With not a great deal of October left, a great deal is set to happen in the world of computing. The mini ipad is about to arrive. Google is releasing with a little help from its friend Samsung, a very cheap laptop with no hard drive, fast boot up and extended battery life, tied to Google's Android operating system. And talking about operating systems..... Microsoft is about to release Windows 8.

Where does this leave the business world? - In some confusion! 

Is there one device that has replaced the laptop or netbook as something to use while on the move ? No not quite ! The ipad is a great tool but not the whole business package as yet, so the way is open for the ultimate piece of kit to use while out of the office.

Apple have a loyal band of followers that will queue for the next upgrade, no matter how mimimum that might be in features but they can be a little high handed in the manner with which they treat clients. Producing the new iPhone5 that makes a huge amount of charging devices and audio equipment obsolete, might just cause the faithful to look around, especially as the software can be limiting, as can the memory.

The Ipad has spawned a whole raft of imitators, some later to the party than others but as there are dozens of PC's and laptops to choose from, this will be the case with the tablet, regardless of who invented the genre in the first place.

Microsoft is not only releasing a new operating system, it is also jumping with both feet into the tablet market also, with plenty of advance warning that it will be at the high end.

The Kindle from Amazon is also out there also of course, no longer just a tool for reading books on the beach but not something you would want to be seen with around the board room table. 

There are accessories around, such as a wireless hard drive that uses bluetooth to attach to the tablet it is aimed at and tablets with a hard drive that don't cut it but the business world still awaits the device that ticks all the boxes.

Unless you know different?