HBO Go

It's almost unfair: you're a long-time HBO subscriber, paying more than a Netflix or Hulu subscription, yet still can't watch your favorite shows and movies on your iOS device. Until now. HBO Go (Free) lets you watch any episode of HBO's excellent shows like The Wire, True Blood, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Entourage, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos instantly on-demand on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, along with a host of other original specials and the latest movies showing on the acclaimed network — as long as you're with the right provider.

Intel touts 50Gbps interconnect by 2015, will make it work with tablets and smartphones too

Woah there, Mr. Speedy. We've barely caught up with the 10Gbps Thunderbolt interconnect, debuted in the new Macbook Pro, and now Intel's hyperactive researchers are already chattering away about something five times faster. They're promising a new interconnect, ready in four years, that will combine silicon and optical components (a technology called silicon photonics) to pump 50Gbps over distances of up to 100m. That's the sort of speed Intel predicts will be necessary to handle, say, ultra-HD 4k video being streamed between smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes and TVs. Intel insists that poor old Mr. Thunderbolt won't be forced into early retirement, but if we were him we'd be speaking to an employment lawyer right about now.

Formula 1 cars set to go all electric in the pit lane from 2013 onwards, racing purists outraged already

Formula 1, the pinnacle of gas-powered racing, is more often at odds with the eco-conscious electric car movement than in tune with it, but here's an exception to that rule. The FIA, the sport's governing body, announced back in December of last year a move to a hybrid four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which is still on track to be introduced in the 2013 season, and Williams boss Adam Parr has now enlightened us on some of the benefits of the new power setup. 

Noting that future cars' kinetic energy recovery system will be four times as powerful as on current models, Parr says enough electric juice will be available to power each one-seater through its journey into and out of the pit lane. That would mean that at least for the tame, speed-restricted portions of a race, the F1 gas guzzlers you know and love will be humming along in almost perfect silence while using good old electricity. 

Unfortunately, it's exactly that lack of vroom vroom that old timers like Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo are afraid of, describing the new hybrid stuff as sounding "terrible" and insisting on the sport sticking to its V8 roots. Then again, as Parr says, if you don't move with the times, the times leave you behind.

Microsoft Reports Record Third-Quarter Results

Microsoft Corp. today announced third-quarter revenue of $16.43 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2011, a 13% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.71 billion, $5.23 billion, and $0.61 per share, which represented increases of 10%, 31%, and 36%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share included a $0.05 tax benefit primarily related to an agreement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to settle a portion of their audit of tax years 2004 to 2006.

Press Release at the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY11/Q3/default.aspx

Jordan Melo M7 Advance

He may be watching the rest of the playoffs from his comfy couch, but you can still pick up his signature sneaks. Made for Carmelo Anthony's (short) post season, the Jordan Melo M7 Advance ($130; 6/1/11) will come in three colorways -- all black and two Knicks versions, white/orange (worn during his 42 point, 17 rebound performance) and blue/orange -- and sports a lightweight Flywire upper and the standard air in the heel. Maybe the Knicks will be able to advance next year.

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun

Whether you're looking for family-friendly tech projects to pass the time or are simply lonely, bored, and in need of something to do, The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun ($11) should be able to help. This 200+ page tome offers suggestions and instructions for plenty of geeky projects, including building homemade robots and making stop-motion movies. God forbid you'd have to do something else, like watch your kid play a sport.

Apple White iPhone 4

It's about damn time. After ten months of delays, Apple is finally releasing the long-awaited White iPhone 4 ($200-$300). Despite the long wait, you're looking at pretty much the same spec list as black iPhone 4 owners have been enjoying for nearly a year, including a five-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and 720p video recording, a front-facing cam for FaceTime, the A4 processor, 512MB of RAM, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, a 960x640 Retina Display, and, of course, that infamous glass body with external stainless steel antenna. Just don't come crying to us when your family shows up around the holidays sporting shiny new iPhone 5s.

