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Apple on Wednesday sent out official invitations for a media event next week on March 2 in San Francisco, presumably to show off its second-generation iPad. According to The Loop, Apple sent out invitations to the media on ...

Apple Inc is seen moving ahead on schedule for the anticipated launch of the next iPad tablet computer despite a Taiwanese brokerage report on a potential delay.

So far, it's elementary for Watson. Despite blowing a Final Jeopardy! question about airports, IBM's computer dismantled its human rivals during Tuesday night's special edition of the "Jeopardy!" game show. Watson finished the first game of a two-game match with $35,734 in winnings, far ahead of runner-up Brad Rutter, who earned $10,400. Ken Jennings trailed with $4,800.

Tablets are becoming less square. Hardware manufacturers bent on stealing customers away from Apple are designing their tablet computers with the movie watcher in mind.

The computers haven't proven to be our trivia overlords just yet.

The booming popularity of tablets has been a mixed blessing for Asus. The Taiwan-based electronics vendor makes takes a hit each time consumers opt for tablets over the laptops and netbooks it makes. At the same time, Asus is investing in tablets, unveiling four models at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Most of Asus’ tablets won’t launch until later this year, however, when a glut of other tablets from companies ranging from Motorola to Research In Motion to HP will also be on sale.

Tablet operating system is set to make its debut on Motorola Mobility's Xoom.

Hewlett-Packard showed the fruits of its acquisition of Palm on Wednesday. The technology giant demonstrated a new tablet device and two new smartphones, as well as disclosing plans to bring its webOS software to computers and printers.

Increased demand for mobile devices like tablets has aided sales growth for this tech giant. In each of the last four quarters, Texas Instruments ($35; TXN) has reported growth of at least 20% for sales and 65% for per-share profits. In that stretch, cash provided by operations surged 30% to $3.59 billion.

Though Apple executives may refuse to talk about it, the introduction of a new and improved iPad is all but a certainty. Every year like clockwork, Apple updates their biggest product lines with new designs and new features, and the iPad is next in line. Fortunately, pre-announcement rumors are equally consistent, and we've already caught wind of a number of tidbits regarding Apple's next tablet.