IBLOG SPACE

Welcome to a whopper of a round-up! We’ve got so many hands-on posts, reviews, features, and the like that your head is about to explode – I assure you! Head below for the full story – it’s an Android circus with animals by the name of G-Slate, G2x, Asus A500, and more! Then there’s a slew of overly important columns and feature posts that’ll continue to drive you up the wall as well – rockin! We’ve got a T-Mobile G-Slate review on SlashGear and another over on Android Community – two perspectives from two different corners of the United States! Then we’ve got a review of the little bother of the G-Slate, that being the T-Mobile G2x – full review on Android Community by yours truly! And the Acer Iconia Tab A500? We’ve got that too. And a BlackBerry PlayBook review in a pear tree! Then you’ve got to fill that G-Slate up with some games, right? How about a few games that aren’t even out yet? We’ve got pre-complete demos of both Riptide GP , a wave racing game on jetskis, and Pinball H

ntil today, the consumer tablet market has been defined by the battle between iPad and Android . Apple’s best-selling slate has set expectations for mobile utility and usability, managing to persuade users that – despite years of Microsoft Tablet PC promotion – the company pretty much invented the tablet segment. Google’s Honeycomb ( review ) has launched its offensive against the iPad titan, and now it’s the turn of RIM and the BlackBerry PlayBook . Initially billed as the enterprise-focused slate a BlackBerry phone toting business person would covet, the PlayBook’s scope has gradually grown to encompass the consumer market too. Has that spreading focus left RIM with the jack of all trades or the master of none? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. Hardware A nondescript black slab measuring 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches and weighing 0.9lbs, the PlayBook is a combination of the very glossy and the pleasingly matte. The whole front is a slab of glass hiding a 1024 x 600 WSVGA L

Netflix may be offering family plans with the option for multiple simultaneous streams later this year. A message lifted from Netflix’s investor relations FAQ page this morning seems to support speculation that the company is heading towards a more full on streaming model. They are looking into various service options to offer including one that encourages multiple accounts in one household. Currently, Netflix offers a $7.99 streaming-only service that gives you one stream at a time or a one-DVD plan that offers unlimited streaming but doesn’t allow for multiple simultaneous streaming. However, they do offer multiple simultaneous streaming of up to four at a time with a four-DVD monthly plan. Their new offering later this year may be to simplify things and focus on pushing households to sign up for either additional streams or multiple accounts under one umbrella family plan. The Investors FAQ message reads: The evolution toward individual memberships will take time, and we are still t

Facebook announced the launch of new safety and security tools today, including a redesigned Family Safety Center, social reporting buttons, and Two Factor Authentication. Facebook is hoping these tools will help combat cyberbullying among young people, and also make using the site more secure. Facebook launched the Safety Center in March, in conjunction with President Obama’s conference on bullying prevention. Facebook has now redesigned and renamed the portal calling it the Family Safety Center. It features easier navigation, videos and how-to sections and links to related pages on Facebook and other sites. Facebook also is offering a free downloadable guide for teachers, coming soon. Facebook also expanded the social reporting tool, previously available only in photos, to be more widely available across the site. It can now be accessed in Profiles, Pages and Groups. There will now be a “report” link available to report images and other content that contains hate speech, violence, il

Sir Tim Berners-Lee , the inventor of the web, has called for more regulation to preserve the principle of net neutrality, the concept that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. He has called upon service providers to self-regulate, but failing that he said governments must act. He is working with the UK government to negotiate an agreement on an open internet with service providers and content firms. Berners-Lee cited the revolution in Egypt as demonstrating the importance of free access to the web, and told the BBC: “It’s such an empowering thing to be connected at high speed and without borders that it’s become a human right”. The issue of net neutrality, already a major issue in US, has begun to move up the political agenda in the UK as well. The FCC rules adopted in December in the US did not stop ISPs from charging more for faster access, which some say creates a two-tiered internet. Sir Tim does not take issue with traffic management, but says that any move to l

