Acer formally announced two previously tipped Android tablets, as well as an Android smartphone. The 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A500 and the seven-inch Iconia Tab A100 run Android 3.0 on a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and feature a five-megapixel and two-megapixel camera, while the 4.8-inch Iconia Smart phone runs Android 2.3 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon.

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Qualcomm is using this week's Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona to demonstrate a peer-to-peer wireless technology for cell phones. To be tested by SK Telecom in South Korea, the “FlashLinq” technology would let devices communicate at broadband speeds without any intermediary infrastructure, the company says.

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HTC announced a seven-inch, 1.5GHz tablet that features pen support and links to online video and gaming services. The HTC Flyer features a new version of HTC's Sense UI layer atop a hybrid version of Android 2.4, and offers 1GB RAM, 32GB of flash, microSD expansion, five-megapixel and 1.3-megapixel cameras, plus HSPA+, 802.11n, GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0.

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Marvell announced a 1.2GHz processor for mobile devices claimed to be the first to combine 3G UMTS and TD-SCDMA cellular technology. In addition to unveiling the PXA978 processor, which is also touted for its advanced 3D graphics and 1080p multimedia playback, Marvell announced an open source mobile development platform called Kinoma.

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Sony Ericsson announced a 1GHz Snapdragon-based Android 2.3 phone that doubles as a handheld game-playing device. The Xperia Play offers a slide-out Sony PS3-style gamepad instead of a keyboard, a four-inch 854 x 480 pixel display, 8GB of memory with expansion, a five-megapixel camera, and all the usual wireless features.

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Qualcomm announced three new entries in its Snapdragon family of processors, including the company's first quad-core offering. The MSM8930, MSM8960, and APQ8064 respectively include one, two, or four cores clocked at up to 2.5GHz, integrated LTE modems, and stereoscopic 3D imaging, the company says.

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Samsung announced a next-generation Galaxy S smartphone, just a third of an inch thick. Featuring Android 2.3 running on a dual-core 1GHz processor, the Galaxy S II offers a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display, the new 21Mbps version of HSPA+, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, optional NFC, dual cameras, and support for 1080p playback and record.

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Samsung announced a 10.1-inch version of its Galaxy Tab tablet that advances to a dual-core 1GHz processor and Android 3.0. Due to be released by Vodafone in 20 markets this spring, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display, 16GB to 32GB flash memory, HSPA+, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, says the company.

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ViewSonic announced a tablet PC that's one of the first to employ Intel's “Oak Trail” Atom. The ViewPad 10Pro will be able to boot either Windows 7 or Android 2.2, features a 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, includes 3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, and offers at least six hours of battery life, the company says.

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Wind River has updated its Wind River Platform for Android and Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, and will demonstrate a new tablet user experience for MeeGo. Wind River Platform for Android adds upgrade paths for Gingerbread and Honeycomb, multi-windowing features, plus support for Ethernet, USB On-the-Go, the Nvidia Tegra 2, and DLNA Digital Media Server (DMS).

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Canonical made public a database of 1,300 certified components for Ubuntu and Linux, said to enable original design manufacturers (ODMs) to more quickly develop Ubuntu- or other Linux-based computers. Meanwhile, Canonical and Autonomic Resources announced an integrated “ARC-P-UEC” cloud computing platform for use in the federal government, based on Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud running on Dell Blade servers.

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Samsung Electronics says it will begin producing a dual-core ARM Cortex A9-based system-on-chip (SoC) next month. Aimed at both smartphones and tablets, the Exynos 4210 offers dual 1GHz cores, 1MB L2 cache, a 1080p HD video accelerator, improved 3D graphics performance, dual-display support, and even a GPS receiver, according to the company.

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As rumored, Nokia and Microsoft have agreed to join hands, forming a “broad strategic partnership.” As a result, Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices will apparently appear next year, the Finnish company's Symbian operating system is being killed off, and MeeGo is being moved to the back burner.

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HP's WebOS-based TouchPad tablet has received a surprisingly favorable response, but what really has pundits blogging is HP's suggestion that WebOS will head for desktop PCs. Meanwhile, more details are emerging on the new WebOS 3.0 release that runs on the Touchpad, including an updated Synergy engine that HP intends to integrate a growing ecosystem of devices based on WebOS.

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More than half of American and British consumers say they're frustrated with electronic devices that crash or otherwise fail to perform as they were hoped to. Meanwhile, just under half would pay from five to 30 percent more if products could work more automatically or autonomously, says Accenture Research.

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