Global tablet shipments jumped 6 percent in Q3 to 55.2 million units, Strategy Analytics on Thursday said its preliminary findings show. "Although they are still some distance behind market leaders Apple and Samsung, both Lenovo and Asus are demonstrating that innovative form factors provide sufficient product differentiation to drive shipments," the company said. In Q3, Android further consolidated its global market share in tablets, reaching an all-time high of 72 percent share, it said. Windows also reached its highest level of market share at 6 percent "as more models became available from traditional PC vendors and with a full quarter of Microsoft Surface Pro 3 availability," it said. Apple shipped 12.3 million iPads in Q3, a 13 percent decline from Q3 a year earlier and a 7 percent decline from Q2, it said. Few consumers in the developed world are "feeling the need to upgrade" to the latest iPads, it said. The newly announced iPad Air 2 and Mini 3, "plus the retention of older models at lower price points, will stimulate sales in the coming quarters by providing essentially a wider range of iPad availability in terms of price and specifications," it said. Strategy Analytics thinks iPad growth rates "will remain muted until new form factors are introduced," it said. "We believe Apple will win back meaningful high-end market share during the final months of the calendar year."

The new iPad Air 2 has a design and feature set that’s "only incrementally different" from the original iPad Air, so it carries "a nearly identical hardware cost as its predecessor," IHS said Wednesday in a teardown analysis. The 16-GB Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad Air 2 has a $270 bill of materials, IHS said its preliminary estimate found. When the $5 manufacturing cost is added, the cost rises to $275, it said. That’s compared with the $269 BOM for the 16-GB version of the original iPad Air, based on an IHS analysis done a year ago when that tablet was introduced, it said. "Although the profit margin appears to be the same for Apple at the low end of the iPad Air 2 line, the product produces lower gross margins for Apple at the high end with 64GB and 128GB worth of NAND flash," IHS said. "This is because the 64-GB and 128-GB models of iPad Air 2 are selling at the same price point as the original iPad Air 32-GB and 64-GB models. The additional cost of memory trims the estimated margins slightly."

Logitech launched a standalone Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad with a water-repellent fabric skin, iOS shortcuts and a rechargeable battery -- with battery life indicator -- that can last up to three months, the company said. The $69.99 keyboard is available in red, black or teal.

MetroPCS began offering the Alcatel Onetouch Pop 7 tablet to customers Friday, which the T-Mobile subsidiary touted as its first tablet offering. It includes a 7-inch display and uses Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The tablet costs $149 for customers who subscribe to one of MetroPCS’s new data plans. The new data plans begin at $10 a month of unlimited data and up to 1 GB of data transmission at 4G speeds. Customers get the first 3 GB of data transmitted at 4G on the $20 tier and the first 5 GB of data transmitted at 4G on the $30 tier, MetroPCS said (http://bit.ly/1FMrsWL).

The New York Police Department said up to 41,000 mobile devices, including tablets, are being distributed to officers (http://bit.ly/1zmIMks). The devices were paid for using criminal asset forfeiture funds, which funded a $160 million NYPD Mobility Initiative, the department said in a Thursday news release. “We must have 21st century tools to deal with 21st century threats, and this infusion of new resources will arm our officers with the technology and information they need to fight crime and protect the City against terrorism more efficiently and more effectively,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Samsung and Barnes & Noble broadened the line of Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook tablets Wednesday with a 10.1-inch, 16 GB version selling for $299. The companies called the $299 tag a “special introductory price” that includes access to $200 in free content from the Nook Store. The Barnes & Noble website showed the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4 Nook for $169 with an instant $30 rebate, and the 10-inch version with a $50 rebate. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 without Nook software was also selling for $299 Wednesday at Best Buy and Amazon, while the 7-inch version sold at Amazon for $163. Customers buying the 10.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook will receive new Nook software via an over-the-air update from the Google Play store that began Wednesday, the companies said. The update is said to include a cleaner visual design and user interface, new navigation tools to provide quick access between the shopping experience and other sections of the device and support for portrait and landscape modes. The software update will be available for the 7-inch model in November, they said.

Hammacher Schlemmer bowed an iPad case that adds storage capability via a Wi-Fi transmitter and removable microSD card (http://prn.to/1yVpPUU). The design is intended to reduce “the hassle of constantly managing the tablet’s content,” said Hammacher Schlemmer General Manager Fred Berns Tuesday. Users can access videos, music and photos stored on the case’s microSD card via a free app, the company said. The case has a rechargeable battery that delivers up to eight hours following a two-hour charge. Cards are available in 16, 32 or 64 GB volumes, starting at $139.95 for the 16 GB version, the company said.

Toshiba announced the Satellite Radius 11 convertible PC Tuesday that’s due in stores Oct. 26 (http://bit.ly/1whRyLW). The $329 2-in-1 has a two-axis hinge that rotates 360 degrees, allowing the device to convert from a laptop to a tablet, Toshiba said. The Radius 11, with an 11.6-inch screen, can be configured with an Intel Pentium or Celeron processor, up to 4 GB RAM and 32 GB flash memory, the company said.

An eight-inch tablet that doubles as a rear-seat car entertainment system is the differentiator behind the Android Tablet Vehicle Entertainment System that Audiovox started shipping at $299, the company said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1oaHwfM). The tablet converts to a rear-seat entertainment system using a mounting mechanism that secures the tablet to the headrest posts and doubles as a charger when the tablet is docked, the company said. "One of the foremost concerns of consumers who utilize a portable device in the vehicle is the potential of a hand held tablet flying out of the hands of a passenger in an emergency," it said. "This system eliminates that concern as the tablet mounts securely in the vehicle, giving the passenger complete control and the driver complete peace of mind." When attached, FM playback on the tablet of audio content through any FM station on the vehicle sound system is possible, it said. The tablet also has built-in Bluetooth, which allows playback of audio through a vehicle sound system if the vehicle is Bluetooth-capable, it said.

Among leading tablet suppliers, Amazon and Samsung are "locked in a tight race for second" behind Apple, "which overall shows signs of cooling even as adoption remains high," Parks Associates said Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1EYvYkC). It canvassed 10,000 U.S. broadband homes in Q1 and found that 16 percent owned an Amazon tablet and 14 percent a Samsung tablet, while Apple's share fell to 37 percent from 46 percent in Q1 two years earlier, it said. More than six in every 10 U.S. broadband homes now own a tablet, and slightly more than half own both a smartphone and a tablet, it said. "Tablet sales in recent quarters have been hampered by a longer replacement cycle compared to smartphones', a lack of new features, and the popularity of phablets, which negatively affects sales of smaller-sized tablets." The next iPad, Parks said, is widely expected to feature Apple Pay, the digital wallet service that Apple introduced when it debuted the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last month. "Apple Pay on iPad can go a long way in helping Apple arrest its shrinking market share in the tablet marketplace," it said. "Apple already announced Apple Pay with its iPhone 6, and the company has the clout to secure the necessary support from major merchants. If Apple is able to deliver a seamless payment experience, with tight security and broad merchant support, the firm could turn the mobile wallet into a differentiator for the tablet market." Apple Pay will come to market without the support of Best Buy and Walmart, which each said last month they won’t support the service at launch for reasons that neither would disclose 1409150011.