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Here's what Android fragmentation really looks like

Open Signal Maps is a nifty free Android app and Web site that crowdsources where the strongest and weakest cell signals are. But along the way, it's also managed to amass a ton of data about what kind of Android devices are out there in the wild and they pulled it all together into some visualizations that dramatically show the extent of Android fragmentation.

OSM started logging the Android devices that download the app six months ago and created the above visualization -- the interactive version on the site is a little more informative -- from a sample size more

Verizon Jetpack MiFi 4620L mobile hot-spot review: It's a Rocketeer

I can't count anymore how many mobile routers I have reviewed, but that also means that I know the Verizon Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi 4620L by Novatel Wireless is different.

And it's not because of its crazy long name.

Instead, it's partly because of its craz,y long battery life. The router is the first I've seen that comes with two batteries. The standard one offers about 5.5 hours of continuous usage on a charge, and the second one offers about twice that. Combine the two, you have about two days' worth of charge, if you only use it during working hours that is.more

School buys telepresence robot to help sick student

Without machines, Zachary Thomason wouldn't live very long. The boy has been on a ventilator for all of his 12 years because he suffers from a rare muscle disorder that makes him extremely weak.

Until now, X-linked myotubular myopathy has prevented him from going to school regularly. But since the Paragould School District in Arkansas purchased a $5,000 VGo telepresence robot, chances are he'll become an avatar-style student soon.

Zach likes to play PlayStation, so he can remote-control the VGo, which is basically a Webcam on wheels. At 4 feet tall, it's designed to project the user's presence into a remote location with two-way audio and video, allowing for richer interaction than a phone call or stationary Webcam.

Even Google was blindsided by Android's success

Back in 2010, Google thought Android had some very nice potential for growth -- at the time, it projected its mobile operating system might even reach more than 200 million installed users by 2013.

Turns out Google was wrong: it busted through the 200 million threshold in 2011 instead and is now on a trajectory for more than 700 million users in 2013.

All this number-crunching is based on Google's internal estimates for Android growth, which recently came out during the Oracle patent trial (see slideshow below). Asymco analyst Horace Dediu dug through the data and compared it with the activation announcements that have been made public to determine that Google greatly underestimated Android's potential.

Invention kit for banana pianos, alphabet soup keyboards

For the most part, keyboards just aren't very exciting. They sit there and go clickety-clack. What if you want a keyboard that goes squish-squash or splish-splash? Then you turn to the MaKey MaKey Invention Kit.

MaKey MaKey is a kit that turns just about any object into a touchpad. It consists of a circuit board and a set of alligator clips.

Clip those clips onto fruit, people, or pieces of bread. Even pencil markings can work. Open up a Web site or a program, plug the board into your computer's USB port, and you're good to go.

Netgear demos Broadcom-based 802.11ac Wi-Fi devices

Netgear today teamed up with Broadcom to announce and demonstrate a new line of wireless networking products that use Broadcom's 802.11ac chips. These are the chips that Broadcom showed off in preparation for and during CES 2012.

These devices include two routers, the Netgear R6300 WiFi and the R6300 WiFi, and one USB adapter, the A6200 WiFi.

All of these devices are based on the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard (or 5G Wi-Fi, as Broadcom calls it). The Netgear R6300 is the top of the line and supports the three-stream 802.11ac standard that offers up to 1.more

Apple granted patent for iOS steering-wheel remote

Discovered by Patently Apple in a group of 21 patents issued to Apple by the Patent and Trademark Office, the in-vehicle remote-control patent describes a product designed for drivers wishing to control their iOS devices more easily.

Currently, drivers must fumble around with their iPhone, iPod, or iPad to change songs, get directions, or make calls if their car's in-dash system doesn't support iOS devices. This lack of integration can cause serious distractions for drivers.

Apple's solution is a small device that would attach to any steering wheel, allowing users to connect to their iOS devices and control basic functions.more

Diablo III woes plague launch day players

The epic Diablo III role-playing game experienced several hiccups on launch day today as players reported numerous errors preventing gameplay. Not long after the midnight launch, some concerned players hit parent company Blizzard's Battle.net support forums with concerns about "Error 3006," perhaps the worst error seen so far.

The bug, which only affects the Demon Hunter class, supposedly occurs when one equips a Templar follower with a shield early in the game. Performing this action reportedly causes the game to disconnect the player immediately, and then follows up with a disastrous repetitive "Error 75" that continuously prevents the user from further log-in.

Do you upload mouthwatering pictures on Instagram, where they then get lost in millions of similar photos tagged "#foodporn"?

Here's some food for thought: You may be better off "Burppling." The Singapore-based creators of the iOS app Burpple intend it to be a social food journal -- an Instagram of sorts, only for food.

It seems to have the potential to be as popular as Instagram, even though it was only launched in 39 countries, including the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia, on May 8. The creators claim that "during the few weeks of open beta [in Singapore], Burpple saw similar early-stage user activity" as Instagram.

A portmanteau of "burp" and "people," Burpple is all about connecting food and people. Users document their meals by uploading photos with information such as place, type, and time. Food moments can be classified into "boxes," which are really customizable tags (this writer would have a box catered solely to potato chips).

WaterField's CitySlicker MacBook Air case is slick, but the handle costs extra

WaterField Designs makes some swanky cases for laptops, tablets, e-readers, and even the PS Vita. The company's latest edition to its catalog is the CitySlicker, a compact carrying case for the MacBook Air and presumably smaller Windows ultrabooks.

Although I haven't gotten my hands on one, the nice thing about it seems to be that while it's slim, it does offer more storage than a laptop sleeve, with a few pockets on the inside and one on the outside for storing the Air's AC adapter and charging cable.

The downside is the price. more