Google unveiled Chrome 25 beta today, with some notable improvements, such as voice search. Other changes include the disabling of silent extension installs, the inclusion of Web Speech API, and a new tab page that includes a search box.

Google's blog post announcing the new beta:

Using your voice to search on your computer or phone is handy, but there's so much more you can do with voice commands. Imagine if you could dictate documents, have a freestyle rap battle, or control game characters with your browser using only your voice. With today's Chrome Beta release, this future is closer than you think.

Mark down yet another rumor for the Galaxy S IV, though this one has a bit more weight behind it. Anandtech, while in the demo room of Samsung's booth at CES, saw the following, seen in the picture below, which has caused a bit of a stir regarding the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S IV:

The roadmap pictured above has several clues that point to this screen being the one present in the Samsung Galaxy S IV. For instance, the release timeframe is that which has been rumored by several other sites. The other screens line up nicely with releases of other devices, as well.

The likely screen to be in the next Galaxy S device should be a 4.99-inch, 440PPI full HD screen. Of course, like all rumors, take this with a grain of salt.

Colin Sebastian, an analyst for Baird Equity Research, has made a prediction that the upcoming PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 will launch for a price of around $400. Along with a prediction of price, the company is also providing a prediction that the new consoles will use high-end computer hardware that is readily available from the likes of Intel and others.

This isn't the first time we've heard the second prediction. In fact, it's been a common occurrence for rumors to say that this is the case. There are several benefits to using standard PC hardware, the main of which is that programmers don't have to learn a new technology or architecture. It would also allow game developers to program only once for one architecture.

If standard components are used, it also leaves the door open to the possibility of upgrading the components at a later time. Sony and Microsoft should also be able to keep updating the console with refreshes that use Intel's, AMD's or NVIDIA's latest and greatest parts.

Apple's stock dipped below $500 a share this morning after media outlets reported that Apple ($APPL) was decreasing iPhone 5 component purchases due to lowering demand. That is over a $20 drop from Friday's closing price.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that demand for the iPhone 5 has been lower than expected and cited "people familiar with the situation" as saying that Apple has cut its order for iPhone 5 screens in half for the March quarter. The Japanese daily publication Nikkei said that Apple has halved its initial order of 65,000 LCD screens from suppliers.

As if on cue, this news rattled investors, sending the stock into a downtrend. The stock started recovering shortly after falling below $500 and at the time of this writing, was hovering around $505 a share.

Two recent Research in Motion events has resulted in more than 15,000 apps being ported to the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system according to RIM's vice president of developer relations Alec Saunders. The so called Port-A-Thons have been a huge success in helping jump starting RIM's app offerings.

Both the Android Port-A-Thon and Community Port-A-Thon were designed to entice developers to port their popular apps over to RIM's upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS for cash and prize incentives. In what has to be some sort of record, the events topped out at their goal within a mere 38 hours.

The events ran from January 11th to January 13th, and offered developers $100 for every app ported, with a maximum of 20 apps set per vendor. Vendors who submitted five or more apps were entered into a drawing for 1 of 100 BB10 Dev Alpha devices. Research in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins has promised that BlackBerry 10 will launch with at least 70,000 apps, which actually does not seem like such a far off goal now.

Three students from the University of Toronto have designed a revolutionary new type of LED based light bulb that is orders of magnitude more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs.

The Nanolight is an LED based light bulb replacement that consumes just 12 watts of energy and produces 1600 lumens of light output. This is on par with a 100w incandescent bulb at almost 1/10th the power consumption. The new design claims to have solved the LED heat problem and has no need for an expensive aluminum heatsink.

The Nanolight has a lifespan of 30,000 hours and is estimated to cost a mere $50 in electricity over the full lifespan of the bulb. The company plans on producing a 10w Nanolight which would be equivalent to a 75w incandescent and cost even less to power.

BiblioTech library in San Antonio, Texas, is the first of its kind in the US. They are ditching the traditional public library model of vast amounts of paper bound books and switching to a much more modern and efficient e-books and digital media.

The library will feature around 10,000 digital titles, and is designed to "supplement" the area's traditional libraries. Those who like to visit the library and bring home a book need not to fear as BiblioTech will carry e-readers for you to check out. Checked out e-books will be programmed to be available for only two weeks, upon which the e-reader will be returned.

We all knew it was coming and rightfully so. Hardbound books are expensive, costly to maintain, and take up vast amounts of space. With dwindling budgets, falling public interest and rising book cost, the traditional library model is just not cutting it anymore. What do you think about the inevitable move from paper book libraries to digital only libraries? Is it a good thing, or something to be feared? Let us know in the comments below.

Lego has announced that they will soon be offering up the next-generation of their Mindstorms line. The new system, which is the third-generation of its line, will be the EV3. EV3 sports a bunch of improved features in both hardware and software, where it's headed to the classroom and will also be used in Lego League competitions. Soren Thomsen of LEGO Education told Forbes:

We gathered information from teachers and coaches to meet their needs. This is a strong new kit that should last for a lot of years.

Some of the new features being built into EV3's kit include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the ability to add memory to the units - which is something that the Lego League teams have been asking for - as well as the file sizes of the programs being streamlined. The new EV3 has a 3D instruction manual which should make it easier for users to see all the pieces from all angles, allowing them to design and construct their own robots.

In this world of iOS and Android dominance, the voice of Windows Phone isn't heard too much. Well, now we have something to go on. Forbes' latest report is talking about Qualcomm's CES keynote, in which Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ran onto the stage and spilled some numbers.

During his speech in the Qualcomm CES keynote, he said that the latest Windows Phone was selling "five times more devices than the same period last year". There are no exact numbers here, but if we go back to Q4 2011, we're looking at around 2.5 million units. Ewan Spence, who wrote the article for Forbes, he made:

A couple of assumptions, I make the range of Windows Phone handsets sold in Q4 2012 as being between 9,500,000 and 13,250,000 smartphones. My gut feeling is that the sales are at the lower end of this range, but I'd expect Q1 2013 to build on Q4 2012, mostly because the Windows Phone 8 devices were only available for half the quarter. So there's lots of room to improve those numbers over the next three months.

The tragic supposed suicide of digital activist, and co-founder of Reddit, Aaron Swartz happened just days ago and now Anonymous have stepped into the ring to play [hacking] ball. They leave a tribute message to Swartz, which says:

We tender apologies to the administrators at MIT for this temporary use of their websites. We do not consign blame or responsibility upon MIT for what has happened, but call for all those feel heavy-hearted in their proximity to this awful loss to acknowledge instead the responsibility they have - that we all have - to build and safeguard a future that would make Aaron proud.

The link to see it is here, and at the time of writing wasn't loading. I'm sure MIT will have the site updated shortly.