Tab 2012

Tablets are the future of smart computing and in the year 2012 while the smartphones got bigger, the tablets got smaller this year. Here's a look at three 7-inch tablets that were the talk of 2012.
The Nexus 7: This Google tablet co-manufactured with Asus has a seven-inch screen, but don't let the size fool you. The tablet which was announced at Google's i/o conference in June, was the first 7-incher to house a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, which includes a 12-core GPU. Not only did it have speed, the device had price on its side as well. It costs only $200, though in India it was launched for Rs 19,999, which is a tad pricey but hey, it's still cheaper than the iPad mini.

The tablet also comes with the pure Google OS, Android Jelly Bean 4.1 ( at the time of the release) and this was upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.2 in November when Google launched the Nexus 10. So yes for Android fans who want the pure Google OS, this is the tablet to go for.

In terms of sales, the Nexus 7 did very well, despite the fact that only the 32GB version has cellular connectivity. According to Asus, Nexus 7 sales were close to 1 million a month. And the Nexus 7 feels lighter than the Kindle Fire and the soft, textured back makes the tablet comfortable to hold. Apps loaded quickly... The screen looks great, feels responsive, and the tablet already does a good job of demonstrating its power in games and movie performance.
Not only was it a fast tablet with a decent screen resolution (1280x800 pixels), and thus it set the bar for all the other tiny tablets.

The iPad mini:The big question with the iPad mini was always if Apple would launch a $200 device. Apple and cheap don't always feature in the same sentence and perhaps the biggest disappointment with the iPad mini was its price. The 16GB version with just Wi-Fi starts at a whopping $329 while 16GB version with Wi-Fi plus cellular connectivity starts at $429. In India the device launched at Rs 21,900 which is still cheap considering the new iPod Touch starts Rs 23,900.

But yes, the iPad mini does come withcellular connectivity and for those who want to stay connected at all times, this would have been the perfect choice. The iPad mini has ahas a dual-core A5 processor clocked at 1 GHZ, with a 7.9 inch screen (diagonally) and a screen resolution of 1024768 pixels, making it around 163 pixels per inch.

Remember it also comes witha 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.2 megapixel front FaceTime Camera unlike.the Nexus 7 which doesn't have a rear camera. So for those who can't get through a day without clicking a picture, the iPad mini holds the edge.

Fortech reviewers, the screen was a big let down as far as the iPad mini was concerned. Admittedly it is a powerful device that runs smoothly without any lag, but for Apple fans who are used to 'Retina Display' the screen just didn't cut it.

But that didn't mean the device didn't do well. According to this report, Apple iPad mini sales exceeded expectations. Apple expects to ship nearly 8 million of these devices, which is still pretty high considering that a lot of people believe that the tablet is over-priced.

The Kindle Fire HD:After the launch of the Nexus 7 with its superior screen and processor, the question was whether Amazon could reply to Google's challenge. And it did. The Kindle Fire HD was launched in September. Amazon's new version of the 7-inch tablet now has an HD screen but the processor is still the dual-core one. So yes, images and videos were sharper, but in terms of speed and OS, Amazon's Kindle has a long way to go.

The Kindle Fire HD still does not support cellular connectivity and while it does run Android 4.0, it's still a watered-down version of the OS. Kindle Fire HD is being.
sold at $199, so in terms of price it is Nexus 7's biggest competitor.

For those who order a lot of content from Amazon such as books, movies, etc, the Kindle Fire HD is definitely a better option. However for tech critics, the Kindle Fire HD was a major disappointment.

Amazon is still the number 3 supplier for tablets worldwide and has a market share of 9 percent. The question is whether the next version of the Kindle Fire will offer something drastic to hold on to its position in this highly competitive segment.

Apple new smartphone watch?

