The tablet market is moving, ladies and gentlemen. And not just the good parts either, as Toys “R” Us is discovering right now. But regardless of whether you have a tablet, or your kids do, or a kleptomaniac flight attendant took it, go on and check out the best tech news of the day.

Child’s Play: Toys “R” Us Sued Over Tablet Infringement
The tablet war has moved into the playroom, as Toys “R” Us is being sued by maker of a tablet for children, Fuhu Inc., for stealing trade secrets that led Toys “R” Us to produce its own children’s tablet, the Tabeo. According to Fuhu, Toys R’ Us had agreed to become the exclusive seller of their tablet, the Nabi, but Toys “R” Us had no intention of selling the Nabi; instead, Fuhu claims that Toys R’ Us took the design and made their own tablet. (Reuters)

When 5 Million iPhones Sold Isn’t Enough, Blame Thin Scree
Despite selling 5 million units in three days, the iPhone still fell short of the mythical expectation levels of Wall Street Analysts, who predicted a staggering 6 to 10 million devices sold in the first weekend. One reason for the shortfall is that Apple is not counting pre-orders that were pushed into the next quarter. Another could be that Apple’s use of ultra-thin screens is causing supply shortages. (ZDNET, Bloomberg)

Samsung Opens New Front With Mobile Browser to Compete With Google and Apple
Samsung, apparently unsatisfied with its current multi-front tech war, is planning on challenging Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome browsers with its own WebKit browser for mobile devices. First reported by the Electronic Times of Japan, Samsung has advertised for developers with expertise in mobile browsers to work at the Advanced Software Platform Lab at Samsung’s US research and development centre in Silicon Valley. (CNET)

Still 7″ in Japan: Google Takes on Sony with Nexus 7 Launch in Japan
Google expanded the reach of its flagship Nexus 7 tablet to Japan Tuesday. This move seems to set Google up to compete with Sony, which also manufactures tablets that run Google’s Android platform. (Chicago Tribune)

Photo Credit: Schulknabe mit iPad, after Albert Anker by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, on Flickr

Millions of consumers will finally get their hands on the new iPhone 5 this weekend, although it appears Apple’s Maps App couldn’t find its way out of a paper bag right now. So don’t get lost in this mad, mad tech world, and catch up on some sweet tech news.

Features, OS, and Screen Size Less Important Than Price For Prospective Smartphone Buyers
A recent study by Qualcomm found that a whopping 71 percent of respondents said they took price into account when selecting their next device purchase, compared to 50 percent who took screen size into consideration. On one hand, the fact that consumers care about the price of a future purchase is simply common sense — but in a smartphone marketplace where manufactures are desperately trying create distinct products, it appears that price still trumps things like OS, design, and speed. (Mashable)

Burglars Become Earliest Adopters Of iPhone 5
The dedication of the thousands of Apple fans who lined up in front of stores on Friday were put to shame by a group Burglars in Japan. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that as of noon on Friday, 191 new iPhone 5s were nabbed in the early hours of the morning in a series of break-ins at three different stores in Osaka. At one store, 116 devices — the entire stock — were stolen in a four-minute span starting at 4:24 in the morning. (WSJ)

Minor Technical Issues Appear (Again) for Some Early iPhone Adopters
It wouldn’t be a real iPhone launch if we didn’t freak out a bit over technical glitches. YouTube videos and Tweets today showed that some have been getting some wonky issues from their iPhones’ screens. Some are reporting a weird bubble that appears on the screen when pressed too hard, while others say that the screens flicker and blur in certain areas. (TechCrunch)

Lenovo Bursts Into Windows 8 with $799 ThinkPad 2 and Keyboard
Lenovo has staked its flag in the Windows 8 marketplace with the $799 ThinkPad 2 (including its keyboard and dock). The 10.1-inch tablet has a 1366×768 display and a reported battery life of ten hours. The price is on the high side of the still-unsettled debate over Windows 8 price points. While the device does come with the keyboard and dock, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has implied that the Surface will be priced between $300 and $800, which would leave the ThinkPad 2 to compete with the highest-grade Surface tablet. (ArsTechnica)

Photo Credit: Burglar Bill at large by f4niko, on Flickr

Third-party manufacturers like ASUS, ACER and Dell are beginning to unveil their Windows 8 offerings, adding to an already complex — and often befuddling — family of devices that include tablets, ultrabooks, phablets, hybrid laptops/tablets. And by 2016, IDC is predicting there will be more than 200 million of these devices. Whoa, right? Get up to speed with the best tech news of the day.

4 Out Of 5 Smartphone Owners Use Device To Shop
4 out of 5 smartphone users, or 85.9 million people, used their devices to shop in July, according to comScore. Amazon sites received the most attention from mobile shoppers with an audience of 49.6 million visitors, followed by eBay with (32.6 million) Apple (17.7 million), Wal-Mart (16.3 million), Target (10 million) and Best Buy (7.2 million). (TechCrunch)

Retina-Like Display Comes To Android
Chinese tablet maker Cube just closed the gap on one of the biggest disparities between the iPad and Android tablets: The Retina display. French blog Phonandroid first reported that Cube’s new U9GT5 model boasts a high definition, 2048×1536 pixel, 9.7″ IPS screen. That works out to a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch (ppi), about the the same as the iPad 3. (Arctablet)

IDC Increases Tablet Shipment Prediction (Again)
IDC has made upping its tablet shipment predictions something of a tradition by now, as it seems like it releases a “revised” prediction every other month. The research firm had previously placed this year’s tablet shipments at 107 million, but it has increased that number to 117.1 million, which would be nearly a 70 percent increase over the 69 million tablets shipped last year. By 2016, IDC foresees that number hitting 261 million. But if we’ve learned anything by now, those numbers will probably go up. (AllThingsD)

Dell Makes Bid For Tablet Relevance With Windows 8 Devices
Dell showed off its new line of Windows 8 devices Wednesday, unveiling a new Latitude tablet, Ultrabook, and an all-in-one PC. In particular, the 10.1-inch Latitude tablet looks like a powerhouse device, with 2GB of RAM and running on Intel’s Atom processor. Interestingly, the company hasn’t followed ASUS, ACER and others in coming out with a tablet-laptop hybrid of its own. (PCWorld)

Photo Credit: android_tablet by Sol_HSA, on Flickr

Can you feel it? Fall is in the air, signaling an end to the craziest, roller-coaster tech summer on record. But the coming season promises to equal the excitement of the last few months as we ready ourselves for Windows 8, Surface, and the iPad Mini. Prepare for the coming techpocolypse with today’s best news.

Apple Stock Goes Stratospheric: Analyst Ups Price Target to $840
Riding the powerful response to the new iPhone 5 and upcoming-but-still-unofficial iPad Mini, Apple’s stock is looking to rise even higher. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu has changed his price target for Apple stock for the second time since the iPhone 5 release, believing the stock will hit $840. Speaking of the iPad Mini, Wu was quoted as saying, “From a supply-chain perspective it is ready to go.” (Venture Beat)

First iPhone 5 Reviews Tout Large Screen, Battery Life, Lightness
It may be a couple weeks before most people get their hands on the iPhone 5, but the reviews are already pouring in. WSJ and All Things D’s Walt Mossberg still considers the phone the best on the market. Engadget’s Tim Stevens said of the new iPhone, “Two times faster? Twice the graphics performance? Better battery life? Actually, yes. The iPhone 5 over-delivers on all those promises.” (AllThingsD, Engadget)

Samsung’s Tablet Remains Banned While Develops Nex-Gen Mobile Memory
For Samsung, it’s been a good-news, bad-news type of summer, and that trend doesn’t seem to changing. Judge Lisa Koh, who presided over the trial between Apple and Samsung, has denied the company’s request to reverse the three-month old ban on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. On the other hand, however, is news that Samsung has begun production of next-gen LPDDR3 2GB mobile memory, which should boost mobile bandwidth to PC-levels. The first devices featuring LPDDR3 memory are expected to arrive next year. (CNET, TheNextWeb)

Mobile-Loving Customers Slow PC Replacement Sales
PC replacement rates have fallen from 20 percent in 2007 to just 11 percent in 2011, a drop of 55 percent, according to market research firm Gartner. Theorizing that the drop marked a shift from “content creation” to “content consumption.” It remains to be seen how enterprise functions long relegated to the PC will be adapted for use on tablets. (PCMAG)

Photo Credit: 0110213 at Kanchanaburi by Openspace Project, on Flickr

Last year we found out that India has been working on providing a super cheap tablet for their students, and while the first model was definitely satisfied the “super-cheap” expectation — $35 USD — it didn’t live to its potential. Now they’re having another go at it, and the new Aakash Tablet series appears to offer a much better package for students.

