Among them, we can count a series of video chat capabilities that will certainly make PlayBook users rejoice.

There is a new interface for users to take advantage of, along with contact integration and optimizations for the larger screen of the PlayBook.

“Simply put, Video Chat on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet allows you to make and take video calls with your friends, family, and colleagues who also have a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet,” Vivek Gupta, RIM product manager, explains.

“(Note: Both users of the Video Chat feature must be connected to the Internet for a chat to be enabled.) With just one click, you’ll be able to have virtual face-to-face conversations using the HD video cameras and stunning high-resolution screen on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.”

The Video Chat user interface resembles the one available for the new email, calendar and contact apps and should deliver a new feel to all users.

In the new PlayBook 2.0 OS, those who will use Video Chat will also be able to take advantage of the multitasking capabilities of the device so as to view pictures, write notes, browse the web and do more.

Moreover, there is a Presenter Mode included into the mix, offering the possibility to project a video chat on a larger screen for better viewing. If in a conference room, users will also be able to share slides and spreadsheets without disrupting the video chat.

“One of the key differentiating features of the new Video Chat for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is that it now automatically discovers which of your contacts are Video Chat “capable” and displays their “availability” to Video Chat – no guesses and disappointments,” Vivek Gupta continues.

Users will be able to view, edit, and create new contacts for Video Chat straight from the Contacts application, as well as from the updated Video Chat software. They will also be able to make a video call straight from the Contacts application when viewing the contact’s information details.

Panasonic, Huawei, HTC, Nokia and Sony have already hinted to some of their devices that will make headlines in the following days.

ViewSonic, a manufacturer that focuses on affordable tablets is expected to showcase new products at MWC 2012. Although the company has yet to make an official announcement, rumor has it that ViewSonic plans to unveil a new 7-inch Android tablet.

According to the guys over at Pocket-lint, ViewSonic’s 7-inch slate will be called ViewPad G70 and will be available on the market for a bit over $300 USD (225 EUR).

The selling points of the new tablet will be the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, along with the high definition capacitive touchscreen display that supports 1024 x 600 pixels resolution.

Sources close to the matter claim that the tablet also runs ViewScene interface on top of Ice Cream Sandwich, but this one has been confirmed to be Google certified, which means all Google services will be available out of the box, including Android Market, Gmail, Gtalk and others.

There are few details on the tablet’s design, except the fact that it will be a “ultra light” slate, which doesn’t say too much for the moment.

Other highlights confirmed include microUSB and miniHDMI ports, as well as miniUSB. A rear camera will be included as well, along with a front facing camera for self-portraits and video chats.

ViewPad G70 will be equipped with 3G support, 4GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB). No word on the processor yet.

Although the tablet has yet to be officially unveiled it looks like several online retailers already listed and priced the ViewPad G70 tablet. As we already mentioned earlier this one will go for around $300 USD (225 EUR).

Anyway, it appears that the company’s products are quite popular in the United States; otherwise, we wouldn’t see so many ARNOVA tablets being launched every year.

The latest device announced by Archos is called ARNOVA 8b G2 and is the sequel to the Arnova 8 G2, which was unveiled last year.

Most of the specs are similar, but they’re a bit different when it comes to design. Unlike ARNOVA 8 G2, the new tablet lacks physical buttons, which might indicate that the manufacturer plans to push a Honeycomb update in the near future.

Obviously, an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade isn’t out of the question either, but this will probably take longer. For the time being, ARNOVA 8b G2 is powered by Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.

Unfortunately, the tablet does not provide access to Android Market; instead it allows users to download third-party apps via AppsLib store.

ARNOVA 8b G2 is pre-loaded with a slew of application selected by the manufacturer, which are meant to give users a head start when it comes to customization and personalization of their device.

The tablet is powered by a 1 GHz ARM A8 single-core processor and packs 512 MB of RAM, 4GB (8GB) of internal memory, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB). In addition, the slate comes with an 8-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen display with 800 x 600 pixels resolution.

There’s no rear camera, but ARNOVA 8b G2 sports a front-facing VGA camera for self-portraits and video calls. It also features microUSB port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, as well as G-sensor and built-in speaker.

The new device comes with specs similar to those included in the original, but also with the Near-Field Communication (NFC) capability and a variety of optimizations in this area.

In fact, the new handset is smaller than the Optimus LTE, which was made available last year with a large 4.5-inch touchscreen display on the front.

The new mobile phone arrives on shelves with a large 4.3-inch touchscreen display on the front, an IPS LCD screen that can deliver 650 nits of brightness and a WVGA (480 x 800 pixels) resolution.

Moreover, LG has packed the smartphone with a fast 1.2GHz dual-core application processor inside, complemented by the usual 1GB of RAM for increased performance capabilities. It runs under Gingerbread, but LG promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich.

At the same time, the handset vendor included 16GB of internal memory inside this device, as well as a 1,700mAh battery for extended usage time.

There is also a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back, with auto-focus, LED flash and support for video recording, along with a 1.3 megapixel front camera to enable video calling.

The device has a variety of modes that can be easily enabled via different NFC labels, including an Office mode or a CAR Mode tag to immediately switch to the in-car UI. It also comes with a Tag+ (or Tag Plus) application for reading NFC tags.

According to LG, the new mobile phone was meant to arrive on shelves as a “cosmetically enhanced” version of the Optimus LTE, and even sports a new white finish.

The same as the recently launched LG Optimus Vu, the Optimus LTE Tag will arrive on shelves in South Korea in the near future. Unfortunately, LG hasn’t unveiled specific info on the phone’s availability outside the country, but might announce more on this at the MWC 2012 show in Barcelona next week.

