IBLOG SPACE

Sony plans to introduce a dual-view 3D mode for its PlayStation 3 that will eliminate the need for split screens when gamers play against each other in the same room on the same TV. The new technology was just demoed in London. The technology works in a similar way to the split screen TV on dashboards in Jaguars that can display television to the passenger, but a map to the driver. Therefore, where you sit in relation to the screen is important. For two gamers sitting towards each end of the screen, each will see only their own side of the game on the entire screen. If a gamer sits directly in front of the screen they will see both sides of the game. The demo was done using the recently released Killzone 3 game, which suggests that new games may already be set for this new technology. However, there are no details yet on when the technology will be available to consumers.

The new Apple MacBook Pro range is official, and it’s quite the star line-up. The entire 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch spread has been updated, with Intel’s Sandy Bridge 2011 Core processors across the board. Apple has also cast out NVIDIA, replacing GeForce GPUs with AMD’s Radeon graphics on the 15- and 17-inch machines. The 13-inch, meanwhile, makes do with Intel’s integrated graphics alone. Perhaps most interesting is the addition of Apple’s new Thunderbolt connector, based on Intel’s Light Peak technology and promising up to 10Gbps data transfer speeds. Full details after the cut. Two new 13.3-inch MacBook Pro units are on offer, each using Intel’s Core i5 and i7 running at either 2.3GHz or 2.7GHz. The entry-level model offers 4GB of DDR3 memory as standard along with a 320GB hard-drive and Intel HD Graphics 3000. Alternatively, the second version has the same 4GB of memory and same graphics, but upgrades to a 500GB hard-drive. As for the 15.4-inch midrange MacBook Pro, that now ha

It’s not just the new MacBook Pro range that is fresh and official this morning; Apple has also officially unveiled Thunderbolt , billed as “the fastest, most versatile I/O ever in a notebook.” The commercial name for Intel’s Light Peak technology, Thunderbolt promises to be as much as twice the speed of USB 3.0 and up to 20x faster than USB 2.0. Based on PCI Express and DisplayPort, Thunderbolt uses the same port as Mini DisplayPort and so requires no adapter to hook up to existing monitors, like Apple’s own LED Cinema Display line. However, with the right adapters it can connect to USB, FireWire, gigabit ethernet and Fibre Channel networks, as well as HDMI, DVI or VGA. More importantly, though, it can be used with Thunderbolt-compliant devices like RAID arrays and video capture boxes, offering hugely increased throughput between your new MacBook Pro and the external device. You can daisy-chain up to six devices with no impact on speed (or five devices and an LED Cinema Display). In

As expected , Sprint has officially announced its first Windows Phone handset, the HTC Arrive . A rebadged HTC 7 Pro , the Sprint Arrive has a 3.6-inch WVGA display, 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a slide-out hardware keyboard, and uses the carrier’s EVDO Rev. A 3G network. There’s also WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, along with 16GB of onboard storage (and no memory card slot to augment that). The rear camera is a 5-megapixel autofocus unit with LED flash, and as always there’s integration with Xbox LIVE, Facebook and other services via Microsoft’s nifty side-scrolling Hubs. We reviewed the GSM version of the HTC Arrive earlier this month, finding it to be perhaps our favorite Windows Phone 7 device to-date, combining a highly usable QWERTY keyboard with a solid, reassuring design. The HTC Arrive will land on Sprint come March 20, priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement and mandatory data plan.

While the new MacBook Pro line-up delivers the Sandy bridge update consumers have been clamoring for, Apple has something for developers too. The new developer preview of Mac OS X Lion has been released, adding full-screen app support, pinch and double-tap zoom in Safari – some of the multitouch gestures borrowed from OS X – a document saving system called Versions (which automatically saves successive versions of documents as you work on them) and AirDrop, a wireless file transfer system for drag & drop moving of documents between Macs. There’s also Resume, which automatically brings you back up to speed with the apps and documents you had open after a reboot, along with Mission Control, a bird’s-eye view of of open windows grouped by app, thumbnails of full-screen apps, and Dashboard. Mail 5 has an updated UI to take advantage of widescreen displays, and there’s Conversations (Apple’s name for threaded messages). “With AirDrop in Mac OS X Lion, you can send files to anyone arou

