You're familiar with the saying “Go big or go home?” Well, it doesn’t exactly apply to the tablet market nowadays, but the tide could turn soon enough. One of the biggest ongoing battles is for the small tab crown, with Google, Asus, Amazon, Apple, but also Acer fighting each other guns blazing. Meanwhile, the bigger throne remains in Cupertino, Calif., with only Samsung (timidly) trying to steal the 9.7-inch iPad’s thunder. However, if we are to trust newly emerged online reports, Amazon is planning to spread its Fire instead of cooling it down. The next generation of the company’s Kindle Fires will...

Remember my review of the task management app known as Astrid last week? Well, my timing may have been lousy. Astrid announced on their blog today that they’ve been acquired by Yahoo!, and it’s an ominous announcement. Here are the two ominous parts: Over the next 90 days, Astrid will continue to work as is, and we will no longer be accepting new premium subscriptions. To make future changes as easy as possible, we’ll be in touch with users shortly to share how to download data. And: *Note: Yahoo! will be administering refunds to eligible users who have paid for annual subscriptions, Power-Pack and Locale Plugins. I...

A few days ago we caught a few leaked images of Acer’s updated mini tablet, the Iconia A1. A next-generation of Acer's Iconia B1, the “One-Handed” device features a brilliant 7.9-inch IPS display, arguably better specs, and clearly a better price-point than Apple’s latest iPad mini. If you’re in the market for an ultra-portable slate, this should be on your list of items to scout, especially now with official pricing and availability information announced. Specs-wise, our report from the other day was majorly on-point. Acer‘s Iconia A1 (A1-810) will pack a quad-core 1.7GHz MediaTek processor, an advertised seven-hour battery life, micro-HDMI input, a microSD card...

Who said high-end 10-inch Android tablets are not attractive anymore just because they’re much pricier than 7-inchers like the Nexus 7 or Amazon’s Kindle Fires? Well, a lot of people, but Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z is bound to make you rethink that. With a splendid design resembling the Xperia Z phone, a stunning Full HD screen, outstanding hardware, up-to-date software, plus water and dust protection, it’s pretty difficult to ignore Sony’s latest 10-incher. True, the thing is not exactly the most budget-conscious around, but it’s probably worth every penny of the $500 Sony is asking for it in the U.S. Available for...

This Kickstarter project has funded pretty quickly over the past couple of days, and I certainly expect it to overfund significantly before the campaign is over. The concept behind the Siva Cycle Atom is using a bicycle as a generator to power a battery pack, which can be used to charge electronic devices via USB. The Siva Cycle Atom is designed with top of the line magnetic rotors and powerful lithium batteries. As you ride, it harnesses the kinetic energy to directly charge a device or store the energy in a battery. The Atom is for the modern commuter cyclist, the urban biker, the...

By Christina Jones The Android app has already been released, but the iPad app for Google Fiber is now available. It doubles as a remote, allowing users to search TV programs, on-demand shows and movies, and schedule recordings. These can also be viewed directly from the iPad. It isn’t yet available for the iPhone, but is reportedly going to be released soon. Google Fiber is currently available only for residents of Kansas City, Kan. and Kansas City, Mo., but will be available in Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas soon. The high-speed Internet and TV service launched last November, proclaiming to be the world’s fastest Internet...

By Stephen Silver Google, as you may have noticed, discontinues stuff all the time. But when it does, my life is usually minimally affected. Remember Google Wave, which was supposed to revolutionize communications? I couldn’t tell you to this day exactly what that was or what it was supposed to do, and I just sort of shrugged when Google killed it in 2010. Google Viewer, Google Checkout, Google Health, GOOG-411, Froogle, Knol… these were all things I rather never used, or used once or twice and decided they weren’t for me. That’s part of what makes this week’s announcement of the impending...

Digital Book World posted an excellent article today about the Barnes & Noble elephant in the room at DBW 2013. The big takeaway from this article was this statistic: "According to the most recent Codex survey, online selling accounts for 61 percent of book sales, but only 7 percent of discovery." That's huge. I'm one of those 61 percent. Sure, I buy all my books online, but I find new books and authors by browsing my local Barnes & Noble. And what happens if that local Barnes & Noble goes away? It's not looking good for them as a business right now. Well,...

Some people like to carry their iPads around in their hands. I’m not one of them, because I’m always afraid I’m going to drop it. A messenger bag is good, but sometimes it’s overkill. For those times, I like the AmazonBasics Netbook Sleeve with Handle. Like all AmazonBasics products, it comes in frustration-free packaging, and they mean it. Rip one tab, and you’re in. Made of neoprene, it’s light and sturdy. The padding goes all the way around, even on the bottom, so your tablet is completely protected. The handle is padded and makes it easy to carry. It has a little side pocket, which sets...

Few things can make for more of a fun personal experience than hitting the open road and bringing along some books-on-tape. Of course, the modern embodiment of books-on-tape, audiobooks, are the easiest means of devouring a long tome when your eyes are busy with more important tasks than reading lines on paper. Understandably, audiobooks are not for all people. Personally, I too prefer good ol' paper-and-ink. But for those times when it’s impossible to curl up with a fat paperback, Audiobooks.com is now providing deals that are worth being seriously excited about. On Monday, the company announced that—coinciding with its one-year anniversary—it's now...

By Juli Monroe Last week I wrote an article for one of our sister sites, GadgeTell, on ways Barnes & Noble could remain relevant with the Nook line. While I stand by everything I wrote in that article, I missed an important point. One of the reasons I stay with Amazon and my Kindle Touch is because of the “Send To Kindle” feature. Send to Kindle allows you to treat personal documents the same as Amazon content, including syncing between multiple devices. It’s easy to use. After downloading and installing the app, simply right-click on a document, and Send to Kindle will be...

  By Juli Monroe | for Technology Tell Amazon released a software update for the Kindle Touch yesterday—Wednesday, January 10—and I’ve been trying it out. (Click here for software updating instructions.) My verdict? I really like it. There had been concern that Amazon would abandon the Touch when the Paperwhite came out, and I was glad to see it wasn’t true. I’d been thinking about the Paperwhite for two reasons: added fonts and the 'Time to Read' feature. Time to Read looked very cool, especially to someone who was coming from a Nook Color that told me how many pages were left in a chapter....