Klipsch THX Ultra2 Home Theater System

We've heard of home-theater-in-a-box systems, but never like this. The Klipsch THX Ultra2 Home Theater System ($13,000) is ready to take your theater from pedestrian to professional with a full complement of speakers, including three KL-650-THX LCRs, two KL-525-THX LCRs, two KS-525-THX surrounds, two KW-120-THX subwoofers, and a dedicated KA-1000-THX subwoofer amplifier, all boasting high-end tech like Klipsch Tractrix Horn tweeters and Cerametallic woofers.Just add a receiver, screen, projector, and a copious amount of popcorn.

Steve Jobs In Carbonite iPhone Case

We knew Apple CEO Steve Jobs was on leave. Now we know how he's been spending his days. The Steve Jobs In Carbonite iPhone Case ($35) is a universe-imploding mashup of two of the biggest fanboy worlds ever created. We can only dream of Boba Fett and Phil Schiller doing battle, and Jony Ive choking out Jabba.

The duaLink USB Cable Syncs Multiple iOS Devices at Once

Chances are, you've got more than one iDevice hanging around, and it can be annoying to sync them one by one. The duaLink USB splitter lets you plug two iOS gadgets into one USB ports and sync them at the same time.
Every time you get a new album on iTunes, you have to sync your iPod, sync your iPhone, sync your iPad, and continue with however many iDevices you have strewn about your house. If you'd like to speed up the process a bit, the duaLink USB splitter cable will charge and sync two devices at once through one port on your computer. There's also the dualCharge, for charging multiple devices from the same wall outlet, and even dualCarCharge, for charging them both in your car. (Note that the iPad requires a lot of power and won't charge from the duaLink splitter, but will still sync just fine alongside another iDevice).

Gmail Lets You Manage Other Mail While Your Messages are Sending

New in Gmail's Labs section is a feature that's a saving grace for anybody waiting out a big attachment or slow server. Once activated, "Background Send" lets you can move on to reading and managing other messages, while Gmail continues sending your messages behind the scenes.


Head to the Labs tab in Settings, then search out "Background send." Enable that feature, and now your messages are sent in something of a different process, so you can start writing another message, or read through the rest of your inbox. If a message ultimately fails to send, Gmail will ping you at the top of your window to try it again now, or try it a bit later. It's pretty much a must-have Labs feature for anyone who needs reliable access to Gmail.


Gmail does note at the Labs switch that you need to stay logged into Gmail while your messages are sending in the background—likely not an issue in most cases, but worth keeping in mind.

Sony S1 and S2 dual-screen Honeycomb tablets get official

Sony's hosting a press event in Tokyo today where it just made the first announcement: a pair of Android 3.0 tablets -- yes, the very two Honeycomb slabs we told you about exclusively, back in February. The first is the 9.4-inch S1 media tablet (aka, Qriocity focused) with a curved top much like a folded magazine and both front- and rear-facing cameras. The S1 features a Tegra 2 SoC and customized "Quick and Smooth" touch panel UI with "Swift" web browser. It can also be used as a remote control for Sony gear thanks to integrated infrared. 

The second tablet is the dual-screen S2 clamshell with its pair of 5.5-inch 1,024 x 480 pixel displays, Tegra 2 SoC, and cameras. While it sounds bulky, Kunimasa Suzuki just pulled the hinged tablet from his jacket pocket on stage. Sony takes advantage of the two screens with a custom book-style UI layout for its e-reader app, email (keyboard on one display with your messages on the other), and others. Both the S1 and S2 are PlayStation Certified and are WiFi and 3G/4G "compatible" according to Sony. Expect to see them ship globally in the fall. See the Sony tablets codenamed "S1" and "S2" in action after the break.

Facebook Launches “Social Deals” To Challenge Groupon & LivingSocial

After several months of anticipation Facebook is launching its second deals program: Social Deals. The new effort more closely resembles Groupon-style daily deals, with several twists. The original “Facebook Deals” is now being called “check-in deals” to distinguish it from the new program.


