IBLOG SPACE

We’re the recipients of a press event invite that no less than tells us what’s going to be inside, both the T-Mobile G2x and the LG G-Slate. These are two devices that are sure to blast forth from the edifice of Android and fall directly into the homes of thousands and millions of homes across America, creating enjoyment for those who receive them. We’ve had looks at both devices in one way or another in the past, and here we’re sure to get yet another. Also inside this event will be a couple of musical groups, one of them called Dev and the Cataracs, the other by the name of DJ Chachi. Without a doubt this event is set to totally relax us in the sun with fine drinks and snacks, right? No way, man! We’re going to be scrambling with super authoritative skill to get you all the details you need to be informed first! Then YOU can do the relaxing for us. What we’ll be seeing, again, if you’re not familiar with these devices, is the LG G-Slate and the T-Mobile G2x . To see information on e

Google Safe Browsing offers a service to just about everyone on the internet. They offer a blacklist that will help to keep you from stumbling onto malware unaware. Most of us have seen this screen pop up a time or two. Whenever there are rubes to phish, crackers will continue producing new sites to grab whatever information people are willing to provide. Google is working on a new feature that checks downloaded files against this same blacklist. It should offer slightly more protection for those users who need it. This service automatically checks websites you browse against Google’s blacklist. It’s integrated into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. What this feature aims to do is add another layer of defense against malware installations. Google keeps a database of known malware URLs. Every time you click a link, Google checks it out and lets you know if everything’s okay. If it’s bad, you’ll see something like this. If you use one of these browsers, every page you browse to is checked aga

We had just mentioned that Rovio is working on a project to allow the Angry Birds game to sync across all platforms , and now we can definitively add to that the Windows Phone 7 platform. Despite some bad blood between Microsoft and Rovio previously, the two companies have reconciled and promised an Angry Birds version to hit WP7 very soon. Today, Microsoft confirmed the game will be arriving on May 25th. The Angry Birds phenomenon has dominated the iOS and Android gaming charts and will now take WP7 by storm. This new version of Angry Birds will feature 195 action-packed levels of larcenous pig busting. The game will be featured in the XBox Live segment of the WP marketplace for your downloading pleasure. It was originally expected to launch on WP7 in February but was delayed by legal matters. Now the issues seem to be all cleared up, and Microsoft chose to confirm the launch date during their keynote at the MIX 11 event in Las Vegas today. During which they also announced multi-task

Hammacher Schlemmer is selling this sweet bike on their website. It’s designed like a standard Cruiser. I’ve seen a lot of old Schwinn’s with a similar design. This bike features big baloon tires, a fatty padded seat, and a powerful electric motor to help you cruise around town without breaking too much of a sweat. This baby has 500 Watts of power assist driven by a 36 volt L-ion battery pack providing up to 30 miles of electric boost. That’s more than enough. Hammacher Schlemmer’s Electric Comfort Bicycle will get you where you need to go, in style, and it’s eco-friendly. This bike can boost you to 20mph using the electric motor alone. Just twist the right handle and it’ll power up and release the stored energy into the bike’s drivetrain. If that’s not fast enough you can supplement with pedal-power to achieve even greater speeds. Most electric bikes are going to cost you a pretty penny. This Hammacher Schlemmer bike is going to run you $2,800 or so from their website

If you’re in the market to buy a new PC, and especially an all-in-one type of PC, then you don’t want to miss this offer from Logic Buys. The HP Omni 100 All-In-One PC is a true space saver and now it’s also a money saver. Using the coupon codes at Logic Buys can net you up to $130 in savings. The HP Omni 100 sports a 20-inch LED backlit LCD non-glare display with tilt and swivel adjustment, built-in webcam and mic, integrated 6-in-1 card reader, six USB 2.0 ports, integrated Super Multi DVD burner, and premium stereo speakers. All this in the body of the sleek monitor with no additional PC tower to waste space. There are three different options to choose from and determines how much you save. There are two basic configurations, one with AMD 100z processor and the other with Intel 100t processor. The recommended higher end configuration features AMD 100z processor and includes 3GB memory with 500GB hard drive. The deal expires on April 16, just a day after you finish filing your taxes.

