Nook cover by stickitskins on Etsy

It’s been quite a while since we took a look at what OEMs have to offer in the tablet market, and as Apple’s press event nears, the industry is taking measures to prepare for whatever devices Apple will unveil.  We’ll look at what just launched, soon to launch and of course, rumored devices.  So let’s get right into it.

Barnes & Noble

Starting this October, Barnes & Noble will be selling their Nook products and digital contents in the UK via a new online store, www.nook.co.uk.  At first, only the E-Ink Readers, NOOK Simple Touch and NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, will be available for UK consumers but the company stated that other products and digital content will soon be available after they’ve established partnership with top UK physical and online retailers.

“We are proud to be able to offer our top-rated line of NOOK reading devices and our award-winning digital bookstore to the discerning and highly educated consumers in the UK,” said William J. Lynch, Chief Executive Officer at Barnes & Noble. “We’re confident our award-winning technology, combined with our expansive content – including books, children’s books, magazines, apps, movies and more – will bring UK customers the option they’ve been waiting for.”

LG

Korean company LG will soon launch their phablet, the LG Optimus Vu, to other markets starting this September.  The Optimus Vu was LG’s answer to Samsung’s Galaxy Note.  Both are 5-inch devices which features a stylus.  The Optimus Vu launched primarily in South Korea and Japan and sold over 500,000 units.  The company nw deems that the device is worthy of competing with other products in other markets.

But the Optimus Vu to be launched in other markets will feature a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, instead of a dual-core processor.  The change in processor is said to be in preparation for when Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 2 later this month which is said to feature a quad-core processor.

Samsung

Samsung recently released the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in the UK, US and South Korea.  The tablet comes with the S-Pen which most people refer to as a stylus.  It has new features since its debut at the MWC 2012.   It features a 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 10.1-inch screen with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and can still be expanded with a microSD card, a 2GB RAM, a 5MP rear camera, and a 2MP front camera.  They’ve also added the Smart Stay feature from Galaxy SIII so that the Galaxy Note 10.1 never goes to sleep while you are using it.  Also, they’ve added a new feature that turns on the screen just by removing the S-Pen from its slot.  It comes in three versions: a WiFi only, a WiFi+HSPA+, and a WiFi+LTE.  But the best feature might be the mulitasker tool, wherein you can perform multiple tasks on a split screen so you can capture and drag stuff from one window to another.

But there’s another Samsung tablet, well it’s actually a phablet, rumored to be launching later this month – the Galaxy Note 2.  According to sources, Samsung will have an UnPacked event on August 29th in Berlin, Germany, just days ahead of the 2012 IFA.  Leaked photos feature a white device with a silver border, and of course the S-Pen.  The device is said to feature a 5.5-inch screen, and probably a 1280×720 resolution and Super AMOLED technology.

Microsoft

Software giant Microsoft is expected to launch the Surface tablet in time for the holiday rush later this year.  No news yet as to how much exactly the Surface tablet would cost but sources are pointing to somewhere between $599-$799.  A bit much for a tablet especially from non-hardware maker.  Microsoft recently named OEM partners Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung aside from Asus in their hopes of flooding the market with Windows RT tablets.

Lenovo, one of their recently named partners, revealed that the Windows tablets they’re making will cost somewhere between $400-$700, a couple of hundreds cheaper than what Microsoft will be offering.

“RT will play in consumer and retail at very aggressive price points,” said David Schmoock, head of Lenovo’s North America operations. “It will do well but it’s going to be more of a consumer price point play to begin with,” he said, in an interview today.

Apple

Apple is said to be prepping for an event on September 12 where the new iPhone will be revealed.  But aside from a new iPhone, Apple is said to be launching other devices.  Rumors suggest that an iPad mini or a bigger iPod Touch will also be revealed at the event.  There’s a huge chance that the iPad mini and the bigger iPod Touch is just the same device.