Google have whipped out their [Google] wallet and are paying more than $120 million for construction projects at their Mountain View HQ, including work on a series of new or previously secret hardware testing labs, that are hinting at Google expanding interest in making consumer objects to combat rivals Apple, Microsoft, and more.

Included in these new secret labs, is a reported new secret consumer product under the brand name "@home", that is said to wireless stream music or data to other household devices. Google are also said to be modifying a lab for their "Project X", which seems to involve precision optical technology and be part of the secret technology projects that Google co-founder, Sergey Brin is heading.

The biggest project in this expansion is said to be a "Google Experience Center", which is at the core of the Googleplex. The 120,000-square-foot center is said to be a kind of private museum for Google's most importan clients and partners, where they plan to "to share visionary ideas, and explore new ways of working" with up to 900 VIPs and other important guests.

It seems as though Samsung have just announced their first line-up of tablets for 2012, by announcing the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0). Samsung have said that this is the perfect "personal on-the-go device" and will be made in both 3G and Wi-Fi variants. The Galaxy Tab 2 will launch in the U.K. and then globally in March.

JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics has said:

Dem be fightin' words from Samsung... Samsung's AV Product Manager said in an interview today, that "TVs are ultimately about picture quality. Ultimately. How smart they are...great, but let's face it that's a secondary consideration".

We all know that picture quality is important, but what if Apple can come along and truly redefine what we think about TVs? Gesture control, voice-controlled, iTunes-powered, and more? Apple could truly come in and change everything we think we know about TVs, just like they did with the iPhone.

Let's also think that most people don't even know the difference, or can't see the difference, between 480p, 720p and 1080p. I personally have many friends, who could not tell the difference between an XviD clip, and a 1080p clip. To me, the difference is day and night. To people who buy a $600 1080p screen, versus a $4000 1080p screen, they can't see a difference. All Apple needs to do is use a good quality panel, and make it, different.

I'm a sucker for GPU-related anything, really. I've reported a few times on rumors or news of NVIDIA's upcoming 28nm spin dubbed "Kepler", with the GK104 part being the mid-range power-house that should have the socks of most people being knocked off, if they can get it right. NVIDIA have been rumored to launch some cards in the March/April time frame and it seems this could be correct.

First off, as always, here's some salt. Let's get into it: SemiAccurate are reporting that GK104 Kepler GPUs are in the wild, and are being testing by AIB's (add-in board partners). Reports have come in to SA, where they're hearing that people 'high up in the priority list' are receiving Kepler cards in disguise last week.

No numbers. No details. Nothing. But, this news is simple, it means that if AIB's are receiving actual hardware, it means NVIDIA are close to release. Usually, it's a 4-6 week window from AIB sampling cards to them hitting shelves. This should mean we'll see GK104 Kepler GPUs on the shelves in late-March, or April.

Since CES earlier this year, with all of the TV teases, smart TVs, OLED, and more, I began to feel my wallet shaking on the table. It shook more when I started checking out the leaked pricing on 2012 HDTV pricing, and oh boy am I excited.

HDGuru have entered my dreams and have released some advertising pricing on some new models from Sony and Sharp, with those models being the BX, EX and HX lines, and the 640, 745, 844, 847 and 945 lines from Sony and Sharp, respectively. Panasonic pricing has been revealed by Value Electronics and for Samsung, we're seeing preorders at Vanns, which even includes the preccioouuusss itself, their top-of-the-line 75-inch ES8000 priced at $7,999.

If the ES8000, $7,999-priced model is too much, how about the 46-inch model? That's just $2,699.

Microsoft have laid down some plans where they will open up four new retail stores over the next few months, with the first international stores opening up later this year.

This is all according to at least one person familiar with Microsoft's plans, says The Verge. The plans would see the Redmond-based company open up a brand new store in Palo Alto, California, and another in Austin, Texas. The funny thing about two of these stores? They will be opening during April, and they'll be quite close to Apple retail store locations in popular malls.

The same plans are said to include two new stores in the state of New Jersey, the first in Bridgewater, the second in Freehold. The New Jersey stores are said to be located in malls that also have Apple stores, and are expected to open up shop before the end of June.

Tim Sweeney, Epic CEO and Technical Director spoke at the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit, where he predicted that the number of platforms for games will shrink to three or four over time. He also added that consumer have many choices when it comes to gaming platforms with tablets, PCs, smartphones, Macs, consoles and new handhelds. He adds:

Sweeney also predicted that there would be new devices on the market, as well as new technologies for developers to tap into:

We reported last year about the Steam hack, but it has now been reported that the hack was actually quite a lot worse than previously thought. The server hacked did contain data such as usernames, hashed passwords, game purchases, e-mail addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card numbers, but Valve didn't find any evidence that led them to believe that any personal information was stolen, until now.

Valve have completed further investigation into the matter, and have stated that their preliminary conclusion was, incorrect. Newell has now said he believes the hackers obtained a copy of a backup file with data about Steam transactions made between 2004 and 2008. This backup file is said to contain usernames, e-mail addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit card numbers. One of the good things to come from this news is that no passwords were included in this file.

Even thought it's not guaranteed what the hackers did, or did not get from this file, Gabe Newell has come out and urged Steam customers to monitor their financial statements and make sure they use Steam Guard. Newell's full letter is below:

Here we go, again. Apple don't even let the dust settle on previous lawsuits against not only Samsung, but others, and today is no different. Apple are bringing a motion for preliminary injunction against Samsung's Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the U.S.

The latest motion is based on a handful of very powerful patents, which FOSS Patents have dubbed "the patent equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". Quite the title considering it's 2012 and all. FOSS' breakdown:

Really, Apple? Are you that scared of the Galaxy Nexus and Samsung's future, most likely, quad-core phones? That scared that all you can do is patent slap the competition instead of releasing actual ground-breaking new devices instead of "S" variants of 18-month-old smartphones? Release something magical, revolutionary, and I hope with all the power in the universe that the people you've pissed off with patents come back to haunt you.

Google have just updated YouTube for Google TV, where they say it is "making it faster and easier to find great content". By doing so, they've added YouTube channel pages, which gives you more control of your experience.

The update is available on the Android Market, and after its updated, you should see some pretty big improvements. First up, the app works faster with smoother navigation, which goes toward that 'better experience' they want you to have. Secondly, Google have added a new feature called "Discover". Discover lets you browse YouTube channels by categories.

This means you could be looking for a comedy, cooking content, or the latest news, making it easier to search through categories versus running a search and hoping for the best. Google have also updated the YouTube app with new channel pages. Now you can navigate through playlists and videos in your favorite channels, as well as having the ability to subscribe to channels directly from the YouTube app with just a simple click.