SlashGear Week in Review - Week 48 2010

Welcome to the latest edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! Apple rejected an app for inclusion on the App Store this week because it was a magazine app about Android. The publisher of the app said that the person at Apple he spoke with said, "You know... your magazine. It's just about Android.... we can't have that in our App Store." A report came in early in the week that Windows Phone 7 was outsold by Android devices 15:1 in the UK. The revelation came by way of an aggregator of store deals in the UK called MobilesPlease.

A sweet new Tron flash drive surfaced that is in the shape of a Lightcycle. The thing glows when you plug it into the USB port of your computer and there are styles that look like the bikes from the old flick and the new one. A woman has claimed ownership of the sun and had the document notarized. The woman even wants to charge for use of the sun apparently, what a moron.

The new Tegra 2 smartphone from LG called the Star was leaked this week and the thing is said to be a benchmarking demon. The device runs Android and is going to be one of the first Tegra 2 smartphones to hit the market. Microsoft has announced that it sold 2.5 million Kinect devices in the first 25 days the thing has been on the market. That is a lot of folks that are playing and hacking the cool accessory.

Verizon offered up details on the roll out of its long anticipated LTE network. The details were offered at an event that was held on December 1. NASA offered up a very cryptic press release on Tuesday that hinted at a major discovery in astrobiology. The event was packed with scientists that specialize in organisms that live in high concentrations of arsenic.

Samsung Mobile Display was showed off a new type of screen tech this week called Super PLS. The new screen is brighter and has better viewing angles than IPS screens while being cheaper to make. A rumor surfaced mid-week that claims Microsoft is working on a new HD remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. The title is rumored to be in development at 343 Industries where future Halo titles will be made. However, Microsoft said that it plans to work on supporting Halo: Reach right now with no new title to announce.

If you recall a few months back the real replicas of the Tron Lightcycles surfaced on eBay that were street legal. Those bikes didn't all sell and if you wanted one you can still get one for a cool $55k and you can now see a video of the makers riding the thing. SuperTalent tossed a new flash drive on the market this week using USB 3.0 and having Creedo Personal installed. The drive lets the user run any software they want in a secure environment.

A patent app from Apple surfaced outlining a new 3D display tech that needs no glasses. Not only does the patent app show a screen needing no glasses, but it needs no parallax tech either. NASA offered more details on Thursday on that press release about a new discovery. NASA has found microbes on Earth that can live in high concentrations of arsenic making it much more likely to find other life in the universe.

Angry Birds Seasons expansion landed on the App Store this week. The game has the Halloween and the Christmas version of the game and upgrades to the app will be free. Google has agreed to pay $1 in compensation to a couple who sued them for violations of privacy with Street View. The attorney for the couple said the buck is "one sweet dollar of vindication."

The geeks at iFixit took the Parrot AR.Drone iPhone controlled flying device and tore the thing apart for use to look at. I still think that the AR.Drone is one of the coolest accessories for the iPhone. We posted up our review of the Sony Ericsson LiveView display Friday. The thing promised a lot and wasn't that great ultimately with lots of connectivity issues.

A cool new bar of soap that glows in the dark surfaced late in the week. The little bar of soap has the periodic table markings for Uranium on it. A professor of photography in New York had a camera installed in on the back if his head at a piercing shop and it takes a picture every minute and sends the pics to a photography exhibit called "The 3rd Eye."

The prosecution in the Xbox 360 modder case has dropped the charges against Matthew Crippen. Crippen faced ten years in prison if he was convicted, but as it turns out the key video evidence in the case was obtained illegally. Congress passed the CALM Act this week and the act is on its way to Obama's desk to be signed into law. The CALM Act will force commercial makers to set the volume for the commercials to the same level as the show you are watching.

Google is set to have a Chrome event on December 7. The event will be in San Francisco and will be broadcast on YouTube as well. It will be next Tuesday at 10:30 so check it out. Thanks for reading this week's edition of the SlashGear Week in Review!