Is Samsung planning to enter the portable gaming market? And if so, should they? Here is an interesting concept by designer Dumary Joseph. It is called “Consolr HD3 by Samsung” (ummm, the name needs a bit of work), and has some crazy features, and according to Yanko Design is “a fanboi’s pipe dream about the ultimate gaming machine”. After all, the best concepts are those that go past what we can currently accomplish. Check out all the details after the cut. This beasty little console has features like fingerprint recognition so it knows who is playing and can adjust, WiFi, 4G, GPS… Well, just check out this list (also, more pics in the gallery): 16:9 full HD Amoled Multi touch screen Capacitive type with DTP (Dual Touch Pro for multitouch capability) Built-in HD Stereo Speakers Built-in HD Microphone Gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor 2 analog sticks Chat with your friends ( Wimax or 4G), by text, headset bluetooth or Visio Download Apps from the Android Market Share cont

Nintendo 3DS owners are complaining of a design flaw that can leave the upper, glasses-free 3D display scratched simply by carrying the console around. According to multiple posts on Nintendo’s support forums , the clamshell design can leave the raised edges of the touchscreen rubbing against the top display; while initially the marks it leaves will rub off, some owners have found permanent scratches are been left. The display isn’t the only aspect of the console seemingly prone to damage. Eagle-eyed owners have also spotted D-pad cracks appearing, potentially where the top section has been squeezed down onto the controls. There’s speculation that Nintendo has used insufficiently-plump rubber stoppers to prevent the two halves from contacting, especially when squeezed together in a pocket or bag. Nintendo was particularly proud of its 3DS design , but customer service staff reportedly claim to not have heard of this particular issue (though they did offer a replacement when one owner

Dell has officially announced the Alienware M14x and Alienware M18x, as well as reworked the smallest gaming notebook it offers, the Alienware M11x . The new 14-inch M14x and 18.4-inch M18x each come with quadcore Intel Core i7 processors – overclocked from the factory in the case of the bigger machine – while the M11x shifts to Intel’s 2011 Core i5 and Core i7 chips at 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz respectively. The Alienware M14X has GeForce GT 555M graphics with either 1.5GB or 3GB of dedicated memory, together with using NVIDIA Optimus intelligent GPU switching. That allows the notebook to reach up to six hours runtime on a single charge. The display runs at 1366 x 768 or, optionally, 1600 x 900; other options include WiMAX. Ports include USB 3.0 and HDMI 1.4i, while pricing starts at $1,199. Meanwhile the updated M11x now has up to 10 hours battery life thanks to the new processors and Optimus graphics, while still finding room inside the compact chassis for optional LTE, WiMAX or 3G connec

Acer has found itself a new corporate president, with Jim Wong – previously the corporate senior vice president – taking over from Gianfranco Lanci who quit at the end of March . Wong used to helm the IT Products Group and will, according to Acer’s press release, lead the company to “aggressively yet cautiously develop data-consumption products, tablet PCs and smartphones based on the solid foundation of the main PC business.” Lanci is believed to have advocated a more ambitious mobile drive, with greater emphasis on chasing Apple in tablets and pushing Acer’s smartphone development with handsets like the distinctive Iconia Smart . That didn’t sit well with the more conservative Acer board, which preferred a more traditional approach that focused on PCs. Press Release: Acer appoints Jim Wong as Corporate President Through teamwork, company to face challenges and embrace opportunities of the new ICT industry TAIPEI, TAIWAN (April 19, 2011) – Acer Inc.’s board of directors has approved

Bang & Olufsen has dipped a well-designed toe into the world of 3D, with the company’s latest TV offering well-heeled buyers the third dimension. The Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4-85 is a whopping 85-inch plasma HDTV, complete with a dedicated BeoLab 10 center speaker and a motorized stand that automatically lifts the set to the optimal viewing position (as well as rotate it to suit your sofa). There’s also integration with B&O’s BeoLink home automation system, which allows all your A/V kit to be controlled by one or more Beo6 remotes. Like other B&O sets, there are electronic curtains, which open automatically when you power on the TV, while the Automatic Color Management system checks the screen after every 100hrs of use with a built-in camera, tweaking settings as appropriate. The 3D system uses active shutter glasses. Bang & Olufsen aren’t talking pricing at this stage, though given the size of the set and the company’s track record, we’re not expecting the BeoVi

