Carrying a Sprint Evo phone used to make you feel special, in a geeky way.

It was the first true 4G wireless phones when it debuted in 2010, showcasing the Clearwire-powered WiMax network.

With a huge screen, sleek black case and powerful processor, the Evo was the baddest phone on the block. As long as the battery held out.

Now Sprint's releasing a more powerful version that I've been testing, the HTC Evo 4G LTE.

You feel special carrying this Evo, too, but for different reasons.

For one thing, it's contraband.

Imports of the new Evo were blocked this month by U.S. Customs, delaying its May 18 launch. The phones are being reviewed to see if they comply with a court ruling in a patent spat between Apple and HTC.

The Evo -- and an HTC One phone for AT&T that's also held up -- are casualties of Steve Jobs' going "thermonuclear" on Google's Android software.

I think the late Mr. Jobs is doing Sprint customers a favor by delaying the Evo's release.

The Evo's biggest selling point is that it uses fast, new 4G LTE network technology. LTE is becoming the new standard for smartphones in the U.S. and soon every major network will offer it.

Sprint plans to have LTE across its network in 2013.

The problem is, Sprint doesn't yet offer LTE coverage anywhere. It's promising coverage by "midyear" in six cities -- Dallas, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City -- but won't say where it's coming next.

Yet it began selling LTE phones in April.

These phones also work on Sprint's 3G network, which is being upgraded, but there's no comparison to LTE speeds. Current LTE phones also won't work with the LTE capacity-boosting service Clearwire is providing Sprint next year.

This is like selling color TVs limited to black and white content. It's infuriating if you're already used to the newer technology.

I began testing the Evo the day President Obama was in town. Downloads were so slow I wondered if the Secret Service had jammed the network.

I tried watching a high-def YouTube trailer for "The Expendables 2." It was maddeningly slow, so I tried it on the free Wi-Fi at a McDonald's. It still froze and buffered more than a dozen times.

I tried the same video on the bus ride home, over Sprint's 3G network. The sound of gunshots roared out of the Evo's "Beats" audio system so I pressed the volume button, and the phone completely froze.

After a reboot, the video "loading" icon spun for another mile. Finally it began playing as I stepped off the bus, then paused to buffer 25 seconds later.

Network aside, I found the Evo to be a nice phone with an 8 megapixel camera, good call quality and far better battery life than the 2010 Evo.

Despite a massive 4.7-inch display, the $200 Evo feels light and easy to hold.

From the front, the case is plain but handsome. The back has an odd combination of shiny and matte plastic, divided by a red aluminum kickstand. It's not as striking as the original Evo or as svelte as the HTC One series (T-Mobile's One at left).

The first Evo's battery barely made it past lunchtime. I could use the new one lightly for well over a day without recharging. Sprint claims 7.5 hours of talk time, but the battery is "embedded" and can't be replaced by users.

There are many layers of capability in the Evo, which runs the latest "Ice Cream Sandwich" version of Android.

Especially prominent is an assortment of preloaded media apps. This profusion of digital storefronts is a little confusing.

Google's "Play" store and service get a home-screen icon and appear in the corner when you scroll through multiple screens filled with apps. "Play Movies" and "Play Music" also link to Google services. "Music" opens a folder with other music apps and "Watch" launches HTC's video store.

Another app, called "Media Share," is designed to connect the phone to a Wi-Fi network and share media files. I thought it would be cool to rent a movie from HTC and play it back through my home network, but I couldn't connect the phone. This was probably a user error, but it should be easier.

The Evo also has the ballyhooed Google Wallet and NFC capability. Wallet lets you load credit-card info, which is permanently linked to your Google account. Wallet also stores retail-loyalty cards, and Google will use it to send you coupons and offers.

With near-field communications hardware, you can wave the phone near special credit-card readers at some stores to make a payment.

That may appeal to some, but to me the convenience isn't worth giving Google my credit information. It's like giving Cookie Monster keys to the Keebler factory. If Google wants that access, it should provide a free phone and wireless service in return.

Others may also be excited to have a truly next generation phone like the HTC Evo 4G LTE.

It's a fine phone, but users will be paying $80 per month to use it on a last-generation network for a significant part of their two-year contract.

Here are the phone's specs, via HTC:

Network: LTE (Band 25) and CDMA 1xRTT EVDO Rel. 0, EVDO Rev. A
Dimensions: 5.31" (L) x 2.72" (W) x 0.35" (T)
Keyboard/Form Factor: Virtual QWERTY
Weight: 4.73 ounces
Operating System: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with HTC Sense
Display: 4.7-inch 1280x720 HD with IPS technology (In Plane Switching); Capacitive touch screen
Battery: 2000 mAh
Camera: (Main): 8MP color CMOS with auto focus; (Front): 1.3MP color CMOS Front Camera; Back Side-Illuminated (BSI Sensor); HTC ImageChip
Memory: 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM, microSDHC compatible
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Connectivity: Bluetooth 3.0+, 3.5mm Stereo audio jack, Micro USB connector with MHL, NFC, WiFi: IEEE 802.11 A,B,G,N
Processor: 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon Qualcomm MSM8960

Here's a photo taken with the HTC Evo 4G LTE, of the site of Amazon.com's forthcoming office towers:

The truly inside story of starting the Xbox and Zune businesses at Microsoft was shared in a remarkable lecture Friday by Robbie Bach, the retired president of the company's entertainment and devices business.

Bach shared his unique perspective on why the Xbox was a success and the Zune was not during a presentation on intrapreneurship, or how to operate like a startup and launch new ventures within a large, existing business.

The lecture included advice for companies looking to foster entrepreneurial culture, and for all sorts of entrepreneurs entering competitive new markets. It was a breakfast event held by the Northwest Entrepreneur Network in South Lake Union.

Bach described the corporate retreats where the Xbox business was hatched and how Sony fumbled its lead and gave Microsoft the opportunity to get ahead in the console business.

"When the luck happens, you take advantage of it and run with it," he said.

It also helped that Bach's startup had $5 billion to $7 billion in funding available, he joked.

That wasn't enough to help the Zune, though. Bach admitted that Microsoft quickly realized it was too late to prevail in the portable media player business and in hindsight he would have built a music service rather than devices. Apple executed well and didn't give Microsoft the sort of breaks it had in the console business, he noted.

Bach's now focused on philanthropic organizations, serving on the board of audio gear company Sonos and looking to buy a mid-size family business like the food-service supplies distributor that his father operated in retirement.

Here's a raw video of the event. Apologies for the quality; it was taken with a new smartphone that was supposed to capture high-def video ...:

Finally, something acceptable for the upwardly mobile social networking executive to wear on Wall Street.

Executive Hoodies are now being offered by San Francisco-based Betabrand, which makes them in the city.

Their May 23 debut will be too late to help Mark Zuckerberg.

But what a gift this would be for college grads, gearing up to look for work in the urban jungle.

From Betabrand's site:

Is Boeing taking design cues from George Lucas with its radical new winglets on the 737 Max?

After years of begging by fans and merchandise vendors, Seattle's PopCap has decided to start producing licensed products, such as toys and apparel.

The game studio today announced deals with merchandisers that will begin selling PopCap gear this spring and through the rest of 2012.

PopCap has a big incentive to boost revenue. If the company meets sales targets in 2012 and 2013, the founders will get up to $550 million from Electronic Arts under the $1.3 buyout deal the companies reached last July.

Licensed products have been a cash cow for other game companies, notably "Angry Birds" creator Rovio.

But PopCap's licensing manager downplayed the revenue angle.

"The revenue will not be insignificant but it's not our focus," said Brennan Townley, who joined the company last year to manage brand merchadising and licensing.

Townley said his position was created prior to the EA deal. When he joined his first job was to go through hundreds of inquiries for licensing deals that had accumulated over the last three or four years.

"We're not necessarily looking at this as 'how are we going to monetize and make money on this,''' he said.

PopCap has never sold licensed products outside of some products now sold in China.

The first products available are "Plants vs. Zombies" wall graphics. T-shirts will appear in retail over the next few weeks and figurines and plush toys should be in stores by the holiday season.

We'll have to see if these zombie pants are available in time for Father's Day and graduation season:

More TV services are now available for the Xbox. But they're not for cord-cutters.

Instead, they're designed for people who already subscribe to those services, and want to extend them through the game console to another room in the house. They also require console owners to subscribe to Microsoft's premium Xbox Live service.

Perhaps this will lead to the Xbox doing double-duty as a cable box -- as it does in some regions overseas already -- but for now the additions mostly bring the console's video options in line with wireless TVs and streaming video adapters. It also showcases the ability to use the Kinect sensor as a remote control using voice and gestures.

Either way Xbox users are taking to the entertainment services. Usage of entertainment apps on the console has doubled over the last year, overtaking the time spent playing multiplayer games on the system, Microsoft said in its release.

Subscribers to Xbox Live Gold service now spend an average of 84 hours per month on the service, and its Zune video store is now the world's second-largest online video store, the company said.

Video consumption via the Xbox is likely to grow further after today's announcement that Comcast, HBO and MLB services have joined the console's video lineup, nine months after they were announced at last June's E3 game conference. The lineup was confirmed in October and began appearing in December -- helping to goose holiday sales of the console -- but it has taken awhile to get the lineup filled out.

Comcast, in particular, appears complicated. The company isn't providing the same on-demand library on the console as it provides through cable boxes and other devices, according to documentation called out by bloggers over the weekend.

Comcast also is excluding content streamed to the Xbox from data consumption limits that it applies to broadband customers, raising a net neutrality question around preferential treatment the dominant cable company is providing to its own video service, Ars Technical noted.

To receive the Comcast video via the Xbox, you need to have the console, a digital cable subscription and a digital cable box in the home.

UPDATE: On top of all that, glitches caused problems for some people trying to set up the Comcast Xfinity app, according to blogger Ed Bott. Perhaps this helps explain why it took so long for the app to appear.

The HBO Go app brings HBO's full catalog to the console, where it's searchable by voice. That's if you already subscribe to HBO through a cable provider.

UPDATE: It turns out the app won't work on an Xbox for Comcast Xfinity subscribers, because Comcast and a few other large cable providers aren't supporting it. The statement from HBO spokeswoman Laura Young:

Comcast/Xfinity, Time Warner Cable and Bright House are currently not supporting HBO GO on Xbox 360. They do, however, support HBO GO online and through the HBO GO mobile app (iPad, iPhone, select Android smartphones).

The following television providers are supporting HBO GO on Xbox 360: AT&T, BendBroadband, Blue Ridge Communications, Cablevision, Charter, Cox, Directv, Dish, Grande Communications, HTC Digital Cable, Massillon Cable/Clear Picture, Mediacom, Midcontinent Communications, RCN, Suddenlink, Verizon and Wow.

We believe that HBO GO is a great enhancement to the HBO subscription so we remain hopeful that all of our distributors will support the service on all platforms in the near future. We encourage our subscribers at non-participating television providers to reach out to their provider and request that they add support for HBO GO on Xbox 360.

MLB.TV is providing customers of its premium-level pay TV service 2,430 games (not 2,429 or 2,431 ...) to watch in high-definition live or in a condensed recap format on the Xbox. The service provides home and away broadcast feeds for out-of-market regular season games "where available," according to the release. It can be controlled with voice and motion controls using the Kinect sensor.

If you've been dying to see what's on the inside of Apple's new iPad, gadget repair firm iFixit has the goods.

Taking advantage of the time difference in Australia, iFixit flew an executive from San Luis Obispo, Calif., to Melbourne, where he was first in line at a Telstra store to buy the new iPad. Then he cracked it open, using a heat gun, guitar picks and other tools.

Here's the big reveal of the iPad's A5X processor, manufactured by Apple's frenemy Samsung:

Here's the higher resolution screen, also apparently made by Samsung. During this procedure iFixit could "hear the cries of 3,145,728 pixels being removed from their homes inside the iPad 3."

Here's the bigger battery:

For external perspective, Apple's preferred reviewers posted their first takes on the new iPad last night.

Walt Mossberg noted that it's thicker and heavier than the last iPad and is no longer the thinnest and lightest tablet. But "despite these trade-offs, its key improvements strengthen its position as the best tablet on the market," he wrote. "Apple hasn't totally revamped the iPad or added loads of new features. But it has improved it significantly, at the same price."

Mossberg loved the "spectacular" display but said iPad 2 owners "shouldn't feel like you have to rush out to buy the new one. However, for those who use their iPads as their main e-readers, and those who use it frequently while away from Wi-Fi coverage, this new model could make a big difference."

David Pogue at the New York Times said the new screen is "very, very sharp" but it doesn't make much difference for apps that haven't been rewritten for the higher resolution display:

In most apps, text is automatically sharpened, but not in all of them. After enjoying the freakishly sharp text in Mail and Safari, you'll be disappointed in the relatively crude type in, for example, the non-updated Amazon Kindle app. (Amazon says that a Retina-ready update is in the works.)

Similarly, high-definition videos look dazzling. This is the world's first tablet that can actually show you hi-def movies in full 1080p high definition. But Netflix's streaming movies don't come to the iPad in high definition (yet, says Netflix), so they don't look any better.

The iPad's 4G LTE connection is "really, really nice" Pogue said, but he's not encouraging iPad 2 owners to rush out and upgrade, either:

The new iPad doesn't introduce anything that we haven't seen before, either in the iPhone or in rival tablets. There's no Steve Jobs "one more thing" moment here; Apple just took its white-hot iPad and added the latest screen, battery and cellular technologies.

If you're in the market for a tablet, here's the bright side: For the same price as before, you can now get an updated iPad that's still better-looking, better integrated and more consistently designed than any of its rivals.

And if you already have the iPad 2, here's an even brighter side: At least this time around, you don't have to feel quite as obsolete as usual.

LAS VEGAS -- Some companies spend millions building huge booths and producing glitzy stage shows for the Consumer Electronics Show.

Perpetua, a little energy-device company in Corvallis, Ore., sent Jerry Wiant with a laptop and a few gadgets to set on a table.

That's all it took to hook me, though.

Wiant's demonstration of "energy harvesting" gizmos was one of the most intriguing things I saw at the massive event last week.

Maybe that's because the bigger companies were holding back this year, making it hard to find radically new products.

There were lots of improvements on display -- brighter TVs, thinner computers and faster memory cards -- but not many huge breakthroughs apparent on the show floor.

The annual gadget fest suggests that every year we should expect waves of exciting new products, but in reality the cycles of research, development and technological change are longer, and some years bring more iteration than innovation to Las Vegas.

Still, there were plenty of exciting new products and some far-out creations that left me excited about what's still around the corner.

Like Perpetua's technology for powering gadgets with body heat instead of batteries.

Drawing on research from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Perpetua developed thermoelectric devices that convert temperature differences in dissimilar metals into electricity.

Since 2005 the company has been selling these energy-harvesting systems for industrial use, where they may be attached to warm pipes to power sensor systems, for instance. A number of employees came to the company from Hewlett-Packard's Corvallis printer operation, and Perpetua's devices are built in a way similar to HP's inkjet hardware.

Now Perpetua is working on smaller, wearable versions that generate electricity just from a person's body heat. The National Science Foundation and Department of Homeland Security are helping fund the research. The company also partnered with Texas Instruments to add wireless connectivity to the devices.

Within a few years, Perpetua's wearable devices could be used to power consumer gadgets, starting with fitness sensors and medical devices.

To show the concept at CES, Wiant had a small thermoelectric generator connected to a digital watch. Pressing your finger on the generator provided enough heat to power the device. Also on display was a prototype armband.

Wiant's show booth -- really just a table with a display board -- was in a far corner dedicated to innovative startups.

I didn't realize Wiant's company was just down the road until we started talking. Then I also found out that the company was funded partly from the proceeds of a startup -- Internet marketing company TrafficLeader -- that Wiant sold to Seattle's Marchex in 2003. He was an early investor in Perpetua and became its vice president of marketing in 2008.

Friday, as he packed up, Wiant said he didn't have much time to tour the show because he was busy manning the booth.

But he said it was worthwhile, and Perpetua drew a lot of interest from potential business partners.

"I have a stack of cards about 20 deep that are serious opportunities, which is really good," he said.

If one or two of those contacts come forward with development funding, he said, Perpetua could release the wearable thermoelectric products in 2013 or 2014.

Maybe Wiant will be back in Vegas then with a bigger booth. It shouldn't be hard to miss -- if it can harvest the energy of 150,000 conventioneers looking for the next big thing.

Everybody loved the sleek design of Ferraris in the late 1960s, back when cars were the coolest gadgets around.

So it was monumental when Datsun introduced the 240Z in 1969 -- a Japanese sports car with Italian looks for less than half the price. It wasn't as exquisitely handcrafted, but the 240Z looked great, ran well and a lot of people could afford one.

That helped convince Americans that Datsun -- now Nissan -- and Japanese carmakers really could build sexy machines and not just boxy, cheap sedans.

There's a new generation of laptops appearing this holiday season that may have a similar effect on the Windows PC industry, which in recent years has fallen under the shadow of Apple's glamorous new hardware.

These laptops blatantly lift design cues from Apple's MacBook Air, an elegant, impossibly thin wedge of aluminum that first appeared in 2008, and they're approaching half the Air's price.

Intel calls them Ultrabooks, a brand PC makers can use if they meet Intel's criteria. Ultrabooks basically have to be thinner than a finger; run five to eight hours on a battery charge; use Intel's latest mobile processors; and have a solid-state hard drive, or SSD.

The SSD, which is like a big version of the memory card in a digital camera, is crucial because it improves performance and startup times.

I've been testing one of the first Ultrabooks, the Acer Aspire S3 (left), which takes only a few seconds to wake from sleep and less than a minute to reboot.

It's a beautiful laptop with a brushed aluminum cover, a 13.3-inch screen and a total thickness of about a half an inch. Closed, it looks like it could be a Web tablet, and it makes mini-netbooks look chunky. At 3 pounds it weighs about the same as a MacBook Air. (Below are pictures of the S3 with a Kindle Fire and a pencil)

Inside the S3 runs Windows 7 Home Premium on a second-generation Intel Core i5 processor.

There's also a dual drive system -- a 20 gigabyte SSD plus a 320 gig standard hard drive.

Blended drive setups will appear on several new Ultrabooks. It's a way for PC makers to provide the performance boost of an SSD without the crazy expense of a full-sized Flash hard drive. A spokesman for drive-maker Seagate said its new hybrid drives add only $30 to $60 to the cost of a standard laptop drive at retail.

There are other ways that PC makers are trying to keep Ultrabook costs down.

The S3 has "chiclet" style keys similar to the MacBook Air. There's a bit of wiggle in the keys and I was concerned about the small space bar and Enter key, but I could type reasonably fast without misfires. The keyboard felt just right to my wife and daughter, who have smaller hands.

With more plastic parts, it doesn't have the exquisite, machined feel of the Air. It also lacks the fast, new USB 3.0 ports (it has two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI port) and full SSD drives used on some other Ultrabooks.

But these things depend on your perspective. If you're upgrading from a thick, standard laptop, the S3 or other Ultrabooks may be thrilling.

Keep in mind, though, that the S3 and other ultrathin laptops don't have DVD drives. If it will be your only computer, you may need to connect an external DVD drive at some point.

The S3 lists for $900, but I've noticed some discounters are already selling it for just under $850. That's expensive, especially when you can get really powerful laptops for $400 to $700, and Thanksgiving sales are just around the corner.

Still, the S3 looks like a deal if you've been pining for an ultrathin laptop and unwilling or unable to pay for one. Windows PC makers have made gorgeous, thin laptops for years, but they're usually aimed at executives and cost $1,500 or more.

A 13-inch MacBook Air costs $1,299 to $1,599, for models with 128 or 256 gigabytes of SSD storage.

You could say that the S3 and other Ultrabooks are just copying the Air.

That's partly true.

Also at play is the cost curve. Premium components that Apple used to build such a thin machine are coming down in price. That's enabling other PC makers to build similar systems and sell them for $1,000 or less. If component prices keep falling, most laptops eventually may look like this.

Intel expects 40 percent of consumer notebooks sold by the end of 2012 will be Ultrabooks. But research firm IDC says that's optimistic; it's predicting they'll take 16 to 19 percent of the consumer laptop market next year.

With consumers paying an average of $686 for laptops nowadays, according to IDC, Ultrabook prices need to fall before they take off, said IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell. "The issue is this first batch is really expensive, unfortunately -- too expensive," he said. "In my view it needs to be $799 or less before it really gets attention from people."

O'Donnell said the combination of Ultrabooks and Windows 8 will be appealing, in part because the new operating system will further improve startup times.

Another research firm, HIS iSuppli, projected Ultrabook sales will grow from 1 million this year to 136.5 million in 2015.

For now, Intel's requirements for Ultrabooks -- especially the SSDs -- are a challenge for PC makers trying to lower prices, O'Donnell said. He met last week with Taiwanese manufacturers who are working on "Ultrabook class" systems with less expensive components that don't quite meet Intel branding standards.

Perhaps Intel will be more flexible with processor prices. It's about to introduce the next generation of the "Core" processors that are the basis of its Ultrabook strategy. These processors, code-named "Ivy Bridge," are supposed to have better performance, power savings and improved graphics.

Ivy Bridge PCs will go on sale in the first half of 2012. It's a safe bet that laptops and tablets built on the platform will be shown in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. Apple's also likely to upgrade its computers to the new processors.

Having "old" and "new" processors on the market could lead to a broader range of prices for Ultrabooks and they'll all be upgradeable to Windows 8.

