IBLOG SPACE

We have all been there, 30 outlets, but only able to use 6. Nothing is more frustrating than buying a monster power strip with 30 or more outlets only to find most of them are un-useable. Not because there is something wrong with the outlets, but the shape of the power adapter you are plugging in ends up covering 2 or 3 additional outlets. Then there are those fat power adapters that can only be plugged in from one angle and naturally that angle makes almost half the power strip useless. Pivot Power, from Quirky has a solution. Pivot Power is a flexible power strip that can help reduce some of that frustration. Each outlet on the Pivot Power can bend or flex to help find a more convenient angle to plug something in. There is a hinge between every outlet on the strip. This allows more flexibility when choosing how to plug something in, literally. They only swivel in the side to side direction; it would have been nice to see one or two of the outlets bend in the vertical direction al

As the rumors go, Apple’s iMessage announcement came as quite the unpleasant shock to the carriers, who until now had been happily encouraging SMS overuse on the iPhone. Reports of RIM executives weeping visibly over BBM are all anecdotal. iMessage promises to further prise the operator’s hands from the ruddy teats of the SMS cash-cow, shifting traffic to cheaper data connections instead. Yet the real game-changer may still be waiting in the wings: with a little work, Google could blow iMessage, BBM and SMS out of the water. The concept behind iMessage is straightforward: rather than route text, audio and photo conversations via SMS and MMS, if iOS 5 figures you’re talking to another iMessage user, they’re fired off over your data connection instead. It’s the iChat app for iOS we’ve been waiting for, only with zero hurdles to usability – you don’t have to tell your iPhone if you’re wanting to use SMS or data, since it figures it out itself. Google has an IM system in the shape of Goog

With the adoption of smartphones, many consumers are relying on their phone to direct them to their destination rather than a GPS . Why clutter your life with two devices when you can easily make do with one? This is no doubt one of the reasons Magellan is rolling out the RoadMate 5175T-LM; it has built in WiFi , a web browser, and a new more robust trip planner called TourDirector. A portable web browser with no data plan does sound appealing, but can these new features keep the GPS competitive in the evolving smartphone world? One of the biggest complaints consumers have had in the past with any GPS was the costly expense of updating the maps. In some cases the new map download was more than half the price of simply buying another GPS. Owners of the RoadMate 5175T-LM will no longer have to worry, as free lifetime map updates are included with purchase. This will help the GPS stay more competitive, since Google Maps users never need to purchase upgrades. The web browser is also a n

I bet you remember that Cadence 4-bit watch that we talked about while back, we even gave a few of them away to readers. Cadence is back with the sibling to that watch you wear for those that can’t bring them to wear a wristwatch even if it is geeky cool like that Cadence watch. This new product is the Cadence 4-bit Wall Clock . It is very similar in design to the wristwatch with rows of four blocks for numbers. Like the wristwatch, the shading of those four blocks tells you what the time is and represent numbers based on binary numbers. The clock has a 13.25″ diameter face and a shatter resistant polycarbonate crystal. The movement is battery-powered quartz. The power source is a single AA battery and the clock is made here in the US. The watch will hit pre-order at the end of June for $68 and pre-orders get a 40% discount. “Following enthusiastic response among computer geeks in regards to the 4-Bit Watches, we are proud to give the home and office some attention,“ says Vanya Buvac,

The first of HTC’s so-called Facebook phones, the HTC Salsa , arrived with plenty of fanfare at MWC 2011 back in February – the looming head of Mark Zuckerberg on the big screen, issuing a blanket blessing to all phones that prioritized Facebook integration – then left us scratching our collective heads as to whether we truly loved the social network quite enough to warrant a dedicated button for it. Now the lilac lifestyle phone is in our hands, encouraging us to detail the minutiae of our lives with everyone willing to read it. Check out as we over-share on the Salsa after the cut, in the full SlashGear review.

