IBLOG SPACE

We know that Research in Motion’s update to the Playbook operating system is due out on February 21, but we’re still a little unclear on what exactly that update will bring with it. According to a new teaser pages on the Canadian version of retailer Best Buy’s website, at least part of the new update will be the addition of new apps – apps that arguably should have made their way to the Playbook ages ago. According to the copy on the newly minted Playbook 2.0 page, there will be dedicated Twitter and Kindle apps for the Blackberry tablet. As anyone who has been following the Playbook will know, it was supposed to get a Kindle app a long time ago but Amazon never released one. In addition, there is no Playbook-optimized Twitter app. The app that exists now is nothing but a shortcut to open the Playbook’s Web browser to Twitter.com. That is exactly what the Playbook’s Facebook “app” did for a while – it just opened up the mobile Facebook website. But the social network finally got aroun

It’s one part smartphone, one part Youtube, one part QR codes, and nine parts pure ingenuity. A new app called Clik allows users to seamlessly use their phone to control Youtube videos on a computer or bigger screen. Several people can even join in, making it possible to turn Youtube into an even more social experience. And the video sharing site is just the first step for this brand new mobile project. In the future, Clik hopes to become a ubiquitous way to connect between smartphones and other devices. Here’s how it works. After you download the Clik app, you brows through Youtube videos on your phone. Once you’ve found one you like, turn your attention to the big screen you want to play it on, scan a QR code, and you’re good to go. This app is from the same team that created Kik, an instant messaging app that was so intuitive and user-friendly it has managed to sign up more than 6 million users in a world where most people already have some other IM handle they’re more used to. Of c

Amid all the IPO hysteria that has recently surrounded Facebook, the social network also made news by announcing it plans to introduce mobile advertising for users who connect to the site through a smartphone app. In just its first year, where the ads will only be active in six countries, that initiative could bring in more than a billion more dollars to the soon-to-be public company’s bottom line. Specifically, moblie research group MobileSquared predicts that within the first 12 months after Facebook mobile ads go live, there will be a $1.2 billion revenue stream that didn’t exist before. That may sound impressive, but when you factor in the number of users who are active in the mobile Facebook world, that’s only around $6.50 per user per year. Most of us could probably live with that kind of burden. In terms of where the ad revenue will come from, MobileSquared says more than half ($653.7 million) will be driven from US Facebook users, while the UK will add $166.6 million and France

If you know anything about successful video games, then you know you can expect a new entry in the Call of Dity series every year, right in the middle of fall for the big shopping season. It looks like this year, there will be a new player invited to that annual party. It’s been announced that Sony’s new PlayStation Vita will receive its first entry in the popular war shooter franchise this year. In a recent interview with the website GameTrailers, Sony senior vice president of PlayStation brand marketing Guy Longworth said, “In the Autumn, [my kids] are really looking forward to Call of Duty on Vita, and that’s going to be an absolute game changer for the platform.” It was a bit of a fleeting remark, but it has caught some attention since there has been no official word of a Call of Duty game being developed for the Vita. Activision, the publisher of the smash hit series, has not commented on what looks to have been in inadvertent leak. Longworth is relatively new in his position as S

We’re all used to celebrating Fridays as the end of the work or school week, giving us a chance to relax and unwind, and creating excuses so we don’t have to wake up early on Saturday. But for another group of people, Fridays will become a bit more serious. Infamous hacking group Anonymous has decided to commit to at least of hack every week, and it will happen on Fridays. Most recently, Anonymous has claimed credit for attacking a webserver at the Federal Trade Commission as well as a recent compromise of the official CIA website. These are of course just the latest in what has become an entire legacy of Anonymous hacking. We, for one, have lost count. The group is still as strong and active as ever, and now it wants to make its anti-corporate message even stronger. In an instant message exchange with a Wired.com writer, an anonymous Anonymous representative was quoted as saying, “Each and every Friday we will be launching attacks… with the specific purpose of wiping as many corrupt c

In a story that is starkly different than most articles on the subject of violent video games, a new university-led study has found that playing shooters may actually be good for your health. Well, at least specifically for your eyesight. The research found that the concentration and skills required in games like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor actually helped adults hone and in some cases even strengthen their vision. The research comes to us from McMaster University in Canada. Daphne Maurer headed the project and took a sampling of people who had lifelong disorders in their eyes. They spent a total of 40 hours playing the EA game Medal of Honor throughout the course of a month. The sessions involved a couple of hours per day, five days a week. 83% of those involved in the study saw an increase in their eyesight, though none reached a perfect 20/20. Still, “I think it tells us that the visual nervous system is still plastic enough to either form or reveal connections in adulthood… and

