HTC has today confirmed not just their suddenly massive set of Sensation device, but their Evos and their Amazes as well! The full list looks something like this: HTC Rezound, HTC Vivid, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD. Each of these devices HTC says they’ll be upgrading to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich later this year. How late this year these devices will be upgraded is anybody’s guess at the moment.

The announcement from HTC also includes a tip that more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases will be dropping in coming weeks – could this mean that such oddities as the HTC ThunderBolt and the HTC Titan might have a chance at ICS? How about the still awesome HTC Jetstream – will there be any love there for tablets? We’ll see soon!

Nokia Belle – the latest iteration of Symbian, and arguably the upgrade that brings the platform within spitting distance of rival smartphone OSes – was released for the C7, among other handsets, earlier this week. A sizable upgrade, weighing in at around 250MB, it demands users plug their phone into their PC and use the Nokia Suite app to load it.

Still, all that effort is worthwhile. Belle irons out some of the numerous issues and flaws found in the Astound as we reviewed it at launch, leaving a more flexible homescreen, more useful notifications bar with settings shortcuts, vastly improved widgets and a polished browser.

Responsibility for the decision not to give Astound owners what the C7 will get is presumably down to T-Mobile USA, though whoever is to blame it’s unlikely to leave users – less than a year into their two-year agreements – with particularly positive feelings to either the carrier or Nokia.

[via IntoMobile]

The GSMA weren’t the only ones who felt the iPhone 4 shone brightest at last year’s show; the fourth-gen smartphone was a constant benchmark for every new handset brought out to play. HTC managed to scoop device manufacturer of the year – something we think the firm may struggle to achieve in 2012, with Samsung a likely candidate instead – but each new phone was inevitably compared to Apple’s popular model.

Mobile World Congress 2012 is later in the month than in previous years, pushed back to the final week of February rather than around Valentine’s Day. That means geeks can finally spend the day of romance with their loved-ones – or alternatively lamenting that they’re Forever Alone – but it also plays neatly into Apple’s scheduling. With the third-gen iPad reportedly ready for March sales, it was probably too much to resist scheduling an event the invitations for which – in Apple tradition going out a week in advance – would drop straight in the middle of MWC and rivals’ big launches.

What’s interesting, though, is that 2012 could be the year that Android tablets come of age. Ice Cream Sandwich is a huge improvement on the clunky, uninspiring Honeycomb, and in effect hits reset on the Android tablet segment. Where 2011 was all about how smartphones held up to iPhones, this year’s burning question will be whether each manufacturer has done enough to prepare for the oncoming iPad onslaught.

The best challenge may well come from Samsung, which is tipped to bring a 2560 x 1600 11.6-inch tablet to the show, “barely larger” than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 thanks to a wafer-thin bezel, and running the new home-grown Exynos 5250 chipset. Samsung has already announced it will be saving the new Galaxy S III until later in the first-half of this year, presumably hoping to mimic Apple’s strategy and foreshadow the iPhone 5 believed to be coming in June or July.

Apple news or otherwise, SlashGear will be at Mobile World Congress later this month bringing back all the news as it’s announced. Keep up with all the details at our MWC 2012 hub.

NVIDIA has come strong to the show with not only a massively impressive first release of their chip on the Transformer Prime, but with detailed descriptions of how their processors work and why we should be jumping for joy at them. As for how excited we should be for Tegra 3 on smartphones, well, just look at the rumors! Just this morning we had another note come through on the HTC Edge, a device that will almost certainly be coming to the MWC 2012 stage with a Tegra 3 processor under the hood.

And you can bet we’ll be there at Mobile World Congress 2012 to bring you all of the NVIDIA action as it drops, including but not limited to phones, tablets, and straight up Tegra 3. You can bet there’s also going to be some LG smartphone action here as well – check the image above to get an idea of what that LG device might look like. Also watch the MWC 2012 and Tegra portals for more up to the minute updates about the whole show! Meanwhile check the power –

“Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’ honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals” the report concludes, while another interviewee “characterized Mr. Jobs as an honest and trustworthy individual; however, his moral character is questionable.” One said that he thought Jobs “possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position” but was of the “opinion that honesty and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position.”

Jobs “is strongwilled, stubborn, hardworking and driven” others said, as well as “extremely health conscious now and rarely even drinks.” Several comment on his dedication and focus, stating that “he has far reaching vision and can vitalize plans and goals”; however, that dedication was also cited as a cause of issues in Jobs’ personal life, aggravated by his rising star at Apple.

Nonetheless, all deemed Jobs suitable for the role, though in the end he was not appointed. The document as a whole can be read below.

