Amazon content.

“Beyond the Amazon content — which is the focal point for the Kindle Fire — the question is what else can you do with it?” said Jeff Orr to TechNewsWorld, group director of consumer research at ABI Research. “What type of games will be available? Amazon has a good start with that. It appears to be complete. So the question becomes, how will people feel about it 90 or 120 days after they get it? Will they still adore it?”

However, Amazon are also testing Android apps with the Kindle Fire, which will open up the numbers considerably.  This will also make the Kindle Fire seem less like an isolated device, and turn it into one of the cheapest Android tablets on the block.

However, in such a competitive market, nothing can be taken for granted, with Amazon also having to deal with the very promising Barnes & Noble Nook tablet which will enter the market with the same price tag of $199.

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The Tegra 3 offers about three times the performance of the previous dual-core Tegra generation.  While many people expect this massive increase in power to have a negative effect on battery life, Nvidia are using Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP), so processors are only used when they are needed.

The first device to feature the Tegra 3 will be the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which is an improved version of the existing Transformer tablet.  However, the Transformer Prime comes with better cameras, more storage, and faster overall performance.

The Tegra 3 is actually built with five CPU cores, not four, with one “companion core” used for low performance activity.  This is a clever design decision, as most people do not require all of their processing power all the time.

Nvidia says performance improvements will be obvious and come in many ways, including smoother webpage scrolling, smoother video, faster HTML5 and Web GL, faster photo editing, smoother frame rates, and better gaming performance.  The inclusion of the 12 core GPU is also great news for gamers, with 15 Tegra 3 games already under development for Tegra Zone.

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime will be released some time in December, with prices starting at $499.  However, this will certainly not be the only device to feature Tegra 3, with numerous tablets and mobile devices likely in the first half of 2012.

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“With the Nook Tablet we are delivering the best media device ever created in a portable form factor,” said Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch at the launch event in New York.  Lynch went on to say that the tablets biggest selling points were the screen resolution and battery life, which is said to go for 8 hours when watching movies.

The display is a proprietary design called “VividView”, with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.  Other features include 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 32GB expandable SD card, and a 1GHz dual-core OMAP4 CPU.  In most ways, the specs of the Barnes & Noble Nook are a step up from the Amazon Kindle Fire, a fact which certainly didn’t escape the attention of Lynch.

“The Kindle Fire is deficient for a media tablet,” he said. The Kindle Fire’s 512MB of RAM does not provide enough room to play a game app while reading a magazine or running another app, he said. Its 8G bytes of storage is not enough to hold media for those situations where the user is not connected to the Internet. “You’re not always going to be connected to the cloud,” said Lynch.

In terms of price, both the Kindle Fire and the Nook tablet will retail for $199, so the spec sheet and availability of media are likely to play an important role in peoples decision making process.  The interface and overall usability will also be an important factor, and with both devices coming out in the next week, we will soon find out which tablet the market prefers.

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The HTC Rezound will run Android 2.3 upon release, although the company have said they are “Ice Cream Sandwich ready”, with an update likely in early 2012.  The Rezound will hit the stores on November 14 and sell for US$299 with a Verizon contract.

The HTC Rezound features a 4.3 inch 720p display, a dual-core processor, and a camera.  However, much of the marketing material is focused on the bells and whistles, including the ability to record and play back video in slow motion.

The other key marketing angle revolves around the inclusion of Beats Audio, a start-up created by musician Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine.  The HTC Rezound is the first US phone to feature Beats Audio, and even comes with its own beats-branded headphones that can also be used as a headset.

“I suspect that will be the big marketing angle for this handset and what consumers respond to. The included Beats headphones will help to make this stand out as a music phone, and I expect that will be what the salespeople emphasize in the stores,” said Bill Morelli, director of mobile technologies & convergence at IMS Research, in an interview with TechNewsWorld.

While the HTC Rezound features a spec sheet much like many other phones, the marketing of this phone is a perfect example of how manufacturers are trying harder to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market.

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The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket features a 4.5 inch Super AMOLED display, with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.  It has a 1.5GHz processor and runs Android 2.3.5, also known as Gingerbread.  Other features include an 8MP rear facing camera with 1080p HD video recording, a 2MP front facing camera, and the ability to use microSD cards of up to 32GB.

