Geekly Update - 12 September 2011

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Apple has added early earthquake warning notices to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for users in Japan. Can't be long before all phones come with air quality sensors and a geiger counter...

Thousands of Call of Duty fans met over the weekend in LA to get a sneak peak at the Nov. 8 launch of Modern Warfare 3. The Optic Gaming team managed to win the multiplayer tournament and received $400,000 for their efforts.

Toshiba has unveiled its latest Portégé Z830 notebook. At a mere 2.46 lbs., the 13.3" wireless Ultrabook is 0.63" thin, touts a full size keyboard, 6GB DDR3 RAM and a 128GB solid state drive. Due out in November, look for a price around $1,000.

"It's like Thanksgiving without the turkey and snide remarks." If you're part of one of those families that never seems to get together, Connect is a startup designed to send family members direct notification of activities in your area according to your interests. After signup, you will also receive reminders before the event.

The IFA wrapped up in Berlin last week, but not before LG managed to wow the masses with a pair of clip-on 3D glasses. Compatible with the company's LW5600 and LW5700, the AG-F220 offers UV protection and are available for a mere $19.99.

You can try to get away from it all in Latin America or the Caribbean, but you'll never outrun Netflix. Within the next few months, the streaming service will be available for about the same price as it is here, and offer both English and Spanish language to 43 countries.

Boeing has included 737 Explained on its new aircraft with a 3D like model for potential customers. Thousands of photographs are stored on Microsoft's Azure that allow a 360 degree tour of the new plane.

Blackberry owners can finally reap the benefits of the handier App World 3.0. Included are new channels, easy-share apps, option to make payments via the home screen and easy My World management. Unfortunately, there is no app to magically turn your Blackberry into an iPhone.

Best Buy seems to be concentrating its efforts in its online Marketplace, by promising more products, including third party sellers, at better prices. All told, they will have a gain of about a third in inventory by the holidays.

Happy Feet, the Emperor penguin that took a wrong turn to New Zealand last year, was recently released and his journey back to McMurdo Sound is being tracked online. But there's a problem... did Happy Feet ditch his ankle bracelet, get abducted by aliens, or ...?