Meanwhile, the S3 is worth a look if you're in the market for a laptop, especially if you need a fast, light, full-powered Windows PC. It's not the Ferrari of laptops, but it's still a pretty nice ride.

Apple tops the Christmas wish lists of kids surveyed by Nielsen, which released its annual take on which gadgets people want to receive this year.

Among kids 6 to 12, some 44 percent would like to receive an iPad, up from 31 percent in 2010.

Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone are the next most-wished-for items, followed by a computer, non-Apple Web tablet and Nintendo 3DS. Microsoft's Xbox Kinect sensor is next, followed by Nintendo DS and a TV.

I hope the kids are flexible. That's a pretty pricey wish list for kids in a country where nearly one out of 10 people is unemployed.

Apple's tablet is also the most-wished for item among American consumers 13 and older, with 24 percent wishing for one. Computers and e-readers are equally wished for, with 18 percent of respondents hoping for them, followed by TV sets and non-Apple tablets.

Here are the results in graphics provided by Nielsen:

If you're among the millions of Sony Bravia TV owners affected by last week's recall, here's what to expect from the process.

I went through the process this morning to be sure that the 40-inch LCD set I bought at Costco a few years ago won't overheat and catch fire.

The first step was scheduling an appointment through Sony's Web site, which unfortunately requires that you block out four to eight hours to wait for the technician. Sony contracts with a service agency that mostly handles PC repairs for companies such as Lenovo and Dell.

My appointment was for between 8 a.m. and noon, and the tech called around 8:30 to say he'd be there after 10. He arrived at 10:30 and the actual process took about 30 minutes. The appointment took a bit longer because the tech's meter failed and he had to run down to Radio Shack for a new one.

Most surprising was how big the components are inside an LCD set that's only three or four years old. It's amazing that the industry is able to produce such sleek, inch-thick sets nowadays. It's similar to the way phones have become slimmer and faster over the same period, but with displays ten times smaller.

The recall is actually a test to see that two pathways on the circuit board have between 42 and 60 ohms of resistance. If so, the set's fine and nothing needs to be done. Otherwise you're looking at having parts replaced during the visit.

There was no problem with my TV and it wasn't a huge problem to unhook everything and dismount the set. Fortunately the adhesive strips in the Nintendo Wii sensor bar still worked after pulling it off for the servicing, and everything's back in place.

My only gripe is that you can't narrow down the scheduling window. Sony shouldn't make people sacrifice four to eight hours to wait for a brief service call to fix a potentially dangerous manufacturing defect.

Verizon and its new LTE network walloped other carriers in a new survey of Seattle-area wireless network performance.

The survey (posted below) was done by Bellevue's RootMetrics, which did more than 27,000 call, data and text tests in September to gauge speeds and performance of the different carriers in the area.

It found that Verizon's average download speed was up to 21.5 times faster and its average upload speed was 20 times faster than previous tests in February, which didn't test the latest 4G networks.

Verizon's average download speed of 14.5 megabits per second was faster than the maximum speed Root recorded on any of the other carriers, and its 9.6 Mbps upload speed was eight times faster than T-Mobile, its nearest competitor.

Verizon also topped its ranking of overall performance. Second place went to AT&T, followed by T-Mobile and Sprint.

Root also found that AT&T more than doubled its average download speeds since its previous tests, moving it from third to second place in its speed ranking. T-Mobile also showed faster downloads but they "increased at a less drastic rate, while Sprint's average download speed actually declined."

T-Mobile was the quickest to deliver text messages.

When it came to dropped calls, all four carriers "delivered statistically equal performances" the report found, with drop rates of 0.1 to 1.6 percent.

But data transmission failures were higher in Seattle than in other markets that Root has tested recently. AT&T had the lowest data failure rate - with failures in 6.2 percent of its tests - and Sprint had the highest rate, with failures in 14.2 percent of its tests.

Root did the tests with off-the-shelf Android devices. From the description of the devices and methods:

The HTC myTouch 4G Slide (T-Mobile 4G), the HTC Thunderbolt (Verizon 4G), the Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint 4G), and the Samsung Infuse 4G (AT&T 4G). During the Text test, SMS messages were sent from each phone to an in-market receiver kit holding mobile devices for each of the carriers. The phones used in the receiver kit were the HTC Droid Eris (Verizon), the HTC Evo (Sprint), the Samsung Captivate (AT&T), and the Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile).

A few graphics from its report:

Hewlett-Packard flip-flopped today, saying that it's going to produce more TouchPad tablets after all.

The company abruptly announced on Aug. 18 that it was killing the TouchPad product line after dismal early sales. But sales picked up after the price was cut to $99, from $499, to clear out remaining inventory.

That prompted HP to announce today that it's going to produce "one last run" of TouchPads, which may be available in a few weeks. Pricing wasn't disclosed.

An excerpt of the announcement:

Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. We don't know exactly when these units will be available or how many we'll get, and we can't promise we'll have enough for everyone.

HP said a "limited quantity" will be produced during the quarter ending Oct. 31.

I wonder if the company is also trying to appease the Taiwanese factories that were stuck with parts of perhaps another 100,000 TouchPads, according to a DigiTimes story. It said HP was going to honor its commitments to its Taiwanese partners, who also manufacture its computers.

The DigiTimes story said the parts were for a 7-inch model of the TouchPad that wasn't released before HP scuttled the line.

It reminds me of the way Verizon reintroduced Microsoft's short-lived Kin phones last fall, before they all ended up at the Dollar Store.

Contour - a Seattle maker of wearable video cameras - is one of the nation's fastest growing private companies, according to the new Inc. 500 list.

Contour is ranked seventh on the list, up from 183rd on last year's list.

The company - which emerged from a University of Washington business plan competition- reported 11,663 percent sales growth over the last three years and now employs 57 people.

The stats included with Inc.'s list say Contour's revenue grew to $15.1 million last year from $128,635 in 2007. That's with two products - a 1080p wearable camera (pictured) that lists for $280 and a $350 version that also captures GPS locations - plus a Web site where users share their "adventure sports" videos.

"It's beyond my wildest dreams to evolve Contour from a project bootstrapped out of a garage to the seventh fastest-growing private company in the nation," Chief Executive Marc Barros said in a release.

Here are the top 20 companies on the list from Washington state:

Here are the top 20 companies on the list from the greater Seattle area:

Ceton's going outside the box.

The family-run Kirkland hardware company today announced an external, plug-in version of its TV tuner for Windows PCs.

Called the InifiniTV 4 USB, the $299 gadget has four tuners that can simultaneously stream four live high-definition channels at once.

It's designed to work with Windows 7 PCs that include Media Center. It also accepts CableCard devices provided by cable companies.

The setup lets you replace cable company set-top boxes with a PC, which can stream the live and recorded TV around the home using "extender" devices such as an Xbox 360 console.

Pre-orders for the device begin Aug. 19 from a few online retailers. Broader available is expected in September, and shipping is planned to begin Sept. 19.

It looks like a cool device but buyers may think about waiting until shipping begins. Ceton's tuners are much appreciaed by Media Center enthusiasts but the company's initial production last year took than expected.

The company also announced today that the price of its internal quad tuners is now $299, down from $399 when they debuted in May 2010.

Nintendo today launched the 3D video service for its 3DS handheld game player, which went on sale in March.

Called "Nintendo Video," it provides free, downloadable short videos and movie trailers that can be viewed in 3-D without special glasses on the 3DS.

It follows the release last week of a Netflix app for the 3DS, and Nintendo Video in Europe and Japan.

Videos are downloaded to the device via Wi-Fi.

Content will include movie trailers, sports and action clips and music videos, including an exclusive from Ok Go coming July 27. Exclusive content will also be provided by CollegeHumor, Jason DeRulo, Foster the People and Blue Man Group.

Microsoft and Sony are making their game consoles into entertainment hubs with access to proprietary online video stores that rent and sell movies and TV shows.

Nintendo may be heading that direction, but it's not there yet with Nintendo Video.

When I asked Nintendo whether the 3DS video service will offer full-length TV shows or movies, a spokeswoman said the company "hasn't announced anything about full-length content."

Asked about the potential for Nintendo Video to become a store for movies or TV shows, the spokeswoman provided this response, which I think means 'not at this point':

Nintendo Video is a free, one-way delivery system. Once it is downloaded, videos sent by Nintendo update automatically, so there is no way for users to interface with the service beyond choosing which videos to play.

It seems likely that Nintendo Video will evolve and add more capabilities, especially after the company introduces the Wii U with 1080p output. The company's president, Satoru Iwata, told me in June that video services will work well with the upcoming console in part because of its ability to stream content to its portable controller screen.

Check out the Star Wars themed Xbox 360 console that Microsoft and LucasArts unveiled today at the Comic-Con convention in san Diego.

The console is designed to look like R2-D2, and it comes with a C-3PO controller. It also has a white Kinect sensor, which comes in a $449.99 bundle with the new Kinect Star Wars game and is now available for pre-orders.

Microsoft also revealed a new Podracing mode for the game that will be released in time for the upcoming holiday season.

Here's a quick video showing the photo-sharing feature on the HTC Status, the new phone that HTC developed with Facebook. It goes on sale Sunday for $50 with a two-year AT&T contract and a minimum $15 per month data plan.

The device has a dedicated Facebook button below the keyboard that you press to post or share photos on the social networking site.

It's billed as "one click" sharing, but it actually takes more than one press -- the blue "F" button starts an application where you can compose a message and post with another tap on the touchscreen.

The button's best trick works if you're using the phone as a camera. Once the camera is activated, you can press the F it works like a shutter button. When you take a picture, the screen shifts to "upload to Facebook." You post with a tap on the screen, or use drop-down menus to decide where on the site the photo should be posted and who can see it, and add tags and a description.

It has a few new Facebook applications built into HTC's Sense interface.

A Facebook window streams updates onto the phone's screen, just below the HTC clock. There's also a Facebook Chat application that shows which friends are available to chat, and a "FriendStream" app pre-loaded on the phone. Plus its "share" button includes Facebook and other sites by default.

There's no Facebook Skype application yet.

Facebook aside, it's a nice phone, especially for the price. It has a horizontal screen and qwerty keypad, with about the same proportions as a BlackBerry.

The hardware is smooth and curved plastic, with rounded corners above the screen that look like they were lifted from the Nexus. From the side, the phone has the kicktail that first appeared on the G1.

If you're used to the big 4-inch screens on smartphones the 2.6-inch touchscreen on the Status feels a little small and it's harder to read text on a Web page. On the other hand, it doesn't feel like you're carrying a small TV set.

HTC originally called the device the ChaCha and the name flashed on the screen during setup. It's a better name than Status, which fortunately doesn't appear anywhere on the case.

The phone is white and silver, or mauve if you buy a special version available at Best Buy.

The phone is AT&T's first to use Google's Android 2.3.3 "Gingerbread" operating system and has Google apps including Talk and Places.

It also has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and video capability; a front-facing camera for taking self-portraits; and a 2 gigabyte memory card pre-installed. It weighs 4.3 ounces and is 4.5 by 2.5 by 0.4 inches.

The device claims to have 6.5 hours of talk time and 26.6 days of standby time on a single battery charge.

Here's a quick look at Spotify - the new London-based music service that's debuting in the U.S. today - used on a Sonos streaming music system.

I compared Spotify on the device with Rhapsody, the Seattle-based company that spun out of RealNetworks. Both offer unlimited access to huge music catalogs for $10 per month. Spotify also has a free, ad-supported service but it's not yet available here.

Spotify began in Sweden in 2008 and now has 1.6 million paying subscribers in seven countries in Europe. Rhapsody has 800,000 paying customers in the U.S.

Rhapsody claims to have 12 million tracks and Spotify claims to have 15 million. It didn't take long for me to discover that Spotify has some European versions of albums that Rhapsody doesn't. It's kind of neat to have both a U.K. and U.S. release of the same track but it probably doesn't matter in most cases, if the songs are exactly the same.

Spotify has some of the same glaring holes in its catalog as Rhapsody. Neither one has the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, apparently because of licensing issues. So fans of those and other "unlisted" bands still have to mix their own collection with a cloud service.

On the Sonos, at least, Rhapsody has superior menu options providing a music guide, channels with different themes and genres and access to favorite artists, albums and genres:

Spotify's primary menu offers "search" and sets and starred tracks from iTunes, which it maps when you first set up the service. One of its best tricks is the way Spotify pulls your existing music collection into its library, combining offline and online libraries. On my system it found lists from when I was testing iLike and pulled them onto the menu:

On a PC desktop, Spotify's player looks very similar to the iTunes jukebox and it seems designed to function as a cloud extension of iTunes:

Yet Rhapsody still has some advantages. It trounces Spotify when it comes to information about the music you are playing on the Sonos, at least. On the device you can tap to learn about related music and background about the artist that's playing. Spotify's "information" button calls up only offers to show you "all albums" by the artist, at least on the one I tried. Maybe this is because of Spotify's affinity for iTunes - it seems designed by and for people who use it in parallel with iTunes, where you can learn more about a particular artist.

Rhapsody's artist information:

Spotify's artist information:

There are slight differences in search results on the two services. It's funny - when I searched for "Rolling Stones," Spotify called up the local band after I typed "rolling." Rhapsody showed other results until I typed in "rolling sto."

But Rhapsody guessed faster when I search for Portland band The Decemberists. It chose the right band after I typed "decemberi" while Spotify couldn't figure it out until I typed three more letters to spell the whole name.

I couldn't tell a difference in the audio quality but I was intrigued by the Stones U.K. releases on Spotify. Rhapsody listed 57 different Stones albums. Spotify didn't number the albums and I didn't take the time to count them all, but appeared to have more Stones albums because it included things like soundtracks on which a Stones song appeared.

Spotify has U.K. and U.S. versions of some albums:

If you want a huge music library at your fingertips, these services are well worth $10 a month. You can browse before subscribing to see if they have your favorite bands or major exceptions, but the catalogs seem roughly the same.

Spotify has some better features on its desktop player and connects to Facebook.

But on a handheld device like the Sonos - where you want the best menu and discovery options - Rhapsody has the edge.

Please excuse any typos here. My fingers are still tingling from an incredibly fast wireless device I tested last week.

This one costs nearly $60,000, plus $30 a month for a data plan, and it weighs 4,045 pounds.

It's the 2012 Audi A6 sedan that went on sale last week.

Audi provided a fully loaded model with a supercharger, eight-speed transmission and a wireless system that turns the car into a rolling Wi-Fi hot spot that connects up to eight devices at once.

The wireless system -- called "Audi Connect" -- is available with a $4,220 option package on the A6, which starts at $41,700.

Earlier this year, Audi became the first carmaker to offer a factory-installed hot spot. Previously, cars connected to information services via satellites, embedded wireless devices or drivers' phones.

Audi's A6 and A7 are also the first cars to use Google Earth in their navigation systems. They display the search giant's aerial imagery and use its local search to provide details on restaurants, hotels and other points of interest; there's even a touch-screen input system. (Here's a video I shot of Audi's Google system in action.)

Automotive electronics are going through a surge of innovation, parallel to what's happening with smartphones and Web tablets.

The number of cars shipping with factory-installed telematics systems will leap from less than 10 percent last year to more than 62 percent in 2016, according to an ABI Research report in January. Analyst Dominique Bonte said in the release that carmakers are "borrowing the hugely successful application store paradigm from the mobile industry" to release products more quickly and at lower costs.

Audi is extending its wireless technology from higher-end models down through its product line, but it's still a pricey system. There's convenience in having a connected car, but there are other options, including new phones that function as Wi-Fi hot spots and portable, puck-sized modems that connect multiple devices to the latest wireless networks.

My guess is that systems like Audi Connect won't take off in the U.S. until the prices come down further and wireless companies move toward pay-as-you-go metered data plans, similar to those in Europe. Under that approach, customers use the same data plan for multiple devices -- phones and cars -- instead of paying $30 a month for each one.

The Audis connect to T-Mobile's 3G wireless network, using a SIM card that fits into a slot on the dashboard. After a six-month trial period, "unlimited" data plans cost $30 a month or $324 for a prepaid yearly plan. T-Mobile doesn't specify a usage limit, but the contract says the carrier reserves the right to throttle your data throughput in a given month if usage is excessive.

The taut and sprightly A6 showed two to five bars of 3G coverage while driving around Seattle and Bellevue. The Speedtest site measured download speeds of 267 to 798 kilobits per second.

Most important, the A6 passed the Netflix test: In an experiment, a passenger could watch a movie streamed to an iPad over the Wi-Fi connection while driving. It took a while to get started, but then played without a hiccup at a decent resolution.

Google Earth imagery is fun but nonessential. The navigation system gives you the choice of displaying regular maps or Google's aerial photos on a 7-inch diagonal color screen that slides out and flips up when you turn the car on. The computer uses an Nvidia processor and middleware from Ottawa-based QNX.

Spinning a control knob on the console, you can zoom out to see the entire globe or down to a particular block. Audi and Google are working together to eventually display "Street View" street-level images as well.

The aerial imagery is realistic enough that you may be fooled into thinking it's a live image, but your car's not on the screen and things outside the window don't look exactly the same. It also made one of my passengers feel a little queasy, watching aerial images scroll around as we drove.

Applications on the system include a Wikipedia search and news feeds, which can be customized via an Audi website. It also provides real-time weather, traffic and nearby gas prices (provided by Kirkland's Inrix). The system is also used to choose music from the radio, an attached device or the car's hard drive, but it won't play video content.

There are multiple ways to control the system -- too many, perhaps. You'd probably settle on a preferred control method after driving the A6 for a while, but several days of testing made me think the interface isn't yet as smooth and refined as the rest of the car.

The primary control is a large knob on the center console that you twist and press. It's encircled by 11 buttons -- four for navigating on-screen menus and four for launching primary functions: navigation, radio, hands-free calling and stored digital media. There's also a back button, one for car settings and one that calls up on-screen menus. I was grateful for the "back" button.

Nearby there's another knob and buttons for controlling the music volume and track selection.

The touch pad on the console is about the size of a credit card. When I first heard about it, I thought it would be like a touch-screen PC or phone that reads handwriting, but it only reads one letter at a time and works best if you write carefully with capital letters. It reminded me of the game where you write with a finger on someone's back and they guess the words.

You can also select letters using the knob and an on-screen menu. Either way, it's too tedious to use while driving.

The touch pad can also be used to enter radio stations or navigate maps with a fingertip, but I kept changing stations when trying to use the map, and ended up mostly using the knob.

That's not all. The system also works with voice commands and buttons on the steering wheel.

Fortunately, there are detailed instructions: The A6 manual is 295-pages long, plus a 106-page supplement for its Multi Media Interface.

That's another way connected cars are just like computers and smartphones: By the time you've figured out all their tricks, a more powerful model will be on sale. Audi is testing a new version that connects to faster 4G LTE networks, for instance.

In the meantime, A6 buyers who pony up for the wireless option will probably use it mostly to keep passengers occupied with gadgets, so they can enjoy the drive.

Ownership of e-reading devices doubled over the past six months, from 6 percent to 12 percent of U.S. adults, according to a Pew Research Center survey released today.

Pew found that adults age 50 and older are buying e-readers faster than the population in general, and Hispanics are buying them faster than other ethnic groups.

Its survey concluded that 15 percent of Hispanic adults own e-readers, compared with 11 percent of whites and 8 percent of African Americans.

The survey also found that wealthy people are far more likely to own an e-reader. The devices are owned by 24 percent of households with income over $75,000, 13 percent of homes bringing in $30,000 to $74,999 and 4 percent of those earning less than $30,000.

College graduates are also more likely to own an e-reader, with 22 percent of them owning one in the U.S.

So far, there's just a little overlap in households with just 3 percent now owning both e-readers and tablet devices such as the iPad, but I'll bet that will change over the next year or two.

Here are some charts from Pew's report, based on a survey of 2,277 adults in April and May:

Component manufacturers may have spilled the beans on the tablet computers that Amazon.com is expected to release later this year, giving the company an iPad-like gadget to sell alongside its Kindle.

The devices will launch in August or September, in time for the Black Friday holiday sales kickoff after Thanksgiving, according to a report from Taiwan's DigiTimes.

Amazon's device will be assembled by Quanta Computer and have processors from Texas Instruments, touch panels from Wintek, LCD drivers from ILI Technology, according to the report.

It said 700,000 to 800,000 units are expected to ship per month and noted that the device will play movies streamed by Amazon.

I've asked for comment from the company next door but haven't heard back yet. Most likely it will decline to say anything at this point.

Speculation about Amazon producing an Android-based tablet has increased since the company began operating an Android app store in March.

In Monday's column, I wrote about how Amazon is likely to take a path similar to Barnes & Noble, which started out trying to add computer-like features to its first e-reader but has now decided on a two-tiered approach with its Nook, offering a low-end black and white model and a higher-end color version that's morphed into an Android tablet.

Nokia introduced a gorgeous new touchscreen phone that hints at the kind of hardware that could come with Windows Phone software later this year.

The N9 unveiled at a conference in Singapore is running the Meego software that Nokia is phasing out in favor of Windows, but the real sizzle is its industrial design and specs. It has a 3.9-inch curved AMOLED touchscreen behind Gorilla glass, with a 1 gigahertz A8 processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM and 16 or 64 gigabytes of storage.

It has no physical buttons at all on the face, so you unlock the device by tapping on the screen.

Nokia has also given the device an 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens that takes 720p video, plus a second camera for video calls. Its HSDPA radio is capable of up to 14.4 Mbps downloads.

Nokia's going to release a mix of Windows Phone models by the end of the year, and it seems a good guess there will be an upper-end version based on this chassis.