If you’re in the market to buy a new PC, and especially an all-in-one type of PC, then you don’t want to miss this offer from Logic Buys. The HP Omni 100 All-In-One PC is a true space saver and now it’s also a money saver. Using the coupon codes at Logic Buys can net you up to $130 in savings. The HP Omni 100 sports a 20-inch LED backlit LCD non-glare display with tilt and swivel adjustment, built-in webcam and mic, integrated 6-in-1 card reader, six USB 2.0 ports, integrated Super Multi DVD burner, and premium stereo speakers. All this in the body of the sleek monitor with no additional PC tower to waste space. There are three different options to choose from and determines how much you save. There are two basic configurations, one with AMD 100z processor and the other with Intel 100t processor. The recommended higher end configuration features AMD 100z processor and includes 3GB memory with 500GB hard drive. The deal expires on April 16, just a day after you finish filing your taxes.

If you’re in the market to buy a new PC, and especially an all-in-one type of PC, then you don’t want to miss this offer from Logic Buys. The HP Omni 100 All-In-One PC is a true space saver and now it’s also a money saver. Using the coupon codes at Logic Buys can net you up to $130 in savings. The HP Omni 100 sports a 20-inch LED backlit LCD non-glare display with tilt and swivel adjustment, built-in webcam and mic, integrated 6-in-1 card reader, six USB 2.0 ports, integrated Super Multi DVD burner, and premium stereo speakers. All this in the body of the sleek monitor with no additional PC tower to waste space. There are three different options to choose from and determines how much you save. There are two basic configurations, one with AMD 100z processor and the other with Intel 100t processor. The recommended higher end configuration features AMD 100z processor and includes 3GB memory with 500GB hard drive. The deal expires on April 16, just a day after you finish filing your taxes.

Allow me to give you the skinny on everything you’re going to need to know in order to go on with your life today. I mean it! There’s some crazy important stuff going on today that may well, very possibly, perhaps, chance your whole life. Some of it is in the Android world, some of it is in the greater phone world, and some of it’s basically gadgetastic right here on SlashGear. Let’s begin with a bit of the ol’ aliens from another planet rumor – that’s right! Aliens are back in the news, and it’s your favorite: Roswell, New Mexico. That’s the least credible story we have for today. It’s all uphill from here! Next, we’ve got a couple of basically fantastic giveaways going on, one of them for a couple of tablets, the other for… another tablet! That’s right, we’ve got both a Motorola XOOM tablet set for you to win AND a BlackBerry PlayBook for your free having! You could walk away with a tablet of your choice! Of course, provided you enter the contest(s), that is. Go for it! Then it’s

The time has come, RIM fans, BlackBerry’s PlayBook has begun to be seeded in the press and the reviews are leaking inward, toward your screen at an alarming rate. What are all these people with tapping fingers and eyes for the Canadian OS giant saying? We’ve got just the formula for you to find out: a roundup post. That’s right, find out right here and right now what the 7″ BlackBerry tablet has to offer, with its 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB Wi-Fi models having their $499, $599, and $699 prices respectively. Behold the words of the judges! Before we begin, perhaps some specs will freshen your memory of this cute little bug of a tablet device: • 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support • BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing • 1 GHz dual-core processor • 1 GB RAM • Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording • Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV • Audio

Acer has unveiled a pair of new 3D screens for computer users that sound pretty darn cool. The new screens include the Acer HN274H and the Acer HS244HQ. Both of the screens use active 3D shutter glasses. The HN274H is a 27-inch screen and the HS244HQ is a 23.6-inch screen. The 27-inch screen is the first to support both HDMI 3D and NVIDIA 3D solutions. That allows it to deliver 3D content if you connect it to a 3D component like a PS3 or Blu-ray player. It can also deliver 3D gaming using the 3D Vision system that has been on the market for a while. It has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and an integrated IR emitter so it will do 3D without having to use an external emitter. The 23.6-inch screen has three HDMI puts, a 12M:1 contrast ratio, and a 2ms response time. It also uses an integrated IR emitter. This screen uses Acer 3D glasses, not the NVIDIA 3D Vision tech that the larger version uses. The 27-inch screen sells for $689 and the 23.6-inchs screen is $449.

