It's always a big week in technology, and as such, always plenty of news to cover with TechZone360. With the weekend now upon us, we settle in and take a look back at all the biggest news of the week with our Week in Review coverage!

First out of the gate was a report from UNODC – the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – which provided some insight on how terrorists are using the Internet as a training tool and as a coordination system for operations, for gathering resources and intelligence, for the dissemination of propaganda, and as a means to prepare other terrorists to commit acts of terrorism.

The report in question was called "the first of its kind" and provided insight on not only how to investigate terrorism online, but how to prosecute those who practice it.

HP's CEO Meg Whitman stepped in with the next item, putting out the word that HP would not be releasing a smartphone in 2013. This was seen as somewhat contrary to her earlier remarks insisting that HP needed to deliver a smartphone due to their sheer ubiquity in enterprise setups. HP has several options in this space, including white-labeling other releases, or potentially buying their own, which further led to discussion of HP buying beleaguered phone maker Nokia.

Next came a look at AT&T's third quarter earnings, which not only featured AT&T beating Wall Street estimates – which expected $31.57 billion and 60 cents in earnings per share, but got $31.5 billion and 62 cents EPS, and gave a better look at just what got those results. Beating earnings estimates in a down economy is no mean feat, but AT&T managed to pull it off thanks to expansions in the wireless market, as well as in AT&T's U-Verse high-speed Internet connections offerings.

Then we took a closer look at Apple tablets, and how Apple, despite being pretty much the dominant force in the tablet market as a whole, is unusually concerned with the state of the tablet market as a whole. Apple's unusual release timing – bringing out the iPad Mini just seven months after the launch of the newest iPad – as well as unusual pricing point to some potential miscues in the larger market, and may well end up doing more harm to the popular maker's dominance than good for it.

Finally, there was word from Microsoft, who officially launched Windows 8 this week and spent a little time talking about the Surface tablet. While early reviews weren't all that great for the Surface, word from Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer was that the Surface would not be Microsoft's last foray into hardware, but merely the beginning, as future versions would follow.

Potential fields Microsoft may move into include a Microsoft-branded smartphone – which in turn would reduce its dependence on Nokia and other Asian makers for Windows Phone platforms – as well as revamped desktop PCs to support Windows use.

It was an absolutely huge week in terms of news in technology, and our global online community was right in the thick of it, bringing back all the best news. So be sure to join us back here next week for still more exciting news in the technology front, as well as every weekend for our Week in Review!