(UPDATE: Nokia scheduled a big event for Oct. 26 in London and some are speculating that's when the Windows Phones will debut.)

Meanwhile Nokia will begin selling the Meego-powered N9 "later this year" in black, cyan and magenta. Nokia said availability and pricing will be "announced closer to the sales start." (I wonder if it will appear before or after the iPhone 5, which is rumored to be coming in September.)

The phone also has turn-by-turn navigation for walking and driving and a built-in "Drive" app for automotive use. Microsoft plans to use Nokia's navigation technology as part of their partnership so perhaps this is another preview of what's coming to Windows phones.

A Nokia spokeswoman declined to say whether the N9 hardware will be used with Windows Phone software, saying via email that "we have not provided further information on our first Windows Phone devices at this time."

It also has NFC capability, for wirelessly making credit transactions, which will probably be a standard feature on smartphones pretty soon.

Here's Nokia's demo video:

Kobo today announced a new touchscreen version of its reader that will go on sale for $130 in June.

The device uses an E Ink display like Amazon's Kindle, which has yet to introduce a touchscreen version, and has Kobo's "Reading Life" software with social sharing features and a gamelike reward system.

It has a 6-inch diagonal screen, a software keyboard, a quilted back and a single "home" button a la the iPad. It connects to the Web and Kobo's bookstore via WiFi or a USB cable.

Kobo has been selling e-readers since May 2010 and initially allied itself with Borders. The company has extended its software platform, which is now bundled with tablets from Samsung and Research In Motion. It claims to have 3.6 million users in 100 countries.

Kobo is based in Toronto, Canada, but it established a Seattle presence in 2010 when it hired Todd Humphrey, a former Amazon.com director of business development, as its executive vice president of business development.

The company recently raised $50 million in funding and is now planning to open a full office in Seattle. Humphrey said it should be established by the end of the year.

"Whether it's five or 15 or 20 people, we'll see," he said.

Humphrey said the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition will be a serious competitor to e-reader made by his former co-workers at Amazon and the Barnes & Noble Nook.

"I think this device puts us ahead of them from a device standpoint," he said.

Humphrey said major retailers are very interested in selling the touch reader and it will help the company as it begins an expansion in Europe.

Putting a new spin on mobile devices, Seagate today announced an external hard drive for iPads and smartphones.

The palm-sized gadget has 500 gigabytes of storage capacity, a wireless radio to sync with mobile devices and a claimed five-hour battery life.

"With the growth of the tablet and iPad markets and the larger volumes of high-quality media now being consumed, there is a clear need for access to content that is not plagued with the challenges of streamed video over the Internet," Seagate Vice President Patrick Connolly said in a release. "The unfortunate fact is that these popular new mobile devices are hampered by their limited storage capacity while one of their primary functions is that of media consumption."

Seagate will begin selling the GoFlex Satellite drives in July for $200. That's more than double the price of a standard 500 gig external drive, which lacks the wireless capability and battery.

Maybe it pencils out for iPad users racking up data overage fees or paying for big cloud storage lockers.

Seagate's device might be perfect for the family that travels with a car full of iPads. It streams to three devices at once, so the family could take a huge collection of movies and music along and not have to worry about preloading a selection to each device. If you've already dropped $1,500 to $2,500 on three iPads, the $200 price probably isn't a big deal.

But for individual smartphone and iPad users, the device seems like a step backward, mobility-wise. I guess they're already toting around chargers so they may as well stuff a hard drive in their pocket as well.

Prepare for a return of the fanny pack.

Here's a brief video clip of Google Music running on a Motorola Xoom Android tablet.

It showed a strong 3G signal, but the Web service buffered and fritzed. The service is still being developed so it's early to pass judgment on Google's effort, but the glitches were still surprising.

Nielsen today released a report on how U.S. consumers are using their iPads and other tablet computing devices.

The research suggests that the risk to the PC industry from the iPad is there, but awfully overstated. It also makes me wonder how pleased buyers are with their expensive new tablets.

The majority of people told Nielsen that buying a tablet hasn't led to a reduction in how often they use PCs, netbooks, portable media players, game consoles, smartphones or connected TVs.

A tiny number of tablet buyers said they've stopped using their computers since their purchase - 2 percent said they're no longer using their laptop, 3 percent stopped using their desktop and 5 percent stopped using their netbook.

But a greater number of people said they've been using their computers more since they bought an iPad or other tablet. Nielsen found 22 percent are using their netbook more often, 13 percent are using their laptops more and 9 percent are using their desktops more since buying a tablet.

Can you imagine the conversation between spouses in those households? "Why did you have to spend $800 on that thing, honey? You're just spending more time on the plain old computer ..."

We'll have to see what the next few installments of the survey say about computing trends. So far it sounds like tablets are being used as computer accessories more than computer replacements.

It would be helpful if Nielsen provided information on whether tablets are meeting buyers' expectations. How many buyers thought they were getting a computer replacement?

The survey says 68 percent of people who bought tablets are using their laptop the same or more since the purchase, and 72 percent are using their netbooks the same or more.

Were they expecting the tablet to take the place of other gadgets in the home?

Of those that had another e-reader, like Amazon.com's Kindle, 72 percent said they're using their e-readers the same or more since buying a tablet, and 89 percent said they're using their Internet-connected TVs more since buying the device.

Then again, these are people who bought a tablet when they already had computers and perhaps a Kindle, Web-connected TV and game consoles. Maybe they just don't have much time for their latest toy.

About a third of tablet buyers said they're using their computers less or not at all. Nielsen provided a few reasons why, after asking tablet buyers why they're using the new device for things they used to do on a laptop or desktop.

Here are the reasons, which should be a roadmap for PC makers designing their Windows 8 machines:

Taiwanese tech publication DigiTimes has a nice scoop today, if true: It's reporting that Amazon.com has hired a company to start building tablet PCs that will arrive in the second half of 2011.

It said Taiwan-based Quanta Computer will build up to 800,000 units per month for Amazon. Quanta's also building tablets for RIM and Sony and hoping to build the next "LePad" device for Lenovo.

DigiTimes didn't name its sources and said Quanta declined to comment. It reported that "Amazon internally plans to reduce Kindle's market price to attract consumer demand from the education and consumer market, while (it) will push tablet PC using its advantage in software and content resources to challenge iPad2."

The device will have touchscreens made by E-Ink, DigiTimes reported. E-Ink began showing its new color displays in November.

I've asked Amazon to clarify and will update if I get a response, but I'll bet my lunch money it will be some form of "no comment."

Perhaps Amazon is preparing to release a tablet based on Google's "Honeycomb" version of Android, preloaded with Kindle software and linked to Amazon's new Android application market.

Or maybe the report's terminology is off and Quanta will merely be building the next vesion of Kindle, which may have a color touchscreen and be more PC-like but still a limited-purpose reader with a screen optimized for reading and not Web apps.

Today Amazon's Zappos store announced that it now has an Android app, joining its iPhone and iPad apps, but that's surely a coincidence.

Meanwhile Barnes & Noble's Nook reader has morphed into an Android tablet and it's been awhile since we've heard about new Kindle hardware, other than the ad-subsidized entry-level model announced a few weeks ago.

Researchers at the University of Washington are about to present a report on a pilot project that had computer science students use a Kindle DX for their course reading.

College textbooks are a holy grail for the electronic book industry, but apparently they still have a ways to go, based on the UW study, conducted during the 2009-2010 school year.

"There is no e-reader that supports what we found these students doing," first author Alex Thayer, a UW doctoral student in design and engineering, said in a release. "It remains to be seen how to design one. It's a great space to get in to, there's a lot of opportunity."

Seven months into the study, more than 60 percent of the students had stopped using their Kindle regularly for academic reading -- and these were computer science students, who are presumably more sympathetic to an electronic book.

Although the device has note-taking capabilities, some students still tucked paper into the Kindle case to write notes and others would read near a computer that they could use for reference and other tasks that weren't easy on the device.

The study used the DX, which is the largest Kindle, a $379 model with a 9.7-inch diagonal screen. It involved 39 first-year graduate students in computer science and engineering, with ages ranging from 21 to 53.

Some conclusions, as listed in the release:

-- Students did most of the reading in fixed locations: 47 percent of reading was at home, 25 percent at school, 17 percent on a bus and 11 percent in a coffee shop or office.

-- The Kindle DX was more likely to replace students' paper-based reading than their computer-based reading.

-- Of the students who continued to use the device, some read near a computer so they could look up references or do other tasks that were easier to do on a computer. Others tucked a sheet of paper into the case so they could write notes.

-- With paper, three quarters of students marked up texts as they read. This included highlighting key passages, underlining, drawing pictures and writing notes in margins.

-- A drawback of the Kindle DX was the difficulty of switching between reading techniques, such as skimming an article's illustrations or references just before reading the complete text. Students frequently made such switches as they read course material.

-- The digital text also disrupted a technique called cognitive mapping, in which readers used physical cues, such as the location on the page and the position in the book to find a section of text or even to help retain and recall the information they had read.

The study will be presented at next week's Association for Computing Machinery conference on human factors in computing systems, taking place in Vancouver, B.C.

Every time you turn around nowadays there's another huge tech trade show, at which a bunch of new phones and tablets are announced.

Here's a sample of the cool new gadgets surfacing at the CTIA wireless conference this week in Orlando. Some of the devices were already announced, and some still don't have prices and specific ship dates yet.

Sprint was the first to offer a 4G phone in the U.S., and now it's offering a 4G phones with glasses-free 3D displays, available 2U this summer for a price to be announced later. It's an Android-based device built by HTC, with the "Sense" interface designed in Pioneer Square.

The HTC Evo 3D has a 4.3-inch, 960 by 540 pixel 3D display. Inside it has dual-core 1.2 gigahertz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4 gigabytes of internal memory and 1 gig of RAM. It functions as a 3G/4G hotspot supporting up to eight devices at once over WiFi and outputs 720p video via HDMI. On the back it has dual 5 megapixel cameras for taking 3D images and videos.

Sprint's also going to sell a tablet-sized version of the device, called the HTC Evo View 4G. It has a 7-inch diagonal, 1024 by 600 pixel touchscreen (without 3D). The tablet runs on a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor with 32 gigs of internal memor and 1 gig of RAM. It also uses HTC's "Scribe" system for input with a digital pen and works as a hotspot.

Yesterday, Sprint announced that it's also going to sell Google's new flagship Android device, the Nexus S 4G. The Samsung phone has a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1 GHz processor, a dedicated graphics processing unit and Android version 2.3 ("Gingerbread"). Sprint and Google also said they're connecting Google Voice, so Sprint customers can use their phone number with Google's calling service. The phone's coming this spring.

AT&T yesterday announced that it's also selling a glasses-free 3D phone, the LG Thrill 4G, with a 4.3-inch screen, dual-core 1 GHz processor and Android version 2.2. The Thrill comes with 16 gigs of memory - 8 onboard plus an 8 gig memory card - and records 3D video at 720p and 2D video at 1080p. It also plays back high-def video thorugh an HDMI port or streams it to DLNA devices.

AT&T's also going to sell a version of the Windows-based HTC HD7, which it's calling the HD7S. It's going to use the HSPA+ network and have the updated software with cut-and-paste when it's released in a few weeks.

T-Mobile also introduced several new phones, including the "G2x with Google by LG," or the G2x for short. It's based on a dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 2 processor and Android 2.2. There's also an 8 megapixel camera that takes 1080p video and front-facing 1.3 megapixel chatcam.

T-Mobile announced that it's boosting the maximum speed of its HSPA+ network in a handful of markets - Las Vegas, Orlando and New York - to 42 megabits per second. To get those speeds, you'll need a new device, though - namely the "Rocket" stick modems announced at the show:

The Bellevue-based company also introduced a "value" smartphone, the Nokia Astound, that will cost $80 (after a $50 rebate) when it goes on sale April 6. It has a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, free turn-by-turn navigation and an 8 megapixel camera that takes 720p video. The Astound is based on Nokia's Symbian operating system that's going to be displaced starting next year by Windows.

Nintendo's new 3DS game player is hands-down the coolest new toy in the world for kids 13 and under, and those who just love electronic toys.

It's more fun than a barrel of smartphones.

It's too expensive and some may think it's gimmicky, but the 3DS will give Nintendo bragging rights again, until it comes out with a new version of the Wii console.

The 3DS goes on sale for a dizzying $250 on Sunday, a month after its blockbuster release in Japan.

Not many kids will be able to afford one until the price comes down. It costs more than an Xbox or a Wii.

But eventually the 3DS will end up in the hands of millions, and it may change the way they think about video games.

From the outside, the 3DS looks a lot like the DS handheld game players that Nintendo has been making for years. It's a solid, half-pound, 3-inch by 5-inch slab available in black or blue.

What's new is a system of cameras, lenses and software that display games and video in 3-D without requiring special glasses. The 3-D displays on a 3.5-inch diagonal screen. There's also a second, 3-inch touch screen.

It's more than just another 3-D video player being pushed onto mostly indifferent consumers, though. Instead of using 3-D mostly for gratuitous special effects, Nintendo designers used the technology to create exuberant, mind-bending games that blend the real and virtual worlds in unexpected ways, creating a new kind of fun.

Consider "Face Raiders," one of the preloaded games. Players take a picture of themselves, a family member or a friend with the 3DS, and the face becomes an animated ball, bouncing around the screen, making faces and sticking out its tongue.

The animated head is actually bouncing around the room beyond the device. The game's landscape is a live image taken by the camera on the back of the 3DS. Peering into the screen is like looking through a magic window into an alternative version of the room you're in, which becomes a place where wild things are happening.

You fire yellow balls at the head -- or heads, after they multiply -- before they crash through the walls around you, leaving jagged holes.

Imagine how cathartic and subversive this can be for a kid. They'll appear to be sitting quietly on the couch, but from their perspective, they're smashing apart a room they were just forced to clean, lobbing balls at the cackling, digitized version of their little sister bouncing off the walls and ceiling.

This made me wonder about the enthusiasm that Japanese electronics companies have for 3-D technology. Perhaps the illusion of depth and extra space created by 3-D technology is appealing to people living in small homes in densely populated cities. It will also appeal to kids stuck in their rooms or crammed into the back seats of cars and minivans in the U.S.

Still, software and content are key, and it remains to be seen how many game developers will have as much success with the 3DS platform as Nintendo.

The 3-D effect can seem a little cheesy at times, reminiscent of its distant ancestor, the "animated" Cracker Jack prizes that appear to move when you look at them from different angles.

A 3DS version of Electronic Arts' "Madden NFL Football" was more fun with the 3D turned off, I thought, but maybe it was because I kept seeing double images of things like the field goals.

On all the games, the 3-D effect is sensitive to viewing angle and you have to hold the device about 10 inches from the face and straight on to get it right.

Action in "Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars" was dramatically better with the 3-D effect. Bridges extended across chasms, laser blasts zoomed by at different angles and there is, of course, the opening story that recedes into space.

If you were one of the kids who beelined to the periscope at Seattle's Museum of History & Industry, you'll love "Steel Diver," a great submarine game for the 3DS. One option has you peer through a scope, searching for ships hidden by waves in the foreground. When they get close, you see the 3-D depth charges sail toward your sub.

One of the best titles is included with the 3DS. Called "AR Games," it works with a set of "augmented reality" playing cards.

You place one on a flat surface and position the 3DS about 14 inches above the card. Then strange things happen in the room when you look through the 3DS lens.

Seen through the screen, the cards bulge until a box bursts upward. After you fire a few arrows at targets around the box -- calibrating the alignment -- an angry dragon may emerge for you to fight with more arrows.

Another box contains a billiard game in which my coffee table undulated and melted from a lava flow.

But a Mario AR card failed to launch its game, even after I followed the tips and made sure there was plenty of light in the room.

This reminded me of the occasional challenge with Microsoft's Kinect motion sensor for the Xbox 360, which also uses depth-sensing cameras that can be thrown off by a room's lighting.

These cards are an opportunity for Nintendo to sell cheap upgrade packs, like Pokémon cards, but the company didn't provide details of its future plans for them.

To stream movies

The 3DS is also intended to be more of a multimedia device, putting it in better stead against the phones and tablet computers that are pushing into the market for handheld gaming.

Starting this summer, Netflix subscribers can stream movies to the 3DS. Nintendo's also going to operate a short-form video service to distribute 3-D movie trailers, music videos and comedy shorts to the device.

A Web browser will be added, and 3DS owners will get free Wi-Fi access on AT&T hot spots.

The 3DS also can be used to connect and play with nearby 3DS units, if parents haven't locked the device down with its parental control system.

There's also a pedometer that tracks steps when the device is closed but powered on.

You would think the pedometer data would sync to the hugely popular Wii Fit game, but it doesn't.

This is one of several opportunities that Nintendo missed to have the 3DS work wirelessly with the Wii. Nor can you transfer "Mii" avatars that you've already created on the Wii onto the 3DS.

Perhaps Nintendo is holding those features back for the next version of the Wii, which some have speculated could be announced this summer.

It presumably will have 3-D capabilities, giving game developers another platform for the experience they're getting with the 3DS, and Nintendo another outlet for its upcoming 3-D entertainment channel.

Nintendo said production hasn't been significantly affected by the disaster in Japan. The tragedy puts the importance of games and gadgets in perspective but perhaps there's no better time for a Japanese company to show that it can see fun in the future.

Here's a picture I took at last June's E3 game conference of the line to see the 3DS, which was unveiled at the event:

Here are the full specs of the 3DS, as listed by Nintendo:

Included in Hardware:
- Nintendo 3DS system
- Nintendo 3DS charging cradle
- Nintendo 3DS AC adapter
- Nintendo 3DS stylus
- SD Memory Card (2GB)
- AR Card(s) (view the cards using the outer cameras to play supported AR games)
- Quick-Start Guide
- Operations Manual (including warranty)

Characteristic Features:
- 3D screen, enabling 3D view without the need for special glasses and the ability to adjust or turn off 3D effect with the 3D Depth Slider.
- Stereo cameras that enable users to take 3D photos that can be viewed instantly on the 3D screen.
- New input interfaces including the Circle Pad, motion sensor, gyro sensor
- SpotPass, a feature that lets Nintendo 3DS detect wireless hotspots or wireless LAN access points and obtain information, game data, free software, videos and so on for players even when the system is in sleep mode.*
- StreetPass, a feature that lets Nintendo 3DS exchange data automatically with other
Nintendo 3DS systems within range, even in sleep mode once this feature is activated by
the user. Data for multiple games can be exchanged simultaneously.
- Features that users can access without stopping game play such as the HOME menu, Internet Brower, Notifications, etc.
- Built-in software such as the Nintendo 3DS Camera, Nintendo 3DS Sound, Mii
Maker, StreetPass, Mii Plaza, AR Games, Activity Log, Face Raiders, etc.
Nintendo eShop where users can view trailers, software rankings and purchase software.
- System Transfer which enable users to transfer already purchased software from one
Nintendo 3DS system to another. DSiWare purchased for the Nintendo DSi or the Nintendo DSi XL can also be transferred into a Nintendo 3DS system.**
- Compatibility functions where both new software designed for Nintendo 3DS and most
software for the Nintendo DS family of systems can be played.
- Parental Controls which enable parents to restrict game content by ratings as well as use of specific wireless connectivity, 3D functionality, etc.***
*Some of these features may not be available at launch
**There is a limit to how many times transfers can be made. Some software may not be transferred.
***Additional features added through system updates may also be subject to Parental Controls.
Some of these features such as the Internet browser, Nintendo eShop, system transfer and the ability to download software and videos using SpotPass will be available after system updates are performed.

Size (when closed): 2.9 inches high, 5.3 inches long, 0.8 inches deep.

Weight: Approximately 8 ounces (including battery pack, stylus, SD memory card).

Upper Screen: Wide-screen LCD display, enabling 3D view without the need for special glasses. Capable of displaying approximately 16.77 million colors. 3.53 inches display (3.02 inches wide, 1.81 inches high) with 800 x 240 pixel resolution. 400 pixels are allocated to each eye to enable 3D viewing.

Lower Screen: LCD with a touch screen capable of displaying 16.77 million colors. 3.02 inches (2.42 inches wide, 1.81 inches high) with 320 x 240 pixel resolution.

Cameras: One inner camera and two outer cameras. Resolutions are 640 x 480 for each camera. Lens are single focus and uses the CMOS capture element. The active pixel count is approximately 300,000 pixels.

Wireless Communication: 2.4 GHz. Enabling local wireless communication among multiple Nintendo 3DS systems for game play and StreetPass. Enabling access to the Internet through wireless LAN access points (supports IEEE802.11 b/g with the WPA™/WPA2™ security feature). Recommended distance of wireless communication is within 98.4 feet. This can be shorter depending on the enviromental
situation. WPA and WPA2 are marks of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Input Controls: Input controls are the following:
- A/B/X/Y Button, +Control Pad, L/R Button, START/SELECT
- Circle Pad (enabling 360-degree analog input)
- Touch screen
- Embedded microphone
- Camera
- Motion sensor
- Gyro sensor

Other Input Controls: Other input controls are the following:
- 3D Depth Slider (enabling smooth adjustment of the 3D level effect)
- HOME Button (brings up the HOME menu)
- Wireless switch (can disable wireless functionality even during game play)
- POWER button

Connector: Connector includes:
Game Card slot
SD Card slot
Cradle connector
AC adapter connector
Audio jack (stereo output)

Sound: Stereo speakers positioned to the left and right of the top screen (supports virtual surround sound).

