Google and OpenSocial

When Google was asked during the press conference earlier today if they had invited Facebook into OpenSocial, the answer was “yes,” and then changed to “we can’t comment, followed by “we have reached out to virtually everyone in this space” (quotes are rough, I was taking notes but not recording). Whichever one is the correct answer, the clear indication was that Google was reaching out to Facebook to join the club.

Facebook, however, says they haven’t had the pleasure. When we asked them if they were planning on joining, Brandee Barker, Director of corporate ommunications at Facebook, responded:

Despite reports, Facebook has still not been briefed on OpenSocial. When we have had a chance to understand the technology, then Facebook will evaluate participation relative to the benefits to its 50 million users and 100,000 platform developers.

LG UP3

Meet LG's latest DAP, the UP3. That name gives a hint as to the device's objective to double-up as both a USB drive and MP3 player. Of course, the vast majority of all MP3 players already do this -- something apparently lost on LG's marketing department. The all metal UP3 shares the stylings of their FM37 touch-screen player and comes packing 1GB, 2GB, 4GB of storage; an FM radio; MP3, WMA, and OGG audio and ASF video support; and an itty bitty OLED display of unspecified dimensions supporting 65,000 colors. 4GB will cost you just ₩84,000 (about $92) whenever these pop for retail.

Nanotech drives

Wired has a write-up of a new storage technology developed at Arizona State University that could produce flash thumb drives capable of storing terabytes of data in the near future, that also happens to be cheaper and more energy efficient than flash memory. The new technology has been branded programmable metallization cell, and differs from present storage technologies in that it "creates nanowires from copper atoms the size of a virus to record binary ones and zeros." It all sounds very interesting -- if slightly too optimistic -- to us, and we'll get to find out relatively soon just how effective the new chips are: Arizona State's business arm has licensed the technology to three companies, which may be ready to sell a product containing the chips within 18 months. Watch this space.

iPhone .. no cash!!

Coincidence or not, Apple has stiffened up the requirements to pick up a new iPhone shortly after announcing that 250,000 or so of the 1.4 million it sold in Q4 went to unlockers. In an admittedly intriguing move, Apple has decided that it will "no longer accept cash for iPhone purchases," and moreover, each individual will only be allowed to buy two (on plastic, of course) in an effort to "stop people from reselling them." More specifically, spokeswoman Natalie Kerris stated that the company is "requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers," so don't even bother bringing the greenbacks if you're lookin' to grab an iPhone from Apple.

ikon PDA phone

Last we heard from Psion Teklogix, it was busy cranking out a handheld workhorse for those rough days in the field, but now the outfit is celebrating its 40th year in the biz by offering up the iKon. This PDA / smartphone features a 3.7-inch VGA display, an integrated camera, built-in GPS, GSM / GPRS / UMTS connectivity options, Bluetooth, WiFi, a barcode scanner and your choice of Windows Mobile 6 Classic / Professional or CE.net 5. Furthermore, this tough guy can withstand falls from five feet to polished concrete, and it'll also hold its own when faced with sandstorms and downpours. Sadly, Psion Teklogix isn't fessing up to what the iKon will cost, but you can certainly contact the firm directly when it goes on sale this December should you be interested.

Apple touch keyboard

Tactile feedback isn't exactly new to the mobile device arena, but Apple is apparently looking to add a bit of tactility to on-screen keyboards of the future. In a recent patent filing, the gurus in Cupertino have described four arrangements for accomplishing the aforementioned goal, some of which include adding dots / bars to keys and throwing an articulating frame underneath the panel to enable users to feel varying levels of resistance when mashing down. Per usual, we're left to imagine where such technology could eventually end up (tough job, we know), but considering that this is the third touchpad-related filing seen from Apple in the past 20 days, who knows what is (or isn't) brewing.

Plam treo 800w revealed...

Are we staring at the new Treo 800w? We obviously know what's up with the Centro and the 500 (namely the 500v), so the only missing ID in that lineup is the 800, successor to the 700-series flagship throne. Well, if this thing is the 800w we do kind of hope Palm tosses that fish back. Rearranging the WinMo buttons and giving the phone a more industrial, geeky look does not a greater Treo make, so unless this thing is like half as thin as current-gen devices (which it won't be, Palm seems pretty dogmatic about keeping its devices thick), it'll just be more of the same.

Motorized chairs?

Yes, it is possible for your lazy boss to intensify his slack. This automatic chair is on display at the Tokyo Motor Show 2007 under the "abnormal vehicle" classification. Who knew that Orca's could be so comfy and high tech? Details are nil at the moment so by all means, give us a clue if you know more dear readers. Another picture after the break.

Dell XPS 420

Sure, it's a bit short on surprises, thanks to a couple of detailed leaks in recent months, but the Dell XPS 420 is now prepped for your ordering pleasure on Dell's online store. Prices start at $1,499, which will get you a fairly specced system and a 20-inch LCD. Other perks in the base system include a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, a 13-in-1 card reader, SideShow and an option for an "Xcelerator" to speed up video encoding, but on the traditional specs it's pretty firmly middle of the road: Vista Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor and 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT for graphics. But hey, who needs muscle when you've got SideShow?