According to Chinese gadget news site Tech.163, Apple may be in the process of developing its own smart watch that connects to your Apple devices via Bluetooth. Based on the report, Intel will be working with Apple to create the smart watch, with a 1.5-inch PMOLED display made by RiTDisplay with ITO-coated glass.
Apple has long had a small hold on the watch market thanks to its iPod nano, which is easily attached to a wrist band turning it into a full-functioning watch.
Recently, however, smart watches have grown increasingly popular. Sony, for instance, has a new offering called the Smart Watch, and we can’t forget how Pebble blew up Kickstarter with it’s e-paper Smart Watch that connects to iOS and Android devices.
Users are looking for more and more connectivity, and as it stands now, an iPod nano with no Bluetooth connection to a user’s phone or tablet is becoming less attractive.
Throughout the past year, there have been many questions over when and if Apple will join the Smart Watch race. Today marks one of the first semi-substantiated leaks.
However, I’m approaching this with a hefty helping of salt. Even if Apple is making a watch, it will be quite a while before we see any real evidence of it. Plus, there’s no proven market for smart watches yet, even with the success of Pebble and MetaWatch.
According to the source, Apple will launch this smart watch later next year.
Whether or not that’s true, this will likely excite multitudes of geeks who clearly see value in such a device, as proven by Pebble and others.
It won’t be revolutionary, per se — many have already entered the smart watch space — but Apple has a knack for making niche devices mainstream. Just take a look at tablets. Before the iPad, the main question on everyone’s mind was whether or not tablets would be used in everyday life.
If this rumor proves true, Apple is probably doing the same thing it did with tablets to the idea of the watch. Low-power Bluetooth 4.0 makes wearable connected tech more practical, and with Apple’s design touch and software ecosystem, a smart watch could appeal to more than just gadget geeks.

Xmas techs

Here r some great tech that you could probably use for gifting as Christmas presents or using it for yourself
Here you go


The GRIFFIN SURVIVOR CASE
It's just the perfect case to keep your phone safe,the complete hardcore,often also referred to as army case

Jensen jips 250i docking station
The perfect doc station for your iPad

Klipsch s4 earphones
With a nice design and a good sound quality and after having used it for more than a year i will surely recommend it to those who wants to just listen to music and get rid of the outside noise

Sennheiser rs 220
It's no doubly the beast of wireless music,there are no alternatives to this,the major drawback is that its too expensive but if you have the money than surely do not miss out on this,it's also bags the best wireless headset of this year
Ever since 2012, we've been excited to finally test the Sennheiser RS 220, a wireless headphone system intended for home use. No, this is not like a Bluetooth pair, designed to help you answer calls and listen to music without cables on-the-go. Instead, the RS 220 is a large, circumaural (over-the-ear) headphone pair that delivers pristine wireless audio from a variety of sources, such as your home theater's main output, your computer, or the direct output from a DVD or Blu-ray player. At $599.95 (list), it's debatable whether this could ever really be a practical purchase. But if you have the money and this is the way you'd like to spend it

Apple to unveil new iPad in March: Report

LONDON: Tech giant Apple is planning to launch a fifth generation tablet in March, a report has claimed.

According to Japanese tech blog Macotakara's inside source, the new iPad will look like the iPad Mini in design and detail and the dimensions of a slightly smaller iPad 2.

The new model, according to the blog, would feature the Retina display with the same resolution as the third and fourth-generation iPads.

According to the Daily Mail, these theories have been backed up by Digitimes and come from a source known for its accuracy regarding insider information about Apple products.

If they do prove to be true, it would suggest that Apple is stepping up its game and keeping ahead of the curve within the world of tablets, the paper said.

The current iPad measures 9.50in (241.2 m) by 7.31in (185.7mm) by 0.37in (9.4 m) and so according to the reports, the new one would be almost as thin as the iPad Mini at around 0.3in (7mm), the paper added.

Samsung galaxy Camera

Talk about tables being turned! The first step to integrating multimedia functions on a smartphone was enabling the handset to take pictures. Samsung is now playing the game the other way around. The new Samsung Galaxy Camera is a shooter, based on an Android platform that lets you do all that you do on a smartphone except making calls! Oh, the irony of it all!

We got our hands dirty with the pristine white Samsung Galaxy Camera. The camera looks slightly chunkier than the thinner point-and-shoot models that you see in stores these days.

