february

Google Doodle hops into leap year

Leap years only come along every four years, so they're worth celebrating.

Google made that much clear today with a special doodle honoring the oh-so-rare 29th of February. But lest you think that such an event isn't by itself worthy of one of the search giant's whimsical home page graphics, their work today does double duty: It also observes the 220th birthday of famed Italian composer Gioachino Rossini.

Though most of Google's doodles (see video above) are single purpose, the company once in a while decides to kill two birds with one stone. For example, in … Read more

Citigroup analyst: Apple ready for iPad 3 launch in February

According to Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, Apple is ready to release the iPad 3 as early as February despite rumors that Apple could be waiting to unveil its latest touch-screen tablet update until as late as next fall alongside the iPhone 5.

Gardner mentioned in a note Thursday, reported by Business Insider, that the iPad 3 would also support a screen with double the resolution of the iPad 2, effectively a Retina Display, upgrading the iPad's graphics to the sharpness levels seen on the iPhone 4 and 4S.

"There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles … Read more

Existing Verizon customers get iPhone preorders at 3 a.m. February 3

Verizon has updated its iPhone landing page to include a countdown and a message for existing customers to come back to the site, presumably to preorder the iPhone.

In true Apple fashion (adding a countdown), when the numbers reach zero, a day that's been in the making for more than four years will finally commence. Almost immediately after Apple's announcement of its exclusivity deal with AT&T, rumors of Verizon's entrance as an iPhone vendor surfaced.

Now, on February 3, those loyal customers who have been holding out, ignoring the iPhone's siren song (something that … Read more

Rumor: Apple's white iPhone 4 coming soon

According to two separate rumors, Apple has not given up on releasing a white iPhone 4.

After months of production issues, any hope for getting a white iPhone 4 to consumers seemed to be lost. With the passing holiday season and last week's announcement of the iPhone coming to Verizon, it appeared as though we might have to wait for iPhone 5 to see the latest iOS device in white.

Two sources disagree. Engadget has posted a photograph of an inventory screen from the German telecom company Vodaphone showing the availability of a 16GB and 32GB iPhone 4 in … Read more

Rumor: Verizon iPhone to be released February 3

On the heels of Verizon's announcement of a special press conference on January 11, Boy Genius Report says a source has confirmed that Apple has blacked out retail employee vacation time for February 3 to February 6, covering a possible Verizon iPhone launch weekend.

When I was a manager at an Apple Store here in Portland, this was a fairly common occurrence for big launch days. Generally these employee vacation blackout days would come months in advance, allowing our staff to make plans around those dates.

This of course is only a theory, but in my experience we never … Read more

Rumor: Apple's iPad 2 ships from Foxconn in 100 days

According to sources in Taiwan talking to DigiTimes, Apple's initial shipments of the much-anticipated iPad 2 are 100 days away with expected stock levels to be between 400,000 and 600,000.

The end of February could be the target ship time for the iPad 2, according to this report.

"Apple originally planned to start mass production in January, but because the device's firmware is currently still in testing, Apple has been postponing the schedule. Since Foxconn's new plants in Chengdu are still in pilot production, iPad 2 will be mainly supplied by its Shenzhen plants, … Read more

This month in games: February 2010

Historically speaking, the months following the holiday season usually spell disaster for those gamers in the market for new titles. While January gave us Dark Void and Mass Effect 2, February is packed with even more high-profile releases.

The saga of Rapture continues as BioShock 2 hits store shelves February 9. This time around you'll suit up as a Big Daddy as you chase the creature known as Big Sister. For a sneak peek at one of the early levels in BioShock 2, make sure to check out this week's episode of preGAME!

That same day marks the … Read more

New Amazon Kindle 2 coming February 9?

A few days ago I wrote a column speculating when Amazon's new Kindle might arrive, and I might have gotten the answer Tuesday morning.

I just received an invite "to an important Amazon.com press conference" on the morning of Monday, February 9 in New York. I'm not going to say where it is (that's not cool for Amazon's PR people, who would have to deal with crashers), but let's just say it's in a location that relates to books.

When the Kindle was first announced in 2007, Amazon held a very … Read more

Anonymous posts another video against Scientology

Editors' note, 11:00 a.m. PST: This blog has been condensed from an earlier version.

A group calling itself Anonymous is continuing its war against the Church of Scientology with a new video posted Monday. In its latest video message, the group seeks to dispel the notion it is a group of super hackers and, as though to prove it, includes a call for real-world protests outside Scientology centers worldwide on February 10. Friday night, the Church of Scientology issued a statement about the online attacks.

The latest two-minute video from the group continues to use a computer-generated voice, … Read more