Samsung has unveiled its latest tablet, the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. It will run on Android Honeycomb, weighs only 12oz, is just 0.39in thick and of course, has a 7in display. This is, I think, a new model that supersedes the 8in tablet, though I am now unsure if Samsung will be releasing the 8in tablet.

I have been looking at Samsung tablets and the first generation 7in tablet, though handy, is already “old”. The 10.1in is too large and not that handy, especially for a girl, but this 7.0 Plus sounds perfect. I wonder if it could work like a phone as well? And what size SIM card does it use?

Samsung is planning to offer tablets that run Windows because of a continuing dispute with Apple and in a bid to increase their range of tablet choices. I am in need of a tablet because of travelling and it is very heavy to lug around a notebook but I am reluctant to commit to one because Apple, Blackberry and other tablets that run Android do not offer me the feature that I want.

Acer has a good one that runs on Windows but it is not as light as I would like my tablet to be. I hope that Samsung can come out with an ultra thin and light tablet, like their Samsung Tab, and run it on Windows 7. Ideal size should be 8in. Then, that would be my perfect tablet!

Google and Motorola have announced that Google will purchase Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion by the end of this year. A few months ago, if I remember correctly, Motorola split their company into two, both companies handling different aspects of the business.

Motorola Mobility is the one that manufactures mobile phones while Motorola Solutions handles other scope of technologies. Google is only purchasing Motorola Mobility. While Google says that they will continue to run Motorola Mobility as a separate entity, acquiring the company will allow Google to continue to run their Android mobile operating system in a bigger way.

Motorola, once the leader in mobile manufacturing, has fallen behind in recent years but this sale will give their brand name a tremendous boost.

I’ve been looking for a new smart phone for my dad. He wants a QWERTY phone but most smart phones these days are touch screen phones. Although I have been using touch screen for years now, I am still not comfortable with it. I can’t type using one hand, and definitely have no mood to type long text!

Anyway, Nokia has this new model, a business model, E6. I really like that it is both a touch screen and QWERTY phone, which means that my dad could experience both on one phone. However, do you think it’s wise to purchase a Nokia phone now? I asked my friend for his opinion and he said, “It’s not Android.” Sure, but Android isn’t perfect too. I’m using Motorola Defy and I do have my share of problems.

I haven’t found out the price yet. Maybe I should wait a little more for the price to stabilize? What do you think?

Oh-oh… after three years, Apple has won the patent to its touchscreen technology, particularity capacitive touchscreen like its pinch to zoom web browsing or image manipulation. This doesn’t augur well for other smartphone manufacturers, who are all mostly using touchscreen for their phones and have also adopted capacitive touch and pinch to zoom navigation.

While Apple may be the patent owner now, do you think the company will stifle competition and bring lawyers upon the other smartphone and tablet makers? Without these functions, touchscreen wouldn’t be as intuitive. Perhaps it’s a good thing to move back to tapping on a good ol’ keypad?

According to an analyst, Korea’s Samsung is set to be the number one smart phone maker in the world this quarter, taking over from Nokia, which has led the market for 14 years since 1996. After 14 years at the top, Nokia doesn’t drop to number two but number three as Apple will come in second behind Samsung.

Well, Nokia has been struggling for a few years now and the management had hoped that collaboration with Microsoft would turn things around. I am not sure if switching from Symbian to Windows Mobile would give the company the boost it needs but even if it does, it could be a little too late for them.

I went to Kuala Lumpur last week and chanced upon a few stores selling Apple iPad 2. Unfortunately, all of them are out of stock and if I want one, I would have to place my name on the waiting list and I would be at number 300 at one of the stores. Then I would have to sit back and try to relax while waiting for the new batch of iPad 2 to arrive, which could take at least two to three weeks.

In the end, I decided not to place my name on the waiting list. I haven’t really decided on the iPad 2 though the white iPad 2 looks really stylish. I am more inclined towards a laptop-cum-tablet, which means something like the Asus Transformer or Acer Iconia Tab W500. These “tablets” can be a tad heavy, though.

There are so many choices it really is not easy to decide. perhaps I should just close my eyes and charge my credit card.