Stylus: Telescoping stylus (approximately 3.94 inches when fully extended).

Electric Power: AC adaptor (WAP-002 [USA]). Nintendo 3DS Battery Pack (lithium ion battery) [CTR-003].

Charge Time: About 3.5 hours

Battery Duration: When playing Nintendo 3DS software about 3-5 hours. When playing Nintendo DS software about 5-8 hours. Battery duration differs depending on the brightness setting of the screen. The information regarding battery duration is a rough standard. It can be shorter depending on what functions of the Nintendo 3DS system are used.

Game Card: Nintendo 3DS Game Card. The size is approximately the same as Nintendo DS Game Card.

The iPhone has a tough new competitor on the shelves at Verizon Wireless stores.

Starting Thursday, Verizon will sell the first phone to use its new 4G LTE network -- old school 4G, from the days when 4G meant either WiMax or LTE.

Called the ThunderBolt, it's a 4.3-inch slab made by HTC, running Android 2.2 on a 1 gigahertz Snapdragon processor.

Verizon said customers should expect download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second and uploads of 2 to 5 Mbps where there's LTE coverage.

Verizon launched its LTE network in December, but so far it's been available only for use with modems, such as the LTE USB stick that gave me stunning 16 Mbps downloads in Seattle when the network was wide open.

The ThunderBolt also works as a mobile hotspot that shares its 4G connection with up to eight devices.

It has an 8 megapixel camera that takes 720p video, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chats and 40 gigabytes of memory -- 8 GB of onboard memory, plus a 32 GB memory card.

Preloaded apps include EA's "Rock Band" and Gameloft's "Let's Golf! 2."

It's not cheap, though. Verizon is selling it for $249.99 with a new, two-year contract. Unlimited LTE data plans start at $29.99 a month.

Here are a few pictures of the new Sidekick 4G that T-Mobile USA and Samsung are unveiling Tuesday. Black and magenta models will go on sale this spring, at a price the companies will disclose later.

It still has the flip-up screen and five-row keyboard, and now has a 3.5-inch touchscreen display.

The Sidekick no longer has the Danger software inside. Instead it's running Google's Android operating system (version 2.2), with a few special applications.

They include "Sidekick Group Text" -- for starting and managing reply-all group text conversations and "social planning" -- and "Cloud Text" for texting friends or groups across platforms and from PCs as well as Sidekicks.

Preloaded on the devices are Twitter, Facebook and "Media Room," a media player, radio and store.

A front-facing camera can be used for video chat with the Qik application. Inside, the device has a 1 gigahertz A8 Hummingbird processor. Using T-Mobile's upgraded HSPA+ network, it has a theoretical peak download speed of 21 megabits per second.

Microsoft is going to stop making Zune media players, ending a five-year effort to catch up to Apple's iPod, according to a Bloomberg report.

The company will continue developing the Zune software that's used as a media player on the Xbox and in Microsoft's mobile phone platform.

Although the latest versions of the Zune drew respect for their hardware and software design, Microsoft seemed to have lost interest in promoting the gadgets as it turned its focus to phones.

Killing Zune hardware comes as Microsoft is reportedly building up a team in the same division to develop new media services allied with the Xbox.

A Microsoft spokesman provided the following statement:

"We're absolutely committed to providing the best movies, music, and TV show experiences through Zune on Xbox, the PC, Windows Phone 7 and Zune devices. We'll share more information about the evolution of the Zune entertainment service and Zune hardware as future plans develop."

Here's Bill Gates launching the Zune at Seattle's Westlake Park, sporting a brown Zune coat.

Coca-Cola tapped two Seattle-area tech companies for help developing its "Freestyle" fountain system that dispenses 106 different drinks.

Software from Bellevue's Bsquare was used to develop the computerized machine, which also uses RFID chips from Fremont's Impinj to manage its ingredient supplies.

Now, two years after the system debuted, it's finally arriving in the Northwest. It's going into service March 9 at the Taco Time on Elliott Avenue West. Other Taco Times will be setting up Freestyle machines later in the month.

That will give Warren Buffett, pictured in this photo from Coke's Freestyle Facebook page, plenty of options if he gets thirsty while visiting the Gates Foundation.

Research giant Gartner slashed its influential PC sales forecast today, saying that sales will be much slower than expected in 2011 because of growing interest in smartphones and tablet devices such as the iPad.

Gartner cut its 2011 forecast of PC sales growth to 10.5 percent, down from 15.9 percent. It's expecting 387.8 million units to be sold.

Weakness in China's mobile PC market is a factor, but there's "a general loss in consumer enthusiasm for mobile PCs," Ranjit Atwal, Gartner research director, said in a release.

Mobile PCs were key to the industry's growth over the last five years, with average growth rates approaching 40 percent, but all sorts of devices can now be used to connect wirelessly to the Internet, it noted.

Gartner had thought mobile PC sales would continue to grow as consumers bought their second or third systems but it's now thinking that enthusiasm for alternative devices will "dramatically slow home mobile PC sales," George Shiffler, Gartner research director, said in the release.

Shiffler said, "we now believe that consumers are not only likely to forgo additional mobile PC buys but are also likely to extend the lifetimes of the mobile PCs they retain as they adopt media tablets and other mobile PC alternatives as their primary mobile device."

Gartner's now expecting home mobile PC sales to grow less than 10 percent a year in mature markets from 2011 through 2015.

Some consumers are buying tablets instead of PCs. But the bigger issue is that consumers are holding off PC purchases because they're curious about tablets and waiting to see what's available during the rest of 2011.

Corporate sales of PCs will continue to see double-digit growth in 2011 and 2012 as older PCs are replaced around the world but even in this market, some purchases are being delayed as buyers consider whether to buy tablets instead.

Gartner said mobile PCs have lost their cachet as a fashion accessory and aren't living up to their mobility promise.

"The current 'cool' device is the smartphone, and now PCs will soon have to do battle with media tablets when they are launched in large numbers in the second quarter of 2011," the release said.

"Up to now, the appeal of mobile PCs has been their portability. But mainstream mobile PCs have not shed sufficient weight, and do not offer the all-day battery life, to substantiate their promise of real mobility. These limitations have become all the more apparent with the rapid spread of social networking, which thrives on constant and immediate connections. In short, all-day untethered computing has yet to materialize, and that has exposed the "mobile" PC as merely a transportable PC at best."

So when is Microsoft launching that new, more mobile version of Windows?

This is going to be a big week for gadget news.

Apple is headlining it with the iPad 2 that it's unveiling Wednesday in San Francisco. The early line on the device is that it's slimmer, more powerful and has a camera.

A new leak at 9to5mac.com says there will be a white version of the iPad, based on a white bezel that surfaced in China.

Also appearing today is an image of an HTC Trophy smartphone running Windows Phone 7 on Verizon Wireless.

Verizon hasn't yet said when it will carry WP7 devices, and its executives have talked down Microsoft's mobile effort, but the phones were still expected to arrive soon.

Engadget's report on the Verizon WP7 Trophy also says it has copy-and-paste capability.

If that's not enough, more hints that Apple may offer lower-cost iPhone options were floated in a Bernstein Research report that was picked up by Forbes blogger Eric Savitz. It quoted Apple CFO Tim Cook saying the company is planning "clever things" to serve the lower-end, prepaid cellphone market.

One of my favorite stories over the past few years was about the lab that Lamborghini opened at the University of Washington in 2009 to research and develop composite materials.

The story just keeps getting better.

On Tuesday at a car show in Geneva, Lamborghini is taking the wraps off the first production car to come fully through the lab, through its entire gestation process.

Called the Aventador, it's a $370,000 Batmobile that goes from zero to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.

The Aventador's bare body -- before the V-12 motor and other parts are added -- weighs just 504.9 pounds.

That's because of a carbon-fiber design tested in the basement of the UW's ornate aeronautics and astronautics building.

The Aventador is a big reason the UW Lamborghini lab exists.

Lamborghini has used carbon-fiber components for decades even though it's been outrageously expensive to manufacture.

When the company decided to build its next flagship production car with a carbon monocoque body -- a single shell of carbon-reinforced plastic -- it approached Paolo Feraboli, a UW assistant professor of aircraft materials and structures and a former Lamborghini employee who also worked on the Boeing 787.

Feraboli told Lamborghini in 2007 that its only option was to adopt new, more efficient manufacturing technologies like Boeing's and abandon the techniques the car company had used for the past 30 years.

"That's how the lab occurred," Feraboli said.

Lamborghini then spent millions setting up the lab and a new factory in Italy to produce the Aventador and future models built with composite materials.

Aventador is the name of a famous Spanish bull. They could have called this one the Husky instead.

"Pretty much every piece -- every composite piece -- has come through here," Feraboli said, explaining that the UW lab did quality control, process improvement and mechanical testing to verify the parts' strength and stiffness.

In Seattle, the lab is a sort of hub for Lamborghini to work with the school, Boeing and other partners, including golf-club manufacturer Callaway and Intel. This team is already working on future Lamborghinis, which may include wireless sensors embedded into the carbon components.

Other companies are also seeking the lab's help developing new products. One is looking into an e-reader with its entire case made out of ultralight carbon fiber and another is developing carbon-fiber bike helmets. Feraboli said he's also working with another large carmaker that he wouldn't name.

The lab also helped Lamborghini produce a one-off concept car called the Sesto Elemento (below) that was shown in Paris in September, previewing some of the technologies in the Aventador.

The biggest advance is mostly hidden, in the manufacturing of the monocoque. The new system reduces the number of times components have to be cured under heat and pressure in an autoclave. Only one trip to the autoclave is required, and the cured shell then serves as a mold for additional carbon parts that are cured with a different process Lamborghini developed, which uses carbon fiber mats impregnated with resin.

Feraboli said these improvements helped Lamborghini increase its output of carbon shells from a pace of two per week, when it was making the limited-production Reventon supercar, to four a day.

The cost per raw shell has also fallen from $100,000 to less than $15,000 apiece.

Feraboli said the manufacturing technologies will be used by Lamborghini's parent company, Audi, for higher-production cars and eventually its mainstream sedans.

"The Aventador is the first step," he said. "Now we're going to be able to build with intensive carbon fiber other vehicles. With those technologies we're looking at reducing even further the cost. We're looking at potentially making cars such as the A8 or the A6 out of carbon fiber."

Lamborghinis don't really need to go faster. There aren't many places to drive around 200 mph, Chief Executive Stephan Winkelmann said in a news release last week.

So the key to improving performance -- and lowering emissions -- is reducing the cars' weight, he explained.

"Every new Lamborghini will make use of this carbon-fiber technology for optimum weight reduction," he said.

In a media briefing at its new factory last week, Lamborghini noted that it decided to produce its new carbon monocoque completely in-house, because of the complex materials and process involved.

Maybe that was another lesson it learned from Boeing.

(This appeared in today's paper)

If you haven't upgraded to a smartphone running Qualcomm's 1 gigahertz Snapdragon processors yet, there's no rush.

Dual-core models are just arriving, and Qualcomm just announced a quad-core, 2.5 gigahertz beast to arrive in early 2012.

The capabilities of the new APQ8064 processor blur whatever's left of the line between mobile phones, tablets and PCs.

They also preview what's coming to smartphones and tablets shown at next January's Consumer Electronics Show:

-- 12 times more power and 75 percent lower power usage than the first Snapdragon.

-- Quad-core graphics processor "for a console-quality gaming experience." (Qualcomm's chief executive hinted at this during HP's WebOS launch last week).

-- Support for cameras with up 20 megapixel resolution.

-- 3-D stereoscopic photo and video capture and playback.

-- Full 1080p HD and 3-D video output to large screens, via HDMI.

-- Integration with LTE/3G radio modules.

-- Support for PC-type DDR3 memory, plus PCIe interfaces and multiple USB ports.

-- Support for near-field communication.

Snapdragon processors are used in many of the latest smartphones, but the quad-core model seems aimed at tablets and other mobile computers as much as phones.

Qualcomm's announcement said it will provide computer makers with a platform "that can meet all of their design configuration needs for tablets and next generation computing and consumer electronic devices."

This hardware hints at the sort of mobile computers that will use Windows 8, or whatever Microsoft calls its next major operating system. Microsoft announced in January that it's designing the software to run on this kind of system-on-chip hardware.

With a 2.5 Ghz chipset the size of a matchbook, your next PC may be the size of your phone, and your phone may be more powerful than your current desktop.

Sonos, the high-end streaming audio system, is releasing a new version of its controller software for Android phones.

It follows iPhone and iPod Touch versions of the software that were released in 2008, giving people an alternative to its $349 remote controls.

Sonos will release the free Android application in late March. It will run on smartphones running Android 2.1 or later with screen sizes of 320 by 480, 480 by 800 or 480 by 854.

A screenshot:

Seattle startup Swype has another Guinness World Record involving its text input technology.

A Texas man paralyzed by a hang-gliding accident used Swype with a special head-tracking device to set the record for fastest hands-free typing by someone paralyzed from the shoulders down.

Hank Torres, who was injured 30 years ago, used the setup on a Windows 7 PC.

He took 83.09 seconds to enter the standard Guinness phrase used for these record attempts, "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human."

Torres is an engineer who uses Swype to write down his inventions, including several patented wheelchair products, according to Swype's press release today.

The record was announced Friday in Orlando, Fla., at the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference. It follows a record for standard texting set last year by a Swype employee.

Swype now bundles a free beta copy of its software with the TrackerPro head-tracking device, which was invented by Swype co-founder Randy Marsden.

Here's a video of Torres setting the record:

LAS VEGAS -- The hall full of car stereos and auto gadgets is getting smaller, squeezed by new areas for health products and accessories for the iPad and other Apple gadgets.

Carmakers are also higher profile as they recast cars and trucks as rolling gadgets, with electric propulsion and dashboard computers.

But there are still a few crazy hot rods to be found on the 1.4 million square feet of show floor. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Audi may start selling this all-electric "e-tron" by the end of 2012. Buyers will need every tax credit they can get:

The University of Washington may have to test this Murcielago's resistance to bass vibrations:

Tell Police Commissioner Diaz it's time for the Batt Kruiser ...

They couldn't squeeze this one into the Corvette:

Arc Audio heard people are into electric cars nowadays, so it built this battery-powered rig on a 1959 Cushman platform with a 1923 Model T bucket grafted on:

Will eco-friendly Seattle provide special privileges to this Sony Hybrid Scion?

This Nissan provides carbon offsets to the Leaf. Cities need to provide it with special fueling stations:

So what wrench do you use on this Ford hybrid motor?

Speaking of hybrids, Polaris brought one of its all-electric, all-terrain vehicles, which went on sale last fall. A spokesman told me they're popular at retirement communities among men who want something cooler than golf carts to drive around:

They could really blast the oldies in this one:

Monster's Audi and Bentley were parked at the Paris Las Vegas hotel:


Pioneer brought three Camaros with different levels of customization, to illustrate it's "mild to wild" entertainment options:

This one's just for show -- it's basically a chair, equipped with a car stereo, an LCD panel and a PlayStation 3 - with racing games:

Win a Tesla!

LAS VEGAS -- Nike is using CES to launch a new gadget in its "Nike Plus" line, which began in 2006 with an in-shoe sensor that connects to an iPod to track and record running activity.

The company is introducing the "Nike+ SportWatch GPS," with GPS services provided by TomTom. It doesn't help runners navigate, but it keeps track of where they go, so their progress can be mapped and shared when they return and sync the watch with a computer.

It's relatively low tech compared with some of the gadgets at the show, but the watch sits at the intersection of a few big trends, including the growing use of geolocation services, new applications of social Web services and the surge of connected devices for health and fitness.

Nike's iPhone apps already let users share their running progress via Facebook and Twitter, so friends online can send them cheers and encouragement relayed through the phone during the run.

The watch won't receive cheers, but it will give kudos when milestones and record speeds are reached, such as a user's best 10k time. Nike's also introducing a "check in" service to let users stake a virtual claim to particular routes and socialize with habitues.

Inside the rubbery band is a hidden USB plug also used to charge the battery, which lasts about nine hours. The watch also works with Nike Plus sensors in shoes, so it keeps tracking steps when used indoors or where GPS reception isn't available.

Nike's been stepping up (sorry ...) its in-house software development as its Plus line has grown beyond the original partnership with Apple. A wristband that holds a Plus sensor was introduced in 2008 and a band with a heart monitor went on sale five months ago.

GPS capabilities were added last September with a $2 iPhone app that's the top health and fitness app on iTunes with more than 500,000 downloads, according to Ricky Engelberg, director of digital sports experiences at the Beaverton, Ore.-based company.

The watch provides similar capabilities for those who don't own an iPhone or don't want to take one along on their run. It's sort of waterproof -- Engelberg said it can be worn for a quick swim but lengthy immersion isn't a good idea.

Nike is simultaneously upgrading the website where users upload and track their runs. The site's getting a new mapping service, based on Google Maps, in March just before the watch goes on sale April 1. The price is undisclosed but it should be between $199 and $299.

The watch and mapping services would also be cool for cyclists and walkers but Nike doesn't have any immediate plans to broaden the scope of the Web service, which remains focused on running, Engelberg said.

Here's a video of Engelberg demonstrating the watch:

Say bonjour -- or ni hao -- to the LePad, a Windows-Android hybrid tablet launched today by the giant Chinese PC company Lenovo.

The hybrid, first unveiled at last year's CES but which didn't go on sale, is basically a laptop with a detachable display that functions as a standalone "slate" running Google's Android operating system.

When the display is docked with the rest of the laptop, it runs Windows 7 on an Intel processor.

Lenovo said it will begin selling the system in China in the first quarter for about $1,300. The tablet is also going to be sold by itself for around $520.

The detachable tablet reminds me of the one on the $350 HP printer I reviewed last month, but the LePad display is bigger and more powerful. It's a 10.1-inch diagonal screen with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor inside. It weighs under 2 pounds, is a half-inch thick and runs eight hours on a battery charge.

"Our IdeaPad U1 and LePad truly fit today's mobile lifestyle," Liu Jun, senior vice president of Lenovo's Idea Product Group, said in a release. "Use the lightweight slate when you're mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to create and edit content. Consumers shouldn't have to adapt their lifestyle to technology, and this product definitely delivers twice the functionality and fun in one device."

A spokeswoman said the design was fine-tuned over the last year and Lenovo developed an Android application store for the Chinese market with apps customized for the LePad. Similar slate products and the U1 will come to the U.S. "sometime later this year."

The first major CES 2011 announcement for a Seattle-area company is from Inrix, the Kirkland provider of traffic and vehicle information services.

Today, Inrix announced that it's going to provide real-time traffic information to "Entune," Toyota's response to the successful Ford Sync in-dash multimedia system. Entune, which is appearing in some Toyotas later this year, connects to online services via driver's mobile phones.

Inrix characterized the deal as the first of a series of collaborations with Toyota. The company is also working with Ford on its Sync product and mobile applications.

Inrix is "staffing up heavily" with about 15 open positions to support the Toyota work and a contract with an additional automaker that will be announced later this month, spokesman Jim Bak said via e-mail. That's on top of 20 employees added over the last year, which has brought the company to 70.

Here's a screenshot of Toyota's Entune menu. It has another local company's product prominently displayed - Bing Maps and Bing Mobile technology are part of Toyota's announcement today. I wonder if that will get mentioned Wednesday night during the opening keynote by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

(Today's column is a look ahead at CES ...)

You'd think people would have enough gadgets, after spending billions on TVs, computers, Web tablets and other gizmos this past holiday season.

But there's more to come in 2011.

The cycle starts all over this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the nexus of a $165 billion a year industry.

More than 2,500 companies are presenting new electronics and tech products that will appear in stores, shopping carts and credit-card bills later this year.

It's a global event. At least 120,000 attendees from 130 countries are expected to peruse the show floor, then haggle with suppliers and retailers in meeting rooms and hotel suites.

Following tradition, Microsoft will give the opening keynote, with a Wednesday night presentation by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

The actual show begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, but most of the major announcements come earlier in the week before the rush.

Here's an overview of what I'm expecting to see this year:

Steve Ballmer's getting scooped.

Asian computer makers are letting news of their Windows 7 tablets trickle out ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show, when Ballmer's expected to show more Windows-based rivals to the iPad during his Jan. 6 keynote.

MSI gave Taiwanese journalists a sneak peek at the Windpad 100W that it's going to present in Las Vegas next week.

Here's a video taken by Netbooknews.com, which had a reporter at the preview event in Taipei. They said the 10-inch tablet running an Intel Atom Z530 chip is about the same as the one MSI unveiled in June. It has an HDMI port, memory card reader, two USB ports and a 32 gig solid-state drive.

New tablets based on Intel's Oak Trail platform will appear in March, according to the report.

Asus is also jumping the gun with preview glimpses of its Eee Pad, a handsome convertible laptop/tablet based on Windows.

Here's the Asus teaser video:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Palm wasn't big enough to compete with Apple, Google, Microsoft and others with its fledgling webOS operating system, former Chief Executive Jon Rubinstein said at Dive Into Mobile.

Rubinstein explained why the company sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.2 billion in April. He's now senior vice president of its Palm business unit developing mobile devices based on webOS.

"The world moved a little faster than we expected and we ran out of runway," he said. "That's where being acquired by HP is really positive. We bring that innovation and they bring the ability to scale."

As part of the integration, the Palm business group merged with more than 200 employees from emerging business group.

Rubinstein wouldn't say exactly when HP will release a new phone based on the software, but said phones and "radically new" tablets will be released in 2011.

Rubinstein predicted HP will be among the top three to five players in the smartphone market.

