World's Top 10 Film Festivals

1. Sundance Film Festival - Park City, Utah, United States

Sundance Film Festival started out in 1978 as an event designed to attract more filmmakers to Utah while staying away from the overpowering Hollywood scene. Thirty-four years later, Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the United States, exhibiting feature-length films, documentaries, shorts, and animation while fostering dialogues among film enthusiasts. This year, the festival will run from Jan 19-29 in Park City, Utah, showcasing 200 films whittled down from nearly 9,000 submissions. Can't make it to the big event? On Jan 26, nine movie theaters across the United States will be hosting a filmmaker and his or her work as part of Sundance Film Festival USA, so you may be able to participate in the festivities wherever you are.

2. International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Though it receives less tourist traffic than its neighboring city, Amsterdam, Rotterdam is a modern representation of Dutch culture, and its annual film festival is constantly paving the way for all genres of innovative and thought-provoking cinema. This year's event will run from Jan 25 to Feb 5, and will encompass 19 screening venues - upwards of 350,000 viewers are expected to attend. Rotterdam attendees are passionate movie-goers, so program directors make a point of stripping down the superfluous aspects of film, like commercials and trailers, for an untarnished viewing experience.

3. Cannes International Film Festival - Cannes, France

The highly esteemed Cannes Film Festival sets the trend for up-and-coming cinema every year while boosting the film industry's caliber worldwide. As one of the most prominent film events recognized internationally, Cannes is the place for big names in cinema to show their latest work. Set along the pristine beaches of the French Riviera, warm temperatures and bright sunshine only add to the exciting atmosphere of the event. This year's star-studded festival will run from May 16-27. Attending the festival is by invitation only, but we suggest heading to the Tourist Office and getting passes to the Beach Cinema for free nightly screenings.

4. Guadalajara Film Festival - Guadalajara, Mexico

Considered the most significant film affair in Latin America, Guadalajara Film Festival is an important cultural event, showcasing Mexican and Latino talent alongside other international works of cinematic art. Thanks to Guadalajara Film Festival, Latin American film has become a competitor in the global film industry. From March 2-12, over 100,000 film lovers are expected to flood the streets and theaters of Guadalajara, viewing close to 200 films. While not as chaotic as Mexico City, Guadalajara is a destination perfect for exploring colonial history, enjoying the Mexican culture, shopping street markets and savoring traditional regional cuisine.

5. Rooftop Films - New York, New York, United States

New York City is known for filmmaking, and great festivals like The New York Film Festival and Tribeca are constantly at the forefront when it comes to showcasing the talent of filmmakers from around the world. But veer slightly off the beaten path to the skyline of the Big Apple, and check out our favorite New York festival known as Rooftop Films. What started out in 1997 as film screenings on the roof of a newly graduated film student's apartment has now expanded across Manhattan and Brooklyn. The festival runs on weekends from May to September.

6. Toronto International Film Festival - Toronto, Canada

The Toronto International Film Festival, which premiered in 1976 as an independent film festival, has grown to become one of the most important and influential festivals in North America, and is the leading public film festival in the world. Year after year, works from the Toronto festival have gone on to become Academy Award winners. This exciting and extensive festival takes place in the beginning of September (this year from Sept 6 to 16), and close to 350,000 attendees head to Canada's largest metropolis in the hopes of viewing what will be the next classic piece of cinematic art. Aside from putting Canada on the map as a competitor in the global film industry, Toronto's festival has become a launching pad for the success of new films released every fall.

7. Venice International Film Festival - Venice, Italy

The Venice Film Festival started in 1932, making it the oldest film festival in the world. Every year, this expansive event is held on the island of Lido in the fascinating city of Venice. Unlike similarly large film festivals such as Cannes, public attendees are able to purchase passes in advance to the screenings. This year's festival will run from Aug 29 until Sept 8 and screen more than 275 projects, 75 of which will be national and international premieres. And, if the film scene isn't enticing enough, Venice ranks high among travelers as a destination, encompassing history, culture and romantic charm.

8. Hong Kong International Film Festival - Hong Kong, China

The perfect blend of East Asian culture and a thriving global market, Hong Kong is a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. It's no wonder that the Hong Kong International Film Festival has become one of the largest in the world, and has bridged the gap between Asian cinema and the global film industry. This year's event will take place from March 21 to April 5, showcasing more than 330 titles from 50 countries to an expected 600,000 viewers. Spread among more than 11 venues all around Hong Kong, including the Space Museum and City Hall, visitors get the chance to witness the latest works while exploring the vibrant city.

9. Berlin International Film Festival- Berlin, Germany

One of the most renowned film festivals in the world, the Berlin International Film Festival (also known as Berlinale) combines the glamour of filmmaking - parties, red carpet, high fashion - with the appreciation of cinematic art in a variety of genres. Divided into 10 separate sections, highlighting areas like experimental and avant-garde works, shorts geared towards younger generations, films focused around culinary themes and several others, there's a place for all film admirers at Berlinale. This year's festival will kick off on Feb 9 and last 10 days. It is expected that visitors from more than 115 countries will be in attendance to screen and discuss a variety of international films.

10. East End Film Festival - East London, United Kingdom

As one of the largest film festivals in London, East End continues to grow in the industry as a high-profile event for filmmakers. In 2011, more than 60 feature films were screened, along with hundreds of shorts, all from more than 30 different countries. Submissions are based around several themes, the most popular being British, European and World films, horror and music. This coming July 3-8, coinciding with the Olympics, dozens of venues will open in East London to screen the latest works - many free - from both seasoned and up-and-coming film professionals. Plus, there will be plenty of live music, master classes and other special events to participate in.

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Samsung surges past Apple in smartphones, upbeat on Q4

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co overtook Apple Inc as the world's top smartphone maker in the July-September period with a 44 percent jump in shipments, and forecast strong sales in the current quarter in a clear warning to its rivals.

Samsung (005930.KS) only entered the smartphone market in earnest last year, but its sales have skyrocketed thanks to a sleek production system that rapidly brings new products to market. Apple (AAPL.O) introduced its first iPhone in 2007.

"In the handset division, Samsung has no real rival models to challenge its products except for the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung will continue to dominate the market in the fourth quarter," said Kim Hyun-joong, a fund manager at Midas Asset Management, which owns Samsung shares.

Profits from the South Korean firm's telecoms division, announced on Friday, more than doubled from a year ago to a record 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) and accounted for 60 percent of Samsung's total profit, offsetting a plunge in earnings from its bread-and-butter memory chips.

Shipments of smartphones jumped 44 percent from the preceding quarter to 27.8 million units, up nearly four times from a year ago, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple's iPhone sales shrank by 16 percent to 17.1 million units in the third quarter. Samsung had 23.8 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter, 9 points higher than Apple. Samsung's flagship Galaxy line of products is powered by Google's (GOOG.O) Android software.

Apple sold fewer phones in the third quarter, missing street expectations for the first time in year, as customers held off buying iPhones until the October launch of the latest version.

Samsung shares were up 1.6 percent by 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), versus a 0.6 percent gain in the wider market .KS11.

The world's biggest technology firm by revenue reported a 4.25 trillion won operating profit for the July-September quarter, broadly in line with its earlier estimate of 4.2 trillion won.

That was down from 4.9 trillion won a year ago but up from 3.8 trillion won in the preceding quarter.

Samsung said its fourth-quarter earnings could be better than the third, boosted by one-off gains from its $1.4 billion sale of its hard disk drive business to Seagate Technology (STX.O).

"I am cautiously optimistic on the fourth quarter outlook at this point," Robert Yi, head of Samsung's investor relations, told analysts.

"Looking ahead into the fourth quarter, when industry demand is traditionally at its peak, Samsung expects sales of mobile devices to remain strong and flat-panel TV shipments to increase," the company added in an earnings statement.