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket will sell for $250 with a contract, which is not exactly the budget end of the smartphone market.  However, the spec sheet is quite impressive, and together with the AT&T network coverage, they may be able to get away with this price.

HTC Vivid

The HTC Vivid also features a 4.5 inch display, although it has a higher resolution at 540 x 960 pixels.  The processor on board the HTC Vivid is only 1.2GHz however, which is less than the Galaxy S II Skyrocket.  Other features include an 8MP camera, 1080p HD video recording, and 16GB of on board memory which is expandable to 32GB.

The HTC Vivid will sell for $199 under contract, which is still not a budget phone.  While both of these new offerings do look promising, many commentators were expecting AT&T to also release a budget 4G LTE option.  “I had hoped AT&T would come screaming out of the gate with something really cheap, like the Verizon Pantech, which is a $99 LTE device. We’re not seeing that at AT&T right now, and I think they’re missing the boat just a bit,” said Llamas from IDC in an interview with TechNewsWorld.

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While Microsoft has not even released Windows 8 yet, ITG do have a history of running PC operating systems on mobile devices.  They released the original XPPhone a few years ago, which was capable of running Windows XP.  The new version will be capable of running the PC versions of both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

The big question is whether anyone really needs Windows 8 in their phone, especially considering the other dedicated options already out there.  However, some users will benefit from a powerful PC operating system in a mobile casing, and ITG have made sure that the hardware is up to the task.

The XPPhone 2 will feature a 1.6GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and 112GB of storage on board.  The ITG website even mentions the possibility of an even more powerful 2GHz version to be released in the future.

Giving all this power, it is no surprise that ITG are calling this the “smallest notebook PC in the world”, as well as marketing it as a phone.  The XPPhone 2 will measure 140mm x 73mm x 17.5mm.

The marketing material for this device makes for some interesting reading, with the company seemingly happy with a dodgy translation for its official press release.  They also seem to have an unhealthy admiration of Apple and an interesting take on the state of mobile computing.  From the press release:

The Apple Inc. leaded by Steve Jobs has achieved an epoch-making breakthrough within only a few years. The design concept of it is to enjoy the music with ipod, to play games with iPad, to make calls with iPhone as well as to do the work with MacBook Air. All the products designed by the Apple are exquisite beyond compare; however, who is willing to go out with four pieces of devices. You should realize that there is some kind of weight although they are so eye-catching.

The design concept of xpPhone is “3C into one” integration, with one terminal device to integrate four equipments of the Apple Inc. When at home, xpPhone runs as a desktop PC host; in the outdoors, xpPhone works as a smart phone; in the office, xpPhone acts as a notebook connecting with Projector for lecturing;in the car, xpPhone can be used for GPS navigation.

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This eReader features a 6 inch eInk Pearl screen, which is the same technology used on the popular Amazon Kindle.  The display is a touchsceen with an IR overlay, and can be used with either fingers or an included stylus.  Sony has also included a few physical buttons on the front however, with a page back, page forward, Home, back, and options menu.

In terms of connectivity, the PRS comes with a 32GB microSD card and a headphone out on the bottom edge of the device, which is where the reset and power buttons are also located.

The battery is a rechargeable 3.7V DC battery, which Sony are promising will last for 14,000 continuous page turns.  Just in case you forget to keep count however, they have also measure the battery in terms of time, with a single charge said to last for over a month when reading for 30 minutes each day.  When the WiFi is enabled, this goes down to somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks.

The Sony PRS-T1 is one sale now for only $149.

Specifications

* Display Technology : E Ink Pearl™ with Clear Touch Infrared Technology
* Gray Scale : 16 level gray scale
* Resolution : 600 x 800 pixels
* Screen Size : 6 inches
* Media formats supported: DRM Text : ePub (OPS v2.0, .epub file extension, Adobe DRM protected), PDF (PDF v1.6 or before, .pdf file extension, Adobe DRM protected); Image : JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP; Unsecured Audio : Unsecured Audio: MP3 (Non encrypted), AAC (Non encrypted); Unsecured Text : ePub, PDF, TXT
* AC Power : Built-in rechargeable battery: 3.7 V DC
* Battery Life (Approx) : A single charge lasts over a month with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time.; Read on a single battery charge for 3-4 weeks with wireless on.; Up to 14,000 continuous page turns when reading only.
* Recharging Time : Fully charges in approximately 2 hours via the approved U.S. power adapter. Approx. 2.5 hours supports charging from your computer via the included USB 2.0 cable.
* Wi-Fi : IEEE 802.11b / g / n
* Memory Size : Internal: Approx. 1.3 GB after initial setting. External: Micro SD card up to 32GB.
* Works with Windows and Mac systems

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In many ways, the Pandigital SuperNova is a simple extension of the Pandigital Nova tablet, with improved performance and a bigger screen than its 7 inch predecessor.  However, the form factor is nothing special, and the build looks like it is made from cheap black plastic.

