Yesterday, at Google I/O, Google announced the latest extension of its empire, Google TV.

This technology could potentially revolutionize television, as it opens the door to many possibilities by  implementing the web into your TV screen with just a simple “Box.”

For a myriad of information on this new technology, make sure to stop by here.

Amazon will launch it’s new Kindle at 7:00 AM Pacific (10 EST) this morning during a press event. Pictures of the device leaked to the media this weekend, while BGR had pictures of the device months ago. According to sources, the device will cost $359 and be available on February 24. All will be known in just a few hours, when Jeff Bezos will undoubtedly make the announcement of the new device. Engadget and Gizmodo will both have live coverage from the event, so check both sites out for up-to-the-minute news.

IGN reports that the Nintendo DSi will greet US shores (officially) in early April, April 4th specifically. Reportedly bearing a $179.99 pricetag, the DSi has already been imported and, consequently, hacked like crazy, so the device shouldn’t be that new to people. As you may know, the DSi is the next generation DS, featuring a thinner form-factor, dual-cameras, and larger screens. Check back for more on this story, but an April launch would be great considering previous speculation thought a late 2009 launch would occur. We’ve got a DSi overview video on Youtube, and you can check it out below.Click here to view the embedded video.

Sling Media announced that they will submit an iPhone version of the popular SlingPlayer application  to Apple for certification sometime this quarter. The application will have the same features known to the SlingPlayer application. Incase you are unaware, Sling Media has products that allow users to stream content from their TV (along with a DVR like TiVo) over the internet to any computer worldwide. Sling Media has added a dedicated iPhone page to its website, featuring an overview video explaining the software.

This year marks my third for attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As a few of you might already know, my father is the almighty Yahya Ahdout, the owner and CEO of dreamGEAR, a video game/iPod accessory and speaker producer and distributor, and he is my ticket into this amazing show.  You can find his wonderful products at many places including your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Blockbuster.  One of his latest items is the Warbeast Guitar Controller for all Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Rock Revolution games on PS2/PS3. But, enough of that, lets get to the good stuff.  I will be at the show for its entirety, and I will constantly be blogging and posting every interesting thing that I find.  Like Engadget and Gizmodo, we will be posting about the biggest announcements by all the different companies, but I will also use my time to go around the smaller booths and post about the pretty cool things that everyone forgets about.  As I roam from hall to hall and booth to booth, I will be accompanied by a very good friend of mine, Michael York, who is getting his new blog off the floor, and will be working in compliance with us at blargKABOOM.

Finally, the things I will be bringing with myself on my journey:
Canon EOS 30D – To snap pictures of everything for all you guys to see!
Asus eee 901 – For blogging on the go while on the show floor.
Apple iPhone 3G – For constant tethering, and music on the go. As it is also of course my telephone.
MacBook Pro – Yes, mine is in fact the first generation model, but it will be my home-base for posting in the hotel room. 

And also, a little background for those of you who do not know what CES is; ah god im too lazy, just read about it on Wikipedia here!

Blockbuster is jumping on the set-top-box bandwagon. Yup, sounds crazy, movie rental store Blockbuster is releasing a set-top-box. Well, it’s true. Joining the likes of Apple TV, VUDU, Roku, and Xbox 360, Blockbuster is making a play at the digital downloads world. Blockbuster’s service, Blockbuster On-Demand (we know, very unique), offers rentals from $1.99 to $3.99 with varying viewing period limits. Right now, Blockbuster’s got an offer where for $99 you get 25 free-rentals and the MediaPoint box. No subscription required. That right there may be a key selling point considering that the economy’s so unstable and people might not want to waste money monthly on a movie service.

You can check out our unboxing and hands-on video of the Nintendo DSi on our Youtube page and above. The device just came out in Japan last week and is selling like crazy. North American launch is expected mid/early next year and unless you can speak and read Japanese, count importing out: these puppies can’t switch languages. Once we figure out either how to hack it and switch the language or figure out what means what, we’ll get a true hands-on video with pictures up.