While Apple may be the first to debut Thunderbolt , the technology is all Intel’s, and the company is not being quiet about which partners have jumped on board with the 10Gbps connection. Aja, Apogee, Avid, Blackmagic, LaCie, Promise and Western Digital are all among the roster of firms committed to pushing out Thunderbolt-equipped devices, which will include displays, storage devices, audio/video devices, cameras, docking stations and more. Developed as Light Peak , Intel Thunderbolt consists of a bi-directional, dual-channel 10 Gbps pipe using electrical or optical cables. Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices out of the box, it’s dual protocol – with DisplayPort and PCI Express – and allows for daisy-chaining and bus-power. What makes the daisy-chaining special is that, thanks to the dual-channel technology, the first device still gets 10 Gbps to play with even if you then plug in a second device off the back of it. Up to six can be linked up from a single port, and with sim

It’s been down for a few hours now, and the contents of the updated shelves are now known to us, but the Apple Store has finally come back online. That means all of the new MacBook Pro models are available to buy, with the standard configurations shipping out within 1-2 business days. Pricing kicks off at $1,199 for the updated 13-inch model. The 15-inch model starts at $1,799 and the 17-inch at $2,499. All have Intel’s 2011 Core i5 or Core i7 processors, either dual- or quad-core, and the larger versions have discrete AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics as well. Full details on all the new models are here , and full pricing is below. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: one with a 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 320GB hard drive starting at $1,199; and one with a 2.7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 and 500GB hard drive starting at $1,499. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in two models: one with a 2.0 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, AMD Radeon HD 6490M and

We’re no stranger to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 , having given the Android 3.0 Honeycomb slate a good going-over while at MWC 2011 last week , but we didn’t turn down the chance of some one-on-one time with the Vodafone-branded version set to launch imminently. Sighted for the first time with the carrier’s logo getting up close and personal with Google’s own, the tablet still impresses with its lightweight build and XOOM -busting 8-megapixel camera. This particular Galaxy Tab 10.1 was running non-final software, though when it arrives it’ll be the same Honeycomb experience as we know from the XOOM. Since carrier software modifications can make a big difference to upgrade schedules, we took the opportunity to ask about what tweaks Vodafone plans to make to Android 3.0 before the Samsung hits shelves. Apparently, bar the potential for a Vodafone splash-screen, no real changes are expected (similarly, the hardware is believed to be final, but could still be polished a little just prior

Leica has denied rumors it intends to join the Micro Four Thirds ecosystem, despite reports in Europe that it was preparing to launch a mirrorless camera based on Panasonic’s LUMIX models. “We have no information on anything like that at the moment” a Leica spokesperson told Amateur Photographer , going on to point out that “With the Leica M9 we have the most compact, full-format, mirrorless camera with interchangeable lenses on the market.” The M9 has an 18.5-megapixel Kodak KAF-18500 Full Frame CCD image sensor, larger than the sensors Panasonic and others use in their Micro Four Thirds cameras. A smaller sensor might allow Leica to produce a more compact version than the M9 – which measures in at 139 x 80 x 37 mm, versus the Panasonic LUMIX GF2 ‘s 112.8 x 67.8 x 32.8 mm body – but with a concurrent reduction in image quality.

Apple’s confirmation of Thunderbolt on the newly refreshed MacBook Pro range this morning could lend weight to speculation earlier that the new iPad 2 will have a Light Peak connection of its own. Examination of the various batches of leaked iPad 2 cases had led to suggestions that the mysterious opening on the top edge could be for a smaller-than-USB connector; that would certainly fit in with the Mini DisplayPort connection Thunderbolt has been confirmed to use. The adoption of the Light Peak based connection standard would also allow Apple to broaden its peripheral options with the iPad, since Thunderbolt supports gigabit ethernet, DisplayPort/HDMI/DVI/VGA video outputs, storage and more. Of course, Apple would have to add in software support for that in iOS. The faster data bus – up to 10 Gbps bi-directionally – might also speed up iTunes synchronization, though that’s not just a factor of the pipe between the iPad and the Mac or PC it’s linked up to. Still, if Apple is pushing