The Indian Government has been pushing for a greater integration of technology in their education system. It’s already implemented Wifi in 1,200 colleges and 600 universities. Eventually, the devices will only cost $35 USD per student and $41 USD for commercial purposes. Like students in the U.S., access to tablets will grant Indian students the ability to not only access the internet, but to aslso say good bye to expensive and heavy textbooks.

The divices will carry price-tags between $41 for the cheapest model and $63 for the complete version. The features most students probably will opt in for includes:

• Multi Touch Projective paneling
• Cortex A8 1ghz processor
• 512 Mb Ram
• 4 GB Flash Memory
• Android 4.0.3l1 Front VGA camera
• Wifi
• Mini USB ports
• Microphone and speakers

The commercial version of the Aakash 2, called The Ubislate, will be sold for roughly $20 USD more than the Aakash2 tablet and will in essence only have GPRS integrated for SIM cards and the works.

In the United States, Intel has been working on a similar program but hasn’t released any details on the project.

On the other hand, it has already been speculated that Google’s Nexus 7 could become the standard tablet for the classroom. Google could even sweeten the deal by reducing the already rock-bottom price of the tablet for bulk purchases by schools.

These classroom tablets will probably have a more restrictive UI, with built-in features that would allow teachers to monitor all the devices. And of course, these devices would have software that would ban certain websites from all tablets within the classroom. So say goodbye to Facebook and Twitter, students.

As countries like India and China rapidly to modernize their own classrooms, the U.S. has yet to really see its own education system fully take advantage of its massive tablet market. Toys’R Us recently announced their Tabeo for children, so it appears that tablets will be integral part of childhood in the near future, so it makes sense for these devices to follow kids into the schools.

Photo Credit: Venture Beat

As iPhone pre-orders stream in by the millions, the tech world has turned its million-eyed gaze on the upcoming Windows 8 launches, as well as this little thing you may have heard about called the iPad Mini. So fill your head with the best touch news of the day while you mark off the days until that new iPhone arrives.

More Vague Hints on Surface Price as Ballmer Talks of “Epic” Year for Microsoft
Microsoft has been playing its cards close to the chest when it comes to the price of its Surface tablets, and previous media estimates have ranged as low as $300 and as high as $1000 and up. But in a recent sit-down with the Seattle Times, the Microsoft CEO said that the company wants to hit the “sweet spot” of the computer market, “probably $300 to about $700 or $800,” he said. (Seattle Times)

ASUS Sounds Own Death-Knell With $600, $800, and $1,300 Tablets
So much for Ballmer’s “sweet spot,” eh, ASUS? ZDNET was recently leaked details of ASUS’s holiday pricing strategy on three of the company’s Windows 8 tablets: The 10.1″ Vivo Tab RT ($599), the Vivo Tab ($799), and the Taichi ($1,200). These prices are astronomical when compared to Apple’s iPad or even other higher-end tablets. With what appears to be a more moderately-priced family of tablets coming from Microsoft in October, it is hard to understand how ASUS thinks it’s going to convince consumers to choose these pricey devices. (ZDNET)

Intel’s Clover Trail Atom Processor May Hate Linux, But Loves Battery Life
The next generation of Intel’s Atom processors has a suite of power-optimization features that will increase battery life and performance. The processor will likely be found in upcoming Windows 8 tablets, including Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2. According by Intel, Clover Trail should enable these tablets to deliver ten hours of battery life and a month or so of standby. The other major issue of the processor is that is completely eschews Linux support. (Ars Technica)

Square’s Keith Rabois Predicts Death of Registers Within 18 Months
Square made a name for itself by handing out the square, magnetic card readers that retailers could attach to iPhones and iPads. In an interview with All Things D, the company’s COO Keith Rabois said that nearly all retailers will be running their business off an iPad or comparable device in the near future. When pressed for a time frame, he estimated the change would occur in the next 18 months. “The era of standalone machines is over,” he said. (All Things D)

Photo Credit: The Sweet Spot by Sweet One, on Flickr

The iPad, Nexus and the Kindle have created a specific image of what a proper tablet should look like, but there was one tablet that was there before all of them ever came into the picture. MobileDemand created a device almost three years ago dedicated for industry.