[via Gawker]

Google will be fully approved for the Motorola Mobility purchase they set out to take last year. Apple is facing some store protests today over ethics violations folks across the USA are saying they’re guilty of overseas. Take a peek at the Lytro camera from the insides out – at the FCC. Have a peek at the already fabulously popular Nokia N9 running no less than Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Once Google owns Motorola, they plan on continuing to run the drive to grab 2.25% of the iPhone in a patent suit. Meanwhile Google may well be opening a retail store in Dublin. Apple’s own iOS 5.1 will be coming on March 9th and insiders have tipped a first week of March iPad 3 event. Kodak has dumped digital cameras and Samsung Galaxy Camera is a tip that’ll bring Samsung phones in to cameras. Finally check out our review of the fabulous Acer Aspire M3 AM3970 and prepare for an Acer Ultrabook later today!

The news marks the end of an era for Kodak, which was founded back in 1889 – the camera pictured above is one of the first to be sold by the company. Unfortunately for the business, it reacted too slowly to the rise of digital imaging, finding its products outclassed by cheap digital models from rivals and subsequently cannibalized by photo-capable smartphones.

Today, three-fourths of Kodak’s total revenues come from its digital businesses, though those include Digital and Functional Printing, Enterprise Services and Solutions, and Graphics, Entertainment and Commercial Films units. The company expects to incur a $30m one-off cost in shuttering its digital camera arm, though that should be more than offset by the predicted $100m yearly operating cost savings.

Kodak says it has more than 100,000 kiosks and order stations for digital prints worldwide, as well as integration with social networks and online galleries. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-January, after selling off assets including its digital camera sensor business simply to stay afloat.

[Image credit: National Museum of American History]

Still, based on past timescales, a retail release around a week after the iPad is unveiled seems most likely. Rumors had previously suggested that the third-gen iPad would be shown off publicly sometime this month, but sources later changed their story and suggested March would be the most likely launch window so as to allow sales close to the big reveal.

As for specifications, it’s unclear if the tablet will be the iPad 3 or the iPad 2S, but a “Retina Display” running at 2048 x 1536 is expected. Persistent rumors had indicated a quadcore processor, too, though more recent leaks have questioned whether the Apple A6 chipset believed to be at the heart of the new iPad could, in fact, be a faster dualcore.

A bigger battery and slightly redesigned casing are also in the pipeline, we’re led to believe, along with LTE connectivity. Apple declined to comment on the launch date suggestions, though if they turn out to be true we’re likely to see official invites fired out in the week prior, just in time for the company to distract from Mobile World Congress.

Polaroid surprised camera followers back at CES with the reveal of the SC1630, a device which ostensibly resembled a cellphone but in actual fact was intended to be a digital camera first and foremost. The SC1630 is equipped with a healthy 16-megapixel sensor and leverages Android for its social networking integration and file uploading capabilities, features Samsung has already made good use of in its Galaxy series of smartphones.

That could mean that Samsung is looking to push out a photography-focused mobile device, joining Galaxy phones, tablets and media players. Presumably the Galaxy Camera would bear a higher resolution camera than existing Samsung smartphones – which generally top out at 8-megapixels – and perhaps even include an optical zoom.

Following that route would allow Samsung to chase digital imaging fans without making its core smartphone range any fatter; according to recent leaks, the Galaxy S III expected to debut within the next few months is targeting a 7mm-thick casing, with the 8-megapixel camera the only bump on the otherwise slimline build. Camera geeks might be more willing to accommodate a chubbier device if it delivers improved optics, however.

[via SammyHub]

Hardware

Aesthetics are secondary for a standard desktop, but as they go, the AM3970 is decent. A steel chassis is surrounded by glossy black panels on the front and top, with only two subtle blue LEDs for power and drive status – a plus in my book. The power button is placed oddly on the upper left corner of the right side, making seeing and using it tricky if you place your computer on the floor or to the right of your monitor. On the floor is certainly where it’s intended to be, with four USB ports plus a headphone jack and line in on the top of the computer. The eject button is also on the right side, implying that the computer is intended to be beside or below the user’s desk and to the left, and leaving little choice otherwise. Once placed there, using the SD/MicroSD/Compact Flash/XD/Memory Stick card reader becomes a chore, thanks to the black-on-black inlaid slots.

Move around to the backplate and you’ll find all the standards, with a generous helping of USB ports. The four ports on the top are paired to ten (count ‘em, ten) on the back, leaving all but the most compulsive of plug-and-players well covered. Two of these ports use the new USB 3.0 standard – a nice touch. A pair of standard PS/2 ports are present for all you old-school Model M and Intellimouse enthusiasts. Our review configuration (AM3970-UR11p) came with discrete graphics and the on-board integrated VGA and HDMI ports disabled, with a DVI port and another HDMI taking their place on the expansion slot. Just below that you get a WiFi PCI adapter to compliment the gigabit Ethernet port, complete with detachable antenna.

