Many new tablets are heading to the market this holiday season. It will be a huge technology competition.

Two big competitors are Amazon's Kindle Fire 2 and Apple's iPad Mini.

Apple is expected to launch a new iPad Mini that will rival directly with the Kindle Fire 2 on an iPhone 5 special event that will take place Sept. 12. Some reports are now saying that Apple will not announce it on the same day as the phone, and that the tablet will launch in October.

Amazon is expected to announce the Kindle Fire 2 at a special press conference on Sept. 6. Amazon recently sent out invitations to the media. The conference will be in Santa Monica, Cali.

What makes these two tablets competitive in the first place, and what will make them stand out?

iPad Mini

According to Forbes, which says the iPad Mini was "built to compete," reports say that it could possibly have A5X CPU from the current iPad 3, 8GB of storage, iOS6 and a price of $299, all of this with a 7.85" display and 1024×768 resolution.

The price is also expected to be less than $349. We hope so. The current Kindle Fire sells for $199.

Reports say that the new little iPad will feature a 7 to 8 inch IGZO display with 330 pixels/inch. It will be more affordable. It is also assumed that the new tablet will feature Apple's upcoming operating system, iO6, which includes a new, Google-free Maps app, and Passbook, and promises better Facebook integration, better maps, and better video conferences that use cellular data, according to Entrepreneur.com.

PC World recently revealed that Marco Arment, creator of Instapaper, an iOS app for clipping and reformatting online content for reading later, said that he has evidence why the iPad Mini will sell for as low as $249.

"Rather than just sell the original iPad 2 with a price cut, they've made a new product designed to be far less expensive from day one by combining old and new parts: the 32nm iPad 2's guts, larger-cut iPhone 3GS screens, a smaller case and battery, and the new iPhone's low-power LTE chip for $100 more," Arment said.

He reached these conclusions after two new iPad 2 models showing up in his usage logs, iPad 2,5 and iPad 2,6.

Gizmodo reported that those names seemed to indicate new models using the iPad 2's A5 chip, which Arment probably correctly argues makes more sense as an iPad Mini. "That sounds about right."

CNET revealed earlier that production of the 7.85-inch display slated for use on a smaller version of the iPad should begin in August, an analyst said.

Bloomberg reported that Apple will be going to AU Optronics and LG Display for displays for the Mini and TPK Holding, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, for the lamination coating for the 7.85-inch screens.

Some leaked photos of the iPad Mini recently revealed a rear-facing camera.

According to CNET, a Chinese blog, Giz-China.com, show a plastic clip on the rear cover of alleged iPad Mini cases. This is a sign that the iPad Mini could provide a rear-facing camera but one without an LED flash. On the front would be a FaceTime camera at the top center of the screen, just like on the 9.7-inch iPad.

CNET also reported that the cases also seemingly reveal a thinner bezel than the one on the larger iPad. The volume control would rest on the right side, while the headphone jack and rotation/mute toggle switch would move to the left. Another tidbit from Giz-China.com says the speaker would be positioned on the bottom of the tablet rather than on the back.

A mockup of one of the cases also reveals a smaller dock connector. Recent reports suggest that Apple will shrink the size of the dock connector for its next-generation devices to a smaller version using as few as eight pins. [SEE PICS HERE]

Kindle Fire 2

As for the Kindle Fire 2, it is expected to have a new processor, new display touchscreen technology and new build, as well as a new mobile operating system with Amazon's custom build that will not support Google's Play Store and other Google products and services.

The new Kindle will have a 1280 x 800 resolution, different than the current 1024 x 600 display. This will make it sharper and more vibrant. It will be thinner and lighter than the original.

Recent leaked photos of the Kindle Fire 2 show the Kindle with a "Paperwhite" backlit display.

"Along with one or more new Kindle Fires, we're expecting refreshed E Ink models in Amazon's e-reader line at the company's Los Angeles event next week as well. One of those appears to be a refreshed Kindle Touch - the button below the display is gone, and the bezel has changed from light to very dark gray," The Verge reported.

"The overall shape of the product and the location of the USB port and power switch appear to be essentially unchanged. From the images we have, it looks like Amazon will be touting the unit with "higher contrast, high resolution, integrated lighting, and eight weeks of battery life," even when using the light."

The photo also shows a prominent notch along one of the long edges which may be a front-facing mic for video calling. There is also a front-facing camera in several of the images, and some show Skype being demonstrated.

It is also reported that Amazon will likely release of "pair" Kindle Fires, one a 7-inch and one a 10-inch.

This goes in line with what was revealed earlier about Amazon releasing several different tablets.

Various tech sources reported that Demos Pernernos, president of U.S. retail for Staples Inc., which sells the Kindle Fire tablet, said that Amazon will be introducing five or six new tablet SKU's (or stock-keeping units) this year. The report confirmed that the tablets will vary in size, and one will be at least 10-inches, and will rival with Apple's iPad and Google's Nexus 7.

Amazon also did some recent updates to its Prime service. It added NBC content such as Friday Night Lights," "Parks and Recreations," "Parenthood," "Heroes," to the Amazon Prime library. Members can get access to the new content at no additional cost on Amazon's own Kindle Fire and other supported devices like Mac OS X computers, Windows PCs, Xbox, Playstation and iPad.

Amazon also made recent updates to its Cloud Player digital music app, which is already available on Apple devices, Windows based and Android based devices, and will compete with Apple's iTunes Match and Google Music.

Amazon announced a scan-and-match digital music service, which scans customers' iTunes and Windows Media Player libraries and then matches the songs on their computers to Amazon's song catalog, which includes 20 million tracks and counting.

Don Reisinger, a writer for EWeek, said that the iPad Mini will hurt Amazon and other rival Google, which produced the Nexus 7.

"Kindle Fire and other smaller tablets look awfully boring in comparison," he wrote. "The Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are great for right now, but the iPad Mini might just hurt them in a big way."

Which one would you get - the Kindle Fire 2 or iPad Mini. Share your thoughts below!