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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from appleinsider.com.

According to a new survey, 16 percent of those who bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab have returned the device to the store since its launch, compared with just 2 percent of buyers of Apple’s iPad.

According to the Digital Daily, the Galaxy Tab had a 16 percent return rate from its launch in November through Jan. 15, based on data collected by ITG Investment Research. The return rate was found through a survey from nearly 6,000 wireless stores in the U.S.

The return rate for the Galaxy Tab was said to be 13 percent in December 2010, but the rate increased after the holidays. Return rates through Jan. 15 increased to 16 percent, according to the poll.

ITG also tracked purchases of the iPad through Verizon’s retail stores in the U.S. The survey found that just 2 percent of buyers returned Apple’s tablet since it debuted in late October.

It’s more bad news for Samsung’s first iPad competitor, as the company also revealed this week that sales to customers of the device were "quite small." Initially, Samsung had boasted that it sold 2 million of the Galaxy Tab since its launch in November.

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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from macrumors.com.

With the nascent worldwide tablet market still in a state of flux as Apple’s game-changing iPad is starting to see competition from Android devices now making their way to the market, observers have been working to develop a picture of how things are shaking out in the fast-moving market. Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced the result of its survey of market data for the fourth quarter of 2010, unsurprisingly showing Android rapidly gaining a foothold in a market still dominated by the iPad.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 10 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010. Apple maintained first position, while Android soared and captured a record 22 percent global share.

Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, "Global tablet shipments grew 120 percent sequentially to reach 9.7 million units in Q4 2010. Apple maintained first position. Apple recorded an impressive 75 percent global marketshare during the fourth quarter, but it has slipped from a peak of 95 percent in Q3 2010 due to rising competition from Android."
While few had expected Apple to maintain its virtual monopoly on the market and its 75% share still registers as a dominating position akin to that seen with the iPod in the MP3 player market, Android’s impressive quarter-to-quarter growth even before the release of the tablet-optimized "Honeycomb" version demonstrates the wide acceptance of Google’s mobile platform by device manufacturers and consumers.

With an array of competitors, including Honeycomb-based devices such as the Motorola Xoom and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook, coming to market over the next few months and Apple preparing to roll out its next-generation iPad, competition in the rapidly-growing tablet market should continue to intensify.

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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from appleinsider.com.

As the USA Today staff have had to cut costs and jobs to stay competitive, the success of the newspaper’s iPad app has been a "real positive" for the company, executives said Monday.

While undergoing a radical restructuring, which included the cutting of 130 staff in the process, last August, USA Today committed to focusing more of its resources on the iPad.

It appears the focus has started to pay off. "The iPad has been a real positive for USA Today," the Telegraph UK reported Gracia Martore, Chief Operating Officer at USA Today parent company Gannett as saying,. "We expect this will translate into a much more significant improvement" in revenue, she added.

Though the paper has yet to reclaim the title of most-read national paper in the US from The Wall Street Journal, it has seen 1.4 million downloads of its app since it launched in April.

USA Today relies on advertising to fund its iPad app, but Gannett CEO Craig Dubow admitted that the company is "looking across the board" at charging for content.

According to a report last year, USA Today’s iPad ads command up to five times more than web ads. Newspaper ads, however, still reign, as they cost up to twice as much as iPad ads.

"In iPad applications such as USA Today’s, there is a finite amount of space and no ad networks are in the mix," the report said. "And the app gives advertisers new possibilities. A reader can click on Courtyard by Marriott’s USA Today ad and then with a flick of a finger scroll through images of the hotels’ updated lobby design. Another tap and a high-definition video appears, full of happy hotel guests."

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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from macrumors.com.

Apple’s developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 has provided more visual evidence confirming that the next iPad will carry a front facing camera as well as the Apple Camera App and Photo Booth App. The above image (homeScreenOverlayFaceTime~ipad.png) was found in the latest beta and is used by iOS to show a preview of your wallpaper selection. The current iPad uses the following image, showing only the standard iOS icons for 4.2:

In iOS 4.3 Beta 2, however, Apple has already updated this image to reflect the three new app icons that must come with a standard installation. This includes FaceTime, Camera and Photo Booth as pictured at the top.

FaceTime will allow iPad 2 owners to video conference with iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac owners. The standard Camera app will allow you to take photographs. We still can’t say for sure if there will be a back camera, as the camera app could possibly be used only for the front camera. Finally, the Photo Booth icon confirms that Apple is including their Mac OS X Photo Booth app which allows users to take fun photos and apply various filters to them. Filters also found in the beta include Thermal Camera, Mirror, X-Ray, Kaleidoscope, Light Tunnel, Squeeze, Twirl and Stretch.

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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from macrumors.com.

Engadget claims to have some details about the upcoming iPad 2, iPhone 5 and next generation Apple TV.

The iPad 2 details are close to what has been reported. This includes a "super high resolution" screen that is akin to the iPhone 4’s Retina Display. The physical screen size is said to remain the same but will feature both front and rear cameras. One somewhat new piece of information they do provide is that they claim that the new iPad will carry an SD card slot. There had been talk and speculation about an SD card slot based on some of the earlier circulating case designs, but no real definitive statements.

Meanwhile, Engadget also claims that Apple will start transitioning their communication chipsets to those produced by Qualcomm. The move will allow for Apple to support dual-modes allowing for both Verizon and AT&T compatibility in the same hardware model. This chipset change will also advance to the iPhone 5, again allowing a single hardware model to work across both Verizon and AT&T. Right now, Apple is producing two distinct iPhone 4s to support both CDMA (Verizon) and GSM (AT&T) modes.

Read more: macrumors.com

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Editor’s note: This article was reposted from macrumors.com.

One of the more controversial changes made with the release of iOS 4.2 late last year was a change in the functionality of the switch on the side of the iPad, moving it from a screen rotation lock to a mute switch as seen on the iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs had even reportedly responded to a customer question by noting that the change was permanent and that it would not be a user-configurable option.

Read more: macrumors.com

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