It seems like no matter how much Apple protests shrinking the iPad into a seven-inch form factor, the world just can’t accept it. Nor should they, if a new report is to believed which claims samples of a 7.85-inch iPad are currently making the rounds of Apple’s supply chain.

Question: What’s more exciting than an Apple media event announcing a new product? Answer: The actual announcement that finally confirms said event after weeks (or even months) of rumors and speculation. For the next-generation iPad, it appears that day has arrived.

Some days, it’s fun just to sit back and watch the back and forth as rumors flare to life, only to be snuffed out by the company in question. But sometimes, even that isn’t enough to put out the fire, which is the case with The Daily’s report this morning on an iPad version of Microsoft Office, which Redmond kinda, sorta denies the existence of -- but our readers are probably smart enough to see through that. Catch up on all the details (and plenty more) with our recap for Tuesday, February 21, 2012.

Another long week in the tech world finally comes to a  close, but not before yet another tech blog gets its hands on a secretive Apple component ahead of the actual product introduction. We’ve also got a couple of updates on the Foxconn story to share with you, and plenty more on deck for this Friday, February 17, 2012.