Apple, whose iPhone sales account for nearly half the firm's total sales, reported a 40 percent gross margin, or the percentage of sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold. Samsung's phone division reported a 16.9 percent operating margin, which further takes account of marketing costs.

Nevertheless, Samsung faces challenges as the new iPhone introduced earlier this month is notching up strong sales.

Nokia is also fighting back with its first phones based on Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows software. And Sony Corp (6758.T) announced on Thursday it would take full ownership of its mobile venture, Sony Ericsson, in a bid to exploit its music and video library.

Samsung on Thursday announced the launch of its Galaxy Note mobile device, adding to the flagship Galaxy lineup of products. The device, powered by Android, will square off against a series of new models released by Apple, Nokia and HTC Corp (2498.TW).

The iPhone, introduced in 2007 with the touchscreen template now adopted by its rivals, is still the gold standard in the smartphone market.

Samsung may not have come up with the concept, but it has adopted Apple's breakthrough smartphone idea perhaps better than any other handset maker. It tries to offer the Apple experience at a better price with better functionality.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor at Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

Q4 SEEN BETTER THAN Q3

Profits from Samsung's chip business more than halved to 1.59 trillion won, but the division held up well as its relatively high exposure to lucrative mobile chips helped the firm offset a sharp plunge in prices of commodity computer memory chips.

Samsung was the sole profitable firm among major global dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip makers in the third quarter.

Second-ranked computer memory chip maker Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) and Japan's Elpida Memory (6665.T) swung to deep losses as prices of DRAM chips used in PCs tumbled about 50 percent in the third quarter.

Samsung's chip business is also benefiting from strong demand for mobile processor chips used in Apple's iPhone and iPad tablet as well as its own Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung expected demand for PCs to remain weak in the fourth quarter because of weak seasonality, while demand for mobile devices and servers will be relatively strong.

"I see some signs that chip prices have hit bottom as inventories are running out. However, we don't yet know when the industry is going to pick up since macroeconomic uncertainties overshadow the demand outlook," said Park Hyun, an analyst at Tong Yang Securities.

Samsung's display business posted losses for a third consecutive quarter on weak demand for TVs and PCs.

But losses narrowed from the previous quarter, helped by strong earnings from the OLED display, which is widely expected to replace LCD as the next-generation flat-screen in mobile devices and TVs.

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Apple - iPhone4S - a tribute for Steve

Apple Inc's new iPhone went on sale in stores across the globe on Friday, with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs' lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple boss.

The iPhone 4S -- introduced just a day before Jobs died.

The dual-core A5 chip delivers even more power. The 8MP camera with all-new optics also shoots 1080p HD video. And with Siri, iPhone 4S does what you ask. Talk about amazing.

for complete Apple - iPhone4S features click HERE

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Steve Jobs biography

Synopsis

Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Stephen Wozniak in the Jobs' family garage. Apple's revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology.

Early Life

Entrepreneur. Born Steven Paul Jobs on February 24, 1955, to Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave their unnamed son up for adoption. His father Abdulfattah Jandali was a Syrian political science professor and his mother Joanne Simpson worked as a speech therapist. Shortly after Steve was placed for adoption, his biological parents married and had another child, Mona Simpson. It was not until Jobs was 27 that he was able to uncover information on his biological parents.

As an infant, Steven was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs and named Steven Paul Jobs. Clara worked as an accountant and Paul was a Coast Guard veteran and machinist. The family lived in Mountain View within California's Silicone Valley. As a boy, Jobs and his father would work on electronics in the family garage. Paul would show his son how to take apart and reconstruct electronics, a hobby which instilled confidence, tenacity, and mechanical prowess in young Jobs.

While Jobs has always been an intelligent and innovative thinker, his youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. In elementary school he was a prankster whose fourth grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined.

After he did enroll in high school, Jobs spent his free time at Hewlett-Packard. It was there that he befriended computer club guru Steve Wozniak. Wozniak was a brilliant computer engineer, and the two developed great respect for one another.

Apple Computers

After high school, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Lacking direction, he dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes. Jobs later recounted how one course in calligraphy developed his love of typography.

In 1974, Jobs took a position as a video game designer with Atari. Several months later he left Atari to find spiritual enlightenment in India, traveling the continent and experimenting with psychedelic drugs. In 1976, when Jobs was just 21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computers. The duo started in the Jobs family garage, and funded their entrepreneurial venture after Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak sold his beloved scientific calculator.

Jobs and Wozniak are credited with revolutionizing the computer industry by democratizing the technology and making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive, and accessible to everyday consumers. The two conceived a series of user-friendly personal computers that they initially marketed for $666.66 each. Their first model, the Apple I, earned them $774,000. Three years after the release of their second model, the Apple II, sales increased 700 percent to $139 million dollars. In 1980, Apple Computer became a publically traded company with a market value of $1.2 billion on the very first day of trading. Jobs looked to marketing expert John Scully of Pepsi-Cola to help fill the role of Apple's President.

Departure from Apple

However, the next several products from Apple suffered significant design flaws resulting in recalls and consumer disappointment. IBM suddenly surpassed Apple sales, and Apple had to compete with an IBM/PC dominated business world. In 1984 Apple released the Macintosh, marketing the computer as a piece of a counter culture lifestyle: romantic, youthful, creative. But despite positive sales and performance superior to IBM's PCs, the Macintosh was still not IBM compatible. Scully believed Jobs was hurting Apple, and executives began to phase him out.

In 1985, Jobs resigned as Apple's CEO to begin a new hardware and software company called NeXT, Inc. The following year Jobs purchased an animation company from George Lucas, which later became Pixar Animation Studios. Believing in Pixar's potential, Jobs initially invested $50 million of his own money into the company. Pixar Studios went on to produce wildly popular animation films such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Pixar's films have netted $4 billion. The studio merged with Walt Disney in 2006, making Steve Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.

Reinventing Apple

Despite Pixar's success, NeXT, Inc. floundered in its attempts to sell its specialized operating system to mainstream America. Apple eventually bought the company in 1997 for $429 million. That same year, Jobs returned to his post as Apple's CEO.

Much like Steve Jobs instigated Apple's success in the 1970s, he is credited with revitalizing the company in the 1990s. With a new management team, altered stock options, and a self-imposed annual salary of $1 a year, Jobs put Apple back on track. His ingenious products such as the iMac, effective branding campaigns, and stylish designs caught the attention of consumers once again.

Pancreatic Cancer

In 2003, Jobs discovered he had a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare but operable form of pancreatic cancer. Instead of immediately opting for surgery, Jobs chose to alter his pescovegetarian diet while weighing Eastern treatment options. For nine months Jobs postponed surgery, making Apple's board of directors nervous. Executives feared that shareholders would pull their stocks if word got out that their CEO was ill. But in the end, Job's confidentiality took precedence over shareholder disclosure. In 2004, he had a successful surgery to remove the pancreatic tumor. True to form, in subsequent years Jobs has disclosed little about his health.

Recent Innovations

In recent years, Apple has introduced such revolutionary products as the Macbook Air, iPod, and iPhone, all of which have dictated the evolution of modern technology. Almost immediately after Apple releases a new product, competitors scramble to produce comparable technologies. In 2007, Apple's quarterly reports were the company's most impressive statistics to date. Stocks were worth a record-breaking $199.99 a share, and the company boasted a staggering $1.58 billion dollar profit, an $18 billion dollar surplus in the bank, and zero debt.

In 2008, iTunes became the second biggest music retailer in America-second only to Wal-Mart. Half of Apple's current revenue comes from iTunes and iPod sales, with 200 million iPods sold and six billion songs downloaded. For these reasons, Apple has been rated No. 1 in America's Most Admired Companies, and No. 1 amongst Fortune 500 companies for returns to shareholders.

