Geekly Update - 03 Feb 2011

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

An Android smartphone will be launched by the UK's Surrey Satellite Technology to see if it will work in space and be able to control a satellite. Take that, iPhone!

Set to come out this spring, Toshiba's new unnamed tablet will run Android's Honeycomb, has a 10.1" multitouch display, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and front/rear cameras. Its back cover is replaceable for those who crave change, and ports include Mini-USB, HDMI, USB, and SD card slot.

Want to rid yourself of those imperfect duplicate photos that you couldn't make useable with PhotoShop? Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder is a freeware program that can find and remove them as well as similar images on your hard drives. (Two points for the catchy name.)

Apple is still counting and this time it is the fact that their App Store has achieved 10 billion downloads. Wake me when they get close to passing McDonald's burger total.

According to the Cult of Mac, that 10 billionth app was downloaded by a UK woman's daughter. Gail Davis received a call from Apple that told her she had won $10,000 and she hung up on them, thinking it was a fake offer. (Her daughter set her straight so this tale has a happy ending.)

Almost as if they had foreseen this nasty winter, Olympus will be releasing their TG-610 Camera next month that is waterproof, shockproof and freeze proof. At a price of $299.99, it can withstand temperatures as low as 14ºF, has 14 mega pixels, HD video and a wide angle 5X zoom lens.

We all saw the woman that fell into a fountain at the mall when texting and then got her fifteen minutes by admitting it was her. But according to a study by Ohio State University, she's not alone. They claim that over a thousand pedestrians ended up in emergency rooms this year because they were talking or texting on their cell phones.

In addition to offering its iPhone 4 next month with its promised lesser price plans, Verizon has included a "Special Upgrade Offer" that allows customers to trade-in current phones purchased between Nov. 26 - Jan. 10 for a $200 Visa debit card that can be used for iPhone purchase.

The San Ramon Valley Fire dept. has launched an app that, for someone who needs CPR, will call for a human expert that will come after tracking the person by GPS. The application also finds the nearest portable defibrillator.