The Wall Street Journal is reporting some new details about the next version of the iPad, based on what "people familiar with the matter" have revealed. Apple has not yet officially commented. 

According to the report, the next iPad will be available through both AT&T and Verizon, and will be thinner, lighter, and will have at least one camera on the front. It is also reported to have more memory and a more powerful graphics processor. 

The title we went with on this article may come off as a bit sensational, but some pretty high profile web veterans might not think so. 

Speaking at Bristol University in the UK, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, had some less than positive things to say this week about the direction the web is taking – the app direction. As quoted by computing.co.uk:

According to a new report from IDC, the worldwide market for tablets grew by 45.1% in the third quarter of 2010, driven mainly by iPad demand. Now, the iPad faces a great deal of competition from various manufacturers (many showcased at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas). 

eBooks and e-readers are big business these days. Amazon’s Kindle recently became the company’s best-selling product ever, and its competitors have done pretty well too. Now tablets are coming out of the woodwork to go head-to-head with Apple’s iPad, and these are also ideal for reading eBooks (some with Android).

Pundits have predicted the growing adoption of tablets as a top 10 trend for 2011. According to Mashable, a new Forrester report estimates that 44 million tablets will be sold in 2015, surpassing even laptop sales by nearly 5 million and desktop PC sales over 25 million.

Android-based tablets are expected to capture a significant share of the overall tablet market and they’re making quite the splash at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The Consumer Elecronics Show (CES) in Vegas has already been a big event for Microsoft, and it doesn’t even end until January 9. CEO Steve Ballmer reflected on the past year, and introduced some elements of where the company is headed. 

Purchase rates for personal computers and mobile phones (not including smartphones) will decrease by 39 percent and 56 percent this year compared with last year, respectively, according to a new survey from Accenture.

By contrast, buying rates of 3DTVs (three-dimensional TVs) are expected to rise 500 percent; tablet computers 160 percent; ebook readers 133 percent; and smartphones 26 percent.

It’s become crystal clear that Amazon’s Kindle is a hit, and though some of its competitors have been doing pretty well too, Kindle was recently revealed to be Amazon’s best-selling product ever. 

It can only be a company of the stature as Microsoft that can continue battling and trying real hard to make it big in every field that it enters. No matter how much competition it faces from stalwarts like Apple, Google, etc. in the Tablet market (which is dominated by iPads) Microsoft is bent on making it big here too.

Reports indicate that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil some new slates from Samsung and Dell at CES next month that are designed to compete with Apple’s incredibly popular iPad. 

The company has not confirmed, and the sources of the info are unnamed, but evidently trusted by the New York Times, which reports: 

The bickering between Apple and Google continues. It’s gotten to the point where at just about every event where one of these companies has an announcement (at least within the mobile space), they take not so subtle jabs at one another. 

Which mobile operating system will win out in the end? Apple’s iOs? Google’s Android? Share your thoughts here. 

Apple and Google have become known for taking shots at one another during announcements and presentations. We talked about this at length here. However, Google’s not the only target of Steve Jobs these days. BlackBerry maker RIM was on the receiving end of some other harsh comments from Apple’s CEO this week when the company reported its financial results for the last quarter. 

Microsoft said today it would launch a tablet computer before the Christmas shopping season in an effort to take on Apple’s iPad.

"You’ll see new slates with Windows on them. You’ll see them this Christmas," he told an audience of students, staff and journalists at the London School of Economics.

New research from the NPD Group indicates that nearly 90% of initial iPad sales are incremental and are not cannibalizing the PC market. 

"Contrary to popular belief, the iPad isn’t causing cannibalization in the PC market because iPad owners don’t exhibit the same buying and ownership patterns as the typical consumer electronics customer," the group says. 

Amazon may have launched a new web version of its Kindle software, but rumor has it that it is also launching its own Android app store and possibly even its own tablet. 

Sharp announced today that it is developing a new cloud-based media service business called Galapagos. The company will start by releasing two tablets and an e-bookstore. Sharp says the tablets are developed specifically as e-book readers. They will reportedly run Android as the OS. 

The initiative is aimed at the Japanese market. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple could announce a "print subscription" offering as early as the next month or two. The publication cites "people familiar with that matter", though one of these people said it may come early next year, alongside the next version of the iPad. That sounds more like Apple’s style to me. 

Best Buy just announced it is expanding iPad availability to all U.S. stores September 26. That of course goes for the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G models. 

Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy Tab tablet device, and Kobo announced that it is supplying the e-reader technology for it.

"After much speculation, the new Samsung GALAXY Tab has just been announced by Samsung’s CEO in Berlin, and Kobo is THE eReading application powering the ‘Readers Hub’ on the new Android tablet," says Kobo. "This partnership is an industry first for Kobo and Samsung, offering the first eReading experience on an Android Tablet to readers worldwide."

LG plans to launch 10 new smartphones and sell five million devices by the end of the year. In addition they will launch a tablet by the fourth quarter under the Optimus line. This is all according to the Wall Street Journal.

North Korea has reportedly joined Facebook and according to Valleywag has 65 friends. Meanwhile, it’s being blocked by South Korea.

Yesterday, a reliable-sounding report indicated that Google, HTC, and Verizon are working together to bring a Chrome OS tablet to market on Black Friday.  Now, although it’s hard to say whether the two stories complement or negate each other, word has it that Google wants Motorola to create an Android tablet for the Verizon network.