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X220 and X220T Tablet have gone up for sale, offering up to 24hrs of battery life and Intel Core i3 and i5 processors. Announced back in March, the notebooks are priced from $849 for the X220 and from $1,249 for the X220T . Both have 12.5-inch 1366 x 768 displays, with the X220T’s recognizing multitouch gestures. There’s also 2GB of RAM as standard on the X220, along with a 250GB hard-drive and Intel HD Graphics 3000. The X220T gets 4GB of RAM but the same HDD and GPU. Both have WiFi b/g/n as standard, and can be configured with Bluetooth and/or integrated WWAN. Meanwhile the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s is also up for sale today , priced from $749 with the Core i5 processor and from $819 with the Core i7 processor. It has a 12.5-inch display and Intel HD Graphics 3000.

AT&T may have undermined an integral part of the BlackBerry PlayBook ‘s functionality, over what looks to be concerns regarding tethering use. BlackBerry Bridge is the system by which RIM allows for email, contacts, calendar and other app access on a PlayBook tablet from a BlackBerry smartphone; however, it also allows for tethering, something which seems to have prompted AT&T to block the app. Update 2: AT&T statement after the cut CrackBerry found that, when they tried to use the Bridge app, AT&T was listed as an unsupported carrier. That means no access to email on the handset, and since the PlayBook currently lacks a dedicated email app of its own, it’s a significant shortcoming. AT&T’s issue, it’s speculated, is that through Bridge the PlayBook can get online using the smartphone’s connection. That wouldn’t be recognized as tethering – i.e. something that AT&T charges more for subscribers to access – and so Bridge has seemingly been blocked as a result. En

Sonos has released its Sonos Controller for Android app , allowing users of Android 2.1 or higher smartphones or tablets to remotely control their multi-room audio systems without paying for a separate remote. Meanwhile, the company has also added Apple AirPlay support in Sonos firmware v3.4, allowing an AirPort Express to be plugged into a Sonos device’s aux-in input and stream from it around the home. We played with the Sonos Controller for Android app back in February – you can see it in action in the video below – and found it to be even better than its iOS counterpart. Sonos missed its original release date , but the app will be in the Android Market today. As for the AirPlay support in Sonos 3.4, that allows for music to be streamed from an iPod, iPhone or iPad, just as the system currently allows for iTunes access. It can be streamed to a single room or synchronized across all rooms. Press Release: Sonos Controller for Android Now available on Android Market Sonos Gives Andro

Footage of what’s claimed to be iOS 5.0 running on either a white iPhone 5 or an official white iPhone 4 has emerged in Vietnam, ahead of what’s expected to be a June official unveil this year. Tinhte forums member cuhiep managed to grab some hands-on time with what’s described as “a test version of next-generation iPhone with the new iOS that Apple plans to release this year.” Video demo after the cut He says it’s a 64GB model though there’s no sign of any settings pages to prove that. There’s an interesting Exposé style switcher, too, along with slicker integration with searching across the phone. To be honest, it could very well be an iPhone 4 running a custom – but non-official – multitasking UI, but if this is really Apple’s handiwork then we’re pleased to see a change from the current system of app switching. No sign of a bigger display as previous rumors have tipped . Update: 9 to 5 Mac dug up another video (which you can see below) that shows prototype buttons as well as c

UK carrier Three has backtracked on its white iPhone 4 listing , which was spotted yesterday promising April 20 2011 delivery of the coveted device. While the carrier’s customer care team told us yesterday that the deal was authentic, Three is now saying that “it’s a hidden page that’s inactive.” “This page is not live at the moment, it was built at the same time as the iPhone black page so that we have it ready when and should the time come to launch white. For now, it’s a hidden page that’s inactive.” Apple is rumored to be preparing the white iPhone 4 announcement for April 26, and the Three listing was seen as the carrier jumping the gun on getting its offer out there. The original product code is no longer working, however, and it’s unclear what’s happened to anybody who took advantage of the deal before Three pulled it. Still, all signs point to an imminent launch of the handset, and were we cynical people we might wonder whether Three were now playing dumb so as to keep Apple o

I like seeing people take one device and use it to make other devices. I’m not talking about taking a hammer and making a birdhouse out of wood with some nails. I am talking about taking apart a watch and using the gears and parts to make a sculpture of something else like this guy going by dkart71 did. He takes old school watches with gears and other small parts that can be removed. He then uses those parts to build motorcycle models. This is really cool and if you look close, you can see the watch crystal, winging knob and stems, and lots more. The only thing I wonder about being an actual watch part is the exhaust. It looks like the case from an old pocket watch is the rear wheel. And the forks are made from a gold watchband. I love the creativity and vision this sculpture required!

