IBLOG SPACE

I didn’t intend to get an iPad. For a start, I’m in the UK, and – even before the recent news that Apple would be delaying the tablet’s international release – there’s no sign of them at my local Apple Store. Beyond that, though, while I could appreciate the design and the glowing feedback Vincent proffered from the iPad’s launch, it just didn’t seem like the device for me. And yet, when on Saturday April 3rd my US colleagues asked “would you like us to send you one?” I said yes. Since it arrived, around two weeks ago, I’ve gone through marvelling at the industrial design, puzzling over how to fit it into my daily routine, and finally – perhaps grudgingly – recognising its strengths (and, of course, its weaknesses). A little context first: I’m a MacBook Pro user, though only as of midway through last year, having been a Windows guy before that. I used an iPhone 3G as my daily phone for about three months when it first came out, but much prefer Android and the Nexus One in my pocket cur

If you have been waiting for a moderately priced 3D TV with a decent screen size to start shipping from a known maker of TVs, there is some good news today. Samsung is now shipping one of its new 46-inch 3D TVs. The set is the LN46C750 and it can be ordered on Amazon today for $1452.55 with free super saver shipping. The set is in stock and Amazon shows six of them are available. The resolution for the TV is 1080p and it has dual 10W speakers, wide color enhancer feature, and supports Skype on Samsung TV. This is certainly a cheap way to get into a 3D TV if you are in the market.

With the major gaming consoles on very even footing when it comes to gaming and the available game titles today, the major consoles are looking to differentiate themselves from each other in different ways. Microsoft tired with Netflix to offer something the other consoles didn’t have, but Sony and Nintendo quickly matched that offering. Microsoft is now said to be in talks with Peter Chernin, former President of News Corp., to create a new TV channel for the Xbox game console. The channel would be available exclusively to subscribers of Xbox Live. The addition of the TV channel would reportedly raise fees for Xbox Live by $1 or $2 each month. People close to the deal tell Bloomberg that the channel would have a mix of old shows and original programming.

I think most of us have at one time or another sold off a bunch of the junk around our house we didn’t need or want and then had to ship the stuff to buyers around the world. The hard thing for me is always finding a box that will fit whatever it is I am shipping. A new packaging concept called Universal Packaging System or UPS has surfaced and this could be the answer to my packing woes. The system is a square piece of cardboard with lines scored all over it. The lines are fold marks and make the cardboard easily fold into just about any shape. Once you get whatever you are trying to ship wrapped in the cardboard sheet, you simply tape it up and ship it off. This concept would also make storing your packing materials very easy since the sheets are thin.

Sony has announced a new service for the PS3 that baseball fans will really enjoy. SCEA and Major League Baseball have announced that MLB.TV will be coming to the PS3 via the PlayStation Network. The new service will allow MLB fans to stream live games in HD resolution. The service requires a subscription and will allow fans to watch every regular season game online. The service offers a calendar schedule for the entire season. Sony reports that the MLB.TV service will get a superior visual and interactive feature set with features exclusive to the PS3. The features include home and away game feeds, DVR functionality, scrollable linescore, MLB scorecards, and favorite team selection.

Origin is one of the newest boutique makers of gaming PCs on the market. The company has announced that it will be the first maker to offer the new Asus Rampage III Extreme motherboard in gaming rigs. The Origin Genesis desktop will be the first machine to sport the new board. The Asus mainboard offers a host of overclocking features, USB 3.0 ports, and SATA III connectivity. The mainboard supports high-end Intel CPUs like the i7-980X extreme. The Asus board can also support both 3-way SLI from NVIDIA and CrossFireX from ATI. The Origin Genesis PC is available right not with prices starting from $1,999.

When NVIDIA unveiled its Optimus battery saving tech a while back many were really excited by the prospect of more run time from the battery and GPUs for multiple needs inside a computer. When Next Generation Ion came around from NVIDIA many though that the new Ion platform and Optimus tech were mutually exclusive. A rumor is going around that the Asus 1201PN netbook that will be using Next Generation Ion will in fact lack Optimus. That would presumably mean that the machine would have only the NG Ion GPU inside. This is certainly a rumor for now and there have been no official confirmations from Asus or NVIDIA that the machine will not use Optimus. If true, this could be a cost saving measure to allow the 1201PN to appeal to budget shoppers.