Barack Obama elected President is definitely the main story tonight, but the side store – CNN used hologram technology during their election coverage. What? Hologram do you say? No…. this isn’t Star Wars. Well, it may not be up to the Star Wars bar yet, but it’s getting there. CNN “beamed” (as Wolf Blitzer says) Jessica Yellin into their election central zone via hologram. The technology worked by circling Yellin with cameras and computers than analyzing the data and projecting it onto our TV sets. Unfortunately George Lucas and the Star Wars team take the lead here because it looks as if the TV viewer is the only person seeing Yellin and she is not actually there in the studio projected in front of Blitzer. But still, there was a hologram on TV: the future is here.

CNN video

story via Engadget

UPDATE – To see will.i.am and a behind-the-scenes CNN video, read more.

TiVo is easily the most popular DVR around the country and for those TiVo users with the TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series3 models, you are about to get a welcome addition to your TiVo: Netflix streaming. Similar to the current streaming offered by the Roku box and other services, the service offers Netflix subscribers “all you can eat” access to over 12,000 movies and TV shows streamed over the internet. The rollout of Netflix has already begun through a beta program, but the official rollout is planned for mid-December.

via the Crave blog

Nintendo announced a new addition to the DS line tonight with the DSi. Maintaining a similar design to the DS Lite, the DSi is much thinner because it is getting rid of the GBA slot and has 17% larger screens. Along with the larger screen size, a 3 megapixel camera is in the device and I’ll bet Nintendo has some fun ways to use that camera thought up. An audio player and a DSi shop are built-in as well. The DSi shop will use the Nintendo Points used for the Wii and will have downloadable content.  Japanese markets will see the DSi on November 1 and we shall have to wait until next year for a North American and European launch. The device sells for the equivalent of $180 and will be available in black and white.

via Kotaku

Not only does the new iPod touch feature an incredibly gorgeous, even slimmer design, but the new touch has a built-in speaker with dedicated volume control for you to rock out loud–Steve Jobs admits they are definitely not meant for audiophiles though.

Along with those updates, the new touch has the Nike+ chip built-in for use with the shoe sensor and includes a good looking Nike+ application (the software, however, does not work with the old iPod touch nor either iPhone models).

One thing can be said about the device, they have called it as a head-on challenge to Nintendo as a portable gaming device and “the funnest iPod ever.” It’s on gaming companies, Apple has thrown the first punch!

Rumors have been spreading out around numerous websites that the iPhone 3G will get a (RED) makeover just in time for the holidays.  Could it also be joined by a 32GB upgrade for the iPhone 3G and a 64GB upgrade for the iPod Touch?

Photo Courtesy of http://www.macblogz.com

GameStop and Amazon added Rock Band track Pack Vol 1 to their product lists recently, giving a release date of July 15. The disc contains 20 of the most “popular tracks in Rock Band history.” You would think that it just is extra tracks for the game, but the expanded information reads: “A fully functional game with all the great features of Rock Band, including Tour Mode, Quickplay, Tug of War, Score Dual, and song unlock progression.” It also reads: “Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 is a standalone software product.” Amazon reads “A musical expansion to Rock Band…” The game/expansion pack will be available for PS2 and Wii for $29.99.

[Thanks for the tip again, Eric!]

The first connection is Steve Jobs. Back in 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm. The Graphics Group later turned into Pixar, which was purchased by Disney in 2006. Jobs is now the largest single shareholder of Disney stock. Who knows, if Jobs didn’t buy Pixar, would WALL•E even exist?

The next connection would’ve never happened if it weren’t for good old Stevie J. EVE, WALL•E’s “love interest”, was designed by Jony Ive and his team. Jony Ive, Senior Vice-President of Industrial Design at a certain company headed by Steve Jobs, is known for his work in designing iPhone, iMac, and other prominent Apple products. The story is that one day back in 2005, Ive and his team headed over to Pixar and helped them create EVE’s look. The reason for Ive’s involvement: WALL•E’s director Andrew Stanton wanted a sleek, high-end design, so he called up a certain high-up at Pixar that just happened to be Apple’s CEO. Looking at the character now, you can definitely see how EVE could be one of Apple’s creation.

So there you have it, WALL•E is just the work of Apple in a disguise.

