Following an extraordinary result on Saturday, we are now left with a hung parliament and there is a lot of uncertainty in the air as to what lies ahead in Australia's immediate future.

Some say a part of the reason for it is due to so many mixed opinions and concerns between Labor's $43 Billion NBN and the Coalition's much cheaper $6 Billion broadband alternative. While on one hand we have a solution that is much more technologically advanced with future proofing, the immense cost that comes with it has people in discomfort about whether or not the country can really afford it. We all know one way or another Labor would be sucking additional pennies out of us as a result.

It's hard to know exactly what is going to happen at this point with regard to the future of our tech, but I think it's pretty safe to say Labor's mandatory net filter policy is all washed up, amongst other things. However, the NBN could still very much be moving forward with very little, if any change of plans. The Greens have made it clear they want it and with three rural-based independents along with AU's first-ever Greens member, the Lower House will be forced to support it.

LG may be a little late jumping into the smartphone business, but that's not stopping them from having supreme confidence in their new products getting ready to hit the market. They have plans for ten new smartphones and an Android tablet under their Optimus banner by the end of the year and sell five million devices globally across 120 operators.

Chang Ma, vice president of marketing for LG's mobile-devices unit, has high hopes; especially for the tablet. "Our tablet will be better than the iPad," he stated. "It's going to be surprisingly productive." The tablet will be based on the Android OS and focus on "the ability to create content instead of simply displaying it." No word yet on whether a wireless carrier will be involved in distribution of the tablet.

If you were so inclined, you could hack your PS3 right now to allow you to play games from the HDD or install homebrew software that you might want. The catch is that most of those hacking solutions involve opening up the case and voiding your warranty. That can be a big hassle for a lot of gamers.

A company called PS Jailbreak has announced a new hacking solution that doesn't require you to open up your PS3 or add any chips to the machine. It will work with the old fat PS3 and the new PS3 Slim as well. The device is a USB flash drive that you plug into the PS3. Once plugged in a GUI launches and walks you through the setup of the software.

Once you apply the software, you can store games to your HDD and play them just like you would on a disc. The hack also allows you to run and install homebrew software from any USB drive. Since the jailbreak tool is all software, you warrant remains intact in case you ever have a problem with your console the manufacturer's site is having issues today and has been down repeatedly. Pricing is unknown at this time.

External storage solutions have been around for a very long time and they are getting better all the time with more storage capacity and better performance. As the amount of data people store on their computers grows, the time it takes to back up a machine gets longer and longer. Many don't have the time or patience to wait for USB 2.0 backups to complete.

This is where USB 3.0 comes in with much greater bandwidth allowing large backups to be completed more quickly. Samsung has announced a new version of its S2 Portable external HDD that has USB 3.0 connectivity. The new drive uses a 2.5-inch HDD inside that spins at 7200 rpm. The drive also uses Samsung features to make it quieter when in operation.

Samsung uses onboard USB technology to allow the drives to be packed inside more compact cases to make them more portable. The new S2 USB 3.0 HDDs will be offered in 320GB and 640GB capacities and are set to start shipping in Europe this month. Presumably, the drives will come to the US but no estimates are offered at this time.

Intel and McAfee are two companies that most are familiar with. Intel is the largest maker of processors in the world and McAfee is one of the largest PC security companies around with antivirus software and more. Intel has announced that it plans to purchase McAfee at $48 per share in cash. The value of the deal is about $7.68 billion.

The purchase will allow Intel to offer a combination of software and hardware that will be able to better protect customers when they go online. Intel claims that the purchase will also improve its mobile wireless strategy. Presumably, that means more security for mobile devices like MIDs and smartphones as Trojans and other attacks become more common on these devices.

Intel reports that its board of directors and the McAfee board unanimously approved the buyout. However, the deal is still subject to other customary conditions. Those conditions include the approval of McAfee shareholders, regulatory clearances, and other specifics in the purchase agreement.

It wasn't all that long ago when it was thought to be impossible for man to set foot on Mars. But that hasn't stopped the likes of NASA researching continuously to find out if there's a way to accomplish it without kicking the bucket (short or long term).

However, recent studies have determined that a mission to the Red Planet would be a significant health concern for those willing to suit up for the 3 year return trip (if a one year stay on the planet is factored in).