Moving on to internals, the AM3970 comes with a 3.0Ghz Core i5 2320 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 memory (2×4 DIMMs) and a 1TB traditional hard drive. When compared to similarly priced desktop models from Dell and HP, Acer gives you identical components with an extra 2GB of memory. Along for the ride are a standard DVD-RW drive and a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card. Popping the access panel off requires a screwdriver (no thumbscrews) and while pre-built desktops like this one aren’t often made with expansion in mind, a reinforced back panel and a decent amount of room inside should make that easy enough for those who want to upgrade components later on.

A mouse and keyboard are included, naturally. It’s hard to mess up an optical mouse, but the keyboard deserves special attention – and not in a good way. Long travel on the keys combined with a glossy backing will make cleaning a nightmare, and the mushy feedback had me reaching for my spare Microsoft model almost immediately. This is rather disappointing, especially when compared to the quite respectable keyboards Dell tends to include.

Software

Acer includes the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, the better to take advantage of that 8GB of RAM. Bloatware on basic desktops can be a problem, but on the AM3970 it’s better than I’ve seen elsewhere. Acer seems to be favoring static and easily deleted desktop shortcuts for a little promotional cash, which is fine by me. You still get a few extras that aren’t strictly called for, including the obligatory Microsoft Office trial and Bing bar, Norton Backup, Nook and New York Times readers, Evernote and Skype. With all that in there it would have been nice to see Chrome or Firefox, saving me a download.

With the exception of McAffee’s nagging reminders, auto-starting software is blessedly limited and mostly silent. The rather superfluous MyWinLocker encryption software, Norton Backup and Acer’s Clear.fi sharing service are the only other hangers-on in the Startup tab. All things considered, it shouldn’t take much for even intermediate Windows users to get the AM3970 running exactly as they want it, with a minimum of tinkering – though I note without surprise that neither an OS install disc or or restore disc is included.

Performance

The combination of a Core processor and plenty of RAM makes standard tasks basically effortless on any modern machine, and such is the case here. But thanks to a little extra memory and the discrete Radeon HD 6450 card, the AM3970 is slightly more capable than its competitors who lack one or both. It should handle processor-intensive talks up to and including some light video editing with ease, and HD video playback is smooth in both local and online playback.

That Radeon 6470 won’t get you very far with the latest PC games, unfortunately, and the combination of a single DVI and HDMI jack means you’ll have to get creative with cables and/or adapters if you want have more than one monitor. That said, less demanding games like Team Fortress 2 and such should function just fine.

Wrap Up

While there’s not much demand for the product category, the M3 AM3970 definitely stands out in its limited field. Generous memory and discrete (if only just) graphics give it a performance boost that will satisfy most, and a ton of USB ports and a roomy interior make it suitable for hardware enthusiasts looking to expand. Software load is relatively light, and Windows regulars will feel right at home and unusually unburdened. The odd ergonomics of the case and downright awful keyboard are an issue, but should be easy enough to adjust to (or in the case of the keyboard, replace). All in all the Acer is a solid choice for those needing desktop-class power without breaking the bank.

With the new and much faster USB 3.0 port now available on many computers and notebooks, Apricorn has unveiled a new version of its Padlock that uses the new speedy port. The drive supports a PIN number that ranges anywhere from 6 to 16 digits and five different numbers can be assigned to various users. Encryption keys and PIN numbers are never exposed to the host system and are protected with a cryptographic algorithm.

The drive uses 256 bit AES-XT hardware encryption that is FIPS PUB 197 validated. The drive also has encryption circuitry that is sealed in epoxy to prevent the removal of the electronics to access the data. The drives are available in 1 TB to 3 TB capacities with prices ranging from $239-$369.

[via EverythngUSB]

The gun is being manufactured by Japanese company called Neca and looks exactly like the weapon from the game. This weapon has always reminded me of a spider with a fat butt. The gun will glow blue or orange depending on which type of portal you’re creating. The replica will be up for pre-order this week.

I wonder if they’ll ship these to the US. The Portal gun sells for ¥16,000, which works out to about $208 in the US. I could certainly see fans of Portal shelling out $208 to on this replica weapon. I’m honestly surprised we’ll see more replica weapons such as these in the toy aisles at stores around the world.