Spotify is probably best known here in the US as the music streaming service that hasn’t launched. There are hoards of US music fans waiting for Spotify to hit the country, but so far, that hasn’t happened. Over in Europe Spotify is very popular and has a hoard of free users and a million paid subscribers . The service has 10 million total users in Europe. Sources close to the company are telling CNET that Spotify is set to limit the amount of time users can listen to music on its free service. Apparently, the company is set to place limits on the total number of hours that users could listen to free music. The source also says that Spotify might put a cap on the number of times that the user can stream a specific song. The goal is to get the user to upgrade to the paid account where they can get unlimited access to the music. CNET also notes that Spotify has agreements in the US with two of the major labels and has already agreed to limit the amount of time that a user can listen to m

Motorola has reportedly been testing a new Android tablet that is aimed at the enterprise user. The new tablet is said to be a rugged device that is able to survive life in the field. The new tablet is apparently part of Motorola’s efforts to grow its enterprise business. The new tablet has no name, but a graphic has surfaced that gives details of the tablet. It has an 8MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front camera. It is rugged enough to survive a four-foot drop onto plywood and is sealed to IP54 rating. It has Bluetooth, WiFi, and a USB host that will support accessories and peripherals. The tablet will weigh less than 1.25 pounds and it runs Android 2.3. The screen of the tablet is a 1024 x 600 resolution multi-touch 7-inch unit with 400nit brightness or better. The machine runs an OMAP4 dual core processor running at 1GHz. The battery life is being targeted at 5.5 hours with streaming video over WiFi connection so it should last for a full business day of data connectivity.

I mentioned yesterday that an analyst at Jefferies thought that evidence was pointing to Apple possibly launching a new video streaming platform and maybe even a new set-top box or TV this year. Another analyst at Ticonderoga Securities named Brian white has now announced that his research has led him to a very similar conclusion. According to White Apple could launch a new HDTV this year and enter into the $100 billion LCD HDTV market. White says that the data suggests that Apple is looking at launching a new Smart TV by the end of the year. He said that this would me more than the Apple TV on the market already. White also notes that Apple appears to be moving down the HDTV path faster than expected. Another analyst from Piper Jaffray named Gene Muster has said in the past that Apple would enter into the HDTV market with a set carrying a price near $2,000. Munster also thinks that the huge $3.9 billion investment in securing components like screens for the iPhone and iPad is another

If you are a big user of Twitter, you might be familiar with the company UberMedia. This company makes some of the most popular apps that users of Twitter actually use to send their tweets. UberMedia is behind popular apps like UberSocial, Echofon, and Twidroyd. These apps allow the Twitter user access features that Twitter doesn’t offer directly. The apps are popular enough that they accounted for 11.5% of all Tweets sent on one single day last month. The relationship between Ubermedia and Twitter isn’t on the most stable ground though. Twitter blocked three of the firm’s apps a while back and forced the UberTwitter app to change names to UberSocial. This may be part of the reason why UberMedia is eyeing launching a service that will compete with Twitter. Some think that a competing service from UberMedia might be able to succeed against Twitter where other competing services from big names like Google have failed. The reason a competing UberMedia service may work is that the apps for

When we were at the event where the iPhone 4 was launched, the device was on hand in both black and white colors. The only version to come to AT&T was the black smartphone with the white one having some sort of undisclosed issues with production at the time. We later learned that Apple was having issues with the white paint peeling and getting the color to match between makers of the iPhone 4. On April 6 were reported that the hit iPhone 4 had been deleted from the Apple system and it seemed that the with version would never come to the market. Apparently, there is still a chance that fans of the white iPhone can get the device. Bloomberg reports that three people with knowledge of Apple dealings have claimed the white iPhone is coming. According to the sources the white iPhone 4 will land this month with a date pegged to be “near the end of April” according go the sources. Sources have also said that no iPhone 5 will be coming at WWDC this summer. A white iPhone 4 might hold some