Researchers at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have taken samples of tissue from nine US and Russian astronauts who spent around six months on the International Space Station. Biopsies were taken 45 days before launch and again on the day of return. The results showed dramatic muscle atrophy which was caused by a prolonged period in zero gravity.

Razer is one of the best-known makers of gear for PC gamers on the market. The company has all manner of mice, keyboards, and other gear for gamers. Many gamers and typists really like the feel of mechanical keys on a keyboard, but that is a rare feature on keyboards today. Razer has offered up a new keyboard specifically for gamers that uses mechanical keys.

The new keyboard is called the BlackWidow. It has mechanical key architecture for fast actuation and a longer life. The keys for the keyboard are programmable and there are five keys that can have macros bound to them for gaming. The keyboard also has ten customizable software profiles with on-the-fly switching.

Other features include 1000Hz Ultrapolling providing a 1ms response time and the key matrix for the keyboard is optimized for gaming. A full set of media keys is also offered and the keyboard has a gaming mode to turn off the Windows key. The dimensions of the BlackWidow are 475mm x 171mm x 30mm and the keyboard will sell for $79.99, which is surprisingly cheap considering it is mechanical.

Some of you may remember way back in October 2008 when T-Mobile's G1 was the first Android smartphone to hit U.S. shores. T-Mobile is taking that naming scheme for another spin by today teasing the T-Mobile G2.

The HTC Magic was rumored to be released as the G2 back in July 2009 but never surfaced. Now with the white color and after leaks of benchmarks by a T-Mobile employee, it's possible that the G2 is the dual-core HTC Glacier. Specs are at a minimum at this point, with T-Mobile only releasing that this will be the network's first HSPA+ phone that is "designed to run at 4G speeds." Check out the teaser page and sign up for updates here.

ASRock makes some nice mainboards for enthusiasts and gamers. The company has announced a new mainboard and has offered us the details of the board. The new offering is called the X58 Extreme6 and it uses the Intel X58+ ICH10R chipsets. The board is cool looking too with a black PCB with white and blue accents. The board has all sorts of nice features too like a front panel USB 3.0 port adapter.

The board supports Intel 1366 CPUs up to the Core i7 extreme edition processors. The board uses passive cooling with heat pipes and has six DDR3 DIMMS for system memory. Audio is supported up to 7.1 channel HD audio a Blu-ray playback is supported with the audio device along with THX. The chipset allows support for both NVIDIA SLI and CrossFire from ATI.

The board has a pair of SATA 6Gb/s ports with support for RAID 0/1 and JBOD. Four other SATA 6Gb/s ports are offered with support for normal HDDs and hot swap functionality. The rear of the mainboard has four USB 3.0 ports and a header for a single USB 3.0 port on the front of the computer. Pricing is unknown, but the board is very feature packed.

For a long time there were eReaders seemingly coming to market every day. Over the last month or so the eReader market has been quiet, I am sure that has a lot to do with the iPad. Apple is selling the iPad by the millions and can't keep up with demand and the thing works as an eReader and a lot more. Pandigital does have a new eReader that it is talking about called the Novel 7-inch color multimedia eReader.

The device has a glossy black bezel and weighs in at 11.8 ounces. The 7-inch screen has a matte finish (YAY!), supports touch input, and has a stylus that stashes in the side of the eReader. The reader and its color screen can be used to surf the web, read, view photos, check email, and watch movies. It also has a music player built-in.

The resolution of the screen is 800 x 600 and the reader can choose the font and create bookmarks as they please. An integrated dictionary lets you look up words you don't know and the reader has a virtual keyboard. The dimensions of the reader are 5.2" x 7.2" x 0.5" and it has 2GB of internal storage. The storage can be expanded with an SD card up to 32GB. The internal rechargeable battery lasts up to six hours and charges via an AC adapter. It runs Android for the OS and uses an ARM 11 CPU. The reader will ship next month for $199.99.

A long time ago, Logitech offered up what I think is the best keyboard ever made for general computer work - the Illuminated Keyboard. This wired keyboard is very thin and has backlit keys, which at the time it debuted was a feature only common to gaming keyboards. Today Logitech has unveiled a new keyboard called the Wireless illuminated Keyboard K800.

This keyboard lacks the super thin profile of the wired Illuminated Keyboard, but makes up for it to some extend by cutting the wires tying you down. The K800 uses the Logitech unified receiver to connect to the computer and that one receiver will work with compatible mice too. The keyboard has adjustable backlighting that can be dimmed or turned off.