[via RegHardware]

iOS 5.1 includes a myriad of upgrades and bugfixes, most notably improvements to battery life on the iPhone 4S and improvements to Siri’s voice dictation. Smaller touches abound, like the ability to remove images from the iCloud stream manually, better assisted touch, an Arrow Slider option on the lockscreen and many more interface tweaks. One of the most important changes for social users will be Facebook integration, allowing a Facebook username field in the Contacts app and direct uploading form the camera roll. Various freeze issues on the homescreen and Music app will have to wait for the next major revision.

5.1 has been in beta testing since November, so it’s certainly due for a public release. We keep hearing news of a revised iPad for early March, and Apple loves to release new software and hardware at the same time, so take that as either an indication for either if you like. Apple’s been updating their App Store policies in the last few weeks as well, perhaps preparing for an influx of updates to the apps themselves.

[via Cnet]

The heart of the vehicle is the Aston Martin V12 that displaces 6L it has 510 HP and 420 pound-feet of torque. I guess I’m a little jaded by 2013 Ford Shelby GT500 that has a supercharged V8 engine of 5.8L with 650 hp and 600 pound-feet of torque. Those four extra cylinders don’t do the Aston Martin much good in output department compared to the Ford V8.

Aston Martin will only build 150 of the special Zagato vehicles, and you need to be very wealthy to get your hands on one. Each vehicle will sell for £330,000 plus taxes. That makes it one of the most expensive cars Aston Martin produces as well as one of the coolest looking cars to wear the Aston Martin badge.

[via Top Gear]

However, the California store is not open to the public and is strictly for Google workers. However, the average Google fan can order the same merchandise online. A retail store would presumably allow Google to sell more than just T-shirts and bibs. A retail store could also be used to sell hardware running Android such as Chromebooks, smartphones, and tablets in a set up similar to an Apple Store.

Perhaps this move was in mind since Google started its purchase of Motorola Mobility. With the popularity of Google and the Android operating system, I think a retail store would be very popular. Bloomberg reports that Google purchased the site for the Dublin retail store for about €100 million. Do you think the Google retail store is a good idea?

[via Bloomberg]

“This item is in high demand and supplies from the manufacturer are limited” one retailer warns. “Its availability will fluctuate, and if the item is not currently in stock, we cannot guarantee that we will receive additional quantities in a timely manner.”

That’s despite serious pricing for both cameras. The Nikon D800 has an RRP of $2,999 body-only, while the D800E is $3,299. Your money gets you Full HD video recording, ISO 100 to 6,400 (expanded up to 25,600) support, a 51-point AF system with 15 Cross Type AF sensors, and a 3.2-inch 921k dot preview display, among other talents.

Those specs come together to produce some seriously impressive stills and video, though the cameras are focused more on landscape and portrait photographers than out-and-about shooters. More details on the D800 here.

[via GottaBeMobile]

The Acadia will be the first vehicle to get the center airbag technology. This tech was unveiled in September of last year and is making its way to 2013 model vehicles. In an accident, the center airbag system deploys from the right side of the driver seat. The goal of the new airbag tech is to protect the passenger and the driver from far side impacts.

A far side impact would be an impact on the passenger side with the driver was alone in the car. GM feels that the new airbag technology has a real potential for life saving. This sort of far side impact accounts for 29% of all belted front occupant fatalities in side-impact accidents. Check out the video to see how airbag works.

[via Lansing State Journal]

“Following Google’s acquisition of MMI [Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.], Google will honor MMI’s existing commitments to license the acquired MMI Essential Patent Claims on RAND [reasonable terms and conditions demonstrable free of any unfair discrimination] terms, as required by IEEE rules and consistent with MMI’s longstanding practice. This letter is irrevocable. Google understand that, pursuant to IEEE rules, MMI is prepared to grant licenses for Essential Patent Claims with a maximum per-unit royalty of 2.25-percent of the net selling price for the relevant end product on a go-forward basis, subject to offsets for the value of any cross-licenses or other consideration received from the licensee” Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel, Google

Apple has argued that Motorola’s fee demands are excessive, and that its rivals are not following FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) guidelines in a similar way to that which sparked an EC investigation into potential antitrust behavior by Samsung. The Cupertino company’s legal team has also sought disclosure from other smartphone manufacturers as to how much they’ve agreed to pay Motorola in licensing fees, though it’s possible Motorola could argue that the reciprocal licensing means the deals are non-comparable.

Meanwhile, Google’s stance on potential injunctions is apparently unchanged from Motorola Mobility’s existing approach: that is, to apply for an injunction if licensees don’t agree to its royalty terms. If, it’s suggested, the 2.25-percent referred solely to the specific component the patented technology was applied in – for instance, a baseband 3G/UMTS radio chipset – then that might be reasonable, but Motorola is chasing 2.25-percent of the entire end-product, i.e. almost $15 on the unsubsidized price of each entry-level iPhone 4S.

