CNET Buzz Report: How to get a $149 HP TouchPad

via Molly Woods of CNET.com

The HP TouchPad is back from the dead (again) with a hot new price ... and a catch. Plus, Facebook is crawling with children, and the Internet is changing the world (again).

B&N launching Nook Tablet for $249 on November 16th, and we've got the dirty details -- Engadget

B&N launching Nook Tablet for $249 on November 16th, and we've got the dirty details -- Engadget

"Sitting down? Good. Come November 16th, Amazon's Kindle Fire will have company. We've wrapped our paws around a stash of documents confirming the impending launch of the first bona fide tablet in the Nook line, and lo and behold, the Nook Tablet will end up being a dead-ringer for the Nook Color that already exists.

What we're looking at is a 7-inch VividView IPS color touchpanel with a 1024 x 600 screen resolution (that's 169 pixels per inch), a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP4 processor, 1GB of RAM, dimensions of 8.1- x 5- x 0.48-inches, 16GB of inbuilt storage, a microSD expansion slot, roughly eight hours of battery life with WiFi switched off (that sinks to four hours with videos playing back), 802.11b/g/n WiFi and support for a smorgasbord of file formats including ePUB, PDF, XLS, DOC, PPT, TXT, DOCM, Flash, JPG, MP3, MP4 and AAC."

Amazon starts offering Kindle e-books via subscription

Technolog - Amazon starts offering Kindle e-books via subscription

"Amazon.com is rolling out a new “Kindle Owners’ Lending Library” — a virtual book-borrowing service for its Kindle devices. Not for Kindle apps on other devices, but only for Amazon’s own Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablet.

It’s a no-extra-charge addition to the company’s existing Amazon Prime subscription service, adding digital-book lending to streaming video and free shipping as a benefit of the $79/year subscription.

Amazon says the available library for lending consists of more than 5,000 titles, including more than 100 current and former New York Times bestsellers."

'via Blog this'

Gadget Accessory Style Tips

Courtesy of pop17 on YouTube

Do you want the inside scoop on the newest must-have gadget accessories? From Kate Spade iPhone cases to Dolce & Gabbana laptop bags, Sarah and Rebekah Austin have got you covered! Don't you want your gadgets to have a little style? Well check out these tips and you'll soon have the most wanted accessories around!

Google ready to roll out revamped Gmail service

By Jeremy C. Owens via MercuryNews.com

Google announced a new look and updated features Tuesday for Gmail, its popular web-based email offering.

The most obvious change for Gmail users will be the appearance of the inbox in "Conversation" view, which will include the email sender or recipient's profile picture beside the email if available. It will also have a more stripped-down appearance, Google User Experience Designer Jason Cornwell announced in a blog post Tuesday morning.

The search function within Gmail will offer more options, with advanced filtering features available from the standard drop-down box at the top of the inbox. The left panel of the inbox, which includes contacts available for instant-messaging, will be more customizable for users, Cornwell said.

Gmail's appearance will also change, but offer customizable design elements as well. Users will be able to vary the spacing on the page depending on what device they are using, allowing for a better view on the variety of mobile devices users now access the service. Google has also introduced new themes to the service, which add backgrounds and affiliated icons, with a series of high-reolution photos from istockphoto.

The changes will appear "soon," Cornwell said, but users can voluntarily switch to the new look later this week, when they will see a link offering the chance to "Switch to the new look" at the bottom right of their inbox screen.

Review: Roku 2 Streaming Player

via SoldierKnowsBest on YouTube

The Roku 2 Streaming Player looks like a terrific source of Internet content to stream to your TV via a very small, compact box. SoldierKnowsBest does a great video review of the steaming player.

Redbox Raises Rental Prices

via MarketingTrendsNews on YouTube

NerdBoyTV NOTE: Boy, I'm not sure this is such GREAT timing for a price increase, especially after that horrible backlash from the Netflix pricing snafu! Well, we shall see...

Redbox's DVD rental kiosks have grown in popularity lately, attracting customers fed up with Netflix's video subscription service.

