Author: Toby Leftly

I’m probably not one of Microsoft’s biggest critics, but I’m certainly no fan. I was however pleasantly surprised when they announced Windows Phone Series 7 back in February. Apple might be riding high in the mobile world right now, but the one thing that will ensure Apple remains sharply focused is strong competition. Microsoft has been plunging the depths of mobile user interface with Windows Mobile, the single least innovative, ugliest and poorest performing of all mobile platforms, so it’s announcement of a new mobile platform that isn’t built around the concept of squeezing MS Office…

Electric robot lawnmowers? It’s been done to death. Nothing is cooler than eco-tech right now, but this gadget takes it one step further: Knight Industries Two Thousand could be out there cutting your lawn right now. The new Husqvarna Automower is sleek, cool and best of all, you don’t need a cheesy 80s mullet to own one. The Automower is rechargeable and has a solar panel on top for additional charging. Turbo Boost and a wrist watch remote control are sadly lacking. Husqvarna’s site details the feature list in full, but starting at $1299 you really would think you’d be able to jump in and drive on over…

Mike Beltzner, Director of Firefox, presented a slide show to the Mozilla community, outlining possible new features planned for Firefox 4, although he was careful to warn that the feature set was far from final. The slide show, which can be viewed here on SlideShare, starts with groundbreaking research questions, such as “who uses Firefox?” and “what are those people trying to do?”, leading to the revolutionary conclusions that “speed, power and control” should be central to the browsing experience. Insightful industry analysis aside, the Firefox team has broken down it’s key demographic…

Twitter says it has now fixed the bug which allowed people to force others to follow them. The loophole, that one could simply type ‘accept @LadyGaga’ to force Lady Gaga to follow your tweets was closed, but not before being passed around the social networking took. Originally found by a Turkish man known as bilo31, the bug did not disrupt service but Twitter was forced to reset many accounts while cleaning up the damage. Other than Lindsay Lohan being subjected to the banal musings of Stu from Pennsylvania, the devastation was relatively mild. Had the hack been widespread, spammers could have…

If you’ve ever wanted to blow up something really small, you know how difficult it can be to find the right tool for the job without getting into a ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’ kind of scenario. Now there’s just the thing. This tiny cannon is surprisingly powerful, using 3.2mm ball bearings to shoot tiny holes in various household items. The captivating part is what’s left unexplained. Why is he blowing up eggs, light bulbs and drinking glasses right next to his computer keyboard? Why would anyone make such a thing? Has Vern Troyer ordered one yet? Either way, this is yet more evidence that the world…

Last week Google released it’s updated search page, with a slightly new look and easier navigation in the sidebar. Predictably, some people will complain that they preferred the logo, what was Google thinking, how in the world will they live now that the Google logo is a slightly different color, etc. Worry not, Google’s got you covered. If you miss the old page you can have it back by visiting this link. There’s no indication of how long this page will be available, but come on – the new logo is cleaner, brighter and simpler, and the changes to search are all welcome improvements. Embrace the new! Source:…

The laws of new technology dictate that when one technology trend is successful, it can, nay must spawn a thousand follow up add-ons, also-rans and tie-ins. Twannotations is the latest addition to the successful Twitter platform, the idea being that you can add the letters T and W to any English word and create an add-on to aid you in your tweetings. Twannotations will Twallow you to add Twadditional information to your tweets outside the 140 character limit. For example, you can tweet 140 characters about how you really can’t fit much information in a single Tweet, then add your mood and some keywords…

It’s what you’ve been praying for – you can now send the Pope a text. The Vatican has launched a service in Italy that allows people to send text message of support to Pope Benedict XVI. As the church reels from yet another pedophile scandal, the text service was introduced to allow catholics to show their support without being present at Saint Peter’s Square. A German priest on Saturday admitted he had beaten children at a Catholic orphanage, and is also being investigated on charges of  pedophilia. The number to send your text to is +39 335 18 63 091. Pope Benedict says he will be chillin’ at the mall…

Do you like your desk? If you’re lucky enough to work at home, and I’m fortunate enough to be one of these lucky people right now, you probably had big plans for creating the ultimate workspace. If, like me, you’re also a massive procrastinator, you’re probably just sitting at a plank of wood resting on two large crates. Some have higher hopes for their desk. Like 10,000ft high. The Clipper CS-1 is the ultimate in pilot geek chic, designed originally for CAD operators, the idea is for total immersion and zero distraction. While it may look a little claustrophobic, in the event of an emergency the exits…

The first fruit of HP’s acquisition of Palm will be a Web OS-enabled tablet device due out in the second half of 2010. Codenamed “Hurricane”, the HP tablet which is presumably the same device running Windows 7 that was recently scrapped will be the first product of HP and Palm’s union, which is due to be finalized at the end of July. HP has strong plans for Web OS, including building upon the base created by Jon Rubinstein’s team and emphasizing developer tools, and clearly wants to get a product out before Apple’s iPad seals up the market. It is unknown at this point whether the device will run Flash,…