A computer glitch over at your friendly neighborhood Internal Revenue Service has crippled the agency’s usually helpful online tool that allows users to track the status of their IRS refund. The organization has admitted that a glitch has occurred, which tells users there is no record of their tax return on file even when, in fact, the IRS has it and it is being processed on time. Users are being directed to the agency’s online schedule that outlines when users should expect their refund through direct deposit or a physical mailed check. “This is a temporary situation, and we expect to resolve the matter in a few days,” the IRS wrote in a statement on its website. “The IRS is taking steps to update information so that Where’s My Refund has current information. The IRS apologizes for any inconvenience and will provide updated information as soon as possible.” Under normal circumstances, the tool shows users when their tax return was accepted, when their refund is expected to be tendered

When Research in Motion’s Playbook tablet first began to show signs of struggling, analysts suggested one of the only ways to rise from the grave would be to offer some way of bringing Android apps to the platform. The Blackberry App World marketplace simply wasn’t attractive to developers, and consumers were not impressed by the limited selection. So RIM has managed to fulfill that call to action, but there are increasing limitations that lead to more questions about whether the Playbook is sustainable. In the latest development, RIM has revealed that Android apps carried over to the Playbook will not be able to contain advertising. This means developers who made a free app on Android and collect the advertising revenue that it generates will have absolutely no monetary incentive to offer those apps to the Playbook. And in a society where free apps are of significant importance, that is quite a blow. This may be something that can be altered in the future, but it won’t be ready when t

Even though Near Field Communication (NFC) is not currently a feature of Windows Phone Mango, there’s a new report that suggests LG’s upcoming Miracle handset will have NFC connectivity. The Miracle is one of the most anticipated Windows Phone offerings from LG and has previously been reported to have a rubberized case, a 5-megapixl rear camera, a front-facing VGA camera, and a 4-inch WVGA NOVA display. So far nothing official has been announced from LG. It’s almost certain that the device will be officially unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Spain later this month. At that time, it’s possible that Microsoft might announce the addition of NFC support in Windows Phone. NFC is currently supported by the latest version of Android and is rumored to be included in the next version of the iPhone. It is expected to be a major trend but for now its reach is quite limited. Also at issue with NFC is the software. So far, the only real worthwhile NFC app is Google Wallet, and only Sprint su

Whenever I review a software product or gadget, one of the key elements I must consider is price. Time and again, I need to determine if the value a product delivers is enough to justify its price tag. And in far too many cases, it doesn’t. But I’m starting to wonder how much price really matters. Surely we’d all like to save a few extra bucks whenever we can, but if the right product comes along that satisfies many of our desires, we find a way to justify purchasing it in our mind. The device over there that’s $200 cheaper is nice and all, but it’s not the one we want. And that’s all that matters. [Image credit: Scott Dierdorf] Nowhere is that more evident than in the mobile market. When it comes to mobile phones, there are a slew of devices available for free. In many cases, that means buying a feature phone, but for those that need data, coming across a free or extremely cheap smartphone is far easier now than ever. And yet, it’s Apple’s iPhone, which saw unit sales soar to more tha

There may come a day when mounting a fancy new flat screen TV to your living room wall is as simple as pulling out some double-sided tape. Well, that’s if the double-sided tape is made from Geckskin, an advanced super adhesive that can carry a 700-pound load using only an index card-sized piece. Plus, it leaves no residue on your wall. The Geckskin has been developed by a team of scientists studying and replicating the amazing adhesion abilities of geckos. The little toes on geckos have millions of microscopic hair-like setae that cause attraction and repulsion at the molecular level. But it’s more than the setae that create the incredible adhesion. The research team, which include polymer scientists and biologists observed that the padding, bones, and tendons of the gecko work in unison to create the strong stickiness. Hence, with Geckskin, they’ve developed a stiff woven fabric that incorporates a soft adhesive pad woven into a synthetic tendon. Funded by DARPA, the project has alrea

The game Dash Race is just about the most unique racing game you’re going to find on any platform – and I say that having played my fair share. What you’ll do in this iPhone-based pencil and grid racing game is draw lines from one square to the next, each player taking turns to see who can best the other in their mathematically calculated set of turns and straightaways. This game is derived from a game that you may have played while wasting time between classes in high school – in this case you won’t have to do any of the calculating yourself (unless of course you want to.) As you advance through the grid, you’ll find that your ability to move to different squares changes based on what move you made last. If you head straight through several of your moves, you may find yourself crashing into a wall because you don’t have the ability to gain a great enough turn radius. If you don’t advance enough squares by moving as far from your current space to the next, your opponents may out-race y

