ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

Customers looking for a tablet children can also use without damage-related worries might find the Karuma PlayBase ideal-- a low-cost Android tablet in a kid-resistant design.

It has a 7" capacitative multitouch display, a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 processor and 1GB of DDR3 RAM, making it upgradeable to either Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich Android versions.

Connectivity comes through wifi and a micro USB port.

Construction is in metal, and it comes with both a a shock-absorbent silicon cover protecting the device from the elements and a removable "PlayCover" doubling as an integrated kickstand.

PlayBase preorders will open on 15th November, before the device goes on sale on December.

Go Karuma PlayBase

With Windows 8 aiming at more touch-friendly devices, it makes sense for Lenovo to launch the C325-- an all-in-one desktop PC with a multitouch display.

It carries a 20" 1600x 900 LED backlit display (also available as non-touchscreen), dual-core AMD E450 processor, integrated Radeon HD 6320 graphics, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, webcam and built-in DVD writer.

Lenovo also includes the IdeaTouch touch-optimised application package, and the Eye-Distance and Dynamic Brightness System automatically adjust monitor brightness according to ambient light conditions and how close the user's face is to the screen.

Go Lenovo C325

Jon Peddie Research reports WW Q3 2011 GPU shipments are behaving according to "growth quarter" seasonality with shipments reaching 138.5M units with 16.7% Q-o-Q and 18.4% Y-o-Y growth-- a change of pace in an unusual 2011.

The average number of GPUs per PCs is also on the rise-- from an average of 115% in 2011 to almost 160% GPUs, according to JPR.

Intel remains the GPU market leader through Core i5 EPG CPU, Sandy Bridge and Pineview Atom sales for netbooks, taking over 60.4% of global Q4 2011 GPU shipments with 9.5% Y-o-Y growth.

AMD has 23% Q3 2011 market share, with no change from the same period last year, even though it sees good sales of HPU class Fusion APU processors.

Meanwhile Nvidia loses market share (from 21% in Q3 2010 to 16.1% in Q3 2011) do to the exit from the integrated graphics segment in order to shift focus on desktop discrete GPUs (where it gains a 30% Q-o-Q increase in market share).

Finally, the smaller 3 producers (SiS, Matrox and VIA/S3) keep feeling the pressure from the big 3-- resulting in further market share loss.

Go JPR Q3 2011 Graphics Market Report

The Cisco Home Networking Business Unit is focusing on what it does best-- wireless routers, as the unit keeps both Linksys brand and its place within the parent company.

The company now wants routers to play a larger role within the networked home-- serving as the hub between home network and the internet, where one box handles many connectivity functions (including connecting devices from all vendors) via IEEE 802.11n wireless.

The focus in direction follows canned attempts in entering the consumer market with now-discontinued offerings like the Flip video camera and the Umi.

Speaking in an interview with PCMag, consumer division CEO Brett Wingo says Cisco will start training retailer staff (something Linksys did before acquisition by Cisco in 2003), and sales representatives should ask about customer networks before they buy any network-connected devices.

Cisco is also planning on the idea of an "app store" for routers-- smart routers with the ability to run software and interact with appliances, giving customers remote control over their networks.

Go Thought Cisco Was Out of Home Networking? Think Again