Back before I had my iPhone years ago, I used a normal flip phone that could get online if I wanted to but had no data plan. I never used the web on the phone because it really sucked for that use. However, on more than one occasion I accidentally launched the browser while trying to do something else. You can't close that browser until it connects and downloads its data and by that point, you are charged for data use even if you don't have a data plan.

Verizon Wireless is in some hot water over just such a practice and has announced that it will be issuing its users up to $90 million in refunds. The refunds will go out to 15 million former and current customers of Verizon. Those eligible for the refunds that are still with Verizon will see credits to their bill in the range of $2 to $6 though some may get bigger refunds.

The refunds are for data charged at the $1.99 per megabyte rate for users not having a data plan. The improper charges for the data have been occurring since 2007 and the FCC has reportedly received hundreds of complaints. Verizon may have to pay penalties as well for the improper billing to its customers.

One day we won't need an outlet to power or charge our gadgets, the sun will do it for us. Today the average solar cell can't capture enough power from the sun to charge or power most of our gadgets in a reasonable amount of time. A new concept gadget has surfaced with the Sony brand that uses solar power called the Eclipse.

The Eclipse is a media a player that sticks to a window with a suction cup. The backside solar panels are able to capture power from the sun and apparently, the concept only uses solar power. The device would feature Bluetooth for connecting to a smartphone or PC for music streaming and getting other content and weather information.

The concept has integrated speakers and a tray to hold you PMP that pops out like a cassette deck from the 80's. The concept would also have an app for the iPhone or Android according to designers Hoang M Nguyen & Anh Nguyen that would provide screen savers for your smartphone as you listen to the music. I would say with the state of solar panels today this concept is likely to stay in the realm of dreams for a while.

When it comes to listening to your favorite music, where you live often has a lot to do with the types of radio stations in your area. For instance, my area has a ton of country music stations, but offers no modern rock station so you can either listen to pop or old 80's rock. For people in this situation, Sirius XM satellite radio is perfect.

Many new vehicles come with the hardware for satellite radio installed, but if you need an add-on radio to tune into the Sirius XM offerings the company has a new one that you might like called the XM Snap! that will sell for under $60. The Snap is set to launch this month and will be able to tune any of the content offered on the network.

The device has a stalk that allows it to be placed in a vehicle and it gets power from the DC outlet in the car. The music is sent to the stereo in the car with simple DIY installation according to Sirius XM. The Snap has a large, high-resolution screen for viewing song and artist information and ships with a magnetic mount antenna and an aux-in cable for cars that have an aux jack available. It's not clear what the "simple DIY installation" entails for putting the thing in yourself without using an AUX cable.

Microsoft has released the 2011 version of Windows Live Essentials - the consumer package of it's "software plus services" (S+S) strategy.

Currently, Windows Live Essentials provides the following, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Messenger, Mesh, Mail, Family Safety, Writer, Messenger Companion, Bing Bar, and the Outlook Connector Pack.

New features in Photo Gallery include "Photo Fuse", which is used to combine the best parts of multiple shots (for example, it will choose bits of the picture which are good and ditch the rest - like someone blinking in a picture) and easy retouching. It also incorporates face recognition to help find and organise your photos, also adding integration into Flickr, Facebook and SkyDrive.

Panasonic is probably best known for its TVs and other home theater gear like Blu-ray players. The company has a line of notebooks that are used in a lot of business settings because they are ruggedized called the Toughbook line. Toughbooks come in a number of models to suit the needs of each user and the latest new machine to be added to the range is the CF-C1.

The CF-C1 is a convertible notebook that can be used as a tablet as well. The machine has a multi-touch resistive touchscreen that supports gestures and can be used by workers that wear gloves. The screen also uses a matte finish so glare is not such a problem as it is on glossy screen notebooks. The machine also has dual batteries that can be hot swapped allowing for up to ten hours of use.

Other features of the notebook include a removable HDD that allows the user to secure their data and the machine has a fingerprint reader and RFID option as well. The OS for the notebook is Windows 7 and the processor inside is a Core i5-520M vPro running at 2.4GHz. The notebook also has WiFi, 3G, and Bluetooth connectivity. The machine sells for £1,709 and is available right now.

