Apple became the biggest fish in the very small touchscreen tablet pond when it launched the iPad this past spring. But more fish will arrive starting mid-month when Samsung launches its Galaxy Tab mobile device in Europe (US and Asia will get it "in the coming months"). After being rumored and teased for weeks, Samsung officially unveiled its entry into the burgeoning market at the IFA show in Germany on Thursday.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" widescreen touch tablet powered by Android 2.2. The Tab will use the same TouchWiz UI used on Samsung's line of Galaxy S smartphones, which gives it a very iOS-like look and feel. Also following the iPad's lead, the device has a metal back, black bezel, bottom speakers, and even a 30-pin connector.

Microsoft has announced that Windows Phone 7 has hit the release to manufacturing milestone. The OS has been finalized and has been sent off to Microsoft's partners around the world, who in turn will put it on their hardware and networks in time for this holiday season. All that's left before release is manufacturer additions and testing. Prepare yourself for a Windows Phone 7 launch event; devices will hit Europe in October and the US in November.

"Windows Phone 7 is the most thoroughly tested mobile platform Microsoft has ever released," Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "We had nearly ten thousand devices running automated tests daily, over a half million hours of active self-hosting use, over three and a half million hours of stress test passes, and eight and a half million hours of fully automated test passes. We’ve had thousands of independent software vendors and early adopters testing our software and giving us great feedback. We are ready."

Since the release of the Technical Preview, Microsoft has fixed bugs, fine-tuned performance, polished the interface, and added features. (Side note: prototype phones will not be getting an upgrade to the RTM build.) Redmond is being secretive about the new features, only disclosing a couple related to Facebook. Users will be able to filter Facebook friends to only those already in the phone's contact list, as well as "like" Facebook posts and write messages on Facebook walls directly from the People Hub. Microsoft also added a more visible search option to the contact list after it found that testers were not aware they could search their contacts by using the phone's physical search button.

There is still one more milestone to reach on the developer side of things: the final SDK is slated for release on September 16. In early October, the Marketplace will start accepting application submissions. This will include applications from the hardware companies and network operators; their software has to go through the Marketplace validation process just like applications will.

This doesn't leave much time for Microsoft to accept apps and populate the online store for the early adopters. Still, with the final RTM code now available, the company should be able to refocus on its partners and third-party developers over the next few weeks.

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After a month of rumors and leaks, Microsoft has released the Arc Touch Mouse. The device is available for presale on Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and Buy.com for $69.95. It will ship in early December, and will officially be available online and in stores in January 2011.

Redmond is touting Arc Touch as "the first mouse designed to flatten for portability and pop up for comfort." It's all about portability: less than 15 millimeters thick at its widest point, it collapses to turn off and pops up to turn on. The mouse requires two AAA batteries that Microsoft says give it more than six months of battery life (the two-color battery life indicators will keep you informed).

In addition to its compact form factor (see the Silverlight demo), the Arc Touch has a capacitive touch scroll strip: move a finger slowly on the strip for controlled scrolling, or flick a finger for fast scrolling that can be stopped with a simple tap. The mouse uses a capacitive sensing technique and sensor pads to detect each position and velocity change, and also includes haptic feedback to simulate the bumps of a traditional scroll wheel. The strip also has three tap buttons: page up, page down, and a reprogrammable (Microsoft's IntelliPoint software required) middle click area.

The Arc Touch includes Microsoft's usual mouse features such as a magnetic 2.4GHz wireless Nano transceiver that snaps into the bottom of the mouse and BlueTrack technology to let users use the device on virtually any surface. The only requirements are a USB port, and either Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

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As you've likely already seen, Apple unveiled all manner of shiny new products at Wednesday's media event. The iPod touch gained cameras and FaceTime, the iPod nano went touchscreen-only, the iPod shuffle got its buttons back, and the Apple TV got a major overhaul. As usual, Ars got a chance to play with the new products following the event, and we have some hands-on photos (as well as observations) to share with you.

Apple held its annual fall media event Wednesday. During the event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a new line of iPods, as has become tradition, including a new shuffle, a multitouch-enabled nano, and an A4-powered, FaceTime-compatible iPod touch. The company also revealed details of iOS 4.1 for iPhone and iPod touch, as well as iOS 4.2 for iPad.

Sony has just dropped three new e-reader upgrades on the reading public, but the company seems determined not to compete directly with Amazon's new Kindle 3.

Sony has updated its Pocket Edition (5" screen), Touch Edition (6" screen), and Daily Edition (7" screen), and the new devices all look terrific. They use the same, higher-contrast E-Ink screens seen in the Kindle 3, and Sony doesn't have Amazon's infuriating resistance to supporting the common ePub format.

But Sony isn't competing on price. The Pocket goes for $179 and the Touch for $229, and neither model has either WiFi or 3G radios (WiFi-only Kindle 3s start at $139). If you want wireless capabilities, you'll need to shell out $299 for the upgraded Daily Edition (meant especially for downloading and displaying daily newspaper content).

Sony has decided to market its devices as touchscreens, and has extended that functionality across all three new readers. While this might seem superfluous in an e-reader, it does allow easier navigation of menu options and doesn't require button clicks to turn pages.

In addition, bookstore chain Borders has just dropped the prices on its own e-readers (a basic Kobo model can be had for $129), but most exciting are its new offerings. Coming later this fall, Borders is pushing two color readers, one based on Android, and both with 7" touchscreens, for $199 and $299—though neither have wireless.

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Every year in September, Apple reveals its new iPod lineup in time for the holiday buying season. This year's event takes place tomorrow, and the usual rumors about what Apple plans to announce have popped up. Here's a rundown of some of the things we've been hearing in the hours leading up to the reveal.

Amazon might be getting ready to expand its video offerings, according to a report released this afternoon by The Wall Street Journal. Despite facing a wall of "no comments" from every party rumored to be involved, the report indicates that the retailing giant, which already offers sales of popular TV shows, is looking to launch a subscription video service that would operate similarly to its current services, which can be watched on the Web or a variety of video devices.

According to The Journal, Amazon has approached a number of media companies to try to get them to sign onto the plan, which has been pitched in a number of variations. One of the more intriguing ideas is to bundle it in with Amazon Prime, the company's premium shopping service. Although this might cost Amazon money in the short term—its fees to the content providers would have to come from whatever profit it makes on the average Prime customer—it would guarantee the content providers a large audience, and might provide an additional incentive for new and existing Prime customers.

So far, it's not clear if anyone has taken Amazon up on the deal. The company is said to want to have the service in place by the holidays, but may have to revise those plans or scrap them entirely if none of the content providers comes through.

The apparent reticence of the media companies makes for a sharp contrast with the music business, which seemed to be eager to have a subscription service succeed, providing them with an indefinite revenue stream. In contrast to the unified front of the record labels, however, the video producers seem to be very fragmented, experimenting with a variety of ad-supported and paid rental and purchase options. So far, it appears that Amazon hasn't offered them something they feel they can't get somewhere else.

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