If market research is anything to go by, two things customers like are large smartphones and small tablets. Asus appears to think so as well as it unveils the PadFone mini, a smaller version of the original smartphone-tablet combo.

Like existing PadFone devices the PadFone mini combines a smartphone with a tablet dock, only with shrunken-down proportions-- the "Fone" part features a 4.3-inch 960x540 display, while the "Pad" carries 7-inch 1280x800 panel.

Spec-wise it carries a 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon MSM8226 CPU, 1GB RAM and 16GB storage (expandable via microSD), as well as 1500mAH and 2200mAh batteries in the phone and tablet.

Global 2013 tablet shipments are to reach (slightly) lower than expected according to IDC-- 221.3 million units, down from earlier forecasts of 227.4m if with 53.5% growth over 2012.

The analyst says tablet growth is to shrink to single-digit percentages by 2017 with shipments peaking at 386.3m units, down from previous predictions of 407m units.

If you wonder how come, here is the answer-- small vs. large tablets, with large smartphones thrown in for good measures. Over the past 24 months the market saw preference for small tablets, but the rise of oversized smartphones might see consumers swing back to larger tablets. After all, what's the difference between a 6-inch smartphone and a 7-inch tablet?

Intel shows off the first 64-bit "Bay Trail" Atom processor designed for tablet applications at its 2013 Investors Meeting, and claims the combination of 64-bit capability and low-cost/lower-power microarchitecture will boost mobile devices further.

“What we are doing with our product roadmap and SoCs is that we drive to lower costs and profitable stages But that is not enough," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says. "What we really want to do is to take a lot of the innovation and differentiation we are able to do up on the PC and bring that down into tablets.”

AMD reportedly wins a CES 2014 Innovation award for a device still very much under wraps-- TechRadar reports the company is working on "Project Discovery," a Windows 8 tablet reference design powered by the Mullins mobile APU.

AMD has tried to get a foothold in mobile device business for a number of years, but so far failed get its SoCs inside actual tablets. Thus the idea of AMD making an own reference design makes at least some sense.

According to TechRadar AMD will officially reveal the tablet at CES 2014, and the company states "AMD's goals are to show the world what we can do in the tablet space around our next generation APU, Mullins."

Asus CEO Jerry Shen tells investors the company has plans to counteract the current contraction of the PC market during 2014, as it plans to launch smartphones, Chromebooks and even wearables.

The announcement comes as Asus Q3 2013 net profit drops by -26% Y-o-Y due to one-time tax expenses worth $15.37 million.

According to the Taipei Times Asus will launch new smartphones at CES 2014 before unveiling new Chromebooks during Q1 2014. The company does not give details on the smartphones it will offer, but says it has two Chromebooks in store-- one 13.3-inch and other the 11.6-inch, both aimed at the education market.

"We remain optimistic about the desktop and laptop [PC] market, but our priority is to make the company's smartphone business turn a profit next year," CFO David Chang says. The company hopes for 2014 smartphone shipments reaching 5m units, up from 1m units for 2013.

You remember the FlatFrog MT320 touchscreen table from ISE? Now FlatFrog Laboratories AB reports their multi-touch module for PC applications has received final PC system level Windows 8.1 Touch Logo Certification.

Dhwani Vyas, FlatFrog CEO says, “Passing Windows 8.1 touch certification is a major milestone for FlatFrog, our partners, and customers. It now provides a credible 3rd party certification of our technology in a leading PC system design. We are now ready to start mass producing FlatFrog Touch for PC products launching early 2014.”

A range of high volume consumer PC products can now be enabled with FlatFrog Touch modules for Windows 8.1 including notebooks, tablets, all-in-one PCs and monitors in display sizes 10” – 30”. Continue reading...

Lenovo launches a pair of multimode Yoga Tablets with the help of its latest celebrity hire-- Two and a Half Men and, more recently, Steve Jobs biopic star Ashton Kutcher.

Sharing a name with the Yoga convertible PC family, the two tablets come in 8- and 10-inch sizes and feature an oversized cylindrical battery hiding an unusual built-in kickstand.

The battery promises up to 18 hours of use, while the kickstand allows three "unique" modes-- "hold" (as in actually holding the tablet), "stand" (the kickstand holds the device upright) and "tilt" (the tablet is face down but the battery props it slightly upwards), all in the name of breaking what Lenovo calls "sea of sameness" tablet design.

Aside from the kickstands the tablets appear to be fairly average spec-wise, with 1280x800 displays, quad-core MediaTek processors, dual 5/1.6MP cameras, up to 32GB of storage (expandable to 64GB via microSD slot) and front-facing Dolby speakers.

According to IDC global Q3 2013 tablet shipments total 47.6 million units with 36.7% Y-o-Y (or 7% Q-o-Q) growth. Android drives "much" of such growth, while iOS stalls and Windows struggles.

Apple remains in the doldrums during the quarter-- iPad shipments drop from 14.6m units in Q2 2013 to 14.1m, Y-o-Y growth remains virtually flat at less than 1%, and market share slips to 29.6%, the lowest to date.

The analyst blames such results the lack of Q2 and Q3 2013 iPad launches, but since Apple moved product launches to October-November shipments should rebound to "robust" levels come Q4 2013.

"With two 7.9-inch models and two 9.7-inch models Apple is taking steps to appeal to multiple segments," IDC says. "While some undoubtedly hoped for more aggressive pricing from Apple, the current prices clearly reflect Apple's ongoing strategy to maintain its premium status."