In response to a question from host Kara Swisher, he said it's still undecided whether the Palm name will continue to be used.

SAN FRANCISCO -- During a demo at Dive Into Mobile, serial entrepreneur Steve Perlman showed off new applications running on the OnLive streaming game network, which debuted in 2009.

In addition to streaming video games from data centers to PCs and TVs, OnLive is using its network to stream a virtualized Windows desktop to devices including Apple's iPad and Samsung's Android-based Galaxy Tab.

That enabled Perlman to show the iPad and the Tab running Internet Explorer and the Windows 7 desktop. He also showed a Microsoft Silverlight application running on the iPad and Apple's Quicktime software running on the Galaxy Tab. (Perlman's holding the iPad; hosts Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher are at right)

"You have unlimited capability because of the supercomputing" that's happening in data centers and streamed to the mobile devices, Perlman said.

Perlman, a former Apple engineer, co-founded WebTV and sold it to Microsoft. Then he created the Moxi set-top box company and sold it to Paul Allen.

There was no word on whether he's hoping to sell OnLive to someone else from Redmond.

The Cozi family is getting bigger.

The Seattle company today announced that AOL and Working Mother will use its family calendar and communication platform, which should boost the site's usage beyond its current 3 million members.

Cozi helped AOL's MyDaily.com create the "MyDaily Family Organizer." With Working Mother, it built a "Family Control Center" that connects to Cozi's calendar, shopping list and journal applications.

The company also said it's built a "Cozi Express" version of its service for Intel-based netbooks.

Cozi was started in 2005 by veterans of the Microsoft Money team.

A batch of court documents The New York Times pressed to unseal has more details about a flood of faulty computers the company sold in 2003 to 2005.

The documents include a 2004 Dell study that projected customer problems with 45 percent to 97 percent of the SX270 Optiplex systems, up from its earlier forecast of problems with a minimum of 12 percent of the systems. It ended up replacing 22 percent of the motherboards on 21 million of the Optiplex systems sold during that period, according to the story.

Problems arose because Dell received poor capacitors that bulged and failed when they got hot. But the bigger question surrounds the way Dell responded, and its decision to not issue a recall when it became aware of how widespread the problem had become.

Dell took proactive steps to help customers who bought 50 or more of the machines and had high failure rates, but individual buyers were left to report problems to the company. (I think I heard from a few of them who were having customer service challenges.) At the same time, technicians were advised not to bring the problem to customers' attention and to "emphasize uncertainty," according to the story.

A Dell spokesman told the paper the projected failure rates were theoretical, and the company replaced motherboards on broken systems and extended warranties. He noted that other companies that sold the bad capacitors also declined to issue recalls.

I wonder how much this problem contributed to Dell's loss of its perch on top of the PC manufacturing business. Less than a year after the Optiplex problems, Dell lost 6 percent of its dominant share of the market, and HP is now world's biggest PC seller.

Customers that had extensive problems include the city of New York, which had incidents with 20.2 percent of the 5,000 PCs it bought during the period, and Microsoft, which had problems with 11 percent of 2,800 PCs it bought.

Kudos to the Times for sticking with this story, even after Dell settled a lawsuit over the situation in September.

Hopefully exposure of Dell's cheap response will help PC and electronics companies do a better job when they start seeing double-digit failure rates.

In case you missed them the first time around, Microsoft and Verizon are once again selling the Kin phones.

But these Kin aren't as smart. Verizon's selling them as feature phones with monthly contracts, instead of as smartphones that require data plans.

Kin phones sold poorly after they were launched in the spring and Microsoft pulled them off the market in June. But the weak launch may not have been as much of a factor as internecine squabbling between the Kin team and the group working on the higher profile Windows Phone 7 platform.

The phones now have an "m" after their name. Verizon's selling the compact Kine ONEm for $20 with a two-year phone plan or $120 without. It's selling the Kin TWOm slider for $50 or $220 without.

For awhile this summer, you could buy one from Amazon.com for a penny. Maybe Verizon bought those up and is reselling them itself.

We'll have to see if Miley Cyrus is sporting one Saturday in Bellevue.

Here's a way to make a little money off your Facebook friends.

A Seattle startup called OtherPage today is launching "social shopping" application that gives online shoppers cash back if their friends buy the same stuff.

Users will get 1 to 5 percent cash rebates on purchases made via the site, which includes a price comparison tool and coupons.

They have the option of sharing their purchases and information about deals and stores on Facebook. If friends click through the shared information and make a purchase, the user will get an additional 1 to 5 percent back.

OtherPage also provides icons that can be added to show "attitude and feeling" about products.

The service is launching with about 500 participating stores, including Best Buy, Overstock and drugstore.com. It also provides about 10,000 coupons and price comparisons for about 5 million products.

OtherPage won't see users' credit card numbers or address -- the purchasing is between the store and the user -- but the startup will see what's been purchased and where, if users opt to share that information.

Founder Kevin McCarthy previously started SearchMarketing.com, a retail search optimization business sold to ChannelAdvisor in 2005. He also worked at drugstore.com, Kiss.com and Atom Films.

He's funding the business himself and has five employees.

Bellevue home-automation company Lagotek said it has hired Phil Herres as its new chief executive.

Herres joined Lagotek's board a year ago. He's taking the spot of Eugene Luskin, who will remain chairman of Lagotek and serve as chief technology officer of the 19-person company.

Herres studied electrical engineering at Gonzaga and received his MBA from the University of Oregon. He was chief operating officer of Aldus before it merged with Adobe. Later he was president of ST Labs, vice president of networking at Nortel and VP of Avanti Communications.

Also today, marketing company R2integrated announced that it hired former T-Mobile USA product development boss Leslie Grandy as executive vice president of its Seattle office. Grandy launched T-Mobile's G1 and six versions of the Sidekick before starting a consulting business, which will now be folded into R2i.

Earlier she was Apple's online store director for the Americas and a general manager of consumer marketing at RealNetworks.

Here's Sunday's "Up Front" show with Robert Mak on King 5, which has some guy talking about Windows Phone 7, near the end of the show (when it shows about 5:20 remaining).

Today's column in the paper is a review of Microsoft's Kinect. It follows a Monday story focused on project lead Alex Kipman, the Brazilian who code-named the system Project Natal after the city where he used to spend summers.

(The stories were staggered in part because Microsoft, as part of its hyper structured launch program, wouldn't provide test gear to news organizations unless they promised to hold reviews until 9 p.m. Wednesday or midnight eastern time, when the consoles first went on sale. Oprah and Ellen didn't count.)

The review, with some photos added:

Sometimes the intense sights and sounds of modern video games stay with you, like scenes from a great movie.

After you're done hopping and waving in front of the TV screen, long-forgotten muscles will remind you of the fun you had with the $150 gadget.

Google is leaping into the television set-top box business this holiday season with its new GoogleTV software platform.

After trying one of the first models for a few days, I'd say it isn't yet worth the $300 to $1,400 that GoogleTV systems cost.

There are plenty of cheaper and simpler options available if you want to connect your TV to the Internet and watch Netflix and YouTube videos.

Technophiles wanting their TVs to have the power of a PC may be frustrated by the limitations of GoogleTV. It's nowhere near as polished and flexible as the Media Center software built into most versions of Windows and it lacks the digital video recording features of Media Center.

It's too bad because I just love the remote control on the GoogleTV system I've been testing, the $299 Logitech Revue.

The remote is a light but sturdy wireless keyboard with a trackpad and TV controls on the right side, where you'd find a numeric keypad on a regular keyboard. Its big buttons are easier to use than the mini-keypads used on some remotes nowadays.

It connects to a set-top box that's about the size of a netbook computer and runs the same kind of Intel Atom processor. Set-up is pretty easy, with a step-by-step menu on the TV screen.

GoogleTV will disappoint people looking for a way to "cut the cable" or reduce the clutter of boxes connected to their TV. It's designed to supplement, rather than replace, a cable company's set-top box.

In a surprising departure from Google's democratic approach to product design, GoogleTV really only works if you pay for premium cable. It also requires broadband.

If you have barebones basic cable -- the kind that requires no cable box -- or use free broadcast TV, you're basically out of luck. There's no way to connect an antenna or coaxial cable. The only way to get TV signals into the box is through an HDMI cable.

So what does GoogleTV do? It's basically a layer of software that can be added to your TV. This layer can be used to browse the Web, display Web video content and run applications, although there are only a few available so far. It runs on the tiny Intel processors in a set-top box or built into special flat-panel TV sets.

The big feature is, of course, Google search. When a GoogleTV device is connected to a TV, you can call up a search box on the screen to look for content available on the Web and your TV. Search results are tailored, so a search for a particular actor may return links to a bunch of video snippets where the actor appears.

When I searched for "Jamie Oliver," GoogleTV displayed links to the chef's Web site and Web videos. But it didn't find the collection of his shows that I'd already recorded on a TiVo connected to the GoogleTV box.

At the Food Network's Web site, I was able to play its parsimonious selection of free video clips. But they were off center on the screen, and GoogleTV's vertical scroll bar is so narrow -- the width of a pencil on a 40-inch TV -- that I had trouble moving the page to the right place.

I was able to use the browser to do work e-mail on the TV in my living room. But GoogleTV wouldn't let me press the "close" button to exit the Web mail program, which remained open on the TV's "desktop."

Despite all the content protection and cable coziness, GoogleTV's still getting the stink eye from TV networks. Most are blocking GoogleTV units from accessing their free, online video offerings, including the free TV shows and movies at Hulu.com. If you point the browser at Hulu, you get a message saying you'll have to pay for its $10 per month premium plan, through a GoogleTV application that's being developed.

Google says lots of applications will be available in 2011 but for now there's a meager selection, including the standard YouTube, Netflix, Pandora and Twitter apps. There's also an NBA application that displays scores and highlights, if you still care after the Sonics debacle.

I've tested all sorts of gadgets with Netflix lately and GoogleTV was the first one that failed to work out of the box. The system hung up and directed me to Netflix support, where I was advised to do a hard reboot -- unplugging and restarting the GoogleTV box. It worked afterward.

Google's being cagey about its plans to connect GoogleTV to its advertising delivery system. That may be the biggest reason to wait before investing in a GoogleTV system. If Google's going to use the system to make money off of you, with ads, the system should be cheaper or even free.

It also needs a pop-up blocker so the browser doesn't put this sort of thing on your TV:

The Revue media player connected to the Twonky server on my home network but not Windows Media Connect. It couldn't play videos taken with my camera and stored on the network. The player also froze when I tried to rotate a photo stored on the network, using its rotate button:

The freebie of the day, if you're an app developer, is coming from Google.

The company today announced that it's giving 10,000 GoogleTV devices to developers building software for the fledgling platform. It started by giving 3,000 away today at the Adobe Max conference.

Here's Google's announcement, with details on where professional Web developers can apply for one of the devices, which start at $299.

Hopefully they'll send one to Hulu.com, which doesn't allow access from GoogleTV devices to its free TV shows and movies.

Another entry into the great holiday tablet battle came today from Barnes & Noble, which announced a color, touchscreen version of its Nook reading device.

The bookseller expects to begin selling the "NOOKcolor" on Nov. 19 for $249. It has a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen that displays 16 million colors. Inside, the device has a Wi-Fi radio and 8 gigabytes of memory. It's 8 by 5 inches overall, 0.48 inches thick and weighs 15.8 ounces.

Although it's built around the Nook electronic bookstore, which competes with Amazon.com's Kindle business, the color Nook is also aiming up-market, at the iPad and upcoming Android tablets.

The device is being pitched as a media consumption tablet, with the ability to browse the Web, play games, send e-mail, participate in social networks and store and play digital music. Or read.

Barnes & Noble noted that the NOOKcolor is based on Google's Android operating system -- Version 2.1. The store is inviting Android developers to build Nook applications, although they won't be able to directly transfer Android apps to the Nook because it has a custom interface and controls.

The new Nook also syncs with Google's Gmail, so you can use Gmail contacts with social features, including a feature that lets you lend e-books to friends with Nooks.

The Nook's upgrade may get Amazon to speed up work on a color Kindle, or perhaps even push Apple to lower iPad prices.

But it could use a better name. Some might wonder if the NOOKcolor is radioactive.

At a press event in New York today, Sony is showing off its lineup of GoogleTV products, including a Blu-ray player and Wi-Fi TVs with the Google software built in.

I'm not there but am watching the live coverage and company releases. The Sony products look nice but they're expensive -- more than double the price of its standard Blu-ray players, which also connect to Internet video services.

Similar to the $299 Logitech Revue set-top box unveiled last week, the Sony products have a Google search tool used to search for shows and content coming through a cable connection, stored on devices in the home and on the Web. The Google software also supports applications, such as the ubiquitous Netflix, YouTube and Twitter apps.

Sony's Googley Blu-ray player costs $399 and has a striking white case that reminds me of the short-lived Vaio media centers and "hat box" home theater PCs the company sold about six years ago.

New LCD Sony TVs with Google software range from $600 to $1,400 -- $600 for a 24-inch screen, $800 for a 32-inch, $1,000 for a 40-inch and $1,400 for a 46-inch. They have a new look for Sony, with curved corners, as opposed to the squared off look of its recent Bravia sets. Its Googleized TVs look more like computer monitors.

The TVs are also roughly double what you might pay for a flat-panel TV without the built-in wireless and Google software.

Also in the box is a wild new remote control with a built-in keypad and a control scheme borrowed from Sony's PlayStation game console.

Inside the Blu-ray player and the TVs is an Intel Atom processor similar to those used in netbooks. It's on a chip that also handles video processing; in effect they're small PCs inside.

The Sony products will be in its "Style" stores this weekend and Best Buy the following weekend.

Sony said the player and TVs will be able to access the Android app store in early 2011, so buyers can add additional apps.

Today's column is a review of Apple TV. Here's a version with a few pictures of the devices mentioned and their remote controls:

With the appropriate level of awe and reverence, I carefully removed Apple's latest magical product from its apple-sized box and marveled at its sleek design.

Had Apple done it again? Did it revolutionize TV and reveal the future of video entertainment?

You don't usually look to Intermec for blingy smartphones, but the Everett company's going a new direction with the CS40 handheld it's launching today.

The Windows Mobile 6.5-based device is a high-performance industrial barcode scanner that happens to look a lot like one of the newer BlackBerry smartphones. It also has a 3 megapixel camera and "3.75G" voice and data communications.

But the biggest difference is the heavy-duty construction, which makes the CS40 sort of like an armor plated BMW.

Intermec's calling it the "first rugged mobile computer with the size and styling of a smartphone." It claims the device is sealed against dust and liquid intrusion and can withstand multiple four-foot drops onto concrete on all corners and sides.

That blend of durability and design is Intermec's pitch to business customers who might be considering less-rugged consumer devices with scanning apps.

Intermec's release says the CS40 "enables an all-encompassing business process transformation for mobile workforces in pre-sales, merchandising, field service, long haul and truck load transportation."

For a list price of $1,795 in the U.S.

Maybe they should also make a lower-priced one without a scanner, for people who tend to drop their pricey smartphones a lot ...

Here's my take on the Sony Move for the PlayStation 3.

In short, it's pretty fun and has potential for action games. Teens and older players may prefer it over the Wii if given a choice. It's a nice addition to the mix of motion-control systems available this year.

But the Move requires more fussing than expected, including frequent calibration. Using the Move with an on-screen keyboard is also tedious and challenging.

It's also expensive to get started, if you don't already have a PS3. But there's a big variety of games available and in the pipeline so Move probably won't have as slow a start as the console did when it first launched.

Today's column:

It's strange and cruel to have the most amazing toys arrive when we can least afford them.

This happened during the Depression, when Bugatti and Alfa Romeo blended gorgeous design and bleeding-edge technology to produce the greatest sports cars in history.

It began Sunday when Sony released the Move for the PlayStation 3.

Are Web tablets and e-books becoming commoditized already?

Hewlett-Packard's throwing one into the box with a new $399 all-in-one inkjet printer it's calling the Photosmart eStation.
The printer includes a Web browsing tablet with WiFi and a 7-inch diagonal screen. It's pre-loaded with applications including Facebook, a music player, Barnes & Noble's eBookstore and Yahoo mail, search, weather and messenger.

When it's not being used around the house, the tablet sits in a dock on the printer and works as a control panel and digital photo frame.

The Android-powered tablet apparently doesn't let you load applications. It sounds like a new version of HP's Dreamscreen lightweight tablet/photo frame that appeared in 2008, more than the full-fledged slate computers that HP's expected to release later this year. But this one comes in a printer bundle for under $400, and it may be good enough for some people.

Here's a video from Laptop magazine, trying out the eStation:

Here's today's column on the robotics venture started by Tandy Trower, a noted former Microsoft employee who left in November to start Hoaloha Robotics.

There's not much to see in Tandy Trower's Pioneer Square office yet, but I'm hoping that will change by the time I retire.

Trower, 57, was one of Microsoft's longest-running employees when he retired last November.

The Washington State University grad joined two months after the first IBM PC was released in 1981.

Over 28 years he was involved with products ranging from Basic to Windows and "Flight Simulator." His grand finale was the Microsoft Robotics platform that he started and launched in 2006.

Trower saw even more potential in robotics and left in November to start a new company, Hoaloha Robotics, to develop "socially assistive" robots that will help older people get by with less help from families and professional caregivers.

So far he's the only employee, but he's working with interns and a professor at the University of Washington and talking to robot manufacturers about collaborating.

His goal is to work with hardware companies to produce assistive robots that could go on sale in three to five years, for $5,000 to $10,000.

Hoaloha - a Hawaiian word for friend - joins a growing field of companies developing new technology for an older population that's expected to more than double in the coming decades.

Continuing this week's theme of outrageous towers for gamers, here's a new line of game storage systems from Redmond's Slam Brands.

The snap-together devices include molded controller docks, soft-coated guitar hooks for your "Guitar Hero" axes and shelves for game cases.

They come in white or black with silver, green or matte black trim, to match your Xbox, Wii or PlayStation.

Sold under the Level Up brand, they're now appearing in national retail stores and list for $69.99. The Xbox model is called "Zig-Zag," the Wii model is "Trideca" and the PlayStation model is "Alloy."

All they need is a closet for the little drum kits.

If you still haven't bought your back-to-school PC, here's an awesome option -- if you have no intention of studying and just won the lottery.

It's the Origin Big O, a liquid-cooled behemoth that has one of the new Xbox 360 "Slim" consoles stuffed inside.

Maybe this is what Microsoft needs to really get PC gaming fired up again.

In this picture you can just see the Xbox drive try on the lower right.

The starting configuration has an Intel Core i7 930 processor overclocked to 4.0 GHz, dual Nvidia GTX 480 graphics cards, six gigabytes of DDR3 1600 Mhz RAM, dual solid-state drives and a 1,500-watt power supply. All for $7,669.

That's with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and a one-year warranty.

The upgrade model -- with Windows 7 Ultimate and a three-year warranty -- has dual Intel Xeon X5680 processors overclocked to 4.3 GHz, plus four GTX 480 cards, 12 gigs of 2000 Mhz RAM and dual 1 kilowatt power supplies.

Miami-based Origin built the Xeon beast for CPU Magazine's annual "Dream Machine" feature, but it can be had for $16,999. Insert your own Bill Gates joke here.

To get the Xbox consoles into the cases, Origin takes them apart, re-arranges the components inside and connects them to the liquid-cooling systems. A spokesman said, "They strategically mod it and rearrange the components and ports for optimal usage within the PC."

Origin designed the systems so you can play games on the 360 "while your computer is busy dominating whatever other task it is assigned."

I wonder if Cray could squeeze a 360 inside its Windows 7 Xeon box, the $35,449.99 CX1-iWS. It runs the same 24-core Xeon 5600 processors as the upper-end Big O. Could they at least get a Wii in there, so the scientists have something to do while they're running simulations of the weather or nuclear explosions?

If you're interested in the different flavors of Samsung's hit Galaxy S phones -- including the new Epic 4G that Sprint is releasing Tuesday -- here's an infographic from BillShrink.com comparing features and costs.

A quick update from Marc Barros, chief executive at Countour, the Seattle camcorder maker formerly known as VHoldR.

The company changed its name at the end of July, taking the moniker of its Contour wearable camcorders.

Barros said the 40-person company plans to triple its business this year. It's among a handful of Washington companies appearing on the new Inc 500 list of the fastest-growing companies in the country, appearing at 183.

The second phone to take advantage of Clearwire's 4G network will be the Samsung Epic 4G, a special version of the Samsung Galaxy S going on sale Aug. 31 for $250.

It follows the Evo 4G that debuted in June. Both use 4G where available and 3G everywhere else, and work as mobile hotspots for an additional fee.

Sprint's release billed its new Android slider phone as "A Movie Theater in Your Hand." Samsung's preparing a "media hub" service with a video store to buy or rent movies and TV shows via the device, which has a 4-inch Super AMOLED display.

The phone's also going to work with Samsung's "AllShare" service that wirelessly shares music, photos and HD video with TVs, cameras, printers and other devices with DLNA certification.

Inside it's running Android 2.1 on Samsung's 1 GHz processor; Apple uses related processors from Samsung in the iPad and iPhone 4. The Epic 4G has a 5 megapixel camera that takes 720p HD video and a front-facing camera for video chat.

The price is after a $100 rebate and with a two-year commitment to plans starting at $70 per month. Pre-orders begin Friday.

Sprint's announcement coincides with a new report from Gartner saying that Android has overtaken Apple's iOS to become the world's third-most popular mobile operating system, behind Symbian and RIM, during the second quarter. In the U.S., Android's now ahead of RIM, the report said.