Now Redbox is risking its own customer backlash by raising prices, the same move that triggered Netflix's recent loss of 800,000 U.S. subscribers.

Yesterday, Redbox announced a 20 percent price increase, making the rental rate $1.20 per day, instead of the current $1 daily rate.

Redbox prices will remained unchanged for Blu-ray discs at $1.50 per day and video games at $2 per day.

Amazon unveils four new Kindles

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Genius Turns iPad Into Amazing Halloween Magic

When master magician Simon Pierro gets his hands on an iPad, watch out. Now he’s created a special Halloween edition of his unique iPad magic, blending his special brand of prestidigitation with carefully constructed digital wizardry.

Simon tells us he spent 10 weeks putting together this Halloween iPad act, and “it was a hell of a lot of work,” he says. “Luckily my iOS programmer Masashi Beheim again joined the project. It took him more than 100 hours of programming this time, being as fanatical about details as I am,” he added.

Simon wasn’t satisfied with a rehash of his brilliant “Preview of iOS 5” we featured here on Mashable last summer. He says, “So I came up with the idea to tell a story about a killer and together with my magic colleague Thomas Fraps we decided to take the clown as the usual suspect.”

The result? Another entertaining — and this time scary — masterpiece.

How To Buy The Best Camcorder - Digital Camcorder Buying Tips

via Howdini on YouTube

Who knew there were so many camcorders to choose from? The wide variety of sizes, formats and prices can make the choice really tough. Professional photographer Nigel Barker helps navigate all the bells and whistles so you can find a camcorder that's right for your lifestyle and needs.

Motorola DROID RAZR Hands-On

via PhoneDog on YouTube

The RAZR name is coming back, and it's coming back strong! Aaron gets some hands-on time with the Motorola DROID RAZR, an impressive 4G LTE device that's coming to Verizon Wireless in November. It packs a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced qHD display, 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording capabilities, an HD front-facing camera, 1,800 mAh battery, and Android 2.3.5 with Motorola's custom UI. As if being the thinnest 4G LTE device (7.1mm thin) wasn't enough, it's an absolutely gorgeous device, with metal accents, water-resistant coating, and a KEVLAR-coated back. It'll be available for pre-order on October 27th and available in retail stores sometime in November for $299.99 with a two-year contract.

New Android Smartphones Arrive to AT&T's Portfolio

via ShareATT on YouTube



New Android devices are coming to AT&T. These include, the Motorola ATRIX 2, Samsung DoubleTime, Samsung Captivate Glide, Pantech Pocket and AT&T Avail. Learn about the features offered by each new of these new Android mobile devices.

Samsung Galaxy Note review -- Engadget

Samsung Galaxy Note review -- Engadget: "Remember the display on your first mobile phone? If you've been chatting on the go for as long as we have, it was probably barely big enough to fit a complete telephone number -- let alone a contact name or text message. And your first smartphone? Even displaying scaled-down, WAP versions of web pages was asking a lot. Now, those mobile devices we couldn't live without have screens that are much, much larger. Sometimes, though, we secretly wish they were even bigger still."

Winfrey looks to the Web to energize her network - Yahoo! News

Winfrey looks to the Web to energize her network - Yahoo! News: "After 25 years on TV, Oprah Winfrey says she's having the time of her life on the Web.

The 57-year-old mogul is connecting with viewers through her weekly webcasts, and she says it's "the most fun I've had ever."

Winfrey's live webcast discussions about her new show, "Oprah's Lifeclass," have been so popular, they've been added to the lineup on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

"Lifeclass" premiered earlier this month and features Winfrey sharing her favorite interviews and insights from her long-running talk show. On Fridays, she discusses "Lifeclass" lessons during an hour-long webcast with a live audience, and invites viewers to comment or ask questions in person or through Facebook, Twitter and Skype."

Bye, bye $99 TouchPad: HP says tablet officially out of stock | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

Bye, bye $99 TouchPad: HP says tablet officially out of stock | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News:

Hewlett-Packard sent out notices today that it is officially out of TouchPads, meaning there will be no more shipments of those popular $99 tablets.

