After the first rumors of a Retina-packing iPad mini surfaced earlier this year, several sources close to Apple’s supply chain indicated that panel shortages might limit availability.

Even after yesterday’s launch during which Apple indicated that both the new iPad mini and the iPad Air will be available in a wide range of markets next month, hints of “severely constrained” supply continue to linger. Read more »

Yesterday, Apple announced the fifth generation iPad, christened the iPad Air. It’s thinner, lighter and faster than the model it replaces. The company has now released a new TV ad for it and who better to voice it than Bryan “Heisenberg” Cranston himself.

I think we are all familiar with Bryan Cranston by now. Not only has he been the star of the incredible TV series ‘Breaking Bad’ but also acted in several movies and did a brilliant job every time. As for the ad, it is equally brilliant but you’ll have to watch it to find out why. Read more »

Today’s Apple keynote marked the announcement of the release of the free Mac OS X Maverics, the release of the updated and now free iWorks and iLife application packages, the announcement of the hardware updates to the MacBook Pro lineup and the availability and specs info about the Mac Pro. Last but not least, we saw the announcement of the iPad Air and the Retina update to the iPad mini.

All this fit into less than an hour and a half so you can be sure the pace was hectic. But you don’t have to take my word for it. If you missed the live streaming of the event, now is your chance to watch a replay. Read more »

Apple has just lifted the curtains off its latest iPad Air. It’s thinner, lighter, and more powerful than its predecessor and it’s undoubtedly the best iPad yet, but that’s not surprising anyone. What’s more interesting besides the slate itself is how it compares to the competition.

We are talking the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) and the ASUS Transformer Pad TF701T – the most potent Android tablets available to date. Those beasts both sport 10.1″ displays of 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution. Read more »

The official Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 updates kicked off on October 17. Shortly after that the RT update was pulled from the Store, because it was reportedly failing the installation on a small percentage of RT devices, leaving them unbootable.

It seems Microsoft has found the problem and resolved it, because the Windows RT 8.1 update is back in the Store. Read more »

Over at its Abu Dhabi Keynote Nokia released its first slate dubbed Lumia 2520. The tablet runs on the Windows RT, has a 10.1″ FullHD display a Snapdragon 800 chipset and comes with a variety of color options – black, blue, white and red. The price before subsidies will be $499.

You can get the Lumia 2520 slate with an add-on keyboard, dubbed Power Keyboard, with additional USB ports, battery and integrated kick-stand. Read more »

The refreshed Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 slate joined our review queue a while ago. We have the Wi-Fi-only model, which is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 5420 Octa chipset.

The tablet runs the latest commercially available Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s latest TouchWiz customizations on top. The Note 10.1 2014 Edition also features all S-Pen applications and services the Galaxy Note 3 introduced last month. Read more »

Co-founders and leaders of HTC Peter Chou and Cher Wang (CEO and chairperson respectively) gave an interview to the Financial Times and strongly implied that the company is working on tablet and a wearable device.

This month HTC posted its first-ever quarterly loss and so the company is looking beyond smartphones for extra revenue. Read more »

The latest Gartner report has global tablet shipments up some 42.7% compared to last year, while PC sales are predicted to be down 11.2%.

It’s predicted that by 2017, PCs – which include desktop computers, laptops, and ultramobiles – will become outshipped by tablets running primarily Android and iOS. Read more »

Apple has an event set for tomorrow, October 22, and the wall Street Journal is confirming that the stars of the show will be two new iPads – the new mini and a new version of the 9.7″ model. There might be Mac-related announcements too.

While not official, the news that the iPad mini 2 will be at the event tomorrow is slightly surprising as there were quite a few reports on the low yields of the new 7.9″ Retina display, meaning the tablet won’t make it in time for the holidays or at least won’t be widely available. Read more »

ASUS announced its latest convertible tablet at this year’s IFA in Berlin and it’s called the Transformer Pad TF701T. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that ASUS has dropped the Infinity moniker and has chosen a simpler naming scheme for its premium tablet.

Just like its predecessor, the Transformer Pad rocks a 10.1″ IPS display. Unlike it, however, it’s an IGZO panel, which promises richer, more accurate colors and improved brightness. It’s also featuring a higher, 2560 x 1600 pixel, resolution which results in a pixel density of 300ppi. Read more »

Amazon announced that the 7” Kindle Fire HDX tablet is now shipping. The Wi-Fi-only models are the ones available for the time being. LTE-capable slates will be shipping on November 14.

Pricing of the Android tablet starts at $229 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version with ads on the lockscreen, and tops out at $324 for a 64GB device with no ads. Read more »

LG has just announced the USA availability of the G Pad 8.3 slate. You can pre-order it today exclusively on BestBuy online for $349.99 with free shipping.

The LG G Pad 8.3 will become available through various retailers starting November 3 with BestBuy being the first to get it. Read more »

Microsoft is releasing its Windows 8.1 OS today. It will be available as a free update to existing Windows 8 users and will also come pre-installed on new Windows 8 PCs sold after tomorrow. The stand-alone retail version also launches on October 18.

Windows 8.1, previously known as Blue, will bring back the Start button, make the Start screen optional (boot to Desktop), will offer more customization options, new spit screen mode, IE 11, better SkyDrive integration, new apps, new connectivity options and lots of other improvements. Read more »

Apple is set to unveil the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 tablets next Tuesday and both are set to feature Apple’s TouchID sensor. According to analyst Amit Daryanani over at RBC Capital Markets, the iPad mini 2 is going to be the much better seller of the two, beating its bigger brother 2:1.

More precisely, he expects the second-generation iPad mini to take 65 percent slice of all Apple tablet sales leaving 35 percent to the 9.7″ iPad 5. The more portable iPad is rumored to pack a high resolution Retina display and thus be called the Retina iPad mini. Read more »