The SuperNova runs on a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage.  While this is nothing to write home about, it should be enough for basic web browsing and media consumption.  In terms of connectivity, the SuperNova features a micro HDMI port, mini USB port, and dual cameras – 1.3 MP on the front and 3MP on the back.

The display is an unusual 8 inches in size, which is the major way Pandigital are differentiating this tablet from the 7 inch offerings by Amazon and Kobo.  It only features a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels however, which is well below the 1024 x 600 pixel display of the Kindle Fire.

The Pandigital SuperNova runs a customised version of Android 2.3, and unfortunately, does not have access to the Android Market.  Instead, you can use the Pandigital GetJar app store, along with a number of preloaded apps such as the Barnes & Noble reader.

The Pandigital SuperNova tablet is on sale now for $229, which while affordable, is not really low enough to compete with the much better Amazon Kindle Fire at $199.

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Kobo are mostly known for their e-book devices, and the Vox is an extension of the technology used in these products.  However, it features a full colour touchscreen and enables users to watch movies, browse the web, listen to music, and play video games as well as read e-books.

“There are a lot of different needs in the market,” said Kobo chief executive officer Michael Serbinis, adding “We’re going after a customer that’s a reader first, and wants to consume all kinds of media.”

the Kobo Vox runs a full version of Android 2.3, features a 7 inch 1024 x 600 resolution AFFS+ display with multi-touch, and has access to over 15,000 free applications.  It also features a 7 hour battery, 8GB of internal memory, and support for up to 32GB of SD storage.

As we enter the 2011 holiday season, it seems the tablet market is diversifying more than it ever has before.  On one end of the spectrum you have tablets like the upcoming Asus Transformer 2 which are almost like netbooks, and on the other you have the Vox and the Kindle Fire which are like supercharged e-book readers.

“They’re going to sell a fair number of these things at Christmas time,” said Kaan Yigit, president of Toronto-based Solutions Group, adding “Two years for now, nobody will be selling one-trick pony e-readers … [Kobo has] a substantial portion of the e-reader market in Canada, but they have zero in the tablet market. That’s the one that’s growing.”

The Kobo Vox is already open for pre-orders, with the device officially available in stores on October 28.  With Kobo already having worldwide distribution in over 100 countries, the Vox could become a serious competitor in the budget tablet market.

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While the details that we know are far from final, Asus are promising a proper announcement about Transformer 2 next month on November 9.  The things we do know are very interesting however, thanks mostly to information dropped by Asus Chairman Jonney Shih at the AsiaD conference in Hong Kong recently.

The Asus Transformer 2 will feature the latest version of Android Ice Cream Sandwich, a detachable keyboard, and Nvidia’s Kal-El quad-core Tegra 3 processor.  It will also feature a USB port and a mini HDMI port.  Asus are obviously going for a different market than most tablet manufacturers, especially with the introduction of a detachable keyboard.

“This is an interesting shift, moving the tablet from a consumption device towards a creation device, and gathers in those consumers who want to go on creating content,” said Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research in an interview with TechNewsWorld.

Chris Hazelton, a research director at the 451 Group, agrees, saying “The biggest barrier to input on mobile tablets is the lack of a hard QWERTY keyboard, so adding a detachable keyboard is a good way to skirt around this issue.”  However, it is not just the keyboard that is likely to attract users, with the powerful Kal-El quad-core Tegra 3 processor also likely to draw some serious attention.

Nvidia are calling the technology on this processor “Variable Symmetric Multi-Processing” (SMP), with four main CPU cores working with a fifth core for low power consumption.  “The use of an ARM-designed Nvidia chip that provides both long battery life and high performance when needed will appeal to users that need all-day performance but still want to play graphics-intensive games,” said Hazelton.

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