Most video cards use fans to keep the GPU and circuit boards running nice and cool. If you have multiple video cards in your PC or high-end cards that generate lots of heat, the noise from the fan can drive you crazy. Some video cards are offered in passively cooled editions to help reduce noise in the environment around you.Club 3D has unveiled just such a card called the ATI Radeon HD5550 Noiseless Edition. The video card uses the PCI-E 2.1 slot and has no fans. The GPU is clocked at 550MHz and the card uses 512MB of GDDR3 RAM. The memory is clocked at 800MHz and the card has memory bandwidth of 128-bit and 320 stream processors. Club 3D uses a dual heat pipe passive cooler to keep the card running cool despite lacking fans.

There have been stories and posts running rampant over the last week or so online after word leaked out that one of the new and cool XFX HD 5970 Black Edition Limited video cards had turned up online for sale. As the story went, the video card was one of 1000 made with an individual serial number. According to the story number 68 had gone missing from the factory and turned up on eBay for sale. The story made its way around the web and landed on forums and a bunch of tech websites with warnings to not buy the video card. XFX issued the email you see in the image above yesterday, still sticking to the story. If you happen to click on the little here link under the photo you are sent to a page on the Urban Dictionary website that reads: An advertising campaign cleverly disguised within a classic gaming plot scenario. Advertising that entertains as if the viewer is in middle of an actual game. “I know that this video series is total gamertainment, but it should be a real freakin’ game, it

Microsoft’s plans to use Project Natal for more than just Xbox 360 gaming were clear from the start; Bill Gates spared little time before confirming that the Windows team was already eyeing up the motion-tracking hardware for their own purposes. Its taken a while, however, before they’ve told us exactly how else Natal might integrate with our lives outside of game-play. According to Marc Whitten, general manager of the Xbox 360 team at Microsoft, Project Natal is “about all living room experiences,” down to tracking your favorite sports teams based on what jersey you’re wearing or which referee decisions you’re boo’ing. “Natal isn’t just about gaming — it’s about all living-room experiences. Imagine a sporting event — Natal could know which team you’re for because it sees your jersey, or knows you thought a bad call was made when you yell ‘boo.’ It learns about you and gets smarter to create a more tailored entertainment experience” Marc Whitten, general manager Xbox 360 team, Micros

Velocity Micro are no strangers to tablets – the company attempted to crack the market with the M5 MID back in 2009, a rebadged aigo P8860 – but we reckon they’ve a better chance this time around with the Cruz Tablet and Cruz Reader. Each model has a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, runs Android 2.1 and supports Flash 10.1, but the real boon is the price: the Cruz Tablet is expected to come in at $299.99, while the Cruz Reader will be $199.99. According to BestTabletReview, each model has an 800MHz processor, SD card slot, basic Android apps including browser and media player, an accelerometer, USB connectivity and a 3.5mm headphone socket, along with a user-replaceable battery, speaker and microphone. The 7.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inch Cruz Reader will be targeted, as the name suggests, at ereading duties, with the “Cruz Market” app store for downloading software and ebooks. Meanwhile the Cruz Tablet throws in a 2-megapixel front-facing webcam together with a docking station that charges the sl

Stealthy start-up Kakai have had their project scooped by AllThingsD, who have discovered that they are working on a Linux-based foldable dual-screen device targeted at the education sector. Intended – as we’ve heard about Microsoft’s Courier tablet – to feel like a mixture between a notepad and a book, the unnamed tablet would be paired with a custom software suite and interlinked website. In fact, AllThingsD refer to the Kakai project as “essentially a Kindle for students,” though their integration of multimedia and note-taking seems more ambitious than Amazon’s system. Kakai was started by the same entrepreneur as behind the online textbook rental company Chegg, presumably a fact which helped the start-up secure almost $10m in funding. Apparently a demo device is “several months” away, and so far beyond the vague descriptions of those familiar with the project it’s unclear what it looks like, what display technology it uses and what the rest of the spec-sheet might contain. We’re