Roku continues to add content to its media streamer range, with the latest deal bringing Rdio streaming radio to the compact STBs. A $9.99 monthly subscription, the new Rdio Channel on Roku offers over 8 million tracks and social playlist support, as well as integration with Sonos, Windows Phone, iOS, Android and other apps. Existing Rdio subscribers can simply punch their credentials into their Roku and get access, and there’s a 7 day trial for new users. In addition to simply picking from the catalog, it’s possible to see the listening activity, collections and playlists of other Rdio users, see what’s being played most, access top charts and quickly pick from newly released albums. There are also Artist Rdio Stations and recommendations based on music previously played.

Almost as wafer-thin as the proverbial wafer-thin mint, NEC’s MEDIAS E-04C has been well pawed in the wild at its launch event in Japan. Impress carefully fondled the 4-inch Android smartphone, finding its 7.7mm girth to be slightly spoiled by a bulging camera module, but when said-bulge includes a 5.1-megapixel camera, we won’t complain too much. A slice of Gorilla Glass up-front keeps things from flexing, and should hopefully prevent accidental snapping when Japanese buyers inevitably sit down with the E-04C in their back pocket. Inside there’s Froyo, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth and, somehow, NFC as well. NTT DoCoMo will be offering the NEC MEDIAS E-04C from March 4, with deliveries expected from March 15. The battery is apparently good for up to 360hrs standby. No word on international availability.

The new MacBook Pro range certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to specifications, but in some respects it’s what’s missing from the updated notebooks that’s more interesting than what made the cut. I met with Apple this morning for a hands-on briefing with the new MacBook Pro line-up – stand by for some first impressions of the maxed-out 15-inch model – and one of the most conspicuous changes is the shift to AMD Radeon HD graphics on the 15- and 17-inchers. For NVIDIA, it’s a considerable set-back after several product cycles in Apple’s notebook range. It couldn’t come at a worse time, either; many people have been holding off upgrading until the new Sandy Bridge processors made an appearance, a significant architecture change in Intel’s silicon, and this particular cycle could be one of the biggest to-date. Apple says the AMD graphics chipsets were picked because they offer up to three times the performance of the old models, but I’d be surprised if the NVIDIA GPU debacle back i

Possibly in response to the leak of “Killzone 3″ a few weeks ago, Sony may be considering a hack-proof PS3. According to an anonymous souce cited by Everything HQ , “Sony are already deep into plans of developing a hack-proof PS3 system.” The new PS3 would replace all current PS3 SKUs. Sony had not had problems with hacking until last year, when hackers found out how to run unsigned code on the system. This has been used for pirated games, but also third party applications, or “Homebrew”. This all started to break loose early last year when Sony removed support for Linux, motivating the hacker community to crack into the PS3. And now, Killzone 3 has been leaked, and the 40GB package can be found all over the internet to be downloaded to any jailbroken PS3. The release of the hack proof PS3 would be preceded by a price drop on current models in order to clear them out. Again, according to Everything HQ, “The hack-proof SKU will be a slim PlayStation 3 model and will contain a 300GB hard

We’ve just received word that pre-orders have just begun for the HTC Incredible S , a phone that’s available exclusively through Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy in the UK, via their webpage at CarphoneWarehouse.com . With this pre-order starting up instantly, we can’t help but wonder how long it’ll take Best Buy to start up theirs – or perhaps there wont be a pre-order at Best Buy? Either way, you’ll be able to start picking up your phone on Saturday – of course, that’s only if you DID get a pre-order in. Shipping for everyone else starts on Thursday, March 3, 2011. This is one big fat beautiful phone with what they’re calling an “Inside-Out design that we’re torn on the feel of. Inside, this phone will include Android 2.2 at launch, but will have an upgrade to the 2.4 version of Gingerbread “early on.” On the back you’ll see there’s a big fat 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, and there’s a 1.3-megapixel webcam up front. There’s 1.1-GB of internal storage, 768MB of RAM and a microSD m

