Even if Intel powers just one Android tablet made by Samsung, it would be big for the Intel Atom team. Since debuting the Atom chip five years ago, it has typically been used in low-end PCs such as netbooks. Over the past year, Intel managed to get Atom silicon inside a few smartphones, but none of those devices have gone on to be major sales hits. The chip does power Windows 8(msft) tablets as well.

In this case, Samsung is one of the top Android tablet makers, giving Intel a chance to prove its Atom has the right blend of power and efficiency to compete in the growing mobile market.

I noted earlier this week that Samsung could be considering the move in order to keep its Exynos chips available for higher demand devices such as the Galaxy S 4 smartphone:

“So why would Samsung, which makes it own chips for smartphones and tablets, consider an Intel inside its newest Galaxy Tab? Samsung could be keeping the Exynos for its own handsets, such as the new Galaxy S 4, because it sells more handsets than tablets. The company’s tablets wouldn’t like suffer any performance hit by using Intel’s silicon either; at least not if the early benchmarks are valid.”

The timing of a potential Intel Atom design win is a little surprising to me. The company will debut the next generation of Atom chips called Silvermont in the second half of this year, promising three times the computing power or five times the power efficiency of the current Atom processors.

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Most of the base components are the same between the two tablets: An Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, IPS display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 1 GB of memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC.

The Hisense model only comes with half of the storage capacity as the Nexus 7 — 8 GB vs 16 GB — but does include a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Both devices have front facing cameras while the Hisense model adds a rear, 5 megapixel camera. It also supports mini HDMI out for external displays while the Nexus 7 doesn’t.

I’m planning to check out the Sero 7 Pro at my local WalMart and compare the build quality to a Nexus 7. Assuming it’s comparable, I could see many people picking up one of these tablets at this price.

My other concern would be software updates going forward. Since Hisense isn’t known for Android devices, I’m wondering how quickly the tablet will see Android upgrades in the future. You definitely some piece of mind with this for the Nexus 7 since Google provides the updates directly and quickly.

That same question comes to mind when talking about “Google Edition” phones. Samsung has already announced a $649 version of its Galaxy S 4 that will run stock Android without Samsung’s customizations. Now sources suggest that an HTC One handset will be offered in a “Google Edition” as well. Since Google is selling such devices in the Google Play Store, my guess is that Google itself will push future updates. That hasn’t been made clear, however.

Regardless, many who like the HTC One hardware but don’t like HTC Sense software may have the best of both worlds available soon. We’ll find out this coming week, when HTC is expected to announce an HTC One “Google Edition” smartphone.

With Samsung, and possibly HTC, offering “pure” Android devices, Google’s Nexus line will be interesting to watch. I have a feeling the new Nexus devices will be kept at lower prices with fewer cutting edge features and components if these “Google Edition” phones sell well.

All Android devices saw the Chrome beta browser get a substantial update this week. Note that the beta version is different from the generally available version of Chrome and both can co-exist on your Android smartphone. The beta edition gained full-screen browsing, a new graph showing bandwidth savings when using Google’s data compression feature and automatic language translation when browsing pages in non-native languages.

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Paul O’Brien of MoDaCo reported the change in strategy on Friday, with multiple sources saying the phone would be announced next week. Like Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 “Google Edition”, announced last week at Google I/O, the HTC One would lose HTC’s Sense software and run a plain, or stock, version of Android. This would be akin to the Nexus 4 phone, which Google sells directly through Google Play.

According to O’Brian:

“It seems as though the very existence of the Google Edition device has created considerable internal turmoil at HTC. There is a deep seated belief within HTC that Sense provides the best possible Android experience and there’s no reason to offer anything different – unifying behind a consistent message. HTC has always been a company however that is driven from the top and it appears as though the new device has been sanctioned by none other than Peter Chou himself, no doubt influenced by arch-rival Samsung’s recent announcement.”

It’s possible that turmoil is related to the key executives and resources that have left HTC as recently as this week, but that could be coincidental. There’s little, however, that HTC knows it needs to make major changes in product and vision if it wants to stay relevant in the Android marketplace.

