Sony Unveils 2 Tablets

Wait time now up to three weeks

(NEWSER) - More than a million eager pairs of hands will be gripping the third version of the iPad on its launch day this Thursday, analysts predict. Some 300,000 models of the first iPad were sold on its first day in 2010, and while Apple didn't release launch-day figures for the iPad 2, executives said they were hit with the "mother of all backlogs," PC World notes. Shipping dates for the new tablet, which was unveiled last week , are now behind up to three weeks. More»

Flash lovers, rejoice!

(NEWSER) - Surely you’ve heard by know that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet isn’t an iPad killer . But it does have a few desirable traits that the iPad doesn’t. The Huffington Post lists six of them:

• It supports Flash: Many iPad and iPhone users wish that Apple would take a page from Amazon’s playbook when it comes to this.
• It’s cheaper: A Kindle Fire (which does not offer 3G) will run you $199. For the cheapest iPad 2 model, which also does not offer 3G, you’ll shell out $499.

It'll be a competitor, but Apple has little to fear

(NEWSER) - Amazon’s new Kindle Fire has been getting a lot of hype as an “iPad killer,” but Apple shouldn’t exactly be quaking in its boots, opines John Paul Titlow of ReadWriteWeb . “As far as hardware is concerned, the Kindle Fire looks more like a cross between the Nook and the BlackBerry Playbook than an iPad copycat.” It’s got no camera, no 3G, no microphone, no accelerometer, and it’s smaller to boot. More»

And that number's growing

(NEWSER) - If you thought the iPad was a fad, think again. Its share of web traffic has jumped 10% or more since March, giving it a full 1% of the world’s traffic, and 2.1% in the US, according to new data from NetMarketShare. Overall, June saw tablets and mobile devices hit 5% of traffic for the first time. “It’s too early to proclaim the death of the desktop, but the trend is strong and obvious,” writes Stan Schroeder of Mashable. “Tablets and smartphones are becoming an increasingly important part of our online life.” More»

Ipad puts Apple ahead of rival for first time since 1991

(NEWSER) - Apple's profits have outstripped Microsoft's for the first time since Extreme was topping the charts and Mark Zuckerberg was in second grade. Microsoft's revenue and profits were actually up last quarter, but Apple managed to move ahead for the first time in 20 years with a $6 billion profit on revenues of $24.7 billion, reports the Guardian , which believes this may mark a key moment in the industry. More»