When it comes to listening to music our music audio on the go, you can go for a set of headphones or ear buds if you are alone. If you don’t feel like wearing earphones or have multiple people that want to hear you need a speaker. Most of the speakers for computers aren’t made to be taken on the road so they are bulky and take up lots of space in your bag making using them difficult. Cyber Snipa has announced a new portable speaker that looks like it will be easy to pack up and go. Cyber Sniper has a line of headphones already and this is the first portable speaker for mobile devices to come from the company. The speaker is called the Cyber Snipa Sonar Portable Mini Speaker. That is a long name for such a small speaker. The device has a patented vacuum bass system that allows it to expand for deeper bass. The speaker is powered by a rechargeable battery good for four hours of use. It will work with all brands of gear. That likely means it has a 3.5mm input port, but that is not spell

I don’t know about you, but any time my iPhone or other game console runs out of power on the go, it’s generally right at the point where I am about to win a race or beat a certain boss. That makes the device turning off on its own doubly sucky. Nyko has been trotting out a lot of new Nintendo 3DS peripherals at E3 and the latest of them is called the Game Boost . The Game Boost is designed to add up to two more hours of playtime to your 3DS. That will be plenty of time for you to wrap up whatever boss you are beating or race you are winging and find an outlet in many cases. The device attaches to the back of the 3DS to work along with the factory battery in just a few seconds. The battery is thin and compact to add minimal bulk to the 3DS. The Game Boost doesn’t block any of the ports, sliders, or buttons on the 3DS either. To recharge the Game Boost the user needs only to connect it to the factory charger. That means that on the go you only need to carry the Nintendo 3DS charger to k

We have established on more than on occasion there is an app for everything in the app store. Apparently, there will be apps for navigation in space soon. A pair of iPhones are slated to head into space on the last space shuttle mission later this year. The devices aren’t going as part of some advertising campaign, but I would bet the fact finds its way into some marketing campaign in one way or another. The two phones will be running an app designed by a company called Odyssey Space Research called SpaceLab for iOS. The app is experimental and the crew will perform four experiments using the app while in space. The app apparently uses the iPhone cameras, gyroscopes, and other sensors and the instructions on performing the experiments are included in the apps so no printed instructions will have to be sent up saving weight. The iPhone 4 was certified for spaceflight. Odyssey designs space navigation systems, but notes that the iPhone will not be used for mission critical guidance on th

Space flights are expensive. No one will argue that point with each launch costing whatever government is footing the bill millions of dollars. The last Endeavour flight was a big deal so Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli had brought along some high-end camera gear from Nikon to take some epic photos of the Endeavour docked with the ISS. The photos were taken from a distance of about 600-feet from the ISS. I don’t even want to think about how fast Nespoli and the ISS were hurtling around the planet when he was shooting the pics. The camera used was the Nikon D3x and a 24-120mm lens. Each of the cameras sells for about $8,000. That is nothing for a space agency when the bill for the flight is millions. If you expected that the camera gear was left behind on, the ISS for other astronauts to use you would be wrong. Apparently, the standard practice on gear like this is to destroy it on the return trip. The memory cards were pulled out of the camera and the hardware was left in the descent

If you have been wondering what happened of that Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet that we heard of along with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 you are not alone. The two tablets went official at the same time and earlier this month we learned that the launch in Europe had been delayed after issues with Honeycomb. The issue with the Android OS on the tablet isn’t the only problem the tablet is facing. Apparently, there is a shortage of the screens that Samsung uses for it. Reports claim that Samsung is having low yield issues with the 8.9-inch G1F touch panels that use one less layer than traditional GFF panels require. The fewer layers the screen has the brighter it is and the thinner it is allowing the tablet to be thinner too. The yields are so low on the screen that Samsung is reportedly looking at an alternative screen for some areas at launch. The catch is that alternative screen isn’t as good as the one that was announced on the Tab 8.9. The alternative screen is 30-40% thicker and dimmer according to

Apple rumors will never die, they just get refreshed. It’s no surprise to anyone that follows tech that the rumors surround Apple and its coming iPhone and iPad specs never end. Each time a new model is released the speculation starts again on what will be next. There have been several rumors that point to features of the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 depending on what rumor you prefer for the name of the next device. One of the rumors that keeps surfacing is that the new version of the iPhone will get a better camera. We mentioned last month that Omnivision had hinted in a report that Apple was using its 8MP camera sensors in the coming version of the iPhone and iPad tablet. We have another new rumor today that supports the next iPhone having an 8MP camera onboard. This rumor comes by way of the CEO of Largan. Largan makes camera phone optics and lenses. Largan CEO Lin En-ping said at a shareholders meeting that it was seeing increasing orders of 8MP lenses coming from suppliers and then wen

