Tablet Computer, BP Relief Well: Hot Trends

(New information on Samsung's tablet computer and the BP relief well updated in today's Hot Trends article.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- "Tablet computer" is a trending topic on Yahoo!(YHOO) today following reports that a new tablet running on Google's(GOOG) Android system could hit the market as soon as winter 2010.

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Samsung is expected to launch its Galaxy Tab, a thin tablet computer aimed squarely at Apple's(AAPL) iPad, sometime in the next several months.

"Samsung has a strong position in handsets and emerging smartphone design," said Joel Achramowicz, senior vice president of research at investment bank Blaylock Robert Van. "It's certainly emerging competition for the iPad and Apple."

The Galaxy Tab will run on the Android system and will reportedly be available on the AT&T(T), Verizon(VZ), Sprint Nextel(S) and T-Mobile networks.

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"BP relief well" is a popular search topic today after news that the oil company is close to completely patching the bottom of the leaking well.

BP's(BP) project is on track to be finished on Saturday. It has been about five months since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The explosion killed 11 workers.

No oil has leaked since BP placed a temporary cap on the well in July, and has since worked to permanently plug the leak.

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"Mortgage rates" is a trending search topic following yesterday's release of Freddie Mac's(FMCC) weekly survey showing that the average 30 year fixed mortgage rate rose for the second week in a row. The 30 year fixed rate came in at 4.37% this week, up from last week's 4.35%, but down from 5.04% a year ago.