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Third-party manufacturers like ASUS, ACER and Dell are beginning to unveil their Windows 8 offerings, adding to an already complex — and often befuddling — family of devices that include tablets, ultrabooks, phablets, hybrid laptops/tablets. And by 2016, IDC is predicting there will be more than 200 million of these devices. Whoa, right? Get up to speed with the best tech news of the day.

4 Out Of 5 Smartphone Owners Use Device To Shop

4 out of 5 smartphone users, or 85.9 million people, used their devices to shop in July, according to comScore. Amazon sites received the most attention from mobile shoppers with an audience of 49.6 million visitors, followed by eBay with (32.6 million) Apple (17.7 million), Wal-Mart (16.3 million), Target (10 million) and Best Buy (7.2 million). (TechCrunch)

Retina-Like Display Comes To Android

Chinese tablet maker Cube just closed the gap on one of the biggest disparities between the iPad and Android tablets: The Retina display. French blog Phonandroid first reported that Cube’s new U9GT5 model boasts a high definition, 2048×1536 pixel, 9.7″ IPS screen. That works out to a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch (ppi), about the the same as the iPad 3. (Arctablet)

IDC Increases Tablet Shipment Prediction (Again)

IDC has made upping its tablet shipment predictions something of a tradition by now, as it seems like it releases a “revised” prediction every other month. The research firm had previously placed this year’s tablet shipments at 107 million, but it has increased that number to 117.1 million, which would be nearly a 70 percent increase over the 69 million tablets shipped last year. By 2016, IDC foresees that number hitting 261 million. But if we’ve learned anything by now, those numbers will probably go up. (AllThingsD)

Dell Makes Bid For Tablet Relevance With Windows 8 Devices

Dell showed off its new line of Windows 8 devices Wednesday, unveiling a new Latitude tablet, Ultrabook, and an all-in-one PC. In particular, the 10.1-inch Latitude tablet looks like a powerhouse device, with 2GB of RAM and running on Intel’s Atom processor. Interestingly, the company hasn’t followed ASUS, ACER and others in coming out with a tablet-laptop hybrid of its own. (PCWorld)