The decision as to whether Google is allowed to acquire Motorola Mobility is expected to be reached on February 13.

[via Fortune]

Apparently, the Microsoft Surface device will be used to train developers at the college. After hearing about the second-generation Surface system for so long, it’s cool to see it in the wild and in the hands of developers and end-users. This machine runs Windows 7 Pro and it appears to operate pretty much like a normal computer.

Once assembled and booted, the people in the video playing with the device a bit and we see them using Bing for searches, touching the screen all around, and checking out maps. I will say it appears that the graphics are crystal clear and very smooth even when things are being twisted, turned, and shoved around on the desktop. I think if I had an extra $9000 burning a hole in my pocket, the second-generation Microsoft Surface might be in my game room. Check out the unboxing video below to see for yourself.

[via Istartedsomething.com]

The six banks that are said to be participating in the fund-raising include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC and Mizuho Financial Group. Right now, the banks are said to be in the process of getting the internal credit approval for underwriting. The payback term is said to be three years, and the loans have a yield of about 4%.

According to the sources, the loan is expected to finalize this month. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo is trying to sell shares in the Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan in an attempt to raise money while it continues to struggle. Yahoo has recently lost founder Jerry Yang and other board members as it continues its downward spiral. Yahoo’s revenue fell 21% last year and the company seems to be living on borrowed time.

[via WSJ]

The N9 was launched to much fanfare last year, though Nokia quickly shifted its attention to Windows Phone and its deal with Microsoft. That’s despite strong reviews – ours included - and a very positive reception to MeeGo itself. Development of the OS has now been pushed over into Tizen, while Nokia has said it will use its own work on MeeGo back in the R&D labs to tinker with next-gen devices.

Where MeeGo lacks the bulk of third-party apps, however, Android does not, and for some the polycarbonate 3.9-inch smartphone would deliver the best of both worlds running each OS. At present, pressing the volume-up button during boot automatically loads up Android rather than MeeGo.

Progress is being partially documented over at Maemo.org, though it seems getting the N9′s hardware to work with the functional Android kernel on the handset has caused the most headaches. There’s also ongoing issues with getting OpenGL to work, without which the whole thing is unusable. Still, we’re hoping efforts continue speedily, as this could be just the excuse we need to give in and grab an N9 ourselves.

[Thanks Steve!]

That opens the chance that nefarious types could steal your PIN number securing your Google Wallet account. The issue apparently stems from the fact that PIN information is actually stored on the phone without being secured with the NFC chip. According to Zvelo, “this completely negates all of the security of this mobile phone payment system.”

The good news if you’re one of the people that could be affected by this vulnerability is that you can fix it yourself. Apparently, what you need to do is add a lock screen security pattern or a PIN to your smart phone and disable USB debugging. It is probably a safe assumption that Google is at work on a fix itself.

[via Android Community]

Namely, that little SoC gives the Lytro camera both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. With those two capabilities inside the camera, it would be easy to see the ability to wirelessly transfer photos taken with the camera to your computer or other device. That hardware would also allow the control of the camera from a smart phone or other device. However, just because both capabilities are available on that chip doesn’t mean Lytro will enable both.

Other hardware the FCC tear down turned up includes the 11-megaray sensor, which is by far the largest thing on the camera’s mainboard. You can also see the 2100mAh battery and a Zoran processor. This little camera is interesting to me; I would like to try one out once it’s on the market.

[via theVerge]

Asked whether they believed Apple should be singled-out over workforce mistreatment allegations, 31-percent of the 5,444 responses said they felt responsibility should be shared across the electronics industry. 30-percent, however, said that Apple’s heft in the consumer technology market meant that it should bear the brunt of the blame.

Interestingly, 26-percent agreed that if Apple led the way in changing workplace ethics, the rest of the electronics industry would follow. The survey is non-scientific, but does illustrate how divided opinion is toward what expectations we should have of the companies that produce our geek toys.

The protests are set to take place in Washington, DC; New York City, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore. Around 250,000 signatures have been collected by the two petitions, which arose in the aftermath of a newspaper report that singled out Apple in worker mistreatment. Senior executives at the company faced “an unresolved tension” it was alleged, trying to balance their desire for responsible labor conditions against the commercial need for rapid product production and competitive pricing.

Apple responded strongly, pointing out its comprehensive annual responsibility report, and a leaked internal email from Tim Cook revealing the CEO as “outraged” at what were described as “offensive” allegations. The company declined to comment on the petition presentation action planned today.

