Stories by Ian Paul

Today is an important day for tablet fans, as Apple reports its first full quarter of iPad sales. The company is widely expected to report selling as many as 6 million iPads between July and September. Bullish sales predictions are leading many investors to try and "gauge consumer enthusiasm for the tablet" based on Apple's earnings call, according to Reuters. If Apple blows past the sales figures it would prove with cold hard numbers that tablets are a significant new market for computer makers. If Apple fails to hit its expected sales target then it could also dampen enthusiasm for burgeoning tablet devices.

We've seen iPhones in blenders, aerial balloons and underwater, but this may be the first time someone has launched an iPhone into space. The father and son duo of Luke and Max Geissbuhler recently launched a weather balloon into the upper stratosphere -- about 19 miles above the planet's surface. The contraption included an iPhone 4 and a separate HD video camera to capture images of the Earth. The duo didn't use the iPhone 4's camera capabilities, but instead used the smartphone as a GPS tracking device for their spacecraft.

There may be an iPhone app for this and that and everything else, but unsatisfied modders are hacking into iOS devices to make them do all kinds of new tricks.

Thinking about grabbing one of Sony's new Google TV-powered high-definition television sets for the holidays? The electronics maker recently unveiled its first round of Google TV products including four HDTVs ranging from 24- to 46-inch screen sizes. All four feature 1080p resolution, an Intel Atom processor, 4 HDMI and 4 USB 2.0 ports and Wi-Fi connectivity. Sony also unveiled a Google TV Blu-ray player. Android-based Google TV includes the power to search for video online and in your local programming schedule, Web browsing capability and access to third-party apps such as Netflix streaming.

When Windows Phone 7 launches on Monday it may offer a host of cool games thanks to Xbox LIVE integration, but Rovio Mobile's Angry Birds isn't one of them. That fact didn't stop Microsoft from borrowing the familiar fuming birds to promote Phone 7 on its Website, according to WMPower User. The blog snagged a shot of an Angry Birds icon sitting alongside other popular smartphone applications such as Tap Tap Revenge and the Pulse newsreader on Microsoft's Phone 7 site.

The Android army is celebrating the latest figures from Nielsen that show the Android mobile operating system is top dog. But Android fans might want to hold off on the balloon drop. Google's Android isn't really top of the heap just yet.

Does Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 have what it takes to compete against Apple's blockbuster iPhone and the Android army? We'll find out October 11 when Microsoft officially pulls back the curtain on its smartphone at an event titled Windows Phone 7 Worldwide Launch Event taking place in New York City.

No two Apple products share a closer parallel history than the original iPhone and the original Macintosh computer. Each device was revolutionary for its time. The Macintosh, later known as the Macintosh 128K, was the first mainstream computer to include a graphical user interface similar to the ones we use today. The original Mac OS used movable application windows and included functions such as drag and drop. The 128K also popularized the use of a mouse and was notable for its compact dimensions. The iPhone was the first minicomputer to masquerade as a cellular telephone. It also had an intuitive, exclusively touch-based interface with limited physical buttons and no stylus--a common device for touch-based phones prior to the iPhone.

Worried your Android apps are spying on you? You should be, according to a recent study that found several popular Android Apps regularly share your location and critical phone data such as your phone number with advertisers and others. Researchers from Intel Labs, Penn State, and Duke University randomly selected 30 out of 358 popular apps from the Android Market for this study. The computer scientists were able to track each application's behavior using a special monitoring program called TaintDroid developed by the researchers.

An HTC exec may have inadvertently confirmed that Windows Phone 7 is coming in October.

Casio's newest camera features precise geo-tagging via GPS, mapping technology that can display your current location, and can serve up sightseeing tips. If that was not enough, the new Casio EXILIM EX-H20G also has built-in motion sensors that make it easier to offer exact location information even when no GPS signals are present, according to Casio. The EX-H20G will US hit store shelves in November with a suggested retail price of $US350.

In a move that has train wreck written all over it, Intel has started a new pilot project that puts a DRM-style software lock on your computer's downgraded processor. All you have to do to unlock the full potential of your chip is cough up about an extra $50 on top of the computer's original cost. The new program, called the Intel Upgrade Service, appears to be in the early stages of development. The Intel help pages for the service lack complete information and contain several typos.

Apple may want HTC to stop selling Android-based phones, but HTC refuses to slow down and launched two new devices Wednesday to great fanfare. The phones may be new to the rest of the world but U.S. users will recognize the devices, called the Desire HD and Desire Z, as variations of the HTC Evo and T-Mobile G2.

Samsung is reportedly launching the Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet in the U.S. on Thursday, and a new report says the device is headed to AT&T. Expectations are high for the Android-based Galaxy Tab, introduced during the IFA Berlin trade show in September, as it is considered to be the first significant challenger to Apple's iPad.

Acer is working on a dual-touchscreen multitouch laptop with no physical keyboard or mouse that would be available by fall 2011, according to several reports. Instead of using physical inputs, one touchscreen would function as the display and one would act as the keyboard and trackpad, similar to Toshiba's Libretto W100. Acer's device is reportedly sporting two 15-inch touchscreens, runs Windows 7 and has an Intel Core i5 2.67GHz processor under the hood, according to TechReview Source.