Lenovo announces a range of budget Android tablets ideal for families wanting a device for each member-- the E series, consisting of the Tab E7, Tab E8 and Tab E10-- together with the more premium Tab M10 and Tab P10.

The Tab E7 is the entry-level model, being a 7-inch device running on Android Oreo Go. It features a 10.33mm thin frame, and promises to run for 5 hours on a single charge. The Tab E8 is a larger option, with an 8-inch display, Dolby Atmos audio and a battery powering up to 10 hours of local video playback. Finally, the Tab E10 is more powerful, with a 10-inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor and a pair of Dolby Atmos speakers.

MSI announces the availability of the Prestige PS42-- a 14-inch ultrathin business laptop offering a quad-core CPU and discrete GPU (in select models) in a package weighing all of 1.19kg.

The laptop comes in a variety of configurations, with either Intel quad-core Core i5-8250U or Core i7-8550U processors, 8/16GB DDR4-2400 RAM, 256GB to 1TB SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete GPU (PS42 8RB SKUs only) and a 50Wh battery MSI claims offers up to 10 hours of use on a single charge. All components reside in a brushed aluminium chassis 15.9mm thick.

W. European tablet shipments are down by -10.1% Y-o-Y to reach 6.3 million units, IDC reports, with Apple and Huawei as the only vendors in the top 5 to see some measure of growth during the quarter.

The analyst attributes such declines to market saturation, lengthening life cycles and a lack of innovation, at least in a consumer segment with shipments dropping by -6.1% Y-o-Y. The commercial segment sees a "degree of resilience" through certain niche use-case deployments. Detachables/hybrid devices also see a challenging Q2 2018, with shipments falling by -23.3% Y-o-Y. This is due to premium Apple and Microsoft devices dominating the market, leading price-constrained customers to consider cheaper alternatives such as lower-end convertibles or even traditional PCs.

"Apple repeated last year's successful strategy of positioning the iPad at a more attractive price point to address the erosion of consumer demand for tablets," IDC remarks. "This triggered a wave of renewals of old iPads and some Android tablets which helped Apple to perform above the market average and regain the leading position in W. Europe."

Samsung announces the next Galaxy Tab device-- the Galaxy Tab S4, a convertible tablet complete with stylus and Samsung DeX functionality the company says is "designed for people who want to do more on the go."

Clearly aimed as a rival to the likes of the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface, the Galaxy Tab S4 features a 10.5-inch 2560x1600 Super AMOLED and runs on an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Further tech specs include 4GB RAM, 64/256GB storage (expandable via microSD card), Dolby Atmos audio and a 7300mAh battery with fast charging. Connectivity comes through wifi, Bluetooth 5.0, LTE and a USB-C port.

Global tablet shipments total 33 million in Q2 2018, IDC reports-- a -13.5% Y-o-Y decline, with shipments of both slate and detachable/hybrid tablets falling, in part due to a lack of updates to the high-profile devices launched in Q2 2017.

"The detachable market is at a crucial stage as it has been driven primarily by premium products from Microsoft and Apple and growth has slowed in recent months," the analyst says. "Though consumers and businesses alike have shown interest in the detachable form factor, those operating on tighter budgets have had very few options available to them and hence some have opted for traditional PCs. However, with the launch of the Surface Go, Chrome OS-based detachables, and hopefully a more affordable iPad Pro in the future, the detachable category still has a bright future, provided the performance and software lines up with users' expectations."

Origin PC announces a pair of gaming laptops, both offering Intel Core i9 options for the latest in mobile PC hardware-- the lightweight EON15-S and the more powerful 17-inch EVO17-S.

The EON15-S weighs just 1.5kg, making it lighter than a MacBook Pro. It features a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display and is based on the Intel Coffee Lake-H platform with a choice of either 6-core Corei7-8750H or Core i9-8950HK processors (overclocking optional). Graphics come through an Nvidia GeForce 1060 GPU with 6GB GDDR5 RAM, memory tops up at 32GB DDR4-2667 RAM and storage comes through up to two M.2/NVMe SSDs adding up to 4TB.

Chinese Android device maker GamePad Digital (GPD) announces a sequel to the Pocket mini Windows laptop-- the imaginatively named Pocket 2, a sleeker device offering updated internals and and improved keyboard.

The Pocket 2 has a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution multi-touch display within a magnesium alloy unibody clamshell design, just like the first version. It measures 1810 x 113 x 8-14mm, weighs 464g and carries a 2C/4T Intel Core m3-7y30 processor. Further tech specs include 4/8GB LPDDR3 RAM, 128GB storage (expandable via microSD card) and a 6800mAh battery promising up to 8 hours of use on a single charge.

Apple looks to appeal to power users with the MacBook Pro update-- the 13- and 15-inch notebooks get 8th generation Intel Core processors, better GPUs and more RAM, plus a tweaked keyboard promising quieter typing.

Externally the two notebooks remain identical to the previous 2016 models, with all changes being under the hood. The 13-inch model gets a quad-core processors, while the 15-inch carries 6-core processors Apple claims is up to 70% faster compared to the 2016 model. Graphics also get a boost. The 13-inch models features Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, and the 15-inch get a choice of either Radeon Pro 555X or Radeon Pro 560X, both with 4GB DDR5 RAM.