A “Google Edition” HTC One could actually bring multiple benefits to help the situation. The current HTC One on sale now is an outstanding piece of hardware; possibly the best designed and built Android phone on the market today. But some have shied away from buying the phone because of HTC’s Sense user interface. A “pure” HTC One with nothing but Android on it could generate additional sales.

Another benefit could be found in marketing; an area where HTC greatly lags its peers. A “Google Edition” phone would likely be sold directly by Google in the Play store, meaning Google can help market the phone. It would also remove carriers from the equation and give HTC a little more control over the phone, pricing and software updates.

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On the surface the Sero looks just like the Nexus 7 and it shares many of the same hardware specifications: a 7-inch 1280 x 800 IPS touchscreen, a quad-core 1.3 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, 10 hours of battery life and 1 GB of memory. The device also runs Android 4.2 out of the box, so the software is up to date. The Sero has a few extras though, when compared to the higher priced Nexus 7.

Hisense’s new tablet includes a mini-HDMI port and a microSD expansion slot; neither of which exist on Google’s tablet. The latter port may come in handy, mainly because the Sero only has 8 GB of internal storage. In this area, the Nexus comes out on top with the $199 tablet offering double the capacity. But the Nexus doesn’t have expandable storage, so that 16 GB is all you get.

If you want to output the Nexus 7 display to an external monitor you’re out of luck as it has no HDMI output nor does it support MHL adapters for that purpose.

The Sero 7 Pro has a front-facing camera like the Nexus 7 but it uses a 2 megapixel sensor as compared the 1.2 megapixels on the Nexus 7 camera. Hisense also added a rear camera — not found on the Nexus 7 — with a 5 megapixel sensor.

I may sneak over to my local WalMart to get a quick hands on with the new Hisense slate. If it’s essentially as good as the Nexus 7 with a few extra features included, I think it will be a hot seller at the large retailer. Of course, when Google eventually does give the Nexus 7 an overhaul, it could offer the current model for $149 or less.

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According to U.K.-based site Mobile News, the decision was made by Facebook and not HTC or EE. Sources provided Mobile News the following quote:

“The HTC First has been pulled and will never go on sale in the UK. Sales in the US were poor and Facebook has taken the decision not to give it a more widespread release.”

That’s likely true given the relatively poor reception of the HTC First in the U.S. No official sales figures have been announced, but multiple reports have indicated sales are meager for the mid-range Android smartphone.

Engadget has confirmed the situation with EE, with the carrier saying: “Following customer feedback, Facebook has decided to focus on adding new customization features to Facebook Home over the coming months.” The decision is a sound one as there’s little incentive for people to purchase hardware when the software can be downloaded directly from the Google Play store if desired.

Facebook Home is only available for a limited number of Android phones, but, if the company is serious about increasing engagement through a custom launcher, it should expand availability to more existing phones. Trying to differentiate a piece of hardware through a single social networking interface isn’t the answer. Simply put: the HTC First is a solution in search of a problem.

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Kodera isn’t the only recent departure, however, which makes the situation a little more bleak. Here are a few more joining the exodus, per The Verge:

“It’s not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession — most recently Jason Gordon, the company’s vice president of global communications. Other fresh departures include global retail marketing manager Rebecca Rowland, director of digital marketing John Starkweather, and product strategy manager Eric Lin.”

I knew that Lin had left: He moved recently to become a Product Marketing Manager for Skype after five years with HTC. The others are news to me, but in hindsight, perhaps not surprising given the company’s rough ride of late: delays for the HTC One flagship phone due to supply issues and the lack of buzz around the HTC First, a phone that highlights the Facebook experience.

With HTC’s fall from prominence in the U.S., it’s possible — likely even — that the Tawian-based company consolidates operations back to its home country. With Apple and Samsung dominating U.S. phone sales, it may make sense for HTC to concentrate more effort on the bigger opportunities in Asia. To do so really doesn’t require much of a U.S. presence, sadly.