Most of the ‘bulk’ of the all-plastic camera is attributed to the massive 4.77-inch screen which spans the entire back panel. A seamless fascia, the screen doubles up as a live view display as well as the interface medium for the user. The display supports HD resolutions of 720p and is a pretty bright and vivid screen to be using, almost on par with a good smartphone display.

By default, the home screen already had widgets – a couple of apps ready for you. Fans will be happy to know that Instagram rests right next to the camera icon on the homescreen, saving them the bother of downloading it from Google Play. Oh yes, the camera is Android-based hence you have access to all your favourite apps from the Google Play Store. Considering it’s a camera, you’ll need a bunch of photography related apps to get creative with, as you start taking pictures.

SHOOTING

The camera doesnt make you less than a professional,Swiping away from the home screen directly takes you to the capture mode. All settings are centered around a virtual click-wheel where you flip through the various modes. I could choose among three options depending on how much control I wanted over the shots. The Smart mode is the more interesting one where you have more than a handful of effects which kick into place before you take a picture. There are some common ones such as Continuous Mode, Panorama, Sunset and so on. But I had more fun with modes such as Beauty Face, Rich Tone and Silhouette. In the panorama mode, the stitches were easily visible despite holding the camera reasonably still while capturing the scene. The rich tone works well but you can always up the saturation after you’ve taken a pic so there’s no real need to activate it beforehand. We wish we were around a Waterfall or on a skateboard so we could try out the Waterfall and Action Freeze modes.

The camera has a cool and convenient pop-up button for the flash on the side. The camera is capable of 21x optical zoom and while that’s a big number, a lot of the detail was lost when we tried taking pics in full zoom. It has a dedicated toggle button on top of the camera so you don’t have to bother with a virtual zoom slide. Also, because it’s a little bulky, single-handed shots ended up being blurry most of the time.

The only mode in which the camera gives you complete control is the Expert Mode, and in doing that the Galaxy Camera comes close to emulating a DSLR. I could choose between three different priority modes – Aperture, Shutter Speed and Exposure. Thankfully the interface was not boring lines of text but an image of a lens with different stops etched on it.

APPS

The smart-camera comes with pre-loaded apps such as Google Local, Latitude and Google+. You also have Samsung’s proprietary S-Voice, Game Hub and ChatOn.

You can download many more from Google Play as and when you want to but do keep in mind that the camera comes with only 4GB of internal storage. It is, however, expandable up to 32 GB with an external memory card. You can also activate Dropbox which is already installed in the cam so your pics get stored in the Cloud after you click them.

Paper Artist and Photo Wizard are the two post-processing apps that are loaded on to the camera. Both offer a bunch of editing options and both are varied in how they post-process your pictures. I liked Photo Wizard a little better ‘cos the sketches in Paper Artist disguised the original ones more than I liked.

BATTERY LIFE

Unlike a regular digital camera, the battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Camera is comparatively limited. Thanks to the Android platform and all the apps that come along with it, the camera’s hours are as good as any other big screen Android smartphone.

You can slot in a 3G-enabled micro-SIM card but remember you cannot make voice calls through the Galaxy Camera, unless you use Skype or something.

Another possible roadblock to keep in mind is that at times you might not be around a Wi-Fi connection. So, using the camera to upload photos over 3G, especially if you are on roaming, might end up with you having to pay huge bills.

Based solely on the image quality, there are options as good, if not better, than the Galaxy Camera for within the same price range.

VERDICT

The Samsung Galaxy Camera does a real good job of integrating ‘smart’ features into what would otherwise be a Plain Jane camera. But the question you have to ask yourself is whether you can / need to put the cam to good use. Clicking pics is fine, but will you also use it to reply to mails, play games or read an e-book? If yes, will a smartphone/tablet at the same price do a better job of it? If not, then will another digicam in the same price range offer a better sensor or features? The Samsung Galaxy Camera tries to give you the best of both worlds, it’s up to you to decide if you want to have your cake and eat it too!