Personal Life

Early in 2009, reports circulated about Jobs' weight loss, some predicting his health issues had returned, which included a liver transplant. Jobs had responded to these concerns by stating he is dealing with a hormone imbalance. After nearly a year out of the spotlight Steve Jobs delivered a keynote address at an invite-only Apple event September 9, 2009.

In respect to his personal life, Steve Jobs remains a private man who rarely discloses information about his family. What is known is Jobs fathered a daughter with girlfriend Chrisann Brennan when he was 23. Jobs denied paternity of his daughter Lisa in court documents, claiming he was sterile. Jobs did not initiate a relationship with his daughter until she was seven but, when she was a teenager, she came to live with her father.

In the early 1990s, Jobs met Laurene Powell at Stanford business school, where Powell was an MBA student. They married on March 18, 1991, and lived together in Palo Alto, California, with their three children.

Final Years

On October 5, 2011, Apple Inc. announced that co-founder Steve Jobs had died. He was 56 years old.

source: www.biography.com

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Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56

 Apple co-founder visionary Steve Jobs, who changed the daily habits of millions of people from different walks of life, by reinventing computer, music and mobile phones, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

Apple loses a visionary leader who inspired personal computing and iconic products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, which made Jobs one of the most significant industry leaders of his generation.

His death after a long battle with pancreatic cancer sparked an outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and fans alike lamented his premature passing and celebrated his monumental achievements.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world, from Los Angeles to Sydney. Outside one store in New York City, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a makeshift memorial.

In San Francisco, they held up black-and-white portraits of Jobs on their iPads. Some mourners in Tokyo held a sunset vigil, using apps on their iPads to show flickering candles on the screen.

Many websites, including Apple's own, were transformed into online memorials, a testament to the digital creativity that Jobs inspired.

"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor," said Microsoft's Bill Gates, who once triumphed over Jobs but has seen his legendary status overtaken by the Apple co-founder in recent years.

Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California, Apple said late Wednesday. Other details were not immediately available.

Jobs stepped down as CEO in August and handed the reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook. With a passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for the company to continue to flourish after his death, most analysts and investors say.

But Apple still faces challenges in the absence of the man who was its chief product designer, marketing guru and salesman nonpareil. Phones running Google's Android software are gaining share in the smartphone market, and there are questions over what the next big thing is in Apple's product line.

LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR

A college drop-out and the son of adoptive parents, Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on the breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today.

The rebel streak that was central to his persona got him tossed out of the company in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the rollout of a troika of products -- the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- that again upended the established order in major industries.

A diagnosis of a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 initially cast only a mild shadow over Jobs and Apple, with the CEO asserting that the disease was treatable. But his health deteriorated rapidly over the past several years, and after two temporary leaves of absence he stepped down as chief executive and became Apple's chairman in August.

Jobs' death came just one day after Cook presented a new iPhone at the kind of gala event that became Jobs' trademark. Perhaps coincidentally, the new device got lukewarm reviews, with many saying it wasn't a big enough improvement over the existing version of one of the most successful consumer products in history.

Apple Wednesday paid homage to its visionary leader by changing its website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011."

Google provided a link to the Apple site just below its search box.

The flags outside Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop flew at half mast. Employees left flowers on a bench and a mourner played music on bagpipes in an impromptu tribute.

Cook said in a statement that Apple planned to hold a celebration of Jobs' life for employees "soon."

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said in a statement.

"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The announcement of Jobs' death came after almost all trading in U.S. stocks had finished for the day. Apple's stock was last quoted at $377.22, a tad lower than its Nasdaq close of $378.25. Apple shares listed in Frankfurt fell 2 percent.

Outside Jobs' house in Palo Alto, neighbors and friends left flowers and drew messages with markers on the sidewalk. "Thanks for changing the world," read one.

A low fence surrounded a lawn filled with apple trees.

"He was special for the area, like part of the family," said Robert Blum, who brought flowers with his eight-year-old son, Daniel.

NET WORTH $7 BILLION

Jobs, in his trademark uniform of black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.