Travel planning is being kicked up a notch. Instead of just searching for the best hotel, you can now search for the best hotel room. A startup by the name Room 77 is building a database of more than 425,000 hotel rooms at 2500 properties with information such as room category, square footage, bed type, and even proximity to an elevator. But most interestingly, is its tie in with Google Earth to bring you Room View, which simulates the actual view you would see from a particular hotel room. Before you start thinking that this is just another crowdsourced review platform, it’s not. Most of the work is being done by Room 77′s staff and the integration of Room View really sets it apart. And an special algorithm is used to rank rooms based on how well they match your preferences. So if you had the Room 77 iPhone app and you’re checking in at the front desk of a hotel, you can instantly search the room they assign you to see if you may need to make a swap. “All hotel rooms are not created e

According to a new report on TreeHugger.com , more hydrogen powered buildings have gone up in New York City since 2005 than anywhere else in the world. These include two of the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mixed use buildings, and the first residential hydrogen-powered homes. And a residential building is being planned across the Hudson that will be the largest hydrogen powered residential tower in the world. The cost per square foot is not as high as you might think, so hydrogen power (probably in combination with solar) may become increasingly common. Some of the buildings use solar power-generated energy to create hydrogen, another uses fuel cells to convert natural gas to hydrogen. Here are a couple examples of these green projects. The first hydrogen powered house is in Kings Point, Long Island, just outside of NYC. It was built by the New York Institute of Technology. The house is tiny, only 800 square feet, and has a solar-hydrogen system that was engineered by the US Mercha

The Samsung 9 Series laptop, which according to Samsung is “a durable, ultra premium, lightweight laptop…equally suited for work and entertainment”, now has an official price and release date. The 9 Series was unveiled at CES back in January. Samsung’s 9 Series is a super slim 13 inch notebook, measuring just 16.3mm at the thickest point. All right, so how much? And when can we get one? The 9 Series will be available in South Korea this month, and will be available most everywhere else next month. It will sell for around $2200 US. The laptop has a duralumin case, and has a Core i5 processor, Windows 7 OS, 128GB SSD, 4GB RAM, 1366×768 display, Intel HD graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, LAN, micro-HDMI, microSD slot, backlit keyboard and 6-cell battery.

Being one that aspires to cook well and beyond my current staple of instant ramen, I’m really excited about Google’s latest search feature. Google announced today that it will be implementing a new Recipe View to help you more easily find recipes online and it includes a whole slew of filtering options to really help you narrow down what’s for dinner. You can search using all kinds of keywords including specific recipe names, ingredient names, or even holidays and events. With Google’s Recipe View, the results that show up will only be recipes related to those terms. And to help you make your selection, ratings for each recipe will also show up in the results much like how current business listings have ratings. Google’s Recipe View search results can also be filtered and sorted based on your ideal ingredients, cooking time, and even calorie count. The results are based on data from “rich snippets markup” which Google first introduced back in 2009. If you publish recipes on the web and

Cisco will soon be releasing upgrades to its videoconferencing and video sharing portfolio, the company said Thursday. According to David Hsieh, vice president of marketing for Cisco’s emerging technologies business group, the new Cisco gear could reduce video production and distribution costs by up to 90% by reducing the need for businesses to hire contractors for video production. Among the updrades are a 12-inch touchscreen device for controlling endpoints and two new IP desktop phones (the 8941 and 8945) with integrated video cameras and 5 inch displays. Other announcements include the Media Experience Engine (MXE) 3500 network appliance and the Cisco Telepresence Content Server 5.0, which is designed to make it easier for any worker in an organization to produce video content. The Telepresence Content Server can be used to deliver messages from executives, for training and for other purposes. The Content Server 5.0 can record Telepresence sessions in 1080p resolution at 30 frames

