NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 System-on-Chip (SoC) powers a range of current high-end tablets including the Google Nexus 7 and the Microsoft Surface RT.  But the company is hard at work on the next-generation of their ARM platform, the Tegra 4.

According to a newly leaked document, the Tegra 4 – codenamed Wayne – will (like its predecessor) include four application cores, but will move to the latest Cortex-A15 architecture.  It will also have 72 graphics cores, besting the Tegra 3’s 12-core GPU handily.  These extra cores will enable screen resolutions up to 2560×1600.

The Tegra 4’s app cores will likely be clocked between 1.2 and 2.0GHz.  It will also include support for USB 3.0 and DDR3.

NVIDIA is expected to unveil the new SoC  in Q1 2013, with the first devices powered by the Tegra 4 likely shipping mid-year.

AndroidPolice has new details – or at least purported details – on the upcoming HTC Incredible 4G. 

Thanks to a tipster, the site reports that the new Incredible will feature a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon SoC, a 4-inch display and Android 4.0.  No real surprises there. 

We’ll keep you posted as new information is released.  The HTC Incredible 4G is expected to hit Verizon Wireless sometime in the next month or so.

Unless you’re a die-hard B&N devotee, there are very few reasons to choose the Nook Tablet over the Kindle Fire, and the extra $50 you have to shell out for the Nook doesn’t help.  But it now appears that a new 8GB Nook Tablet will soon launch, and while taking away one of the few advantages over the Fire (2x the onboard storage) won’t likely sway would-be buyers, a new price point might.

A leaked Wal-Mart inventory memo states that the new 8GB Nook Tablet will ship on Wednesday, February 22.  This looks legit, so the only question now is: how much will it cost? 

$199?  $150? 

We’ll know Wednesday.

Update: Well, the rumor was correct, except for the date; B&N released the new 8GB Nook Tablet this morning.  The price is $199, and the 16GB version is still available at $249.

Aside from Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Android tablets have enjoyed very limited success compared to Apple’s iPad, a situation Google cannot be very happy with.  Even top-shelf devices like the Motorola Xyboard are destined for disappointing sales because of their high price.  As a result, the company may be poised to release a tablet of its own, bypassing partner tinkering and price bloat, and focusing on the best possible Android experience on a tablet device at the best possible price. 

Like the Nexus line of smartphones, a Nexus tablet would be free of UI overlays and manufacturer add-ons, offering a pure Android user experience. Google chairman Eric Schmidt has confirmed that a “tablet of the highest quality” is in the works, so the questions now are 1) will it be a Google-branded tablet, 2) when will it be released, 3) how much will it cost, and 4) what sort of tablet will it be?

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The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is currently the only Android 4 smartphone on the market in the United States, and others are soon to follow, but that’s not the end of the story.  Other late-gen Android devices including tablets and even hybrid notebooks will be getting upgrades to Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), presumably in the next few months.  Here’s what we know so far.

Samsung: The Korean company has confirmed that it will upgrade some of its 2011 Galaxy devices to Ice Cream Sandwich, the code-name for Android 4.0.  “ICS-upgradable devices are the GALAXY S II, GALAXY S II LTE, GALAXY Note, GALAXY R, GALAXY Tab 10.1, GALAXY Tab 8.9, GALAXY Tab 7.7, and GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus.”  No timeframe was given other than that plans included some ICS releases in Q1 2012 with others to follow later in the year.

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