Hasta La Gadget!

Logitech had a definite winner on its hands with the Ultrathin Keyboard Case for iPad, a Bluetooth keyboard that attaches via magnets built into the iPad, protecting the screen and adding only minimal thickness. Now, there’s a successor designed for the iPad mini that comes in an appropriately shrunken down package. Of course, making a keyboard smaller doesn’t always produce the best results, but in this case, Logitech strikes a good balance.

• MSRP: $79
• Three months of battery life (based on two hours daily usage)
• Availability: Preorder now, with availability sometime later this month
• 7.33mm thin, weighs 220 grams
• Available in black and white (and red in select markets)

The Logitech Ultrathin is a good-looking device that matches up really well with the iPad mini’s design. My review unit is black, and the case’s matte finish pretty much perfectly mirrors that of the iPad’s rear case. Side-by-side and face down, the symmetry is such that you could easily pick up one thinking it was the other if you aren’t paying close enough attention. The two surfaces also feel the same, which speaks volumes about Logitech’s attention to quality with the Ultrathin’s construction.

The magnet spine that attaches to the iPad itself snaps into place with a satisfying click, and lines up well when closed. The face of the keyboard features a shiny black plastic, which, while not as classy as the iPad’s glass surface, does a good job of mimicking its black bezel visually, to keep the whole design symmetry experience consistent.

The Ultrathin’s keyboard is the part upon which everything hinges, and Logitech has pulled out all the stops to try to provide a typing experience that doesn’t feel compromised, despite the extremely limited real estate available given the iPad mini’s small footprint. To make it work, Logitech has combined a number of function buttons, reduced key size and cut down on the space between them.

The keys themselves feel great, and offer a nice response when typing despite how thin the cover is. But the experience isn’t without compromises. Typing on the keyboard will prove a frustrating experience at first for anyone used to using a full-sized keyboard. But the good news is that the number of errors you make starts to taper off pretty quickly, and in very little time, you can even feel mostly at home on the Ultrathin keyboard, though placement of some elements like the Shift keys never quite feels perfectly natural.

While the typing experience isn’t perfect on the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard, it’s about as close as you can get without adding a lot more bulk to a Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad mini. It still dramatically increases your ability to enter text, and beats using the software keyboard by a very wide margin. If you’re looking for an iPad mini keyboard that maintains the smaller tablet’s considerable size advantage over its big brother and still greatly improves the experience of typing anything longer than a tweet.

Let’s face it: HTC may have its hopes pinned on its not-so-secretive M7 smartphone, but sooner or later the company is going to have to drop the codename and let it fly under another banner. As it turns out, that new name may be more familiar than expected — prolific leaker EvLeaks noted on Twitter just a little while ago that it would debut simply as the HTC One later this month.

I say “may,” of course, because ersatz leaks are just par for the course this close to an HTC unveiling. Then again, the Taiwanese company isn’t exactly great at keeping these sorts of things under wraps. If you’ll recall, the revelation of the original One series devices was spoiled just about this time last year, well ahead of HTC’s big Barcelona press conference at Mobile World Congress. HTC never puts much effort into debunking these sorts of claims (unlike, say, Samsung) so you can expect the company to remain stoic on the matter, but EvLeaks’ generally strong track record lends this rumor a fair amount of credence.

Granted, the move is a pretty clever one if true — HTC has spent the last year establishing the One series moniker as one worth paying attention to, and giving it up after making as much headway as it has would just be silly. Plus, simply calling its new flagship The One lends the device a certain cachet — it would be the culmination of the all the prowess expertise that went into crafting the already-impressive One series.

Oh, and in case you needed a little more to chew on, AndroidCentral points out that HTC CEO Peter Chou attempted to whip his employees into a frenzy at a recent year-end party by having them repeatedly chant “HTC,” “M7,” and yes, “HTC One.” Was it an awkwardly enthusiastic bonding exercise, or something more telling? Either way, the answer should be revealed very shortly.

Twitter has announced that they have added some new user interface languages that nobody gives a damn about. Their biggest achievement: including LOLCAT as an option. Yes, people, they have localized their entire user interface using the stupid wording from the lolcat memes. You are so clever, Twitter. More »

Cloud storage service Box always seems to be giving away free cloud storage left and right, and today is no exception. New users can sign up for an account and receive 50GB of space for free. This seems to be a “Dell Exclusive Offer,” but we’re seeing no restrictions here, meaning that it doesn’t look like you have to own a Dell computer in order to take advantage of the free space.

It could be that Dell is simply sponsoring the promotion, but given that it’s an “Exclusive Offer,” we can’t see where the exclusivity lies. Either way, if you’re not already signed up for a Box account, this is your chance to get 50GB of cloud storage space for free. They’ve given away 50GB free before, but that’s the highest that the company has gone with its promotions.

Box is about the only cloud storage provider that gives you a ton of space for free right away. Dropbox gives you 2GB after signing up, and you can earn more with referrals, but that can take some work. Box is really the only simple cloud solution that can be considered a viable backup resource.

Here’s the catch, though. Box only allows, at the most, 250MB files, so you might as well forget about backing up home videos. However, Box offers paid accounts that get rid a lot of the limitations that you’ll come across. Plus, 50GB for free may not seem useful now, but who knows when you’ll need it. Either way, it’s handy to have just in case.

Box offering 50GB free for new members is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We’ve seen racing games over the years use real-world roads in order to help make their game have a layer of authenticity most other games don’t. There are gamers out there who would prefer to race on real-world roads since they may not be able to get a chance to in real life, but a new PC game is taking this feature to another level.

Real World Racing is a top-down racing game for the PC that uses real satellite images to allow the player to drive through real-world roads. The game is currently in open beta and allows players to drive six vehicles across three maps from Rome, Berlin and London in single player, time trial and multiplayer modes. (more…)

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