Check-in deals are free to users; they’re mobile centric and operate like conventional coupons. By contrast Facebook’s new Social Deals, like Groupon or LivingSocial, must be purchased up front using money or Facebook Credits (the first use for real-world products/services). You actually buy a voucher that is then redeemed offline.

Porsche’s First Plug-in Hybrid Available For Pre-sale At $850,000

Porsche first unveiled the 918 Spyder at the Geneva Auto Show in 2010.


The 918 Spyder has been given the green light for production and is pre-selling at the price of US $850,000. Of course it will be limited to 918 units, production is scheduled to start on September 18, 2013 – delivery of the first vehicles ordered should start in November 2013. The sooner the car is ordered, the sooner it will be manufactured – provided you pay out almost a million dollars.


This hybrid gets an impressive 78 miles per gallon, can go 16 miles on electric charge alone, and does 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. The mid-engined car is powered by both a 500-horsepower V8 and two electric motors that give an additional 218 horsepower.
The car has four different running modes; two main modes include the E-Drive mode, which is for running the car using only electric power, and the Hybrid mode, where the car uses the two electric motors and the combustion engine. With Sport Hybrid mode and Race Hybrid mode you have the choice to focus on performance or fuel economy.


The cars will be manufactured at Porsche’s main plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

Bentley Supersports Ice Speed Record Convertible

Fresh off setting a new world ice speed record, Bentley is ready to celebrate with the Bentley Supersports Ice Speed Record Convertible ($TBA). Limited to just 100 cars worldwide, this beastly drop-top features a 6.0 L, twin turbo-charged W12 Flex Fuel engine that runs on either gasoline or E85 bio-ethanol or any combination of the two and is good for 631 hp. Paired with a Quickshift six-speed automatic transmission, the Continental can go from 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds and from 0-100 in just 9.5 seconds; other features include all-wheel drive, a new exhaust system, diamond-quilted Alcantara interior accents, an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with a 30GB hard drive, and the ability to keep you warm even though your roof is made of fabric.

Royal Virility Performance Beer

Not content to simply release a "special edition" brew for the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, BrewDog has gone one better and created Royal Virility Performance Beer (£10; roughly $17). Limited to just 1,000 330ml bottles, this 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale is infused with natural aphrodisiacs like herbal viagra, chocolate, and Goat Weed, as well as "a healthy dose of sarcasm." If you can't marry like royalty, you might as well screw like them.

Scion FR-S Concept

We're pretty sure Scion would have been the last company we'd have expected to announce a front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car, but then again, that's why they call it a "concept." The Scion FR-S Concept ($TBA) is a throwback to Toyotas past, like the AE86 generation of the Corolla and the 2000GT, meant to bring fun back to the Camry-maker's extended lineup. It's powered by a flat 2.0-liter boxer engine mated to either a six-speed, short-throw manual or automatic with steering- wheel-mounted paddle shifters, and offers plenty of other niceties, including LED lighting around the headlights and taillights, 20-inch wheels, a low center of gravity, and a "dynamically favorable" front-to-rear weight ratio — but enough with the chit-chat. Just make it already.

Nixon RPM Headphones

Designed for DJs, the Nixon RPM Headphones ($200) blend hefty electronics with simple, oversized-looking aesthetics that wouldn't look out of place in a cartoon — and we mean that in a good way. Highlights include custom 40mm drivers, articulating joints, gel-filled ear cushions, an interlocking coiled cable, and an additional iPhone-compatible cable with remote and mic for those times when you have to listen to something other than music.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

There's not a whole lot to say about this nugget of cinema history, other than "excellent." Finally available in a definitive Criterion Collection Blu-ray, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ($28) is the fearless adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's legendary novel, adapted and directed by Monty Python-alum Terry Gilliam, powered by Johnny Depp's amazing performance as Thompson doppelgänger Raoul Duke, helped along by an equally impressive turn from Benicio Del Toro, and finished off with a copious helping of hallucinogenic drugs.

