lowe's

Microsoft's press conference earlier this week reminded us a lot of what Apple has perfected -- the dramatic press conference. However, after the lights went off, we still had plenty of questions about what the new Microsoft Surface tablets were going to cost and when we could buy them. If Microsoft is using the Apple Playbook, they may have skipped a page or two.

Love it or hate it, Apple has all but mastered the art of the press conference. It's not that they use fancy graphics or a laser-light show, it's mostly because they answer a lot of questions and perhaps most importantly, begin selling the product right away. Cashing in on the excitement of a new product and then allowing the public to buy it immediately is something no other company really does, so it'll be interesting to see if the Surface hype is still churning once it's finally ready to be sold. … Read more

We think the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display is an awesome machine. Our only gripe is that we'd have to make 4,150 Low Latency cartoons before we could afford one. It's a lot of money to ask for a laptop, which is why we wish Apple offered it without the expensive retina screen.

Having such a high-resolution and dense pixel display makes sense on the new iPad, but that's also because we stare at it a lot more closely than we do a laptop. We've seen the new MacBook side by side with last year's model, and it's really tough to tell the difference.… Read more

You can now add Amazon to your list of shopping choices for Nest's thermostat/gadget.

Initially only available through home installers, the $249 climate control device has started appearing at retailers such as Lowes and Apple. It can also be purchased through Nest's online store.

CNET Editor-in-Chief/Nest reviewer Lindsey Turrentine gave it an enthusiastic five-star review, as do 30 of the 50 customer reviews on Amazon. Price seems to be the main sticking point for the less positive reviews.

(Via The Verge)

If there's one thing a lot of E3 2012 games have in common, it's guns. It's become such a universal trend that games that don't feature some sort of regenerative health, cover system, ammo looting, or exploding barrel seem out of place. So where does a company like Nintendo fall in? Sure, they've been making a lot of games with the same characters for decades, but do they need to follow suit as well?… Read more

This week's comic is inspired solely by a tweet from our very own CNET TV editor Ty Pendlebury. After at least two documented cases of iPhone prototypes getting lost in bars, you'd think Apple employees would have learned their lesson by now.

Will Apple unveil an HDTV at WWDC? That remains to be seen; we're just hoping one doesn't show up left behind in some bar in Southern California.… Read more

The iPhone 4S' camera does an admirable job in a variety of lighting conditions, particularly when you remember that the device is a phone first, and a camera second. Still, if you find yourself shooting in low-light situations, you probably have noticed that your photos look blurry or grainy. Cortex Camera is a $2.99 app that can reduce this graininess or noise when shooting in low light. Here's how it works:

Instead of taking a single, still photo, Cortex Camera actually captures a short video when you hit the shutter button. Thus, you will need to hold your … Read more

Apple will need a huge number of LTPS, or low-temperature poly-silicon, screens to maintain the Retina Display resolution on its next iPhone, a move that could make life tough for its rivals, according to DigiTimes.

Citing the usual "Taiwan-based supply chain makers," DigiTimes said the next iPhone will will require the use of LTPS technology to offer a resolution of 326 pixels per inch. LTPS displays can achieve higher resolutions than those possible with regular active-matrix LCD screens.

But production of such screens will be in short supply. Manufacturers LG Display, Japan Display, and Sharp combined can produce … Read more

We're no economists here at Low Latency (and quite frankly we don't really understand the stock market), but if we could afford to invest in Facebook we'd certainly be upset about its 18-percent drop on day one. It's been falling steadily for a few days and the talk of Facebook's valuation being totally out of whack is now commonplace.

How ironic is it that a site that lets people mislead others about who they really are has its own identity crisis on Wall Street? … Read more

The Netflix video streaming player finally gets an overhaul, but most of the upgrades to the navigation and video thumbnail layouts feel vaguely reminiscent to us, but we can't put a finger on it.

Speaking of streaming video, we'll also made a plea to HBO to broadcast episodes of "Game of Thrones" to non-subscribers. The show has quickly become the most pirated show of 2012 so far, and although we understand HBO's rights to keep the episodes in-house, we can't help but wonder why the network isn't taking advantage of this opportunity to get more money. Related: this week's Low Latency comic.… Read more