Samsung Upstaging iPhone 5S Intro with Smartwatch, Note 3

SamMobile reports that Samsung plans to reveal its Android-powered smartwatch along with the Galaxy Note III during the UNPACKED Episode 2 pre-IFA event on September 4. This combo is expected to upstage Apple which purportedly will introduce the iPhone 5S and low-cost iPhone 5C on September 10. The Samsung smartwatch will reportedly be called the Galaxy Gear, AKA the SM-V700.

Samsung filings reveal 11.8" 'retina' tablet, two new WP8 smartphones

Court documents published as part of the Apple and Samsung trial that got underway on Monday have revealed the South Korean firm plans to release a 11.8-inch tablet some time this year with a retina-like display, as well as two new smartphone's destined to run Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 8.

The Verge spotted the tablet, codenamed P10 in the paperwork, and noted it will be fitted with a 2560 x 1600 pixel 11.8-inch touchscreen panel, trumping the iPad's 2048 x 1536 resolution with a slightly lower but still 'Retina'-like pixel density of 256 ppi. For reference, the iPad's 9.7-inch display has a pixel density of 264 ppi.

The tablet is listed as a 2012 device, but other than that nothing else is known. Samsung recently sent out invites for the launch of its next Galaxy device in San Francisco on August 15, so it's entirely possible they will announce this new tablet at the event, possibly alongside other new “Galaxy” branded products.

Samsung is also planning two new smartphone's, codenamed 'Odyssey' and 'Marco' ahead of Windows Phone 8's launch later this year. While its unclear exactly how many devices the firm plans to release running the new OS, the court documents gave an insight into what will likely be two of its flagship phones for WP8.

First up, the 'Odyssey' will feature a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display with a HD resolution, combined with a 8-megapixel rear camera and NFC support. The 'Marco' uses a slightly smaller 4.0-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display presumably running at 800x480 pixels, and a 8-megapixel rear camera. The exact storage and memory specifications of both devices were not revealed in the filings. 

It's also unclear if these handsets are destined solely for the US market or a worldwide release, but both feature 4G LTE connectivity and are powered by a Qualcomm MSM8960 SoC, offering a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor. There is no question that both devices will run Redmond's next mobile OS however, as WP 7.5 is limited to single-core CPUs.

Qualcomm forecasts Snapdragon powered PCs by late 2012

Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are typically found in phones and tablets, but during an investor meeting in New York yesterday, the company announced plans to launch Snapdragon processors into the PC market within the next 12 months. 

CEO Paul Jacobs said he forecasts most of the new Windows 8 products will arrive after the fiscal year in 2012, which happens to be September. "We're going to see some interesting stuff going on," he said, further commenting that Windows 8 and ARM is a huge opportunity for growth for the San Diego-based telecommunications company.

While Intel is almost certainly safe for the forseeable future when it comes to desktop processor performance, the Snapdragon CPUs will give the lower end of Intel's and AMD's products a run for their money considering the energy efficiency, which combined with its always connected and integrated cellular radios could really prove a hit on netbooks, ultra portables and tablets running Windows 8.

Microsoft had previously commented that its next generation operating system would work natively with ARM based architecture, choosing Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia as initial chip partners for the Windows 8 rollout. The software giant has already shown a S4 series Snapdragon powered tablet running Windows 8.

Snapdragon powered computers will not be able to run older versions of Windows however, and concerns have been raised regarding compatibility due to the vast amount of software written for the x86 archecture that will not work with ARM-based CPUs.

Qualcomm's COO Steve Mollenkopf does not see this as an issue, as most of the key applications will be re-written for ARM-based hardware and with the cloud becoming increasingly popular users will likely have the option to run applications through a browser. "For the apps that you really care about, I don't see it as a significant growth inhibitor in terms of ARM vs. Windows," he said. "I don't think the impact is as significant as what others believe."

One of Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon processors, the 2.5GHz quad-core APQ8064, might make an appearance in HTC's next-generation flagship smartphone the HTC Zeta if recent rumors hold true.