Tablets

It has long been rumored that Amazon had only planned to test the tablet waters with its original 7-inch Kindle Fire. Amazon's purported plan was to release a larger version of its "iPad Killer" if the original smaller version sold well. Even though the Kindle Fire didn't live up to its iPad killing nickname, it does look like Amazon is still moving ahead with a larger version of the tablet.

A recent FCC filing spotted by the The Digital Reader revealed that Amazon may be trying to hide the tablet by using a front company.

Nate Hoffelder explains:

"Every time Amazon has sent a device through the FCC they used a new front company and then hid the paperwork. This is what Amazon has done for every ereader and tablet since the second Kindle. (The first leaked accidentally.) In fact, when the K4, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Fire went through the FCC, Amazon used 3 front companies.

Google has officially announced its Nexus 7 tablet. The 7-inch slate is built by ASUS and is currently the only tablet shipping with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It's powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and features a 1.2-megapixel front camera, NFC and 1280 x 800 resolution. There is also a micro USB slot, but no SD card slot. The Nexus 7 is available in two models: an 8GB version for $199 and a 16GB version for $249.

Android 4.1 features Google's answer to Siri called Google Now. The voice-recognizing digital assistant uses search results, daily routine and other data that it learns over time to answer questions. Other improvements include Project Butter, for smoother page transition, an updated keyboard and offline voice dictation.

Acer has officially announced the Iconia Tab A700 with 1080p Full HD display and 1920 x 1200 resolution. Online retailers like B&H have already begun accepting pre-orders.

The Iconia Tab A700 is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and Android 4.0. Its full HD 1080p LED backlit display, 1920 x 1200 resolution and Dolby Mobile 3 with 5.1-channel home theater surround sound capabilities make it the perfect tablet for watching movies, videos and your favorite TV shows. Its 32GB of internal flash storage gives you plenty of room for downloading and saving games, photos, music and videos. It also features a Micro-SD card and USB 2.0 port for extra storage.

The first tablet from Toshiba's Excite line up is now on sale. The Excite 10 is available from Amazon for $449.99 or B&H Photo for $499.99. The 32GB model is in stock at B&H Photo for $599.99. The 64GB model is MIA on both websites.

The Toshiba Excite 10 features a 10-inch 1280×800 Gorilla Glass display, microHDMI, microUSB, full-sized SD card slot and stereo speakers with SRS Audio support. It's powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Samsung published a list of devices that will be receiving Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich updates in the future. AT&T devices include: Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy Note, Captivate Glide, Nexus S and Galaxy Tab 8.9. Sprint Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch users can expect to join Nexus S 4G owners in enjoying ICS in the near future.

Tablets: Verizon's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 7.7 will be receiving 4.0 updates, and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 Wi-Fi models have also made the cut.