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"You're invited" a Microsoft media invite in the shape of a Surface tablet says, followed by the 23 September 2013 date-- leaving little doubt the Windows maker has a tablet-themed event in store.

Most probably the event involves launch of a Surface Pro and Surface RT tablet refresh.

According to Neowin the Surface 2 will feature a Haswell-based Core i5 CPU together with 8GB RAM and a "refined" kickstand of some kind, while the Surface RT 2 carries a Tegra 4 CPU, 4GB RAM, 1920x1080 display and a two-step kickstand.

The Verge confirms the two-step kickstand rumours, as well as the specification talk. It also says Windows 8.1 is the OS on both tablets, with the Surface RT dropping the "RT" part of the name (leading to a possibly even more confusing Microsoft tablet situation).

Toshiba shows off a "close collaboration" with Microsoft at IFA 2013-- the Encore, an 8-inch tablet featuring a Bay Trail Atom processor and the Windows 8.1 update.

The IPS display promises better viewing angles and brightness, even if it provides just 1280x800 resolution. The device is also heftier than the iPad mini, being 10.68mm thick and weighing 479g.

Storage comes in either 32 or 64GB, and is expandable via microSD slot. Rounding up the device are 2GB RAM and 8MP rear-/2MP front-facing camera.

Like clockwork, second week of September brings about the Apple keynote and its customary iDevice launches-- in this year's case, a duo of new iPhones, the 5C and 5S.

Opened, as these things tend to, by CEO Tim Cook the keynote kicked off with talk on the iTunes festival and a new Apple Store before moving on to iOS. Apparently September 2013 sees Apple shipping its 700 millionth iOS device, and the company hopes iOS 7 will become "the world's most popular mobile OS."

But of course the main news is not the update on the venerable iDevice (iPhone 4+, iPad 2+, iPad mini, 5th gen iPod touch) OS, or how the iPhone 5 helped Apple "take [its] iPhone business to an entirely different level." No, the real meat of the keynote is the iPhone 5 replacements-- the multicolour iPhone 5C (in white, pink, green, yellow and blue) and the "forward-thinking" iPhone 5S.

As suggested in earlier rumours, the iPhone 5C is a non-metal (hard-coated polycarbonate) device featuring a 4-inch retina display, A6 processor, 8MP iSight camera and 16/32GB storage. It is "Arsenic-free, mercury-free, and Android-free" (cue laughs from the iFans) and ships with a range of colourful protective silicon cases.

Samsung finally reveals its foray into smartwatch territory-- the company reveals the Galaxy Gear, as well as the 3rd iteration of the Galaxy Note phablet, at the Samsung Unpacked IFA 2013 event.

Looking like a chunky plastic wristwatch, the Galaxy Gear pairs with Samsung smartphones via Bluetooth 4.0 + BLE. It provides previews of incoming messages and emails, as well as "other valuable features and commands" (as Samsung puts it) such as pedometer, Find My Device (finds a lost phone from 1.5m away), compatibility with 70 Android apps (including Pocket, Evernote, RunKeeper and Runtastic), camera and, shockingly enough, a digital timepiece. Shocking.

Inside the Gear are a 1.63-inch 320x320 Super AMOLED display, 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM, 4G storage and a 315mAh battery promising "about a day" of use.

While the decision to use Bluetooth 4.0 allows for less drain on the battery, it also cripples the Gear-- the device is only compatible with the newly announced Galaxy Note 3 (more on that below) and the 2014 edition Galaxy Note 10.1 on launch. It will eventually pair with the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II, but only following an eventual software update.