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Now that the iPad Mini has finally been unveiled, the real question is how it will fare among all the other small tablets on the market. Apple has given us a mini version of previous iPads, with an A5 dual-core chip, a 7.9-inch display, and a starting price of $329 for the 16 GB version. For the 32 GB and 64 GB models, you’ll need $429 and $529 for the latter. It also has a 10-hour battery life, LTE network capability, updated Wi-Fi performance, and as expected, the new Lightning connector that made a debut on the iPhone 5 and the new iPods announced on Sept. 12. It’s also around 24 percent less in depth than the most recent iPad. All of these features will certainly attract some attention, especially Apple fans, but the mini Apple wonder does have a few shortcomings. The resolution, which is 1024 x 768, doesn’t stack up with competing tablets and the A5 dual-core processor is from older hardware, being last used in the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S Another area of concern is as

Windows 8 will be available for sale on Oct. 26 and can be pre-ordered now. So it’s time to start thinking about your game plan for upgrading your existing computers or pondering what kind of device you’ll want in a new purchase. But there is some confusion about which version of Windows 8 will work for you and the price you’ll pay, along with a long list of choices for new Windows 8 hardware coming down the pikes. Windows 8 will be available in several versions — one for tablet devices running ARM processors, which will be called Windows RT, and another for desktop PCs that’ll be known as Windows 8 Pro. A consumer version is also in the works and will just be called Windows 8. As for the price, it’ll depend on whether you per-order the Windows 8 Pro DVD package now and pay $69.99, or wait until the release date on Oct. 26 and pay $39.99 using the Windows 8 upgrade Assistant online. If you have purchased a new PC after June 2, the upgrade price from say Windows 7 will be arou

SoftBank Corp. was founded Sept. 3, 1981, with headquarters in the Higashi-shimbashi area of Minato-ku, Tokyo. Masayoshi Son is chairman and CEO. A deal is in the works for SoftBank Corp,. a Japanese telecommunications conglomerate, to acquire a 70 percent in Sprint Nextel, the number three mobile company in the United States, behind AT&T and Verizon. This could be the ship coming in for Sprint, as SoftBank will put $12.1 billion on the table to close the deal and then offer another $8 billion investment for network improvements. SoftBank is touting their expertise in the "next-generation wireless networks" and their experience with deployment of LTE in Japan. “This transaction provides an excellent opportunity for SoftBank to leverage its expertise in smartphones and next-generation high speed networks, including LTE, to drive the mobile internet revolution in one of the world’s largest markets," said SoftBank Chairman and CEO, Masayoshi Son. "Our track r

As we wait on the BlackBerry 10 platform to arrive sometime early in 2013, Research In Motion says the developers are hard at work creating apps for the new upcoming devices. Developers have been issued 5,000 BlackBerry Dev Alpha test devices to put their apps through the paces on various BlackBerry 10 projects. We can expect apps from Cisco, Foursquare, Sencha, Gameloft, HalfBrick Studios, Madfinger Games, Funkol and others when the magic time comes. The developers are hoping to create BlackBerry 10 apps that will entice customers to take a closer look at the new platform. “The Weather Network is excited to develop for BlackBerry 10," said Gita Ashar, Director of Mobile and Emerging Technologies for Weather Network. "The innovations in the operating system will provide our existing loyal consumers and new consumers an application that is as stunning as it is informative, helping users to plan for anything.” The developers will work with BlackBerry WebWorks and will use

Facebook's announcement of reaching one billion users each month was the biggest "like" of their existence. This was big enough for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to sign his name at the top of the news release. He wanted to give a big "thank you for giving me and my little team the honor of serving you." I say "well done" to Zuckerberg for having the vision and innovation to make Facebook what it is today. But the toughest part is probably still yet to come, as Facebook is now a public company and expectations are even higher when you're dealing with financial performance. This kind of growth is not bad for a company that has only been around since 2004. One of their competitors, Linkedin, officially launched a year earlier in May 2003 and they've only managed to attract around 175 million users. Another competitor in the social media space, MySpace, also launched in 2003 and I hear they're trying to make a comeback after being acquired by Spec