It was not be the sleek, thin designs we are used to today, but rather a rugged “I-can-take-a-punch” tablet.

Recently, MobileDemand released the newer version of their tough little tablet that could. This time around, it’s a lot faster, a lot sturdier and looks like it could be used in urban warfare. Their tablet works on classic Microsoft software in order to maintain compatibility with the standard OS for industry computers. The tablet also comes with a platform, providing a blunt, military-like exterior that can weather intense abuse.

The T7200 comes with a 7-inch screen, room for a integrated physical keypad, USB ports, an SD slot, a front-facing camera, and comes comes running Intel’s 1.6ghz Atom processor along with a 64 GB hard drive. The rugged tablet also has a rubber covering to absorb impact and two D-rings for a carry strap.

The industrial market is largely ignored by most tablet consumers, but it has been a cash-cow for for MobileDemand’s customers. The T7200 is designed but the bottom up for use in construction sites and out-doors excavations.

The screen as well has been modified for outdoor viewing since it is probably going to get its most use outside a cubicle. They integrated smart technology to know when the device is “indoor” or out and will switch between two modes in order to provide maximum visibility in any condition. In addition to these elements the tablet can handle extreme heat and is completely protected against dust. It also has a numeric key pad for data entry.

The Mobile Demand’s T7200 is definitely one of the more overlooked tablets, even though it is one of the oldest tablet families on the market. Nonetheless, the industrial market has their own unique device that demands respect due to durability.

Now, why can’t we see an iPad sporting rubber edges and D-rings, hm? You listening, Apple?

Ok, enough of the iPhone 5 already. In fact, let’s just call it an iPhone and move on. And while pre-orders are already pushing back shipping dates while analysts predict it to be the fastest selling device of all time, let’s take all take a breather and check out the best touch news of the day.

NPD: 2012 Marks Peak of Smartphone Market
Some still think the most momentous event of 2012 will be the end of the universe, but a new report NPD Research reveals a more plausible candidate. According to the market research firm, 2012 is the peak year for new users to purchase a smartphone, meaning that while the market will continue to grow in the future, that growth will be the product of existing smartphone owners who are merely upgrading or trading in their phones. (Forbes)

iPad Nabs Highest Rating In J.D. Power Satisfaction Survey
Apple’s newest iPhone may have owned the show on Wednesday, but the iPad received its fair share of the spotlight as it took the top place in a tablet satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The survey was directed at tablet owners who had owned their devices for less than two years, and the results came in the form of a 1000-point scale. Apple came in first, 848, then Amazon, 842, with Samsung coming in at third with 827. (CNET)

Cheap Kindle Fire HD One More Reason For Surface Prices to Drop
Computer World’s Preston Gralla thinks that the $199 7″ Kindle Fire HD should add the existing pressure on Microsoft to price their upcoming Surface tablets around the $200-$300 price range, instead of the premium price point currently dominated by Apple. But could Microsoft profit from such a low price, and what would such a strategy do third-party Windows 8 devices? (Computer World)

Intel’s New All-In-One PC Is A Monstrous 14 lb Tablet
Trying to stimulate some excitement in the PC market hasn’t been easy of late. But Intel is pushing hard for the rise of all-in-one PCs with touchscreens. Revealed during its Developer’s Conference in San Francisco this week, Intel’s “Adaptive All-In-One” PC whose display panel is a 14-pound, 2.5-inch thick tablet that houses all the guts of a normal PC, including an optical drive. The display can run independently of its dock for four hours. (PC World)

Photo Credit: Peak Khan Tengri，汗騰格里峰 by The Real Kvass, on Flickr

It’s that time again, folks. Apple has dropped its new iPhone on us, and it’s time to pick it new features apart, marvel at its specs, and, of course, immediately begin to question whether the device is “revolutionary” enough. In recognition of today’s huge launch, here’s the best roundup of iPhone news.

