GADGETS

News on Minecraft Xbox 360, the Horse update, and Xbox One save transfers.

Acer is gearing up for the release of Apple’s iPad Mini 2. To compete against Apple’s latest tablet offering, Acer just revealed their Iconia W3. It is an 8.1-inch tablet that will go head to head not just with the iPad Mini 2 but with other 8-inch tablets soon to hit stores in the third quarter.

Lenovo is boosting its line of products especially their touch series with the new Lenovo Miix. Apart from their group of touch-enabled laptops running on Windows 8, Lenovo introduces a slimmer and more portable version through the Miix.

New developments for Battlefield and Saints Row 4, while World of Warcraft has some important warnings for unauthorized log-ins.

Most analyst believe that Apple is releasing the iPhone 5S September this year, which suggests that production activities for the iOS 7-powered device have already started.

Catch the Xbox One at the PAX Australia next month.

iPad Mini was successful in its own turf. The small display but similar capacities to the standard tablet or laptop make it a runaway success for most face offs. It is also the main driving factor behind tech companies shifting their attention to 8-inch tablets. With the pending release of the iPad Mini 2, companies like Asus, Acer and Samsung are gearing up to boost their 8-inch lineups and compete.

Microsoft is planning to bring a number Xbox and Windows games to the iPhone and Android OS later this year. Through the partnership with Klab Inc., Microsoft can both over its games to the two largest mobile platform.

Apple has reportedly picked the A8 chip architecture powerhouse, which uses 20nm processes nodes, for its rumoured 5.7-inch iPhone 6, a new report said.

Samsung officially confirmed that the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3 will land on early July and pre-orders of the small and affordable will commence on June 25, first in the U.S. with the rest of the world to follow shortly.

Apple’s iOS 7 Beta for iPad went live this week, providing a preview of the reengineered mobile OS will look and feel come the separate iPad Mini 2 and iPad 5 release dates later this year.

Gaming for the Xbox One is progressing, with potential nods to a system for indie games and an investment in the cloud.

Moto X is gaining repute as a potential Nexus successor, but will it really hold true to the speculations?

Developments for next-gen targeted games.

Samsung’s production lines for the Galaxy Note 3 should start humming in August, new reports said, and it will sport a 5.7-inch phone screen not a 6-inch as earlier reported.

New developments for Killer is Dead, State of Decay, and Dead Rising 3.

Apple is ramping up production and agreements for the processors of its next-generation of iPhones.

Apple plans to downgrade its third quarter and fourth quarter productions of the iPhone 5S ostensibly to focus on its impending entry to the global phablet arena via the rumoured iPhone 6.

Intel has been making waves since it released the 4th generation processor Haswell. Nearly every ultrabook and portable computer out on the market is running on Haswell. As the chip giant continues to emphasize its dominance over processors and computing devices, Intel is not stopping. The company intends to release more upgrades and new products throughout the coming period. This September, two new processors will hit the market.

Samsung is trying their luck outside their Galaxy Tablet line. With the release of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, the pressure is on the tech giant to come up with a Windows-Android hybrid. An ultrabook that runs on both Windows and Android operating systems caters to more users and joins the new generation of laptops transforming computing.

Apple's infamous assistant went through an upgrade and it’s an update that may mean the life and death for a person. Siri can now respond to suicidal statements providing preventive statements and measures that can just save a person’s life.

The year 2013 is almost halfway, but the Nexus 5 branding remains a mystery. To date, it remains a guessing game which device manufacturer Google will tap to build the stock Android smartphone.

In April, Asus released their Padfone 2 series. It is a 4.7 inch phone that can double as a 10.1 inch tablet. This month, Asus comes up with the other side of the story – the Asus Fonepad. The device is basically a 7-inch Android table featuring a cellular connection. It is a one big smartphone.

What will make inside of both the iPad 5 and the iPad Mini remains the subject of wild speculations but analysts are sure of one thing – these components will allow the iOS 7 tablets to flash killer features.

The new Asus K009 has been creating a lot of buzz particularly because the rumor mill says it is 4G LTE version of the next generation Nexus 7 tablet. While there are no confirmations yet from Google, a Bluetooth Special Interest Group filing for the device has also been spotted.

Apple is rumoured to be working on a phablet-size iPhone 6 and a new concept envisioned the iOS 7 smartphone as a near Galaxy S4 doppelganger.

Even with the Xbox 180 scenario last week, the Xbox One will still require a one-time download update.

It was reported in the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft is investing on a new project to overthrow Amazon in e-commerce supremacy. Sources say Microsoft is working on “Project Brazil” in hopes of competing with Amazon and eBay in the near future. The project, however, may not come to materialize anymore.

Apple’s international distribution channel is hard at work to push out the remaining stocks of iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, purportedly to make room for the upcoming debut of the tech giant’s 2013 flagship – the iPhone 5S.