The most persistent rumor for Apple’s next-gen iPad is the use the introduction of high-resolution Retina Display similar to what’s been offered on the company’s latest iPhones. And today, more claims support the rumor with an close-up examination of what’s allegedly the display component of an iPad 3. MacRumors claims to have obtained an iPad 3 display component and compared it to an iPad 2 display. Upon first glance the look rather similar, both sporting a the 9.7-inch diagonal size. But with close examination, and by that we mean under a microscope, the pixel density was noticeably different. Not being able to power up the display, MacRumors examined the screens under a microscope to reveal that the iPad 3 display had double the pixel density of that on the iPad 2. Based on this finding, the iPad 3 would sport a full resolution of 2048 x 1536 compared to the iPad 2′s 1024 x 768 pixel resolution. Besides the higher-resolution display, the iPad 3 has also been rumored to feature a new

Google’s dream of putting self-driving cars onto the roadways has gotten one step closer despite the little accident a few months back that was attributed to human error. Nevada has become the very first state to approve of self-driving cars this week. Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles along with its Legislative Commission gave the stamp of approval provided that these autonomous test vehicles are distinguished from regular vehicles by a red license plate. Once the technology in the test vehicles have developed enough for public use, they will then carry a green license plate. “Nevada is the first state to embrace what is surely the future of automobiles,” said Bruce Breslow, director of the Department of Motor Vehicles in a statement. “These regulations establish requirements companies must meet to test their vehicles on Nevada’s public roadways as well as requirements for residents to legally operate them in the future.” Surely, this puts Nevada at the forefront of this exciting

This week the folks at Nikon France have made themselves the first to tell the world when the Nikon D4, D800, and D800E would be released. Their dates match up with the few tips and rumors we’ve heard before for US releases, so it appears that it’s time to call it in: March 15th will start sales for the Nikon D4, March 22nd will be the first day the Nikon D800 will be available, and the D800E will be up for sale starting on the 12th of April. Each of these cameras have been announced previously without solid release dates in-tact. The dates mentioned here match up with what we’ve heard from B&H as well as Adorama for possible availability for each of these cameras, and Nikon has also revealed that the D700 will continue to be available for sale through the release of the D800 and D800E. This is fabulous news for those of you looking for a possible price drop, as the drops have already begun across Europe. If you’re looking for a D700 here in the United States, you’ll have a lot les

iPad owners tend to be wealthier and older than average, while half of prospective iPad 3 buyers don’t care how much the third-gen tablet will cost them, according to independent research by NPD Group and SlashGear. NPD found more than 40-percent of current iPad owners had a household income of $100,000 or more, compared to 26-percent of non-iPad owners. In a survey run by SlashGear, meanwhile, half of those expressing a strong intention on buying the next-gen iPad – expected to be unveiled in early March – said they planned to do so without consideration of either price or specifications. 9,549 SlashGear readers answered the question “Are you excited about the iPad 3?” over a seven day period this month. Of that number, 32-percent expressed a strong intention of buying the iPad 3 when it was launched, half saying they intended to “wait until specs & pricing before deciding” while the remainder said they intended to “definitely” buy one as soon as possible. Interestingly, 24-percen

This week it’s been tipped by Piper Jaffray analyst Gus Richard that Apple is currently actively working on an ARM laptop. A research note from Richard spoke of the idea that because Apple is almost certainly working on a laptop which uses an internally-designed chip, Intel’s stake in the company appears to be at risk. While this sort of tip would not stand up to judgement on its own, we have seen at least one previous report that says exactly the same thing, that ARM and Apple will be partnering up soon. The previous note comes from an academic paper written by former intern turned CoreOS engineer Tristan Schaap. This paper was titled Porting Darwin to the MV88F5281 and showed how a Marvell ARM chipset was able to run a coaxed underlying part of Apple’s own OS X – telling information that brings us back to this Richard note. The note read as follows: “We have numerous datapoints that Apple’s processor design group is working on an ARM-based product for its notebook line. Whether or no

'The much delayed updated to RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook seems confirmed for release on February 21, if internal marketing docs obtained by Engadget prove to be accurate. The update is expected to show at Mobile World Congress later this month, but now we have a more precise date for anxious PlayBook owners. According to the leaked documents, PlayBook owners should be able to start downloading the PlayBook OS 2.0 update as soon as next Tuesday. The update is expected to finally bring the long promised native email, contacts, and calendar support that the RIM tablet has been lacking. The update will also bring an improved BlackBerry Bridge functionality as well as the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps that will allow users to run certain Android apps directly on the PlayBook. A deadline was announced late last month calling on developers to prepare the first Android app ports for the PlayBook, to ensure that there would be PlayBook-compatible Android apps