The notice says, "As you signed up for updates on the HP TouchPad, we wanted you to know that we are officially out of stock. Some retailers will have some stock available, but our online inventory is depleted."

The only other avenue for getting a TouchPad is Best Buy. The retailer announced today that it will offer a 32 GB HP TouchPad for $149.99 with purchase of an HP or Compaq Laptop, Desktop or All-in-One computer.

The official demise of the TouchPad coincides with a report Friday pointing to the end of TouchPad production. Citing sources, Asia-based Digitimes said TouchPad manufacturer Inventec had laid off 400 employees because it "has to stop production of Hewlett-Packard's...WebOS tablet PCs, and also expects no new orders for other devices."

Chromebooks on Amazon.com

Amazon.com: Chromebooks

Checkout the selection of available Chromebooks on Amazon.com.

Kindle Fire - Full Color 7" Multi-Touch Display with Wi-Fi - More than a Tablet

Kindle Fire - Full Color 7" Multi-Touch Display with Wi-Fi - More than a Tablet:

$199.00 Free Super Saver Shipping Details
Pre-order now to reserve your place in line

Our all-new Kindle Fire will be released on November 15, 2011. Orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis.

Ships from and sold by Amazon Digital Services. U.S. only.

Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser
18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books
Thousands of popular apps and games
Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk
Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
Fast, powerful dual-core processor
Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows

Digital Life - Four fun Halloween photo effects

Digital Life - Four fun Halloween photo effects

By Suzanne Kantra, Techlicious.com

Between the kids’ costumes, jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating, there are a lot of photo moments to capture. To get great photos in these difficult lighting situations, though, you’ll have to do a little more than just point and shoot. So check out our tips for taking your photos up a notch. And we’ll give you ideas for special effects that will make an already spooky holiday even spookier.

Photographing jack-o-lanterns

Great jack-o-lantern shots capture both the glow coming from the pumpkin and the textures of the pumpkin’s skin and surrounding objects in low light.
Take this shot at twilight (about 20 minutes after the sun goes down) when the glow from your pumpkin will produce about the same amount of light as the sky. With the exposure for everything the same, your camera will easily capture details in the entire shot.

If you miss this window, put your camera in HDR mode (High Dynamic Range) mode (Cameras we recommend, like the $200 Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS have this). In HDR mode, the camera takes an overexposed shot to capture the pumpkin skin detail and an underexposed shot for the candle’s glow and then merges them together without your intervention. If your camera doesn’t have an HDR mode, you can merge photos of different exposures together using Adobe Photoshop Elements’ Photomerge Exposure editing mode.
Be sure you can’t see the flame of the candle when taking your shots. It will appear too bright as a spot in your picture. And use a tripod and set the camera’s self-timer to avoid the brief shake that inevitably occurs when you press down on the shutter button.

Samsung new No. 1 smartphone vendor, over Apple

Technolog - Report: Samsung new No. 1 smartphone vendor, over Apple

By Athima Chansanchai via MSNBC.com

In the third quarter of 2011, Samsung was the king of the smartphone world, with one report showing the domination of the manufacturer overtaking Apple's global reign.

While smartphone sales in the U.S. dipped for the first time during the same duration, the rest of the world was busy snapping up the devices. According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, "Global smartphone shipments grew 44 percent annually to reach a record 117 million units in the third quarter of 2011. Samsung overtook Apple to claim top spot as the world’s number one smartphone vendor." The company shipped 28 million smartphones and gained 24 percent of the market.

Shoebox app turns phones into photo scanners

By Athima Chansanchai via MSNBC.com



A new app released by a "memory sharing" site makes converting photo prints to digital a little easier by turning an iPhone into a mobile photo scanner.

Shoebox, the first app released by 1000memories, gives iPhone users the ability to scan and share large collections of photos and documents on Facebook and Twitter, as well as on 1000memories.

While it seems like it's impossible there was ever a time when cameras weren't digital, many of us have ample evidence there was such a thing as film and photo prints. Albums — and shoeboxes, as the video below shows — bursting with dusty images remind us that we used to spend time sitting down and reliving those moments with others, rather than solo clicking and commenting.