The Monday following Super Bowl isn’t really the day to be digging deep into the memory bank, but if you concentrate through the haze, you’ll remember that Barnes and Noble introduced its Nook all the way back in October. It was a hot release of the Christmas season– so hot in fact, that B&N experienced big supply/demand issues and spent the holiday season making announcements and updates about when people who were lucky enough to pre-order would actually receive that slim, brown box on their doorsteps.

Continue Reading

One of a variety of complaints about the Nexus One has been the deathly steep early termination fee–a $350 “equipment recovery fee” from Google. Buyers that drop or downsize their T-Mobile coverage within the first 120 days are subject to the fee, which essentially bridges the gap between the subsidized and unlocked versions of the phone.  However, those customers are also be nailed with a $200 fee from T-Mobile. The poor 3G coverage reported by many T-Mobile users has compounded the problem.

Continue Reading

Canon released its latest DSLR today: the T2i. Like most other camera releases, it wasn’t alone; four new members of the PowerShot family joined it for a debut.

The T2i is the new top-of-range Rebel DSLR. Designed to bridge “the gap between an entry-level camera and a true pro-sumer camera”, the T2i boasts many advanced features including 9-point autofocus, 63-zone dual-layer metering system, 3.7 fps, ISO of 100- 6400 and a DIGIC 4 imaging processor. Video recording capabilities are impressive as well: 1080p at 24, 25, or 30 fps; 720p at 50 or 60 fps; and stereo microphone input.

The T2i will be available in March for a retail price of $799.

Continue Reading

While the iPad’s pricing came in much lower than initially expected, a new report indicates that it may duck further still. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Apple executives expressed that Apple will remain “nimble” with the iPad’s price tag, possibly lowering it to attract more sales. When it was announced on January 27, the iPad’s price range was given at $499 (Wi Fi-only, 16 GB) to $829 (3G, 64GB).

Continue Reading

According to report on Engadget this morning, the next Motorola Droid update is in testing at Verizon and it will go a long way toward sealing the gap between it and the Nexus One. The new update is identified as Android 2.1 version 1 and will offer enhanced features including a multitouch-enabled browser, Google Goggles, and news and weather widgets.

Google released an update for the Nexus One last week. While the Droid will enjoy some of the same upgraded features of the Nexus one, such as browser multitouch and Google Goggles, it won’t get the 3D home screen that Nexus One users enjoy.

Continue Reading

The Google Nexus One failed to really impress the tech crowd when it debuted early last month, but had it had the new translator feature that Google is reportedly working on, it may have been a different story entirely. According to a story in the U.K.’s Sunday Times, Google is hard at work on a translation software to be implemented in smartphones. The software will automatically translate foreign languages, meaning that two people speaking totally different languages could carry on a seamless conversation.

Continue Reading

We knew the Apple iPad was going to have serious effects on the Kindle, but it’s all unraveling pretty quickly. Emboldened by their deals with Apple, prominent publishers are moving away from Amazon’s $9.99 book pricing and toward an agency model that will up prices to $15.

Amazon’s pricing feud with Macmillan is no secret, but now a number of other publishers are joining Macmillan in pushing for higher prices. Hachette and HarperCollins have joined the fight for an agency model, which would allow publishers to set prices. Macmillan has pushed for pricing of $14.99 to $15.99, with some titles being sold for $12.99. Amazon agreed earlier this week to these higher prices.

Continue Reading

Facebook is celebrating its sixth birthday the way any good six-year-old would: with some serious facial surgery. The home page redesign will make it easier to find certain features, streamlining the Facebook experience. The update began to run live last night, when many of its 400 million users got official access to the new look.

The redesign reorganizes some core features including messages and photos in the left-hand menu. A red notification bubble will now appear on the top left corner of the screen, providing instant access to new notifications. Home and Profile have been moved to the top right of the screen.

Continue Reading

Many of us were expecting an iTablet last week (sure would beat an iPad), but we had to wait a little longer to get one. U.K. company X2 Computing has released the iTablet and filled it with some of the iPad’s shortcomings. Of course, while the iPad soars to success in a couple months, the iTablet will surely become just another forgotten device in the sea of anonymous tablets.

But here goes anyway: the iTablet is a range of Windows 7 and Linux tablet PC’s that come in 10.2-inch and 12.1-inch varieties. The displays are widescreens with 1024 x 768 resolution. The company claims that multitouch is optional. Other specs include 1.6 GHz Intel processors, up to 250 GB hard drives, 3 USB ports, stereo speakers, Wi Fi, Bluetooth, 3G and optional HDMI out. Unlike the iPad, the iTablet also brings Flash support, multi-tasking and a 1.3-MP webcam.

Continue Reading