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According to the testing details, the device in question uses a 1280 x 800 display and is running Android 4.2.2. The processor can run between 800 MHz and 1.6 GHz clock cycles and uses a PowerVR 533 for graphics, which fits the bill as an Intel Atom chip, possibly the newest CloverTrail+ that Intel recently announced.

So does this particular device perform? Based on the benchmarks: Quite good. Here’s a comparison of the graphics performance of the tested Galaxy Tab 3 and last year’s Galaxy Tab 2 model, for example.

And SamMobile recently noted a different benchmark test of the Tab 3 using the Antutu test, finding that the device scored the highest ever for an Android tablet in terms of overall performance.

So why would Samsung, which makes it own chips for smartphones and tablets, consider an Intel inside its newest Galaxy Tab? Samsung could be keeping the Exynos for its own handsets, such as the new Galaxy S 4, because it sells more handsets than tablets. The company’s tablets wouldn’t like suffer any performance hit by using Intel’s silicon either; at least not if the early benchmarks are valid.

If Intel’s Atom does power the Galaxy Tab 3, it would be one of the biggest mobile design wins yet for Intel. The chipmaker does power a few smartphone products, but hasn’t yet cracked the U.S. market with a top-tier hardware partner such as Samsung.

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Enthusiast site SamMobile got hold of the Galaxy S 3 software update and even has the file available for download if you have a Galaxy S 3 and you’re feeling particularly adventurous. The site suggests that Samsung is still working on the firmware and will likely include the Galaxy S 4 camera interface. That makes sense to me as Samsung representatives told me the company is trying to standardize the UI between its phones and cameras.

Don’t expect the Galaxy S 3 to see the touch-free gestures found on the Galaxy S 4 though: The latter device uses a special digitizer not found on the older phone. Here’s a partial list of the feature updates found by SamMobile, followed by a short video demonstration showing off the Galaxy S 4 bits running on a Galaxy S 3:

• Android 4.2.2 – Build ID: JDQ39
• New S4 Lockscreen: Multiple Widgets, two Unlock effects (Ripple and Light), improved ripple effect than Android 4.1.2, ability to change clock size and set a personal message
• New Screen modes (From S4): Adapt Display and Professional Photo
• Actionable notifications
• Completely revamped Settings UI (Tabbed interface – Exactly like the S4)
• Addition of Voice controls (Let’s you control various parts of the phone using voice commands – Galaxy S4 feature)
• New S-Voice (from S4)

The software update is expected next month, although that could change based on feature additions and testing by Samsung. What surprises me — in a good way — is that Samsung is doing this at all. Early on, the company wasn’t known for delivering Android updates too quickly. And instead of keeping the best features on the Galaxy S 4, possibly enticing some to upgrade early from a Galaxy S 3, the company is improving the experience on the older model.

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The Jolla hardware looks similar to that of Nokia’s Lumia, with a clean, button-less front face that houses the 4.5-inch touchcscreen. Jolla’s product page mentions “The Other Half”, which appears to be a removable back cover that comes in different colors, allowing for some device personalization. The phone will use a dual-core processor and support 4G LTE in some regions. Internal storage tops out at 16 GB, but can be expanded via microSD card. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera with auto focus.

Jolla is less about hardware, however. Jolla’s Sailfish software has roots in the old MeeGo platform that Nokia and Intel created with their Maemo and Moblin projects. The operating system offers a multitasking style interface and supports apps written with the Qt framework. But the phone is also “Android app compliant” which, in a move similar to that of BlackBerry, can help with available apps at launch.

While I like the idea of Jolla — a community-based open-source smartphone approach — I think it will be extremely difficult for Jolla to gain serious traction in the marketplace. Handset and component makers already have several platforms to work with and the potential payback to invest efforts in Jolla is relatively small.

Credit to the Jolla folks though: Even as Android and iOS rule the smartphone markets, the little Davids are still willing to take on the Goliaths.

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