The RIM PlayBook is here!

At last, RIM’s much rumored BlackBerry tablet is here — the PlayBook. Not quite the name we were expecting, but it honestly doesn’t really matter. A combination of hardware and software unity is the real meat of the story. So to make a long story short: Did RIM deliver? Step inside to find out…

NavFree to bring free, quality turn-by-turn directions to iPhone.

If there’s one thing I could say I miss most about my Android device after moving to an iPhone 4, it’s Google Navigation. It was free and it was awesome. There’s several free options for iPhone as well, but they’re not all that great (prove me wrong and recommend your favorite in case I missed). But a newcomer that will soon grace the US and European App Stores (already available in the UK and Ireland) looks like it may just cure my homesickness for Google Navigation once and for all.

Developed by Navmii, Navfree for iPhone brings turn-by-turn in a much cleaner and polished package than other apps. However, what notches Navfree one step higher than Google Navigation is the fact that all the maps are stored locally — You don’t need a cellular connection to continue navigating. For users who traverse sparsely covered terrain, this is a god send. Of course, local storage means several GB’s of space on your phone will be taken up by downloaded map data. Again, Navfree isn’t the first to do this, but it’s certainly a rarity in the $0.00 market space.

For now, Navfree is only available in the UK and Ireland App Stores, but the company is actively working on bringing their product to US and other European App Stores. I for one can’t wait. While I don’t venture out into the wilds of the planet that often, having a quality, free, turn-by-turn app is certainly more than welcome.

Stay tuned…

Sad: Segway company owner dies. Weird: Rides Segway off cliff.

Sad news to report: Jimi Heselden, chief of Hesco Bastion, a UK-based company that owns the Segway brand, was found dead Sunday. Apparently, Jimi was out surveying his property in North Yorkshire and somehow managed to navigate his Segway over a nearby cliff.

So far, the Segway has failed to reach any type of mass acceptance. Nevertheless, countless organizations and companies as well as local municipalities have found ways to utilize the futuristic and unique transportation device. In my neck of the woods, mall security love these things.

Thoughts, prayers, and condolences to the family.

Leaked AMD 67xx series documents show great things in store…

‘Tis that time of year again — Graphics card maker (among other things) AMD is set to unleash a flurry of new GPU hardware to lead us into the winter months and holiday season. For over a year now, their 58xx series in particular has been doing phenomenally well thanks to the ever-sinking prices and lower heatput-per-watt when compared to Nvidia’s finest. However, Nvidia’s latest update did turn up the heat (literally) on AMD once a few driver updates came out. Now, AMD’s 58xx series aren’t so speedy anymore.

Introducing, the AMD 67xx series graphics cards based off of the “Barts” 40-nm architecture. If this “mid-range” fodder isn’t to your liking, calm down. There’s plenty to glean off this new information. Namely, the 67xx cards are actually quite close in performance (on paper anyway) to the current top-of-the-line 58xx series cards. So we can all assume that the upcoming 68xx series cards will be a rather large step up — more-so than some people believed would come from this “minor” update.

Cayman/68xx series cards shouldn’t follow too far behind their more moderately paced siblings. Anyone getting excited for new AMD GPU’s? Larger shot after the jump…

**Due remember, these aren’t final stats. As such, things could change before the official launch.

iOS 4.1 and iPod Touch 4G do the jailbreak tango.

Those waiting impatiently for a new iOS 4.1 jailbreak have something new to oogle at this morning. The iPhone Dev-Team has released a video showing the latest iPod Touch running iOS 4.1 with all it’s inner matter exposed to the world compliments of that much talked about SHAtter exploit. For the masses, a release date is still TBA, though it honestly shouldn’t be too much longer. Hang tight guys and gals. Once the new exploit/tool is released, we’re set “for life” since SHAtter cracks open a low-level security hole that Apple can only close with a hardware revision. Hopeful news for a Monday morning. Yay.

Jump inside for the video…

Thank you god: Nascar 2011 coming from Activision. Franchise says good-bye to EA.

Now I’ll preface this article by saying that back in the day (read: early 2000′s), I loved racing games, especially those produced by Sierra/Papyrus. Back then, the “Nascar Racing” series was a pretty fun series of games in that it was more of a real sim racer instead of your standard arcade style game. And then Sierra/Papyrus went through a purchase or two and eventually closed up shop, after which, EA picked up the rights to Nascar. That was the end of Nascar racing games as we know it. EA moved from a more involved, sim-style game to a more “everyone-can-play” arcade-style. It was ok — for one game. Each subsequent release felt less and less exciting. But there’s hope. Eutechnyx (Test Drive Le Mans, Big Mutha Truckers and SuperCar Challenge) and Activision are now in charge…–>

Update: AppleTV not delayed afterall. Pre-orders “preparing for shipment”. You’re turn mail carrier of choice…

A few days back, we reported that the new AppleTV pre-orders were possibly pushed back from late September into early October based on emails several people were receiving. But 9to5 has posted their own AppleTV order confirmation email that shows the package as “preparing for shipment”. As they note in their article, “preparing for shipment” means its the shipping carrier of choices’ turn to pick up your package and actually get it moving. So no, the AppleTV isn’t being delayed. But Apple sure waited ’till the very end of September, didn’t they?

Update

No it’s not…