The lighting also uses a proximity sensor that turns itself on and off when you had gets close to the keyboard or leaves the keyboard to conserve power. Logitech uses its PerfectStroke key system and the Incurve key tops for comfortable typing. The internal rechargeable battery can be charge with a mini USB cable while you are using the keyboard. You can pre-order the K800 now for $99.99.

ioSafe has been offering a rugged external storage device for a long time that connects to a computer via USB 2.0. The drive is special because not only is it rugged to survive little spills and bumps in the office on a daily basis, but the thing can withstand catastrophic disasters like floods or fire as well. That means that those irreplaceable digital photos or work documents can be saved even if the drive itself is unusable.

The only real issue that I have ever taken with the ioSafe offering that has been around was the fact that the USB 2.0 connectivity was too slow for large data sets. ioSafe has announced a new version of its external storage solution that has new connectivity methods that will make backing up lots of data much faster. The new ioSafe product is the SoloPro USB 3.0 HDD.

As you can gather for the name, the device has a USB 3.0 port. It also has USB 2.0 connectivity and has an eSATA port, all of which will allow the data backups to the drive to be much faster. The drive offers more connectivity and still keeps the rugged design and promise of data retrieval in the event of a disaster. The SoloPro will be offered in 1TB for $249.99, 1.5TB for $319.99, and 2TB for $419.99. All capacities will ship on September 1.

When it comes to video cards there are two big companies that most gamers choose from - NVIDIA and ATI/AMD. For a long time the cards to get were offerings from NVIDIA for many enthusiasts, though ATI is coming on strong with some of its recent cards offering good performance at a good price. Zotac is an NVIDIA card partner and has announced the availability of a factory overclocked video card called the GTX 460 AMP! Edition.

The new video card has 20% higher clock speeds than your average GTX 460 card. The video card has 1GB of RAM and has a core clock of 810MHz with 336 unified shaders and a shader clock of 1620MHz. The card also has a memory clock of 4000Mhz for the 1GB of GDDR5 graphics memory it sports.

Zotac bundles the special edition card with a copy of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands video game. Connectivity option includes HDMI, DVI, and DisplayPort. The card is also OpenGL 4.0 compatible, supports 3D Vision Surround, CUDA, and PhysX just as all other cards of the GPU family do. Zotac is mum on pricing and availability, but expect the card to cost a bit more than a normal clocked version does.

Along with several other major ISPs in the country, including Telstra and Internode, iiNet has just revamped its line of broadband plans and claims it has brought the first plan down under with a whopping Terabyte of included quota.

The heavy 1TB plan will become available as of this coming Friday. The 1TB is split down the middle with 500GB offered during on-peak and 500GB off-peak. The cost of this monster plan is much lower than you'd have otherwise thought, too. The plan will cost between $99.95 and $119.95 a month, depending on whether ADSL1, ADSL2+ or naked DSL is chosen and if you bundle the plan with a telephone service.

Business customers will of course pay a premium for this plan, but it isn't by a huge amount at up to $149.95. But it should be noted both uploads and downloads are counted towards the quota.

Asus is not doing well with its netbook shipments right now. The company has been shipping tons of the small machines, but over the last few months the netbook market overall has started softening as the market matures. The improving economy also means that more consumers have the extra money to buy a normal notebook rather than a netbook. One other big reasons that shipments of netbooks for Asus are slowing is the iPad.

Asus has announced that it has been forced to reduce its shipping estimates for netbook for the year. Asus has reduced its target shipment for its Q3 to 1.4 million units. That announcement came from an investor's conference on August 13 and was made by Asus CEO Jerry Shen. Asus also announced at the time that it was reducing its overall financial outlook for the year due to decreased shipments of mainboards, notebooks, and netbooks.

The decline is shipments resulted in Asus posting a decline in performance compared to Q2. Shen also reminded investors that Asus was getting into the tablet market. Asus has a $399 Android tablet coming to market along with a $1000 tablet running Windows. The downside is that those machines are not expected to hit the market until around December. In the meantime, Apple is selling all the iPads it can build and still can't meet the demand for the tablet.

Sceptre has been peddling some nice and inexpensive LCD TVs for a while now that come in a range of sizes. The sets can be purchased online and in retail stores like Target and more. One thing that many people who buy a new TV want and need is a place to set that TV for viewing. Sceptre has announced a nice new line of home theater furniture that you don't need tools to build.

If you have ever put together one of those DIY style wood entertainment centers that has all the screws and cams, you know what a massive pain the build process can be. The big feature of the Sceptre line of entertainment furniture is that the build process needs no tools and claims to be able to be finished in only a few minutes. The line includes three different pieces.

The three pieces include the Oracle at $499, the Stello at $399, and the Delano at $299. The difference in the three is the length and the weight they can support. The entire build process has six steps and needs no tools to complete. The furniture has glass doors and is finished in a dark espresso finish that looks nice. The entire line will ship nationwide in September. Check out a video of the build process below.

A while back Nikon unveiled a cool digital camera in its point-and-shoot Coolpix line that had a projector built in to share those photos and video on the camera with more people. The company has now unveiled a follow up to that original projector equipped camera called the Coolpix S1100pj. Compared to the predecessor, the new camera has more features and a better projector module according to Nikon.

The S1100pj is 40% brighter than the previous projector camera with 14 lumens of light output. That is certainly not that bright and will mean that you need a dark room to really see detail in the video and photos projected with the camera. Most pico projectors are questionable in even dimly lit room with more lumens than that. Still, the camera is interesting and has another cool feature the original lacks -- USB connectivity.

With that USB connectivity, you can project your computer screen onto a wall or other surface. The projector is capable of showing a 47-inch image from over 7-feet away. The camera also has a 3-inch rear LCD touchscreen. The CCD has 14.1MP resolution and has a 5x optical zoom Nikkor lens. Other features include 5-way VR image stabilization, ISO up to 6400, and 17 scene modes. Nikon will launch the camera in September for $349.95.

They say once you go Lian Li you never go back. Well, OK so maybe they don't say that but all of the Lian Li cases I have used over the years were much better than most other cases on the market. The big downside to Lain Li gear is that the company knows it makes good products and charges dearly for them. A Lian Li case sometimes costs as much as a netbook to purchase.

Lian Li has added a new HTPC chassis that might be just the thing for the living room computer user looking for performance and good looks. The case is offered in black or silver brushed aluminum finishes. It works with Micro ATX, Mini DTX, and Mini ITX mainboards and measures in at a svelte 445 mm x 167 mm x 325mm and weighs 3.2kg. The chassis also has a plethora of front mount ports and connectors to keep you from having to dig behind your HTPC.

Those front mount ports include three USB 3.0 ports, which is a very nice feature to have. Other front mount ports include HD audio, eSATA, and a SD card reader. The cooling system includes a pair of 120mm fans on the side of the chassis and PCI brackets with holes for better cooling. Additional spots for another pair of 120mm fans and an 80mm fan are also included. Inside the case is a single external 5.25" bay, modular drive cages for three 3.5" HDDs and three 2.5" HDDs and space for four expansion cards. Pricing and availability are unknown.

Despite all the constructive critisicm being handed back to him in layman's terms (due to being "no Bill Gates"), Tony Abbott is continuing to ignore industry experts who are outlining many flaws about the Coalition's alternative broadband policy to Labor's nationwide fibre network.

Last night on ABC's Q&A program he went on another wireless happy talking spree about it being the smarter choice. The Coalition have been questioning whether people will really need the bandwidth provided by a fibre network, while experts in the industry find this ludicrous.

John Lindsay whom is the carrier relations manager at Internode said the Coalition's broadband policy is ""just technical ignorance on a national scale and frankly Australians deserve better than that". He then went on to talk about why Wireless is inherently slower than fibre, explaining that it is a 'shared access medium' and is prone to drop-outs and spectrum constraints. Not only this, but he says that for a wireless network to be a viable substitute to fixed line ADSL, there'd need to be a wireless base station at the end of every major street.

Looking for the next big jump in smartphone processing power? It may be coming sooner than you think. Qualcomm's VP Mark Frankel stated that their dual-core Snapdragon processors with clock speeds up to 1.5GHz have been shipped to manufacturers and we could be seeing them in smartphones and tablets as early as the end of this year.

The 45nm QSD8672 Snapdragon has two cores that can each be used independently and could possibly improve battery life up to 30% over their single core predecessors. These chips also allow for full 1080p playback which will be great on the tablet front. It is expected that HTC will be at the front of the line to bring devices with the new dual-core processor due to their strong ties with Qualcomm.