On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Well connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says multiple iPads are coming relatively soon, including an "affordable" 10.8-inch model set for an H2 2020 launch and, in H1 2021, a mini-size iPad between 8.5- and 9-inch in size.

Such predictions suggest Apple has at least a few products in the works set for short-term launch. The upcoming iPads, Kuo adds, will follow the iPhone SE product strategy in being affordable options running on the latest iDevice chips. The analyst does not mention any price points, but does point out low-cost models make 60-70% of iPad shipments.

Alienware announces the 2nd generation of Area-51m gaming laptops-- the Area-51m R2, a machine bringing the latest Intel Coffee Lake platform, with processor options reaching up to the Core i9-10900K.

The Area-51m remains an oversized, 17.3-inch machine one can generously describe as "portable." The aforementioned processor found inside is a desktop-class number customers can overclock up to 5.3GHz, and makes the first Alienware laptop with a 10-core chip, at least according to Dell. On the graphics side the company offers a choice ranging from the AMD Radeon RX5700 8GB up to the Nvidia RTX 2080 Super GPU, while the display comes with either a 300Hz refresh rate with Tobii eye-tracking or 4K resolution support. Finishing off the machine are up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of Raid 0 storage.

SteelSeries announces the Nimbus Plus-- an update of the 2015 smartphone game controller designed for use primarily with Apple devices, thanks to MFi certification and charging via Lightning connector.

The Nimbus Plus promises a number of improvements over the previous version, including a 50-hour battery life and more responsive triggers. Like the first Nimbus it includes a mount allowing customers to set the iPhone on top of the controller, and SteelSeries says it is compatible with many games across iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.

Savant announces a remote control for the smart home-- the Pro Remote X2, a means to deliver a full range of control for services and scenes, including entertainment, lighting, climate and shades.

The remote features voice control via Siri, lighting colour control with Savant TrueImage and the ability to select different video tiling layouts right from the screen. Customers can personalise the smart remote experience by adding and organising icons for the control of favourite services, favourite channels and Savant scenes.