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Let's say you liked adding GPS to your Nintendo DS. How about adding a Nintendo DS to your GPS? Toyota is trying just that through a new Smart Navi GPS unit in its Estima Hybrid minivan that will let passengers control the mapping system. Load up the Bluetooth-equipped Kuruma de DS cartridge and you can enter directions from the back seat instead of waiting for the driver's next chance at a red light. The automaker is also hoping to cut the "are we there yet?" levels of ennui to a minimum by providing trivia questions, hand-drawn map notes and a surfeit of tourist info. Mii characters speak out text information, and you can even use the car as a speaker system in the event your Starfox game needs that much more audio immersion. Estima buyers can get the new Smart Navi and Kuruma de DS in Japan on June 1st, although the $2,586 equivalent price for the GPS, the $92 cartridge and the cost of the Nintendo console itself might be too rich when you don't need a navigator to tell you that the princess is in another castle.

Have you ever wanted to preheat your oven while on the way home from work, or start your sprinklers while vacationing, only to remember you don't have the spare loot lying around for a network of smart appliances? A recent startup (that somehow eluded Kickstarter) called Electric Imp is about to make your wireless control / monitoring fantasies a reality with its soon-to-be-released, $25 web interface. It works much like an Eye-Fi card, and communicates with cloud services as well as other connected devices like your Android or iPhone via WiFi. The company is working hard to get the slots that work with the cards into many of the machines that we usually don't link up to the good ol' www -- but have often wanted to -- and it hopes to have everything in place later this year. This all sounds like a great deal right now, but just wait until your washing machine gets hacked and starts using scalding water on all your darks and delicates. More info at the source.

We all know that Android 1.6 isn't getting any newer, but it's now clear that customers pining for the I'm Watch will need to dig deeply and muster a final bit of tolerance. According to the Italian smartwatch creator, it's made a few changes to the device, primarily to allow for greater application compatibility -- hopefully this means something other than a stale Donut. As for delivery, the company will send out 300 I'm Watches by June 15th and will then use the next month to solicit feedback and conduct final tests. By July 15th, the company will resume delivery for its outstanding orders and expects to fulfill all current orders no later than September 15th. Customers who'd prefer to back out from the deal will have until July 15th to apply for a refund from the company, and as a goodwill gesture, it's offering a 15 percent discount for all those willing to endure the wait. For the complete details, just hop the break.

[Thanks, Darrell]

It's not hard to see that Americans love their mobile apps, and Nielsen can now tell us by how much. The average US smartphone owner circa mid-2012 now brandishes 41 apps, a pretty hefty 28 percent increase from a year earlier. They're preferring native apps to the web, as well: they're more likely to spend time with that direct port of Cut the Rope than the HTML5 version. Along with reminding us that smartphone owners are now in the majority in the country, Nielsen has added that there's a total of 84 million Android and iOS users in the US, or more than double what we saw just a year ago. We're a bit disappointed that the figures mostly exclude BlackBerry and Windows Phone owners, although they still paint a picture of a country that's entirely comfortable in its smartphone shoes.

There's been quite a bit of brouhaha over at xda-developers lately about changes HTC's made to the way multitasking behaves on the One X compared to stock Ice Cream Sandwich. We're not just talking about obvious UI tweaks here -- Sense 4's horizontal, card-like arrangement vs. Android 4.0's default vertical list -- but actual differences in memory and task management. While we're not running into any problems with our One X review unit, some users have noticed that background app are getting terminated too aggressively, so we reached out to HTC for comment. Here's what the company said:

HTC is aware of some questions in the enthusiast community about how the HTC One X handles multitasking and memory management for background apps. We value the community's input and are always looking for ways to enhance customers' experience with our devices. That said, multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience.

There you have it. HTC's definitely implemented some multitasking tweaks on handsets running Sense 4. Perhaps this is why battery life is so impressive on AT&T's One X? While we don't believe this is going to be an issue for most people, there's always the option of installing custom ROMs now that the phone's been rooted.

