Google Opening Stores in Major Metropolitan Areas, Preparing to Sell Nexus Devices, More

Microsoft may have its own cool stores, but that didn’t quite trigger an invasion of Surface Pro purchases. It’s hard to imitate the Apple Store success without also giving the public appealing products. Google will apparently try its hand with a bunch of retail stores, according to some inside info.

The search engine giant has already experimented with selling Nexus devices for itself and now it wants to open its own locations. There are already a bunch of Chrome stores integrated into other big commercial shopping areas in UK and USA. Best Buy holds such area, for example and so do PCWorld/Dixon locations. However, this time the new stores will be focused on Google and the Nexus devices especially. It would be a good idea to have such a space, since we could actually get to play with devices before we buy them.
Just look at the Nexus 4 and how hard it was to find an unit to purchase or play with, because of the low stocks. The Nexus 10 also had similar problems, so a Google Store is in order. There are Android stores in China, but they’re not quite official, as far as I know. The decision to open the stores is apparently associated with the Google Glasses, that certainly need an in store specialist to do the demo, since you are spending a lot of cash for them after all and you need to know what you’re buying.

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Apple CEO Confirms iPad Mini 3G/4G Version Coming to China This Month

While there’s still no clear news or even a speculation on the iPad Mini 2 (Retina), we do get information about the evolution of the current iPad Mini in Asia. The tablet, in its cellular version will hit China in late January, it appears. Or at least so says Tim Cook.

The WiFi model has already arrived in China early last month, merely one month after its debut in the States. Tim Cook, the famous Apple CEO was on a visit to China and reported on the release of the product in an interview with local reporters today. This means that if you’re in China you’ll be able to buy the cellular iPad Mini this month or in February, if you’re preparing a gift for the Chinese New Year. The iPhone 5 went on sale in China reasonably late, on December 14th, a bit over two weeks after getting its regulatory approval.
Tim Cook admitted that it does take quite a while for devices to reach China, because the approval process of the products takes a long while. Apple has mentioned that they’re taking steps to decrease the wait times. Cook predicted that China will become Apple’s largest market in the future, with Cupertino already having 25 retail stores there.

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Acer Officially Announces the Iconia B1-A71 Tablet

After the Bulgarian first time review, Acer has officially announced its B1-A71 tablet during today’s CES event. The 7 inch Jelly Bean tablet will be available on the market as a direct competitor to the Nexus  7 and other devices in the same category, rumored to be priced around $150 or less.

As stated in the first unofficial review, the tablet offers a 7 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution – behind the Nexus 7 in this category. It is powered by a a dual core MediaTek 8317 1.2 GHz chip and 512 MB of RAM. Other features include  8GB of internal storage space, microSD card slot and a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera.
The Acer B1-A71 comes with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and and weights in at 320 grams, given its 2170 mAh battery. The manufacturer describes it as  “ideal for new users or families opting for a 2nd tablet for their children.” It looks great and comes with the stock Google Play Store installed with over 750.000 apps available. Acer also announced no more than three 10-inch tablets running Android.

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RCA Mobile TV Tablet Unveiled, Coming This Spring

RCA has recently unveiled a brand new tablet, an Android model that they’ll bring at CES 2013. The device is dubbed RCA Mobile TV Tablet and it’s based significantly on TV services and television features. The slate packs a dual tuner, that’s composed of a standard over the air tuner and a Dyle mobile TV tuner.

The device allows users to access about 130 mobile television channels all over the country. The RCA tablet’s specs include an 8 inch IPS display at 1024 x 768, a 1 GHz Cortex A5 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, plus a microSD card slot. Other feats include WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, HDMI, microUSB, USB, GPS, a pair of speakers and a dual cameras: front and rear. The tablet is supposed to weigh 1.4 pounds and it will also allow access to the Google Play Store.
The battery should offer up to 4 hours in mobile TV mode or up to 10 hours of web browsing. As far as price goes, this model will sell for a price tag of $299 and it’s debuting this Spring in all sorts of shops. The name Dyle from its TV tuners is famous for the mobile TV support on the Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G handset on MetroPCS, that has this service.

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Samsung Galaxy Note III Featuring a 6.3 Inch Display, Launching in 2013

   Supersized smartphones and tablets are no longer a thing of the future, since our pockets are bursting with the likes of Galaxy Note II and HTC Droid DNA. Now Samsung wants to increase the stake, preparing a Galaxy Note III that’s even bigger than its two predecessors, if recent rumors are to be believed.



The Note III is supposed to launch in 2013 and feature a 6.3 inch display, according to the same speculations. Korea Times is the one with the scoop, saying that the future Note will have a 6.3 inch OLED display, a pretty significant jump from the 5.3 inch Galaxy Note 1 and 5.5 inch Note II. Huawei is already bragging about bringing a Note II killer soon, so Samsung must preempt their strike. Another expect shift, other than the diagonal is the resolution, that will certainly jump to Full HD.

We also expect more RAM, maybe 3 GB and either a Cortex A15 dual core or quad core processor, plus a gigantic battery. LTE should also be here, as well as an even better pen than the S Pen 2 and obviously new versions of S Planner, S Note and all the package. And all of that in Fall 2013, probably…

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