BrailleTouch is an open-source app that incorporates the Braille writing system. It aims to address the limitations of soft keyboards, which do not provide tactile feedback.

It’s designed to compete even with physical keyboards, “which often use small and numerous fixed buttons,” say the inventors.

BrailleTouch uses a six-finger chording process that replicates the traditional Braille keyboard. It’s the only iPhone app of its kind in existence.

A gesture-based solution turns the iPhone’s touchscreen into a soft-touch keyboard programmed for Braille. It requires only six keys.

Mario Romero, Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Interactive Computing (IC) and the project’s principal investigator, explains:

“Research has shown that chorded, or gesture-based, texting is a viable solution for eyes-free written communication in the future, making obsolete the need for users to look at their devices while inputting text on them.”

“BrailleTouch is an out-of-the-box solution that will work with smartphones and tablets and allow users to start learning the Braille alphabet in a few minutes,” added Romero. “It also reduces the need for expensive proprietary Braille keyboard devices, which typically cost thousands of dollars.”

Studies carried out with visually impaired participants who were proficient in Braille typing have revealed that BrailleTouch allows people to input at least six times the number of words per minute when compared to other research prototypes for eyes-free texting on a touch screen.

Participants reached up to 32 words per minute with 92 percent accuracy with the prototype app, said the inventors.

“We are currently designing a study to formally evaluate BrailleTouch through both quantitative and qualitative methods,” said Caleb Southern, an IC graduate student. “We will measure the typing speed and accuracy of visually impaired users and capture the feedback from study participants in areas such as comfort, ease of use and perceived value.”

The BrailleTouch iOS app for iPhone and iPad will be demonstrated at the Abilities Expo-Atlanta 2012, Feb. 17-19 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

IHS expects the third-generation Apple tablet PC to launch in the second quarter of this year.

They probably mean the second fiscal quarter but, just to make sure everyone knows what to expect, all the rumors point to a March 7 unveiling of the iPad 3.

The event is said to be hosted at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, one of Apple’s favorite venues for big keynote presentations and major product announcements.

IHS iSuppli not only anticipates the tablet to be released relatively soon, they also believe Apple is going to experience “strong sales for the iPad 3, with demand expected to outstrip supply for several months.”

The IHS report continues with a bunch of technical specifications. The research group says, “The new device is reported to feature a QXGA retina display with a pixel format of 2,048 by 1,536, as well as SIRI, the popular voice interface of the iPhone 4S.”

“As with previous iPad releases, Apple is anticipated to stage a staggered rollout, introducing the new product in different countries around the globe as supply improves,” IHS adds.

Recent hardware leaks are painting a pretty solid image of the next-generation Apple iPad.

For example, it looks like the iPad 3 is going to have a design that’s almost identical to the one found on the iPad 2.

The iPad 3 display will be Retina, according to numerous reports, and the graphics will be powered by a new A-series chip that won’t necessarily have four processing cores.

The camera module on the tablet’s back is enhanced to 8 megapixels, the same leaks suggest.

Suddenly, coming from nowhere, Samsung and Verizon decided to bring back from the past a certain update that will make Continuum owners very happy.

Starting today, Verizon Wireless is pushing OTA (over the air) two updates that will bring Samsung Continuum’s software to version 2.2 Froyo.

In addition, several improvements and enhancements have been included as well, which are meant to turn the Continuum in a worthy smartphone coming from the past.

The first software update is in fact the first step of two when upgrading to Android 2.2 Froyo, so this would be the first thing a Samsung Continuum owner will need to install. This update also contains improvements in the OTA (over the air) user interface.

The second software update will bring Android 2.2 Froyo to the Continuum, along with a huge number of improvements and new features.

With the latest updates, Samsung Continuum will now fully support Adobe Flash 10.1. Furthermore, the browser’s performance has been enhanced and users will be able to receive calls with limited interruption.

Media Hub now comes pre-loaded on the smartphone, along with the ability to allow automatic application updates in Android Market. The GPS accuracy has been improved while using the VZ Navigator app.

The update also enhances the stability of the phone’s software while playing streamed music using the Google Music application. With the latest updates, while using V CAST Apps to download apps, Samsung Continuum will remain active until the transfers are completed.

For the complete (huge) changelog of the update head over to Verizon Wireless’ support site.

Dubbed, the first real Windows Phone smartphone, Nokia Lumia 800 made its debut in Europe last year, but the handset has yet to arrive in Canada.

Although the Finnish company confirmed the device will be available in Q1 2012, there are no details regarding the exact release date of the phone.

However, the folks over at MobileSyrup were able to learn that Nokia might launch the Lumia 800 in the week commencing March 5, possibly on the 9th.

Even though this is just a rumor coming from sources close to the matter, at least we now have a general idea on the smartphone’s launch date.

The Lumia 800 would be Nokia’s second Windows Phone device in Canada, as the Finnish handset maker already launched the Lumia 710, which is now available via Rogers.

Still, Nokia Lumia 800 is a big step forward from the entry-level Lumia 710, though there are only few differences between the two smartphones.

Obviously, both devices are powered by Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system and pack a single core processor clocked at 1.4 Ghz. On the inside, the Lumia 800 comes with 16GB of internal memory, whereas the Lumia 710 only features 8GB of onboard memory.

It is also worth mentioning that Lumia 800 boasts an impressive 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash and HD (720p) video recording.

In addition, the smartphone sports a 3.7-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, which is based on Nokia’s ClearBlack technology. The screen supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution and features Corning Gorilla Glass coating.