Even if you forgot your laptop at work or your PC crashes just as you’re about to print a coupon for a late night trip to the store, you can forget your worries if you’re going to print using the new HP TouchSmart Printer.

Today in San Francisco, HP shared the news of a new addition coming to their TouchSmart technology family. Finally, a printer made for the tech-savvy generation. And it’s just a little bulky.

The TouchSmart technology has already been used in HP’s TouchSmart computers. Used in this line of printers, it will allow users to access and print from the web using only the 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen on the printer. The main web-printer relationship will stem from the HP Apps Studio, which will be built into all printers of this line. Various apps will allow users to print maps, news updates, photos from online storage sites, printable coupons, movie tickets, and more. Current partners include Google, USA Today, Coupons.com, Dreamworks, Web Sudoku, Weathernews, and Nickelodeon.
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Digital frames are popping up everywhere these days. Even my grandmother received one for her 85th birthday, right along with a pair of fuzzy, pink slippers. I’m pretty sure that even if she did know how to work it, it wouldn’t tweet. And yours probably can’t tweet, nor can it view pictures on Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa. But the new SilverFrame, the latest and greatest digital photo frame from SilverPac, can do all of the above.

This 10.1-inch touchscreen-operated digital frame is Wi-Fi enabled and actually connects with several photo-sharing social networking sites. But really, it’s more like a mini computer than it is a digital frame. Windows CE 6.0 R2 is the operating system, supporting Windows Sideshow and Live FrameIt. It is also Bluetooth-enabled, allowing users to send images directly to the frame from their mobile phones. Additionally, the SilverFrame has USB ports and a multi-card reader, just in case you’re set on uploading pictures the old fashioned way. Images can be stored on the SilverFrame’s 1GB of onboard memory, and two 1.5W speakers provide impressive stereo quality sound. The SilverFrame even comes with an IR remote control and AC adapter.
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Verizon Claims It Will Sell the Pre in Six Months

As if yesterday’s news that AT&T plans to sell the Palm Pre weren’t enough to keep the Internet buzzing, Verizon’s Chief Operating Officer, Lowell McAdam just announced that his company plans to sell the Palm Pre as soon as six months from now. In addition to their plans to sell the Palm Pre, Verizon also announced that they plan to begin selling the new Blackberry Storm around the same time. That, of course, comes as no big surprise, as they were already the exclusive carrier since last year.

While AT&T and Verizon will most likely benefit from the shared sales of the promising-to-be-popular Pre, it is Palm that is will reap the greatest harvest. Allowing other companies to share in the selling (and having such a short-lived exclusive contract with Sprint) was a smart move on Palms’ part, which is already glowing in the 11 percent uptick of their shares. The increase in their shares came about after yesterday’s announcement that AT&T would also be selling. (By contrast, Sprint’s shares dropped by 3 percent.)
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With the economy in the pits, frugality is quickly becoming fashionable. Not only is the thrifty giving up their landlines; they’re opting out of their cell phone plans as well! As a penny-pinching alternative, they are purchasing prepaid phones—an alternative that was once deemed as financially savvy as taking out a payday loan.

When cell phone rates dropped to under $50 a month, pagers became obsolete. And, although cell phone plans may not become obsolete, they are certainly facing stiff challenge from the prepaid market. In recent months, the prepaid market grew three times faster than the contractual plan market. Affordable prepaid rates along with the flexibility they offer are giving wireless services a run for their money. T-Mobile recently gained a huge book of business from the prepaid crowd. For the first time ever, they had more prepaid customers than plan customers.
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The gaming industry is not winning at its own game, as the recession took its toll over the month of April. After months of weathering the storm, the video game industry saw a sharp dip during the month of April—to the tune of 17%.

The balancing news is that the 17% slide may be a mere hiccup, since it is a decline only when compared to the April 2008 revenue when the market rose a whopping 50% from April 2007 quotes. From an alternate statistical perspective, sale records for all gaming units have gone down by only 5%. The scary 17% drop reflects a general slump in sales for the month.

The good news for Nintendo is that the popular DSi broke the trend by selling 1-million+ units over April. These sales outstripped the Wii, Xbox, Playstaion, and other gaming consoles by incredible margins. In fact, DSi sales were up by 84.7 percent, while every single other gaming unit was in a slump for the month.
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Anti-piracy technology is important—even if it can be annoying. For Microsoft, it has always been known as Windows Genuine Advantage—WGA. Its bad rap in the past is not due to the fact that it foils piracy. We would all agree piracy-busting is a good thing.

The bad thing is that it has often foiled honest users, too. In fact, 500,000 Windows users in early 2007 were understandably enraged when the oh-so-protective WGA software mistakenly identified their copies as pirated. Later in 2007, the over-eager WGA coughed again, once more enraging legitimate users who were consigned to use a humbler version of their Windows software for the duration of the glitch.

Microsoft is trying to dismiss all of that as a bad dream.
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The Apple rumor mill is churning out fresh rumors at an alarming pace. The latest round, as reported by Ars Technica’s Chris Foresman, centers on MacBooks and the supposedly coming soon Apple tablet.

According to a report a “favorite” source of the Web site 9to5Mac, Apple is working on netbook or tablet with a 10″ screen. This would seem to verify other speculation that’s been making the rounds lately, but the project is apparently being kept “under lock and key” (probably literally, in this case) so no other details are included.

Also according to 9to5Mac, speed bumps are coming to the entire MacBook line, including internal 3G wireless networking hardware and non-removable batteries on the 13″ MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro to match the ones already installed on the 17″ MacBook Pro. According to the rumors, Apple will release these new MacBooks along with their tablet at WWDC in June.

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AT&T is angling to keep its exclusive iPhone deal until 2011. The arrangement is set to expire this year, but the telecom giant would like to keep the blockbuster device tied to its network — and away from other wireless rivals.

According to the Wall Street Journal, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wants Apple to stick with Ma Bell for an additional few years as the company continues to expand and strengthen its wireless network. Stephenson plans to embrace wireless service as customers’ primary telephone service — he wants customers to be able to use a cell phone in a service bundle instead of a landline, for example. Because iPhone users tend to be extensive users of AT&T’s data service, AT&T likes keeping the device around to help “future proof” their infrastructure.
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Apple followers and Windows devotees alike are abuzz over the rumors, spawned from the Wall Street Journal report, that Steve Jobs is cooking up “a portable device that is smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch.” - (WSJ). In other words, “he’s working on a cool new computer that is about… yea big.”

So… what is it? Let the speculation begin.

And so, speculation takes off on its careening course-sure to start arguments, inspire hateful comments, and keep bloggers busy. But it sure is fun.

So, here’s a bit of speculation. Assuming we have in the not-so-distant future a tablet-like device or a netbook being produced by Apple, what is it going to be like? Here are some general prognostications. Sorry, no pictures yet.
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