Nokia has been offering navigation maps for users of Nokia maps for web users for a while now. Like many of these types of apps they started out as flat 2D maps that looked like drawings. Nokia has announced a cool new update to Ovi Maps that adds 3D view to the maps so a user can get a better understanding of the “feel” of a place. Nokia Maps 3D sounds lot like Google Earth to me. Nokia claims that the maps are very realistic and all the buildings, parks, and playgrounds in an area are included in the map. Nokia partnered with C3 to make the 3D maps. C3 uses camera equipment that captures the same object form up to 100 different angles and then the images are used to recreate a 3D representation. 3D maps are offered for San Francisco, New York, Miami, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Toronto, London, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Milan, Venice, Florence, Barcelona, Madrid, Prague, Vienna and more to come. The service also offers maps of the streets of downtown in Lond

It’s hard to believe that here in the US we are very close to being done with another school year. That means that you will need to find gifts for all those graduates you know and if you want something cool that won’t break the bank here it is. This is a metal pen with an integrated level, screwdriver and ruler. The body of the pen is marked in inches. You can see the bubble level window the little window and the screwdriver has both a small flat tip and a Philips bit under the cap on top. The pen is cheap too with a price of $14.95 each. You know that this pen will get lots of use; I always need a screwdriver at odd times and never have one. There is no word on if the pen has black or blue ink color.

Seagate is one of the biggest names in HDD storage for the consumer and enterprise user. Samsung is very big in the production of NAND flash that is used in SSD drives. The two companies have today announced a new strategic partnership that will have them combining some of their operations. Samsung will combine its HDD operations into Seagate and the two firms will extensively cross-license technology. In exchange, Samsung is getting a significant ownership stake in Seagate of about 9.6%. The deal is costing Seagate $1.375 billion. Half of that amount is being paid with stock and the other half in cash. Samsung will provide Seagate with NAND flash for use in SSD products, hybrid drives and other gear under the agreement. The two firms expect the deal to close by the end of 2011. Samsung will also get to designate a nominee to join the Seagate board of directors.

One of the things I like most about print mags and subscriptions is that I can keep them and look back at things printed in the past to compare to new items. Back issues are also great for reading material on really boring days. If you have a Kindle and you have a digital magazine subscription, you may not know this little tidbit. If you cancel your subscription to a magazine on the eReader, you also lose your back issues. That is like the publisher coming to your house and picking up the magazines on your coffee table if you cancel. That is certainly not fair at all to the subscriber that paid for the issues. Some people like to collect the back issues and it really sucks that you lose those issues. Not only do the back issues you already downloaded get deleted if you cancel a subscription, but there is no way to transfer back issues to a new device either.

Alienware makes some really cool gaming focused machines that have loads of power and big prices to go with that power. The company also makes some interesting smaller notebooks too. If you have been looking for the new m18x and m14x notebooks to land apparently, that is coming today. Pocket-lint reports that sources have told it that the launch of the m18x and the m14x notebooks are due today. Alienware has a teaser site up right now that geeks interested in the notebooks can register with for more information. These should be some nice gaming machines. The m18x will use an NVIDIA GTX 460M processor, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD. It also uses a 2.8GHz Core i7 CPU, 8GHz of RAM, and 750GB HDD. One of the upgrade processors is a 3.4GHz unit, and other upgrades include 8GB of RAM, and 750GB of storage

A long time ago when I got my first credit card the first thing I did was buy a Neo Geo game console I thought it was the coolest game system in the world and it was pretty darn cool. If you are still playing your Neo Geo and want something cooler that you can play Analogue Interactive has something really cool. The product is the Neo Geo Consolized MVS. That is a long name for what amounts to the innards of a Neo Geo console stuffed in a really cool looking walnut wood enclosure. The enclosure has dust flaps over the door where you plug the cartridge and has a pair of joystick ports on the front. The back of the case has component and composite inputs and a power switch. The cabinet is 100% real walnut. The connectivity lets the console work with just about any HDTV and it has a new rechargeable battery for saving content and scores. The MVS will ship in early May 2011 for $649 and will work with any Neo Geo controller made.