Here we go again. It seems like most of the tablet makers on the market today think that they can toss a tablet out that is similar to the iPad on a different OS and just sell droves of the things because the tablet supports Flash. I think that the gigantic lead the iPad 2 has in the tablet market should show other makers that they need more than Flash support to beat Apple in the tablet game. If they offered a tablet for a lot less money than the iPad 2 with similar specs and Flash support, then they get my attention. Samsung has put the first of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 commercials on YouTube for geeks to check out. Naturally, the ad shows a bunch of people using the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to do all sorts of things. One scene shows a man and a woman at a business meeting where a flash file is needed. The woman is using the iPad 2 and can’t get flash while the Tab 10.1 runs the flash video no problem. The caption reads, “See Flash Run.” Samsung doesn’t point out that the lady is using the iPad 2

When it comes to developing apps for smartphones typical developers go with the most popular platforms, which are Android and iOS. Android developers are being encouraged to come develop their apps for Windows Phone 7 as well by Microsoft with a new development transition package called the Windows Phone guidance and API mapping tool that has been updated to include Android. The new package has two parts for Android devs. One part is the Android to Windows Phone API Mapping tool. This is like a translation dictionary according to Microsoft. The mapping tool takes the Android code that devs are familiar with and maps it to similar code for Windows Phone 7. The mapping tool is described as a great first step for developers looking to become fluent in WinPo 7 development. The kit also includes a white paper with 90 pages and seven chapters. The white paper is called the Windows Phone 7 guide for Android Application Developers. Microsoft notes that the API mapping is ongoing and that not a

Back in March, I mentioned that Microsoft had appealed the verdict in the case brought against it for patent infringement against a small Toronto firm called i4i over tech used in MS Word. This legal battle has been raging for years and the jury had previously awarded i4i $290 million after determining that in 2003 and 2007 Microsoft infringed on a patent held by i4i relating to text manipulation software. Microsoft appealed that verdict all the way to the Supreme Court and is fighting to invalidate the patent. This week Microsoft had its day in front of the Supreme Court and Microsoft lost. The Supreme Court upheld the jury verdict and sided with i4i in the case just as all other judges have done so far. One of the things that Microsoft tried was to get the courts to adopt a lower standard for the requirement that a defendant in a patent case needed to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that the plaintiff’s patent is invalid. Microsoft wanted to provide proof involving what is

Google is reportedly preparing its own BlackBerry Messenger rival, as Apple readies iMessage for launch with iOS 5 . Details on the service are unclear at present, with sources simply telling the WSJ that Google “has also recently worked on a messaging application” but sharing no further details on what, exactly, that app might look like. Still, given Android already has Google Talk, the company’s IM client that allows for cross-communication between Android handsets and tablets, GMail in the browser and the PC GTalk app, it’s not hard to imagine a boosted version updated to better challenge iMessage and BBM. Currently GTalk supports text-based conversations, but it would require photo and perhaps video/audio support, along with group chat, if it wanted to legitimately counter BBM. That’s no great step, however, and of course Google also has live two-way video chat support in GTalk as well (as long as you have a very recent device). That, with the established presence on the desktop

Sanyo has been selling its Eneloop rechargeable batteries for a long time now. The batteries are pretty nice and come in AA size to fit many devices and gadgets you might need to power. Sanyo has announced the addition of a couple new batteries to its Eneloop line that includes the Eneloop Pro and the Eneloop Plus batteries and chargers for both battery lines will be offered as well. The Eneloop Pro battery has a power capacity that is 25% greater than the normal Eneloop offerings. That means the devices you put the Pro version of the batteries into will last longer than if you crammed a normal Eneloop inside. Sanyo recommends the pro battery for high drain devices like digital cameras, strobe lights or flashlights. The Eneloop Plus battery has an overheat function that helps prevent the batteries from overheating. Overheating of a battery can lead to fire risk so the extra protection is good. Sanyo will also offer a Wireless Charging Carrying Case to recharge the batteries with no wi

The iPhone Dev Team has released its tethered jailbreak for devices running iOS 5, as demonstrated earlier this week . The hack – which allows unofficial software to be run on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch when running the new version of iOS – uses the original limera1n bootrom exploit; still, the Dev Team reckons this particular release really isn’t for everyone. That’s because, right now the only people with legitimate access to the iOS 5 beta are developers. The Dev Team is pitching this particular jailbreak at developers creating jailbroken apps, with the warning being that there are multiple broken components – including some incompatibilities with Apple’s official apps, various third-party apps, Cydia and MobileSubstrate apps – for it to be of reliable use for the general public who have managed to acquire a copy of iOS 5. It also threatens to irretrievably upgrade your baseband, which isn’t good news if you’ve been trying to preserve a baseband that’s unlockable. You’ll need

