Geekly Update January 12

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Skype's 4.2 Beta for Windows supports HD quality video. To utilize the richer looking service, you will need a highspeed broadband connection, an HD webcam (available from the Skype store) and a computer with a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor. Panasonic and LG will soon be releasing Skype-enabled HDTVs. If it comes to making phone calls via the big-screen HDTV, I'm going to get a cardboard cutout of my smiling self.

The CES 2010 Consumer Electronics Show took place this week with lots of shiny new toys for electronics freaks and 300 new exhibitors. Their Best of Innovation award winners surely shine the brightest and included about 20 different categories.

Everything old is new again, and Fred Flintstone would be thrilled to learn that the "slate" is the cool new toy for 2010. Microsoft and HP introduced their slate PC, a touchscreen tablet, at the CES 2010 this week. Beating out the news of the Apple iSlate, NEC plans to drop a tablet this year that will run on Android.

Also at the CES this week, Sony unveiled a line of SD and MicroSD cards, possibly indicating the end of the line with their incompatible Memory Stick format. It naturally follows that they will be bringing out a line of cameras and camcorders to go with them.

It's not quite the first arrest in virtual reality, but it's close. Kokomo Perspective has reported that Indiana's Howard County Sheriff's Department deputy Matt Roberson tracked down a wanted drug dealer via the World of Warcraft online game. Roberson, a gamer himself, found Alfred Hightower, his IP address, account information, billing address and online screen name via his cybersleuthing.

The Kindle will have some competition when the Hearst Skiff Reader becomes available later this year. The ebook has a 1600 x 1200 11.5" touchscreen, "metal-foil" e-paper technology, 4GB storage, SD card expansion and can be side-loaded via WiFi or mini USB jack. Look for Sprint to be its major distribution source. And if Barnes & Noble ever ships my Nook, Amazon might have another worthy competitor.

Synaptics generally concerns itself with making notebook trackpads, including those with multitouch. Now they are going one step further with gesture control in a new beta program dubbed Scrybe, configurable by the user, that can be downloaded for free.

It's Samsung's turn to churn out a new line of netbooks. The N210, N220, N150 and NB30 run on Intel Atom N450 CPUs, have a 10.1" LED backlit display, a 1024 x 600 resolution that can increase to 1024 x 768. It has remote access to your main PC and Phoenix FailSafe to help you find it, should it get lost or stolen.

A recent PEW study determined that 74% of American adults now use the Internet, with 60% of them using broadband connections from their home. The survey also breaks down Internet users by race, age, household income, and education levels.

The Nexus One was finally released this week by Google. The Android-based smartphone features a 3.7" widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, a 5-megapixel cam and of course Google search and mapping. It's available with a T-Mobile contract for $179.00 or $529.00 unlocked. Of course they announced this phone the VERY DAY that I got my Droid. Lovin' the Droid, by the way. I no longer have iPhone envy.