Tablet News Bits: New Galaxy Tab MWC Bound, Android Market Breakdown

Weeks after CES 2012, all eyes are on Apple as it readies the iPad 3. It's been a good last few months for the Mac maker, as Apple sold more than 15 million iPad 2s last quarter. Still, Android is gaining in market share from a year ago, buoyed by the low-cost Kindle Fire, according to numbers released this week. What else happened in the tablet market? Read on to find out.

New Galaxy Tab at MWC
Samsung may roll out its next generation Galaxy Tab Android tablet at Mobile World Congress next month. According to rumors, the new Tab will run Android Ice Cream Sandwich and have an 11.6-inch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution. It may support S Pen and sport an Exnoys 2GHz 5250 processor.

Source: The Verge

Amazon Kindle Fire and NOOK Claim 40% of Q4 Android Tablet Sales
According to analysts, the Kindle Fire and the Barnes and Noble NOOK Tablet made up 40 percent of the Android tablet sales in Q4 2011. The Fire and the NOOK have helped increase total Android sales about 240 percent since last year.

Source: LaptopMag

Samsung Tablets to Receive S Pen?
The stylus pen designed for the Samsung Galaxy Note may be making its way to future Galaxy tablets, says Samsung's Ryan Bidan, director of product marketing. Bidan believes that the S Pen makes sense for a number of screen sizes, however, he stopped short of claiming the S Pen would make its way to any future Galaxy Tab models.

Source: Electronista

Dutch Court Denies Apple Appeal
Samsung wins yet another battle in the ongoing saga with Apple. A Dutch court has cleared the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 for sale in the Netherlands after Apple requested a nationwide ban on the tablet. 

Source: Engadget

AT&T Releases Weatherproof Pantech Element Android Tablet
The carrier released the Pantech Element this week in a package with the Pantech Burst, an affordable 4G smartphone. Both are available for $250 total with a contract for each. The splashproof Pantech Element ships with Honeycomb, runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and contains 16GB of capacity.

RIM to Release a New PlayBook in May or June
Research in Motion’s roadmap was leaked this week with the details of a new PlayBook to be released later this year. The upcoming RIM tablet will feature a 1.5GHz processor, built-in HSPA+ cellular data support and NFC.

Source: BGR

WatchDox Introduces Secure Annotation, Collaboration for iOS Devices
WatchDox announced earlier this week that users can now securely view and make annotations to documents directly on their iOS devices, while maintaining the ability to control and protect documents at any time, enabling enterprise users to collaborate more effectively. The solution is available in the App Store to download for free.

Source: BusinessWire

Sprint to Discontinue Selling the BlackBerry PlayBook and the EVO View 4G
As the company moves towards LTE coverage, it will slowly phase out the WiMAX-enabled EVO View 4G and stop selling the Wi-Fi BlackBerry PlayBook. Sprint’s End-of-Life listing has both tablets being phased out by the end of the month to make way for newer devices.

Source: Sprint Feed

HTC Flyer May Soon Receive Android 4.0 OS Update
Just weeks after announcing that the Flyer tablet would receive an Android 3.2 OS update, HTC expects to release the Ice Cream Sandwich update during the first quarter of the year.

Source: CNET