TSMC have something to be happy about right now, posting a record third quarter profit. The company posted a net profit of 49.3 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.69 billion), which is a 62% jump year-over-year, and beating over 24 analysts' expectations.

TSMC-powered smartphones and tablet demand continue to expand, even in an economy which isn't doing so well. TSMC's flagship 28nm technology has given them an advantage over the competition, and the company has said that is directly responsible for doubling chip shipments in Q3. TSMC have said that chips built on the 28nm process accounted for 13% of total wafer revenue.

Morris Chang, TMSC Chairman, says that the future will be a little dull, expecting revenue to fall in the final three months of 2012. Chipmakers like Intel are scaling their productions back in the fourth quarter, citing reduced demand. Even with Q4 not looking so good, TSMC are optimistic about 2013 and the future, where Chang believes that TSMC will continue to outgrow the semiconductor industry in the coming years, as they has positioned themselves well in the smart device markets.

Here we are again, three months later and we have Apple's Q4 financial results to share with you. Not long after the Cupertino-based company unveiled their new iPad mini, fourth-generation iPad and refreshed Macs, their Q4 financial results are surprising in more ways than one.

Apple posted a revenue of $35.97 billion with a net income of $8.2 billion, up from $28.27 billion and $6.62 billion this time last year. Apple's earnings fell short of analysts' expectations of $8.75 per share, reaching just $8.67 per share. Apple reportedly lowered their forecast for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 from diluted earnings per share of $15.49 on revenue of $55 billion to $11.75 on revenue of $52 billion.

Analysts are pegging this on continuing supply problems, but I have a different idea. During the quarter, Apple sold just 26.9 million iPhones, 14 million iPads, 5.3 million iPods and 4.9 million Macs. iPhone shipments beat analysts' expectations by over 500,000 units, but fell short of analysts' expectations on iPad shipments by around 1 million units.

Our friends over at Corsair have just taken the cover off of their latest computer gaming accessory. Under the cover, we found two new gaming mouse mats designed to "deliver durable, gaming grade surfaces and a best-in-class gaming experience." Dubbed the Vengeance MM200 and Vengeance MM400, these will be the first two models to launch.

"Just as performance sports cars needs premium-quality tires in order to maximize performance on the road, a high-quality gaming mouse mat is essential to maximize the performance of gaming mice like the Vengeance laser gaming mice", said Ruben Mookerjee, Vice President and General Manager of the Components Business Unit at Corsair. "Corsair gaming mouse mats are engineered from the ground-up to deliver the consistent performance that gamers demand, so they can focus on winning."

The MM200 is a "glide-optimized" textile surface that includes fray-resistant edges and a non-slip rubber base. This model will be available in four different sizes, ranging from small to extra large formats. They even have a wide format version so as to accommodate different playing styles.

More and more companies are releasing apps for Windows 8. Amazon has just joined the party with the release of their Kindle app for Windows 8. The app will allow users to read their collection of Kindle eBooks on both Windows 8 and Windows RT. Of course, the app comes with all the features you've come to expect from Amazon and Kindle.

This means the app supports Amazon's Whispersync technology, which "automatically syncs your furthest page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across all your devices that have the Kindle app installed and across any Kindle device." It even comes with the ability to pin your favorite Kindle books to the home screen.

This is great! No longer will I have to wait those extra few seconds to start reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Joking aside, this is a nice feature of the app, and a Kindle app should be well received and welcomed on the new Windows 8 and Windows RT platform. After all, there will be many more potential customers for Amazon with all of these new Windows 8 tablets shipping.

Accidental clicks are a big problem for advertisers as they have to pay for a click that yields them nothing. It's a problem that people have been dealing with since the introduction of mobile advertising. The general thought is the smaller the screen, the more likely you are to accidentally click that tantalizing banner ad.

But is that the only factor? Probably not. How often are you surfing Facebook while driving? You might accidentally click on an ad then, not due to the small screen, but due to you being distracted with driving. GoldSpot is a mobile ad network that has taken a look into the problem of accidental clicks and they have a bit of insight to offer.

They figure that roughly four in 10 clicks on conventional banner ads are accidental. For rich media ads, the number drops to 13 percent, probably due to them being more noticeable as an ad. GoldSpot also believes accidental clicks are more likely to happen in the morning or evening, as you can see in the chart above.

Here's reason enough to switch to Apple's walled garden: less chance of malware. Malware is increasingly becoming a problem for the Android operating system, no doubt due in part to its openness and the ability for anyone to post an app to the Play Store. Also sideloading apps furthers this problem.

Don't believe me? Well, a new study shows that Android malware grew by 580 percent in the previous year. An incredible 175 million downloads were of apps deemed "High Risk." And these app downloads came from Google Play's Top 500. Let's stop the scare tatics, though, and focus on reality. For the most part, Android users will be safe from malware.

That 580 percent statistic is misleading. Malware samples grew from 4,951 in September 2011 to only 28,707 in September 2012. So while the 580 percent statistic is true, it's highly misleading. Looking at it in terms of total apps, roughly 1.69 percent of all Android apps are malware, though most of those are not in the Play Store.

The flow of Windows 8 devices are about to begin. Gigabyte is out of the gate today with a bunch of new devices out that will be running Microsoft's latest operating system that launches today. Offerings range from convertible Ultrabooks to regular Ultrabooks, and gaming notebooks to slates. That's right, Gigabyte has launched a tablet.

Let's say hello to the Convertible U2142 (seen above).

Microsoft's biggest launch of pretty much any product they've ever released is here, Windows 8. But, a new operating system isn't the only thing launching with Windows 8. We're looking at the Surface tablet running Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, a slew of Windows 8-powered notebooks, Ultrabooks, tablets as well as countless Windows 8-compatible accessories, and hardware.

5.) Windows 8-powered notebooks and Ultrabooks - One of the most exciting thing about the launch of Windows 8 is that there are going to be countless new products for everyone to choose from. New notebooks with Windows 8, touchscreen notebooks with Windows 8, new Ultrabooks, new touchscreen Ultrabooks with Windows 8. There are exciting new products like ASUS' TAICHI, which sports dual 1080p screens, one on the normal side like a standard notebook, and on the rear, another 1080p screen, but touchscreen-capable.

Before Windows 8, we never saw bold moves like this by players like ASUS, but now we are seeing dramatic shifts in the market as companies try new things. It's exciting.

The new Mac mini has been benchmarked by colocation data center, Macbinicolo. The site has pushed all three stock models through benchmarks, as well as sharing their initial impressions of each of the machines. Geekbench results focus mainly on processor and memory performance, and show just a slight increase in performance for the entry-level machine when compared to the previous-generation.

The bigger gains come from the quad-core Ivy Bridge-based processors, with early impressions of the device including:

Zynga aren't having the best year, with their Q3 2012 numbers rolling in and seeing large revenues of $316 million, beating analysts' low expectations of $300 million or so, but the company have lost $160 million in the first nine months of this year.

The the last three months, Zynga have lost $52 million, even with their better-than-expected Q3 2012 revenue. The company recently announced a $200 million stock buyback and a new partnership with UK-based real-money online gambling site, bwin.party. This saw Zynga's stock driving upward in after-hours trading, rising 13.67%.

But, they look to be short-term gains, with the company struggling in the last few months. Zynga are losing millions of gamers, are in lawsuits, had a write-down of OMGPOP, and have also seen corporate talent walking out the door. CEO and founder of Zynga, Mark Pincus, has said in a statement: