SlashGear Week in Review - Week 1 2010

Welcome to 2010 and the first week in review of the New Year and the new decade. I hope you are having a good 2010 so far. The last week of 2009 was busy with some cool gear breaking cover. WebOS 1.3.5 update hit last week adding new features for Pre owners.

We heard early last week that the screen for that long rumored Apple tablet will be coming from Innolux according to sources. The same sources claim the device is set for a Q1 release. The specs for the Google Chrome netbook were revealed last week. I can't wait to see how well the thing performs and if Chrome turns out to be as popular as Android Microsoft should be worried.

DirecTV announced this week that with the launch of its new satellite it would be adding more nationwide HD channels for its users. The best news is that one of the channels will be 3D all the time. Grumblings that the PS4 may ditch the cell CPU in the PS3 and go with a multi-core CPU turned up this week. I suspect we are still a long way out from the release of the nest console from Sony.

The interesting NorhTech Gecko Edubook got the hands on treatment this week. The machine is powered by AA batteries and is said to be too small for comfortable use by adults. The GSM encryption standard used by some mobile providers was cracked. The companies say that the cracking of the encryption does not mean that voice calls are vulnerable.

Ford announced this week that it would be offering iTunes tagging and HD receivers on some of its vehicles release din2010. The tech lets users tag a song they hear on the radio to buy later. The coolest racecar simulator in the world was revealed this week called the Cruden Hexatech. I want one so bad it hurts.

Google announced that it was holding a press conference at its Mountain View compound on January 5. We figure that the conference is to unveil the new Nexus One we keep hearing about. We will be attending the Google press event and livecast it on http://live.slashgear.com. Coby Electronics is set to unveil a 3D-audio sound bar at CES. The thing is supposed to produce sound that seems to come from everywhere in the room.

Spring Design is going to unveil its Alex eReader at a press conference at CES. This is the reader that Spring Design claims Barnes & Noble ripped off for its Nook. A cool hummingbird robot was unveiled this week that is designed to fight crime and save lives. The bot can hover by fluttering its wings very quickly.

The Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus were confirmed as heading to Verizon. The FCC approval for the devices was spied this week. The Asus Eee 1001P was tipped for debut on Jan 6. The machine is another N450 packing machine from Asus.

The Sony Vaio TT was re-launched this week as a CULV notebook. The T series was killed off a while back. Word surfaced that an HTC Android Tablet would be shown in private meetings at CES. The machine is thought to be a Chrome OS machine.

Mophie is set to unveil a new credit card reader for the iPhone that looks like the companies Juice Pack battery line. The device is intended for use by people who need to capture credit card info outside an office. The Google Nexus One smartphone tipped up in a video showing the handset getting a 3D benchmark. The phone looks to be an impressive gaming platform.

A rather creepy looking robot was spied late in the week called the Omnitread. The thing looks like a snake to me and is designed to make it over just about any obstacle. The Motorola Shadow 9.9mm 1080p smartphone leaked this week. The thin phone looks really cool. Thanks for reading the first week in review of 2010! Have a great New Year!