For those of you that’ve been using Megaupload in the past, do not worry, your data will be safe until mid-February – but good luck getting it back. There’s one gigantic investigation going on right this second regarding Samsung 3G patents by the European Commission. There’s a brand new Google+ page made for and by Android Developers. We’ve gone ahead and finally done a review of some stylus pens – Kuel H10 and H12 to be precise.

Inside Windows 8 Office you’re going to see some fake Metro skins. Google is in trouble with the United States Congress and has responded to privacy concerns in kind. The software known as Final Cut Pro X has been massively updated. Panasonic has launched a brand new Lumix DMC-ZS20 for you tiny lovers. And what do you know – Windows 8 Kinect has been leaked again.

Before you go any further, be sure to catch up with last weeks news in our SlashGear Week in Review – Week 4 2012. Next you’ll be keen on flipping out if you were with Megaupload for quite a bit of data as data faces deletion starting Thursday – RapidShare is on notice now as well. Sony is releasing a set of Cyber-Shots soon while Motorola brings forth a RAZR Developer Edition smartphone for you tweakers out there. Samsung has also introduced a new device: Samsung Galaxy S Advance. BlackBerry isn’t doing quite as well as statistics say they’re getting squeezed out of enterprise, probably their last solid market.

There’s a team of titans starting up at DMARC which will attempt to cut phishing down to zero – good luck folks! The manager handing the multinational superband U2 has kicked Spotify to the curb. NEC will be kicking 10,000 workers to the curb soon as well. Users at Facebook are getting ready for some curb-kicking as Timeline and Apps ramp up – but perhaps they’ll stick around for Angry Birds.

AT&T has announced price and date for the Samsung Galaxy Note. Another titan hits Australia in March, that being the white Nokia Lumia 800 – white exteriors for all!

We reviewed the fabulous V-MODA Limited Edition Crossfade LP2 headphones. Nintendo promised no less than a Splashy launch for Wii U and there’s been a tip that the name might change. Apple CEO Tim Cook lashed out at offensive factory claims. The HP tablet known as TouchPad is up for sale again at Woot. The newest version of HTC Sense for Android has been previewed before Mobile World Congress. The telescope known as Kepler has found 11 new planetary systems, one with five planets. As congress demands answers on privacy, Google fires back. Meanwhile Google Earth 6.2 does away with all the seams, smoothing out the world for all.

Ex-Palm CEO works with HP no more as of today, this being no more than a week after webOS has been pushed into open-source. The CEO of RIM blasted the Android ecosystem as “all the same” believe it or not, while Apple steals the smartphone crown in the fourth quarter of 2011. Finally we get a close-up set of encounters with Qualcomm’s AllJoyn technology, a peer-to-peer environment you’re going to love the heck out of.

CellControl is a system that has a hardware dongle that plugs into the OBD-II port under the dash on cars that has been there for years. If your ride is newer than 1996, you should have the port. You plug in the hardware dongle and install software on the phone the person in the car uses. The dongle senses when the car is moving and activates the software on the phone.

That software will block anything you deem unsafe like texting, voice calls, email, and more. This might be a good way to block workers from driving and talking as well for a company running a vehicle fleet. The cellControl device is available now for $129.95. The software required for the system is available for Android 2.1 and above, all BlackBerry 4.5 and above, all Windows Mobile 5 & 6, all Symbian S60 (3rd Edition) and select Brew and BREWMP systems. Note the lack of iPhone support and the mobile phone must have a data plan to use the software.

For CES 2012 collections, we’ve got the almighty Ultrabook Round-up at the head of things, then a Smart TV Round-up to keep your displays wishing they had some more intuitive bits of software behind them. The tag team of Tablet Round-up and Smartphone Round-up brings the mobile to the party, and our gigantic Best of CES 2012 will let you in on the top excellence. I also invite you to come with me on a journey through the week with your humble narrator and his gear (my backpack included) in a column called My CES 2012.

Our week this week then started with an announcement of sorts from Microsoft that Skype on Windows Phone would finally be hitting the public – soon – and it may be their wild card, so says Chris Davies. Meanwhile there’s a brand new Nissan self-healing iPhone case on the streets, and Android lovers had a field day with Steve Wozniak’s comments on what he thought was better than iOS in the Google mobile operating system.

In hacking news there was one whole heck of a lot to be had, starting with the Zappos break-in, moving on to the 6pm break-in, and our subsequent PSA SlashGear 101: Basic Password Security. We saw $6.7 million USD stolen in a cyber bank robbery. We then started relatively early in taking on SOPA and PIPA with an explanatory post by the name of SlashGear 101: SOPA and PIPA explained in plain English. We also took a very clear stand in SOPA and PIPA are the Wrong Way to Tackle Piracy and the video by Clay Shirky for TED tells it like it is as well. As it turns out, the Internet won and SOPA and PIPA were delayed indefinitely.

The next bill by the main SOPA sponsor is 1981, and is much scarier.

The next hammer to fall was Megaupload being knocked out amid piracy indictments. In response to this, Anonymous DDoS attacked the Department of Justice, the RIAA, the MPAA, and Universal Music. The Megaupload team spoke out, followed by Anonymous becoming more vocal on #OpMegaUpload.

Apple was the first tech company to join the Fair Labor Association, the “Icons” Steve Jobs action figure was completely axed, and it’s looking like Scott Forstall is aiming for the CEO spot soon. There’s been a bit of a tip that the iPad 3 will come February while the iPad 2 remains on sale. There’s another rumor out there that says the iPad 2S is up next while the iPad 3 gets pushed back.

Another tablet out there this month that will be no competition for the iPad at all whatsoever was the Hongpaiyihao Chinese “government official” slate which costs more than any other tablet on the market and has next to nothing appealing in or on it. A more real competitor is continuing to take shape in the Windows 8 Tablet space, Microsoft releasing hardware requirements for manufacturers to start the year off right. The Acer Ultrabook lineup is also set to take off.

The education world was hit with a few announcements from Apple with iBooks 2 and textbooks, the price point of $14.99 for textbooks, and iBooks Author – free for download. We got hands-on with iBooks Author, iTunes U, and iBooks 2. You can get the whole Apple education roundup at once. Also read up on what Philip Berne has to say in The Problem with Tech and Teaching.

Microsoft also came correct with an early preview of System Center 2012 which will be hitting your private cloud sooner than later! Michael Crider reviewed the new HP Folio 13. Alienware revealed the fabulous Alienware X51 crossover device. The folks at Scientology are creating a new Super Power Building with their followers’ cash, the fifth oldest tree in the world The Senator spontaneously combusted, and the Costa Concordia cruise ship fell on its side and went halfway under off the Tuscan coast. You can see it from outer space or from under the sea.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is being pushed to tablets. BlackBerry got told by Chris Davies in a column called RIM should think Type not Touch for the new PlayBook. Samsung is walking a narrow road with their update to Ice Cream Sandwich with their Galaxy devices, keeping with a Value Pack instead of a full upgrade for older models. Samsung is also working on a bada / Tizen merge that’s not yet final. Microsoft and ZTE gave each other a high five and us a preview hands-on with the ZTE Tania running Windows Phone. Meanwhile there was a strange silence from Microsoft on Windows Phone in their quarterly financial results announcement.

There was a bit of a change as AT&T amped up their prices and T-Mobile followed suit. The social network Facebook updated its Timeline to spread to everyone. Kodak went bankrupt. Resident Evil 6 was announced. Don Reisinger columned about the next PlayStation and how HBO Go is the next Netflix.

Music keeps getting more and more serious in the mobile realm, especially with iPad, starting with the Auria 48-track recording system app. There’s a set of three Behringer iPad mixers out there now, and the Akai MPC Fly turns your iPad into a portable beats center. The Numak IDJ PRO DJ Controller sits your iPad at the center of all the fun. Gotta catch em all!