Motorola Mobility will continue to operate separately from Google, but you can bet that Google has plans for all the patents Motorola Mobility holds. In the realm of patent suits, I think there could be worse companies making this acquisition than Google. Google bid $12.5 billion to purchase Motorola Mobility. When the deal was first announced some feared Google could make Android less open and more focused on Motorola devices, but those fears seem to have abated.

Motorola Mobility holds several FRAND patents, and Google has promised it would still offer to license the patents to competitors with fair turns. FRAND patents are considered industry standards. However, it didn’t rule out seeking injunctive relief against those who violate the patents.

[via Android Community]

The Edge is believed to be at the pinnacle of HTC’s new “Hero Device” strategy, as the company attempts to break away from the quantity-over-quality strategy that saw it lose market share in 2011. HTC has also formed a new “HTC Studio” division, bringing together key engineering, design, software and other expertise to focus on polished phones and tablets, along with the flexibility to look beyond current bosom-buddy Qualcomm for its chip supplies.

Companies opting for Tegra 2 last year saw their dual-core Android phones hit the market well in advance of HTC’s Qualcomm-based dual-cores, leaving the firm on the back foot in marketing terms at least. NVIDIA’s graphics expertise is also cited by the sources as of key interest to HTC.

HTC is expected to launch a new tablet early in 2012, in addition to phones, though it remains to be seen if the company will use Tegra 3 for that as well as the Edge. Meanwhile LG and others are already believed to have committed to NVIDIA’s chip.

We’ve seen Sony experiment with TransferJet before, launching memory cards with the wireless technology integrated as far back as 2010, though it’s yet to see significant market penetration. Like NFC it only has a few centimeters range, but TransferJet boasts significantly higher speeds: 560 Mbit/s in theory, or around 375 Mbit/s in practice. Sony has coupled the system with an inductive charging plate, to rejuice the camera while it shuffles data.

The Multi-Cradle dock itself can be USB bus powered, and since the TX300V has GPS your photos are geotagged too. If you’d rather watch your images and video clips on a bigger screen, there’s WiFi Direct support as well.

The wireless-equipped Cyber-shot will go on sale March 9, with Japanese pricing still to be confirmed; Sony estimates the camera will be around 50,000 yen ($409) however. Unfortunately there are apparently no current plans to launch the TX300V in any other markets.

[via Engadget]

The group reportedly took advantage of an Internet Explorer vulnerability that had been left unpatched by a Foxconn employee, pulling out sensitive information from the company’s servers and bundling it into a freely-available torrent. Other users were encouraged to access the servers using the disclosed passwords, which could reportedly be used to place fake orders with Foxconn under the names of its vendor partners like Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Dell.

“This is Swagg Security, we aim to to reshape your perspectives, our perspectives, by the inducing of entertainment. A unique approach to spreading a unique philosophy which brings the sought after tranquility. In a way we are “hacktivist”, but in our own views we are Greyhats. We believe there is no reality in hacktivism, even with good intentions. We know those who claim to be “hacktivists” that inside of you, a suppressed part of you, enjoys playing a part in the anarchist event of hacking of an infrastructure. One which at the same time presents a challenge, upon completing reveals an almost unknown feeling of a menacing satisfaction. We encourage not to continue quelling such a natural emotion but to embrace it. Only when embracing what society has taught you to hinder, is when you realize your own identity” Swagg Security statement

Although Foxconn has been in the headlines recently around allegations of worker abuse, with staff said to be underpaid and subject to arbitrary and unfair disciplinary procedures, the hackers claim not to be working on some moral crusade. “Although we are considerably disappointed of the conditions of Foxconn,” the group said, “we are not hacking a corporation for such a reason.”

The security breach is the latest in an increasing number of tech attacks in recent months, with hackers broaching company servers in chase of chaos, private information or even extortion. Earlier this week, Symantec’s Norton Antivirus code, among other data, was released into the wild after attempts to coax a $50,000 payment from the company failed.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

Dropbox also offers a $20 per month plan for 100GB of space. Google Drive is the culmination of “G Drive” rumors and plans dating back several years, with the much-tipped service originally expected to debut in 2007 but failing to materialize.

Drive will contain documents, photos and videos, and allow users to share their files via a download link rather than send the content directly through email or similar. There will also be Google Drive apps for mobile devices, it’s suggested, for uploading photos and video direct to the cloud store.

Google has declined to comment on the rumored service, but online storage is a relatively small step from the company’s existing product platform. Users are already offered free Gmail accounts, Documents stores, Google Music for audio uploads, and Picasa photo and video galleries, each accommodating several gigabytes of content. Corralling those under a single banner would be no great leap, though Google would likely come under increased attention over the possibility of users uploading copyrighted content.