Plastic Logic has something of a rollercoaster history, having had to drop the QUE proReader before it even shipped and getting a $700 million cash injection that ultimately swung its attention to Russian schoolchildren. Unfortunately, the UK company's dreams of a self-branded e-reader are closing down along with its US branch. About 40 jobs are being cut in Mountain View, California, along with a smaller amount at its still-active British, German and Russian offices. The reduced headcount swings the focus to supplying e-paper screens to other companies, several of which are currently in talks. We're never fans of job cuts, but there is a silver lining to this cloud: the company's new flexible color e-reader screen could show up in more devices than it would have otherwise.

Google just launched its Knowledge Graph, a tool intended to deliver more accurate information by analyzing the way users search. Of course, with a desire to provide better search results comes a need for improved site-reading capabilties. JavaScript and AJAX have traditionally put a wrench in Google bots' journey through a webpage, but it looks like the search engine has developed some smarter specimens. While digging through Apache logs, a developer spotted evidence that bots now execute the JavaScript they encounter -- and rather than just mining for URLS, the crawlers seem to be mimicking how users click on objects to activate them. That means bots can dig deeper into the web, accessing databases and other content that wasn't previously indexable. Looks like Google is one step closer to success on its quest to know everything.

Sony's newest NEX and DSLR have already graced these pages -- albeit in decidedly unofficial fashion -- but the time has come for this duo of shooters to be revealed to the world with the blessing of their maker. In case you didn't catch the earlier leaks, the NEX-F3 is the replacement for the much-beloved NEX-C3 as the entry-level ILC from Sony, while the A37 slots in the same place in the company's Alpha DSLR lineup. Sony's also rolling out fresh glass for each this July, in the form of an E-mount 18-200mm, F3.5-6.3 zoom lens for $850, and an 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 A-mount telephoto unit that'll set you back $500. Both the NEX-F3 and A37 will come with kit 18-55mm lenses and cost $600 when they go on sale in June, which makes them quite competitively priced as compared to their competition. An enviable pricing position, to be sure, but can they deliver the imaging goods? Well, we spent time with each on a tour of San Francisco recently, so join us after the break for our impressions and some sample photos.

Sony NEX-F3 press shots

Sony Alpha A37 DSLR press shots

Just in case the world forgot which phone was first with 2GB of RAM, LG has pushed out another press release for its Optimus LTE2 which ships this week in Korea, just as promised. The detailed specs reveal this version ships with a 4.7-inch True HD IPS LCD, and while many of its specs (8MP camera, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU) are identical to its predecessor, it weighs in at an extra 10g, likely owing to the larger 2,150mAh battery. As mentioned previously it also has support for wireless charging and, naturally, the Optimus UI 3.0 detailed earlier. There's still no word on when we'll see this one outside of Korea but for now a few specs and pictures will have to hold us over.

Google Music users learned of a frightful new policy this morning that dictates a user may de-authorize only four devices in a year, out of ten total activations. While the policy is likely to go unnoticed by the majority of consumers, it instantly created a great pain for those who regularly flash ROMs to their phones and tablets. It seems the road to de-authorization hell is paved with good intentions, however, as Google has since responded to critics with the revelation that it'll introduce an activation system that accounts for such nuances.

We've determined through our own experimentation that Google has temporarily suspended the de-authorization limit of four devices, and while it's difficult to know how long this reprieve will last, we're hopeful that it'll remain in effect until Google implements this new system to recognize duplicate authorizations. Additionally, we've learned through our conversations with the company that users may, in fact, sign in to their Google Music account from any number of devices, and it's only when a tune is deliberately streamed that your smartphone or tablet will be added to the list of ten.

What's more, while the company was rather insistent that songs couldn't be streamed to multiple devices at the same time, it seems that Google's system of checks and balances is spotty at best -- we were able to simultaneously stream tunes to three devices without so much as a hiccup. Yes, the system eventually shook its finger at us, but it serves as a nice reminder to have fun while the insanity lasts.