COMING UP TOMORROW
CONFUSED ABOUT CHRISTMAS GIFTS DNT WORRY SUGGESTION TIME
TABLET SPECIAL

Samsung galaxy s4

Google's Android OS, which powers all Droid smartphones and tablets including the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4, is currently in it's 4th major iteration following a minor upgrade to Jelly Bean 4.2. However, industry analysts are now claiming that before Samsung unveils their 'next big thing' Google will pave the way by releasing the followup, which Android users expect will be called Key Lime Pie.

The main reason Samsung may tie the Galaxy S4 release date to the Android 5.0 OS launch would be to avoid a situation similar to the painfully slow arrival of Android 4.2 updates for Samsung Galaxy S3 users.

Android 4.2 has been out for months and comes pre-installed on the latest Google-powered smartphones, but many Galaxy S3 owners are still waiting for access to the software upgrade. The South Korean company is likely hoping to time the Galaxy S4 release date for soon after the Android 5.0 launch so the new smartphone can come with the latest OS right out of the box.

Earlier predictions have pegged the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date for February 2013. However, Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie may not come out until April or even October 2013 at the latest, according to our big sister site IBTimes.com.

That means the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date may not arrive until the fall of next year. Furthermore, Google will likely want to launch a new Nexus-branded smartphone alongside Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, which could push the S4's release even further back.

It would certainly be ideal for Samsung to offer the Galaxy S4 with Android 5.0 pre-installed at the device's release date. However, if the South Korean company wants to maintain, or even speed up, their already brisk product cycle they may have to soldier on even without Google's upcoming smartphone software.
When do you think the Samsung Galaxy S4 release date will take place? CES? WMC? At a special event early in 2013? Or only until after Google releases Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Also check out our running tally of all Samsung Galaxy S4 features, specs and other rumors:

-Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS
-Redesigned OLED display replacing the AMOLED screen used in previous Samsung Galaxy devices
-unbreakable screen
-Larger, 4.8-inch screen with 441ppi
-16GB, 32 GB, 64GB and even 128 GB models
-Quad-core processor clocked at 2 GHz
-3GB of RAM
-3200 mAh battery
-13 megapixel camera
-Skype-ready 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera
-Rumored starting price of $599 with no contract, or $199 with 2 year contract

Samsung has yet to confirm the existence of the Galaxy S4 device, admit it is in development, respond to any rumors or reveal the smartphone's official name.

Facebook’s iPhone 5 app self-destructs images in 5 seconds

A Facebook picture or message or video, like diamonds, are forever. Now, however, you can indulge in temporary tantrums on the social media if you own an iPhone 5 (or 4S or 4 or whatever).

The social media site has unveiled a new standalone app for the iPhone that has just hit iTunes – and it allows you to ‘poke’ your friends – or send a message, share a picture or video etc. – for a few seconds, and then it disappears without a trace.

“With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo or video to Facebook friends to share what you’re up to in a lightweight way. You can poke an individual friend or several at once. Each message expires after a specific time you've set, either 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. When time runs out, the message disappears from the app,” Facebook said in its announcement.

The social media site is yet to unveil an Android version of the few-seconds poke, but take a guess on how long it will take to appear.

The app lets you log in with your Facebook account and message or ‘poke’ a friend, but they need to read it quickly – each message self-destructs after a specific time set by the sender.

When you send the message from the app, it prompts you to set an expiration time on it. You have a choice of one, three, five, or 10 seconds.

“Today we’re announcing Poke, an iPhone app that makes it fun and easy to say hello to friends wherever you are. The poke feature has been a part of Facebook since 2004. Now we’re excited to share a new poke experience for mobile,” Facebook said.

Beware though – if you think you can send something obscene and get away with it since the message will self-destruct, well, the recipient can easily take a screenshot of the message before it ‘expires’. While the sender will be notified so, there still will be a digital trail.

