Mobile Phone Blog:

There has being talk of a possible mini iPad but its only now that there seems to be any real evidence to back up these rumours.

Apparently a new Samsung document has being discovered that offers proof of a “new [Apple] seven-inch product temporarily referred to as the iPad mini”. Sources say the American giant is preparing a more compact version of the iPad to rival Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

Its expected the device will be released quarter three this year but hopefully we will get a preview at the launch of the iPad 3 this week.

Samsung has announced several new devices to take on its competitors at MWC such as HTC and Huawei.

The first to be unveiled was the Samsung Galaxy Beam which is a four inch smartphone powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor plus a five megapixel camera, but more importantly the handset features a built-in 15 lumen LED projector, letting users display videos, images and texts.

Secondly the manufacturer announced a 10.1 inch version of the Samsung Galaxy Note, which has similar features to the five inch model including a digital pen, 1.4GHz dual-core processor and operates on Android ice Cream Sandwich.

Lastly Samsung announced two new tablets to join its Samsung Galaxy Tab range. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 both feature a 1GHz dual-core processor, a three megapixel camera and operates on Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The LG Optimus 4X HD was announced just days before the MWC and barely a day after the LG Optimus 3D Max was announced.

The LG Optimus 4X  HD features Nvidia’s 1.5GHz Tegra 3 quad-core processor with its 4 +1 “Companion Core” using a low power fifth core to take care of background tasks and therefore to extend battery life.

On board is a main eight megapixel camera with autofocus and LED, a secondary 1.3 megapixel camera plus 1GB RAM and a 1250mAh battery.

The handset is expected to hit markets worldwide “starting with Europe in second quarter” and will make an appearance at MWC in a few days.

Android Jelly Bean could arrive early as an attempt to rival Windows 8, according to Taiwanese supply chain.

Android 5.0 otherwise known as Jelly Bean is now rumoured to land this summer ahead of Microsoft’s Windows 8 which is expected during this year’s Q3.

Sources also indicate new Android tablets will be able to dual boot between Android 5.0 and Windows 8 as well as having chrome integration which will allow quick start up abilities. Jelly Bean could be the OS to bridge the gap between notebooks and tablet pcs.

At the moment Android 5.0 is just a rumour.

Rumour has it Apple is in the process of testing a smaller version of the popular iPad device.

The American computer giant is apparently testing smaller screens from different manufacturers to see who will make the eight inch device. According to sources the device will feature a higher resolution than the iPad 2 and will also be compatible with 4G/LTE.

How likely these rumours are, is hard to tell as Steve Jobs once said your fingers are too fat for 7 inch tablets and Apple is not known for working on more than one version of the iPhone or iPad at one time.

These rumours come just before the iPad 3 is set to be announced on 7th March.

Samsung has announced a budget-friendly tablet device which runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich!

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 features a 7 inch slate, runs on ICS, and also boasts a three megapixel camera, a front-facing shooter, 16GB/32GB internal storage, microSD card slot, 1GB RAM, plus a host of connectivity options including WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and HSPA+, all at an entrey-level price point of €320.

It has a slightly thicker profile than the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, its successor, plus the CPU is slightly lower at just 1GHz instead of 1.2GHz. Let’s just hope it’s going to be heading for the UK!

The LG Miracle has being leaked ahead of the Mobile World Congress with images and specs spreading online.

The handset is set to rival the Nokia Lumia range, of which has dominated the Windows Phone market leaving other manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and LG to concentrate on Android.

LG Miracle is said to be one of the “brightest” Windows Phone offering a four inch NOVA touchscreen display.

It’s rumoured to feature featuring a 1GHz Snapdragon, a five megapixel camera that shoots 720p HD videos, eight gigs of internal storage, 14.4mbps HSPA plus NFC capabilities.

According to sources the device will be unveiled at MWC and will be a mid-range smartphone.

The January report for the Android version market share is out revealing Gingerbread the most popular while Ice Cream Sandwich is holding on to 1% of the Android market.

Android Gingerbread takes the lead with 58.6% of the market share and an increase of 3.1% compared to its previous month.

The second most popular is Froyo which has slipped down by 2.6% to 27.8% likely to most of handsets promised an upgrade, have now got it.

Éclair, the third most popular, has fallen by 0.9% and is now 7.6%. And Honeycomb the version for just tablet pcs has increased by only 0.1% taking its share to 3.4%.

Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest version and has seen a 0.4% increase and has now 0.7% of the market share. ICS is only available on very few phones at the moment such as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Reports suggest that Samsung may be postponing the launch of the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 until the second quarter of 2012 in an attempt to allow consumer demand for the iPhone 4S to subside.

It has been widely anticipated that the Korean giant would unveil its new flagship device at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month, which would be in keeping with the last two years which saw the release of the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S2 respectively.

But according to supply chain sources, a number of companies, such as Samsung, could be planning on holding back their new handsets to avoid a head-to-head battle with the iPhone 4S… still going strong after being released late last year.

A report claims that the group, which allegedly includes HTC, Nokia and LG, could postpone their phones until the second quarter of 2012, raising the prospect that the S3 won’t show until early April at the earliest.

So all you Android fans out there will just have to hold on a little bit longer… however I can imagine the reward will be well worth it!

According to recent reports, Samsung is to unveil a new addition to its Galaxy Tab range of Android tablets at MWC next month.

A German technology has revealed that the as-yet unnamed tablet will pack an 11.6 inch screen that makes it the largest Android slate to date.

Another change to the Samsung norm is stylus support (as sported by the HTC Flyer) and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

The new tablet will also pack a 2GHz dual-core Core Exynos 5250 processor.