Looking for a rodent to help you frag your way through the competition, southpaw style? The FCC may have just uncovered your new best friend: The Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse. Like the Cyborg RAT series, the Ouroboros features a sliding palm rest and swappable side panels to better fit your mitt. Unlike the RAT, however, Razer's rodent is completely symmetrical, and therefor, ambidextrous. While Ouroboros may not actually devour its tail, it can at least detach it, switching between wired and wireless modes with relative ease. The versatile vermin appears to pack nine buttons (the regular left and right triggers, three buttons on each side, plus the mouse wheel), a toggle for on-the-fly DPI adjustments, left / right trigger locks, compatibility for Windows 7 and MAC OS X and a charging stand. No word yet on the device's max DPI sensitivity or price point, but we'll let you know when Razer makes things official. In the meantime, feel free to browse the rodent's manual at the source link below.

Samsung's CES blitz included a tease of five new camcorders, but precious little in the way of launch details. Some of the mystery has ended, as two of the camcorders -- the QF20 and W300 -- are at last hitting US stores. The QF20 caters to the Internet crowd and, for $350, will let you upload your 20x-zoomed 1080p videos straight to Facebook, Picasa or YouTube without thrusting a computer into the process. If you're more concerned about your camera surviving a rafting trip than producing viral videos, the W300 will give you dustproofing, 15-foot waterproofing and 6-foot shockproofing in a pocketable form for a more frugal $160. We're still waiting on launches for the camcorders' closely-related F80, Q20 and W350 (pictured) cousins, but for now you can catch full details of the QF20 and W300 after the break.

It's like Highlights for kids, but with a decidedly techno-centric spin. The company known more for what it's put inside our gadgetry has just unveiled a new digital magazine, iQ, intended for the youthful, über-connected masses. Looking much like Flipboard in design and borrowing a live tile-ish approach, the internally-curated Intel webzine culls content from outside pubs and mixes it in with original and partner-contributed pieces to, as EIC Bryan Rhoads puts it, "tell... the bigger story of who we are as a brand." Indeed, it may do just that via the circuitous route of social recommendations, given that each news box grows in prominence along with its viral importance. There's no paid or free app to download, just a simple URL to link you to that dynamic "front page." So, if you feel your angst-ridden teenagers are in need of an industry-specific educational focus, this might be one site to add to their bookmarks.

With the exception of tweaks for new features like HD video and closed captioning Netflix's Silverlight-based web player has been largely unchanged for years, but today everything is being reworked. As detailed in a post on the company's blog, PC and Mac users (no word on ChromeOS) the size of the player controls now scale to the window they're in and replace words with icons. Other new features users will notice is the ability to preview additional episodes of TV series without stopping the stream, title information that pops up when the stream is paused and that full screen viewing now has the same options as the windows player. The finale tweak is that the back to browsing button that brings viewers back to their queue has shifted from the bottom right to the top left. Hit the blog for the full breakdown, or just expect a surprise tomorrow when you're watching Downton Abbey at work Drive in the comfort of your own home during leisure time.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

It's a ritual: we publish a review of a laptop with a 1366 x 768 display, the best-rated comment is from someone crying out for 1600 x 900 -- nay, 4K resolution. If you're in the latter camp, you're going to be disappointed by even this article, but for those of you who've merely been craving something, anything crisper than mere HD, we have some hope: Samsung is mulling the idea of a 13-inch, PLS display with a 1920 x 1080 pixel count. Earlier today a company rep told a group of reporters that the PC division is considering a 1080p panel of that size, which would be unusual, to say the least. The outfit isn't ready to make any promises, much less commit to an ETA, though we can't say we'd be surprised if the company made such a display for its 13-inch laptops first -- after all, for instance, some of its 13-inch panels make use of IPS-like PLS technology, whereas its 15-inch ones don't yet. We'll let you decide if that's even necessary -- both the 13- and 15-inch Series 9 already have 1600 x 900 resolution -- but suffice to say, the company has a good track record of squeezing in extra pixels when other ultraportable makers don't.

By any means, this is certainly far from being one of the biggest changes Gmail's ever seen -- still, it's one that's likely to make a few tasks a wee bit easier for you. Inside the recent tweaks, Google added a new quick access trait that makes contact details -- such as phone numbers -- show up automatically in search results within your cherished G inbox. Additionally, the Android-maker has improved the Google+ integration (again), now allowing folks to narrow down conversations from specific Circles in the search box (you know, something like Circle: Awesome Engadget editors). Google says the changes will be rolling out over the course of the day, but in the meantime, you could always check out what exactly happens behind Gmail's closed doors.