Smartphones

We certainly saw our fair share of smartphones on the floor this time around, the major bulk of them running either Windows Phone Mango or a modified version of Android Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich. One of the more interesting devices was Huawei’s Ascend P1 S, it being the new thinnest phone on earth, and its slightly fatter brother the P1, both of them strikingly thin. Next there were a couple of excellent value propositions, it would seem, from Pantech, they showing off two of the six new devices running on AT&T’s LTE network that’ll be up to speed by late this year – the Pantech Element is a waterproof tablet that, when you buy it, you basically get the Pantech Burst smartphone for free. Sony Experia came correct with their new set of Xperia devices with big specs and gigantic cameras: the Xperia ion having a 12 megapixel camera and the Xperia S being the one teased for so long. For Android phones the winner would have to be the Lenovo Racer-A, aka the first device to be running Intel’s Medfield chip – winning not just because it looks like a quality phone, but because it does indeed hold that record. Intel’s entry into the mobile market is likely going to have the longest lasting effect on the mobile industry while all these other phones get replaced – that’s for sure.

As for Windows Phones I’ll have to call a tie until we can review these devices extensively because they’re both so lovely: the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II. Both of these devices are bringing Windows Phone into the future, fighting head to head with the top guns at last.

BONUS: Since Samsung is insistent on saying this device is neither a smartphone or a tablet, here it is in the middle: the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note. All of its awesome features remain in-tact, it having a Snapdragon processor instead of an Exynos, and it comes in white as well as black, your choice!

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Tablets

As with smartphones, we’ve got a lot to be excited about in the hardware side of things, not least of all with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 for strength and touchability. As for future-looking devices, the newest iteration of the ASUS Padfone looked oddly enticing. There were also some lovely reader refreshes like the Kyobo Mirasol eReader with its unique form of lighting, it replicating the light bouncing off a butterfly. Windows 8 made a bit of a showing with groups like Qualcomm and their S4 chip showing the possibilities of a Windows 8 mobile world. Acer came back with a new iteration of the Acer Iconia Tab complete with a Tegra 3 quad-core chip. Toshiba made a showing with two devices you might find rather familiar, the smaller version of the Thrive in the Toshiba Thrive 7 and the Toshiba Excite x10, the latter being the one to keep an eye on through 2012.

Then there’s the big guns, both of them winners, both of them coming from no less than Asus and toting, again, the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. First there was the undeniably inexpensively priced $249 7-inch quad-core Ice Cream Sandwich toting Asus MeMO 370t, a value we’re sure one whole heck of a lot of people will not be able to resist. Then there was the big showing of not only the Transformer Prime, but the Transformer Prime 700 series with its upgraded display and hardware. We saw the Prime running Skyrim via Splashtop, playing the first multiplayer mobile shooter in a new version of Shadowgun for Tegra, and all of it on Ice Cream Sandwich as the Transformer is now the world’s first Google-licensed Ice Cream Sandwich tablet.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Headphones / Earbuds

As always, there was a surplus of new headphones this year. Of them, our top three were InSound by Cygnett, the 5-minute Eeers Sonofit earbuds, and the HD700 from Sennheiser. The InSound had very decent ‘active’ noise cancellation and are extremely comfortable. Though easily portable, they are still not built as well as the Sennheisers. The HD 700 instead implements ‘passive’ noise cancellation, and offers a much cleaner, crisper sound. But at CES, people look for innovation – and that’s why Eers by Sonofit were the best headphones. With Eers, anyone can create a pair of custom-fit earbuds within minutes, all of it for a cool $300 USD.

BONUS: don’t forget the conceptual Parrot Zik by Starck and the wild contributions by Skullcandy in the Mix Master headphones.

- contributed by Sam Koutroulakis

Speakers

Though there were certainly one whole heck of a lot of speakers out there, we’ve decided to concentrate on the smaller world of portable speakers for all you mobile people out there. For that, there are a few gems that stick out. First there’s the SuperTooth Disco 2, an upgrade from the already great Disco 1 model, now with plenty of color and a vertical form factor. As for green representations, we had a talk with the makers of Eink who now bring us the Eton Rukus Solar powered boombox, so green it’s accented with the color green, imagine that! As for the tiniest speaker worth a peek at outside a smartphone, that was clearly the Harman JBL on-tour Micro, complete with Iron Man color scheme! The winner of our hearts in this category would have to be the high-blasting Altec Lansing 5000 series all-in-one speakers, these certainly commanding the hoards when it comes to all-in-one power.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Laptops

Ultrabooks were the hot ticket for the computer side of CES this year, with every major brand introducing new models at or just before the show. While Toshiba’s Windows 8 prototype wowed us with software and the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga showed off some amazing innovation in form factor, the top prize goes to Dell’s more humble XPS 13. Far from Dell’s usual utilitarian design, the XPS 13 Ultrabook is downright stunning, with a combination aluminum-carbon fiber frame that’s 15% smaller than the MacBook Air. It manages to cram a 13-inch screen into a 12-inch body, and with 300 nits of brightness it should be a joy to use. With a Core i5 or i7 processor, an SSD drive, 4GB of RAM and eight hours of rated battery life, the XPS 13 will be a major contender when it becomes available.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Cameras

There were a few cameras at CES that caught our eye. Canon’s revived PowerShot Digital ELPH 520HS crams some amazingly powerful glass into its tiny body, and Liquid Image’s Xtreme Sports Cams brings some great new features into a growing market. But the obvious winner for the show wasn’t even announced at CES: Nikon’s new flagship, the D4. This monster DSLR sets the standard for its line going forward, with insane ISO capabilities and forward-looking support for QXD. But the real innovation is a major upgrade in video capabilities, with dynamic cropping on the sensor for “zoomed” shots even on prime lenses, and the ability to actively monitor audio and stream video over HDMI. The D4 may well be the benchmark when it comes to DSLR video recording, a segment that has nowhere to go but up. At $6,000 it’s a little on the pricey side, but pro photographers will pay any price for the best – and when it comes to high-definition video in a comfortable DSLR format, the Nikon D4 will give it to them.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Televisions

Televisions were one of the hottest categories at CES this year, but not because of size. Previous shows were all about who can get the biggest panel out, but this year image quality ruled. LG and Samsung both introduced 55-inch OLED TVs with incredibly thin, light bodies, stunning black levels and color reproduction that’s the best we’ve ever seen. The best television of CES is Samsung’s Super OLED HDTV – we’re giving it the top spot because the image displayed was just slightly more vivid than LG’s. It’s a close match, however, and LG has the edge (ba-dum TISH) on style thanks to its 4mm, 16-pound body. Sharp’s battery powered AQUOS Freestyle gets a third place nod, because it’s a handy idea that the market is ready for.

- contributed by Michael Crider

Automotive Concept

There were two stand-out contenders at CES 2012 for automotive concepts, Audi and Mercedes. While our main hands-on write-ups of these two titans are going to be published early next week, I can tell you this now: Audi brought some heavy fire with a setup called Audi connect that included all of their innovations of 2011 including voice commands and Google Earth integration and made it explode with a touch-sensitive dial and a setup newly powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core chipset. Mercedes, on the other hand, had several concepts including a very similar in-car screen setup, this time connected to an iPhone, a couple of gesture-activated door demonstrations, and a box inside which a completely gesture-intensive console was shown. Both companies will have massively impressive vehicles in the very near future, that’s for certain.

- contributed by Chris “Burnsy” Burns

Accessories

Here at CES a large focus is also on accessories for all the electronics announced, and while we saw plenty of impressive designs like the new Wrapsol anti-slip pads we’ve decided on one. Cygnett is known for constructing well built, quality cases for phones and tablets, not to mention their durable tablet stands. Since the mobile phone market has exploded everyone has a few cases to offer but Cygnett’s offerings were one of the most memorable. With simple designs that are actually easy to both get on AND off while still protecting the product they were our clear winner.

