Motorola: a name that oozes with apathy amongst gadget aficionados these days. But what if we added the words "Android" and "Social" to the mix, would you once again take notice of the world's most invisible number 1 seller of handsets? According to BusinessWeek, Moto's Google-ified handset will feature an "iphone-like touch-screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a host of social-network-friendly features." BusinessWeek's sources say that the device takes its design cues from the Krave ZN4 while resembling a high-end version of the T-Mobile G1 from HTC (while selling for less). Apparently Moto has been shopping the spec-sheet and images around to carriers over the last few months in preparation for a Q2 2009 US launch (Europe in Q3 2009) for the MySpaceBook crowd. Unfortunately for Moto, we expect the market to be flooded with Android handsets by then.

[Via TechDigest]

Now that the Zune's most vocal (and deranged) proponent has apparently jumped ship, Microsoft is looking for some other method of gaining market share. The most recent report on reinvigorating the portable media player has Redmond execs looking low and high at talent agencies and production companies in hopes of "licensing exclusive original video programming." According to Richard Winn, director of entertainment development at Zune, the company is searching for "non-conventional programming that can capitalize on the device's social networking platform." Details are unsurprisingly scant at the moment, but Winn also noted that the outfit was looking for something that "iTunes or any competing service" couldn't provide. We hear Vongo's going for a song... just sayin'.

Thinking of quitting cold turkey? Good on you. Finding it a bit harder than advertised? Enter Ruyan America, the same folks who delivered the e-cigarette just over a year ago. The new Vegas is based on the same concept -- delivering nicotine to smokers without the harmful toxins that typically follow -- yet it's obviously shaped like a cigar. This disposal product provides around 1,800 mouthfuls of vapor and comes pre-loaded with a 16mg nicotine cartridge. Granted, Ruyan America doesn't claim that this thing will help you quit, but those who'd like to feel suave or give it a go anyway can grab one now for $45 (or a box of five for $200).

[Via I4U News]

It's bad enough when exams have to cater to horrific spellers due to their SMS-based vocabulary, but we're doing everything we can to make ourselves believe this latest report simply isn't true. Reportedly, a social analyst in Australia somehow believes that the wide range in spellings in a few popular names is due in large part to the fact that we spend way too much time as a whole conjugating and hyphenating in order to get text-based messages across. Said analyst was even quoted as saying that "the use of a 'y' instead of an 'i' has hit epidemic proportions, as has the use of 'k' over 'c'." Realistically, we're not about to believe the SMS craze is actually affecting children's names en masse, but please, do your next born a favor and give him / her the vowels they deserve.

[Via textually]

Amazingly enough, virtual doormen aren't exactly new, but it seems that they're becoming entirely more ubiquitous (and accepted) in today's society. Increasingly, more and more apartment dwellers are coming home to voices in the wall rather than a physical life form, but virtual doormen can still let tenants into their room, allow deliveries to be made and keep disgruntled in-laws out. As you'd expect, these firms rely primarily on an internet connection, a webcam and a couple of microphones, and while typical services can range from "$10,000 to $70,000 for installation and $6,000 to $30,000 in annual maintenance," that still beats the $250,000 or so it would purportedly take for a small building to be staffed with full-time, on-site doormen. The next evolutionary step? Androids answering the buzz, and subsequent hacks to gain entry into any room you please.

[Via ChipChick]

We know you've heard a lot of Zune 2 info today, but we've got the word on some other details and features that we thought our loyal, highly intelligent, and downright handsome readers would like to know. Also, the folks at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer have scored some quality hands-on time with the 80GB version, and you can see breathtaking video of the interface in action after the break. But first -- here's more goods on Microsoft's newest entry into the media player world:

• The new players will support lossless audio of the Windows Media variety (don't go screaming FLAC just yet)
  
• The WiFi is just b/g, so no n, a or x (the sexiest form of WiFi)
• Microsoft is still in the testing phase for battery life and will have numbers "later"
• You can manually sync up the player wirelessly on battery power, but you can't do auto-sync -- you'll need the dock for that action
• All your old accessories are said to work with the new models
• The screens are glass, not plastic
• Green is the new brown... but brown is sticking around on the 30GB models
• You can connect the Zune to an Xbox 360 to create "your own soundtrack"

[Thanks, Nikropht]

Though we certainly feel as if we've had this discussion before, gadgets are yet again being blamed for an increase in shyness around the world. 'Course, we doubt you'd need any fancy degree to understand the cause, but a Harvard Business School researcher and psychologist has insinuated that the ease of communicating in roundabout ways (read: not face-to-face) has caused an increase in the amount of people that feel shy in public. Essentially, it was suggested that "technology is enabling us to opt out of difficult situations and causing people to become more insular," but hey, it's hard to argue how much easier life is with a little texting mixed in, no?

[Via The Raw Feed, image courtesy of ABC]

Sure, there's a bevy of ways to effectively conceal the real you while out and about in public places, but Alice Wang's new lineup of Peer Pressure conquerors let you utilize surrounding technologies to boost your self-esteem (and your image). If you're not already rockin' the iPod suit to work, and don't want your cubicle buddies to overhear faint whispers of "Everybody Hurts" in the background, the two-sided headphones are for you. They play that sad, sad song into your ears, but emit a (presumably positive) song of your choice outwardly, giving everyone around you good vibes while you're down on your luck. Next up, the Popular Mobile software sporadically and continuously sends you fake text messages in order to show off just how popular you are whilst in a group of higher-ups, and while we're not sure if each message come pre-programmed with fortune cookie taglines, it's a surefire way to flaunt your appeal. Additionally, Alice has designed the Fast Typing Keyboard in order to make your office mates think you can crank out 120 words per minute, and the Positive Printer helps printer snoopers discover awfully amazing things about you that the upbeat software spits out. Of course, we're not expecting these admittedly handy creations to make their way into Office Depot anytime soon, but we'd love to be proven wrong.

[Via NOTCOT]