Next Gen IPhone

The iPhone5 was a great blockbuster throughout the world,though there were predictions that iPhone5 would fail due to its high price tag,but these predictions seem to go wrong,
Even in Indian markets the iPhone was a great success,with preorder bookings and a waiting time of 3weeks the iPhone was not easily to be got in hands of consumers,people reached out the grey market and paid a high premium upto 100 dollars to get the phone sooner,(before the iPhone had hit the Indian shores the price to get the iPhone was double in grey markets still people reached out grey markets and made it out of stock)
While china is concerned there were lots of people waiting out to get the iphone,it was such a hit the Tim himself declared its sucess by stating that over 2million iPhones had been sold
The iPhone's success has been huge till date
Seeing the success out in these countries there are reports suggesting a iphone mini specially for Indian and Chinese market which is going to be cheaper so that everyone can afford
Now lets move on to the next gen iPhone
It is said that the next gen iPhone may have the following features
1)Super HD screen
2)+retina display
3)More variant colours
4)NFC
5)finger print recognization
6)longer battery
7)128 gb hard disk (apps r getting bigger)
8)Better camera and a A7 chip of-course
More features would be updated soon

Google to launch Motorola X-phone, tablet: Report

Google is working with recently acquired Motorola on a handset codenamed "X-phone", aimed at grabbing market share from Apple and Samsung Electronics, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Google acquired Motorola in May for $12.5 billion to bolster its patent portfolio as its Android mobile operating system competes with rivals such as Apple and Samsung.

The Journal quoted the people saying that Motorola is working on two fronts: devices that will be sold by carrier partner Verizon Wireless, and on the X phone.

Motorola plans to enhance the X Phone with its recent acquisition of Viewdle, an imaging and gesture-recognition software developer. The new handset is due out sometime next year, the business daily said, citing a person familiar with the plans.

Motorola is also expected to work on an "X" tablet after the phone. Google chief executive Larry Page is said to have promised a significant marketing budget for the unit, the newspaper said quoting the persons.

Google was not immediately reachable for comments outside regular US business hours.

Review: Samsung Note II vs HTC Droid DNA

These Android devices, informally known as phablets, are better described as giant phones than baby tablets, as they can be used for phone calls. And for now, they aren't much bigger than regular phones.

The larger screens -- measuring 5 inches (12.5 centimeters) or more diagonally -- make the devices slightly better for watching movies, reading books and consuming other media. They can also make the phones bulkier to carry -- or so I thought.

I was pleasantly surprised when I took HTC Corp's new 5-inch Droid DNA phone out of the box. The DNA looks about the same size as my 4.8-inch (12-centimeter) Samsung Galaxy S III, one of the largest and most popular phones out there. I had to find a ruler to make sure I wasn't sent the wrong phone.

HTC succeeds by making the DNA taller rather than wider, which is important because the width is what spans your palm when you're holding it. Samsung Electronics' 5.5-inch (14-centimeter) Galaxy Note II feels too big in my hands - more on that later.

The DNA is, in fact, a tad narrower than the S III, not enough to be noticeable, while being less than two-tenths of an inch larger on its longer side. The DNA is slightly thicker and heavier than the S III, though.

I didn't believe I'd notice the small increase in screen size until I watched "Ice Age'' on both the DNA and the S III side by side. But the difference is small. Although watching a movie on a DNA beats doing it on the older iPhone's 3.5-inch (8.9-centimeter) screen or even the 4 inches (10 centimeters) on the new iPhone 5, it isn't the same as watching it on a 7-inch (17.5-centimeter) or 10-inch (25-centimeter) tablet computer. Get a real tablet if size matters to you.

In most apps, I don't actually get more content with the bigger screen. Text and graphics in Gmail messages simply get slightly bigger on the DNA. Google's maps are larger, but that doesn't mean you see more surrounding area, just bigger parks and road names. Amazon's Kindle app squeezes in an extra word in a line here and there, but you lose those gains once you reach the next paragraph.

The exceptions I spotted:
* Google's Play Books app for reading e-books. The text appears about the same size on the DNA and the S III, meaning the app can fit a few more lines on the DNA device.