Make no mistake; the new MacBook Pro notebooks are impressive beasts. Outwardly all but identical to the previous range, which means plenty of milled aluminum, a backlit chiclet keyboard and broad multitouch trackpad, on the inside there’s a fresh injection of Sandy Bridge and potent AMD processors to match. We met with Apple this morning to find out what’s special, and came away with a maxed-out 2.2GHz Core i7 15-inch model, retailing for $2,199. Check out our first impressions and more after the cut. Hands-on, the general experience is much the same as before. The keyboard is still responsive and pleasant to type on, the display is still – unless you’ve opted for the matte finish – highly glossy but bright and color-rich, and the unibody chassis is still head and shoulders above what most of the PC competition can offer. Even the ports look, at first glance, the same, though closer examination confirms the DisplayPort logo has been switched for a Thor-style Thunderbolt. iSight has go

Verizon initially required customers who want to purchase the Motorola Xoom to also purchase their data plan. However, the carrier has changed its mind and says users can now purchase a Motorola Xoom off contract without signing up for a data plan. Initially Xoom owners had to pay for a month of required 3G service at $20 on top of the $35 activation fee. You could cancel the required 3G service after a month, but you would have lost $55 already. Verizon did away with this requirement today and you can now buy the Xoom with no contract for $800 and you won’t be required to pay the $35 activation fee, nor will you have to sign up for a data plan. If you plan to purchase the Xoom at Best Buy, the retailer is also honoring the new policy. At this moment the Verizon website hasn’t changed yet to reflect the new policy, the options for purchasers online are a 2-year contract, a 1-year contract, or a month-to-month contract. All three of those options will come with the aforementioned $55 c

Intel’s Light Peak technology, known commercially as Thunderbolt has been confirmed in Apple’s new MacBook Pro series. However, we also mentioned that a few other Intel partners will soon be unveiling Thunderbolt products as well. First one up is La Cie’s announcement today of the LaCie Little Big Disk featuring Thunderbolt technology. “Thunderbolt technology is a breakthrough in I/O technology and represents the future of mobile computing. Soon you will be able to carry workstation-class power and functionality in compact devices,” said Philippe Spruch, Chairman and General Manager, LaCie. “LaCie is excited to be one of the first to deliver Thunderbolt technology with the LaCie Little Big Disk.” The Little Big Disk was designed to store large audio and video files and now with the new Thunderbolt technology, data can truly be transferred to and from the device at lightening speeds. This boosts the performance of creative workflows with ultra-fast data transfer, complete system backu

OCZ Technology Group announced today its next generation Vertex 3 SATA III SSD lineup. These will be for both client and enterprise applications. According to OCZ, the new series will deliver “double the performance of the previous generation.” The release includes the Vertex 3 and the enterprise-class Vertex 3 Pro. See all the specs after the break. The Vertex 3 features the new SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor, and has up to 550MB/s read and 500MB/s write transfer rates, with up to 60,000 IOPS (4k random write). It will be available in 120GB and 240GB capacities. The enterprise-class Vertex 3 Pro features the premium SF-2500 SSD SATA III processor, and can implement MLC (Multi-Level Cell) SSD storage for server farms and IT infrastructures. The Pro edition will come in 100GB, 200GB and 400GB models. The new SSDs will be showcased at next week’s CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany. They will begin shipping immediately following the event. CEO quote: “The new Vertex 3 solid state drive

Samsung Epic 4G owners on Sprint may have to wait a while longer to update their devices to Android 2.2 Froyo. Sprint has stopped all over-the-air updates to the device and has taken down the download link for the update as well. These measures were taken after Sprint received several complaints from Epic 4G owners that the update wrecked their phones. The Froyo update has messed up data connectivity and impaired accessing media stored the SD card. The only solution right now is to have Epic 4G owners do a hard reset on their phone, effectively wiping out all the data. Samsung and Sprint are working together to resolve the issue, but a timetable hasn’t been given on when the fix will come. This is a big setback considering Epic 4G owners have been running Android 2.1 since last August and Android 2.3 is already on the prowl. The Android 2.2 update comes with support for apps on the SD card, updates voice commands for Bluetooth dialing, and updates for many of the apps and widgets.

