Technology, Tablet Computer | featured news

Apple Inc's "iPad mini" will attract new customers but the higher-than-expected price will come as a relief to low-cost tablets such as Amazon.com Inc's Kindle, analysts said, in a muted reaction to the new tablet.

When Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) unveiled the Surface tablet in June, it pulled back the curtain on nearly three years of secret development. This Friday, buyers will finally be able to get their hands on the $499 tablet.

The full-sized iPad is like a hardback book. The new iPad Mini is the paperback version many tablet users have been waiting for.

The rumors surrounding Apple's press event, scheduled for Oct. 23, are deafening. Will the Cupertino-based company announce a smaller iPad? (It had better.) Will the company offer up a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display? (Very likely!) How about an Apple-branded coffee maker? (No.)

Wow, tomorrow’s the big/little day when Apple will hopefully unveil the long-rumored iPad mini. Alongside the smaller tablet it’s speculated that we’ll see a few updates to the Mac lineup and a UI update to the popular iBooks app. What has been quietly whispering in the background is the possibility that Apple would tweak the current full-sized iPad by expanding 4G compatibility and swapping out the old 30-pin dinosaur dock in favor of the new Lightning connector debuted at the iPhone 5 launch event last month.

Apple has lost its appeal against a ruling that cleared rival Samsung of copying its registered designs for tablet computers, in a decision which could end the two firms' legal dispute on the subject across Europe.

At 9:00 this morning, Pacific time, Microsoft’s future goes on sale. The first Surface tablet, Microsoft’s dramatic foray into the hardware business, is available for pre-order starting today. It will be available for purchase in stores starting Oct. 26. With its release, Microsoft instantly becomes the third major player in the tablet market, a market where it is taking a fundamentally different approach than its rivals, Apple and Google.

Apple has yet to unveil the iPad mini, but already, a report says exactly how many will be available in time for the holidays.

A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that a lower court should reconsider a sales ban against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 won by Apple in a patent dispute with the South Korean electronics maker.

Barnes & Noble is rolling out two new versions of its Nook tablet with sleek new hardware and a sharper high-definition screen. The bookseller's move heightens the already intense tablet wars heading into the holiday season.