Never let it be said Samsung is a slouch when it comes to targeting different markets-- the company launches the Galaxy Tab 3 Kids, a version of the titular tablet designed for your customers' offspring.

Shipped inside rugged, colourful casing complete with a chunky handle and an easy-to-grip stylus, the Tab 3 Kids features a number of pre-loaded educational, entertainment and e-book apps together with a special app store called, well, Kids Store.

Parents get a number of device management options-- one can select the apps kids can access via Application Manager, while Time Management allows one to set specific password-specifica usage time periods.

Inside are regular Galaxy Tab 3 guts, with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 3MP front- and 1.3MP rear-facing cameras.

Since many customers use tablets as an eReader replacement Kobo aims a tablet line specifically at such use-- the Arc series, with a Reading Mode ideal for interruption-free eBook consumption.

Reading Mode turns off notification (emails, apps, social media) and optimises screen brightness and battery consumption. Users can either switch to Reading Mode manually or set it on automatic.

Meanwhile a Pocket feature allows one to save articles from web browser to a Kobo device.

Graphics tablet maker Wacom takes on the standalone kind of tablet with the Cintiq Companion and Companion Hybrid, a pair of artist-aimed devices running on either Windows 8 or Android.

Both devices share an industrial design familiar to previous Cintiq customers (complete with Rocker Ring and customisable ExpressKeys), and pack 13.3-inch 1920x1080 resolution TFT LCD displays, wifi and Bluetooth connectivity and 8MP rear-/2MP front-facing cameras together with Wacom's mainstay, pen input-- the company claims the devices feature 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity via included Pro Pen stylus.

The Cintiq Companion is the Windows 8-powered number, featuring 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor, 256 or 512GB of storage, 8GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and a choice of either Windows 8 or 8 Pro as OS.

Despite costing it $900 million in "inventory adjustment" charges Microsoft will not give the tablet dream up-- Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang tells CNET the company is already "working really hard" on the 2nd Surface generation.

Nvidia hardware powers both versions of the underselling Microsoft tablet. According to the latest Microsoft SEC filings Surface revenues for the fiscal year ending June 2013 total $853 million, while a March 2013 Bloomberg report says sales total to 1 million ARM-based Surface RTs and around 400000 Surface Pros.

However Jen-Hsun Huang has high hopes for the next Surface-- because it will ship with Outlook at launch, something the 1st Surface lacked.

"It is the killer app for Windows," the Nvidia CEO tells CNET. "Now we're going to bring it with the 2nd-generation Surface. We're working really hard on it, and we hope that it's going to be a big success."

Intel reveals a pair of Android-based tablet proposals-- 7- and 10-inch Atom-powered devices designed specifically for the education segment.

The two tablets join other Intel educational devices, but do not make part of the Classmate notebook and hybrid device family due to being reference designs, not actual products.

"Intel remains committed to helping teachers and students achieve better results through the development of complete solutions that span the hardware, software and digital content required for a 21st century learning experience," the company says. "The tablet we are introducing is one additional step in a 10 year journey."

Both devices share 2MP rear- and 0.3MP front-facing cameras, 802.11n wifi, USB ports and software such as Kno textbooks, the Intel Education Resources  suite, image and video organisation and editing tools and McAfee  Mobile Security, as well as shock-absorber equipped displays.

Global Q2 2013 tablet shipments experience a -9.7%  Q-o-Q decline according to IDC, even if Y-o-Y growth reaches 59.6% on the 28.3 million devices shipped during the quarter.

Top vendor Apple sees lower-than-predicted Q2 2013 shipments of 14.6m units (down from 19.5m in Q1 2013) due to a lack of March product launches, as do 2nd and 3rd ranking vendors Samsung (8.1m units) and Asus (2.0m).

"A new iPad launch always piques consumer interest in the tablet category and traditionally that has helped both Apple and its competitors," IDC says. "With no new iPads, the market slowed for many vendors, and that's likely to continue into Q3 2013. However, by Q4 2013 we expect new products from Apple, Amazon, and others to drive impressive growth in the market."

Corning brings its cover glass products to touch-enabled notebooks with Gorilla Glass NBT, claiming it is designed to "protect touch notebook displays from scratches and other forms of damage."

Gorilla Glass NBT features the same benefits seen in the 3rd Gorilla Glass version, including Native Damage Resistance (NDR) flaw visibility reduction and improved strength retention.

“We are confident that Corning Gorilla Glass NBT will outperform legacy soda-lime glass, delivering eight to 10 times more scratch resistance," the company says. "In fact, for just 1-2% of a notebook’s retail price, consumers can now get the best cover glass solution."

Toshiba launches a pair of mid-range additions to the Satellite laptop range-- the 14-inch E45t ultrabook and the 15-inch E55, both with aluminium construction and 802.11ac wifi support.

The E45t is the more interesting of the two, since it features voice control via pre-installed Dragon Assistant software. Toshiba says the ultrabook recognises voices from up to 0.9m, with commands allowing one to web search, post social media messages, watch Youtube videos, play music and even simply switch the thing off through the power of their voices.

Inside are a Core i5 Haswell processor, 500GB HDD (plus 32GB SSD cache) and a 1366 x 768 resolution touchscreen.