tablet

Step aside, old-fangled computers: Mobile computing has taken over. And although this shift has been coming for a while, it's not too late for investors to buy into the trend.

It is easy to forget that the cigarette box-sized device in your pocket is a computer more powerful than the one that sent Apollo 11 to the moon. Smartphones, tablets and laptops now hold some of our most priceless assets. But let's put a price on them: The value of a wired American's digital life averages nearly $55,000, and it's at risk.

In an attempt to reverse the market-share free fall it has been experiencing, Motorola Mobility has recently been trying to ramp up the pace of its product launches. But its rush to get hot new devices on the market has hit a couple of speed bumps with delays on the Droid Bionic and the Xoom LTE.

A research firm that tracks video game sales reported that March hardware sales rose, but software sales plunged again. NPD claims that 23% of software sales in 2010 came from apps, but the industry isn't sure that its lagging sales figures can be entirely blamed on apps like Angry Birds.

Apple's second version of its popular iPad tablet computer went on sale Friday afternoon, and was greeted by the now-familiar lines of buyers outside Apple stores.

Gartner has lowered its laptop-sales forecast for this year and the next, predicting that the popularity of tablets and smartphones will slow laptop sales. Gartner expects worldwide laptop sales to increase 11% this year and and 14% next year, down from a previously forecast 16$ and 15%, respectively.

As expected, Apple unveiled the iPad 2 today. Like it does with all Apple products, the first rumors of this improved version started popping up as early as September of last year -- and now it has finally arrived. The new version is 33% thinner, and .2 pounds lighter. On the inside, the iPad 2...

That's because Wednesday's launch is expected to be more of a refresh rather than a totally new product. However, if Steve Jobs were to show up at the launch event, that would get investors excited and likely pump up Apple shares.

Samsung is out to boost its laptop sales by 80% this year, and key to that effort will be its supersvelte 9 Series notebook. Aimed directly at Apple's MacBook Air, the new machine is a move to refocus on high-end gear -- with a high-end price to match.

For the past year, the tablet computer world has been dominated by the Apple iPad. Ever since the iPad's introduction, Apple's competitors have been scrambling. Last year, Samsung was the first to deliver a decent alternative with the Galaxy Tab, but it failed to gain substantial traction. Now all...