Cell phone guided tours didn’t really exist before the iPhone’s way back in June of 2007. Even now, most companies don’t have guided tour videos. RIM thought to itself, “hey, let’s try and show the customers how to use our new BlackBerry Bold.” This idea may have been a good one, but after watching RIM’s video… let’s just say that it didn’t turn out amazingly. The first thing you’ll be able to notice is that the entire video is fake. The UI demo is just computer-made graphics and the footage of the device is digital, as well. Nothing in this video is an actual device in someone’s hand. Every single part of that video is FAKE, none of it is real. Of course, it looks like it would in real life, but it’s not what it looks like to actually see the device in a person’s hands. Also, RIM’s never made something like this before. The Pearl and the Curve started RIM’s dive into the consumer market, but the Bold is probably RIM’s biggest consumer product yet. With all the comparison’s being made to iPhone 3G, the Bold is getting tons of coverage and tons of future-customers’ interest.  So RIM tried to show the phone off to consumers a new way, an Apple-like way. If this was a great video that actually showed off the real device in real hands and showed consumers how they would actually use it, that would be great. But it’s not. RIM simply hasn’t nailed down their marketing strategy for consumers yet and they should work on that in order to gain more of the average consumer market that Apple’s been tapping into.

BlackBerry Bold demo video

Incase you didn’t know by now, Guitar Hero 4 is officially Guitar Hero World Tour and will have drum and microphone support. We’ve seen pictures of the drum set before, but IGN got a preview of the whole set. Besides the drums and a microphone, the guitar got some big changes. The overall guitar is physically larger to be more like a real guitar, and it features a touchpad on the neck. The pad, according to IGN, “allows you to alter notes during sustains by sliding up and down the strip… It can also be used for tapping to play notes.” The touchpad can be used for more when using the Music Creator. Besides the guitar, which after reading IGN’s preview sounds awesome, the drum set looks pretty cool, too. It, unlike Rock Band, features three main pads, two symbols, and a pedal. Also, IGN says the drums are quieter than Rock Band’s. Both the guitar and the drums are wireless, but the mic (very similar to Rock Band’s) is wired. Besides the gear, the game features loads of new features like more customization with characters, over 85 songs and more tracks downloadable, and the Music Creator which lets users create their own tracks (sorry, no vocals) and share them with other users. No specific price has been announced, but pricing will be “competitive”. GameStop, however, has released pricing for the game at $199 and given a launch date of October 27 of this year. Check out the gallery below for more pictures, and check out IGN for the full read.

BoingBoing Gadgets (via Gizmodo)

Guitar Hero: World Tour is officially the title of the infamous Guitar Hero 4. After rumors galore, it is confirmed that the game will feature not only a redesigned guitar, but a drum set and a microphone as well. In other words, Guitar Hero’s version of Rock Band. The drum kit, unlike Rock Band, has three main pads, with two cymbals, and pedals. The included microphone is most likely very basic and similar to Rock Band’s. Some new features with the game include Music Studio, which lets you compose and record your own music, and a Battle of the Bands featuring up to 8 players (both in person and online). More details will be available soon, but look out for Guitar Hero: World Tour this fall for Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2.

In other Guitar Hero news: Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS is available for Pre-Order and will include a special attachment with fret buttons and a pick as a stylus to strum. On Tour will retail for $49 and will be available June 22.

[Thanks for the tip, Danny]

Official press release here

There you have it. Just as reported, HBO shows are now on iTunes, and with prices of $1.99 and $2.99. Rome, The Sopranos, and Deadwood go for $2.99 each, while Sex and the City, The Wire, and Flight of the Conchords are the standard $1.99 each. The big story here is not HBO on iTunes, it’s the pricing. Apple has opened the floodgates to new networks who want this same type of varying pricing strategy. If this doesn’t bring back NBC, what will.

Mario Kart Wii finally made its debut yesterday, and is now available in the US. It includes the Wii Wheel attachment to make the driving seem even more realistic, but also lets you use the Classic Controller or the older GameCube controller. The game, a title that most Wii owners have been craving for, provides for an overall fun experience. It includes tracks from most previous games, going all the way back to the ages of SNES. The new features also include WiFi connection, so you can compete against players around the world, ghost downloads for the ability to beat world records, and racing in bikes. The bikes are probably the newest feature in the game, and they are cool to use. You can pop a wheely by tilting the controller back, and tons of other cool tricks. The game lets you race up to 4 at a time and is the game to get if you’re looking for a good time with your friends. Mario Kart Wii retails for $49.99 and is out now. Check out the unboxing above for a peek at what comes in the box.