If you live in Australia and have signed up for information on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v, you need to check your inbox. Emails started going out yesterday at some point telling those that had registered for more details that the 10.1v was hitting pre-order today. The official launch date is tomorrow for the tablet. The pre-orders are underway until 8pm tonight, but you have to wait until May 1 for the tablet to ship. This tablet is basically nothing but a thinner version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that we have here in the states. The tablet comes with a bonus book cover too. The tablet is free with a 2-year contract on data at AU$39 monthly. It you want a one-year contract it will cost you AU$259 and the same monthly fee as the 2-year contract. If you want no contract, you will need to spend AU$729.

If you like music you might be familiar with the band Gorillaz. They have the videos with animated primates in them. Gorillaz and Korg have teamed up to offer a cool special edition app for the iPad that is a virtual beatbox from Korg. The app is called iElectribe Gorillaz Edition. The app will sell in a limited edition of 10,000 units at $9.99 per download. The company is apparently thinking of selling more since the app carries the disclaimer “sales beyond 10,000 are yet to be determined.” What that likely means is if we sell 10,000 copies we will sell more. The app has some cool stuff for the people that want to make their own jams. The app has a PCM synthesizer sound engine with 128 PCM samples. It has eight total instrument voices and eight PCM synthesizer parts. It has a bunch of different effects and the sequencer can have different patterns and tempos. The app has a lot of different things you can do and use to make your own tunes.

Yesterday word surfaced that Apple was filing a patent suit against Samsung. The suit stems from allegations that Samsung is copying Apple intellectual property with the design of some of the Samsung Galaxy series smartphones. Anyone can see the resemblance between the two in the photo below. Samsung has vowed to fight Apple’s suit with one of its own. According to the AFP, Samsung suspects that Apple is violating its wireless technology patents. This suit is interesting considering that Apple is the second largest customer for Samsung and has spent huge sums of money on components from Samsung. Apple accused Samsung of copying the look, feel, design, packaging and user interface of the iPhone. Samsung issued a statement reading, “Samsung will respond actively to this legal action taken against us through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property.”

Blockbuster was for years the place to go in many cities around the country when you wanted to watch or rent a movie. The company started to lose ground when alternatives like Netflix and Redbox started to become popular ultimately Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. I reported last week that the bankruptcy court had approved the purchase of Blockbuster by Dish Network. At the time, one of the reasons that Dish Network won the bid was that it planned to keep the chain running. Dish plans to continue to operate about 600 of the Blockbuster stores around the country. That means that 1000 of the stores running right now will be closed. Blockbuster had already cut the number of stores to 1726. The store closings are all around the country, including some in Dallas where the company is based. Apparently Dish hasn’t yet assumed the lease for the corporate HQ of Blockbuster in downtown Dallas or the distribution center measuring a massive 850,000 square feet in McKinney. The purchase of Blockb

Nokia’s Windows Phone ambitions have been prematurely previewed, with rumored details of four handsets supposedly in development being leaked. The company has apparently bypassed the so-called “chassis 1″ format – the tightly spec-constrained handsets we’ve seen so-far – and, according to Mobile-review , dived straight into developing “chassis 2″ prototypes which will allow Nokia greater flexibility in the design and components it can use. The initial four designs reportedly consist of X7 and N8 variants running Windows Phone, along with a QWERTY touchscreen candybar device similar to the E6 and a “cheap” all-touch device for the entry-level price point. The Windows Phone X7 – which Mobile-review calls the Nokia W7, though it’s unclear if that name will stick – supposedly has a WVGA display and Qualcomm QSD8250 chipset. The chassis is the same, angular casing as we played with last week , with an 8-megapixel camera paired with autofocus and a flash. The screen is not reportedly AMO