Samsung, meanwhile, is the world's second-largest phone maker behind Nokia and ahead of LG.

A few people have asked me about Dell's Streak, the minitablet/maxiphone that surfaced in Seattle in May.

You could say it's the latest version of the Origami ultramobile PC that Microsoft and Intel began developing about five years ago, but it runs Android software on Qualcomm hardware.

The company Tuesday finally announced that the Streak will be available to the general public on Friday for $549, or $300 with a two-year AT&T contract. It's a few weeks late and $50 more than Dell said in June.

Like most big phones today, it's based on a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm with 3G, Wi-Fi (b, g and n) and Bluetooth radios. It works with HSDPA networks (such as T-Mobile's) that provide up to 7.2 Mbps downloads. It has a 5 megapixel still and video camera with a dual LED flash, plus a front facing VGA camera.

Here's a Dell video showing it in action:

Get ready for higher memory and PC prices.

Research firm iSuppli is predicting a supply crunch for the key memory used in PCs, DRAM, later this year.

Demand is surging when there's a bottleneck in supplies of new manufacturing equipment, and some firms are facing complicated new production processes.

The firm expects shipments of 1 gigabit equivalent units will increase 49 percent to 15.9 billion units this year, up from 10.7 billion last year.

Boise-based Micron is among the few companies well positioned with the latest equipment, iSuppli said in its release.

It's funny, this comes as I'm seeing the street price of DDR3 memory finally fall. A 4 gigabyte set is now under $100 -- about $90 in some places -- but maybe the deals are short-lived.

Funky online shopping site Woot.com, which offers single items daily through a handful of snarky Web sites, is being acquired by Amazon.com.

That's according to a characteristic letter posted by its chief executive, Matt Rutledge. An excerpt:

Today is a big day in Woot history. This morning, I woke up to find Jeff Bezos the Mighty had seized our magic sword. Using the Arthurian model as a corporate structure was something our CFO had warned against from the very beginning, but now that's water under the bridge. What is important is that our company is on the verge of becoming a part of the Amazon.com dynasty. And our plans for Grail.Woot are on indefinite hold.

Woot will remain autonomous and based in the Dallas area, according to Amazon.com. The purchase price isn't being disclosed and the deal should close in the third quarter.

"The acquisition will foster the long-term growth of Woot, allowing it to continue its passion for serving customers with low prices across a broad selection of products," spokesman Craig Berman said via email.

In addition to gadgets offered through Woot.com, Woot sells wine, toys and clothes through companion sites.

Rutledge provided a more expansive explanation of the deal:

Amazon is interested in us because they recognize the value of our people, our brand, and our unique style of deep-tissue, toxin-releasing massage. And they don't want to start changing things now. Amazon's hoping our nutty Woot steez continues to grow and develop (and perhaps even rubs off on them a little). They're not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to, which incidentally you can do by turning off the bathroom lights and saying the word "Kindle" three times; a helpful Amazon employee will appear in the mirror. That said, Amazon clearly knows what they're doing in a lot of areas, so we're geeked about the opportunities to tap into that knowledge and those resources, especially on the technology side. This is about making the Woot brand, culture, and business even stronger than it is today, and we expect that any changes will be for the better or we wouldn't bother with this endless paperwork.

Better yet is the video in which Woot sings the news: "When we heard we were like 'that's some kind of scamazon' but it's true, we got acquired by aaamazon ... we're hooking up with the notorious crew."

LOS ANGELES -- A few random photos from E3.

Welcome to L.A.:

One for the scrapbook:

Yes, the game will have unlockable beards. Really.

The line to see the Nintendo 3DS, on the platform under the red bar

Hands-down, the best deal on the Web today is Microsoft's SkyDrive combined with the free online version of its Office apps.

This package has been available to beta testers for a while, but Microsoft today opened it up to the general public (in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland).

In returning for signing in to Microsoft's Live service, you get 25 gigabytes of online storage -- basically a hard drive in the cloud -- where you can now create, edit, save and share Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote files.

All for free, with no commitments or software to install.

It's as easy, if not easier, than using Office on the desktop. To create a Word document, for instance, you click the big Word icon in your browser and start typing. The document is saved to SkyDrive and accessible from different computers.

If you own a recent version of Office, you can click the "Open in Word" button and the file you've been working with online opens up in your desktop application. No cutting and pasting or dragging, it just works (after you've entered your log in information).

You can work on the document on the desktop, hit save and it syncs with the online version -- so the changes you made offline appear online as well.

Here's a quick walk through. To create a document, click the Office icon that appears on your "SkyDrive desktop" (I added the blue arrow ...):

Here's the online version of Word in action:

If you click "share," you get a great slider tool for setting permission (Facebook ought to license this interface ...):

You're also able to access them via smartphones, though the Android-based Evo I'm using froze when I tried to open a Web Word doc. First it said there were problems with the site's security certificate, then I had to "force close" the operating system. Hmmm:

I had slightly better luck on the Windows Mobile 6.5-based HD2. I could get to the site but it was painful - every time I saved or did anything I had to install security certificates (why do I need "mktplassets-ssl.xbox.com, tiles" to run this?) and handling a document on the touchscreen was too tricky for me.

My quick take: It's magic on the desktop but the mobile story is a work in progress. Maybe it needs Windows Phone 7.

Here's a cheap way to get your afternoon jolt: Download the Barnes & Noble e-reader app to your laptop or phone and get a free tall coffee at a B&N cafe.

The bookstore is also giving free java to people who own Nook readers and bring them into the store.

To get the coffee, you'll have to show the server an open eBook on a Nook or the BN eReader software, which can be running on an iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, HTC HD2 or a Windows or Mac PC.

You can also download the app and a book sample in the stores, if you're thirsty enough.

I've asked BN how long this deal will last. It's tied to a Nook promotion that runs through June 27 ...

RANCHO PALSO VERDES, Calif. -- Peter Chou's hunch was right. His Taiwanese phone company, HTC, was founded in 1997 to pursue the vision that smartphones would be transformative.

HTC went on to produce the first Windows smartphone in 1999 and later the first phone based on Google's Android software. On Friday, it launches the first smartphone running Clearwire's 4G network.

Chou showed Walt Mossberg the 4G Evo that HTC's making for Sprint during his appearance at the All Things Digital conference.

Mossberg asked Chou to discuss how his company is building phones based on both Google's Android software and Microsoft's Windows phone platforms.

"Different people like different things," Chou said. "What we try to do is have the best mix of technologies and design and give people a choice."

What's the difference between Android and Windows, Mossberg asked.

"Windows has a lot of Windows users -- legacies -- and they are very familiar to the Windows experience."

Asked about the challenges Windows Mobile has had, Chou said "Windows has a lot of value" and noted that HTC is making phones based on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 software.

Android appeals to people who do more social networking, and it has good applications, like maps, Chou said.

HTC -- which has U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and a software center in Seattle's Pioneer Square -- is moving from a somewhat invisible manufacturer of phones for other companies to a consumer brand with more prominent logos and a proprietary software interface.

Chou said its recent brand campaign is working and customers are now asking for HTC phones by name, he said.

Mossberg questioned whether consumers will get confused by all the brands appearing on phones now -- the manfucturer, carrier and software provider.

"There's a lot there," Mossberg said.

"We are trying to minimize that a little bit, so there are some of those on the back and not everyone on the front like right now," Chou said.

Smartphone sales are surging, but they're still expensive to produce -- about $400 apiece wholesale -- and are complicated for some users, Chou said.

The company is working on a lower-priced alternative, the HTC Smart, that will cost phone companies about $150, run apps and be based on Qualcomm's Brew platform.

Asked about the fragmentation of Google's Android platform, Chou said the proliferation of different versions "causes a little bit of problem" but that's the nature of a modular product.

During audience questioning, Chou was asked about the short battery life of the Evo. He replied that the battery works longer if the phone's more advanced features aren't being used, but he said battery life is something that needs to improve on smartphones.

"The battery technology is one area that innovates very slowly," he said, adding that he spends a lot of time talking to battery suppliers.

"I don't have a lot of good news, but I hope one day we don't need a battery to run the device," he said.

In response to a question from an interested investor, Chou said he hopes to have the stock listed in the U.S. as well as on the Taipei market.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Kno, a Santa Clara, Calif. startup, unveiled a dual screen tablet for students at the All Things Digital conference.

The Kno tablet weighs 5.5 pounds, has dual 14-inch color touchscreens and pairs with an online platform that's supported by higher education publishers, the founders said in their demonstration.

The device looks like an Apple laptop without a keyboard, and it will function in laptop mode by using one of its screens as a touch keyboard. The two screens are connected by a fabric material similar to what's used for seatbelts, instead of a hinge.

It also has an iPad-like interface, displaying thumbnail-sized icons for applications and books on the device. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios but not 3G cell coverage, and the battery life is expected to be at least six hours.

Kno expects to begin selling its tablets this fall. It's not yet disclosing a price but it will be less than $1,000.

"We are witnessing the demise of television," Ken Lowe, VP and co-founder of bargain TV maker Vizio declared at the SID conference in Seattle this morning.

Lowe said television is being replaced by the "entertainment display" -- devices that output high definition content, connect to the Internet and are increasingly built with LED lighting that uses about the same wattage as a light bulb.

Just don't use the potentially confusing acronym "ED" for these things, he said.

Lowe had other pronouncements. Although 3-D content is getting lots of hype, there still isn't much content so he's expecting it won't really take off until 2011.

In the meantime, the must-have feature on new TVs -- "like 1080p was" -- is now LED backlighting, which uses less power and enables thinner sets.

"2010 is the year of the LED backlight," he said.

About a fifth of Vizio's sets are now LED, but the mix should be 40 percent by year-end.

Helping make the transition are two new sets Lowe showed off -- throwing down two price gauntlets for the world's major TV makers represented at the show. They also illustrated the sort of "entertainment device" that's replacing the usual TV (ED TVs?).

One was the M220NV, a 22-inch LED set with 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1080p resolution and Vizio's suite of Internet applications, including Netflix, Flickr and social networking for $360. Lowe said it's intended to be placed in kitchen, bedroom or other room in the house where it will be simple to connect wirelessly and access online content.

Later this year, Vizio is releasing a 55-inch LED set with 3-D, full HD, 480Hz refresh rate and Internet apps for "over $2,000," he said. An image of it shown during his presentation:

Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch TV research director, suggested earlier at the show that 2012 may be the year of LED -- or at least the year that the majority of sets sold worldwide are LED lit. A slide from his presentation:

Apple's iPad is "cannibalizing" sales of e-readers like the Kindle and Nook and netbooks, DisplaySearch analyst John Jacobs said this morning at the SID conference in Seattle.

Jacobs predicted 10 million iPads and other slates will be sold in 2010.

The research firm expects "slates will take a healthy bite" out of the e-reader market.

But that's still just a fraction of the growing market for devices with displays in the range of 4" to 12.5" -- including slates, e-books, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, game players and portable DVD players. Jacobs said that market will see 40 million to 80 million units sold per quarter.

Jacobs followed Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow, who talked up the potential of 3-D in TVs and other devices, including Sony cameras and computers.

Sony surveys found that 38 percent of consumers will buy a 3-D TV within a year and 67 percent say their next TV will be 3-D, Glasgow said.

Content will be key to uptake, he said, noting Sony efforts such as its work with sports broadcasters (he played a 3'D clip from the Masters during the speech) and upcoming Sony 3-D movies, including "Spiderman 3D," "Men in Black III" and "Green Hornet." Glasgow said the 3-D business aims won't distort the movie's artistic development, saying that Sony's mantra is that the "technology must serve the story."

But a 3-D preview of "Resident Evil Afterlife" -- a movie coming out in September -- had all sorts of 3-D tricks like martial arts throwing stars spinning toward the viewer.

Glasgow called on the display industry, gathered in Seattle, to follow three principles:

-- "Don't let inferior quality own the marketplace."
-- Work together and with broadcasters and cable and satellite companies to adopt a set of 3-D standards "that makes sense for consumers."
-- Companies in the business are going to have to put effort into educating consumers about the benefits of 3-D.

Meanwhile, Sony expects the 3-D TV market to grow to 100 million units globally over the next three years.

Hewlett-Packard may have the oomph to revive Palm, which it bought today for $1.2 billion, but it's going to cost the company some good will with its No. 1 software partner.

HP is jumping into the mobile OS business as Microsoft gears up to launch its great hope for the same market, Windows Phone 7, along with its own line of consumer "Kin" phones.

HP has also been a loyal customer of Microsoft's mobile operating systems used on the iPaq line of handheld computers, the latest versions of which are smartphones running Windows Mobile 6.5. (Here's the new iPaq "Glisten" for AT&T).

In its announcement, HP Executive Vice President Todd Bradley made it clear that HP's going after Palm's operating system to "create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices."

In other words, it's spending $1.2 billion for an alternative to Windows on its mobile devices.

Do I hear the wind howling outside, or is that the sound of yelling in Redmond, traveling across the lake to Seattle?

Maybe it's a Gulfstream warming up at Boeing Field, to take Steve Ballmer and his checkbook to RIM headquarters in Ontario.

When I asked Microsoft for comment, a spokesman provided this statement:

"HP is a strategic partner and will continue to be so for Microsoft."

Here's Bradley's full quote in the release:

"Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices. And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market."

How many leaders will there be in the smartphone market?

(Note: HP said it's paying $1.2 billion for Palm, but some are calling it a $1.4 billion deal. That's because HP factored in Palm's cash to come up with an "enterprise value" or purchase cost of $1.2 billion. The $1.4 billion figure is derived by multiplying HP's $5.70 per share offer by the number of Palm shares.)

Here's a quick primer on some of the new interfaces coming to PCs and consumer electronics. It's from today's column that drew on the Bluetooth SIG's "all hands" meeting in Seattle last week.

Bluetooth 4.0

What it does: Enables companies to add Bluetooth wireless technology to "low energy" devices such as watches and health, fitness and environmental sensors. The devices are intended to run for at least a year on a single watch-type battery.

Status: The specification was introduced in December and should be finalized by July. Devices with 4.0 should go on sale by the end of 2010 or in early 2011.

Caveats: Bluetooth 4.0 "low energy" devices will require new hardware. Phones and PCs will be available with dual-mode radios that work with both "classic" Bluetooth and version 4.0. (Here's a Bluetooth FAQ with more details).

HDMI 1.4

What it does: Sets standards for HDMI cables to support 3D and "4K" ultrahigh-definition video, with 4,096 by 2,160 pixels. Enables some HDMI cables to carry Ethernet network signals as well as audio and video content, for connecting TVs, video players and other A/V gear. Also specifies new mini HDMI plugs for camcorders and automotive use.

Status: HDMI 1.4 emerged last June, but its 3D specification was finalized just last month. TVs, receivers and other products with HDMI 1.4 are now on sale. It should be used by all major brands by the fall. Sony, for instance, is now using HDMI 1.4 in products that it's calling "3D enabled."

Caveats: I asked the HDMI licensing group if 1.4 is absolutely necessary for 3D. Sony's PlayStation 3, for instance, doesn't have 1.4 but is supposed to support 3D movies.

The response from Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing: "Source devices, such as the PS3 and many set-top boxes, will be able to be firmware upgraded to accommodate the frame compatible 3D formats. So, in effect, these devices will be able to be updated from 1.3 compliant devices to 1.4 compliance with the 3D specification."

Venuti expects to see HDMI 1.4 appear on PCs and video cards this year.

USB 3.0

What it does: Computer and electronics connector technology that moves data at up to 5 gigabits per second, or 10 times faster than the widely used USB 2.0 technology.

Status: Since January it's been starting to appear in consumer devices, including external hard drives. By 2012, 45 percent of mobile computers will have USB 3.0, research firm IDC predicts. Meanwhile, more peripheral products are appearing.

Caveats: Getting USB 3.0 incorporated into the core architecture of PCs is taking longer than expected and won't happen until 2011, according to In-Stat analyst Brian O'Rourke.

The parade of "leaked" phones to Gizmodo and Engadget is getting ridiculous. Do they have a deal with PR Newswire?

Anyway, the latest instalment is a batch of images and specs for upcoming Dell phones. Engadget's touting it as "the mother of all Dell leaks" but it's still no iPhone bar edition.

It does give an apparent early peek at several Android phones and the "Lightning" Windows Phone 7 coming to market in the fourth quarter, if Engadget's info is correct.

Lightning has the standard 1 gig processor, FM radio and Flash support, plus a 4.1-inch OLED display that slides up to reveal a qwerty keypad. The info said a 3G Lightning is coming to AT&T and T-Mobile first and an LTE version will be available in fourth quarter 2011 (which seems like a long wait for 4G ...).

A screen grab from the page:

To investigate allegations of harsh working conditions at a vendor's factory in China, Microsoft dispatched a team of independent auditors to investigate first-hand.

Pittsburgh-based National Labor Committee alleged sweatshop-like conditions at the KYE factory in a report issued Tuesday.

Microsoft's response was disclosed in a 2 a.m. blog post by Brian Tobey, vice president of manufacturing and operations in the entertainment and devices group.

An excerpt:

As a result of this report, we have a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigation. If we find that the factory is not adhering to our standards, we will take appropriate action.

Tobey also said an auditor has been inspecting the factory annually and Microsoft personnel do quarterly on-site assessments and get weekly reports from the vendor, KYE, on labor and safety issues. It's also been requiring documentation and verification of workers' ages for two years "and no incidence of child labor has been detected."

If the report is overblown, perhaps the response will at least keep the vendors toeing the line.

Microsoft's hardware business accounts for about 30 percent of the output of the factory in question, which also makes products for companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Best Buy, Asus, Samsung, Logitech and Foxconn (which does work for Apple).

Here's a BusinessWeek story that examined working conditions at Chinese factories in 2006 and a 2007 Salt Lake Tribune investigation of Chinese worker safety at some truly scary factories.

There will be plenty of options for holiday shoppers looking for tablet computing devices from major computer companies.

In addition to the iPad and Hewlett-Packard's Slate, Toshiba will be selling similar devices based on Windows 7 and another line based on Google's Android software, according to a Reuters story quoting Jeff Barney, general manager of digital products for Toshiba America.

Toshiba is looking at a variety of form factors for its slate PCs, including a dual-screen model running Windows, and one with a roughly 10-inch screen, he said.

"We definitely see a place for the slate, we see there's a market there. It'll be expansive like netbooks, it won't be cannibalistic," he said.

Toshiba could really shake it up if they include the Intel WiDi technology that's on some of its laptops, enabling them to beam high-def video onto a nearby TV.

Unchecked by Apple's patent lawsuit, HTC is rolling out some slick new Android 2.1-based smartphones, including the Droid Incredible announced today.

Verizon will start offering the Incredible on April 29 for $200 (after a $100 rebate) with a two-year voice and data contract starting at $70 per month.

The Incredible has a "topographic" design with ridges on the back that are intended to reflect the stuff inside. Verizon's press release said it "demonstrates the powerful engineering just beneath the surface."

Maybe the ridges will make it easier to grip than some other smartphones. But I'll bet bigger selling points will be the red speaker grill and accent ring around the camera lens.

That powerful engineering includes the now obligatory 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, plus an 8 megapixel camera, a digital compass and a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen.

Verizon's also releasing exclusive Skype and NFL apps "shortly after the phone becomes available."

Here's the list of features:

Watching his 3 year-old daughter nearly get run over by a texting driver inspired a Seattle landscape contractor to jump into the phone application business.

Erik Wood, 43, was walking home from Queen Anne's Coe Elementary with his daughter last fall when a woman in a black Volkswagen shot out of an alley while texting with both hands, passing within a few feet of the girl.

The driver drove on without ever seeing the pedestrians, but Wood was so shook up he started researching safety issues around texting drivers. Then he decided to create an application that could help.

"People live in this false reality that 'I can get away with texting and driving,' " he said. "The problem is they don't know what they're missing, they don't get the wake-up call until it's a T-bone, violent crash."

He and his wife tapped their children's college fund, withdrawing more than the cost of a new truck, and spent seven months working with software developers to produce an application called Otter that was released on the Android phone platform April 5.

"I think we realized that we had survived our first nearly fatal text-and-drive encounter but with two little girls growing up, the statistics proved this wouldn't be our last brush with this," he said. "That's what inspired us to do something about it.''

The Otter application interrupts text message notifications when the phone's GPS radio detects the device is moving at least 10 miles per hour. It doesn't block the messages outright, but sends an automatic reply to the sender, saying,"Otter says BTH (Break the Habit)."

Otter -- which stands for one touch text response -- also has parental controls so parents can activate it on their children's phones.

Wood is joining a growing number of companies producing applications and other systems to block or prevent texting while driving. He said Otter has a cost advantage because it doesn't carry recurring monthly fees like some competing applications. It's a one-time $3.99 download from the Android Market.

Versions for the Windows and BlackBerry phone platforms should be done in three to six months. Wood would like to do an iPhone version but its new software apparently won't provide access he needs to the phones' notifications or SMS services.

It's a moneymaking venture, but Wood said he had to give it a try no matter what.

"You know when you come to those forks in the road where you don't have any other choice?" he said. "This was definitely one of those."

Panasonic turned a corner of Pike Place Market into a mini Consumer Electronics Show today, setting up demonstrations of its high-def 3-D televisions, Internet connected TVs and cameras.

To lure people into the free showcase, the company is holding a drawing for a free 3-D home theater setup to people who drop by the event. It's a little hard to find; when heading west on Pike, turn left at the pig and look for stairs going up.