For a video rundown on a few cases from Cygnett including their new Icon Art series by artist Nathan Jurevicius be sure to check out our Insider Talk with Cygnett Creative Director Sophie Swann.

- Contributed by Cory Gunther

Mobile Carrier

When caught up in the mass of tech news here at CES, we often forget that a team’s mobile collaboration is only as good as the signal they’re running on. There isn’t one, but more like two obstacles a team requires of its carrier to perform at maximum efficiency. The first is consistency; a reliable data signal that will always be there when needed. The second is actual data strength. Processing videos and uploading images over a fast connection is essential if you plan on delivering the best CES coverage. And for both requirements, Verizon 4G LTE was unbeatable for CES 2012. With speeds of up to 14Mbps on the showroom floor and a consistent signal throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center, other carriers couldn’t come close.

- contributed by Sam Koutroulakis

Our most used gear

When the topic of most used gear comes up it could mean anything based on what you did at CES. Some might just answer — my shoes. Obviously we used cameras just about every possible minute. Here at SlashGear we were busy looking for wall power outlets and churning out stories to share with our readers and have as a team came up with a final conclusion. When it comes to outright sheer production MacBook’s rule. When it comes to mobile production it’s actually the complete opposite and Android rules, with only one iPhone on our team with a whole hoard of Galaxy Nexus for the rest.

Apple’s Macbook Pro and Air gave our team most of the tools needed (not counting a few heavy cameras) and our Macs outnumbers PC laptops 6-to-1. When we change over to the mobile aspect it was completely the opposite and we had 2 iPhones compared to about 10 Android smartphones, and 4 LTE Android tablets. With large screens, big batteries and awesome wired/wireless tethering options with Verizon 4G LTE our Android phones were the clear choice — and winner.

- Contributed by Cory Gunther

CES 2012′s Top Innovation: No One

While there certainly have been some interesting bits here and there at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, nothing made us absolutely drop our collective jaws. You could take the winners from the categories above and choose your favorite, sure, but nothing blew us away to the point of saying it absolutely won the show. It seemed as though most companies came to the show as a matter of requirement rather than because they wanted to show off their biggest and best. Instead we’re hoping for quite a few individual showings throughout the year from manufacturers as it continues to be the thing to do when you want the most individual attention.

When Vincent Nguyen, SlashGear’s Editor in Chief, was asked what he thought represented CES this year, his response was simple “nothing.”

The fact that this isn’t the only time we’ve heard this response from not just our own staff, but many of the people we spoke with throughout the convention may well be the first indication that bigger shows like CES are on their way out – what do you think?

For those of you interested in following the entirety of our CES 2012 content, both at the event and outside of the event but relating to the timeline, head to our tag [CES 2012]. Everyone interested in exploring what we’ve scooped up here live at the events in Las Vegas as they unfolded and in-person, head to our portal by the name of [CES Live]. Both tags will continue to be filled out over the weekend and, if you’re lucky, into the oncoming week. As with all events that have so many products in them that there’s no physical way for everyone to cover them all, so too do we want to give you all we’ve got.

We’ve also got additional comprehensive wrap-up posts on the way, including our favorite picks, the best-of for the entirety of CES 2012 separated by category, and opinion columns both here and over at Android Community regarding what we’ve seen over the last week. This very moment I must leave you with one question:

What was YOUR favorite device, product, or moment from CES 2012 that you’ve happened upon thus far?

The 360-degree images that the Tamaggo 360-imager can take is so unique that the company likes to deem the experience as Tamaggraphy instead of photography. With patented ImmerVision Enables panomorph technology, an ergonomic design, and a 14-megapixel sensor, the Tamaggo 360-imager takes 360-degree high-resolution snapshots with ease, bringing technology used for high-end commercial and government security applications and virtual-tour technology into the hands of consumers.

The “Tamaggraphs” taken are navigable, allowing you to zoom in on details and pan around, looking above, below, and even behind you at the time the the shot was taken. Unlike other 360-degree imaging technologies that stitch together a series of snapshots, the Tamaggo 360-imager takes the entire 360-degree environment in one shot and it doesn’t require focusing. High quality images can also be cropped out of the 360-degree shot for printing.

The Tamaggo 360-imager is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2012. It’s expected to be priced at under $200.

[via BusinessWire]

As you can see it’s quite tiny, and has a 2.4″ LCD display with a resolution of 320×240. It has great battery life as well, with 40 days of standby time and three hours of play/record time you won’t have to work about power management as often. Oddly, you can’t charge the Play. Instead, it runs off of three AAA batteries.

The total record time is 180 seconds – and it fits into the 256mb internal memory. The idea is very good, but there are a few features I would have liked to see included. The first being a Li-ion battery; this day and age it would have been easy to fit one in there – and would help reduce battery cost. The second feature would have to be expandable memory via micro-SD card. It is great to have multiple short clips on the Play, but I foresee many will save messages for viewing long term – thus taking up too much space and time.

[Image credit: Steve Jacobsen]

I’m all for convenience. I don’t wash my clothes by hand, or perform my own complicated single-set plays for evening entertainment instead of turning on the TV. If I need to travel the country, I’ll use a train or a car instead of channeling my inner Taylor Lautner and loping across great distances like a wolf. The common factor across each of those devices is that they can do their tasks better than I can in other, more manual ways.

That’s not the case with pod coffee: they’re selling you convenience, yes, but you’re also agreeing to a compromise on taste. Sure, they’re probably better than a spoonful of instant dunked into boiling water, certainly less stomach-churning than those cappuccino-in-a-sachet where the foam is made by bicarb. But, for all the hyperbole and George Clooney, they’re not great coffee.

Hang around any of the coffee boards online and you’ll soon come across the rule of fifteens. Green, unfrosted coffee beans stay good for about fifteen months. Roasted, whole beans are probably good for about fifteen days. Once you grind them, you’ve got fifteen minutes before the all-important oils – the things that give you the true taste, the real crema, the complexity of properly prepared coffee – are evaporated and wasted. The guy in the cafe who scoops you out a couple of spoonfuls of preground coffee when you ask for decaf? He’s serving you stale coffee.

When was the coffee in your Senseo pad, or your Nespresso capsule, or your Keurig K-Cup roasted and ground? There’s a best-before date on the packet, yes, but that’s going to give the manufacturer the broadest possible window to sell each pod. Figure on 15 minutes, and the pods would be out of date before they’d even reached their packaging.

Here’s the thing: it really takes very little effort to get a better cup of coffee than a pod machine. You don’t even have to spend $2,000 on a huge, shiny Italian espresso machine. Here are my top three alternatives to pod coffee, each cheaper and practically as easy the machine you might covet for your counter.

Clever Coffee Dripper

Drip coffee has been around for a long time, and the plastic cones that sit on top of a cup can be picked up for a couple of dollars. Spend $15, however, and you can get a whole lot more control over the flavor of your morning brew. Shaped like an oversized cone, the Clever Coffee Dripper takes a standard paper filter (I like to rinse it at least once, preferably in the cone and with boiling water, to wash away any lingering “papery” taste) but holds the brew until you sit the whole thing on top of your mug.

A nifty little valve in the base is opened by the mug and lets the coffee run out. If you’ve ever dismissed drip coffee because it’s not sufficiently potent for your tastes, the Clever Coffee Dripper allows you to leave the brew sitting for as long as you like, getting stronger all the time. Plus clean-up is simple: dump the filter into the trash, give the cone a rinse and you’re done.

AeroPress

Not quite filter, not quite espresso, but special in its own way: the AeroPress looks like a bovine-scale syringe but actually lets you create concentrated – and delicious – coffee for $25. Screw in an (included) paper filter at one end, pour coffee and boiling water into the other, stir, and then push through the inner tube, forcing the brew into your cup.