ASUS USA may have beaten them to it when it comes to getting a NVIDIA Optimus notebook on the market,with the U30jc, but ASUS‘ UK arm has a 16-inch machine of their own that takes advantage of the automatic graphics switching tech. The ASUS N61JV packs a 2.27GHz Core i5-430M CPU along with 4GB of DDR3 memory, but of course the interesting part is the dual-GPU thanks to both Intel GMA 4500MHD and NVIDIA GeForce GT 325M 1GB graphics. There’s also a 500GB HDD, Blu-ray combo drive, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Connectivity includes gigabit ethernet, a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, HDMI and VGA, along with audio in/out, ExpressCard and an 8-in-1 memory card reader. Since it’s not the smallest machine in the world, ASUS have found room to fit in a separate numeric keypad and Altec Lansing speakers along with the 1.3-megapixel webcam, though we’re a little disappointed that the screen resolution is a mere 1366 x 768. Still, the most bizarre thing is that, while ASUS liberall

DisplayLink adapters capable of outputting 1080p Full HD are relatively rare beasts – so far we’ve spotted a Lenovo model on the market, for a heady $129 – so Diamond Multimedia’s $75 BVUMD3 USB Display Adapter Plus tickles us exactly where we want it to: in our wallets. The compact device allows you to hook up a DVI or VGA monitor to a regular USB 2.0 port on your PC, notebook or netbook, and you can plug in up to six at any one time. As well as the display output there are three powered USB 2.0 ports for using the BVUMD3 as a mini docking station of sorts. Up to 1600 x 1200 and 1920 x 1080 (wide) 32-bit True Color resolutions are supported, and you can either mirror your notebook’s display or extend it. It’s worth noting that, since the DisplayLink drivers take a toll on your CPU, you won’t be able to run six of these from, say, a regular netbook. Still, for adding a third screen when you’re already using your notebook’s normal display output, $75 seems something of a bargain.

Secondary sub-monitors designed to give your IM window, Twitter client or Photoshop toolbars somewhere to live aren’t new, but the Hanwha HM-TL7T distinguishes itself not so much by virtue of its touchscreen but by its connectivity. Rather than hooking up via USB, the 7-inch HM-TL75 has both HDMI and VGA connectors as you’d find on a regular monitor. Otherwise you’re looking at a pretty regular display, running at 800 x 480 WVGA resolution and coming with a panning, swivelling mount. Our guess is that this might be a better match to lower-powered nettops, who might find the strain of running DisplayLink virtual video card drivers saps CPU cycles that could be better put to use elsewhere. Unfortunately there’s no sign of pricing for the display, nor word on whether it might ever be available outside of Japan.

When your company is called Psyko Audio Labs then we guess you have to fill your press release with threatening phrases like “Psyko ushers in the dawn of audio as a weapon”, but frankly we’d be happy if the distinctive Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset System sounds as good as they promise. The magic, they reckon, is in the five speakers integrated into the headband – front left, center, front right, rear left and rear right – together with a subwoofer in each earphone, which basically create a miniature surround sound gaming environment around your head. Because you’re wearing the speakers you’re always in the sweet-spot for the best surround effect, and there are closable flaps on each earphone to let you switch between open and closed cups. In the box there’s a removable microphone boom together with a 5.1 channel headphone amp. End result, Psyko say, is a system which better delivers precise surround sound effects to where you want them to go, adding up to a more immersive, accurate ga

Network-attached storage is seldom eye-catching, rarely interesting and not normally cheap, and in that sort of market the Pogoplug is guaranteed to stand out. Currently in its second generation – with a fair few software upgrades along the way – the bright pink box promises to take regular USB hard drives and have them shared across a network for both local and remote access within minutes. Too good to be true? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. Compared to the sober first-gen Pogoplug adapter, which looked little more than a wall-wart AC adapter with a couple of ports, this second-gen hardware is quite the departure. Around the size of a thick hardback book standing on its edge, it’s a distinctive combination of white and clear plastic with a bight pink stand-cum-cable-tidy. Where the original had a single USB 2.0 port, this model has four: one on the front panel, above the status indicator LED, and three on the back above the gigabit ethernet port. The AC power brick

Finding an empty plug in my office is sort of like striking gold. All my outlets are full and several of them have surge protectors plugged into surge protectors to power all my gear. Elecom has a new adapter called the AC Adapter Tap T-ACTAP22 that can help solve the plug dilemma for me. The thing is so cool and simple, I am surprised that no one has done this before. I see enough notebooks in my line of work to know that the cord that runs from the wall to the AC adapter has the same connector to the adapter no matter the brand. The Elecom adapter has that same notebook port on one end in female and a male version of it on the other. It simply plugs in between the power cord and the adapter and adds two two pin outlets and you can get the three pin style with the ground pin as well. Versions with one plug or two plugs are available. That means instead of losing one of your outlets, you can one. I don’t know how much the things will cost, but I want a handful.