When it comes to video cards for your computer there are a lot of different brands and models to choose from. Most of them will have the same tech inside and offer the same features. Galaxy has a new NVIDIA GTX 460 video card that is different from the other GTX 460 cards already on the market with a new and very cool feature that will make it easy for you to send content from your PC to the TV.

The video card is called the GTX 460 WHDI edition and it looks a bit like a WiFi expansion card has been grafted to the back of a normal video card. The WHDI edition has five antennas on the rear that stream any content including games and video from your PC directly to your living room TV. A receiver box connects directly to your TV.

The video card uses AMIMON technology inside and will ship in early October. The video-streamed from the video card can be sent at HD resolutions without any compression that might affect frame rates or video quality. The card promises under a millisecond of latency when in use. The card also has wired outputs for HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort.

I am a big fan of Klipsch speakers for many uses. The best surround sound computer speakers I have ever owned came from Klipsch and the company has some fantastic home theater speakers as well. Many of the speakers that come from Klipsch are very expensive, but some of them are not out of the reach of most of us.

The latest offering from Klipsch is a speaker that isn't too expensive at $199.99 and is designed to be used outside with the Klipsch LightSpeaker system. The LightSpeaker system isn't included with the AudioRock speaker though and if you don't have one it will set you back another $600. The AudioRock speaker is weatherproof and rustproof. Inside the speaker are dual 0.75" tweeters and a dual voice coil 5.25" woofer.

It gets power from a removable and rechargeable lithium battery pack that provides eight hours of continuous listening. The battery takes four hours to charge fully. The wireless tech used to connect to the LightSpeaker system is 2.4GHz and the receiver is built into the AudioRock speaker. The outside of the speaker looks like a rock and has a granite color. The drivers are angled up at the listening for improved sound. You can buy the AudioRock right now.

If you are already a Verizon customer or are a customer on another network that is looking to migrate over to Verizon, the wireless provider has a new program you may find interesting. The company has unveiled a new program where you can trade in any mobile phone working or not and get money in the form of a gift card towards a Verizon purchase.

There is naturally a catch to the new service and that catch is that you get very little money for your phone. I dropped my iPhone 3GS a while back and it works, but the screen cracked. Verizon would give me about $12 for my iPhone. If the iPhone had a screen that was not cracked, I could get a bit more for it.

If you have a new iPhone 4 in 16GB of 32GB varieties and want to trade it in Verizon will give you $212. That is assuming the device has no cracks and still works. The program will send you a pre-paid return shipment box to send the handset in and then the gift card is sent back to you. In most cases, I would bet you could get more money for your device off eBay or Craigslist. The Verizon program will also accept devices and donate them to charity.

I have an original Apple TV and the thing sucks so bad that it is virtually useless. Out of all the time I have owned it, I bet I have used the thing three times. Talk about an epic fail of a product. When Apple announced the new Apple TV, I was not interested even a bit in the thing considering how bad the first product was. There are a lot of people excited about the new device though so maybe it won't suck as bad as the original.

If you are interested in the new Apple TV and would like to see what the thing is hiding inside its black case, iFixit has ripped one apart already. The new version is much smaller than the original and comes with a remote control. Should you ever want to repair your device on your own, this tear down could come in handy.

The first step to getting inside the device was to remove the rubber base. Strangely, the thermal pad that you can see as soon as the base is off is conducting heat to the plastic base, not metal. After that some Philips screws and a screwdriver later you get a look at the innards of the little device. One interesting find is that there are solder pads on the side of the new Apple TV that are unused and match perfectly with the dock cable connector.

Gateway have unveiled a new notebook, the NV59C66U with integrated WiMAX wireless connectivity and a deluxe look and feel.

The Gateway NV59C66U uses the Intel 6250 wireless card, which can connect to both WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks. Because of this, the Gateway NV59C66U will be able to be connected to mobile networks on the move - while at home, or on the road (once connected to a WiMAX provider).

