Google News gets revamped for tablets with new interface and gesture support

Google News is an extremely popular source for news articles, with Google citing 6 billion pageviews per month to linked articles. And with the growing popularity of tablets like Google’s own Nexus 7, it would only make sense for some adjustments to be made for those to conform to each other. According to Google, that’s exactly what’s going to happen over the next few days, too. The Google News site will be redesigned to better fit tablet sized screens, with a more spaced out layout for articles and gestures to find new articles and switching between sections, for example. It will also feature the “Explore in depth” feature that allows you to look at similar stories to a specific article.

All in all, definitely something to look forward to if you frequent Google News. At first it will only be available to US users, however, and it’ll take a few days to roll out to all users. Check news.google.com to see if it’s working for you on your tablet.

source: TechCrunch

ASUS Currently Working On Getting Android 4.2 Update For Its Devices, Fails To Specify Which Ones Exactly

ASUS is no doubt one of the more likeable Android manufacturers simply in part, because they push out timely software updates to most of its premium devices. So with Android 4.2 officially out, ASUS tablet owners are anxiously waiting on if/when their device will get the latest update as well and ASUS seems to have given an indirect answer. According to a recent phone call from a Transformer Prime owner to an ASUS customer service rep, ASUS is currently working on getting the Android 4.2 update out for its products, though the rep failed to mention specifically which tablet models would get the update. The hope is that tablets like theTransformer Prime and Transformer Pad Infinity tablets will see the updates since they’ve gotten lots of Jelly Bean love already, though it remains to be seen if devices like theTransformer Pad 300 will get the update.

Naturally, we’ll be on the lookout to post official guidance on its Facebook page regarding the Android 4.2 updates or hopefully see a leak or two in the meantime.

source: Android Planet
via: Phandroid

Skype updated to version 3.0 for Android devices, adds tablet UI improvements

Skype released an update today that focuses on Microsoft’s move to use the service in place of Windows Live Messenger and to introduce improvements in the tablet experience. Skype’s tablet UI changes include little things like re-positioning navigation buttons and menus to better use the screen real estate afforded by tablet devices. The window for video is larger as well. However, early adopters of this new version are already complaining that the app forces the use of landscape mode.

Readers may already be familiar with Microsoft’s decision to abandon their Live Messenger application and move their user base over to Skype. To help with that change in direction, Skype now makes it possible to sign in to your Microsoft account. Besides the improvements to the tablet UI and easing the Microsoft login process, Skype also made improvements to audio quality and incorporated some bug fixes in this latest version. To get a copy or upgrade your existing install, use one of the Google Play download links below.

Google Play Download Link

Sony Xperia Tablet S Gets Minor “release6a” Update

While the Sony Xperia Tablet S may just be getting over its physical defects, it is now getting some love thanks to a minor OTA update that is being pushed out to the tablet. This minor update dubbed “release6a” brings a major VPN fix to users who encountered issues trying to log onto corporate or enterprise networks. Sure the minor update still keeps the tablet on Android 4.0.3, but any update is better than no update, right?

If you own the tablet, be sure to head on down to your Settings and System Updates in order to grab the latest update immediately.

source: Xperia Blog

NVIDIA Reports Record Revenue For Q3, Gives Sunny Forecast For Company’s Future

It’s no secret that NVIDIA has much of the smartphone and tablet market cornered with its impressive line of processors and GPUs, but NVIDIA has a lot to smile about today thanks to its recently announced Q3 earnings. According to its report, the company made an astounding $1.20 billion in Q3, which is up 15.3% from Q2 2012 and 12.9% from Q3 2011. As expected, NVIDIA head Jen-Hsun Huang highlights the secret to NVIDIA’s winning formula :

AT&T offering $100 discount on all tablets with 2-year agreement

AT&T is making a bold and somewhat unexpected move in the tablet market. They are offering a $100 dollar discount on any tablet device when a buyer signs up for a 2-year agreement. This seems to be a bit of a change in direction for AT&T which had previously decided to no longer offer discounts for on-contract tablet devices.

Like all such subsidy deals, one does have to do their math and take some time to decide whether the discount is really worth the additional cost down the road. This particular deal may be attractive to someone already on AT&T who just needs to add an extra data plan and was going to pick up a tablet any way.

The sale appears to be good while supplies last, so don’t delay if this is something that interests you.

source: NBC News

Crafty User Successfully Ports Chrome OS Onto Nexus 7 Tablet

It’s no secret that that new Samsung Chromebook is one sweet little toy, especially since it features that awesome Chrome OS. But don’t you get the idea that the awesome Chrome OS would be even more awesome on our tablets instead of Jelly Bean? Well that’s what a crafty indie developer Hexxeh believed and took it upon himself to create a fully functional port of Chrome OS onto his Nexus 7 tablet.  Now while the port has its fair share of bugs and is incomplete at this time, you can clearly see in the video below that it does in fact work— and pretty well at that with the Nexus 7 and connected keyboard.

Naturally the port isn’t ready for anyone yet, but the fact that it’s in the wild makes way for big optimism for the cool OS appearing on not just Nexus 7 owners, but tablet owners everywhere.

Google continues push for better quality tablet apps with new checklist for developers

All of the buzz last summer about the Google Nexus 7 brought a double-edged sword with it. On the plus side, it helped generate interest in tablet apps for the Android ecosystem. On the down side, it made apparent the softness of the tablet-optimized app market. In a post on the Android Developers Blog, Reto Meier, Android Developer Relations Tech Lead, reveals Google has taken notice and wants to help address the issue. In today’s blog posting, Meier announced the availability of a Tablet App Quality Checklist to help guide developers in building better tablet apps for Android devices.

According to Meier, developers who use the new checklist can expect to reap benefits like increased user engagement, better monetization of apps, and more downloads of apps by tablet owners. These benefits can be achieved by working on focus areas included in the checklist, like optimizing layouts for larger screens, taking advantage of the additional screen real estate, improving resources like icons that are used in tablet apps, and adjusting font sizes and touch targets for tablet screens, among others.

Meier’s post includes a promise to provide tips everyday this week on developing better apps for tablet devices. He indicates Google is preparing to make some adjustments to the Google Play store to help highlight well designed tablet apps in preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Developers who want to look over the checklist or users who just want to know more about what Google thinks makes good tablet app design can hit the source link for more info and links to the checklist.

Barnes & Noble Announces New Nook HD And Nook HD+ Tablets For The U.S. And UK

Following the lead of the newly launched Kindle Fire HD tablets, Barnes & Noble has just announced two new additions to the Nook family: the 7-inch and 9-inch Nook HD+ tablets. The 7-inch Nook HD will be known as the world’s lightest and highest-resolution HD tablet, while the 9-inch Nook HD+ will be identified as the world’s lightest full HD tablet. The 7-inch Nook HD tablet will start at $199 and feature a 1.3GHz dual-core chip, 1GB of RAM, a 1440×900 243 ppi laminated display and will weigh only 11.1 ounces. The 9-inch Nook HD+ on the other hand will start at $269 and feature a zippy 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 1920×1280 256 ppi laminated display and will come in at a mere 18.2 ounces in heft. The best thing is that the owners of either tablet will have the ability to access three million books, a large selection of magazines and apps with the newly launched NOOK Video and NOOK Catalog content.

Each tablet will be available for pre-order starting today in the States, while pre-orders will be available in the UK starting next month. You’ll find additional details once you jump past the break.