OLED screens have a lot to offer the electronics world and are mostly found in smartphones and other smaller devices today. There are a few TV makers using OLED screens. The reason OLEDs are interesting is that they use less power than a LCD and promise better colors, the downside is cost. One of the big OLED screen makers is LG Display and the company has announced that it plans to invest $225.7 million in its OLED manufacturing facility to triple the production capacity of its line. This is interesting considering this week rumors turned up that the next iPad would use OLED screens. Higher production of OLED screens means that prices should fall, if yields are decent. LG Display has announced that it plans to offer a 30-inch OLED screen in the middle of 2011. Apple already gets screens from LG Display, so this triple capacity could be a ramp up to the new iPad. There I go starting rumors.

The first 3D camera that we have seen and talked about was the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D camera. The camera first turned up back in July of 2009 and was pegged at a retail price of $600. The special camera uses two lenses to capture 3D images. Fujifilm has a new adapter that is coming soon for use with the 3D camera called the HDP-L1. The adapter allows the viewing of 3D images taken from the Real 3D digital camera on your HDTV. The device sells for 4,000 yen in Japan. The adapter also allows the user to watch 3D and 2D video on the living room screen. The adapter connects to the TV via HDMI and supports 720p resolution. The adapter will launch on April 27.

Nettops and netbooks are everywhere today with the vast popularity of the machines on the market. Everyone is in the netbook market today it seems, even a lot of companies who have no interest in the computer market traditionally. One of those companies in Onkyo, more known in the home theater market. Onkyo (PDF) has unveiled a couple new computers today including the DP312 and the DC213. The DP312 is the more interesting of the two, and fits with the companies offering in home theater more. The nettop is aimed at the HTPC crowd, runs Windows 7 Home Premium, and uses the older Atom N270 processor. It can be had with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 500GB of storage. The DP312 supports 1080p video and features ION graphics. The DC213 runs Windows 7 Starter and uses an Atom N450 CPU. The machine has 1GB of RAM and a 250GB HDD along with a DVD player and a 10.1-inch screen. A DVD drive is uncommon in the 10.1-inch space.

We have already been talking about the new AMD 6-core CPUs that are inbound in the past. Pricing for the new parts showed up last month with the 1090T BE for $295 and the 1055T at $199. Earlier this month we also talked about some of the CPUs already landing for sale on Chinese retailer sites. These CPUs on the Chinese sites are certainly not authorized. Amazon.com is now taking official pre-orders on the 1055T and 1090T Black Edition CPUs. The 1055T runs at 2.8GHz/3.3GHz on Turbo core. The 1090T Black Edition runs 3.2GHz/3.6GHz Turbo core. Both CPUs have 9MB of cache, the 1055T is selling for $222.29, and the 1090T is $324.65.

NVIDIA’s Fermi-based GeForce GTX 470/480 cards are on sale now, but according to analysts the rumored yield issues have seriously impacted availability. X-bit labs quotes analysts Needham and Company, who believe NVIDIA’s Fermi yield is just 20 to 30-percent, and that they currently have just 10,000 chips on the market. Financially, the analysts believe NVIDIA could “lose market share” from 2H 2010, claiming to have discovered from their channel checks that Fermi “is not ramping well” and could in fact face further product delays. A shortage of chips thanks to lower than expected yield was tipped in the run-up to the new GeForce cards’ release, and NVIDIA reduced the number of active cores in both the GTX 470 and GTX 480 so as to reportedly salvage what usable chips they could. The delay also had an impact on reference board design availability, leaving second-tier manufacturers hoping to produce Fermi video cards waiting until after the first batch went on sale. NVIDIA have appare

Back in November of last year I talked a bit about the new NZXT Tempest Evo PC case that had debuted. NZXT has now unveiled a new version of the Tempest Evo that adds a new color and keeps the same features as the original. The original case that debuted last year was a plain black unit that looked good enough. The new version of the Tempest Evo is much better looking though with a cool black, white, and gray camo pattern on the entire outer surface of the case. Under the camp pattern is the same chassis NZXT offered last year, which isn’t a bad thing. The case supports ATX and several other size mainboards. It is made from steel and plastic and has three external 5.25″ drive bays, eight internal 3.5″ bays, and seven expansion slots. It also ships with a robust cooling system including six fans. The chassis sells for $149.99 on Newegg.

