Rumors are heating up that Apple is readying a smaller version of the iPad for release later this year.

The website iMore on Thursday claimed to have a "reliable" source who said Apple is planning to release a smaller version of its coveted tablet in October for $200 to $250. The Cupertino tech giant is looking to price its so-called iPad mini aggressively to "leave absolutely mo space for competitors," the site reported.

The iPad mini will be 7 inches and identical in every other way to the current 9.7-inch iPad. It is even expected to sport a 2048-by-1536 resolution display, just like the new iPad.

Cupertino is said to be keeping costs down on the mini tablet by giving it less storage capacity than its larger counterpart. The $200 iPad mini model will provide 8GB of storage, just like the base iPod touch, which also currently sells for $200. The current entry-level iPad model comes with 16GB of storage.

PCMag has the details HERE!

Apple's iPad comprises 94.64% of all tablet web traffic, according to an analysis conducted by Chitika Insights.

The analysis was conducted by querying the vast Chitika Online Advertising Network for impressions that originated from a tablet of any kind. Chitika then sorted this data into categories of the various tablet devices. Chitika's original hypothesis was that the iPad would dominate the competition, and the research results showed this to be true.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab (in all of its flavours, apparently, since there is no distinction made regarding specific Galaxy Tab models), with a meager 1.22% market share, was the competitor that came closest to the Apple iPad, which in comparison accounted for 94.64% of all tablet-based web traffic across Chitika's advertising network.

See the full study HERE!

Is Apple cutting the MacBook's throat with the iPad?

The question -- whether the company's tablet cannibalizes sales of its own portable computing line -- is ultimately impossible to answer, or at least quantify: One can't look into a counter-factual crystal ball to view an alternate universe without the iPad.

But Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, believes that the iPad does block sales of at least some Apple personal computers.

"I think there was some cannibalization from iPad," Cook acknowledged earlier this week during his company's quarterly earnings call with Wall Street.

Cook offered that view while answering a question about the poorer-than-expected sales of Apple's laptops, which were up just 2% over the same period the year before -- in line with the computer industry's overall average increase, according to IDC.

Computerworld has the article HERE!

As any efficient, organized, and focused person knows, finding the right note-taking app is crucial to getting the most out of your iPad. It is a "tablet" after all. Our favorite iPad note-taking apps are the ones that make use of Apple's spacious screen to let you write, draw, or scribble with nothing more than a finger or stylus. We put five of the best iPad note-taking to the test to help you sort out which one offers what you need.

Note-taking apps are a dime a dozen, but they don't all support the same features or offer equal functionality. Some let you sketch and draw directly, while others force you to stick to typing. Most let you record and save voice memos, photos, and Web clips, but not all of them let you draw on top of images to further annotate them. The best note-taking apps focus on not only making notes, but on finding and sorting them later as well.

The price range for note-taking apps on the iPad is huge, and the most expensive ones are not necessarily the best. We've found a free app that works just fine. And two iPad note-taking apps that we selected as our Editors' Choices both cost less than $5.

Get the details HERE!