There are lots of gadget recycling options out there, and sometimes the number of choices can be overwhelming. EcoSquid is a site that compares many different websites and lets you choose the best option for selling, trading in, or recycling your old device. You just type in what gadget you want to get rid of, and the site will give you a list of options. So step away from that blender… EcoSquid works like the travel site Kayak for gadget recycling, you just sign up for the free account once, and then you can search all of the different sites for your best option. The site also allows you to earn points for selling and recycling, rating your experience, and referring friends. The points will let you get discounts on devices, and possibly win prizes. There was a Droid X available for $19.99 (with a Verizon account, though). According to Nik Raman, founder of EcoSquid, “Our biggest competitor is your hallway junk drawer.” The site has been in beta, but it officially launched today. EcoS

Through the many years I’ve been covering the technology industry, I’ve always enjoyed Apple rumors. From the absurd to the downright obvious, there is no limit to what people will say about Apple’s plans for the future. But as of late, I’ve been most intrigued by continued rumors that Apple is working on a television that would pit it against some of the best plasma and LCD makers in the business. As one might expect, given Apple’s history of secrecy, details are slim on the possibility of the company launching a television. But given the value people find in the iPhone, iPad, and countless other products Apple sells, the excitement is palpable. Just about everyone is wondering what kind of television Apple would sell. And they want to know if it would move that market forward the same way the iPod changed the music industry and the iPhone changed the smartphone business. But I’m not nearly as excited. I believe that the most Apple will do if it ever offers a television is integrate

Beginning of the week we caught a glimpse of a mesmerizing 16 second ad released by Verizon for the Motorola Xoom. The pulsing of a heart beat, the darkness of the night, and then the levitating Motorola Xoom that engulfs the man in a giant flying metal pod, yes, that commercial. Well, today Verizon just sneaked out another version that looks to be a continuation of what actually happens to the guy after he gets enveloped by the pod. Apparently, he gets to chill out and play with the Xoom undisturbed inside the pod, except now the soundtrack turns upbeat and we’ve suddenly got a Spanish narrator. It seems like there would be an English version of this ad, but we haven’t been able to find it. This version of the ad isn’t going for that mysterious vibe, but instead its the let’s-party-in-this-super-cool-Xoom-pod vibe. The Xoom is actually shown in action with the man in the commercial navigating through the interface, swiping through the music collection, uploading his fishing picture t

Shape Services has launched the Android version of its iDisplay app which allows Android smartphones and tablets to become secondary monitors for your computer. While the app may not be ideal for use with smartphones given their small screensize, but using iDisplay on a Xoom or an iPad would be very nice. iDisplay is already out on iOS and works on both Windows and Macs. Anyone who has worked with a second monitor knows how much more productive you can be. After you purchase iDisplay, you need to download the free iDisplay Desktop app to your computer and enter your computer’s I.P. address into your phone or tablet. iDisplay will synch up the two displays so that now when you’re not on the go, you can still put your tablet to good use. iDisplay costs $4.99 and is available now in both Android and iOS versions.

A couple weeks back The Daily made its splashy introduction exclusively on Apple’s iPad. That exclusivity will be gone in a couple months as The Daily is set to launch on Android sometime in the second quarter of this year. The announcement is a bit of a surprise since The Daily flaunted its relationship and exclusivity with Apple so much prior to its launch. It was clear that The Daily would eventually move to other tablets as well, but how quickly they’re moving to Android is what’s surprising. At the launch event Rupert Murdoch said that Apple would not have exclusivity forever but that “we think last year, this year, and next year will belong to iPad.” The Daily is the first app to use Apple’s much criticized new subscription policy. The app has had numerous bugs plaguing it from crashes to slow loading times. The problems were severe enough that Apple had The Daily’s technology team fly in to Cupertino from New York to go over the issues. Despite the setbacks subscriptions have ex

Google has released a new plug-in for Microsoft Office that helps users sync their Office documents with their Google Docs account. The Office documents will be saved via the “cloud” to Google’s servers and can be accessed by whomever you name as an “editor” to the document. Different users can then access and edit the file, increasing their collaboration and cutting down on confusion and wasted time over multiple copies of the document. Cloud Connect installs a toolbar into your Microsoft Office programs where you can log in and sync your documents with Google Docs. Google saves every edited version of the document, no matter if those edits were made in Office or Google Docs. You can also make documents read-only as well via Google Docs and each document will get its own unique web address. “For example, you can edit a Word document’s table of contents from Dublin while co-workers adjust formatting and make revisions in Denver,” says Google’s Apps product manager Shan Sinha. “Instead