Marvell have already shown us one new Android tablet reference design, the Marvell Moby, but the company have a second concept, the Moby MED which sounds a whole lot more interesting. Targeted at “telehealth” use, Marvell envisage the Moby MED as having “multiple simultaneous” LCD or e-paper displays, together with 1080p Full HD encode and decode, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and an integrated camera for web conferencing and remote diagnosis. Updated with official Marvell Moby MED image. The Moby MED would be based on a Marvell 600 Series chipset, such as the ARMADA 618 we saw demonstrated at MWC 2010 a few months back. The company were showing two potential setups, one simultaneously driving a PMP display and an HDMI connected 1080p HDTV, and the other having two LCD panels running independently. Potential OSes include Windows Mobile and Android, complete with Flash support. It’s unclear whether the Moby MED would have more than one display built-in, or if Marvell intend it to

Fresh details on Intel’s upcoming Cedar Trail M platform – the replacement to the current Intel Atom N4×0 Pine Trail processors – have emerged courtesy of Fudzilla, and it seems that Intel are looking to push HD video performance with their new netbook chips. Cedar Trail M processors CPUs will apparently support 1080p HD video streaming courtesy of Intel’s Wireless Display system, currently available on select Calpella-based notebooks. Wireless Display – or WiDi – at present only supports 720p HD, but the second generation of the technology will apparently increase that to Full HD. The system requires a special set-top box adapter for the HDTV, such as the Netgear Push2TV, which is priced at $99.99. Once that’s plugged in, hooking up the devices is a matter of hitting a button or two, and the netbook will be streaming content wirelessly to the TV screen. Since it’s a straight reproduction of what’s on-screen on the computer, it bypasses content restrictions such as not being allowed

Sony are pushing out a new PlayStation 3 firmware update, which – among the changes – supposedly “preps” the console for the upcoming addition of 3D stereoscopic gaming. PS3 3.30 System Software makes trophy sorting more straightforward, with new ways to view achievements, but the firmware supposedly brings with it an updated Terms of Service (TOS) agreement to which PS3 users must agree. Among the TOS changes are apparently permission for Sony to automatically update or change content, services and functionality on PS3 or PSP hardware, without requiring owner permission. From time to time, it may become necessary for SCEA to provide certain content to you to ensure that Sony Online Services and content offered through Sony Online Services, your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system or other SCEA-authorized hardware is functioning properly in accordance with SCEA guidelines. Some content may be provided automatically without notice when yo

We’ve been hearing talk of Hulu paywalls since the start of the year, but according to The LA Times the date we should be circling in our diaries is May 24th. They’ve heard – from “people with knowledge of the plans” – that Hulu are planning $9.95 per month access to “Hulu Plus”, a service which would offer a more extensive catalog of Glee , Lost and other TV show episodes. According to the sources, Hulu would continue to offer the five most recent shows free of charge, but users would be able to optionally sign up for back-catalog access. It’s unclear whether Hulu would continue to show adverts during the subscription titles. Hulu has prompted controversy in recent months by blocking services such as Boxee and Kylo from showing content through their TV-friendly interfaces, a move which many saw as paving the way for paid functionality.

It’s a morning of acquisition talk today, with Google confirming that they’ve bought Agnilux, a company started by ex-PA Semiconductor employees. The move has caused much speculation as to what exactly it is Agnilux have been working on; initially there was talk of low-power server chips, obviously of interest to Google since the company has massive server farms driving its various search and cloud-based services. More recently, however, someone familiar with the deal told the NYTimes that in fact Agnilux is made up of “systems guys focusing on hardware-software integration … not chip design” that could help Google make more efficient tablets. The source went on to suggest that the company specialises in”getting software platforms to work on different kinds of hardware with lots of obscure back-end technologies,” and that Google’s interest was in getting Chrome OS and Android running smoothly on tablets and set-top boxes. In fact, a further source has claimed Agnilux have particular

