SlashGear Week in Review - Week 50 2011

Welcome to the SlashGear Week in Review for week 50, which means we only have two weeks left in 2011! As usual, a lot has happened this week. HP had a fire sale for more TouchPads on eBay and sold out in minutes. The TouchPads sold for $99 for the 16GB versions and $149 for the 32GB with stock selling out in minutes. We learned early in the week that a pair of drunken RIM executives were placed in cuffs during a commercial flight after they got drunk and caused trouble. The pair of execs later escaped from those cuffs by chewing through them.

Specs on the Nikon D4 DSLR camera surfaced this week and they look really good. The camera is rumored to have a 16.2MP sensor and native ISO up to 102,400. Word surfaced that the FBI might be using Carrier IQ software on handsets for low enforcement purposes. The FBI refused a Freedom of Information Act request and accidentally revealed that it might be using the software for investigations.

Modern Warfare 3 has set a record with $1 billion in total sales this week. That massive sales number was hit in only 17 days beating out the flick Avatar to reach the $1 billion mark. MIT has invented camera that is able to shoot photos at a trillion frames per second. The sensor is so fast that it can photograph the propagation of light.

CERN announced that is has found "tantalizing hints" of Higgs boson particles at the LHC. Papers outlining the discovery are expected by the end of January. The NTSB is proposing that all use of mobile phones be banned while driving. That would include the use of hands free devices which the NTSB says are just as dangerous as holding your phone.

American Airlines has received approval to use the iPad in the cockpit of aircraft during all phases of flight. The iPad has the flight manual and digital charts with weight savings compared to paper charts helping to save lots of money for the airline. Microsoft has been tipped to purchase the Nokia smartphone division in 1H 2012. I still don't see that being a mix for success.

A proposal for redesigning the HP brand has surfaced from a company called Moving Brands. One of the things you can see in the proposal is a new logo that looks like straight lines, but reads HP. We went hands-on with the Prada phone by LG 3.0 this week after the fancy smartphone went official. Chris Davies was a bit "meh" on the smartphone after his time with the device.

We put up our review of the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 this week. The tablet doesn't seem like much of an upgrade on the Xoom that is already available. The Facebook Timeline went official all around the world this week. The Timeline allows you to set up a chronological outline of your world.

Remember that throwable Panoramic Ball camera from a while back? More details were released and the company is seeking investors to bring the device to market. Astronomers discovered a massive gas cloud that was being sucked into a black hole in the center of our galaxy. The cloud has more mass than Earth and will provide a glimpse into how matter reacts near a black hole.

Senator Al Franken grilled the FBI director on the use of Carrier IQ software this week. This came after hints early in the week that the FBI might be using it for law enforcement. An Iranian scientist bragged this week that Iran bagged a NATO drone using a GPS spoof. The Iranians tricked the drone into simply landing where they wanted it.

Davies noted this week that you had better be sure you like Timeline before you activate it. Once you have Timeline if you don't like it there is no going back. Thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas!