SLIDESHOW: Apple's First TV, New iPads And More From The Fourth Week Of October

Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) long-awaited (and still unconfirmed) high-definition TV has become the rumor of the week.

After a long quiet period (fueled by iPad- and iPhone-sized distractions), a new report claims that Apple's 65-inch Ultra HD TV will be in stores before the end of 2014.

This is not the first time that the rumor mill has promised an Apple-made TV set. But as far as rumors go, it is definitely one of the more exciting stories relating to Apple.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), the world leader in printer sales, is gearing up for a 3D printing revolution.

The company wants to launch it first 3D printer during the middle part of 2014.

No specific details were given, but HP CEO Meg Whitman reportedly said that its printers will incorporate new technology.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) introduced a series of long-awaited product upgrades this week.

The super-thin and ultra-sleek iPad Air stole the show, but Apple also added its popular Retina Display to the iPad Mini.

That latter upgrade led to a $70 price increase for the second-generation Mini, which retails for $399. The old Mini received a $30 price cut and now sells for $299.

Apple also unveiled a thinner, lighter and more powerful 13-inch MacBook Pro, and an enhanced 15-inch model.

The Mac Pro also received a starting price of $2,999.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) now has more subscribers than Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) popular pay-TV network, HBO.

Netflix was thought to have crossed the 30 million domestic subscribers milestone by the end of September.

The streaming video giant proved to be even more successful than that, garnering 31.1 million subscribers in the United States.

At last count, HBO had roughly 28.7 million domestic subscribers.

New devices are supposed to increase sales and shipment expectations.

In the days following Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad event, the opposite occurred.

iPad shipment expectations have been reduced again.

These shipment estimates are not based on any official data from Apple, so they might have been overinflated from the start.

Regardless, market watchers seemed to be much more optimistic about the iPad's potential during the first part of the year.

Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) low-cost memory stick might be released internationally.

Initially, only those living in the United States could download the accompanying Chromecast apps.

Now some international users are able to download the app, prompting speculation that Chromecast is about to get a global rollout.

While one report claims that overall iPad shipments have been reduced, another report insists that Apple will still ship 10 million iPad Air units this year.

In case one music subscription service isn't enough, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is about to release another.

The company is working on a YouTube-based music service that will provide users with ad-free listening.

Google is reportedly building this service to compete with Spotify and Beats Music.

A sad day in gaming, or a sad day for Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY)?

The seven-year-old Wii is significantly more popular than Wii U.

During the spring, the original Wii actually sold more units than Wii U, which hasn't even celebrated its first birthday.

But in pushing for the future, Nintendo has stopped producing the old Wii for sale in Japan.

Hoping to make the first-generation Surface Pro more attractive to consumers who are eyeing the newer model, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has reduced the price of all Surface Pro models by $100.

The preceding stories were just the beginning. Check out these other hot tech stories from the past week.

• Apple's New OS Logging Huge Adoption Numbers
• Anki Is Building Real-World Video Games With High-End Robotics, iPhones And A $50 Million Investment
• The Loop Could Dethrone Google Wallet, Other Mobile Payment Providers
• Facebook Status Updates Go Down In Unexpected Outage

Image Credit: Anki