The Gateway NV series feature Intel Core i3 and Core i5 as well as the AMD Athlon and AMD Turion processors. Supporting up to 4GB of memory, upgradeable to 8GB total. Storage wise, we have 320 and 500GB.

You don't have to look very hard to realize that the big feature that various manufacturers in the tech industry are pushing this year is 3D. The number of 3D capable computers, Blu-ray player's and TVs is constantly increasing on the market today even though by most accounts consumers aren't adopting 3D in the capacity that manufacturers hoped. That hasn't stopped Toshiba from pulling the covers off a new 3D notebook called the Satellite A665 3D.

The notebook uses NVIDIA 3D Vision technology and ships with a single pair of active 3D glasses. The screen of the notebook is a 15.6-inch HD TruBrite LED backlit offering with a 120Hz refresh rate. The CPU options for the machine include a Core i5-460M or a Core i7-740QM both with Turbo Boost technology inside. NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 350M GPU handles the video action.

The Blu-ray drive can burn to DVD media and has Label Flash technology. The onboard sound system for the notebook is from harman/kardon and has Dolby Advanced Audio tech. Other features include up to 6GB of RAM, 640GB of storage, a HDMI 1.4 output, WiFi, optional WiMax, and a 6-cell standard battery. Bluetooth and a 12-cell battery are both optional as well. The machine will ship in October with a price starting at $1299.99.

There are a lot of people out there who swim to keep fit. These folks would probably like to listen to some music while they work out, just as people who work out on dry land like to do. The catch for the swimmer is that water and your typical headphones and PMPs simply don't mix. Those that sweat a lot during workouts in the gym will also tell you that sweat can ruin your headphones. A company called H2O Audio has announced a new set of headphones that can survive in the water called the Surge 2G.

The new Surge 2G headphones are 100% waterproof and can be used up to 12-feet deep. The headphones are also completely resistant to being washed and to heavy sweating. Naturally, you will have to pair these headphones with some sort of waterproof case for your PMP or buy one of the several waterproof players that H2O audio sells. The headphones are designed for bass amplified sound.

The earplugs the headphones use isolate outside noise, help improve the bass, and keep water out of the ears. Each set of headphones ships with five different sizes of elastomer earplugs in XS through XL for a personalized fit. The headphones are tested for water resistance before they ship and you can order a set now for $49.99.

I have talked about Sharkoon on a couple of occasions and typically the product the company is unveiling is storage related. Sharkoon is famous for its SATA HDD docks that allow you to use HDDs to store and access data without having to find a place inside your computer for the drives. Generally, those docks are clearly designed to be used at the desk, not in your entertainment center with a HTPC machine. Sharkoon has unveiled a new SATA dock called the QuickPort Home that is just for HTPC fans.

The dock looks like a set top box or home theater component with an attractive and thin chassis that has a flip down door to reveal the HDD dock and other ports. Behind that front panel are push to open slots for 3.5 and 2.5-inch HDDs with SATA connectivity. When a HDD is inserted into either slot, it sits flush with the chassis allowing the door to be closed for a cleaner look.

Connectivity for the device includes eSATA and USB 2.0. The QuickPort Home also has a memory card reader supporting SD/SDHC, MMC, and MS memory cards. There is also a pair of USB ports with one on the front and one on the back for directly connecting flash drives and other storage devices. The dock measures 240 x 206 x 47.5mm and weighs 950 grams. It will sell for 49.90 euro and can be purchased at Sharkoon retailers.

Gateway has a large line of notebooks, desktops, and AIO computers. While the majority of the market for computers over the last few years has migrated towards notebooks and netbooks and away from desktop computers the AIO segment is still very popular. Gateway has announced the new ZX4951 and ZX6951 AIO desktops to cater to the needs of this popular segment and those looking for a desktop that takes up as little space as possible.

The two machines are very similar and share the same new design with a curved bottom edge and adjustable stands. The curved edge has lighting that can be adjusted for brightness that illuminates the included wireless keyboard and can be used for room mood lighting reckons Gateway. The ZX4951 uses a 21.5-inch screen, the ZX6951 has a 23-inch screen and both of the machines have HD resolution.

The CPU inside the new AIOs can be a range of parts including Pentium and Core i3 offerings. Gateway also crams Blu-ray drives into both machines and the ZX6951 comes with a TV tuner inside. The screen resolution on both AIOs supports full HD and the PCs ship with 4GB of RAM. The RAM can be expanded to 16GB and storage options include 500GB and 640GB HDDs. HD audio with 5.1-channel support is a common feature. Pricing for the machines ranges from $899.99 to $999.99 and both are available in the US right now.

Disclaimer: right now, everything is "rumor" - until proven a fact, please keep this in mind.

For what has seemed like a very long time - AMD has teased us with no refresh of their Evergreen (5xxx series), then the name change from ATI to AMD and now finally, some concrete release dates for you to check on your calender.

October 18, 2010.

Toshiba are set to show off a 3D TV on Monday that doesn't require 3D glasses.

3D TV's have been out for less than a year from the big manufacturers, all of them require the user/s to wear special glasses to see the 3D content. At the moment the technology involved in the glasses are presented with similar images, then rapidly change between each eye - this is how the 3D effect is shown to your eyes, but because it's going so fast - you don't notice the flicker, you just enjoy the 3D effect, albeit - with glasses on.

Toshiba's new technology throws the glasses away. Exact details of the technology won't be unveiled until Monday - but research by other companies has relied on a filter being placed on top of the TV screen - this filter sends a slightly different image to each eye.

Checked your piggy bank lately?? Been doing the paper run for your neighborhood? Good. You'll need it for this beast.

ORIGIN have revealed a $22, 799 PC-Xbox 360 hybrid gaming beast.

This thing is the absolute bees-knees of high end tech, kinda like Cold Rock ice-cream, it mashes together things that shouldn't be mashed together - but ultimately, it tastes awesome. Mixing a high end, overclocked, liquid-cooled PC with the popular Xbox 360 gaming platform is a pretty ingenius idea.

Antec have a new case that's about to be released, in the famous LanBoy range, the LanBoy Air.

It seems like a great case for lanners, or for people who like a change (within the case). I think I might end up getting one - I loved the previous LanBoy cases and this seems like a next-gen change on that same great case.

Antec have the following speel on it:

The mobile gaming market has several players and for years the players were the console companies like Nintendo and Sony. With the iPhone and iPod touch becoming more popular, those devices are now taking some of the market from the console makers. The clear leader in mobile gaming has been the Nintendo DS for a long time.

The DS is very important for Nintendo as its best selling console so any update to the machine is a big deal for the gaming firm. The next update for the DS will be the 3DS that we heard about months ago. A launch date of November 20 leaked a while back from a tweet posted by a designer claiming to have made accessories for the 3DS. A German publication is now offering a different launch date for the 3Ds.

According to German newspaper Bild, the 3DS will launch in Japan on November 11. The publication also claims that the 3Ds will land in Europe in the spring of 2011. There is no mention of a release date for the US in the story. Launch titles for the 3DS are claimed to be Mario Kart 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle. Take this rumor with a grain of salt.

Sony has announced a refreshed line of Vaio computers that has new features and a new color that users can pick from. The refreshed line is Sony's winter product offering that will carry the retailer through the holiday season. The new updates include CPU options and a few other updates for some machines.

The Vaio EB/EA/AC line of laptops has new CPU options with Core i5-580 and i5-460M CPU options now available along with a new Pentium processor for those looking for a budget notebook. The machines can also be had with a 1GB video card of some sort. Sony is offering free HD screen upgrades while supplies last through October 9 as well. The new color for these notebooks is purple. Sony has updated its AIO L series machine with a Blu-ray drive that can play movies and burn to Blu-ray media.

The machine also has quad core CPU options, a TV tuner option, and up to 2TB of storage. The Vaio F notebook can be optioned with a GeForce GT 425M GPU with 1GB of RAM. The machine previously used a 330M processor. The F series notebooks get a USB 3.0 port now as well. Sony also says that the Signature collection is coming back, but offered up no other details on the collection.