Geekly Update - 12 October 2010

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Call it Jimi's Not-so-Excellent Adventure? In one of those stranger than fiction events, Jimi Heselden, the man who bought Segway last year, died after driving his Segway X2 Adventure off a cliff.

Verizon plans to reimburse up to $90 million to about 15 million customers after the FCC received complaints that some customers were being charged a data fee if they accidentally pressed the browser button or used a small amount of data. A typical refund amount will be $2.00 - $6.00 and will show up as a credit.

Facebook has updated the ability to store high res photos up to 2048 pixels. In addition, users can now tag, view and upload them as well as browse an entire album without having to hit another page. This improved uploader will be Flash based.

Another Windows tablet is making its debut. This time it comes from Tegatech. With a 10.1" LCD display, Tega v2 has an Atom N455 CPU, 1GB of RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium, touchscreen and accelerometer, with a price to be released soon.

The military paper Stars and Stripes
reports that the Army and Air Force Exchange Service still will not sell the latest "Medal of Honor" video game, which allows players to kill U.S. troops.

During the upcoming holiday season, amuse your friends and family with your usual egg nog, Chex Mix and Wii Party. There are many different party games, mini-games and group activities, but remember to warn your guests it's BYOR (bring your own remote).

XCOR Aerospace, a group of Dutch investors and the Caribbean Island of Curacao plan to develop a space port beginning 2014. Their hope is that the XCOR Lynx spacecraft will be used for both tourists and scientists at a cost of $98,000 per trip. Maybe we can get a government bailout for people that can't afford the hefty price tag.

Samsung has launched its 7"GALAXY Tab in Europe, but it remains to be seen if it is an iPad threat. The tablet runs Android 2.2, and features Adobe Flash 10.1 support, a 3mp cam, GPS, WiFi and will hit the US next month.

RIM will be releasing the Playbook tablet early next year to compete with the iPad and Samsung Tab. Connectible by WiFi or BlackBerry, the device will feature a 7" screen, an OS derived from the recent purchase of QNX and will support Adobe Flash.

NASCAR's Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina will soon be the owner of the planet's largest single TV screen. The $40 million Panasonic 200 X 80 ft. HDTV will cover 16,000 sq. ft., is 40% larger than the one at Cowboys Stadium and should be completed in 4 to 5 months when construction begins in October.

U.S. Cellular may soon get a more loyal batch of customers since they intend to instigate a "One and Done" plan that allows them to change their plan to a monthly rate after a 2 year contract is complete. Overage protection, and paperless billing discounts are also included.