New iPhone: Faster, Thinner, Prettier
Early hands-on reviewers are raving about how thin and light the new iPhone feels. The device is longer and houses a 4″ Retina display, so more apps will be fit on the screen. The body itself is made entirely of glass and aluminum, and it looks downright gorgeous. Add a noticeably faster ‘A6′ processor, LTE connection, and hot new iOS to go along with it, and the new iPhone is bringing a lot to the table. (Endgadget, Apple Insider)

Matt Honan Is Already Bored With iPhone 5
Wired’d Matt Honan penned an odd but stirring article after viewing Apple’s newest iPhone. Granted, he still considers it “the greatest phone in the world.” But Honan draws out an idea that is beginning to seem less whiny by the year: He laments that even a triumph of industrial design that is the iPhone 5 is still peanuts when compared to the epic high consumers got when they first felt an iPhone’s touchscreen. The thrill just isn’t there anymore with iOS upgrades and a faster processor. It’s all about our expectations, writes Honan, and “almost nothing to do with Apple.” (Wired)

CNET: Apple’s New Dock Connector, ‘Lighting’, Pretty Lame
Along with the heavy load of upgrades found in the iPhone 5, Apple has also decided to replace the old dock connector with a resized, redesigned version. And CNET’s Molly Wood takes Apple to task for ignoring the existing micro-USB port in favor of a proprietary design that can be sold at premium prices. Bolstering her claims is the fact that Lightning isn’t all that fast; in fact, it has all the capabilities of a regular USB 2.0. (CNET)

Size Matters: Larger Screen Poses Challenge For Developers
The iPhone’s larger screen will force web and app developers fine tune their products to avoid an embarrassing ‘letterbox’ look. The Next Web quotes developer Marco Tabini as saying “The introduction of a new aspect ratio is not quite as simple as Apple pictures it, in my opinion.” The fact that developers don’t have the devices to test their work on isn’t helping either, but their timetable is as short as two weeks to update their products. (TheNextWeb)

Photo Credit: iPhone 5: Bigger, Slimmer & Lighter by methodshop.com, on Flickr

One day, everybody. Just one day until Apple reveals the new iPhone, which if you’ve been following the rumors will be either A) The greatest revelation in the history of technology,  again — or B) A minor set of upgrades meant to vacuum money from Apple acolytes by the millions. We’ll know for sure soon, but in the meantime check out today’s best touch news.

Microsoft Levies Toll For Enterprise Who Use Windows RT
First Amazon revealed its hidden ad fees, and now it appears it’s Microsoft’s turn to reveal a hidden —and expensive— aspect of a new product. Business Insider’s Julie Bort reported today that businesses desiring to use the cheaper Windows RT for their employees’ tablets will have to pony up a hefty chunk of change to do so, as the they will have to buy an upgrade to Intune to administrate across all their devices. Additionally, Microsoft will not sell Intune without a concurrent subscription to its on-premises email platofrm, Exchange. (Business Insider)

First Photos Of Working iPad Mini Leak
A Chinese blog apparently was able to grab some pictures of the final iPad Mini design, and the story was picked up by French Apple blog Nowhereelse.fr. This is the first time we’re really seeing the device actually, you know, working. Apple’s 7.85″ tablet is expected to be officially revealed during a separate launch event sometime in October. (BGR)

Kindle Fire HD Review: Great For Casual Use, Not Yet An iPad Challenger
The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky took a long ride with Amazon’s new flagship tablet, and things look largely favorable for the Kindle Fire HD. Topolsky loved the device’s screen, writing that the “LCD screen looks better than probably any other tablet display I’ve seen, save for the new iPad,” and that the “Fire blows away the Nexus in terms of color richness, black levels, and general brightness.” Final rating? 7.5. (The Verge)

Intel Exec: In The Future, Every Screen Will Be A Touch Screen
Most of us are still waiting for our jetpacks, but a more conceivable future is one where touchscreens become truly ubiquitous. Rob DeLine, director of Ultrabook product marketing at Intel, said in an interview with CNET that “Every screen in the future is going to have some level of touch. We’re looking for a pretty aggressive ramp” in 2013. This tactic flies in the face of Apple’s belief that touchscreens are not suited for laptop-like devices like its Macbook line. Intel, along with every other player in the tech industry, is out to prove Apple wrong. (CNET)

Photo Credit: Second Severn Crossing Toll Booth by Mark-Hobbs, on Flickr