Or you could ask for directions from Chris Bell, one of the fish throwers at Pike Place Fish Market, who brought a fresh Alaskan wild king up to the showroom. The fish was nearly as lifelike as the 3-D images -- it was caught Monday, Bell said.

Panasonic's event runs today until 6 p.m., Wednesday from 11 to 6 and Thursday from 11 to 4.

It's a little ironic that the event is being held upstairs in the Economy Market building. The highlight is a mini theater where visitors can sit in a home theater and check out 3-D movie clips on a 54-inch plasma 3D HDTV that retails for $2,999, including one pair of 3-D glasses. Additional pairs are $150.

The system being given away is a 50-inch 3-D HDTV with a 3-D Blu-ray player and glasses -- a package worth $3,050.

After spending a few days with the latest phone that Steve Jobs doesn't want you to have, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

I'm talking about the HTC HD2, a striking gray slab with an enormous 4.3-inch display - the largest touch-screen of any phone now available in the U.S.

Ford announced today that it reached a new milestone with the Sync voice-control and entertainment system built on Microsoft's automotive platform, shipping the system on its 2 millionth vehicle.

It took Ford about two years to reach the millionth Sync vehicle - a Fusion Hybrid that Ford CEO Alan Mulally personally delivered to his pal Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer - and 10 months to ship the second million. System number 2 million also went into a Fusion.

"The success of SYNC proves that customers want to be connected," Ford marketing VP, Ken Czubay, said in the release. "The speed with which we've hit the 2 million mark, the premium SYNC adds at auction, and the improvements in purchase consideration show that it is a true differentiator for us, adding real value for the customer."

Sync is a $395 option but Ford claims the system increases the resale value of its cars by $200 to $240.

It's also added value to the Seattle tech community, where a number of companies are contributing technology and services to the Sync platform, including telematics provider Airbiquity, embedded systems developer Bsquare and traffic services provider Inrix.

And it's more evidence of the authenticity of this graffiti I photographed at the Consumer Electronics Show in January:

Here's a video of Franklin Page, the Swype employee who broke the Guiness World Record for text messaging on a touchscreen phone on March 5, showing his technique on a Samsung Omnia II.

A Norwegian holds the record for typing the same prescribed 160-character text message without a touchscreen phone. Sonja Kristiansen texted the message in 37.28 seconds at Oslo City Shopping Centre on Nov. 14, 2009.

The record for fastest typing on a smartphone is held by Pedro Matias of Portugal, who typed a prescribed 264-character text on a QWERTY mobile phone in 1 minute and 59.8 seconds during the LG Worldcup World Championship at Gotham Hall in New York on Jan. 14, according to Guiness.

Here's the Samsung ad featuring Page that's appearing this week:

London-based mobile app seller GetJar created a stir today by releasing a study saying the mobile apps business will grow to $17.5 billion by 2012.

With 4 billion-plus mobile phone users around the world, that suggests an average of $4 per user generated by mobile apps.

Downloads of mobile apps will grow from 7 billion in 2009 to nearly 50 billion in 2012. The value of apps sold would then be greater than sales of music CDs, the study said.

Also predicted is a continuing shift away from "on deck" apps distributed by phone companies toward downloads from app stores, such as GetJar. The study predicted that on-deck applications' share of sales will fall to 23 percent, from 60 percent in 2009.

By 2012, Europe will be a bigger market for apps than the U.S., spending $8.5 billion versus $6.7 billion.

Asia now accounts for the most downloads, but consumers there spend far less on them than North Americans -- they're spending an average of 10 cents per app, vs. the $1.09 spent in this region.

The study predicts the overall average selling price of apps will fall 29 percent, from its current level around $1.90, but ad revenue from apps is expected to stay flat.

GetJar also predicted a shakeout in the number of app stores, which grew from eight to 38 last year and will continue growing this year.

"This report signifies a battle for survival of the fittest among app stores worldwide -- with app revenue and growth opportunities growing significantly," Chief Executive Ilja Laurs said in the release. "There is no way that this many app stores will survive in the long term and while the value of the global app economy is set to be astoundingly high by 2012, we think only a few app stores will share this revenue."

The study was done for GetJar by Issaquah mobile consultant Chetan Sharma. GetJar has other local ties; its vice president of sales, Bill Scott, is a Seattle native who used to work at InfoSpace.

They won't track your body like the Xbox Project Natal, but Microsoft's new Webcams are getting face-tracking technologies developed by the company's advanced research group.

The "TrueColor" technology tracks users' faces, monitors exposure and adjusts the image to compensate for different lighting conditions.

They also have auto focus and 720p sensors. The LifeCam HD-5000 and HD-5001 go on sale this month for $50; the 5001 is a special model for Best Buy with a white faceplate. A rotatable notebook version, the HD-6000, goes on sale in May for $60.

Here's the 5000:

Seattle's MOD Systems -- which makes retail kiosks for downloading movies and music -- today added a few notable local tech veterans to its board.

Will Poole, the former Windows Client boss at Microsoft, and Dan Gerrity, a co-founder and former CEO of Coinstar, will help guide MOD as it rolls out its entertainment delivery system.

"Both Will and Dan have unmatched experience in our target industries, and in organizational development and leadership. Both have built organizations from development stage to global success, and their skills, styles and guidance are welcome additions to our board. We're fortunate to have them join us," MOD Chairman and CEO Anthony Bay said in the release.

Poole is now co-chairman of virtual computing company NComputing, and Gerrity is vice president of business development at Intellectual Ventures.

MOD said board member Kyleen Cane, a Nevada securities lawyer, is stepping down after 18 months.

Nintendo announced its lineup for the first half of 2010 at a press event in San Francisco today, finally sharing release dates for new products revealed over the last year.

Topping the list is the DSi XL, a bigger version of the comany's handheld, which goes on sale March 28 for $189.99 in burgundy or bronze. It will be preloaded with "BrainAge" games to help kids persuade parents that it's educational.

With the XL, the DS is approaching the size of a small clutch purse, with 4.2-inch screens that are 93 percent bigger than the DS Lite and a stylus that's about the size of a regular pen.

Closed, it's 6.3 by 3.6 inches and weighs "approximately 11.08 ounces (314 grams)," according to Nintendo.

New games include updates of key Wii franchises: "Super Mario Galaxy 2" is launching May 23 for the Wii, with new tools for Mario, such as a drill for tunneling through rocks, "Metroid: Other M" appears June 27 with the ability for players to switch on the fly between a classic 2-D format and 3-D play.

The company is also attempting to get in on the electronic book craze by releasing a set of classic books in the DS format.

Nintendo optimistically said its "100 Classic Books" title "transforms the Nintendo DS family of products into a library of timeless literature." The $19.99 game coming June 14 includes books from authors such as Shakespeare, Jules Verne, Jane Austen and Mark Twain. Text size can be adjusted on the device, bookmarks can be added and new content can be downloaded via Wi-Fi.

Here's a Nintendo image of the DS lineup, with the XL on the right:

Microsoft's Surface group was so enthused about a Surface Dungeons & Dragons game built by students at Carnegie Mellon University, it flew the six students to Redmond this week to demonstrate the game in person.

Carnegie's Entertainment Technology Center produced a viral hit with a video demo of their "SurfaceScapes" game that it released in October.

While in Seattle this week, students also had dinner with Penny Arcade folks who gave them the idea during a visit to the school last year. Penny Arcade is expecting the Surface D&D game to be a big draw at its PAX East game conference in Boston next month.

Not on the students' schedule, though, was Renton-based Wizards of the Coast, which publishes D&D.

The team said they don't have any plans to commercialize their version of the fantasy game, which was built to show how tabletop games could work on a Surface computer.

Microsoft sells the $12,500 computers to hotels, restaurants, retail stores, cruise ships and other public venues. The computers use cameras to sense gestures, touch and objects on their tabletop displays.

Microsoft's expected to eventually release a consumer version of the Surface but first it has to update the commercial model from Windows Vista to Windows 7.

The first video below is the Carnegie team playing Dungeons & Dragons at Microsoft. The second is their demo; it's far better to see the game but doesn't show the people who made it.

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.

I wonder if the next Google phone -- the Nexus Two -- will use the same industrial design as the Android-based "Devour" phone that Motorola unveiled this morning.

Motorola's said it's going to build a Nexus and Google has hinted that it will sell one with a keyboard, so how about Devour hardware with a faster processor and better camera? I've asked both companies if this is the case (ha ha) and will update if they clarify.

Update: A Google spokeswoman said: "All I can say publicly is that the Nexus One is the first in what we expect to be a series of products, which we will bring to market with our operator and hardware partners." Moto's rep said "We can't comment on rumor, speculation or future plans."

The Devour announced today is a slider with a keyboard plus a 3.1-inch touchscreen, full HTML browser, 3 megapixel camera and 8 gig memory card.

Verizon is going to start selling the phone in March, but announcing it today gets ahead of the herd of new phones that will be announced this month around the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona.

Devour specs:

Silicon Valley 3-D sensor maker Canesta tapped former Microsoft Game Studios boss Ed Fries to join its board of directors, the company announced today.

Canesta sensors sense users of computers, consumer electronics, robots and other devices, enabling input from gestures and motion, along the lines of the Project Natal system for the Xbox that Fries' former employer is developing. Customers announced so far include Honda and Hitachi.

"Ed brings a new perspective and diverse experience in entertainment. He is able to advise Canesta as our game-changing technology begins appearing in 3-D interfaces," Canesta CEO Jim Spare said in the release.

The hardware group at Microsoft today announced a new keyboard for PC gamers that enables them to press 26 keys at once.

It's unclear, though, how many gamers have that many fingers.

Maybe it's anticipating how humans will evolve to cope with the proliferation of computers in their life.

When I asked about this, a spokeswoman said the point was that applied science researchers figured out a way to cut the "ghosting" effect that happens when multiple keys are pressed at once, sending a scrambled or incomplete signal.

They figured out a way to have each key scanned independently, using resistive multi-touch circuitry instead of a grid of wires that can be shorted when multiple keys are pressed. It draws on research into pressure-sensitive keyboards that surfaced last year.

"The important point is that many keyboards struggle with even pressing more than two keys at a time and this product does away with that completely,'' she said. "Some of our research has shown that in other regions people are playing games with 2 people at a time using the same keyboard, so ghosting continues to be a problem for all level and types of gamers."

Especially those with 13 fingers on each hand.

The SideWinder X4, below, goes on sale in March for $60.

The state's new free TV and PC disposal program netted a huge pile of old devices in its first year: 38.5 milion pounds, according to a release today from the Department of Ecology.

That included 22.3 million pounds of old TVs, 12.3 million pounds of monitors and 3.9 million pounds of computers that were taken for free at recycling centers during 2009.

The state expected the program to draw 26 million pounds in the first year, but it passed that milestone in August, Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant said in the release. Electronics manufacturers pay for the program under a state law passed in 2006.

I imagine the pace will slow because people are buying fewer new TVs now that most people have flat-panel models, and because a lot of people (including yours truly) hoarded old monitors and PCs to avoid paying the old disposal fees.

King, Pierce and Snohomish counties accounted for 64 percent of the total.

Here's a state Web page where you can find nearby drop-off sites. For disposing of TVs, monitors and PCs, select the "electronics" material category.

Today's column:

LAS VEGAS -- With my ears still ringing from the roar of a thousand TVs on the floor of the International Consumer Electronics Show, I'm going to use this week's column to answer a few questions readers asked about new products at the annual gadget bazaar.

Q: I just purchased a 46-inch HD LCD TV and now am hearing about 3-D television making a big splash at the CES. I feel like I got a pretty good deal, but do you think it would be in my best interest to return it and wait for 3-D? I have no idea what prices will be, as I paid around $900 for mine.

A: I'd keep the LCD and not worry much about 3-D yet. Most won't be out until later this year and they'll generally be more than twice as expensive as the TV you bought. Also, 99 percent of the stuff you'll watch in the next few years won't be 3-D.

Another sign of the times: There was a dearth of Ferraris -- beyond Monster Cable's yellow F430 -- on the show floor at CES this year and only a couple of Lamborghinis.

The automotive section of the show floor felt bare compared with last year's spectacle, but there were still cool cars for the 113,085 show attendees to ogle.

Here are the standouts in my camera, starting with a kids' Escalade tricked out by Car Vision USA with a DVD system on the dash and a rear display:

Here's a sample of the new televisions that caught my eye walking the CES show floor, starting with the entrance to the LG booth:

Ancient cultures buried their dead with charms to protect them in the afterlife. We're making sure they have great bass:

(An illustrated version of the preview column that ran in today's paper ...)

Las Vegas always seems like it's in another dimension, but this week it will be even more so when the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show takes place.

More than 20,000 new products will be shown by 2,500 companies starting Thursday.

They're expecting to sell $166 billion worth of TVs, phones, stereos and other gadgets in the U.S. alone next year.

You'd never guess the economy's limping and millions are out of work.

No, the swankiest new MP3 player on the market isn't from the Macintosh company.

It's from McIntosh Laboratory, the ultra-posh maker of audiophile stereo components.

Today the company announced the MXA60 Integrated Audio System, its first foray into the realm of lowly combo stereo units.

The MXA60 has CD/SACD/MP3 player, AM/FM/RBDS radio, 75-watt-per-channel amplifier, two-way speakers and vacuum tube preamplifier "that packs all the legendary McIntosh sound into a smaller package,'' the release said.

All for only $7,500.

A small price for a system that "presents the listener with an engaging, palpable sense of realism."

Anyone who pays $7,500 for a desktop stereo needs a dose of realism.

But it does look cool:

A big batch of information about mobile phones and carriers is appearing in the January issue of Consumer Reports, including results of a survey ranking the top carriers in 26 U.S. cities.

Verizon is tops -- nailing customer support, voice and data service -- "but it tends to be costly," with one in five saying high cost is their top complaint, the mag's release said.

T-Mobile USA was the next highest rated provider "in overall satisfaction, and worth considering as a good value for some. However, the carrier received lower marks in voice, messaging, Web and e-mail services."

Sprint and AT&T were ranked lowest, taking hits for customer service. "While AT&T's main weak spot is voice connectivity, they also scored below average in every attribute except Web access and texting," the release said.

"America is in love with the cellphone, but they are lukewarm about cellphone service," said Paul Reynolds, electronics editor at Consumer Reports. "They're especially concerned about its cost in these tight economic times."

Yet the magazine and its survey respondents are still huge fans of the AT&T exclusive iPhone. Here's a summary of its phone picks, by carrier.

On Verizon: The $100 LG enV Touch is "an impressive phone and multimedia device enhanced with touch-screen navigation and a Qwerty keyboard for easier e-mailing and texting." The $40 LG VX8360 "is a very good, straightforward cellphone at a bargain price."

Verizon's $147 Samsung Jitterbug has "large buttons, free directory assistance and a comfortable earpiece. Negatives include pricey service and a thick phone that lacks common features."

Among Verizon's smartphones, the mag likes the $200 HTC Touch Pro2 and $50 BlackBerry Storm 9530.

On T-Mobile: Consumer Reports especially likes the $200 Samsung Memoir with its 8 megapixel camera and the $130 Samsung Comeback "with a keypad that facilitates phoning and a 2.6-inch screen and keyboard to satisfy texters."

Among Tmo's smartphones, it called out the $150 myTouch 3G as "the best choice for multimedia use with intuitive navigation, easy access to main functions and direct downloading of music, games, applications and services."

(I'm partial to the T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 I began using a few weeks ago, and found out yesterday that its power cable -- which I'd misplaced -- uses the same connector as Amazon's Kindle.)

On Sprint: Consumer Reports calls out the $80 Samsung Exclaim as "a good bargain" with a "dual-slider design that slides up to reveal a keypad for phone calls and slides right to reveal a keyboard for e-mail and text messaging." Sprint's $150 Palm Pre "is a good bet for multitaskers with the ability to link contacts, calendars and messaging."

On AT&T: The magazine recommends the $150 LG Xenon, $125 Samsung Impression and $100 Samsung Solstice, which all have "large touch-screen displays and are compatible with AT&T's Video Share, which streams live, one-way video to a compatible phone."

The magazine said the $200, 16 gigabyte iPhone 3G S and $100 iPhone 3G from AT&T "ranked highly for multimedia use, with the best MP3 player Consumer Reports has seen in a phone to date." Its survey found a "staggering 98 percent of iPhone users were satisfied enough that they would buy the phone again, despite below-par ratings for AT&T."

Only 54 percent of readers it surveyed were completely or very satisfied with their mobile phone service, and 38 percent had switched carriers in the past two year to get a specific phone.

Google is apparently trying to steal some thunder from Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference this week by releasing more details of its Chrome operating system.

So far the Chrome OS has been mostly FUD since it was announced in July but that may change at a Thursday press event where the company is promising demos.

But the buzz around that event is already being drowned out by unconfirmed reports that began Tuesday about Google planning its own mobile phone-handheld computing device.

TechCrunch said the gadget will be made by a Korean company such as LG, carry only Google's brand and probably use AT&T's 3G network.

Google is building their own branded phone that they'll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding.

A big ad campaign promoting Google's first consumer hardware will begin in January, TechCrunch added.

My guess is that Google will surface the device at the Consumer Electronics Show, which begins Jan. 7 in Las Vegas, where co-founder Larry Page last gave a keynote in 2006.

Maybe he'll take the place of Yahoo boss Carol Bartz, who canceled her appearance at the show last week.

At a press dinner last night in Seattle, Dan Cole, vice president of the trade group that organizes CES, hinted that another major keynote may be added but he didn't name names.

Here's a Chrome sign hanging in Google's new Kirkland campus, where they get quiet and change the subject if you ask if former Microsoft talent is working on the new operating system:

Maybe Digeo's Moxi DVR has a chance after all.

The Kirkland company on Tuesday is cutting the price of its high-end digital video recorder from $799 to $499 and adding a new model with three tuners.

A price cut was desperately needed for Moxi more competitive with TiVo and Windows Media Center PCs, but it only happened after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sold assets of the struggling company to industry giant Arris in September.

The dual-tuner model's cost is now less than most Media Center PCs and comparable to the cost of a $300 high-def TiVo when the TiVo's monthly fees are factored in (Moxi and Media Centers don't have a service fee).

The three-tuner model will cost $799, including one "Moxi Mate" device that streams content from the DVR to additional TVs in the home. Mates are now $299 instead of $499, and a software upgrade is enabling them to stream live video as well as recorded content.

Additionally, the company announced a new bundle with a three-tuner Moxi DVR and two Mates for $999.

Moxi systems are intended for cable subscribers with digital service. They use CableCard tuner devices, which are provided by cable companies in lieu of set-top boxes.

Here's a great chart from BillShrink.com comparing total cost of ownership for the Motorola Droid versus the iPhone, Palm Pre and MyTouch 3G.

Something to think about while Christmas shopping -- the cost of smartphones smarts.

The bottom line: Ouch.

Acer is adding some depth to its line of Windows 7 computers appearing today: The company is introducing a laptop with a 3-D display.

The $780 Aspire 5738DG "delivers cinematic images that literally pop from the screen," the company said in its release.

Why? Acer said it's in anticipation of more 3-D games and movies, but the laptop can also "replicate a 3-D experience from standard 2-D content." It also works in standard mode.

The 6-pound system comes with 3-D glasses, plus a 15.6-inch-diagonal display, Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor, 4 gigabytes of RAM and an ATI 4570 graphics card.

Now they've got to figure out a way to combine 3-D and multitouch input.

Companies releasing e-books seem to be telling people to hold off buying a Kindle this holiday, because cool options are coming soon.

Today's e-book teases include a new Google Android-powered model with dual displays, a new Irex reader with access to 1,200 newspapers, and a business-oriented touchscreen reader that Barnes & Noble partner Plastic Logic promises to show at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The Android model will be available by year-end from Spring Design, a Fremont, Calif., company with engineering offices in Taiwan and China.

Spring calls its reader "Alex." The device has both a monochrome e-ink display and a smaller, color LCD display, plus WiFi and 3G Web access.

I wonder if the dual displays were inspired by the Nintendo DS. Either way the colorful LCD is a big departure from the minimalist, no-distractions design philosophy of the Kindle and other current e-books.

The company's release said it's "currently in discussion and enlisting major content partners and plans to release the Alex device for selected strategic partners by the end of this year." I wonder if Google and its new e-bookstore is one of those partners; I was led to the release by Google guru Matt Cutts' Twitter feed.

A bit more from Spring's release:

Ideal for professional, educational and entertainment markets, Alex dynamically transforms the reader's experience with images, videos and notes inserted as 'Web grabs' or with custom text created by the user or other secondary authors pertaining to the subject being displayed. Users can create their own images and notes and capture them to augment the original text or just dynamically grab relevant content with Link Notes, Alex's innovative multimedia authoring tool to enhance multimedia publishing.

"This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," said Dr. Priscilla Lu, CEO of Spring Design. "This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience."

The company didn't disclose pricing, but said the Que will connect to the Barnes & Noble e-bookstore. The device will be 8.5 by 11 inches, less than a third of an inch thick and connected via WiFi and AT&T 3G service.

As for the name, Plastic Logic Chief Executive Richard Archuletta said in the release that the "QUE brand stands for a premium reading experience. The QUE proReader enhances business performance and gives you a competitive edge. More than an eReader, QUE means business."

Plastic Logic's teaser image:

Irex is less vague about its new reader.

The DR800SG with an 8.1-inch diameter screen and leather cover is going on sale at Best Buy stores this fall for $400, which includes Verizon wireless Internet access.