I’d like to go on record saying that one of the only things from Adobe that interests me in the slightest is Flash for my iPad. Get to work on that, thanks. Adobe and Apple still have no agreement for support of Flash content on the iPad, but Adobe is touting its new streaming of Adobe Flash Media Server across multiple devices like the iPad 2, Samsung TVs, the Motorola Xoom and the Atrix smartphone. Adobe announced last year that it was supporting HTTP Dynamic Streaming on the Adobe Flash Platform. Adobe has added support for another format to the offerings. Adobe is now supporting HTTP Live Streaming or HLS. HLS is a MPEG2 transport streaming container that can be used by devices like the iPad 2. With support for HLS within the Flash Media Server Adobe has reduced the complexity for broadcasters looking to reach HTML5 supporting browser like users of the Safar browser on Apple gear. The HLS support also allows the support of any platform where Flash is not installed. When Flash is in

Motorola and Huawei end brewing legal battle by Shane McGlaun Motorola and Huawei had another legal battle brewing that had to do with allegations that Motorola was transferring Huawei IP to Nokia Siemens Networks. Nokia is buying certain aspects of the Motorola business in wireless solutions. Motorola and Huawei have now announced that they are both withdrawing any legal claims. The announcement means the end to all legal claims and pending litigation between the two firms. The two companies reached an agreement that will allow Motorola to transfer certain Huawei intellectual property and other agreements that are in place with Huawei to Nokia Siemens Networks for an undisclosed sum of money. Motorola CEO Greg Brown said, “We regret that these disputes have occurred between our two companies. Motorola Solutions values the long-standing relationship we have had with Huawei. After reviewing the facts, we decided to resolve these matters and return to our traditional relationship of conf

Yesterday I mentioned that AMD had announced that it was supporting USB 3.0 on its chipsets that would ship this year. That announcement marked the first major microprocessor firm to throw its weight behind USB 3.0. Intel has been pushing ThunderBolt and has maintained that the fast interface is a complement to USB 3.0, not a replacement. CNET reports that Intel has now announced that it will be supporting both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt on the chipsets that it has in the pipe for next year. Intel’s Kirk Skaugen said at IDF in Beijing, “Intel is going to support USB 3.0 in the 2012 client platform. We’re going to support Thunderbolt capability. We believe they’re complementary.” As it stands today, the machines on the maker supporting USB 3.0 are all using a third party chip. The Intel Ivy Bridge chipset that is set for 2012 will put USB 3.0 support directly on the Intel silicon. The move will mean that by 2012 when the ivy bridge chipsets land both major chipmakers will support USB 3.0

We lived near a golf course when I was a kid and we thought it was great fun to grab the balls as they rolled down the fairway. What we didn’t realize was that the golfers were hitting those balls from over the hill and they didn’t appreciate at all that we swiped their balls. We moved to wading in the water hazards gathering up the balls sitting on the bottom of the pond. If you think about it, there are probably thousands of golf balls under the water in those hazards on golf courses all around the country and the things will be there forever unless someone digs them out. The University of Maine has invented a new biodegradable golf ball that is made from the stuff the lobster canning industry tosses out. The balls are made from lobster shells that are held together with a biodegradable binder and a coating that is biodegradable too. That means after the ball sits in that water for a certain amount of time it will just melt away leaving some lobster shell chunks behind. The balls are

I bet a lot of gamers played Yar’s Revenge back in the day on their Atari game consoles. If you were a big fan of the original and like retro inspired gaming still today, Atari has a new classic on the Xbox Arcade for you to check out. The game is Yar’s Revenge . The game is on Xbox 360 Arcade right now for 800 Microsoft Points. The game is not a straight up reissue of the original game. It has anime inspired art and a narrative story to it that expands on the story from the original back in the 80′s. The game also supports co-op play local. The player plays as Yar who has been brainwashed by the Qotile empire to do their bidding. Yar gets shot down and rescued by Bar Yarglar and then sets off to get revenge on her master and his assassins. This sounds like a pretty cool game.