Samsung has confirmed it will be beginning mass-production of flexible AMOLED panels in 2012, with a new 5.5Gen plant opening in Q2. The smartphone-scale displays are expected to show up in Samsung devices next year, likely using the same WVGA resolution 4.5-inch panel as the company demonstrated in prototype form last year . However, Samsung also envisages the flexible AMOLED technology being applied to smaller devices, like watches, and larger ones, like tablets and MIDs; there’s also the potential for lighting and other applications around the home and office. The screens use a polyimide plastic substrate rather than the more traditional glass substrate, which allows them to be furled around a 2cm diameter cylinder. Since they use AMOLED technology, power consumption is lower and there’s no tricky backlight to handle. Samsung is even going so far as to describe the displays as “unbreakable” though that seems like a promise almost guaranteed to backfire. More recently, Samsung show

Shuttle has outed its latest PC, the Shuttle H3 6700G, and while it may be branded a gaming SFF desktop (based on the SH67H3 barebones), it’s a reasonably discrete one. None of the flashy lighting of Alienware or the candy colors of some rivals; the H3 6700G is an unassuming little black box that keeps most of its abilities hidden inside. Inside the aluminum chassis there’s a motherboard using Intel’s H67 Express chipset for the latest Sandy Bridge Core i3/i5 /i7 processors, along with LGA1155 for GPU enhancement, SATA-III 6Gbps support and two SATA-II 3Gbps connections. Other ports include a pair of eSATA – Shuttle envisage some users setting up RAID arrays and using Intel’s Rapid Storage tech – along with four USB 3.0, seven USB 2.0, HDMI and DVI. A heatpipe system for the CPU means a smaller, quieter – and more power-frugal – fan can be used, while still leaving space for two graphics card slots. Up to 16GB of DDR3 1333 MHz memory can be fitted, and there’s gigabit ethernet and su

Analysts at IDC are making bold Windows Phone predictions again, and despite new devices being conspicuous by their absence, the incoming rush of Nokia hardware still leads them to suggest the OS will hold the number two smartphone position by 2015. That would leave iOS in third place, while Android is estimated to grow its current share by 5-percent to further cement its lead across the segment. It’s not the first time we’ve heard such strong predictions for Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. IDC made similar estimates back in March , though the numbers have fluctuated a little since then. Interestingly, the current estimate for Windows Phone (and Windows Mobile) market share in 2011 has actually dropped in the adjusted figures, down to just 3.8-percent (from 5.5-percent a few months back). “Until Nokia begins introducing Windows Phone-powered smartphones in large volumes in 2012, Windows Phone 7/Windows Mobile will only capture a small share of the market as the release of Mango-p

Apple’s new iCloud service may have been one of the three pillars of Steve Jobs’ WWDC 2011 keynote, but  the music storage aspect of the service looks to be US-only for some time. According to a major record label source in the UK, speaking to The Telegraph, “tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012.” Apple and Warner Music declined to comment, while Universal, EMI and Sony were all unavailable to comment. However, the potential for delay was echoed by the Performing Right Society, which confirmed that their own talks with Apple were only in the very early stages. “The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed … It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to

Nothing makes a statement like having a key ring that is bigger than the keys. Well the Karabiner from Bounty Hunter does one better, it comes with its own knife. Always looking for manly gadgets, this one got our attention. Not all gadgets can be useful and potentially dangerous at the same time. This one has the best of both worlds. The Karabiner’s knife is in its back, or rather inside the metal body. The Karabiner also has a nail file and scissors tucked away Swiss-Army style next to the blade. The nail-file and scissors are not very menacing; they were probably just put in next to the knife to fill the extra space. To be perfectly honest, the blade is not all that threatening either. TSA security might not agree with that, but we would consider the knife a tool instead of a weapon. The knife could be used in self defense under certain circumstances. For example, if you were attacked in the forest by a small animal, like a rabbit or a squirrel. The Karabiner is silver, with th

