Spinal Tap ruined Karyne's life last week, and now she's losing the betting round this month.

She has one more week to get two points, or else it's her turn (once again) to embarrass herself. So put on your thinking caps, and send in your suggestions for the show of shame.

On this week's show, we learn how to pronounce Asus (kinda), the Facebook phone is one step closer to truth, the Amazon phone might be, too, and the Xbox 720 has Emily rescinding her vote. … Read more

Apologies for my unannounced absence yesterday; I was attending a funeral and neglected to leave a heads-up on Tuesday.

It seems only fitting, then, that I serve up three sweet deals today. Technically, I've got five, but "five-deal Thursday" doesn't have quite the same alliterative ring.

First up, TigerDirect has the ViewSonic gTablet 10-inch Android tablet for $269.97, plus $7.50 for shipping. It's new, not refurbished, and it comes with 16GB of storage. It's on the chunky side, not unlike the $299.99 Toshiba Thrive from the other day, but the real … Read more

The Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet will be in customers' hands a few days earlier than expected.

Like the Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch--both of which shipped ahead of schedule earlier this week--the Nook Tablet is actually running ahead of schedule. According to a Barnes & Noble spokesperson, customers who preordered the Nook Tablet for in-store pickup can do so on Wednesday. Likewise, online preorders will begin showing up on doorsteps on Wednesday. The Nook Tablet is expected to be available for sale in Barnes & Noble stores the following day.

The device was originally scheduled to hit stores on Friday.

Whether you preordered or not, though, you don't have to wait: CNET's got an updated hands-on preview of the Nook Tablet, with video. … Read more

Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire?

That's the question that's already bedeviling consumers and gadget aficionados alike.

In a matter of weeks, it seems, the tablet market has been compressed to just a handful of choices. The iPad 2 still rules the high end ($500 and above), but the "e-reader as tablet" option now looms large in the sub-$250 range, with the $199 Kindle Fire going mano a mano with the $249 Nook Tablet.

The Kindle Fire has just started shipping, and the Nook Tablet will follow as soon as tomorrow (a few days earlier than originally expected).

Last year, Barnes & Noble released the Nook Color at the same $249 price. Back then, a 7-inch color e-reader that could run apps as well as read color books and magazines, and even play movies and music, was a revelation. The Android tablet could even be rooted--to many, it became known as the not-so-secret most-affordable Android tablet around with the best design (other similarly priced and more-generic Android tablets are, by comparison, terrible).

With the Fire on the horizon, Barnes & Noble knew it had to up the ante.… Read more

The month is almost up, and Karyne is beating Emily by a smidge. With only two shows left, however, it's time to start thinking of embarrassing things for Emily to do when she loses.

On this week's show, we cry over CDs going the way of the dodo; we laugh about Staples selling the PlayBook for $199; Google Music is going to 11, whatever that means, at an event on Wednesday; and according to nobody, the iPad 3 will be able to fly.

Things are heating up in the Twitter wars, too! Stephen, at the time of the … Read more

Now this is more like it.

For as long as I can remember, I've dinged the iPad and its 10-inch competitors for being way too expensive. I mean, come on, $500? That's Core i5 computer money!

But today, Newegg has a tablet deal that's much more reasonable: the Toshiba Thrive 10-inch Android Honeycomb tablet for $299.99 shipped. You even get a free Blue Moon back cover (a $13.99 value).

Update: Sigh. Sold out already. (Do check back later, though, as Newegg sometimes manages to free up more stock.) That's why you gotta get here … Read more

Writing CNET's official review of the Kindle Fire was probably the toughest assignment I've had all year. This is a tablet that wears its price tag like a bulletproof vest. The standby criticisms don't work. Holding it up to an iPad, I may as well be comparing a Vespa to a Mercedes.

That isn't to say that the Kindle Fire couldn't have flopped. I've seen my share of cheap tablets before and I haven't flinched at flunking them. Nine times out of 10, it's the screen that ruins things. On a tablet, the screen is the foundation of the entire experience. It's the window to the software; it's the substance of the navigation; it's the keyboard; it's the game controller.

Fortunately, Amazon didn't cheap out on the screen, though (spoiler alert!) I was surprised that it only supports two-finger multitouch. My three-finger Fruit Ninja technique was ruined. … Read more

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of a 7-inch tablets, which I think are more practical for everyday use than 10-inch models.

While supplies last (and they may not last long), Secondipity has the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet with 3G for $249.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code galaxy4u at checkout.

Let's do a little comparison shopping, shall we? The Kindle Fire is priced at $199, while the just-announced Nook Tablet runs $249. What does the Galaxy Tab offer that those models don't? Three key features: Bluetooth, front- and rear-facing cameras, … Read more

Karyne may be up a point on the Rumor board, but I'm winning where it actually counts: on Twitter.

As of this writing, I have 232 followers and Karyne has 223.

OK, you can stop laughing now.

We realize, of course, that those numbers are embarrassingly low. So follow us, guys! (@EmilyDreyfuss, @karynelevy, @RumorShow.) Our new high-stakes side bet is who can get to 500 first. Maybe the lucky 500th follower of the winner will get a prize!

The rumors on today's show are of the spiciest variety: sightings of the first quad-core phone (which some people really don't want); two new iPads in 2012; all-new Apple products next year (huzzah); and Siri may ruin my life by coming to old iOS devices. … Read more