Well what do you know, a fair deal for developers, could it be? It appears that a group of developers from XDA forums have created an Android Market alternative that allows creators of apps and games to grab 100% of the profit from their wares. In a move that seems nearly impossible without the backing of a major corporation, a few smalltime players have set themselves up for what might be a power move against the titans. YAAM stands for Yet Another Android Market, a rather unassuming title for a project that could be such a big deal. The aesthetics of the market are just about as simple as they could be, the app itself works inside handsets, tablets, and even Google TV, and the whole business is centered around getting a fair deal for developers. Will it catch on? Only time and perhaps advertising will tell. Marketing is basically the biggest component in getting a project like this off the ground, as evidenced by Amazon’s push with a free app every day. This market is currently said

Microsoft has given the most detailed look yet into Mango, the newest version of Windows Phone, at its annual show for Web and phone developers, Mix11. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore also assured us all that the rocky start that Microsoft has had in the phone platform is now behind it, and this new OS will be rolled out without glitches. Read more about the details of Mango after the cut. The new OS includes the ability to let apps run in the background. Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows Phone program management, demonstrated this capability by playing music via Spotify while he used other programs on the phone. Belfiore also demonstrated a new Qantas traveler app, which allows you to pin data about a specific flight to the home screen of the phone. A tile is created which gives details about the flight as departure time approaches, allowing you to check in online and get gate info. It also triggers an alarm that tells you to hurry up and get to the airport. Micro

Bolivia, which has enacted its own “Law of the Rights of Mother Earth”, reflecting the beliefs of the indigenous people of that country, is seeking to bring those principles worldwide with a United Nations treaty. The treaty, in draft at this time, would give Mother Earth the same rights as humans, including rights to life, water and clean air, the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities, and the right to be free from pollution. \ Bolivia’s domestic law gives bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country the same rights as humans as well. The president, Evo Morales, enacted the law in January, and the general structure of the UN treaty is meant to mirror the Bolivian law. Bolivia is rich in natural resources like natural gas and lithium, and yet remains one of the poorest countries in South America. This new law likely poses further challenges for companies attempting to operate there. The treaty would establish a Ministry of Mother Earth, and

A recent study by Bulletin Heathcare of the reading habits of its 550,000+ subscribers found that the vast majority of healthcare professionals use iOS based devices to read Bulletin’s daily email briefings. The data was collected over a nine month period from June 2010 to February 2011. Android came in a distant second, but did show signs of growth. During the test period, the use of mobile devices shot up by 45%. The survey concluded that around 30% of healthcare professionals are using mobile devices to access content, while 70% are still using desktop computers. Of those using mobile devices, 90% were using a iPhone or iPad. Only 6% were using an Android device, and other platforms like RIM and Palm hardly registered. “Despite Apple’s longer tenure in the marketplace, we were surprised by the wide margin between Apple devices and others,” said Bill Mulderry, president of Bulletin Healthcare. The interesting thing about this data is the different mobile use by medical specialty. “We

It’s obviously the weekend for Android updates; first Samsung’s Gingerbread for the Galaxy S , and now a ViewSonic tweak for the company’s GTab Android slate. The latest OTA update isn’t anything as dramatic as a core OS update, but it does add Flash Player support to the 10-inch tablet. In addition, there’s support for USB keyboard and mouse, which should make content creation on the GTab more straightforward. ViewSonic has also added a couple of new languages, an energy-saving lock screen and support for an external docking station. The GTab update is being delivered OTA, and owners of the tablet should get a notification in the top bar that the new software is available when they next power-cycle or turn on.

