SlashGear Week in Review - Week 18 2011

Welcome to the latest edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! Monday bought with it news that Nintendo was set to unveil a replacement for the Wii console at E3 this summer. The console itself is due to land for purchase sometime next year according to reports. The biggest story of the week has been the Sony PSN outage. Sony admitted that the Dev accounts and user accounts were hacked by outside sources.

A really cool LEGO helmet that looks like the ones the Minifig astronauts wear that is sized for kids to be able to put on turned up. The helmet is very cool and has speakers inside to read LEGO comics to the kids via a digital file right off a USB drive plugged into the back of the helmet. Apple is facing its first class action suit over the tracking of user location details on the iPhone. The suit is seeking class action status and is asking for compensation.

Sony showed off two new Android tablets running honeycomb. One of the tablets is a traditional design called the S1. The other tablet is the S2, and it uses an unconventional dual screen folding design. Kodak unveiled a new AIO printer this week. The cool part about the new Office 2170 is that it can print files from mobile devices, and it can print 3D photos too.

Chris reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone this week. In the end, he thinks that the Galaxy S II might be the best Android smartphone on the market today. I really like the products that Quirky and its users come up with. The latest produce is a really cool Fender Bumper for the iPad 2, and it is designed to work along with the Apple Smart Cover.

Sony offered upset PSN users a bit more information Tuesday when it officially said that a hacker was the cause of the outage. Sony also said that the user information stored on the PSN had been compromised. The long running SETI program that uses the massive Allen Array that scans the skies for signs of extraterrestrial life has been shut down. The array was terminated after congress cut the funding for SETI from NASA's budget.

Users of the Xbox 360 game console have another entertainment option now. Hulu plus landed on the Xbox 360 last week for members to view all the content they want. Sharp unveiled a gigantic video screen room it had designed for a Japanese theme park .The room has a total of 156 60-inch screens arrayed all around the room on walls and ceiling to completely immerse users in the video.

New PS3 models have hit the FCC, and they have new model numbers on them. The new numbers are CECH-3001A and 3001B, at this point we don't know what the difference between the new consoles and the old ones already on the market are. AT&T issued another warning to users who are tethering the iPhone 4 that it will automatically charge $25 if they unofficially tether their device. AT&T had previously sent out warning messages via text to users suspected of tethering.

The massive breech of the Sony PSN could well end up costing Sony literally a fortune. The estimated cost of the breech could end up totaling $24 billion. Pepsi has unveiled a very cool new social vending machine that uses a big touchscreen. The cool machine will let user's gift drinks to a friend or to complete strangers, talk about pay it forward.

Foxconn doesn't take kindly to people that leak designs from its factory. Three Foxconn workers have been arrested and charged with leaking the iPad 2 design that was used to create cases and shells for the iPad 2 well ahead of the official unveil of the tablet. Another chunk of bad news came Friday for users of the PSN. Security experts warned that the credit card data for users of the PSN was apparently up for sale on the black market.

The white iPhone 4 smartphone landed in stores this week and some geeks already have the white iPhone at home. Some have discovered that the white iPhone 4 is thicker than the black one making some cases not fit. Chris posted up his review of the HTC Wildfire S on Friday. The smartphone may be a very good choice for the mainstream user on a budget.

Square has announced that it will be launching a new credit card reader this summer. The new reader will have encryption at the read head, which is something that its competitors said the reader needed from the get go. The HBO Go app has landed on the Android and iOS platforms. The app lets subscribers stream original show and movies to their smart devices.

Amazon has undercut iTunes on the price of new and popular songs on its music store. Amazon is now selling popular tracks for 69 cents each. Thanks for reading this week's edition, see you next time!