The end result can be diluted with more water, used as a concentrate for cooking, chilled for iced coffee or just enjoyed as a pseudo-espresso. The sturdy plastic means you can drop the AeroPress into a suitcase when you’re traveling, too. When you’re finished, ditch the old coffee and the filter into the trash, rinse the tube through with water and that’s it.

French Press

Pod coffee makes plenty of speed boasts, but if you’re making drinks for a few people the one-at-a-time process can make serving staggered. A French Press (aka press pot or cafetiere) serves multiple people at the same time, and like the Clever Coffee Dripper you can experiment with how long you leave the coffee in contact with the water (and thus the final taste and strength).

Preparation is easy: drop in the coffee, pour over water, give a quick stir and then wait four minutes or so before plunging. Clean-up can be a little more fiddly than with either of the other two methods, though it’s easier if you pick a dishwasher-safe model.

The important thing with all three of these methods is to use fresh beans. You might get lucky and find a roaster nearby – remember, the “best before” date on that coffee in huge hoppers in the supermarket doesn’t tell you anything; what you really want to know is when the beans were roasted – but if not there are plenty of good places online to order coffee and have it shipped just a day or two after it comes out the roaster.

If you’re in the US, Intelligentsia is a good place to start, while Hasbean in the UK has some great choices. They’re certainly not the only options; feel free to speak up in the comments if you have a favorite roaster or vendor.

When you’ve got your beans, then you need to grind them. A proper espresso machine demands a burr grinder – crunching beans between carefully balanced burrs makes sure they’re suitably fine and consistent – but any of the three methods above can be paired with a simple blade grinder. You can grab one of those for under $20.

Rather than forcing you to pick from vaguely-titled “Colombian” or “Italian Roast” pods, any decent roaster will be able to tell you not only about the various flavors but where their coffee comes from, the growing and drying process, how they decided to roast the raw beans in order to bring out the best of them. You want more flavor? Throw in some syrup. Unlike with pods, where you’re basically limited to whatever taste options the manufacturer decides will suit the mass market, going straight to beans gives a far broader range to choose from.

I know the appeal of a shiny new gadget for the kitchen. The choice of Tassimo, Keurig, Senseo and other machines is huge, and the manufacturers have certainly been quick to make them glossy and attractive. My geek-lust can certainly kick in over them, even though I know the actual coffee they produce is underwhelming.

If you can resist, though; if you can channel your fetish for buttons and automation into something else – something where automation actually adds an advantage – then your taste buds will thank you. Your wallet may thank you as well: those pods, many of which are proprietary, add up too. Convenience has its place, but sometimes you lose much more than you gain.

Using gestures is where the more unique sounds are discovered, and from the clip below they work flawlessly. Sliding, scratching, tapping and countless other gestures make this little device desirable for anyone. And to be honest, it would make quite an impression in public.

If you were hoping to slip one of these gadgets under your teacher’s desk at school, then you might want to think up another prank – because the Mogees project isn’t commercially available. Though, I know a number of people that would pay good money for a little device like this, so we could see a similar product on the market in due time. Until then, you’ll just have to stick to playing music the old fashioned way – on your instruments.

[via Engadget]

How does CES work?

CES is a show, this meaning that there are several elements in play, the first being the main show floor. On the floor there will be hoards of visitors walking through hundreds of stands that brands have set up to show off their wares. We’ll be running through the floor from time to time, but for the most part we’ll be at events. The other big element in a show such as this is events – keynote speeches and town-hall meetings. Essentially anything where someone or a set of people stand on stage and talk to the audience that stands before them. That’s where the big products will be revealed, and that’s where we’ll be primarily.

There are also meetings that occur between us, the press, and the brands that want to show off their products up close and personal to you, the user and the consumer. We’ve got meetings set up with all the big brands (as well as a bunch of up-and-coming brands) that have excellent goodies to let us in on.

Who will be there?

Everyone and their tech-loving grandmother will be there. For example AT&T will be there, LG, Intel, Sharp, and Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, and Qualcomm. There’s Fujifilm, the DISH Network, Casio, Texas Instrument, NVIDIA, and Ford. Verizon will be there, AUDI, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sharp. And that’s only a small spattering. There’s so many people here your eyes will bleed when you’re done reading all the posts we’ll be putting up over the next week – you can bank on it!

How will I know what to watch for?

I would direct you back to the post we’ve got up about the CES mobile application for that sort of knowledge. You can tell us what you’d like us to inspect, or you can follow along with the schedule of all the main events from your smartphone or tablet, then watch SlashGear as we bring you the best coverage of each of those events as they occur! Furthermore, we’ll continue to have “what we’ll see at CES 2012″ posts up until the event itself – check out our CES 2012 Leaks post for now!

Can I filter SlashGear to give me only CES 2012 news?

You sure can, all you’ve got to do is head to our [CES 2012 portal] to see all the news before, during, and after the show! It’s just that easy!

BONUS: for a look at how we’ll be covering the events as well as a glimpse of how far-spanning the CES events end up being in effect, check out our [CES 2011 portal] from last year!

Check out first the LG Google TV launch tip, it telling us that CES is very well possibly the place where LG shows Google TV 2.0 for the first time. On that note, there’s the massively anticipated LG 55-inch OLED HDTV everyone’s been losing their mind over, along with the LG DM92 IPS display with a 1mm bexel. That’ll be a thing to see for sure – but what’ll they be using to show it off? That’s the real question. Of course then there’s Samsung’s Smart TV CES preview which assures us that LG and Samsung will be bringing out the boxing gloves for this show, no doubt.

As far as mobile devices go, Sony Ericsson’s been showing off some smartphones under a sheet. There’s also a 13-megapixel photo set that popped up last month said to be coming from the Sony Ericsson LT28at Android AT&T device of unknown nature. Of course AT&T will have more than just a little bit of presence with the Samsung Galaxy Note, more than likely showing up at the show right at the front door.

Intel’s Medfield 32nm process chip will be there in force, not least of all in such dreams as the mystery LG smartphone they say they’ve certainly not got. Nokia noted that they’d have some cool bits such as Windows phones like the AT&T Ace, the regular stuff they’ve had over the past couple of months, but also such possible gems as this this strange little nametag that, although they probably wont sell, will be on their vests. ASUS will be bringing their Transformer Prime for some sweet Ice Cream Sandwich action I’d be willing to bet, and although they’ve not officially said so, a 4-inch Eee Pad may well be appearing as well.

There’s a report that says Microsoft is in trouble with the CES crew, but they’ll certainly be showing up at this year’s event, Windows-a-blazing. Sony will be having a wedding-type event. Android will be appearing on TV. And one whole heck of a lot of other completely disparate releases will be taking place at all times of the day. We’ll be going to visit such fabulous brands as Audi, Lenovo, LG, Panasonic, and Qualcomm.

SO, without giving away our whole plan of attack at once, know this: you’ll be able to crunch on our whole set of coverage here on SlashGear through our [CES 2012 portal]. We’ll be releasing additional previews through the rest of the week – stay tuned!

This was back before we all had a smartphone in our pocket that could give us that info and a lot more on a screen you can actually read. I remember trying one of the watches out back in the day and being rather “meh” on the thing. The SPOT watch was discontinued back in 2008, but Microsoft was going to continue the service for the geeks still rocking the device.

As of January 1 2012, the service that the SPOT watches used to get their data has been discontinued. That date wasn’t a surprise though, it was announced in 2009. Do you have one of these watches? If so were you still wearing it? I would wager the service hasn’t had many users in years.

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This month Snoop Dogg took part in a week long promotion on The Price is Right in which he and other celebrities appeared on the show to raise money for their charity of choice. As he shows up behind a curtain which also reveals a fabulously stylish vehicle in which he rides, the contestant up at the time on the show loses her mind in appreciation of his being there to play the game with her. Much in the same way, many readers of tech blogs both read and contribute to the blogs they love because they find themselves tied to them with some innate form of loyalty.

The same can be said about many people’s favorite tech reporters. Many of your favorite tips and leaked sets of images have been passed on to specific writers rather than the blogs they writer for because they feel that these specific people are the one’s they want to see reporting the news they’ve got to offer. Snoop Dogg didn’t seek out The Price is Right, the producers of the show sought out him. They wanted to reach the viewers they know he lights up well with (young people, mostly,) and he said certainly, as with each disparate appearance his audience doth grow.

So I ask you this, reader: do you read specific blogs, writers, or neither?

[video via MTV]

We started out with a genuine Don Reisinger article all about the future of Apple vs Samsung in TVs. Apple used Santa for Siri. The company known as Fusion Garage implodes. Eric Schmidt teased a Nexus tablet in the next 6 months. The Galaxy Nexus went Ninja. Officials stalled on SOPA.

We started out very own Lumia 800 giveaway! Tips led to Google Terminator glasses. Samsung promised Bada 2.0 for 2012 The AT&T T-Mobile merger was dropped entirely. We reviewed the DROID XYBOARD accessories as well as the XYBOARD 8.9 and 10.1. Samsung said GSII and Note for ICS in Q1, 2012. The MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic was officially launched. Apple purchased Anobit for Flash Memory futures.

The PlayStation Vita was apologized for. Sony detailed ICS updates for XPERIA. Google used Santa for Nexus. Microsoft said CES 2012 would be their last. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 Series GPU was announced. We did a lovely review of the tiny Pogoplug Mobile, as well as the TP-LINK TL-SC4171G Wi-fi IP camera.

Steve Jobs won a Grammy. We discussed why Google+ works, for now. We reviewed the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. We reviewed the Three Wi-fi hub XTE MF10. Don Reisinger explained why he considers Netflix 2011′s Biggest Loser. We reviewed the Philips goLITE BLU Energy Light. Xerox PARC founder Jacob Goldman passed away.

We wished you a Happy Holidays. We guided you towards a Galaxy S II for Christmas. Avi Greengart noted how Apple’s Grand Central Station Store is and will be the Future of Retail. There very well may have been a leak of the Galaxy S III. We let you know what to do with your crappy Android tablet. Chris Davies instructed you on Geek Speak and Holiday Headaches.

LG updated us on their Android ICS schedule. Nokia showed off a fancy nametag. We showed you what to buy for your new iPad 2 or your new Android device. Windows Phone’s Market hit 50k applications. Samsung changed their mind several times on their Galaxy line ICS update schedule. There was a tip that said iPhone 5 would be coming and that water was wet. Don Reisinger let us know why he wanted Video Games for Christmas. The CyanongenMod team released info on their ICS launcher.

We reviewed the year 2011 in Android Developers. A tip dropped about two new iPads in January 2012. We got really super mad about Twitter kids. Verizon was down a whole lot this month. We got our own look at the Intel 32nm Medfield SoC reference tablet. We were assured anew that the Raspberry Pi $25 USD computer was on schedule for January. Comscore assured us that Android and iOS were still on top. Stanford University revealed bits of their massive Apple archive. The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic had missing brake pads.

Windows had an emergency patch released. China decided they’d be heading to space. Don Reisinger told us all about 32-37-inch Apple TVs. We heard about a possible LG/Intel collaboration at CES. The Acer Iconia Tab A700 was revealed to possibly be coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. A shadow joke of an app Siri for Android appeared on the market. An iPad 3 Retina Display appeared in a Korean forum. Philip Berne let us know that it was Time to Upgrade his Parents. We got our hands on a brand new HP ENVY 15. Philip Berne let us know his New Year’s Meta-Tech Resolutions. And of course, we wished you a Happy New Year’s!

What you’re going to see can be prefaced by what we saw in years past, those events and products easily found inside [CES 2011] and [MWC 2011] tags, those leading you to Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress from early last year. This year we’ll be using 2012 tags like so: [CES 2012] and [MWC 2012], and the keys are yours! We’ve already got a whole batch of teasers in both categories setting up the shows without a doubt!

As for big hits this past year, the tops on SlashGear when you consider post views only are thus:

1. Massive networks of stripes appear in Chinese Desert
2. Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera has us seeing spherical potential
3. iPad 2 vs iPad 1 [Original]
4. iPhone 4S Review
5. iPad 2 Review

After that it’s such masterpieces as the Samsung Galaxy S II review, a comparison post by the name of HTC Sensation vs Samsung Galaxy S II, and one of our first glimpses at the hero phone of today: Samsung Galaxy Nexus Pictured Clear as Day. Slightly more popular than the Galaxy Nexus post, believe it or not, is a post comparing the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer vs Acer Iconia Tab A500. You must remember, of course, that when those two tablets were released, the only other comparable Android was the Motorola XOOM. That said, our Galaxy Nexus Review isn’t far behind, and a warzone of a comments post in the “iPhone 5″ leak by Cincinnati Bell surprised us all with its tenacity. We’ll be exploring the significance of the top five in an upcoming post this week!

Then for your yearly wrap-up posts: stick around SlashGear here in the main news feed for all the “best of” posts you can handle! Everything from Apple to Android, Music to Magical Machines, you’ll know what we’ve brought to you in a vast set of nutshells. Enjoy!

Leave it to the industrious Japanese to come up with an automatic diaper called the Humany pad. This thing has a pouch for the penis that helps funnel the urine and a sensor that recognizes the urine and kicks off a suction pump. That pump takes the urine for the diaper into a tank.

That allows the wearer to avoid sitting in urine inside the diaper until someone can change it out. The suction machine apparently removes all the urine in the diaper except for about 0.5 cc of liquid. This sounds like a medical gadget that would save effort on the caregiver’s part and keep the wearer much more comfortable.

[via CNET]

That said, the questions keep on coming: did you get anything neat you’d like to share for Christmas? Did you spend this national holiday outside of the home, or did you spend it tinkering with your Android device to make that perfect kernel for the New Year? Will you be celebrating the new year with an iPhone in hand, or at the keys of a brand new Windows machine? What will you make of this next week?

And what do you look most forward to for the upcoming year in technology and gadgets? This year certainly seemed to be short when it came to reporting the news, did you get everything you expected from the manufacturers that create the toys we work with on the daily? Or is it all about what you’ve got already? What was your favorite device of the year?

We’ll have our own answers to all of these questions in the coming week – meanwhile feel free to answer them one-by-one right here in this post!

Hardware

Electric toothbrush technology usually falls into one of two camps: either you have actively wiggling, sliding or rotating bristles, or some sort of high-speed vibration. Philips’ Sonicare system falls into the latter category, promising the equivalent of 31,000 brush strokes per minute with its patented diamond-shaped bristles.

It’s worth noting that this is the UK version of the DiamondClean, and the US package may differ slightly. Still, both give you a decent range of accessories, certainly more than we’re used to seeing from a regular toothbrush. The DiamondClean itself is a fairly long, slightly tapering matte white rod, with a single power button and – only revealed when it’s turned on – a column of mode lights and a battery status indicator. It’s easily held and weighted relatively evenly along its length. Philips throws in a pair of brush-heads, which slot on easily, along with a hard-sided carry case with room for the toothbrush and both brush-heads.

The carry case isn’t just for protection, however, it also recharges the DiamondClean. On the outside edge is a mini USB port, and when you place the toothbrush inside and plug in – either via the included USB AC adapter, or into one of your your computer’s USB ports – it charges it up. However, there’s also a second charging option: a water glass. That sits on top of an inductive charger puck – powered by a regular shaver plug – and rejuices the toothbrush when you stand it up inside. It’s certainly a little more convenient than lining up the usual notched base on a typical rechargeable toothbrush, though those looking to pick up a DiamondClean for all the family should note that you can only use the glass with a single toothbrush at a time, and it won’t work with previous Sonicare models.

Philips Sonicare DiamondClean hands-on:

Unlike most brushes, there are five modes to choose from on the DiamondClean. The default is “Clean” with a simple two-minute brush, while “White” adds an extra thirty seconds on top for you to give the front teeth some extra attention. “Polish” is a minute session of intensive front-teeth buffing, while “Gum Care” pairs the “Clean” experience with a further minute of gentler gum massage. Finally, “Sensitive” ramps down the enthusiasm of the Sonicare system for those with sensitive teeth and gums. Pressing the power button cycles through each mode in turn, then shuts the toothbrush off.

Performance

If you’ve not used a sonic-style toothbrush before, the DiamondClean’s high-speed vibrations take a little getting used to. Nonetheless, we soon got into the habit of gently guiding the brush-head around our teeth and gums, relying on the Philips’ useful 30-second interval buzz to remind us to move between the four quadrants of our mouth and stick at it for the dentist-recommended two minutes.

In keeping with other electric toothbrushes, we’d like to see the DiamondClean continue to run beyond the last timer buzz: as it stands, the Philips shuts off straight away, and there were times we were caught short and would’ve liked to have carried on brushing for a little longer. The longer Gum Care mode does factor in some extra time, however. We also quickly learned to switch between modes while the brush-head was in our mouth, otherwise you give the bathroom mirror a good toothpaste spattering. Previous Sonicare models had two buttons – one for choosing mode, one to start – which is a tidier way of handling it.

Compared to an Oral-B electric brush, the Sonicare system did seem to get teeth to that “tingly fresh” stage more consistently. It’s worth noting that the Oral-B we’re used to was a sixth of the price, however. The diamond-shaped bristles proved adept at getting into the gaps between teeth, and tricky to reach back teeth felt cleaner after the DiamondClean than with a rotating-head electric brush.

In comparison to a manual toothbrush, there’s little competition: unless you have a bionic arm you’re unlikely to get a traditional brush moving fast enough to compete with the Philips.

Battery

A full charge of the non-user-accessible battery is good for up to three weeks, Philips suggests, a figure our testing would support. In fact, we were at closer to four weeks before the DiamondClean began protesting. We’d like to have seen a segmented battery icon to give a more granular indication of remaining charge; instead, you have to wait for it to turn orange and then start blinking to know you’re running short.

Having two methods of recharging is neat, though we never envisaged ever having to scold a toothbrush manufacturer for opting for mini USB instead of the more common micro USB standard. There’s also no room in the carry case for the USB cable itself, which seems a missed opportunity.

Price

$300/£250 is a huge amount to spend on a toothbrush. Even with a street price closer to $190/£150, it’s an expensive option. Brush-heads add to that as well, with a pack of two – Philips’ recommend changing every three months – priced at $30/£20 (street price closer to $23/£14). In contrast, other Philips Sonicare brushes can be had for well under $100, though only this particular model uses the newest DiamondClean heads that are said to contribute in no small amount to the overall experience.

Wrap-Up

Philips promises “to brighten your smile in just one week” which is a somewhat tricky thing to judge. Nonetheless, we found our teeth and mouth felt cleaner and fresher after switching to the DiamondClean from our regular electric toothbrush, both immediately after using it and in the hours that followed. Whiteness is a more subjective matter, and after around four weeks of use we’re yet to see noticeable changes. That’s in keeping with other user reports, however, that indicate closer to 2-3 months of frequent use is required before a distinguishable change in whiteness is observed.

On that front, although it’s not as quick as a dentist whitening session, it’s cheaper in the longer term. Making more use of the dedicated whitening mode could accelerate the process as well. For convenience and geek-appeal, the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean certainly has its strengths; we’d advise shopping around for the best price before committing, however.

What several sources including the Enough Project’s Raise Hope for Congo campaign, actress and activist Robin Wright, and the folks who made the documentary Blood in the Mobile tell us that essentially what you’ve got in your smartphone is a bunch of materials mined by Congolese miners, men, women, and children, whose suffering allows you to make calls, texts, and updates to your favorite social network on the daily.

What you see above is a heat map made by Raise Hope for Congo that shows exactly which companies have showed progression towards a conflict-free set of materials for their product lines – and which companies have shown no such effort in the least. The most telling marker here isn’t the green for good, the yellow for OK, or the red for terrible, it’s the gold star for Conflict-Free. You’ll notice that no company has this star. Through the site where this heatmap originates, you can contact each company and demand that they improve their standing.

You can also contact the business that makes the devices you love directly or use a form set up by Faith-based “socially responsible investment fund” Praxis Mutual Funds to contact your favorite carrier and demand that they provide guaranteed conflict-free cellphone options. Meanwhile we’ll be doing some prodding of our own on this investigation – and lets see if we can give it as much attention as we’ve given the invasion of our precious privacy that Carrier IQ has been accused of making happen. Does blood outweigh keystroke logging to you?

The goal is to create a real world social proximity network for you to meet up with likeminded magnetU users around you. The device uses the GPS in the mobile to update locations and find people with similar interests without the wearer having to do anything. This means that the social circle of the user grows just from walking and visiting places where other people with the device are.

The magnetU will launch “in the coming weeks” in select cities and on select college campuses. The device will sell for $23.97. The catch with spending your money on this is that it will only work if lots of people adopt it. Without lots of people willing to wear the device around campus and when out, having fun it is worthless.

The idea is that the printer will produce a little newspaper for you to peruse. Naturally, you could just use a tablet or a smartphone to read this content like the rest of us. The device will launch in 2012 as a beta product. Pricing is unknown. It appears that the printer itself is thermal.

The paper appears to be the continuous roll sort. Thermal printing means if you leave printouts in the hot sun or keep it too long you might lose that content. The printer can print text and pixel art as well. What do you think of this thing? Check out the video below.

The EXOdesk comes from EXOpc, the company behind the tablet that looked interesting last year. According to the details, the 40-inch touchscreen has 10-point touch and 1080p resolution. The viewing angles are supposed to be 178-degrees and it will be shown off at CES in January. The manufacturer of that display device is being kept secret, but is supposed to be well known.

This reminds me more than a little of Microsoft Surface. The desk will run apps made using HTML5. The surface will have touchpad zones and a keyboard that can be changed for use by anyone. A dev kit is available with JavaScript extensions and more. EXOdesk can be used with a PC or as a second screen for your existing computer. The price for the EXOdesk is said to be $1299. The desk won’t launch at the show but the launch is promised for 2012.

[via The Verge]

1. The world as our office.

As the internet can now be accessed by anyone essentially anywhere on our cool connected planet these days, so too can we write up the news on technology, gadgets, and everything in between from any ol’ place we deem perfect for the job at the time. Have a peek at this video from earlier this month where I’m taking a look at Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a Galaxy S II, but pay close attention to the sounds you hear in the background. I’m in the comfort of my own home in the company of my lovely daughter who is giggling with glee seeing her papa filming a video for all of you readers out there:

2. Unlimited mobile data.

Because most of us switch through devices so often as the review units come and go, we’re connected 100% of the time as we wish. This is fun as there’s no reason to worry about streaming music from our newly loaded Google Music libraries, and allows us, again, to remain connected no matter how often we’ve been using our smartphones during the month. Even in the airport, even in the middle of the night in a taxi, on the way to and from events, always.

3. Unlimited media collection.

With all of these devices comes the ability to collect everything in our lives for later viewing and listening – most often this coming in the form of something so simple as a smartphone camera. I remember back less than 10 years ago how awesome it was to be able to have a point and shoot camera in my pocket and snap photos and videos 24 hours a day. Now it’s even easier as this is combined with the ability to share the media we’ve collected to social media networks like Facebook and Google+, the latter having just been released inside the last year as well. The following example is from Vince’s recent review of the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung.