The recent announcement of the HTC Sensation brought with it an enhanced 3.0 version of their slick HTC Sense user interface built on top of Android. Unfortunately, the company let it slip last night via Twitter to a curious customer that the HTC Sense 3.0 will only be available to its newest devices—the Flyer, EVO 3D , and Sensation . The news may be disappointing for folks who recently picked up a Desire S or Incredible S and find themselves not able to upgrade to the new and improved interface. According to the HTC spokesperson in the tweet, the reason for the restriction lies in the hardware requirements of HTC Sense 3.0. The new interface will support many new 3D effects including 3D widgets along with smart shortcuts on its new set of multi-functional lock screens, and 360-degree menu carousels. It’s likely that the new processing power required to smoothly run the new interface is what older devices such as the Desire S and Incredible S are missing. However, this morning, anothe

Kogan has unveiled three new products in its Agora line today, an Android powered Internet TV portal, a 7″ Android tablet, and a 12″ laptop. These are priced very aggressively, in line with Kogan’s penchant for “market shattering prices”. The tablet starts at just $139. The products are scheduled to ship in May, but are for sale now on Kogan’s site. The Agora Internet TV Portal, which runs on Android 2.2, starts at $149. It features: Android 2.2 Access to Android Market Built in Wi-Fi & Ethernet Read & Write emails with the Gmail or Email app Supports 1080p Full HD Playback 2.4G Wireless Optical Sensor Remote Control HDMI® video output (HDMI® Cable Included) 3 x USB 1 x SD Card Slot Desktop Widgets inc. Weather, Calendar, Clock, YouTube Bluetooth Connectivity Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Connectivity Media Player – Watch Movies, Listen to Music, Browse Photos The 7″ Android 2.2 tablet starts at $139, and includes WiFi only. It goes up to $189 as it gets closer to market. Ships

Android may be gaining marketshare, now powering 33 percent of U.S. smartphones, but it is behind iOS in mobile advertising revenues, according to Millennial Media . iOS-based applications account for 47 percent of Millennial revenues in March of 2011, with Android close behind at 36 percent. However, Android is ahead of iOS in mobile ad impressions. Find out more about this interesting trend after the cut. The numbers are almost flipped for mobile ad impressions, with Android at 48 percent, and iOS at 31 percent. This would seem to indicate that ads on Android cost less per impression, and are not considered as valuable to advertisers as iOS ads. By far, the most impressions are on smartphones, at 64 percent, with feature phones accounting for 19 percent of impressions. And mobile games are also a hot property for advertisers, accounting for 37 percent of all ad revenues. Both Android and iOS are growing fast, with Apple impressions growing 29 percent month over month, and Android gro

In a move that’s aimed directly at Fathers and Mothers days, Staples will soon be picking up the NOOK Color in both its physical locations and online office supplies store. This is an oddity of an announcement if you consider the push Barnes & Noble has made to make sure everyone knows that this device is made for their books, their magazines, and their children’s books. On the other hand, perhaps a fabulous cross-branding is exactly what the NOOK Color and Barnes & Noble needs to take off into outer space! This collaboration will be taking place starting May 1st, 2011, and will have the device again for the price of $249. This device is an Android tablet with a locked Barnes & Noble user interface that directs the owner of the device to read media provided by Barnes & Noble. Because Android is generally used as a more stripped-down operating system , manufacturers in the USA generally offering it up per Googles specifications so they can have access to the Android Ma

Research firms Gartner and IDC have come out with their quarterly look at the PC market in the US and worldwide. With some exceptions, the results are not good. Only three companies, Lenovo, Apple, and to a lesser extent, Toshiba, posted gains for PC sales in Q1. The two reports differ on how large the decline in the total market is, and also on the cause. Is it tablets? Lack of innovation in PCs? Or just a lingering hangover from big Q4 spending? See all the numbers after the cut. The contraction in the PC market is the first in six quarters, and IDC and Gartner differ on the size of the contraction. IDC puts it at 3.2 percent since Q1 2010, and Gartner is more conservative at 1.1 percent. The first quarter of the year can be a slow time for PC sales in any case, since consumers have already blown all their cash on electronics for Christmas presents, when retailers are offering mega deals. And on the business side, some companies use up extra money in their budget before the end of th

