Value-conscious geeks are snapping up the last available units of Palm’s Pre and Pixi smartphones at huge discounts as the company moves across to new owner, HP. And at these prices Palm’s smartphones really do look smart. Take the flagship device, the Palm Pre Plus. Verizon Wireless is offering the 16GB, 3G-savvy touchscreen handset for just $29 with a two-year contract. Or, for the same price, you can get the Palm Pixi Plus, with Verizon offering a “buy one, get one free” deal for both models of phone. Verizon no longer charges for its Palm Mobile Hotspot service on either phone, so you can tether…

Microsoft may recently have scrapped its plans for the Microsoft Courier device, but that doesn’t mean the company is out of the tablet computing game, company chairman, Bill Gates, told FOX. Microsoft chairman Gates and billionaire investor (and friend of Gates) Warren Buffet were in conversation about the economy, technology, Apple and more. Gates observes his company doesn’t intend to cede the tablet computing market without a fight, despite the cancellation of Courier, “Microsoft has a lot of different tablet projects that we’re pursuing,” he said. “We think that work with…

So many Techi readers enjoyed the last iPad destruction clip, when we showed you the iPad being ground down to shrapnel in a blender we simply can’t resist bringing you this all-new Apple iProduct destruction meme – iPad in a microwave. Sure, the video clip is too long, but skip forward to 3:30 for the microwaving and 6:30 for Apple product fireworks, and if you work at Google or Adobe perhaps it will make your morning swing. …

The Japanese are freaky (and I mean that with utmost appreciation). Ranging from incredibly awesome to flat-out disturbing, the Japanese have produced an intriguing array of devices and inventions over the years that sometimes blow our minds to bits. But others have bewildered us. But while strange things are strange, they can also be cool. So we’re going to take a better look at some of the more disturbingly cool devices that have originated from the Land of the Rising Sun. We also promise that you’ll have a better appreciation for everything you own (and a few things that you don’t) after you are…

Get the pizza in, buy the beers and prepare to sign your autumn away on news Electronic Arts will release The Sims 3 for all three consoles and the Nintendo DS this fall. The Sims 3 is already a big seller on the PC and Mac platforms. Millions rushed out to pick up The Sims 3 on the PC/Mac last summer making it the biggest PC launch in EA’s history and the best-selling PC title in 2009. Now, EA says the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS versions of The Sims 3 are on the way. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will allow content creation and sharing online. The Wii versions gets an exclusive new area Beach…

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has introduced its first promo video pushing what’s positive inside the future BlackBerry 6 OS, set to ship in Q3. It’s an incredibly busy presentation, but you do get to see some album cover-based music navigation, an onscreen (virtual) keyboard, Facebook and Twitter clients, and a quick glance at the new WebKit-based browser. (Note. WebKit is also used in Safari and Firefox). Oh, and don’t miss the consistently touch-based interaction throughout this video as Research In Motion takes it to Cupertino….

Nokia today took the wraps of its most strategically important product designed to take on the iPhone and Blackberry in the smartphone market, the unibody Nokia N8. The N8 is the first Nokia phone to run Symbian 3 software and won’t ship until the third quarter. Features of the $493 device aren’t bad – a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon Flash, a 3.5-inch HD touchscreen and HD video capture along with video editing tools. Symbian 3 offers support for gestures such as multi touch, flick scrolling and pinch-zoom. The Nokia N8 also offers multiple, personalizable homescreens…

Soon you too could be sending or receiving unsolicited messages via Bluetooth from up to 65-metres (200-feet) or more away, as the new Bluetooth 4.0 standard has been finalised. Now we know manufacturers haven’t exactly rushed to launch Bluetooth 3.0 devices, but the new standard may interest some, with its low-energy mode and boosted range, up from 30-feet to 200-feet. Realistically, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) maintain the new standard will be of use to manufacturers of small devices, such as watches or remote controls, and to those creating network equipment. “Bluetooth…

No self-respecting Internet user can possibly have missed the many and varied Hitler parodies based on scenes from Constantin Films’ 2004 film, Der Untergang (“Downfall”). They’ve been everywhere, with one particularly hilarious example depicting the defeated German leader’s reaction on hearing the iPod touch lacks a camera. Now they’re gone. YouTube has begun removing videos that feature content from the movie because Constantin Films has suddenly decided to use Google’s Content I.D. system to take down the clips. Which is strange, as these things have been flying around the…

Strong iPhone and Mac sales and the continued dominance of Apple’s iPod drove the company to deliver a new record March quarter in revenue and profit. Admitting these results, chief operating officer Tim Cook also confirmed iPad sales so far have “shocked” company execs. Asked how the iPad compares to netbooks, Cook said, “To me, it’s a no-brainer. It’s sort of 100 to 0. I can’t think of a single thing a netbook does well.” Returning to the results, Apple CEO, Steve Jobs said: “We’re thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits…