Zensorium launches Tinké cardiorespiratory health and stress monitor for iOS devices (video)

Planning a gluttonous holiday season and then a health kick in the New Year to balance it out? Well, when you start on the latter, you might want one of Zensorium's Tinké cardiorespiratory monitors to track your progress. The sensor is compatible with any of your old-fashioned 30-pin iOS devices (it'll work with the Lightning adapter, too), and with the press of a thumb, it can measure heart rate, blood oxygenation and respiratory rate using light. All this data is fed into the free companion app, which generates an overall fitness score called the "Vita Index" and logs it for later comparison. Stress levels can also be assessed, using fluctuations in your heart rate to score the "Zen Index." Sharing how unfit and stressed you are can be done via Facebook or Tinké's own network, which also allows you to compare results with other users worldwide. The monitor will set you back $119 and is available now from Zensorium (link below) in a choice of four colors. If you'd like to start improving your Zen Index right now, then check out the soothing acoustic sounds in the product walkthrough video below the fold.

ASUS Zenbook Prime review (UX51Vz): a blazing 15-inch Ultrabook with a lofty price

Windows 8 has ushered in an era of category-defying devices, with hybrid machines that bend, flip around, lie flat and otherwise contort flooding the market (and our offices). When virtually every Windows 8 product we've reviewed possesses acrobatic abilities, it's easy to forget regular ol' laptops are running Microsoft's new OS, too. One such machine is the $1,949 ASUS Zenbook UX51Vz (aka the U500), a 15-inch Ultrabook with the trappings of a multimedia powerhouse, including a quad-core Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GT650M graphics and a 1080p IPS display -- and no gymnastic tricks up its sleeve. Another thing it doesn't have: a touchscreen, which is available on plenty of other Windows 8 notebooks, not to mention other upcoming Zenbook Prime models. Considering that (possibly glaring) omission, is the UX51Vz still an attractive option at this premium price point? Head past the break to find out.

Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories

Many Apple fans on the opposite side of the Pacific from Cupertino haven't had much of a choice to shop from iTunes, even though they've had the App Store for some time. There's now a much better sense of balance: Apple just flicked the switch on the iTunes Store for music and movies in a dozen countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region. The company singles out our own Richard Lai's Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Taiwan, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also getting the media catalogs, which include local content along with the international hits. It's a full catch-up as well, with iTunes in the Cloud re-downloads and iTunes Match subscriptions available in every new country. If you're a huge Andy Lau fan but wanted his albums from the most iPhone-friendly store possible, the wait is over.

Apple iPad 3 expected on 7 March following press event

Apple has announced an event on 7 March at which the company is expected to launch its latest iPad tablet.

Invitations sent to journalists read: "We have something you really have to see. And touch." While not officially confirming the product's launch, the message was accompanied by an image showing what looked to be an iPad touchscreen.The iPad range, which first launched in 2010, has sold more than 50 million units worldwide.

It is not yet known when the new device will be available for sale. Last year, sales of the iPad 2 began in the US nine days after the launch announcement - which also took place in March.

Apple's first two versions of the iPad transformed the market for tablet computers and made it one of the fastest-growing sectors of the computer industry.

Patent woes

However, recently Apple's dominant position in the tablet market has been challenged by a string of tablets powered by Google's Android operating system.

Later this year, industry experts expect a new category of tablet devices powered by Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft will announce details for the consumer versions of Windows 8 at an event in Barcelona on Wednesday evening.

The tablet market - just like the smartphone market - has been subject to intense patent wars, chiefly between Apple and its key challenger Samsung.

Apple announces free iBooks Author app for OS X for publishing books to the App Store

We're here at Apple's education-themed event at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, and the company's just introduced iBooks Author, a free OS X program for producing books including -- yes -- educational texts. The real story here is ease of use, with the ability to drag and drop photos, videos and even Microsoft Word files into various templates. If you use Apple's own suite of office apps, in particular, you can drag and drop a Keynote presentation into the doc, and it'll live on as an interactive widget. (You can whip up other widgets, too, though you'll need to know Javascript or HTML.) Moving beyond the main text, authors can also arrange glossaries by highlighting words, clicking and then clicking again to add a definition. In a surprise move, Apple also said authors can publish straight to the store, though we're waiting for clarification that textbook writers and other scribes are actually exempt from Cupertino's notorious App Store approval process. In any case, the app is available today, for free, in the App Store, so by all means, get cracking on that sci-fi glossary you never knew you wanted.