Phones get bigger, iPads smaller

Tablets are getting smaller ... smartphones are getting bigger

IT'S the world's biggest mobile phone event and yet this year it was dominated by another technology altogether: tablet computers.

Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona, was ruled by larger touchscreen gadgets for the first time last week, including tablets from big names in computing such as Samsung, HP, Sony, ASUS and Lenovo.

But rather than 10-inch creations designed to compete with Apple's market-leading iPad, many of these upcoming tablets are small enough to go unnoticed in a handbag or backpack, powerful enough to compete with a laptop and, in some cases, will even let users make phone calls.

Some smartphones did sneak into the trade show, however, with large, fast and unorthodox handsets grabbing attention.

Samsung kicked off the tablet trend with an 8-inch tablet called the Galaxy Note 8.0.

Mobile communications president JK Shin says the tablet is designed to be a "pioneering, pocket-sized solution" for mobile computer users.

The tablet features Google Android software, a stylus and, unusually, the ability to place phone calls.

InMobi spokesman Marc Fine says he is skeptical that "people will use tablets as phones" but says Samsung's move back into small tablets is a smart one designed to challenge Apple's iPad.

"Apple really owns that 10-inch tablet space," he says. "They've positioned themselves as a real leader and companies, including Samsung, know that the 7-inch tablet market is wide open."

But Samsung was not the only company to recognise the market opportunity.

HP showed off its second tablet at the event, and its first 7-inch model, with the HP Slate 7 designed to appeal to budget-conscious buyers at just $199.

ASUS also unveiled the 7-inch Fonepad - a device that delivers phone calls and promises to combine "all the features of a smartphone" with the "versatility" of a tablet - while Lenovo revealed two entry-level 7-inch tablets in the A1000 and A3000.Many of the tablets are due to arrive in stores around June.

A handful of new smartphones were unveiled in Barcelona this year, with most featuring expansive screens.

Huawei showed off a 4.7-inch phone, the Ascend P2, that promises a record-breaking 4G internet connection; Acer delivered a 4.5-inch Google smartphone in the Liquid E1; and ASUS took the trend to a new level with the PadFone Infinity - a 5-inch phone that fits into a 10.1-inch tablet display.

Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi says the trade show proves that the trend towards big phones that began with the Samsung Galaxy S III and Apple iPhone 5 is unlikely to slow down.

"It's a continuation of a trend that we noticed last year in which tablets are getting smaller and smartphones are getting bigger," he says.

Despite the new releases, Fadaghi says many of the big phone makers have sought to hold individual product events this year to gain the most attention, including BlackBerry and HTC, leaving Mobile World Congress to host smaller, more unorthodox products.

This year they included a working example of the YotaPhone that offers an LCD screen on one side and an Electronic Ink display on the other, the Medias W smartphone from NEC featuring two 4.3-inch screens that fold out to create a larger display, and Fujitsu's New Generation GPS Cane that can show directions or a user's vital statistics in its handle.

NEWS: iPad 5 release date (Rumors Update)

Updated There's a new iPad on the way - here's what we know so far

Though Apple fans were surprised by the announcement of the iPad 4 during Apple's October 2012 event, one expert soon predicted that the company would turn around and release a thinner, lighter iPad 5 in early 2013.

During the October 2012 event, Apple announced a host of new products, including an iPad mini along with the fourth generation full-sized iPad. But according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst for KGI Securities, that might not be enough to fend off Microsoft's new Surface tablet.

Kuo wrote in a note to investors, reported by AppleInsider, that Apple may feel pressured to launch a 9.7-inch iPad 5 to cement its lead in the tablet business. 

"Though the iPad mini is expected to be successful, we think launching the lighter, thinner 9.7-inch iPad as quickly as possible matters more for Apple strategically," Kuo wrote. 

iPad 5 release date

On 19 November 2012, Digitimes reported that the iPad 5 release date would be "around the middle of 2013", and on 24 December 2012, an "inside source" talking to Japanese site Macotakara, pegged the new iPad release date as March 2013.

On 12 January 2013, the March release date was repeated by Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets. White cited industry insiders at the CES expo in Las Vegas, while also writing in a note to investors that Apple is moving to a bi-annual iPad refresh schedule.

However, on 25 January, iLounge editor-in-chief Jeremy Horwitz, who claims to have seen the new iPad 5, wrote that the fifth-gen iPad would not go on sale until October. Horwitz also said that the iPad mini 2 would be launched in the same month.

On 15 February, as reported by Apple Insider, investment bank Piper Jaffray repeated the notion of a spring 2013 launch for the new iPad. "The history of time between Apple product launch events suggests that the company will introduce something new in March or April," said analyst Gene Munster, adding: "Over the past two years, the spring event has been iPad updates."

So it seems that observers are divided on whether we'll see the new iPad in spring or autumn, with pundits dashing around and lining up like a game of Runaround. On 22 February, analyst firm TrendForce opted for the autumn launch line, claiming that we'll see a completely overhauled iPad 5 in September 2013.

Just to throw an extra release date into the mix, accessory manufacturer MiniSuit reckons the new iPad will be released in June.

Want another possible release date for the new iPad? Apparently knowledgeable sources have revealed to iMore that the iPad 5 will be available in April.

So in summary, the iPad 5 will be released in either March, April, June, September or October. Surely there are sources out there willing to bet on May and July?

iPad 5 features and specifications

Considering the current iPad is the same weight, thickness and price point as its predecessor, it's very possible Apple is looking to produce a slimmed-down version.
Apple did give the iPad 4 a new A6X processor system-on-a-chip, which it claims to be twice as fast as the last iPad.
It also gained the new lightning connector and better LTE support. But that's all the new features iPad fans got with the fourth-gen tablet.

The iPad 4 sports the new Lightning connector

Kuo expects Apple to pack "GF DITO" (or GF2) touchscreen technology into the speculative new iPad 5. GF2 is already used in the new iPad mini, which helps to make it 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than its bigger brother.

On 14 December 2012, Macworld cited a report in Digitimes that claims that one way Apple will reduce the weight of the new iPad will be by using one LED light bar instead of the two that are found in the current iPad (and that were first introduced in the iPad 3). Macworld points out that this would also mean that the iPad 5 would consume less power and could therefore run on a smaller, thinner battery.

Brian White, who reckons that there will now be a new iPad every six months, added that the iPad 5 would feature an improved A6X processor.

It seems that case manufacturers believe that the iPad 5 will take its design cues from the iPad mini, being thinner than the current iPad, and with smaller side bezels, which fits with Horwitz's observations.
Accessory maker Minisuit supplied MacRumors with pictures of iPad 5 cases that it has created based on what it believes to be the correct iPad 5 dimensions. The cases are slightly smaller than the iPad 4 ones and feature a hole on the back for the supposedly relocated microphone.

Another third party case manufacturer - this time Shenzhen Sinofly Electronic Company Limited - has also begun to produce iPad 5 cases with a form factor more in line with the iPad mini.

iPad 5 mockups

Federico Ciccarese of CiccareseDesign has produced some renders for MacRumors showing how the new iPad might look, with its smaller bezel allowing a shrunken case with the same screen size as the current iPad.