Apple iPad 5 will be announced in March or before mid-2013, according to rumours. Sony Xperia Tablet Z will be unveiled by second quarter, suggests more rumours around Android watchers. What game-changing developments should gadget shoppers know?

The iPad 4th generation, the latest in Apple's tablet upgrades, has Apple A6X and 1.4 GHz dual core Apple Swift under the hood. The upcoming iPad 5 is rumoured to hold within a more powerful sytem-on-chip and processor.

Sony Xperia Tablet S, released last year, has not been a strong competition to iPad, but rumours about the upcoming Xperia Tablet Z suggest the game could change.

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z will have a quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor and 2GB of RAM, says the rumours. It will reportedly run on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, with compatibility features for NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and LTE connectivity. As added bonus, rumours say the latest Sony tablet will be waterproof and dustproof like its Xperia Z smartphone sibling. It might even feature the battery-saving technology of the smartphone, for a longer-lasting tablet life.

The iPad 5, meanwhile, will reportedly be thinner and lighter, with Sharp's IGZO screen display. iPad 4 measures 241.2mm in height, 185.7mm in width, and 9.4mm in depth. Its display screen measures 9.7 inches (250 mm) with a resolution of 2048 × 1536. The IPS LCD display shows a 4:3 aspect ratio with a pixel density of 264 ppi. The screen is enhanced by fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. With technology advancements to boost its screen display and dimensions, the iPad 5 could attract more tablet users.

Tablet Z rumours indicate the next Sony tablet will have a 10.1-inch screen display. If rumours proved to be true, improvements on stunning screens will extend the table battles to Sharp and Sony technologies.

These rumours have been around awhile, but more bits of information are expected in the next couple of weeks. Newbie tablet buyers might want to hold out a few months longer. Exciting news and announcements are coming from tablet makers this year.

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