An inventor named Glenn Martin has been developing a jetpack since the 1980’s, and it looks like his work is about to pay off. Ever since the Wright brothers first flight, science fiction has been in love with the jet pack. Who wouldn’t want to arrive at work wearing a shiny contraption strapped on their back? Martin’s invention looks like it is about to bring the jetpack from science fiction into reality. In the past, attempts at producing a working jetpack were unsuccessful, or working models yielded such brief flights as to be impractical. But last month, Martin’s jetpack prototype successfully carried a dummy pilot on a flight that reached 5,000 feet above the South Island’s Canterbury Plains in New Zealand. The jetpack is made of twin V4 engines, and runs on gasoline (petrol). Its 4.5 gallon tank has an estimated range of 30 minutes flight time or 31 miles. We won’t be able to take one to work just yet. The Jetpack is classified as an ultralight, and ultralights are not a

Ever lose your car? Of course not. Ever forget where you parked? Well……. Fujitsu Ten Ltd has an app for that. Their new AVN-F01i can not only help you find your destination, it can also help locate your car. The AVN-F01i has an iPhone app named “Docco Car” (Where Car) that can actually lead you back to your car in the event you may have misplaced it. It may also help locate the vehicle in the event it was stolen. The Docco Car app is part of a three app suite that will be available with the AVN-F01i. The other two apps are called “TwitDrive,” and “Car News Reader.” TwitDrive allows the driver to read tweets that were broadcast by their friends, and respond while at the wheel. That is right, while driving. Fujitsu Ten Ltd said when responding to tweets, the user will only have a pane of fixed tweets to choose from like “there is a traffic jam,” to keep the driver from being distracted. The Car News Reader sounds much safer; it reads out news headlines to the user. Right now the apps

AT&T announced today that it will be adding free WiFi to 26 locations in 20 New York City parks. The free WiFi is available to all, AT&T customers and non-customers. The service rolled out to three parks today, with 23 additional parks to follow this summer. Nothing is cheaper than free, and it is hard to complain about quality of service when you are paying nothing out of pocket. Although free WiFi services have been talked about for years, free WiFi hotspots have yet to spread city-wide in the US. The three parks getting free WiFi today are Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem. We will have to see if this new service improves the overall atmosphere of the parks. No doubt these parks are going to become popular places for anonymous web activity. Not secret activity, anything done via these open networks is viewable by others. So, don’t log into yo

We reviewed the AT&T MiFi 2372 back in January, but since then Novatel, the devices manufacturer, has recently updated the device’s software. DLNA streaming media support has been added to the MiFi 2372. TheMiFi 2372 already functioned well as a mobile 3G or 4G hotspot, and sharing the microSDHC card helped set it apart from the competition. Adding DLNA support just sweetened the package. For those not familiar, DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is a standard used to share content with other devices on a home network. By adding DLNA support to the MiFi 2372, users can now stream content on the microSD card to any other DLNA device in the home. This would include streaming movies, music, or photos. Many household devices can be purchased with DLNA, not just PC’s and laptops. Many TVs, smartphones, and tablets come with a DLNA option. Anyone that already has an AT&T MiFi 2372 simply needs to update their software to take advantage of the new functionality. The new DLNA

It’s been discovered by CDFXapps.com that the new iTunes with iCloud, at least in the beta version, lets users re-download apps that have been removed from the iTunes App Store. Apple has made it clear during theirWWDC 2011 keynote that the new iCloud enabled App Store will let users re-download apps, but is it an oversight that previously purchased apps that have been removed or banned are also still available? Apple has unveiled that the new iCloud will bring a new “Purchased” tab next to the “Updates” tab in the App Store. The Purchased tab will show all apps that you’ve purchased along with a cloud button next to each one that lets you download the app to any of your iOS devices that doesn’t already have it. But, according to CDFXapps, the iDOS app, which has been banned by Apple because of wormholes that allowed any .exe file to run on it, can be re-downloaded from the Purchased section. Another example is the game “Tris,” which was a Tetris clone that was removed from the Ap

Although we all know that Microsoft is heading into tablets with a completely revamped Windows 8, some of us may be too impatient to wait several months until the first Windows 8 tablet hits the market. And if Android and iOS tablets don’t suit your taste, then there are still tablets outfitted with Windows 7. In fact, Archos has justtweeted today an all new follow-up to their Archos 9 PC Tablet with some upgraded specs. The Archos 9 PC Tablet merges the power of the desktop OS with the portability of a tablet form factor. It features a 9-inch matte-finish touchscreen powered by a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z515 CPU. It has a 32GB solid state hard drive, a built-in webcam, WiFi, stereo speakers, microphone, USB port, and Bluetooth. The tablet comes pre-loaded with Lotus Symphony for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. It also has a built-in adjustable kickstand that lets you angle it high for watching videos as well as angle it low for typing. Battery life is

