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Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry CEO probably has the most bitter experience when it comes to making a tablet as BlackBerry's Playbook tablet bombed and continued bombing from the get go. Speaking from this experience he was quoted predicting the death of tablets in general in the next 5 years. His full quote is as follows:

"In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore. Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.-Thorsten Heins, CEO, BlackBerry

In earlier news we reported on an affordable 7.9-inch tablet by Acer that may become a game changer or at least provide a better alternative to those looking for a cheaper Android tablet. Well, the Acer Iconia A1 has finally appeared in leaks confirming many of the tech specs including:

• A 7.9-inch IPS screen (1024 x 768 pixels)
• 1.2ghz MediaTek MT8125 (4-core, Cortex-A9)
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB/16GB storage
• PowerVR SGX
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
• 5MP auto-focus rear camera, 1080p video + VGA front camera
• GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, 3.5mm jack, MicroSD card slot, Micro USB 2.0
• 3250 mAh battery
• 11.10 mm (thickness)
• 460 grams

Nokia has long been touted for their great camera sensors and lenses in their smartphone cameras. It is one of the major feature of almost any Nokia smartphone around with their 41MP PureView sensor currently being the smartphone camera to beat. Recently, Nokia has been found investing in a digital imaging company called U. S. Pelican Imaging. What makes this so interesting is that Pelican Imaging are working on a Lytro-like camera technology which could mean Nokia smartphones with Lytro-like cameras soon.

In what could be a world's first Amazon was recently caught selling an 8.1-inch tablet running Windows 8. While the listing has since been removed, details of the listing revealed an Acer Iconia W3-810-1600 tablet with the following tech specs:

• 8.1-inch screen (1280 x 800 pixel resolution)
• 1.5 GHz Apple A4
• 2GB SDRAM
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator
• 802.11 bgn
• 1x USB 2.0 port
• Li-ion battery (8 hour battery life)
• Windows 8
• 1.1 pounds
• 8.6w x 5.31 x 0.45 inches
• 2MP rear camera
• Intel brand processor
• 32GB storage

With the HTC One officially launching last week, it was only a matter of time before the telco bundles came out as well, which is what U Mobile had in mind with these HTC One bundles. Considering that the HTC One is probably higher priced than most other smartphones of its class at around RM2299 it is great that U Mobile is offering the smartphone from as low as RM1488. For more details, check out the table below:

It is always interesting to see behind-the-scene shots of how the people who made something truly excellent came to those decisions. That being said, the Samsung Galaxy S4 / S IV creators and designers supposedly got their inspiration for it from the stars in the night sky. The HTC One design team on the other hand were aiming for zero-gap construction which resulted in the beautifully elegant aluminum unibody design available from the HTC One. The Apple iPhone 5 was also designed with the idea of making a much better phone than before.

The Sony Xperia Z made waves with its IP57 water, dust and heat durability. Now, rumours are swirling that another tough Sony Xperia smartphone may be coming, this time with IP58 durability rating. According to these rumours, this new tougher smartphone may be called the Sony Xperia ZR. Tech specs for the Sony Xperia ZR may include the following:

• 1.5GHz Quadcore Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
• 2GB RAM
• 13MP Exmor RS camera
• 4.6-inch screen (720p)
• 8GB storage
• 2300 mAh battery
• 10mm thick + 140g weight

While Intel have already dominated the Non-Android based laptop and hybrid computer market, it has yet to do much in Android-based markets. This is mostly because of the rather high-price most of its laptops and tablets have compared to the normal ARM-powered Android-based tablet or notebook.

In a move to solve this, Intel VP Paul Otellini was quoted as saying that $200 touchscreen laptops would be coming soon in the next couple of months. Intel Executive VP Dadi Perlmutter was also quoted as saying that these devices would most likely be Android based laptops using Intel Atom processors. For the more resource needy, Perlmutter said that there would also be Android laptops and hybrids using Intel Core processors but range from $399 to $499.

Intel continues it's slow but steady forward march into the tablet scene as rumours have appeared about a possible tablet known as the ASUS ME302C. Designed for the EeePad lineup the Asus ME302C may have the following specs:

• 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor (Z2560)
• PowerVR SGX 544MP graphics
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 10-inch screen (1920 x 1200 pixel resolution)

In what seems like just the tip of the iceberg, MAYA Design recently held a demo of their MakerSwarm platform which they used to create a smartwatch app that allowed them to control the aforementioned RC drones. What is remarkable here is that the MakerSwarm that enabled this is a very easy to use platform. MAYA Design hope it will lower the bar in terms of app creation difficulty. The platform uses relationships to trigger actions or events and from the demo pretty much works like a match the line exercise.