Last night, I was sitting in my living room thinking about what I should watch, and I decided to browse Netflix. But rather than fire up my Apple TV or turn my PlayStation 3 on, I simply clicked over to it from the apps marketplace available through my HDTV. I then started sifting through its library of content. As I did so, I started thinking about Apple. In that split-second decision about which device I would watch Netflix on, I chose my television over the Apple TV, even though the latter’s Netflix app is just as good. It was a decision based solely on the fact that I didn’t want to change inputs. Although this was just a single event, it was awfully telling. The Apple TV isn’t the solution for the living room that Apple needs. Quite the contrary, the proper solution is the company’s long-rumored television , complete with access to Apple’s App Store. The way I see it, having the App Store available in a television would be enough for Apple to reign supreme in the living room. The

Let me let you know what’s going on here. We’ve got these XOOM tablets, five of them – 2 for SlashGear and 3 for Android Community, and we’re gonna give them away for free. They’re all Wifi-only so you don’t have to worry about paying a monthly fee, in fact you don’t have to worry about paying for anything, because they’re totally, totally free. We’ve been getting some pretty awesome entries for this contest since it started, and in showing a few classics to you now, we’d like you, the people who haven’t joined in the fun yet, to enter! Have a peek first at the basic rules for this contest, then go back to the expanded rules for a full understanding , check out the comments by your pals below, then get our there and enter! To win one of these fabulous tablets, you must: 1. “like” us on Facebook: facebook.com/slashgear.com 2. Comment on the facebook.com/slashgear.com wall saying something nice like “SlashGear and NVIDIA are ever so generous and kind with their dual-core generosity.” An

Several reports have come out today from Gartner and IDC taking a look at the state of the PC market so far this year. Even though we are only into the second quarter it appears the declines in the overall market for PCs predicted earlier in the year are coming to fruition. So what does this mean, is the world ending? Or perhaps there is something bigger afoot? Tablets are Part of the Cause Most if not all of my analyst colleagues agree that tablets are playing a role in declining PC shipments. The extent of the role tablets are playing is where we may disagree. I spoke with my friend Richard Shim who is a SR Analyst at Display Search. His point is that tablets are a convenient factor to blame notebook and desktop declines on but the reality is tablets represent a “convenient computing” solution and aren’t replacements for notebooks or desktops quite yet. Another factor he pointed to is the point of maturation of the market for notebooks and desktops. Richard said ”Consumers and ent

As of March 2011, Xbox 360 is and remains the number one selling console in the entirety of the United States. This is judged based on console and software sales as well as continued consumer demand for the accessory known as Kinect, aka the fastest selling consumer electronics device in 60 days in recorded history. Sounds pretty impressive, yes? Let’s go through a few highlights that’ll continue to make your brain melt all over the floor. What are we quoting here, you might ask, what’s our source? This information is presented to us by the NPD Group based on a study completed in March of 2011. The Kinect statistic, or record rather, is in the Guinness Book of World Records. This next factoid, also from the NPD group (as are the rest of the statistics in this post: ) Xbox 360 sold a total of 433,000 units in the month of March 2011, holding on strong to the number one console spot in the USA. Next, compared to last year, aka “year over year” compared to last year, Xbox 360 console sal

Verizon today unveiled its next-generation FiOS TV service. The revamp includes 25 new features in their Interactive Media Guide (IMG) that all aim to bring improved search capabilities, easier navigation, better customization, more DVR features, and 3D content detection. A smart search feature has been added that predicts and provides potential matches for what the customer is looking for and also has other sorting and filtering options. In the area of customization, new parental control options have been added along with a guide customization feature that gives you a variety of settings with a mini guide on the bottom of the screen, a half guide on the right side, and a full guide. Several DVR enhancements have been added which include a DVR chaptering function that lets you DVD-like capabilities to jump ahead or resume viewing at a specific moment of the recording by using onscreen thumbnails in 10-minute increments. A 3D content software has also been added that will automatically