Treat Bruises and Other Ailments with Mouthwash

Mouthwash's antiseptic properties make it a great multipurpose solution for over a dozen household and health and beauty needs, from reducing the appearance of bruises to rescuing plants.


The Wise Bread blog suggests you use alcohol-based, sugarless mouthwash for these cleaning and medicinal purposes. Because there are so many ways to use mouthwash, they note, it's great for travelers, and can be used in a pinch as a treatment for: poison ivy, athlete's foot, cuts and scrapes, dandruff and more. If you're prone to bumping into things and getting bruises, remember the mouthwash.


Did you go bump in the night? Waiting for a whopper of a bruise to appear? Rub some mouthwash on the affected area, and you can save yourself from a gaudy bruise (or at least reduce the appearance of it).

Customize your iPhone,iPod Touch or iPad

So, you’ve got yourself an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and you want to do some customizations with the backgrounds, app icons, and so on. At the same time, you don’t want to mess with that whole jailbreaking business. If that’s the case, Pimp Your Screen might be the ticket.

Available through the App Store, Pimp Your Screen was created by Apalon so that people could mess around with the appearance of their iOS device without the jailbreak. On the lock screen, you can change the color of the clock, adjust the slider skin, add textures, and choose background images. Through the rest of the interface, you can swap out “creative and fun backgrounds,” as well as toss in frames, modify icon skins, change app shelves, and so on. It may not be quite as powerful as the jailbroken alternative, but you have a much lower likelihood of messing up your iDevice.

Find Pimp Your Screen in the App Store for 99 cents.

AMD collects half a billion in Q1 profit, Fusion APUs now account for half of its laptop shipments

AMD's net income for the past quarter was $510 million, generated from $1.61 billion in total revenues. That should make happy reading for a company that's been raising similar gross revenues previously but finding itself losing cash-- though the more intriguing figures are a little deeper in its latest disclosure. CFO and interim CEO Thomas Seifert has noted that AMD "tripled" its Fusion APU shipments relative to last quarter -- meaning that at least 3.9 million units have made their way out to OEM partners in Q1 -- which now account for "roughly half" of the company's notebook shipments.

In less upbeat news, average selling prices in both the microprocessor and graphics divisions were down sequentially, with AMD having to react to pressure from its traditional foes Intel and NVIDIA. You might surmise that with the mainstream Llano APU out and shipping to computer makers, AMD might have a happier second quarter, but the company's guidance is for revenues to be flat or slightly down.

A final note of pride is reserved for the Radeon HD 6490M and HD 6750M GPUs, which figured prominently in Apple's latest MacBook Pro refresh and mark a bit of a coup for AMD, who's now responsible for all of Apple's discrete graphics across the MacBook Pro and iMac computing lines. 

Facebook Climbs Toward 700 Million Users Worldwide,Steady Growth US

Facebook gained nearly 7 million new users in the US in March, following an almost imperceptible increase in February. It now has nearly 141 million monthly unique visitors. Compete(http://siteanalytics.compete.com/facebook.com+myspace.com+twitter.com/) also appears to have made some revisions to its numbers from recent months, as well — roughly a 6 million increase for each recent month.
Facebook’s most direct current competitors in the US are Twitter and MySpace. After a slight loss in February, Twitter grew by nearly 4 million users to reach 31 million uniques. Apparently reversing many months of falls, MySpace grew a couple million to reach 39.4 million uniques.

Large Hadron Collider smashes bean intensity record,inches closer to discovering God Particle

Already a record holder for mashing protons together at 7 TeV (trillion electron volts), the Large Hadron Collider  can now add world's brightest beam to its list of accomplishments. Beam intensity is a way of measuring the number of collisions in its 17-mile-long track, and a higher intensity means more impacts -- which, in turn, means more data, increasing the likelihood that the elusive Higgs boson will rear its head (should such a thing exist). The LHC smashed the previous luminosity record set last year by the Tevatron collider. What's next for the CERN team, with two world records under its belt? Largest beard of bees.