After rumors that Apple and AMD execs had been holding clandestine meetings, presumably whispering about CPUs and GPUs while nibbling on illicit biscotti, the city speculation now moves on to the possibility of an ARMacquisition. According to the London Evening Standard, investors have been gurgling about how bringing the mobile chip manufacturer in-house “would make a lot of sense for Apple” since it would allow them to “stop ARM’s technology from ending up in everyone else’s computers and gadgets.” In the process, they’ve valued ARM at more than $5.2bn, and suggested that Apple is the firm’s biggest customer (though we’re not sure how they’ve worked that out). ARM chips have found their way into the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and it’s possible that Apple could use one of the newer, HD-capable chips to replace the ageing 1GHz Intel Pentium found in the Apple TV. Of course, Apple would likely have to run the gauntlet of antitrust investigation if they did in fact plan to pick up AR

As much as Microsoft has revealed about Windows Phone 7 thus far in the past two months, one critical, differentiating element that it's going to be able to lord over its competitors -- true Office support -- has been a bit of a black box. We're starting to see a little bit more about the Office team's next-gen mobile product now, though, thanks to a pair of new videos that have been published this week. The first focuses on the email and calendar experience, but we do see one pretty awesome trick when the demo opens a PowerPoint file inline from the email client, edits it, and sends it back to the original sender. The second video dives deeper on the actual Office hub, where we get a quick look at the Word editor -- and as you might expect, it's squeaky-clean and nearly UI-free, just like pretty much everything else in the platform

If you're walking around with your Pre or Pixi prominently displayed and some dude comes up to you and tries to hand you a bag, don't freak out: odds are you've merely been selected for one of Palm's "random acts of wow." The company is playing coy about where these people are or for how long the promotion is going to last, but apparently they've got people all over the world on the prowl for Palm users that look like they could use an accessory or three, with gifts ranging from stickers all the way up to pricey Touchstones and everything in between. So keep that mace / pepper spray / stun gun holstered for a second until you figure out what's going on, alright?

Though the standard GSM technology path has always been (and will likely always be) Nokia's bread and butter, Espoo has warmed to the idea of alternatives in the past couple years -- they've ended up establishing areasonably decent lineup with Verizon in the States, and for China, TD-SCDMA is the name of the game these days. To that end, the company has received its membership card to the TD Forum in the mail (finally joining its Nokia Siemens joint venture) and announced two new candybars: the X5 and C5. Actually, it's a bit unfair to call them both "new" since the C5's already seen an international introduction, but the X5 is a fresh design that mimics the design of its X3 and X6 cousins with a 5 megapixel cam and 2.4-inch QVGA display, becoming the company's first S60 device with support for TD-SCDMA to deliver on a promise made back in 2008. Interestingly, China Mobile's C5 is quite a bit different from the version you'll find elsewhere, rockin

We love an innovative fix to a problem, and so were immediately smitten by the Game Gripper when we saw it in action. It's a little keypad that slaps on over the keyboard of your Motorola Droid or Milestone, turning it into what looked like perhaps the most perfect blend of smartphone and portable gaming machine we'd ever seen. (Sorry,N-Gage.) Naturally we had to try it, and the Gripper's creator, Hyrum Fairbanks, was kind enough to send us one to test -- even customized to match the Engadget Mobile color scheme. Is it worth the measly $15 he's charging for the thing, and is it good enough to execute a hadouken? Read on through to find out.

We need a name for this whole drama -- we like "n-Gate," but it's a little too close to N-Gage for comfort. Anyhow, you might recall that Google briefly listed 802.11n support in the Nexus One around the time of its release, then wiped all mention of it only to have iFixit's teardownreveal on no uncertain terms that the Broadcom-sourced wireless chipset was definitely capable of rocking it. The word on the street is that Google and Broadcom have just pushed new drivers for the chipset into the Android repository that enable the functionality, which likely means that future stock firmwares will support it -- Froyo, for instance -- including anything the Nexus One should happen to be graced with in the future. Faster wireless is always a good thing, as far as we're concerned... especially, you know, when Google closes the book on 3G issues. Follow the break for claimed video proof that this 11n business is all too real.

Don't tell us we didn't try. In spite of all our pleading for HTC to acquire the troubled Palm, Inc. and produce a sparkling union of awesome, Reuters is this morning reporting that the Taiwanese hardware manufacturer has decided against the idea. According to an internal source, there "just weren't enough synergies to take the deal forward." Then again, this conclusion was reached after HTC reviewed Palm's numbers, so maybe that's just a nice way of saying that Palm's financials are worse than we might think. We're also told that now only Lenovo remains as a serious contender out of Asia, following the stalling of talks between Huawei and Rubinstein's crew. Such a deal would make plenty of sense given Lenovo's cash reserves and mobile aspirations, but it'd benowhere near as exciting for our geeky imaginations.