Google today launched an update to their Google Translate app for the Android platform. The neat little app is a robust language tool that not only translates but also provides text-to-speech capabilities in various languages. You can type in a word or phrase and have the app translate it and then speak it. The update today adds Japanese, Arabic, and Korean. The Google Translate app for Android can speak around 21 languages including Russian, Chinese, and Portuguese. And the text-to-speech feature of the app is perhaps its most popular. The quality of the feature in 15 of the languages has also been dramatically improved with very clear and natural sounding speech despite it being synthesized. With this update, the Google Translate app will now support translations between 58 different languages and can speak translations in 24 languages. The app is available for download at the Android Market and works on both phones and tablets running Android 2.1 and above.

T-Mobile’s G2x , the carrier’s version of the dual-core LG Optimus 2X , has gone on sale via the T-Mobile webstore . The Tegra 2 smartphone is priced at $199.99, following a $50 mail-in rebate and assuming you’re content signing your life away to a two-year agreement. There’s the usual mandatory voice and data plans as we’re seeing on all smartphones, too. Specs include a 4.3-inch WVGA touchscreen, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.3-megapixel front camera and “4G” HSPA+ connectivity, along with WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. Since LG has used NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 chipset, the G2x will get access to the NVIDIA Tegra Zone of apps and reviews. In-store availability of the T-Mobile G2x will be on April 20.

SlashGear is at the IFA 2011 Global Press Conference – a taster session ahead of the full show later on in the year – and Samsung has kicked things off with some tasty smart TV and 3D goodness. The company has announced that, as of next month, Samsung will launch a 3D video-on-demand service with free streaming 3D content including IMAX movies previously only available on Blu-ray. At the heart of the company’s demo was a Samsung D8000 HDTV, one of the top end models from the flagship range, using AllShare DLNA to funnel content between it and a Samsung notebook, 1TB BluRay DVR and an SH100 WiFi camera. As well as being able to search content stored on those various peripherals, the D8000 also goes online and pulls in content shared on YouTube, mentioned on Facebook, or just generally available online in Google searches. The D-pad on the remote doubles as a pointer control in the browser. The 3D Video-on-Demand system will be available in Europe to those with Samsung’s Smart TV sets. T

Hannspree may be best known for its animal-themed TVs, but the company has brought along more details on its new SN10T3 tablet along to the IFA 2011 Global Press Conference. A 10.1-inch slate, the SN10T3 runs – like most of the Android models we’ve seen so far – on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual-core chipset. It’ll also be the first model from Hannspree to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, a milestone the company says is down to Google’s demands around panel resolution. The SN10T3 uses homegrown HannStar IPS LCD panels and Sintek touch modules (both companies are owned by Hanspree’s parent HSD). Unlike the specs shown on previous slides , Hannspree says the SN10T3′s display now runs at 1280 x 800; it also has 16GB of storage, WiFi and Bluetooth. That change in resolution is a response to Google’s limitations to the Honeycomb platform and its distribution; Hannspree says Google insists on a 1280 x 800 screen, which is why its initial SN10T1 tablet (which went on sale recently) and the imminent SN10T2

This week Cisco announced that it was killing off the Flip line of camcorders. You might recall that last July we first caught wind of a very cool sounding new Flip camcorder that was being developed that packed in WiFi to allow the camera to stream your video live. Sadly, the death of the Flip brand means that camera – the FlipLive – will never come to be. The New York Times’ David Pogue is talking a bit about the decision of Cisco to kill the brand. As he points out, it has only been two years since Cisco bought the brand. The purchase cost Cisco $590 million. Many people thought the smartphones we all carry around that can record HD video was the cause. Pogue reckons there is more to it that that with the relatively small portion of the country that actually uses a smartphone that can record video. Another strange fact about the death of the Flip brand is that Pogue says that only a month ago he was briefed on the next production in the line, which was set to land yesterday. So as