Review: #Agloves — the touchscreen loving gloves.

After using the IsoToner touchscreen compatible gloves, I came away both intrigued and let down. On one hand, the gloves themselves were fairly warm and did work well in allowing me to interact with my iPhone. On the other hand, they were too thick for quick typing. Their use is more for the occasional glance at information. At least in my case, I want a glove that is both thin enough so that I can type at near normal, un-gloved speeds as well as a glove that will still keep my fingers warm. Can the Agloves stand up to that challenge? You’ll have to step inside to find out…

Tomorrow, Apple doesn’t open just another store. They move into the world of train stops.

The next time you stop by the newest Apple store in downtown Chicago, be sure to check out the first ever “Apple Stop”. Currently, it’s the North/Clybourn station on the city’s Red Line train. But tomorrow after the Apple Store officially opens its doors for the first time, the name will *unofficially* change.

If you think Apple is merely “taking over” a nearby city service, slapping an ad it, and calling it their own, you’re sorely mistaken. During the construction process for the new store, Apple sunk some $4 million into the train stop — polishing/scrubbing bricks, cleaning grime off handrails, touching up paint, and other general TLC. The once nasty, disgusting stop is now a much nicer, less repulsive place to walk through.

Looking past the hubub of a new Apple Store, it’s pretty neat to see how Apple also takes into consideration the immediate surroundings, and if it isn’t up to their standards, they make it so. Now ask yourself: how many other companies do you know that actually tend to the surrounding areas (that they don’t own) around their property on their own dollar?

Palm Developer Program leaders start walkin’, say hello to self employment.

Man, HP just can’t catch a break. Since the acquisition of Palm, it seems like we’ve heard of new Palm/HP employees defecting for various reasons almost weekly. Well, chalk another two ex-HP employees up on the list. Except this time, they’re a bit more important.

Ben Galbraith and Dion Almaer, co-Directors of Palm’s developer program, are saying good-bye to HP…

Windows 7 turns 1 while XP settles in for the long haul. 2015 or bust.

Back in 2008, “the end” was marked for XP. At that time, the OS was seven years old — well past “old” in the consumer electronics world. It was during that year that Microsoft announced the death of XP — October 22nd 2010. And so hear we are, many of us praising the death of the now ancient OS while we simultaneously celebrate the birth of another. Windows 7 is 1 year old today. But don’t count XP out just yet. For early this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 7-to-XP downgrades could be performed until 2015 (Windows Ultimate) or 2020 (Windows Professional).

That’s a long, long time for any tech to stick around. IT administrators are either all for the languishing OS sticking around another decade or completely distraught. On one hand, keeping it around will mean far less work in upgrading countless machines and getting them working 100% once again. On the flipside, upgrading to Windows 7 would bring plenty of bug fixes, new useful features, and make their jobs easier — in theory. Another knock in using a decade-plus old operating system is keeping it running in the modern age. Between system incompatibilities and hardware becoming obsolete, the odds are stacked against XP aficionados.

But let’s put all that behind us for now. Today, raise a glass for the celebration of the new and old. Windows 7 is a great modern OS. But even though XP will no longer be available on newly purchased computers, downgrades mean XP is here to stay.

Gingerbread now official. Figurine implanted in Google HQ’s front lawn.

Looks like we can finally say Gingerbread is official. While we’ve known about it for months now, there wasn’t a gigantor Gingerbread figuring crammed into Google’s front yard — hence, it wasn’t real. But now that we’ve surpassed that hurdle, we can focus on the next big milestone — an actual release! Jump inside for the Gingerbread birthing fun.

(Anyone want to manhandle the Gingerbread dude into the Froyo sculpture face first and take a bite out of his head…?)

[Update] Facebook down…again.

Yes folks, Facebook is down. Resort to actually calling on the phone, texting, or *gasp!* meeting them in person!!!

Update

And it’s back…for now…

BlackBerry App World Storefront now live!

The soft launch of RIM’s BlackBerry App World Storefront may have been nothing but a teaseearlier in the week, but now it’s as official as official can be. The online purchasing, review read/write process, and management of BlackBerry apps can now be done via your browser, with the resulting info automatically sent to your phone.

BlackBerries have come quite a ways since the pager-style days. But some things are still easier and faster on a desktop computer — in this case, browsing/reviewing apps.

To get in on the action, download the App World Installer and install it on the PC you wish to use. And just in case you were wondering, you can now pay by Carrier billing, Credit Card, or PayPal. Hoozah!