4. Processing power.

Each year the chips get smaller and the power gets better, and the ability to use that power more effectively gets better as well. Take a look at your humble narrator’s best attempt at making one of the newest processors’ abilities and functions understandable by the common user: NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 Variable SMP, the brain of quad-core mobile computing, and NVIDIA expands on project Kal-El (Tegra 3) and adds a fifth core, and of course NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core Mobile Processor Revealed and Detailed. Get to know what’s about to be inside your everyday awesome mobile devices.

5. Massive variety.

I’m thankful for the year that’s about to unfold as we’re about to get a whole lot more diverse in the products we review. We’ve been relatively heavy on the mobile end over the past year or so, but have a look today in our review portal, for example, at the spread we’re starting to reveal and prepare yourself to be drown in gadget goodness!

What in the world are you thankful for?

The watch has dual sapphire crystals with one of the digital watch face and the other over the rotor for that little micro-generator that keeps the thing powered up. The watch stays powered for 45 days so it won’t go dead overnight on you. The watch features LED backlight, dual time zones, alarms, and a perpetual calendar.

The watch also has some sort of OS behind the scenes. That would mean that updates might come to add other functionalities to the watch as well. It’s cool looking for a digital watch. The big downside to this watch is the price; it sells for $5,500. The black watch is a limited edition. A silver version is available as well for $5,250.

[via Wrist Watch Review]

It also looks like if you stand just right and miss the pan you might fry your own eyeballs. Here is the crazy part. Apparently, you can actually buy this thing and use it for camp outs or living off the land cooking. I bet it would cook a squirrel right up. The tray you see in the center is where you place the food.

You can arrange the cooking section into the right position by placing the rod though a different hole in the side. I wonder how long it would take to cook up some burgers on this thing. I guess it would depend on the strength of the sun. In Texas, you could cook on the sidewalk in the summer so your outdoor feast may burn to ash in a few seconds with this.

[via Geeky-Gadgets]

The vacuum connects to the WiFi network in the hoe and can then be controlled from just about anywhere using your smartphone. The cameras will stream live images to allow you to check on your home or pets while you are away. The vacuum is also very quiet so it won’t disturb those at home when it activates and goes off to clean things up.

The vacuum produces 18db of sound and is also able to understand some voice commands as well. The vacuum is set for release in Korean September. The robot has several settings for cleaning and can avoid things in its path and fun a zigzag pattern to cover all the area. The voice commands can be spoken from as far as 1.5 meters away from the device. It needs 18W of power to operate and will sell for 899,000 won or about $750.

[via Newlaunches]

I end up filling balloons the whole time while they try to bust them on my head. The balloons are a pain in the butt to tie off. That is what takes so long. ThinkGeek has a new toy called the Tie Knot Water Balloon Filler that is perfect for balloons and just about anyone can use it. The thing will fill your balloon for you and then all you need to do is wrap the end of the balloon around the tie part.

After twisting and wrapping the end of the balloon, you just slip it off and the thing ties itself. The claim is you can fill and tie a balloon in 30 seconds. I bet my kids could even use this so I can get some water balloon payback of my own. You can buy one now for $9.99.

The travel case for the battery measures 10″ x 5″ x 1.5″ and weighs under a pound. The charger part is a sort of USB hub for charging that also has a data port for connecting to your computer for the synchronization of your gear while it charges. There is no internal battery. The charger has 10W of power so it will charge your iPad too.

The charger can power up your gear and needs only one AC outlet. The case is made from nylon and the charger is made from APS plastic. The charger will charge items will less power needs as well. The AViiQ Portable Charging Station sells for $79.99.

The price for the FMV mirror will be $299.99 plus another $75 for installation. Once the mirror is installed, you will need a service plan from On Star for the mirror to work. The service starts at $18.95 a month or $199 for a year. The mirror will be able to be installed at 1,000 different Best Buy locations after purchased. The mirror has most of the same features as the integrated OnStar system offers in various GM vehicles.

The mirror will automatically dial 911 if you have an accident using the integrated accelerometer inside the FMV mirror and GPS capability inside the mirror. The mirror will also provide turn-by-turn driving directions and hands-free calling via OnStar or a Bluetooth connection to your phone using an external mic. This would be the full package if On Star had integrated the ability to open garage doors too.

When you look at the watch face from the top all you see are a bunch of lines that look complex. To tell what time it is all you need to do is hold the watch at an angle and read the face. At an angle, the numbers on the screen are clearly legible. The watch also has a LED backlight so you can see in the dark. The USB cable needed to connect to the computer is included.

Right now, the watch isn’t officially available and is only a design. I would bet it would come to market eventually. The design you see shows the watch in black with a green light. The watch could be made with different backlight colors. The design is up for a vote and if you want to see it become a real watch vote for it at Tokyoflash.

First let’s look at a couple of unique posts made by the crew at Android Community because one way or another you’ve got to see these gadgets. They’re gadgetastic. First there’s the HTC Status which is also known as the Facebook phone, or better yet the HTC ChaCha as it exists in the UK and greater Europe. Then there’s the Motorola DROID 3 which will rock as hard as you can imagine with a dual core processor, slide out squared out keyboard, and some Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread for that brand new vision of a user interface as created by Motorola. For the win? Have a hands-on look at both.

Next let’s not forget to remind one another about the ongoing contest we’ve got happening here on SlashGear and over on Android Community: Tabletpalooza 2011 with a total of 5 tablets, each of them packed with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1Ghz processor and freaking out at the thought of coming home with you. This week we’ve got a Asus Eee Pad Transformer and a T-Mobile G-Slate. Gotta catch em all! BUT you can only win one. Choose wisely!

Then let’s get you educated on what it means to know Spotify here in the USA. This service has been around for a couple years over the ocean, but now that it’s been released in BETA form this morning here in the states, you’ve got to know! First learn about the bigger picture with our SlashGear 101: What is Spotify? post. Next you’ll have to find out the true glory of the awesome Premium account, that $10 a month service that allows you full access to Spotify not only at home, but on your mobile device as well. We’ve got a full hands-on guide! Then as long as we’re on an app kick, let’s talk about two new apps by the same name that’ve come out today: SwiftKey X and SwiftKey Tablet X, keyboards with magical powers made specifically for Android devices and again, both released today to the Android Market and reviewed today by us right here on SlashGear. [SwiftKey Tablet X] and [SwiftKey X for Handsets]

And no app selection would be complete without a benchmark, right? Lucky you and lucky us, Qualcomm has brought some fire today with Vellamo, a benchmarking system that’ll show you EVERYTHING you’ve ever wanted to know about the mobile browsing capabilities on your device. Grab it today for free on the Android Market.

Some specs are next: Google CEO Larry Page lets the world know that they’ve got over 10 million users on Google+ and 1 BILLION items shared per day. The fire then continues for Google as its announced that they activate 550,000 Android devices daily, with 250,000 apps on the Android Market today. In sort of similar news, Apple is now the third largest PC vendor in the USA.

Oh and more Spotify! We’ve got the backdoor keys for you!

There’s a cool 10.1-inch Amazon Android tablet coming down the pipe on a Foxconn ship, so says sources. A nice image of the Sony NEX-7 leaks forth. Sony may be set to launch some brand new ereaders next month. Netflix is coming to Nintendo 3DS today, yes today. And best of all, Nokia hinted that they were going to have a Google Maps web challenge for iPhone and Android. It’ll be such a fight!

