The much hailed, aesthetically pleasing Smart Cover for the iPad 2 doesn't seem to be working as Apple would have you believe. Sascha Pallenberg of Netbook News was very displeased to find that the cover kept his iPad 2 neither clean nor protected after having purchased one at the recent SXSW Interactive event. He had been originally very enamored with the idea and with Apples' pervasive marketing campaign advertising the beauty and simplicity of the cover:

Apple announced the case with almost as much fanfare as it's vessel as the iPad 2 launch, and many have noted that it seemed like the event was tailored more to the various apps and accessories that the iPad 2 was bringing with it, including the HDMI-out cable, the new versions of iMovie and Garageband, and of course the array of Smart Covers specifically designed for the iPad 2.

Apple's website is suspiciously vague on the subject of protection, touting the case's magnetic features as well as its folding capabilities. Netbook News's Sascha Pallenberg was very, very blunt in his analysis of the case, saying

After years of discussion and appeal, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally approved the ".xxx" domain suffix for adult entertainment sites. Though it won't be for some time until the 281st domain suffix becomes applicable, the approval has generated quite the controversy nevertheless.

After browsing close to 100 articles on the subject and standing on the sidelines of the numerous anonymous comment wars of tech blogs, the only thing I could glean, for certain, is that the real beneficiary of the dot-XXX suffix would be the company that originally proposed it: ICM Registry. The Florida-based company initiated the process back in 2005, only to be inundated by protests and threats from religious groups and the Bush Administration, who even threatened to enact legislation to override ICANN if it ever approved the TLD suffix. The Obama administration doesn't seem to care, and I'm not entirely surprised.

Red Light Districts exist, whether by name or by principle, in almost ever major city. If you live in a metropolitan area, you're generally aware of those neighborhoods that contain Sex Shops, Adult Bookstores, Exotic Dancing (and in some cases, more lascivious services). Imagine if someone came to your city and built a warehouse that spanned twenty or so square blocks and named it, I don't know, something like The "ALL PORN IN THE HISTORY OF EXISTENCE IS LOCATED HERE, IN THIS WAREHOUSE. SERIOUSLY, ANY PORN YOU WOULD WANT OR COULD FIND OR HAVE EVEN DREAMED OF ONCE WHILE YOU WERE AT WORK OR IN TRAFFIC IS PROBABLY HERE WAITING FOR YOU TO DISCOVER IT" Building. And they wrote that on the top of the building, which you can conveniently see from space.

This is something I've complained about for years but it seems the big players are only just realising this. It won't stop though as I'm sure AMD are bending over backwards trying to get contracts for next-generation console GPU/APU - yet, wonder why PC gaming is suffering... on with the story! AMD's worldwide developer relations manager, Richard Huddy blames Microsoft and more precisely, DirectX for the lack of great looking games on PC.

Huddy sounds like he's pissed off and rightly so. There is so much more horsepower in a single mid-range GPU when compared to current-gen consoles yet the graphics we receive on PC is barely any better. Should this mean we should pay less for our games? PC's get higher resolutions, AA/AF options, but at the end of the day we're simply not seeing the leaps and bounds we used to in the 90s when the PC was the lead innovation for gaming.

Gateway are rolling out some new AMD Vision equipped notebooks shortly which deliver 'enhanced performance capabilities for mobile computing'. The cream of the crop is the Gateway NV51B05u which sports an AMD E-series processor E-350 with Vision Technology and AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics, both of which allow a user to have a perfect 1080p HD experience and to play casual games - all for just $469.99.

The Gateway NV Series feature a decent ingredients list, full-sized keyboard, 15.6-inch HD widescreen with UltrabrightT LED-backlit display, three USB ports and a HDMI port.

Senior product manager for Gateway notebooks, Eric Ackerson said:

The news is grim for fellow Heavy Rain fans with developer Quantic Dream not interested in making a sequel to its multi-BAFTA winning PlayStation 3 crime saga. Quantic Dream studio boss David Cage confirmed the news at the BAFTA ceremony in London last night where the game picked up multiple awards.

Heavy Rain won awards for technical innovation, story and music - Cage also revealed that Quantic Dreams next game while "still very dark" will explore new territory. He goes on to say:

"We created the genre," he insisted, referring to Heavy Rain's brand of interactive storytelling.

The swipe of AT&T's ultra-platinum-super-crazy credit card can be heard the world over with news appearing today that AT&T has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approx. $39 billion.

The agreement has been approved by the Board of Directors of both companies, Deutsche Telekom will receive an equity stake in AT&T that gives it an ownership interest in of approximately 8-percent. The deal also allows a Deutsche Telekom representative to join the AT&T Board of Directors. The deal is meant to be sealed, awaiting regulatory approval within the next 12 months.

AT&T will of course enjoy the T-Mobile customers, but they're also now owners of T-Mobile's (Long Term Evolution) network assests which will improve network quality for both customers' customers and gaining more of the limited wireless spectrum. With the transaction, AT&T is committing to a significant expansion of robust 4G LTE deployment to 95-percent of the US population to reach an additional 46.5 million Americans beyond current plans - this includes rural communities and small towns.

Volition have come out and said that they still love themselves a bit of PC gaming lovin' even with the onslaught of other developers blaming piracy on PC for lack of sales. The THQ-owned studio has taken a different approach to it with Volition studio manager Eric Barker saying:

He continues with:

Microsoft have shown off its goal for its next-generation gaming platform, the video below is dated from May 2010 so it's quite a bit old now but it shows the direction Microsoft have in mind for their ever-growing gaming platforms. The video shows off some concepts and principals of what the WGX (Windows Gaming Experience) team hopes to achieve. We see a blend of Windows, Xbox and mobile platforms being merged into one.

The video shows off some Kinect action and gives a bit of hugging action toward PC too, remember Microsoft being quoted as "doubling down" on PC gaming. The companies WGX team which is comprised of all gaming-related attempts between Microsoft platforms has been quite hard at work, obviously. Let's hope that this work goes toward something new and exciting.

A LinkedIn ad that has since been removed gives you more of an idea of the team's work:

An hour ago, Sony announced they were joining the relief effort in Japan through a direct contribution interface within their PlayStation Network.

PSN users can find the donation page under "Aid Japan", listed under New Releases on the PlayStation Store. For your donation in the amount of $2, $5, $10, $25, or $50, Sony is offering a free PlayStation 3 Theme (around $3 value). All of the donations go directly to the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund via the American Red Cross.

With a multitude of ways to get involved, there is no reason you shouldn't take advantage of at least one of them.

The drink that allows most of us to study for exams or keep going despite knocking back four sake bombs in a row has launched a widespread augmented reality marketing campaign for their 12-Packs. Utilizing racing celebrities like Cole Whitt and Kasey Kahne as spokespeople, Red Bull has launched Red Bull Augmented Racing, an iOS app allows you to design a racetrack with all 12 of the cans.

All the player has to do is find a fairly open space and arrange the 12 Red Bull cans in the shape of what, ideally, is a bird's eye view of a racetrack. With their iPhone, the user loads the Red Bull app and proceeds to "track" the top of each can. The application then creates a racetrack using the relative positions of the cans, which the user can then race and subsequently upload to the Red Bull site and/or Facebook. Players compete by racing for best times in various user-created tracks, including those created by Kahne and Whitt themselves.

For Cole Whitt's promotional video, and more information about the experience including how to download, go here.