Forbes estimates Jobs' net worth at $7 billion. It was not immediately known how his estate would be handled.

His health had been a controversial topic for years and a deep concern to Apple fans and investors. Even board members have in past years confided to friends their concern that Jobs, in his quest for privacy, was not being forthcoming enough with directors about the true condition of his health.

Jobs, a Buddhist, was born in San Francisco. He started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in his parents' garage in 1976.

Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.

"Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only wologyhat is truly important.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." R

Few thoughts on my mind....Steve Jobs

"A man with an exceptional competence to merge art with technology."

"Jobs said, 'Remember that you will be dead soon"

"He did for technolgy what Leonardo Da Vinci did for art.

"You've got to find what you love"

"Great visionary and Leader"

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

 "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

 "Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."

 "We're here to put a dent in the universe."

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With HP tablet dead, who can challenge Apple?

NEW YORK (Reuters)- The sudden demise of Hewlett-Packard Co's WebOS TouchPad after just seven weeks on shelves was a reminder of how tech giants have failed so far to take a bite out of Apple Inc's iPad.

The TouchPad joins Dell Streak 5 in the tablet graveyard and weak sales for many offerings suggest others are bound to follow.

"The non-iPad tablets just won't sell at retail. That's the clear message from events over the past few days," said Mark Gerber, an analyst at Boston research and investment firm Detwiler Fenton.

Other tablets that have failed to click with consumers include Asustek Computer Eee Pad Transformer and the Xoom from Motorola Mobility, which Google Inc plans to buy.

Research in Motion's PlayBook received scathing reviews and sales have been slack, but it will probably survive since it is key to RIM's strategy.

"I do not expect RIM to be shutting down PlayBook sales any time soon or abandoning that platform, because RIM views it as its future," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial in New York.

Apple's rivals have not fared any better in designing software for tablets.

Apple's iOS tablet software accounted for 61.3 percent of the tablet market in the second quarter, more than double the 30.1 percent share held by Google's Android, its nearest competitor. Microsoft held a paltry 4.6 percent share and RIM 3.3 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.

COMPETITION COMING

But the landscape could soon change. Google's move this week to buy Motorola Mobility, a hardware manufacturer, has also potentially raised the stakes against Apple as it will give the Internet leader devices to showcase its software -- just as Apple does.

All eyes are now on Google's "Ice Cream Sandwich" system, which will unite the Android software used in tablets and smartphones. That is expected to encourage developers to flock to the platform and create better apps.

Microsoft could also pose a threat when it releases its tablet software, code-named Windows 8, but this probably won't be until the fall of 2012.

"The ecosystem built around Microsoft is the largest computing ecosystem out there, so this makes it the company most likely to get significant traction in the tablet marketplace," said BGC's Gillis.

Microsoft has said the software will run on a range of devices from traditional PCs to laptops and tablets, and incorporate mouse and keyboard commands.

Amazon.com, the maker of the popular Kindle e-reader, is also expected to announce plans to release a tablet this fall, providing a challenge to Apple.

The Amazon offering could be a "game-changer," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert Baird & Co, said in a recent note. The tablet will likely feature Android's Honeycomb OS system, a 7-inch screen and be priced under $300, he said.

Sebastian forecast sales of up to 3 million units in the first year and said they would eventually outsell other Android-enabled tablets from Motorola and Acer, and could potentially surpass Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Amazon's as-yet unnamed tablet poses a significant threat to Apple because of the Kindle's popularity and the movie and music services the company sells. Analysts also expect Amazon to subsidize the tablet's price, which could also boost sales.

"Amazon is widely viewed as a wild card. It has the potential to be disruptive," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin.

The crowded market has not discouraged Sony Corp either. The consumer electronics giant is going full steam ahead with plans to release its first two tablets in the fall.

"We're going to see many competitors come and go," a Sony spokeswoman said.

"We're going to bring the best of all of the assets at our disposal to bear: hardware, content and network services."

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