Archos 7c Tablet with Éclair,kickstand now shipping for $220

Just a week after debuting on video, the Archos 7c Home Tablet is shipping in the US for $220 -- more than a month ahead of its expected June arrival. As a refresher, this 7-inch tablet offers a capacitive (800 x 480) display, Android 2.1 (Eclair), and a Cortex A8 processor-RK2918 chipset combo that promises smooth 720p video playback. Other specs include 8GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, two built-in speakers, and that kickstand you see in the photo above. Of course, you'll also have to forgo niceties like wireless-N, cameras, and access to Android Market. Are those trade-offs worth the dirt-cheap price? That's a decision you're going to have to make for yourself.

Windows 7 at 18 Months

18 months ago to this day was when we launched Windows 7 and with that we’ve hit another important milestone: we are pleased to announce that Windows 7 has sold more than 350 million licenses. The momentum we’ve seen and continue to see with Windows 7 is incredible. We are seeing good momentum with Internet Explorer 9 as well!  We designed Internet Explorer 9 to provide the best way to experience the Web on Windows and we are delighted to see partners like Groupon, Slacker, Hulu, and eBay already creating great experiences for their customers.


Number of licenses sold is one way of looking at market success. Customers having a positive and productive experience with Windows 7 is also an important measure. Analyst firms like IDC estimate that more than 90% of businesses are currently in progress with their Windows 7 migrations. And we’ve seen that companies who have deployed Windows 7 save an average of $140 per PC per year – showing a 131% return on investment in just more than 12 months. Of course, each Windows 7 customer story and experience is unique. Today, we are launching a special page off the Windows for your Business Blog that will showcase just a sampling of Windows customers and the business results they achieved with Windows 7. We hope you enjoy reading these stories and hope you will continue to visit this page as we highlight new customer stories on a regular basis.

Is this what the iPhone 5 will look like ? (May be ,May be Not!)

There’s no shortage of rumors swirling about the iPhone 5 right now, but we’ve got some enlightening information (and an image) that might help paint a better picture of what Apple’s next play in the mobile market could be. While the current crop of chatter on the internet suggests the iPhone 5 will be little more than a spec bump to the iPhone 4, that’s not the story we’ve been hearing at all. In fact, the device could look something a little more like the image above — an image which is our rendering based on information from a variety of sources.


Note: Yes, folks, that’s a mockup — not a real device.

Mortal Kombat

If you're among the many fighting game fans who were ready to cry "Finish him!" after years of lackluster MK releases, a new hope has arrived. Aptly titled Mortal Kombat ($60), this latest installment reboots the franchise, taking players back to the original tournament in a bid to "save the future," complete with 3D graphics on a 2D plane, the most gory, detailed fatalities ever, a new 4-player tag-team mode, and, of course, online play. Also available in Kollector's and Tournament editions, the latter arriving with an arcade-style wireless joystick.

RockMelt Social Browser now available on iPhone

RockMelt is a cloud-based social media browser that’s been available for Mac and PC desktops since last November, but now it’s available for iPhone.
Take a look at the video above, and you’ll see that the iPhone version of RockMelt looks a lot different from its desktop buddy Its mission is carried over nicely to the iPhone, though, where social media takes center stage, even requiring you to log into facebook when you first launch the app.
After that, you can add your Twitter account and a variety of website feeds that make this browser work like an RSS reader. If you’re reading an article and for example, have to board a plane without Wi-Fi, you can save that article for later.
And if you’re a user of the one on Mac or PC, everything you do is in the cloud, so whatever happens on the iPhone version is also visible on any devices running RockMelt.
Here’s the best news yet: It’s free.