The Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet was recently launched in Malaysia by Acer Malaysia. Bearing the same metal unibody and looks as the Apple iPad mini, the main differences between the two are that the Iconia A1-830 packs in a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2560 processor and uses Android. To top it all off, Acer Malaysia are pricing the tablet at RM599 so if you've liked the way Apple made the iPad mini design but wanted an Android system with a more stable Intel processor, then this is certainly one tablet you should consider. We managed to get a hands-on with the Acer Iconia A1-830 and it certainly looks good.

It is still quite a while yet before the upcoming Apple iPhone 6 gets announced, but already mockups of the smartphone have appeared. This time around, the leaker is Sonny Dickson, who was one of the first rumour mongers last year to come out with the official Apple iPhone 5S and 5C smartphone mockups. The new Apple iPhone 6 mockups come in two flavours, one with a 4.7-inch screen while the other goes for a 5.5-inch display. The side by side comparison shows that they are both very thin but follow the Apple iPad mini design with rounder corners and slimmer bezels. Check it out for yourself but there are still no details on other tech specs, features or Malaysia release dates. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted.

Apple recently made several announcements at this year's WWDC 2014 and one of the biggest was that of iOS 8, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system. Powering your Apple iPhones and iPads, iOS 8 brings a number of innovations to the fore including an improved Health hub app, a more useful Siri, notifications that you can take action on and widgets. Other notable features include the addition of a new predictive and learning QuickType keyboard along with support for third-party keyboards so you can eventually download SwiftKey or other onscreen keyboards if you don't like the new QuickType. Other new features of note include Family Sharing where you can share media with family, better integration with iCloud Drive for more storage on the Internet and Spotlight which works like a combination of the search on Windows 8 and Google Now. Improved Maps and other features round off the new additions.

Xiaomi has officially announced their tablet called the Xiaomi MiPad and it is currently the world's first Android tablet to use an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor and chipset. Gunning for the Apple iPad mini, the MiPad features a 7.9-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, making it on par with the Retina Display on the iPad mini. Unlike the iPad mini, the MiPad goes for 6 trendy pastel colours including blue, green, pink and yellow. The overall design is a slim 8.5mm thin tablet with rounded corners and thin bezels while a polycarbonate backside keeps it tough and durable. Other notable tech specs and features for the Xiaomi MiPad include the following:

• 2.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor (192-core Kepler GPU)
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB / 64GB storage + up to 128GB microSD
• 7.9-inch display (IPS, 2014 x 1536 pixel resolution, 324 ppi)
• 8MP rear camera (Sony sensor, f/2.0) + 5MP front camera (f/2.0)
• Supports 802.11ac WiFi, MIMO antenna, WiFi Direct, BlueTooth 4.0
• 202.1 x 135.4 x 8.5mm | 360g
• 6700 mAh battery

The Microsoft Surface Mini remains one of those as of yet unannounced rumours but Microsoft have since come out with an invite for a "small gathering" on 29 May 2014, hinting that they could be announcing the Surface Mini tablet there. Currently, rumours have the Microsoft Surface Mini sized with a 7.5-inch display with 1440 x 1080 pixel resolution and 4:3 Aspect Ratio to compete directly with the Apple iPad Mini. Previous versions like the Microsoft Surface and Surface Pro use a 16:9 Aspect Ratio. Other tech specs and features include an NVIDIA Tegra processor, Windows RT, 2GB of RAM, 32GB / 64GB of storage and no built-in kickstand. It is expected to have WiFi and LTE versions. The dealbreaker remains the pricing though as the other Microsoft's other Windows RT installed tablets only started selling well when they hit below RM1K pricing. Again, no news on Malaysia pricing or release dates but stay tuned for more developments.

The next Apple iPhone isn't the only device rumours are swirling about as the front panel for the what could be the next Apple iPad has leaked. This has happened before apparently as the previous leak showed that the Apple iPad Air would follow the iPad mini's design. This new leak doesn't differ that much from the current front panel but it does show that it will be glued to the rear of the frame, making it both thinner and a lot harder to take apart or put back together for repairs. Tech specs and features for the next Apple iPad have yet to be confirmed but rumours say that it will be powered by a 64-bit A8 processor and have an Apple Touch ID along with an 8MP rear camera upgrade. As always with such leaks and rumours, it could very well be the front panel for a different tablet altogether, so take this rumour with a healthy dose of salt.

If you can't beat them, then join them seems to be the saying many tablet makers are going for as they strive to overtake the Apple iPad tablets. Following that, HP have announced the HP 8, which is a 7.85-inch display tablet that looks exactly like the first Apple iPad mini. Having bought one of these clones myself already I can't help but wonder if everyone is getting the same aluminum unibody shell from the same supplier as the Apple iPad mini because everything looks nearly the same. Perhaps the iPad mini may have a bit more chrome trim but the design is nearly identical. Tech specs are the same in some aspects as well including the aforementioned 7.85-inch IPS display, which has a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution.

The ASUS FonePad 7 is generally known better for it's budget price than for it's performance but the 2014 edition promises to not only fix issues in the previous version but make it even better. Does it manage to do so with flying colours or is it just another slightly above average all-in-one tablet device? Read on and find out in our in-depth review of the ASUS FonePad 7.

It seems to be a trend in the tablet industry these days where someone takes the aluminum shell and display of the Apple iPad mini and deck it out with their own internal tech specs, features and branding. This time around we have the Acer A1-830 which predictably has a 7.9-inch display with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio. While it does run on Android, the internal tech specs include a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2560 processor and 1GB of DDR2 RAM. The tablet has a front and rear camera (details of which Acer hasn't revealed but probably include a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front camera), dual speakers, 16GB of storage and microSD support. The tablet comes with an appropriately sized Acer Crunch keyboard cover and an Acer Crunch Cover. The Acer A1-830 will initially be available in the US and Canada starting from Q1 2014 but we should be able to expect a Malaysia release date sometime afterwards.

The Apple iPad mini is the first generation 7.9-inch tablet from Apple while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is the official next generation tablet after the first Samsung Galaxy Tab (despite there being several other tablets that came directly after the first Galaxy Tab). Both fit the 7-inch touchscreen tablet class but each device has it's own tech specs, features and pricing. The main question that we're looking to answer this time is which device is better in this comparison between the Apple iPad mini and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Check out the full comparison in this article.