Apple dominated tech headlines this week with product releases and software updates. Here's what you need to know about the week in Tech:
Apple product announcements are hard to miss, but just in case you haven't been keeping up: the company introduced a range of new products on Tuesday, including two new iPads.
Here's what you need to know:
•iPad Air: The new 9.7-inch iPad is thinner and lighter than its predecessors, starts at $499 for a 16GB model and comes in space gray or silver.
•iPad Mini: The most notable feature on this tablet is its Retina display. The iPad Mini also features 10 hours of battery life and starts at $399.
•Macs: Apple's new Mac Pro personal computer is priced at $2,999. Its two new MacBooks start at $1,299 for the 13-inch model and $1,999 for the 15-inch model.
Apple also made a big update to its line of operating systems.
Apple executive Craig Federighi announced at Apple's event Tuesday that the company's newest operating system, OS X Mavericks, will be offered for free to new and existing users. The new OS will work on Macs up to 5 years old and will come with iLife and iWork, two suites of applications that include iPhoto, iMovie and Keynote.
Apple's move puts it in more direct competition with Microsoft, which charges up to $399.99 for its Office suite. Federighi made it clear that Apple wants to make its products available to a wider audience: "The days of spending hundreds of dollars to get the most out of your computer are over."
Far from Apple's big product announcement in San Francisco, Nokia showed off its own new gadgets in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
The company unveiled a Windows tablet, the Lumia 2520; and two large-screen smartphones (sometimes called "phablets"), the Lumia 1520 and the Lumia 1320.
USA TODAY's Ed Baig was less than thrilled with two other Windows-powered products that came out this week. He got an early look at the Windows RT and Windows 8.1 Pro versions of the Surface 2 tablet. Baig said both are an improvement on the original Surface, but "challenges remain," and "as a tablet neither Surface can outduel the iPad."
BBM is back. Blackberry is continuing its relaunch of the popular BlackBerry Messenger service in two new apps for iPhone and Android.
But there's a catch: you need to wait your turn to get the app if you haven't signed up for it already. Visit BBM.com from your phone browser, and enter your information to reserve a spot.
Bad news, early holiday shoppers. Amazon raised the price level for free shipping this week. Shoppers need to spend at least $35 to qualify for free shipping, up from $25.
Amazon may have raised the price threshold to push more customers towards its Prime service, which costs $79 a year and offers free shipping on most items. But the higher shipping price might push third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace to switch over to eBay.
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