Irex announced the device last month and today said it's partnering with LibreDigital and NewspaperDirect, which distribute electronic version of newspapers and magazines. Its device also points uses to the Barnes & Noble store.

My Christmas list is getting longer, and it's not even the holidays yet.

JVC just announced the Picsio, a $199 Flip-style camcorder that not only records 1080p video, but also captures 8 megapixel stills.

This not only challenges Flip, it one-ups Sony and its $179 Webbie HD camcorder with a 5 megapixel still camera.

Picsio records videos in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format, stores them as .MOV files on SD memory cards and outputs through an HDMI jack. It also has a 2-inch LCD display.

Also announced today is an all-in-one speaker/amplifier/iPod accessory from Sonos.

The $399 S5 is aiming for the upper end iPod dock market -- namely the Bose SoundDock. It works with the company's free music streaming and remote-control software for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

(Earlier I called it a dock but that's not quite right; it uses a 3.5 mm audio line-in to connect a player with a wire and apparently doesn't charge an iPhone.)

The device also works as an extension to a Sonos home audio network. It's basically a Sonos amplifier with five speakers in an 8.5-inch high by 14.4-inch wide case.

I'm wondering if this is also the Santa Barbara, Calif.-company's baby steps into the home theater business. Could its 5 speakers be used to add some punch to a simple home theater setup? (Update: Not the plan for the S5, a Sonos spokesman said, adding that Sonos users would want a ZP90 zone player to connect to an A/V receiver.)

The device also has Ethernet jacks, so you could get a TiVo or game console in via the Sonos network.

Sonos will begin shipping the S5 later this month. It's aiming to distribute the system through Best Buy.

Well-to-do parents who get lost or bored taking their children to the zoo have a new lifesaver: The Woodland Park Zoo just released an iPhone App.

The 99 cent program uses the phones' GPS system to pinpoint location and nearby exibits, play areas, restrooms and concession stands. It also provides a schedule of activities, animal fact sheets and a "friend finder" that locates other iPhone users at the zoo.

Additionally, the app ties into Facebook and Twitter, so users can keep their online pals updated while roaming the zoo.

The zoo contracted with Austin, Texas-based Avai Mobile Solutions to develop the software. Proceeds from its sale "go toward the zoo's animal care, education, conservation and operations costs," the release said.

A photo by the zoo's Ryan Hawk:

Sony is announcing what looks like the flashiest new Windows 7 computer so far: A carbon-fiber laptop that's only a half-inch thick and weighs 1.6 pounds.

The company notes that the Vaio Series X is "roughly the width of a cellphone."

The Series X has a carbon-fiber chassis, 11.1-inch diagonal LCD display, solid-state hard-drive and a built-in 3G wireless radio.

It also has an aluminum keyboard frame, GPS and multi-touch touchpad, supporting gestures to zoom, flip, rotate and scroll what's on the screen.

Mike Abary, senior vice president of Sony's Vaio PC group, said in a release that the X Series is a "game changer -- altering the way people use and think about their PC."

Sony is taking pre-orders for the system, which will be in stores next month.

The Series X also lightens the wallet: Prices start at $1,300.

T-Mobile USA today announced its holiday phone lineup, including the Android-based Samsung Behold II and Motorola's Cliq. The company also said its 3G USB stick is now Mac compatible.

But the coolest thing in the batch may be the new Fender Limited Edition of the myTouch 3G, with a "guitar-inspired wood-grain finish."

Microsoft's hardware labs are showing off all sorts of prototype devices at the User Interface Software and Technology conference this week in Victoria.

The conference's student innovation contest centers on a new pressure-sensitive keyboard the company has been demonstrating recently. Dozens of prototypes were provided to student teams, who are competing to see who can develop the most innovative interactions with the keyboard.

But Microsoft's also likely to get attention for a family of touch-sensitive computer mice exploring different ways its multitouch technologies could be incorporated into the lowly peripheral. They're making their public debut today at UIST, where Microsoft is a primary sponsor.

The mice show several ways of adding multitouch capabilities to a PC so you can flick to move cursors, pinch to resize windows and control screen actions with gestures rather than clicks and scrolls. Best of all, they suggest you'll soon be able to add these capabilities by plugging in a relatively inexpensive accessory, instead of having to upgrade your PC to a touchscreen system (or drop $6,000 on one of Microsoft's tabletop Surface computers ....).

Here researchers from the hardware unit's Applied Sciences Group and Microsoft Research show their wild mice of the future, in the new hardware labs alongside the company's Commons complex in Redmond. This (long ...) video include Dan Rosenfeld of the Applied Sciences Group and Microsoft Research's Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi and Hrvoje Benko.

The University of Washington is saying grazie mille to Italian supercar maker Lamborghini, which donated $1 million to support the school's research into composite materials used to build airplanes and high-performance cars.

On Tuesday, the school will officially open the Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory, which is now being repainted in Lamborghini colors.

An invitation to the event said Lamborghini made the contribution "to aid in furthering carbon fiber technologies for increased safety and weight reduction of future products. This is in line with Lamborghini's goal to improve the power-to-weight ratio of its vehicles by reducing the weight of its materials. Carbon fiber is the best material for nearly all applications which are essential to creating Lamborghini's super sports cars and achieving these goals, as it is lighter, stiffer and more versatile."

It also helps that the UW employs Paolo Feraboli, an assistant professor in aerospace structures and materials. He's a leading researcher on the safety and crashworthiness of composite materials who worked at Lamborghini in 2002.

The latest example of this application is the new limited edition Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce (left), which uses carbon composites in its floor, transmission tunnel and much of the outer skin. It also has a 100 percent carbon-fiber spoiler in front, rear finishes in carbon and an optional "Aeropack" carbon wing.

UPDATE: National Geographic happens to be airing a tour of the factory at 8 p.m. tonight, showing how the $450,000 LP 670-4 is built by hand in Bologna:

Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini's president and chief executive, is flying in from Italy for Tuesday's ceremony. Also on hand will be UW officials and Scott Carson, the Boeing executive who until recently headed its commercial airplane group building carbon fiber jetliners. Maybe they can trade tips on fastening composite components.

But the suits probably won't get as much attention as the collection of Lamborghinis that will be on display outside of Guggenheim Hall. An LP 670-4 SV will be on display, along with a Gallardo LP 560-4 Coupe and Spyder and the new Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni (rear wheel drive, limited edition Gallardo).

More closeups showing the carbon-fiber engine bay and other composite bits of the Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce:

Are Apple and Microsoft playing PR games -- or trying to psych each other out -- with dueling leaks about their upcoming tablet devices?

The latest round in the whisper campaign told blogger Mary Jo Foley that Microsoft's "Courier" tablet runs Windows 7, builds on the OneNote concept, rectifies shortcomings of TabletPC apps and may be built and sold by Microsoft in mid-2010.

She's following up on the original Courier leak to Gizmodo.

With Microsoft getting some mindshare for its tablet, whispers about Apple's new tablet began appearing today.

The iLounge blog has a really tantalizing batch of details about the device, which now has a 10.7-inch diameter screen, runs the iPhone OS and will be available in early 2010 with and without 3G wireless service. It's not a netbook or productivity tool as much as a media tablet, bringing apps and Apple services to a larger device.

Both sound like major challengers to the Kindle and other e-books, if they can keep the prices reasonable.

If the rumors are to be believed.

VholdR is boosting its line of wearable video cameras with a 1080p version that will go on sale next month.

The $330 eggroll-sized device holds up to 3.5 hours of 1080p video on a MicroSD card and has dual lasers for alignment. It follows a 720p model the company announced in April.

VholdR was started in 2003 by University of Washington students and avid skiers Marc Barros and Jason Green, who proposed a helmet camera venture in a business plan competition.

Barros said the company is now profitable and has 15 employees.

A demo video VholdR provided, yikes:

Researchers from Intel's Seattle lab affiliated with the University of Washington are showing up in more of the company's lighthearted ads showcasing scientific advancements.

But the lab's biggest celebrity has to be Marvin, a one-armed robot built on a Segway chassis that scoots around, does tricks and steals the show during public events. Marvin even cut the opening ribbon at the CeBit electronics show in Germany this summer, alongside Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Marvin was at it again today during the lab's annual open house, where he showed off his latest trick: finding an available electrical outlet and plugging in his own power cable.

The robot senses the energy given off by an outlet, then homes in for the plug. It has to be accurate to within 2.5 millimeters to work, according to researcher Brian Mayton. So far Marvin's about 93 percent accurate, and celebrates a connection with chirps, whirs and other electricity sounds.

It's more than a parlor trick, though. Mayton explained that domestic robots of the future will need to be able to recharge themselves, especially robots expected to monitor and assist people with minimal maintenance and human control.

Other projects displayed today included the latest version of a wireless power experiment that transmits both sound and electricity to truly wireless speakers, building on the lab's research into various methods of wireless energy transmission. Researcher Emily Cooper showed how the system can now adjust itself to restore a signal.

A related project sending small amounts of electricity wirelessly to sensor units is now being used in a series of devices designed to detect neutrinos underwater in the Mediterranean Sea.

Other projects displayed includd "Bonfire," a system for projecting a secondary laptop interface onto an adjacent tabletop, giving it capabilities similar to Microsoft's more costly Surface computers.

Built with under $300 worth of Webcams, projectors and other hardware, the gadget displayed by UW Ph.D. student Shaun Kane displayed widgets for applications such as Facebook and a stock tracker that could be launched by tapping the icon beamed onto the tabletop.

Elsewhere in the lab, scientists were showing off new materials they are experimenting with to build solar power cells, systems for monitoring physical activity and security applications that monitor and disclose "data leaks" when using Wi-Fi.

Here's some info for people adding Comcast DTA converter devices to a TV setup using a Windows Media Center PC.

It's based on an exchange with a Seattle guy having trouble getting his new DTA converter to work with his PC. As he describes it:

The DTA worked fine on my TV. It was really actually easy. I tried to put a DTA on my Vista computer and failed miserably. For some reason the IR [infrared] blaster would not transmit well and Media Center would not recognize the signals. It tried to learn my remote over and over with no success. I went online and found other people with similar problems. Their suggestions revolved around moving the IR blaster around but that didn't work for me. It should have worked, but didn't. I already rent one DVR from Comcast, but I am trying to avoid renting a 2nd.

I relayed the question to Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, which is responsible for Media Center. The response from a spokesman:

Some Comcast DTA converter boxes use the IR code C1982, which consumers can select using "Find from List" in the IR setup. However, this code may not be applicable to all Comcast DTA converters. Microsoft MVP Barb Bowman has also published a detailed description of the DTA setup, which goes through the steps required to use a Comcast DTA with Windows Media Center, which you can find online here: http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2009/04/17/setup-a-comcast-dta-with-mce/

Here's some earlier info I received from Comcast on how Media Center PCs are affected by the cable company's digital switch. Let me know if there are other ways to make these things work.

The sale of Digeo to cable hardware provider Arris looks like a mixed bag for everyone except perhaps cable customers.

Paul Allen is taking a big loss selling the company for $20 million, after investing more than $110 million in Digeo since he started it in 1999.

Arris investors saw their stock fall 8.5 percent to $12.53 today on the news. Apparently they're not as enthused as Arris management about the Suwanee, Ga., company adding Digeo's set-top box technology to its portfolio of broadband modems and technology widely used in cable company networks.

There are also the approximately 10 employees -- including Chief Executive Greg Gudorf, a former Sony TV executive -- who are losing their jobs (we broke the layoff news here).

About 245 other people lost jobs as Digeo shrank from a high of about 320 employees in 2002 -- when Allen acquired Silicon Valley startup Moxi and merged it with Digeo -- to its current 75 positions.

Winners may turn out to be cable customers, who are now more likely to get Digeo's excellent Moxi software on their set-top boxes. The software includes a slick program guide and interface for Moxi-brand set-top boxes that function as both digital video recorders and gateways for digital content coming into a home via broadband.

Moxi is designed for cable subscribers, who connect the boxes via cable cards. It's a nice alternative to high-def cable boxes, especially since there's no rental fee.

The downside to Moxi has been the price -- $799 for the box, plus $399 for smaller units to wirelessly connect additional TVs. There's also a $999 bundle that includes one box and one extender, and the stuff is sold only via Moxi.com and Amazon.com. Below are the box and a screenshot of the Moxi interface from January.

But Arris has more leverage with component manufacturers, because of its scale, so should be able to quickly bring down the retail price of Moxi gear.

"I think they'll be able to bring the price down,'' said Gudorf, who is staying with the company until after the sale closes in October.

Gudorf wouldn't talk about the haircut Allen took on Digeo, but he did clarify the timeline of the Kirkland company's recent transformations and sale.

The big shifts began in late 2007 when Digeo began restructuring, leading to a move in January 2008 to cut its hardware and chip development efforts and focus on building (higher margin) software for industry-standard hardware.

That shift cut employment in half, to about 90 people, who were able to finally release a new version of the Moxi box for cable companies in late 2008 and a retail version in January 2009. Last month, the company released the extender device, and additional features are expected to be released later this year, Gudorf said.

Meanwhile Digeo's board -- which includes Gudorf, Allen and Allen's sister, Jody Patton -- met last spring and decided it was time to sell or find a strategic partner to get the software into more homes, Gudorf said.

This also came amid Allen's growing troubles with Charter, the bankrupt cable company in which he invested $8 billion as the centerpiece of his vision for a "wired world" of broadband services, a vision that also included Digeo.

The board's decision eventually led to the deal with Arris announced Tuesday afternoon.

Gizmodo was given a peek at a very cool "Courier" tablet prototype from Microsoft's Pioneer Studios, a design R&D group in the same division as Zune and Xbox.

I wonder if this one will become a product. Actually the bigger question is whether any product will be closer to the original Courier vision than Ultra-Mobile PCs were to the Origami concepts that created so much buzz back in 2006.

It's been awhile since we've heard about Starbucks working with Apple, but the coffee giant today is releasing two iPhone apps, including a mobile payment system it's testing in Seattle and Silicon Valley.

The first app, "myStarbucks," is a locator that shows where you can find a Starbucks in case there isn't one across the street. It displays information such as whether a particular store has a drive-through, hot food or a Clover coffee machine. It can also be used to store and share favorite drinks and other items and check drinks' nutritional details.

The second app, "Starbucks Card Mobile," brings the chain's payment card to the iPhone and iPod touch. You can add money to your card account from the app, and spend it at Starbucks stores by rendering a 2-D barcode on the device's screen.

Other apps are available to locate coffee shops and even display barcodes on mobile devices, but the Starbucks brand and promotions will probably drive a lot of downloads.

Both apps are free, and, no, you can't use either one to order ahead and jump the line for a finished, pre-paid beverage.

A spokeswoman said the company looked at pre-ordering with the apps, but it's difficult to be sure the timing will be just right, and that customers don't arrive to find a cold, stale beverage sitting on the counter waiting for them.

Here's the list of stores testing the "Starbucks Card Mobile" payment trial. In Seattle, they are at Key Tower, Columbia Center, 1st Interstate / Wells Fargo, 40th Floor Columbia Tower; Seventh & Stewart; Seventh & Pike; University Village II; and Madison Park.

The California stores include:

20520 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino
5180 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose
1037-C El Monte Ave., Mountain View
Shoreline & Pear, Mountain View
Castro @ High School, Mountain View
Miramonte & Cuesta, Mountain View
Charleston & Independence, Mountain View
1687 Hollenbeck Ave., Sunnyvale

Hewlett-Packard announced today a new wireless, touchscreen tablet that's a cross between a wireless photo frame and a super duper remote control.

A 10-inch diagonal model lists for $250 and a 13-incher is $299.

It looks like a great accessory for Windows 7 PCs, if its streaming features work with the new Windows Media Player.

I wonder if the tablet could work as an a/v device, similar to the Sonos and Logitech Squeezebox, to stream music from a home network to a stereo receiver (although it only has a headphone audio output connection) or control music on a PC linked somehow to a stereo.

In addition to handling music, the DreamScreen plays videos, displays photos and streams Facebook updates.

Persistent rumors suggest Apple may introduce a similar device early next year, although I'd bet Apple's will have more computing power, so it can run iTunes and apps.

DreamScreens devices are pretty close to the Mira hardware concept that Microsoft briefly pushed in 2002, but it makes more sense now that wireless home networks are more common and the hardware cost has fallen below $300.

Microsoft has worked on a variety of lightweight devices to display information from a PC and information services, and smaller companies like Chumby have tried selling gadgets that display widgets similiar to those on a PC desktop.

Yet the closest thing to a hit in the category has the digital photo frame, which generally has sub-par software.

Here are the DreamScreen specs:

Display: Widescreen (10.2") 15:9 aspect ratio
Display Resolution: 800 x 480 pixels
Built-in memory: 2GB (1.5GB approximate available space)
I/O: USB Port, Memory Card Reader, Headphone output
Memory Cards Supported: Compact Flash® I/II + Micro Drive + Secure Digital/Secure
Digital High Capacity + Memory Stick™ & Memory Stick Pro™ + xD Picture Card™
Audio: Built-in high-fidelity speakers
Networking: 10/100 LAN & Wireless 802.11 b/g
Media Files Supported:
Video File Formats: MPEG 1, 2, 4, H.264
Photo File Formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP
Audio File Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV

Check out the networked media setup in this house in Odessa, Texas.

There are six Windows Media Center-based servers, one Windows Home Server, five dedicated theater-style rooms, 12 media racks, 98 speakers and 30 zones of distributed audio.

The installation, by Dustin Anderson at Vision Audio in Lubbock, won the 2009 Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Contest that Microsoft announced at the CEDIA conference in Atlanta this week.

Anderson will have his work cut out upgrading the place to Windows 7 next month. Maybe he'll be able to consolidate the servers using shared libraries.

Sounds like a thin batch of Cupertino cider today, judging from the testy coverage of Apple's hyped "rock and roll" press conference today.

Silicon Alley Insider: "Good to see Steve again. But a snooze fest for any Apple fans expecting new, must-buy products."

Engadget on the new iPod nano: "We came and we saw ... but there's not much to say. It's exactly the same save for that new coating, bigger screen (which does help), and tiny little camera around back. Video quality looked decent, but you really can't tell on the small screen. If you've ever held a nano -- this is the same experience."

Engadget on the new iPod Touch: "We just got done handling the new model, and really, there's not much to say. It's a little snappier, but we didn't do any heavy game playing, and otherwise it's exactly the same. We thought it seemed thinner, but the cold hard specs stopped that idea in its tracks."

Gizmodo: "I don't expect Apple to deliver on rumors. After all, most rumors are crap, even John Gruber's iPod touch camera prediction. But that doesn't stop me from asking questions: Why the hell there is no camera on the iPod touch?"

Ars Technica: "All of the updates are unsurprising, and for the most part keep the various iPod models up to date. The nano obviously received the bulk of the attention this time around, making it arguably the value leader among the various options. We are still scratching our heads over the ho-hum refresh of the iPod touch, though. Despite the bump in speed and capacity, ignoring the other possible upgrades, especially the camera, seems like a very un-Apple-like blunder."

9to5 Mac: "Having rushed back from the European briefing, got to say the general consensus is that while the new improvements in iTunes look good, and while the iPod nano has been given some great new features, most felt a little underwhelmed."

I wonder if the off-put pack of gadget journalists will find anything to love in the redesigned Zune launching on Tuesday, or if you they won't be satisfied until MP3 players finally get 12 megapixel cameras, 4G wireless and terabyte flash drives.

Meanwhile, the new $150 nano+video camera is probably going to top holiday wish lists of well-off kids across the nation.

The rivalry between Sonos -- the premium digital music streaming system I wrote about recently -- and Logitech is heating up.

Just after Sonos introduced a new $349 touchscreen Wi-Fi remote control, Logitech today is announcing its own touchscreen Wi-Fi remote, going on sale in December for $300.

Logitech's remote works with its "Squeezebox" system for streaming music from PCs and the Web to wireless receivers in the home. It's not as luxe as the Sonos system, but the receivers are less than half the cost, about $150.

Also announced is a new $200 Squeezebox Radio with a color display and built-in alarm clock that's going on sale this month.

If games and Vista Aero didn't pursuade you to buy a graphics card for your PC, perhaps DirectCompute will.

That's a new technology in Windows 7 that lets applications tap the power of graphics processors to accelerate performance, giving the system processor a boost. It sounds really promising, but so did ReadyBoost for Vista and it never seemed to take off.

Nvidia today announced that it's the first manufacturer of graphics processing units to get Microsoft's DirectCompute driver certification. People running Windows 7 with a GeForce GPU can download the driver (Version 190.62) from Nvidia later today.

I asked for a list of compatible Nvidia cards. Spokesman Hector Marinez said via e-mail that the DirectCompute driver will work with "all of our NVIDIA DirectX 10 graphics cards -- GeForce 8 series and later, including ION."

Mike Ybarra, Microsoft general manager for Windows Product Management, said in the release that "Windows 7 combined with applications that take advantage of the new DirectCompute technology have the potential to transform the personal computing experience for millions of customers using GPUs to turbo-charge scenarios in digital media applications."

Presumably ATI will announce its drivers soon.

On the heels of Wednesday's release of the new Movie Maker software, Microsoft today is launching a new high-def Web cam device that can be used with the editing suite.

The $80 "LifeCam Cinema" captures 720p video in a widescreen format. It also has an autofocus capability that works on subjects as close as 4 inches from the device and captures wide-angle images, up to 74 degrees.

Also announced today is a new headset, the LifeChat LX-1000 with a noise-canceling microphone. Both will be available in September.

The cam: