IDC has posted their tablet and e-reader shipment figures for 2010, and it appears that 18 million media tablets were shipped for the year, and 12 million dedicated e-readers.
10 million of those tablets shipped in the Q4 alone.
Apple remained the dominate force, with a 73 percent share of the market, but that number fell substantially from the 93 percent share the company had at the end of the Q3.
Samsung took 17 percent share with their Galaxy Tab, while all other companies took the final 10 percent.
The e-reader market saw significant gains, as well, following the release of the refreshed Amazon Kindle and the Nook Color.
E-reader shipment growth grew 325 percent to 13 million, with the Kindle taking 48 percent share. B&N took second place, with their Nook and Nook Color devices. Pandigital was a close third, followed by Hanvon and Sony to round out the top 5.
IDC expects the media tablet market to hit 50 million shipped in 2011, thanks to the Motorola Xoom and other Android devices but mainly because of the new iPad 2 (pictured).
Result for: release
Microsoft has begun offering Windows 7 Service Pack 1 via Windows Update today, as promised earlier in the month.
The 32-bit version of SP1 is around 755MB and the 64-bit edition comes in at around 1GB.
Says Microsoft:
Starting today, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will be available to everyone via the Microsoft Download Center and [will] start rolling out via Windows Update.
If you prefer to have a disc, you can get one sent to you for $6 from Microsoft, including shipping.
The public beta of the SP was released in July 2010, and Microsoft launched the release candidate in October. The SP1 brings no new features, but is instead a collection of security patches and nonsecurity fixes already available through Windows Update.
Result for: release
Nintendo has denied that it is planning to phase out its DSi handheld console in anticipation of the release of the Nintendo 3DS over the coming weeks.
Kotaku.com had translated a report from Japan that suggested Nintendo would stop making and selling new units of its DSi handheld, although it would keep manufacturing and marketing the larger-screen DSi XL model alongside the new 3DS.
“We plan to still manufacture and supply DSi consoles in a range of colours in the UK in 2011,” Nintendo said in a statement to the media. “On an on-going basis, continuing supply is based on retail and consumer demand.”
The Nintendo 3DS handheld console will launch in Japan on February 26th and will follow in North America and Europe in March. Nintendo is to ship 1.5 million units of the device to Japan to avoid supply shortages that were experienced with older iterations of the console.
The 3DS will sell for ¥25,000 in Japan.
