Samsung hints 4G Windows Phone 7 devices could launch in February

The Wall Street Journal has reported an interesting piece of information on Samsung’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 roadmap, suggesting Samsung will be ready to unveil its first 4G-enabled Windows Phone 7 handsets at Mobile World Congress in February.

Samsung is already enjoying phenomenal success with Android, releasing its Windows Phone 7 offerings ( Samsung Focus and Omnia 7 ) in October of last year. Speaking to the WSJ, J.K Shin, head of Samsung’s Mobile Division stated:

Not clarifying any product details, Shin did note that consumers should wait for Mobile World Congress which commences in February. He also hinted that Samsung would also be announcing details on its dual-core processors at the same time as the new 4G Windows Phone 7 handsets.

Shin declined to provide many details on future product launches, only saying to wait for Mobile World Congress in February. But he hinted that Samsung would have more details on a dual-core processor, as well as a 4G version of Windows Phone 7.

It looks as if the rumour mill will get started as soon as CES 2011 ends, building up buzz for the upcoming MWC conference in Barcelona. I’m sure you are excited as we are to see what manufacturers have up their sleeves.

Barnes and Noble launches another tablet, aimed directly at the Kindle Fire

It looks like the race for media-driven tablets is going to keep getting tighter. Engadget is reporting that Barnes and Noble is adding to its Nook line with another full-fledged tablet. But wait, doesn’t B&N already have one of those in the Nook Color?

Well, yes. But this one is reported to be…better. The new tablet is said to be a 7-inch IPS, boasting 16 gigs of internal memory and a 1.2 GHz dual-core OMAP4 processor with 1 GB of RAM. The tablet is aimed to compete directly with the Kindle Fire and is being priced at $249. Why the extra fifty bucks over the Fire? The additional storage space is our best guess, but that means that B&N plans to go the download route, versus the Fire’s direction of being more cloud-based.

Documentation for the forthcoming tablet touts its ability to have HD “Movies, TV Shows & Music”, via Netflix, Hulu and the other usual suspects. We’ll have to wait and see exactly how the tablet pans out, but things in the more-than-affordable super-reader space certainly are getting interesting.

Video: The Recent Explosion of Mobile Technology

I wrote at the start of this year that 2010 Will Be The Remembered As The Year Mobile Social Media Came Of Age and I have to say that I’m pretty happy with that prediction as it certainly has been. Smart phone usage has been sky rocketing, people are using apps to enhance every part of their daily lives and stats are showing that the internet is being accessed by consumers more and more on the go. Large companies, brands, marketers and agencies are going to have to engage with mobile marketing in a whole new way as the landscape changes by the day and consumers rely on mobiles for everything from restaurant and hotel choices to paying for goods and accessing content. It’s an exciting time for mobile, probably the most exciting since the mobile phone itself became so ubiquitous…