* Facebook. The app shows a tad more on the DNA when placed on its side like a movie screen. Side by side, it could mean seeing a bit more of a photo on the DNA, but it's not enough to fit in an extra post from someone whining about a morning commute _ you'd have to scroll down for more status updates like that. Strangely, I get less on the DNA when using Facebook with the phone held like a skyscraper. A black horizontal bar serves as a menu for settings and other tasks; on the S III, that menu button is built into the hardware and doesn't take up screen space.

Because the DNA's screen is only slightly bigger than the S III's, I can see why I'm not getting more content, just larger text, images and video. I figure I'd need the Note and its even larger screen to get all that. After all, on a tablet's 7-inch or 10-inch screen, I'm seeing much more, not just everything bigger.

But in my tests, everything just gets bigger on the Note compared with the S III. I'm seeing the same number of emails, the same coverage area for maps and the same amount of text for e-books. Think of it as moving a movie projector back so that the movie projects onto a larger area. You're not actually improving the quality or the size of the source material, the film. And if you move back far enough, what's shown on the screen starts to degrade.

I see that degradation watching "Ice Age." The video just isn't as sharp on the Note.

I soon discovered the reason: The S III and the Note both have the same number of pixels, those tiny dots that collectively form text and images on a screen. Both displays are 1,280 by 720 pixels, which translate to 306 pixels per inch on the S III and 267 on the Note II. So the Note simply stretches the same amount of display information onto a wider area. That's a shame, as it negates much of the benefits of a larger screen.

By contrast, the DNA's display is 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, or 440 pixels per inch. That's among the best out there. The iPhone 5, by contrast, is at 326 pixels per inch.

That said, both Samsung phones have richer colors than the DNA, thanks to a screen that uses organic light-emitting diodes, rather than a standard LCD. Although video on the DNA is sharper, color isn't as vivid as it is on the S III or the Note. Still, the DNA's screen trumps that of many other phones, and video looks great if you're not watching a movie next to a Samsung phone.

Available from Verizon Wireless for $200 with a two-year service agreement, the DNA also has a front-facing, videoconferencing camera that's among the best, at 2.1 megapixels. Its rear camera, for taking photos and video, matches the 8 megapixels that other major phones have. Sound comes out well thanks to the DNA's use of Dr. Dre's Beats Audio.

As for the Note, it has a fine-tip stylus that can be used to add a handwritten signature to an email, circle an important event on your calendar or doodle on a virtual notepad. The on-screen keyboard has an extra row for numerals, so you don't have to keep toggling between letters and numbers when writing messages or entering passwords. The Note is available from a variety of carriers starting at $300 with a two-year contract.

Both are decent phones, but not for their distinguishing feature - the size. The increase in size is barely noticeable on the DNA and annoying on the Note, which feels even bulkier with a built-in cover. It keeps bouncing in my pocket when I'm running, then feels as if it would slip out of my hands once I take it out. Checking voice mail feels awkward. The Note is also one-third heavier than the S III.

Here's a case of trying to be too much. A phone is a phone and shouldn't try to grow into a tablet. After all, you don't see too many people hold up an iPad to their ears to make phone calls, even though you could with Skype and other calling apps.

With the Note in particular, you get the annoyances of a tablet (something too big to easily carry around) and little of the benefits (fitting more content on the screen). Get the Note for the stylus, but not for the screen. Likewise, the DNA doesn't offer much in terms of screen size beyond other phones out there. Get the DNA for its sound quality or screen resolution, but not for the size of the display.
There are sure to be bigger phones to come, and I hope they will offer more than just content shown bigger. App developers may have to do their part by designing their programs for varying screen sizes. Both the DNA and the Note have good features that set them apart from rivals, but size isn't one of them.

HTC to make first 7-inch Windows RT tablet

LONDON: Taiwanese electronics maker HTC is planning to make tablets based on the latest Windows operating system.

HTC is said to be working on a 12-inch device and a 7-inch version that can also make phone calls, according to a person familiar with the company's plans.

According to the Telegraph, the move would give Windows maker Microsoft another ally in its challenge to Apple and Google in the 63.2 billion dollars market.

HTC's products, to debut in 2013, will be based on the Windows RT version of Microsoft's operating system, designed for machines with chips using technology from ARM, the paper quoted a person familiar with the plans, as saying.

According to the report, a 7-inch tablet would be the first of that size for Windows RT.

The move comes as Microsoft tries to compete with the iPad mini, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 in the market for smaller, cheaper tablets, the paper added.

Samsung Galaxy S IV may have unbreakable screen

Samsung Electronics, the world's leading technology company by revenue, is likely accelerating the launch of its next-generation flagship Galaxy smartphone -- which may come with a breakthrough unbreakable screen.

Codenamed "Project J" after mobile division chief JK Shin, development of the new Galaxy S IV could be aimed for release by as early as April, according to analysts and tech blogs.

And, as smartphones increasingly look alike - the converging form factor - an unbreakable screen could be a big selling point for the Galaxy, which is battling Apple Inc's iPhone to lead the $200 billion plus smartphone market.

The Galaxy S IV is also expected to have bigger and better display, powerful quad-core processing power and a 13-megapixel camera, with picture density improving to 441 pixels per inch (ppi), a big improvement from the Galaxy S III's 306 ppi and better than the iPhone 5's 326 ppi.

"Looking to the first half of 2013, we see evidence of Samsung likely accelerating the release of the Galaxy S IV - compared with May (this year) for the Galaxy S III," said UBS analyst Nicolas Gaudois. "We believe preparations for volume manufacturing of unbreakable plastic substrate displays continue. All in all, we could see a strong products push in the high-end in the first half, followed by other releases."

Samsung declined to comment.

Samsung, a major backer of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, is a frontrunner in developing unbreakable screens, as OLED panels can replace glass substrate with plastic material. Down the road, mobile gadgets could be flexible as well as unbreakable.

"Eventually, they'll have unbreakable and flexible displays. Either the Galaxy S IV or S V will have unbreakable and even possibly flexible and foldable displays by 2014. That's going to be a game-changer," said Mark Newman, an analyst at Stanford Bernstein in Hong Kong.

Both Newman and Gaudois are ranked as 5-star analysts, the top ranking, by Thomson Reuters StarMine for their recommendations on Samsung.

Courtroom revisited
It would also be a game-changer for Samsung, which has built its reputation as a 'fast follower' of others' technologies and designs.

The South Korean consumer electronics giant faces off against Apple again on Thursday in a US courtroom for a follow-up ruling on whether it copied some of its US rival's patents and should pay the $1 billion awarded to Apple by jurors in an August verdict.

Samsung wants the verdict overturned, while Apple wants the damages to be increased and Samsung phones banned in the United States.

Since that landmark verdict, however, Samsung shares have gained 14 percent to record highs, while Apple shares - dented by a maps app fiasco, tight supply of its iPhone 5 and ever tougher competition in the mobile market - have slipped by nearly a fifth, wiping more than $120 billion off its market value.

Barring any extra costs related to the US ruling, Samsung should report a fifth straight record profit this quarter, as profits from its component business recover and more than offset thinning margins on mobile phones - squeezed by higher year-end holiday marketing campaigns.

"Samsung's strength extends beyond cool products, they're also a leader in the technology behind these devices. We see further upside to Samsung's stock as success in smartphones continues and chips and display profits also rebound," said Newman. "In smartphones, the opportunity is for Samsung to take more share from Apple in the premium segment, where Apple is still dominant."

UBS estimates Samsung will ship around 22.5 million of its Galaxy S III and Note II devices in the quarter to end-December, up from 20 million in July-September. Shin said in November that Galaxy S III sales would hit 40 million by the end of this month.

In a worst-case scenario for Samsung, US judge Lucy Koh could treble the damages payable to Apple, given the jury in August found Samsung "willfully" infringed some Apple patents.

"That would be a major blow to Samsung's fundamentals and overall investor sentiment, but it's not the most likely scenario," said Young Park, a 4-star StarMine analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.