Google has just deployed a new e-books offering for the Android Market. Looking at their updated website, the navigation now has a “Books” tab sitting next to an “Android Apps” tab. From all the rumblings about a potential Google music service, there may soon be an additional two navigation tabs for music and movies. The selection of e-books is divided into twenty categories, with the further ability to filter by new arrivals, top selling, and top free. A large slide show splash at the top of the page showcases a couple popular titles based on being top rated, new and noteworthy, bestselling, or a book club pick. It’s hard to tell how comprehensive of a collection they have and the overall navigation is a bit of a pain since you cannot select how many results to show per page and large cover art thumbnails show up for each listing. Currently the new e-books offering is not available on the mobile version of Android Market but is likely to come soon. Also likely to come soon is a Googl

The tablet marketplace is about to get crowded, but it took almost a whole year since iPad’s launch for competitors to catch up. Some real contenders, such as the Motorola Xoom, are stepping up to the plate while the 2nd-gen iPad gets its unveil next week. It will be interesting to see how the market divides up as Android devices are expected to take a big chunk of the pie. But for now, the iPad is still king and ABI Research looked back at some numbers from Q3 of last year showing just how amazing the iPad performed. From the shipment, pricing, and revenue data gathered by ABI Research, they found that out of 4.5 million media tablets sold during Q3 of 2010, roughly 4.2 million of them were Apple iPads making for a 93% market dominance. “Over time, Apple’s first-to-market iPad advantage will inevitably erode to some extent. ABI Research has been tracking media tablets since December 2009; future quarterly editions of this Market Data product will include market share tracking of all t

Oh my goodness this phone has had its release date moved around more times than Spinal Tap has had drummers. At one time it was February 28th , then it was February 24th , then it was even all the way up to March 10th . Now we’ve got a bit of a leak that says no less than all of those dates were bunk. Here’s a photo sent to our sister site Android Community that appears to have been clicked in a Best Buy saying that the time for final launch of the HTC ThunderBolt is March 10th, 2011. This tip was sent to Android Community by what we call a “semi-anonymous” tipper as they’ve left a name, but it really appears more like they’d like to remain namelsss, and have thusly left a false hook. For the sake of the conversation, their name was catalase. We very much appreciate tips like this when they end up being true, but hiss and boo at falsifiers when they provide fakie shots. In this case, we’re guessing it’s more along the true lines as the date is so close to what we’ve heard already that

As I’m sure you’re very much aware, Apple released news of a brand new set of MacBook Pros this morning, and along with them has come something called a Thunderbolt. It’s a relatively brand new bit of technology, this Thunderbolt, that was developed by Intel under codename “Light Peak” and promises to be the new name in data transfer between devices. How fast is it? Why it’s 12 times faster than FireWire 800 they say, 20 times faster than USB 2.0, quicker than a speeding bullet! Would you like to know more? What’s the Big Deal? The big number being touted by this new technology is 10-Gbps – that’s gigaBITS. What this number represents is 1.25-gigaBYTES of data traveling from one device to another inside 1 single second. The closest technology to this kind of speed that’s been adopted by any sort of wide-spread device at this time has been USB 3.0, a version of USB sort of skipped over by Apple, which at its fastest only goes half the speed of Thunderbolt. In addition to this speed, Thu

Motorola’s dislike of Android modders tweaking their toys was one of the potential downsides to the XOOM we mentioned in our review , but it seems the hacking community didn’t get Motorola’s memo that they should leave well alone. The XOOM has only been in the wild – officially – for less than a day, and already its been rooted . It’s the handiwork of Koush, who had to compile a Tegra 2 compatible kernel from third-party sources – since Motorola hasn’t released the XOOM kernel yet – and then figure out a root from that. Now it’s a relatively straightforward 15 step process. He also took the time to build a recovery for the XOOM, but thanks to the non-functioning microSD card slot, which is waiting on a firmware update to enable it, it’s not been made public yet. Now, let the Honeycomb hacking begin.