HP’s first webOS tablet may start shipping in March, fulfill longstanding promise

HP’s first webOS tablet may start shipping in March, fulfill longstanding promise

Way back in August of last year, when temperatures were above zero and Honeycomb was still a great unknown, HP promised us the first webOS tablet will come “in early 2011.” Just yesterday, however, our noteworthy exposure of the vanguard members of the webOS tablet family led us to believe that at least one of them, the Opal, would take until September to arrive. That may still be the case, but DigiTimes is bringing us back around to HP’s original pledge, with word that Inventec has received instructions from HP to start producing and shipping a webOS slate (most probably the Topaz) in March. As usual, this comes from the (in)famous insider sources that tend to miss as often as they hit, but it does make sense for HP to follow up its February event with a relatively rapid product rollout.

Toshiba to sell big-screen, glasses-free 3D HDTVs in 2011

Toshiba to sell big-screen, glasses-free 3D HDTVs in 2011

Toshiba made good on its word to sell glasses-free 3D TVs prior to the end of 2010, but it only managed to out 12- and 20-inch versions in Japan. Today at CES, executives have reportedly stated that the company will be kicking things into high gear for 2011. It’ll be showcasing 56- and 65-inch prototypes here in the desert (and a 4K one at that), and according to Reuters, it’ll “probably launch two models, one over 40-inches and another over 50-inches.” Atsushi Murasawa, Toshiba’s head of visual products, even cleared up the distribution question: “These will not only be for the Japanese market, but also America, Europe and China.” Sadly, no details were given surrounding eventual prices and release dates, but we’ll see if we can’t coerce someone into spilling a few more beans here in a moment.

Samsung’s Galaxy S is set for an ‘evolution’ at MWC in February

Samsung’s Galaxy S is set for an ‘evolution’ at MWC in February

That Samsung intends to bring a Galaxy S successor to MWC 2011 was already a known known, but now the company’s turning up the hype machine with an update to its Samsung Unpacked website. There, for the pleasure of your eyes and the tickling of your imagination, Sammy has positioned its familiar super-selling Android smartphone alongside a not-too-cryptic message promising that “evolution is fate.” We’re smelling a cute play on words here, similar to what LG did with its Revolution handset, potentially implying that the next Galaxy flagship will have LTE (Long Term Evolution) connectivity built in. That, along with the promised dual-core chip within, should easily outshine the Infuse 4G (which has HSPA+ and a single-core Hummingbird inside) recently announced for AT&T in the States. We’ll get the next dose of our teasing on February 1st, the site promises, before the full unveil in Barcelona on February 13th. Our hearts are all aflutter already.

LG ups Android ante with dual-core Optimus 2x and ultra-thin Black

LG ups Android ante with dual-core Optimus 2x and ultra-thin Black

LG ups Android ante with dual-core Optimus 2x and ultra-thin Black Android fans can finally embrace LG with the introduction of the dual-core Optimus 2x and Black, which measures just 9.2mm thick.

After a history of less-than-jaw-dropping experiments with Android, LG dropped its dabbling and got serious on Wednesday with the official announcement of the Optimus 2x and Black, two superphones specced to give rivals like Samsung’s Galaxy S and Apple’s iPhone 4 a challenge in iPhone.

Although already revealed in December, the Optimus 2x will cinch the title of “world’s first dual-core phone” with its 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 AP20H processor (just don’t tell Nokia, which launched the dual-core N82 in 2007). As just one tidy benefit of that brawn, it will offer full 1080p video playback, essentially turning your phone into a mini HD cinema when paired with an HDMI cable.

Though not as powerful as the 2x, the Black was the real fresh meat of the show, claiming to be the world’s slimmest smartphone at only 9.2mm thick, and weighs only 3.8 ounces. The Black also takes a page from the iPhone by switching to an IPS LCD screen that LG has dubbed Nova. Besides the usual viewing angle benefits, LG claims it offers impressive brightness of 700 nits, up from about 450 on a typical LCD.

What about 4G? LG revealed that it has has developed its own LTE chipset for modems and smartphones on Verizon, but neither new Android device uses it – just keep your eyes peeled on the company for 4G-ready Verizon hardware in the near future.

Nokia puts E7 up for pre-order in Finland, planning on delivering in February

Nokia puts E7 up for pre-order in Finland, planning on delivering in February

One of the most delicious phones the consumer world hasn’t had a chance to taste yet is firming up plans to finally make its way out to retail. Nokia’s Finnish store has put the E7 up for a €599 pre-order plus an €8 shipping charge, which is expected to get the all-business device to your door some time in February. That matches the last word from Nokia on the subject of the E7′s release and should reassure anyone who’s made use of Amazon’s early pre-orders for this handset that the wait won’t last much longer.