(photo credit: Daniel Lim)

My daughter’s too young to buy me a present so mom stepped in to help out. Unfortunately for her, I’m possibly the hardest guy to buy present for simply because I have nearly every single electronic devices made. There’s this one picture of Allie and I that I love, and luckily my wife Lynnsie knew and had a copy. She also knew I have a passion for phones and my current phone happens to be a Galaxy S II. In her research she discovered Geleskins offers customized skins for all sorts of handsets.

So it begins, she decided this would be the best present ever – and indeed she was right. No other present could have touched the way this one did. Looking at what was once nothing more than a sheet of plastic is now etched with a picture of me, and the one person I love more than life itself, my daughter. I inadvertently gave Lynnsie a minor heart attack earlier this week, when I dropped the Galaxy S II and managed to crack the Gorilla Glass display; luckily the replacement arrived in time for my Father’s Day surprise!

When I asked if the ordering process was easy, Lynnsie told me “yep, it sure was. All I had to do was upload a picture and let Gelaskins know which phone you have.” Now normally, other than a clear Wrapsol skin or a customized StealthArmor, I would never use anything on any of my phones. This was different. I couldn’t apply it on fast enough! Installation was easy and painless. Once on, my Galaxy S II is radically changed and now personalized. I love it!

All in all, it’s not how much you spend on a present that counts (in this case, Lynnsie spent $15 for the Gelaskins and $15 for rush order), but the meaning behind the gift. To me, this present was the best ever.

The Karabiner also has a nail file and scissors tucked away Swiss-Army style next to the blade. The nail-file and scissors are not very menacing; they were probably just put in next to the knife to fill the extra space. To be perfectly honest, the blade is not all that threatening either. TSA security might not agree with that, but we would consider the knife a tool instead of a weapon. The knife could be used in self defense under certain circumstances. For example, if you were attacked in the forest by a small animal, like a rabbit or a squirrel.

The Karabiner is silver, with the Bounty Hunter logo on the side. It comes in one size and retails for 3,990 yen. It can be purchased online or in select retailers in Japan and the US. Definitely a tool to consider if you ever needed to cut something while climbing a mountain, or better yet file your nails. Overall it is a great design with an appealing look.

[via bounty-hunter]

The new line includes TVs with screens from 3.5″ to 7″ and there is an automotive TV tuner as well. RCA is showing the sets off during the 2011 NAB show in Las Vegas right now. The sets are battery powered and let the user watch TV wherever they may go. None of the sets can receive low power analog signals.

The line includes the 3.5″ DMT335E at $119 with LED backlit screen and up to four hours of use on AA batteries. The 3.5″ DMT336R sells for $159 and has a LED backlit widescreen, FM tuner, and runs on AC power or a rechargeable battery pack. The 7″ DMT270E sells for $179, has an 800 x 480 resolution screen with 500:1 contrast, and can run on rechargeable batteries for up to three hours or AC power. The mobile car receiver is DMT3BR and sells for $129. It is about the size of a deck of cards and is designed to hook to the cars infotainment system.

A dude showed off the prank he played on his wife on April Fool’s day. He took his name on her iPhone, changed it to AP Mobile, and then sent a text saying that the Pentagon had confirmed the Roswell crash was alien. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer got its official product page Monday. The official product page turned up cementing the final information missing for consumers, though we already knew all there was to know about the Transformer.

Anonymous has hacked Playstation.com and Sony.com as part of its retaliation against the legal action with GeoHot and other hackers by Sony. I am sure this will only lead to more legal action by Sony. What may be the coolest Wii mod ever turned up Monday called the Wii UNLimited Edition. The hack out the Wii components inside a different case that is liquid cooled.

Hackers have accessed the database of one of the largest email marketing firms out there called Epsilon. The hack opened up email addresses belonging to customers of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Kroger, Capital One Financial, and TiVo to more spam. Nikon unveiled a cool new DSLR camera this week called the D5100. The camera is reasonably priced at about $900 in kit form, records HD movies, and has up to ISO 102,400 when extended plus lots more.

Ubisoft Battle Tag has crossed the FCC. This is sort of like laser tag for the kids of today. Developers of Android apps are saying that fragmentation in the Android market is a huge problem. The fragmentation is thanks to a bunch of different OS versions and different handsets with vastly different capabilities.

A prototype leaked that is supposed to be a 5th generation iPod touch with 128GB of storage inside. The image also shows that the physical home button on the device has been replaced with a capacitive one. A strange product that is likely fake surfaced called the RE-35 that looks like a can of film for 35mm. The device supposedly has a sensor that makes your 35mm camera into a digital camera to print digital prints.

Analysts are claiming that the Motorola Xoom and Atrix 4G are failures. The claim comes after the analyst did channel checks and found sell-through to be low thanks to stiff competition on the market. A cool all-touch HP webOS flavor called Stingray leaked mid-week with the Verizon Pre3 smartphone. The OS would make the keyboard free smartphone work better and might get HP back into the smartphone market if the Pre3 doesn’t suck.

We put up our review of the T-Mobile Nokia C7 Astound this week. We think it could be a contender, but has less mindshare than Apple and Android devices. GameStop has confirmed plans to offer a gaming tablet later in 2011. Right now, the company is still trying to decide on using its own design or another slate design available via OEMs.

Apple has rejected an iPhone app for lack of functionality that offered all iAds in one place. The crazy thing is that Apple later offered its own app that does the same thing. Michelin has developed new inner tubes for bicycle tires that can repair their own punctures. The tubes use a special design and air pressure to seal the puncture and have a fluid inside to seal the puncture as well.

The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 has been spied in the wild. It has a touchscreen and the QWERTY keyboard that BlackBerry is known for. Android is expected to own 49% of the smartphone market by the end of 2012. As Android is growing fast, Symbian will be shrinking nearly as quickly.

Geeks around in the 80′s will remember the Commodore 64 computer back then that was cool and really expensive. The Commodore name is back on a new computer that has Intel Atom power inside. Reports came in that a student is making $50,000 yearly jailbreaking iPhones. He started for friends and then put ads on Craigslist and turned it into a profitable business.

The FCC mandated new data roaming rules for AT&T and Verizon this week. The new rule forces the big carriers to open up their data networks to smaller carriers just as they do with voice networks. Apparently a geek picked up a very cheap 500GB HDD that was a Chinese knock off of a real HDD with 500GB of storage. Unsurprisingly the thing didn’t work and when it was opened it has short-term memory inside not HDD storage.

AMD has been trying to round up some new Andorid talent for its operations. The company is looking at offering chipsets and other hardware with support for the Android OS. If you are a fan of the video game Portal, you will be glad to hear that Portal 2 is almost here. The game is set to come out on April 19.

An elementary school in Main is issuing iPad 2 tablets to Kindergarten students for free. A teacher found with her own iPad 2 that the tablet helps kids having trouble learning significantly and the school board was so impressed that they voted to purchase the tablets for all kids. Thanks for reading this week’s edition, see you next time!

I can only imagine that she would spend more time pulling her Zhu Zhu Pets around in a box than anything else if she had something like the Rolobox that puts wheels and a pull string on the box. Honestly, I would have played with something like this more than anything else when I was a kid too.

It appears that the stuff sticks to the cardboard box with simple pushpins. I would bet there is something on the inside of the box that will hold the parts on or they would fall off constantly. Your kids should be able to use this set up with boxes of all sizes. You can order the kit up right now for $14.

[via Wired]

The site has been in beta, but it officially launched today. EcoSquid is based in New York, and was started by Nik Raman and Christian Croft.
[via TNW]

The new line of gear will hit market in time for the holiday season of 2011. Sakar says that it will offer digital cameras, video cameras, and cases for devices in the line. Other products will include MP3 players, walkie talkies, binoculars, flashlights and headlamps.

I can imagine a bunch of foam covered items that will look like the NERF toys. The foam will help protect the gear though. At this point, there is no word on pricing; we will have to wait until Q4 to learn more.