Lots of Samsung news this week as well as the good, the bad and the ugly in regards to Microsoft. All external links go to Tom’s Hardware unless otherwise stated.

Tablet Announcements:

More news on Samsung’s upcoming 8-inch Galaxy Note Phablet:

• Pictured: The 8-inch Galaxy Note Bound for MWC – SamMobile site has posted a picture (not yet authenticated by Samsung) of the monster Phablet.
• Samsung’s Massive Galaxy Note 8.0 Spotted in the Wild – Italian site dday.it published a picture of the 7.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 8. No work whether the tablet in the photo is the final model or a prototype.

Other Samsung Announcements:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Range Set For MWC 2013 – Like the Samsung’s elusive Galaxy Note 8 phablet, they are likely going to introduce the two new Galaxy 3 tablets at next months Mobile World Congress (MWC) next month in Barcelona, Spain.

Other Tablet News

• Canvas tablets do Android on a budget [Slash Gear] – These are made by The Pardo group which according to their Twitter page is based out of Washington D.C. These very inexpensive Android based Canvas tablets ($100 USD/$125 USD) are targeted towards the 4 to 12 year-old market (but look like grown-up tablets). The specs are not that impressive, but again these are targeted to kids (but not built for kids).
• Intel Believes That PC is Undergoing Transition to a Tablet – This was after the U.S. PC manufacturer reported weak profits and the day before they announced they were going to be leaving the desktop Mother Board market over the next three-years.

Microsoft News

• Microsoft Sold 1 Million Surface Tablets During 2012’s Q4 – That’s all? Much less than the 1.3 to 2 Million units analysts had predicted.
• Microsoft Surface Pro Availability Date Revealed, Plus New Surface RT Model – Expected to hit Microsoft Stores, Best Buy and Staples in the US on February 9th. If you still have some money left after shelling out $900 for one of these may be you can add a Surface Edition of Microsoft’s Wedge Touch Mouse, costing $69.99 USD or even one of three new limited editions of Microsoft’s Touch Cover with an estimated retail price of $129.99 USD each.
• Microsoft prepping cheaper Surface tablets to expand lineup [Slash Gear] – Microsoft didn’t release any specific details other than they are going to try to get the parts cheaper from their suppliers. As far as I am concerned they are wasting their time. While the Windows RT tablet is only $500 (same as an iPad) it is a crippled version of Windows and there is just not the same number of apps out there as for Apple and even Android. Even if they somehow manage to cut the price in half to compete with the Nexus and Kindle tablets, there is still the lack of apps available that is going to hinder the sales of the Surface.and the best (or perhaps worst) for last….
• Microsoft Has No Business Selling Tablets: Josh Brown [Yahoo! Finance] – Been saying this for quite a while now. The best part of this video is at 1:12 when Josh response to the question “Who buys a $900 tablet, when you can get an Apple iPad for half that price…”. The video also addresses the possibility of Microsoft supporting a Dell buy out.