Researchers at the University of Michigan might have a tablet solution for blind users-- a display using microfluidic bubbles to produce the bumps making the Braille alphabet on demand.

Braille displays and keyboards already exist but, being based on motorised pin systems, such systems tend to be heavy and expensive. The University of Michigan solution uses liquid or air to fill bubbles forming Braille symbols, making it both smaller (around tablet-size) and capable of showing more complex information than traditional devices.

Razer announces the Blade Stealth at CES 2016-- an "ultimate" ultrabook featuring a 12.5-inch touchscreen, 6th gen Intel Core i7 processor, PCIe SSD and 8GB RAM in a sleek aluminium chassis.

The touchscreen comes in 2 resolutions, 3840x2160 or 2560x1440, with both displays promising wide viewing angles and high colour saturation. Connectivity comes through Thunderbolt 3, USB-C and USB 3.0 ports.

The laptop also caters for the lovers of backlit keyboards, since it features individually backlit RGB keys and Chroma technology providing 16.8 million customisable colours.

Lenovo launches what it claims is "the first-ever multimode mobile workstation"-- the ThinkPad P40 Yoga, a convertible hybrid notebook featuring the 4 modes typical of the Yoga line.

The P40 Yoga carries pro-level hardware, including a Quadro M500M GPU with 2GB VRAM, 6th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage and a 2560x1440 IPS touchscreen with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity and Wacom Active ES stylus input technology.

As mentioned earlier, the laptop offers 4 usage modes, laptop, stand, tent and tablet. Interestingly, the "Lift 'n' Lock" keyboard automatically rises a frame around the keys when the device switches to tablet mode for more comfortable operation.

Razer announces the European rollout of its high-performance PCs, starting from December 2015 in the Nordics with the "award winning" 14-inch Razer Blade laptop.

The Razer Blade offers an Intel Core i7-4720HQ processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M GPU (3GB), 8/16GB RAM, 256/512GB of SSD storage and a backlit anti-ghosting keyboard (with either Nordic or US layout) inside a slim (17.9mm thick) aluminium chassis. Customers also get an option of either IGZO QHD+ touchscreen or non-touch HD IPS display.

According to Strategy Analytics, Android might be king of tablets (in terms of OS share) but Windows is set to grab a bigger slice of the pie-- as much as 18% by 2019, up from the current 10% OS market share.

The analyst says Android accounts for 68% of 2015 tablet OS share, while 2nd placing iOS commands 22%. However it also remarks Microsoft is doing something right when it comes to tablets, as 2015 Windows-powered tablet shipments are up by 58% and more growth is expected for the future.

Thus, if Strategy Analytics is correct the 2019 tablet market should see Windows share total 18%, iOS reach 23% and Android at 59%, making Microsoft gain through Google's losses.

Nvidia announces a refresh of the SHIELD Tablet K1, an 8-inch gaming-focused device featuring a 1920x1200 resolution display, dual front-facing speakers and a Tegra K1 processor.

The previous SHIELD tablet was recalled back in July 2015, following reports of the bult-in Li-ion battery cell posing a potential fire hazard. As such, the relaunched tablet appears to remain more or less unchanged, being powered by the same Tegra K1 processor featuring a 2.2GHz quad-core GPU and 192-core Kepler GPU.

According to Gartner less customers in mature markets are thinking of buying a tablet in the next 12 months-- in fact, just 17% of survey respondents plan to do so, and such numbers will only fall in 2016.

The survey covers 19000 consumers in the US, UK, France, China, Brazil and India, and shows less than 1 in 5 users in mature markets plan to purchase or upgrade a tablet.

"Unless new compelling innovation or incentives to upgrade tablets are created, the churn of the mature installed base will continue to fall," the analyst says. "The worst-case scenario is that many tablet users will never upgrade or buy a new tablet as phablets and/or two-in-one convertible PCs (both with larger screen) envelop the benefits of a tablet. This scenario would result in real household penetration for tablets falling under 40% in mature markets."

Samsung is the next company to take on the oversized tablet concept with the Galaxy View-- an 18.4-inch device the company claims offers an "unprecedented mobile entertainment experience."

Designed primarily for media consumption (so much so it even has a built-in kickstand-slash-handle on the back), the Galaxy View has a 1920x1080 resolution display, stereo speakers, 1.6GHz octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 32/64GB storage, micro SD slot and a 5700mAh battery powering up to 8 hours of video playback on a single charge. As such it does not really look ideal for portable use outside of the house, what with it weighing 2.65kg.