Tablet News Bits: Android ICS Gets Update, Sony Tablet S Gets Holiday Price Cut

We are mere weeks away from CES, and we are very curious what tablets vendors will roll out in Vegas. Two may not have much to show, as news this week suggests both ASUS and Acer are backing out of the tablet game next year, and Dell is doing to the same with netbooks after it publicly claimed intentions to exit the Android tablet market. So what else happened? Find out below, but first, be sure to check out which Galaxy Tab won in the battle of the 10.1 vs. the 7.0 Plus. 

Ice Cream Sandwich Gets Updated
Google has announced an Ice Cream Sandwich update to Android 4.0.3, which the company claims is an incremental release with various bug fixes, optimizations, and new APIs. This is the base version of ICS that will arrive on tablets and smartphones receiving the update.

Tablet Sales in 3Q11 Fall Short, Fourth Quarter will Prove Successful 
Tablet sales for the third quarter were lower than expected, ranking in 18.1 million units rather than the expected 19.2 million units from market research company IDC. Despites falling short, sales were still up about 24 percent sequentially and more than 260 percent year-on-year. Yet, the company sees strong demand in the fourth quarter, thanks to products like the Kindle Fire and NOOK Tablet, and increased its worldwide shipment forecast for the full year to 63.3 million units. 

Source: PCWorld 

Apple iPad 2 Holiday Sales Expected to Take-Off, Despite iPad 3 Rumors 
Despite rumors of an iPad 3 coming our way in February, it looks like the current iPad will still be a hot ticket item this holiday season. Tech analysts have predicted massive sales for the Apple tablet, with some researchers estimating fourth-quarter sales of 13.6 million units. If these predictions hold true, sales could amount to $8.26 billion for Apple. 

Source: LA Times 

Tablets and eReaders Increase Reading Among Consumers, Claims CEO
In a new presentation, Andrew Rashbass, CEO of the Economist Group, claims that the growing use of tablets and eReaders has simultaneously changed and increased consumer reading habits, citing that 42 percent of tablet users regularly read in-depth articles, while 40 percent read them occasionally. According to Rashbass, reading on a tablet is a leisure activity, unlike reading on a laptop, and unlike reading a print newspaper or magazine, consumers can access whatever they please. 

Source: Gizmodo 

Samsung Boasts Win Over Apple in Ad for Galaxy Tab 
It appears Samsung is living by the motto “all press is good press,” as the company has released an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald this week that boasts that the Galaxy Tab is “the tablet Apple tried to stop.” Apple and Samsung have been in a global patent war for months, with Samsung just recently winning a victory in Australia, and by the looks of this ad, the Korean manufacturer is bragging about it. 

Source: PCWorld 

What Does an iPad Magazine Ad Cost?
Interested in advertising in an iPad magazine? Well if you’ve got an extra $5,000 just lying around, then your dream of having a hyperlink in an interactive ad can easily become a reality. 

Source: Gawker 

Sony Drops Tablet S Price by $50 for Limited Time
Just in time for the holidays, Sony has temporarily dropped the price of its Tablet S device by $50. Until Dec. 31, the 16GB tablet retails for $449, while the 32GB version sells for $549, with a free Sony Entertainment Starter pack, which includes a cradle, LCD screen protector, AC adapter, 180 days of Music Unlimited service, a store credit and five movies on Video Unlimited, a free eBook download from the Reader Store and five free game downloads from the PlayStation Store.