[via Android Community]

PaidContent is not only just a news website but it also functions as a catalyst for change in the industry, sponsoring its own branded conferences that discuss the evolution of media and technology. Through the acquisition, GigaOM will be able to expand its reach beyond tech heads and enthusiasts. PaidContent and its parent company ContentNext were previously owned by Guardian News & Media.

That company is best known for its namesake UK-based website Guardian.co.uk. In recent years, though, the site has been attracting a lot more viewers in the US. Guardian’s acquisition of ContentNext was no doubt a push to reach the North American market, but as the Guardian’s own primary website has begun to do that, it decided to put ContentNext up for sale. Enter GigaOM, which now joins the ranks of companies like AOL and SAY Media in the world of digital publishing acquisitions.

[via NY Times]

It’s pretty ridiculous in the first place to think of the classic board game being turned into a full-length feature film. But then again, the connection between the two really exist in name only, as the movie seems to be your standard popcorn action flick. What will be more interesting is to see how the video game version adapts and whether or not it will include odes the deacdes-old strategy game classic.

Here’s how a press release describes the game: “Combining naval strategy simulation with first-person shooter gameplay, players fend off the enemy beachside while ordering attacks against their marine counterparts. Seamlessly switching between battlefield and overview “Battle Command” map, the Hasbro game is brought to life as carriers, frigates, cruisers, destroyers, submarines and the legendary USS Missouri Battleship pummel the enemy in a race to strategic points that turn the tide of battle.” It doesn’t sound to us like there will be much dialogue like, “Hey, you sunk my battleship.”

[via Gamezone]

A company called Spatial View is hoping you’ll say yes. Its new 3DeeScreen is a lenticular lens filter that snaps onto your laptop’s display via a magnetized mounting frame. It actually manages to create the same kind of effect as glasses-free 3D displays, which use a technology known as autostereoscopic 3D and incorporates walls of tiny mirrors to create the impression of depth. At the moment there is only one available version of the 3DeeScreen and it is designed to fit 15.6-inch laptop displays.

When it comes to 3D and computers, it was decided very early on that users do not want to wear 3D glasses. Period. Toshiba came out with a solution for glasses-free 3D computing, but this one is even more effective and applicable to a much wider range of consumers. “Our goal is to provide a superior 3D viewing experience and enable existing laptops with 3D functionality at a reasonable price,” said Spatial View general manager Ihor Petelycky.

Samsung launched its first line of what are now considered “smart TVs” in 2009. These sets included a proprietary Samsung operating system that allowed users to download apps and widgets so they could watch Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon videos without the need for an external set-top box or connectivity to a computer. In addition, the Samsung TV app store has become stocked with games, weather information, news tickers, and all manner of content that makes it look more like a smartphone than a boob tube.

In 2012, Samsung smart TVs are even more advanced, with top-of-the-line models offering voice recognition allowing users to control what they’re watching without even needing to pick up a remote. Spurred by rumors of a Siri-powered Apple-branded TV, voice commands are now becoming the next big thing. There are duds in the market, though, as Google TV has shown. Consumers are looking for a connected TV experience that makes living room content more accessible, not more cumbersome. Samsung believes it has captured that formula.

[via AFP]

Google announced that it wanted to launch more than 100 new channels over the next several months that include brand new, exclusive content to YouTube. The idea is to make the site’s visitor loyalty a more known quantity. That is to say, if new episodes for an online show are uploaded to YouTube every week or every day, it would encourage users to visit the site on a regular basis as opposed to just every now and then when work is boring or you need to play that Bee Gees song that’s stuck in your head.

Creating these targeted, niche channels also opens up attractive advertising opportunities. Instead of advertisers trying to navigate the swath of random content on YouTube, creating tailored ads for an automotive-themed channel, for example, makes a lot more sense. This is also part of Google’s ambition to have a better monetization system in place for YouTube, which gets more than three billion video views every day but still remains full of untapped potential.

[via Wired]

And it’s all powered by an Xbox controller. Microsoft’s ergonomics were apparently just right for the process of carrying out tasks remotely. With the controller, users can navigate the Warrior and send basic functions to it, such as smashing windows or transporting heavy material. It can zoom by at up to eight miles per hour. The biggest advantage is its small footprint.

iRobot VP of operations for military and industrial robots Tim Trainer was quoted as saying, “With the small robots, you really have to optimize them for specific missions. With the Warrior, you can provide more flexibility.” Warrior prototypes have already been deployed, including two that were sent to navigate damage at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan after last year’s earthquake and tsunami.