Microsoft is ramping up both consumer and developer support for its Windows Phone platform in preparation for their Mango update. Earlier today, they kicked off new one-cent deals for HTC Windows Phones in hopes of boosting consumer adoption of their platform and now they’re offering a new app migration tool for Android developers. Back in April, Microsoft began offering an app mapping tool for iOS developers and now they’re doing the same to court Android developers. The mapping tool makes it easier for developers to port their Android apps to the Windows Phone platform. However, much like the iOS version, this mapping tool does not automatically port over code. Instead, it offers an extensive list of API mappings that works like a dictionary for translating bits of code. Also, not all APIs are mappable at the moment because the two platforms have such different architectures and interfaces. However, Microsoft is providing plenty of guides and references as well as an area where

Although Google’s Chromebooks appeared early on the exclusive flash sales site  Gilt  about a week ago, the actual launch won’t be until June 15. The first two Chromebooks will be coming from Google partners  Samsung and  Acer . And now, less than a week from launch, the two Chromebooks are available for pre-orders on Amazon and Best Buy. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is the larger and more expensive of the two. It sports a 12.1-inch display, dual core Intel Atom processor, boasting all-day battery life and 8-second boot up time. It will come with both a WiFi-only and a 3G/WiFi model as well as two color options. The WiFi model will be priced at $429 while the 3G is priced at $499. The Acer Cromia Chromebook has similar specs as the Samsung model, but sports a smaller 11.6-inch display and slightly shorter battery life rating. Its prices range from $380 for the WiFi-only version to $450 for the 3G version. You can find the links to pre-order at Amazon and Best buy here.

One of the major announcements kicking off this past week’s E3 2011 conference, was Sony’s unveiling of the next-generation portable (NGP) now known as the PS Vita. The new portable gaming device boasts front and rear cameras as well as a unique integration of front and rear touch panels into its gameplay among several new features. Pricing and general timeframe for availability was also revealed. But if you still have more questions, Sony has posted up a long FAQs to answer everything or at least what it can say for now. Some things to note from the FAQ are that the PS Vita will not support HDMI video output, and will not be region-specific. The phased roll out of the device is set to start by end of this year to all SCE regions. Specific improvements of the PS Vita over the PSP include improved hardware for enhanced graphics, new multi-touch front and rear panels, two cameras, Live Area for game titles, location-based services, 3G capability, and better integration with PlayStati

Motorola’s new Android smartphone, the PHOTON 4G, was just announced earlier today and we were at the NYC press event to get a hands-on with it. The device sports some nice specs and is powered by a Tegra 2 processor. But what’s extra neat is that the device is said to launch with an unlocked bootloader. This is good news if you like to more fully customize your Android devices. HTC has recently announced that it was unlocking bootloaders on its phones across the board. The news was well received and it’s a wise move for Motorola to do the same with the PHOTON 4G. Another bit of news regarding the PHOTON 4G that wasn’t listed specifically in the official announcement is that the handset will be sporting Gorilla Glass for an extra touch scratch-resistant display. This will certainly be a nice bonus on top of the 4.3-inch qHD screen. The PHOTON 4G will be dropping later this summer. UPDATE: Unfortunately, Motorola has just doused some cold water on the good news. The company has se

Barnes & Noble’s original NOOK threw complexity at Amazon’s Kindle to try to carve a spot in the growing ereader market. A dual-screen device pairing both E Ink and touchscreen LCD panels, it found some favor among users but undoubtedly intimidated others looking for a purist reading experience. No such complaints about focus with the All-New NOOK, however: a simple, black-framed e-paper square with discrete touchscreen control and its attention fixed on reading. Check out our unboxing and first impressions after the cut. It’s certainly more compact than before, with the absence of a physical keyboard making it shorter than the Kindle and the first-gen NOOK. The grippy black plastic – a little thicker than a Kindle – leads your fingers neatly to the concave recess on the back, while the page-turn strips down either side of the 6-inch display fall neatly under the fingertips. The E Ink Pearl display is the same as on the third-gen Kindle, paired with an infrared touchscreen us