Ooh, goodie! Try as we may, we've yet to really find a (good) free alternative to Google Maps Navigation on the iPhone, and while Navigon's MobileNavigator gets our highest recommendations in the paid GPS department, Google's own turn-by-turn option is just about enough to make any iPhone-toting traveler jump ship and snag an Android handset. Thankfully for us all, it seems as if this predicament won't be nearly as trying in the near future, with the company's own Steve Lee confirming to TechRadar that Google Maps Navigation would be coming to "other platforms" in due time. MacUser specifically mentions the solution coming to iPhone OS, and frankly, we couldn't think of a better app to ship alongside version 4.0 than this. You're good at taking hints, right Goog?

A romantic song, hero-heroine running around trees, emotions, passions, hugs and….cow dung! Yuck where has this come from, you ask…. Well, this is exactly what happened on the sets of Imran Khan-Sonam Kapoor starrer ‘I Hate Luv Stories’. This happened when team was shooting a love song in the beautiful locales of New Zealand. The scene involved Sonam to run into Imran’s arms and then lean backwards while he supports her with his hand. Even after several takes the director, Punit Malhotra, seems to have been unhappy with their outcome. Again the couple gave it another shot and they didn’t know it would turn out to be a comedy scene instead. When Sonam bent backwards on Imran’s arm, they both lost their balance and amusingly the actress fell into a pile of cow dung! Immediately, Sonam ran off to get a quick shower. Isse kehte hain, kahani mein twist!

Rakesh Roshan’s ambitious project ‘Kites’ is just waiting to unfurl itself over the global skies. Starring Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut, ‘Kites’ will hit the screens simultaneously in India, the US, Canada and other countries on May 21. According to reports, the film will be released by Reliance BIG Pictures on more than 2,000 screens simultaneously, including over 200 in the US . Directed by Anurag Basu, ‘Kites’ will be presented into versions Hindi and English. The film has been shot extensively in the locales of Las Vegas , Sante Fe and Los Angeles .

Salman Khan starrer ‘Veer’ has now become the first movie in India to have an audio-description (AD) track in Hindi on its DVD. With this, the makers of the film ensure that no fan of Salman remains untouched by the charms of this romantic action movie. UK-based Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) worked with Eros International to achieve this milestone after its research among blind or partially sighted people of Asian origin in the UK and India found that over 70 per cent of respondents were more likely to watch Bollywood films if AD in Hindi was provided. AD is as important to blind and partially sighted people as subtitles are to those with hearing impairments. It is almost like an observer narrating a story to the viewer, an additional commentary that fits between passages of dialogue to describe action sequences, body language, costume and scenery - allowing the viewer to understand exactly what is happening on screen. ‘Veer’ from Eros international

This is what it's called as a blend of Bollywood with Hollywood.... According to latest buzz, renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who gave notable films like ‘Bandit Queen’ and ‘Elizabeth’, is gearing up to give his next impression. This time he is bringing up a project in association with noted Hollywood actress Julia Roberts. Stated to be a biopic, the film will be based on the life of famed English explorer George Mallory. The storyline said to include Mallory's obsessive journey of conquering Everest, which ultimately took toll on his marriage. Along with Kapur, Julia will be co-producing the film through her company Red Om. The film will be directed by Kevin Townsend while the script will is done by Townsend, Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet.

It all began in 2005. Gurinder Chadha was watching ‘The 100 Greatest Family Films’ on Channel 4. Somewhere in the middle of the programme, narrator Bob Hoskins introduced the wedding scene from ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. “It was the Indian wedding scene and the party, which was inter-cut with the football,” begins Chadha, “And immediately I remembered how much fun we’d had shooting that scene. The wedding is so integral to our culture that I suddenly thought ‘How can I do another wedding scene without repeating myself?’ I wanted to do another one but to do it slightly differently. So I thought maybe I could do it with a horror spin, where everything goes awry. Much like the prom scene at the end of Carrie.” “I started making movies because I wanted to see more people that looked like me or my community on our screens and It’s A Wonderful Afterlife represents me taking those images and putting them into a genre we, as Asians could never imagine we could see ourselves in.