[via Mashable]

The operation took place in Europe, with a team of medical professionals from Belgium and the Netherlands involved in the groundbreaking procedure. They used a 3D model of her lower mandible and printed it out using titanium. Upon the successful printing process, the “bone” was sprayed with a compound that made it look and feel more like a real part of a human body. While 3D printing has been used in limited capacity in medical procedures before, never had there been an attempt to use the technology to replace an entire jaw.

This is without a doubt one of the most remarkable uses of 3D printing to date. The still-niche industry is poised to bring monumental changes not only to medicine but to production, manufacturing, and personal consumption. It is even possible to print more than half of the components required for a 3D printer, from a 3D printer (it’s the rest of the printer that’s a bit more difficult). As for the 83-year-old patient, she was able to speak and swallow normally just one day after the surgery, and now has a perfectly functioning mouth.

[via Forbes]

The study that revealed this information came from Parks Associates and is titled Trends in Digital Gaming: Free-to-Play, Social, and Mobile Games. Based on the title of the report alone, you can probably guess what the conclusion of the study was. It’s thanks to the explosion of games on new and non-barrier-heavy platforms on which to play video games like Facebook and cell phones. These are platforms that everyone has access to, as opposed to the old environment where gamers had to go out and buy a dedicated game system or piece of computer gaming software.

The research group found that among Facebook gamers who actually spend money, the average amount spent per month is $29. In addition, those who log into free-to-play games including freemium mobile games, and end up paying for in-game currency or items, are racking up an average of $21 per month in charges. These numbers are pretty low compared to what you might have considered a typical gamer just a few years ago, and it doesn’t even factor in those who are perfectly content playing the free games and never putting in their credit card number. We all knew the industry was expanding, but 44% of the country now defined as an active gamer? That’s a pretty big amount.

[via VentureBeat]

“What we learn from you, and others like you, will help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone,” Google explained in a statement. Only those who are 13 years of age or older are eligible to apply. In addition, participants are oliged to use Google’s Chrome browser when surfing the Web. This program comes after Google faced heavy criticism for revamping its privacy policies across most of its online platforms.

Google noted that Amazon is not a sponsor of the promotion, which is known as Google Screenwise. It just so happens that Amazon gift cards are a pretty easy and efficient means of sending money online, since anyone can find $25 worth of stuff they need on Amazon. The program is obviously not designed with the intention of keeping tabs on any one individual users but rather to collect massive amounts of data and better understand how Internet browsers interact with the World Wide Web. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

UPDATE: Google has reached out to us with the following statement:

“Like many other web and media companies, we do panel research to help better serve our users by learning more about people’s media use, on the web and elsewhere. This panel is one such small project that started near the beginning of the year. Of course, this is completely optional to join. People can choose to participate if it’s of interest (or if the gift appeals) and everyone who does participate has complete transparency and control over what Internet use is being included in the panel. People can stay on the panel as long as they’d like, or leave at any time.” – Google Spokesperson

What do you think, folks?

This 2.0 update will bring you several new features you’ve perhaps been waiting since the inception of this application to try. Though the original version had the ability to create music, sure, it lacked such amazing features as AudioCopy, the ability to reverse a sound clip, and MINI-in. Well what do you know, this update has those features and a whole heck of a lot more, too!

• The Randomizer and The Automation Panel will be bringing you in on a whole new set of creative tools like step by step randomization and much more precise control than ever over your Mixer parameters.

• 16 and 32 Steps per patterns as well as 24 new Drum Kits for the grand total of 64.

• WIST sync technology made by KORG to tie two iPads together, and reversed sounds to flip you on your head.

• AudioCopy on exporting, Colored song patters, and a whole new set of help screens with tips and tricks galore.

• MIDI In. Enough said.

Have a peek at a demonstration of what this update will bring to your beat lab, and pick the app up right this second from the iTunes App Store for a cool $5.99 – or if you’ve got DM1 already, the update is absolutely and totally free!

Featured: Our Chris “Burnsy” Burns takes a look at Google+ hangouts in his column, Google+ Hangouts present bold threat to Skype. Our other featured story of the day, also from Mr. Burns (I just like calling him that) is a review of the G-Form Extreme Portfolio for iPad 2. Check it out. It’s pretty interesting. As for other news…

Mobile: Hey, check this out – the Phoenix Suns have ditched the iPad and decided to make the Galaxy Tab their official tablet. Also, we have a list of Nokia 803 details, otherwise known as the phone that will officially end Symbian. And the Mobile World Congress is coming up soon, and guess what? That’s exactly when Microsoft plans to launch Windows 8′s Consumer Preview, and it’s no coincidence.