Amazon sold 6m Kindle Fires in Q4 2011, analyst claims

Most people seem to agree that Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet has donereasonably well since launching in the US in the autumn, but so far wehaven't seen anyone put an actual figure on it.

Well, one analyst willing to put his head on the block is StifelNicolas' Jordan Rohan, who reckons Amazon shifted six million of itscut-price slates in Q4 of last year.

That's not bad considering this time last year there was no KindleFire, no Amazon App store and pretty much no hint at all that Amazonwas even interested in the mobile market – though considering the formfactor similarities between e-readers and tablets, it seems fairlylogical in hindsight.

Anyway, 12 months down the line and the Kindle Fire has shot fromnowhere to become the best-selling Android tablet around, mainlythanks to its loss-making $199 price-tag. Like the Kindle e-reader,Amazon is subsidising the hardware side of things to sell more unitsand make increased profits on the software side - Rohan's estimate isthat app sales turn a $10 loss per unit into a $10 profit.

Annoyingly, however, Amazon is following the strongly US-led roll outpattern that has frustrated us international types with the Kindleover the years.

There's still no hint of an international roll out for the KindleFire, and while the good and the great of the mobile world are gearingup for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of Feb, ifAmazon's planning on being there it's doing a good job of keeping itquiet.

Why the delay? It's a complication of that same basic business modelthat sets the Kindle Fire price tag so low, as Amazon needs guaranteedsales through its App store to offset the loss it's making on thetablet itself, and with each market presenting a different propositionon that front, getting the sums right is a complex process.

Samsung to reveal 11.6in Galaxy Tab at Mobile World Congress?

We’re still getting used to the idea that Samsung might not launch theGalaxy S III at Mobile World Congress after all, but it might haveanother high-specced beast up its sleeve.

German site Tabtech reckons Samsung is planning to reveal a spankingnew Galaxy Tab, with a mammoth 11.6in display. That’d make it theworld’s biggest Android tablet, right?

Other rumoured specs for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 11.6 include a 2GHzdual-core Exynos 5250 processor, and an eye-melting resolution of2560x1600. The screen will also welcome stylus input.

The rumour is corroborated by Android and Me’s Taylor Wembley, who wasasked to delete pictures he took of a prototype Exynos 5250-poweredtablet at CES in Vegas. Said prototype had Ice Cream Sandwich (Android4.0) on board.

To be honest, we’d rather see the Samsung Galaxy S III. Also, thiswill be the fifth Galaxy Tab (7, 7.7, 8.9, 10.1 and now 11.6) fromSamsung, adding to our concerns that Sammo might “do an HTC” in 2012.

HTC Sensation coming soon in Ice White

White smartphones are all the rage these days. We’ve got the iPhone4S, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy Note, BlackBerry Bold Touchand loads more that I can’t recall at the moment.

Anyway, HTC is about to jump on board the white train with an Ice White HTC Sensation.

Oddly enough, after cheering us up with the realisation that less is more, this’ll be a white HTC Sensation – that’s the original guy as opposed to the higher-specced HTC Sensation XE.

Unsurprisingly, the specs on the Ice White HTC Sensation will remain the same, so you’re looking at a 4.3in 540x960 display, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and an 8MP camera with 1080p videorecording.

By the time it lands on March 1, the HTC Sensation in Ice White will be packed full of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) goodness.

What do we think? A bit silly and a tad contradictory?

iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III to be waterproof?

In the fast-paced modern world, there just aren’t enough minutes in the day. As such, it’s often necessary to multitask, and a great way to make up some time is to text while you pee.

Of course, there’s always the fear that you’ll drop your phone in the toilet, but if this latest rumour is to be believed, you’ll be able to fish your iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S III out of the bend and keep on texting - Amazing - hm?

According to a “previously reliable source” of Cult of Android, both the Samsung Galaxy S III and iPhone 5 will be waterproof. However, the source serves the rumour juice “with a side of caution”, and presumably some fries.

Supposedly it’ll be CES attendees Liquipel getting the big money contracts for waterproof goodness. That’ll no doubt come as a shock to rivals HZO, who seemed to think that both Apple and Samsung were interested in their waterproof tech.

In any case, it looks like waterproof action will be the norm for high-end smartphones in future.

Fujitsu lifts the lid on Stylistic Android tablet

If there’s one thing we’re really looking forward to at Mobile World Congress, it’s a host of spanking new much-the-same Android tablets. You really never can have enough of those bad boys.

Well, good news if you can’t wait another three weeks, as Fujitsu has fired out a press release detailing the Stylistic M350/CA2.

The press release is fairly light on the spec front, but tells us the Fujitsu Stylistic M350/CA2 will weigh in at 420g with a 7in 1024x600 display, “Android OS” (thought to be Gingerbread) and 6.1 hours of battery life.

Fujitsu is keen to emphasise its "NX! Input powered by ATOK" character input technology, allowing users to switch between numeric, QWERTY and hand-written input.

The Japanese manufacturer suggests that the Stylistic M350/CA2 would be ideal “as a mobile sales terminal, as a handset for displaying digital catalogs at a retail store, and as an e-book reader in a classroom setting.” Exciting.

Will the Fujitsu Stylistic M350/CA2 be in attendance at Mobile World Congress? Does anyone care?

Asus TF300T leaked

All we know about this new chap is that it has the model number TF300T. Cripes knows what I’m gonna write next. Come join me. It’ll be fun.

We have absolutely no specs to go on at this stage. Well, looking at the pics, there’s a rear camera of unknown megapixelage, the back is blood reddish, and there’s a headphone jack. And that's all-we-have-in-our-knowledge! :-)

Nothing can be taken from the model number either. The original Asus Eee Pad Transformer is the TF101 and the cursed Asus Transformer Prime is the TF201, however a redesigned variant of the latter carries the model number TF700T. Great stuff.

So what the hell is it? A proper successor to the just-released Asus Transformer Prime? A little 7 in guy? We're not even sure if it runs Android.