Poll of the Day: Subsidized iPads. #ipad #tablet

Out with the old and in with the new as the saying goes. Forget Black Friday. That’s old news. Subsidized iPads are new news, however. Over the last couple of days, we’ve seen Orange UK voice plans to subsidize iPads. Three UK has stated similar plans. In the short-term it means cheaper upfront costs for iPads. Granted, you’ll end up paying for it (and then some) over 1-3 years. But that’s hardly in the forefront of your mind when you’re actually holding the latest and greatest shiny toy in your hands. You want instant fulfillment damnit.

So what’s your vote: Non-subsidized, contract-free iPad or cheaper (up front) subsidized iPadn chaining you to a carrier for 1-3 years? Cast your vote in the sidebar now!

Poll of the Day: Results. #blackfriday

I guess a lot of the Black Friday shoppers have stayed away from their computers over the last few days because our Black Friday poll is pretty low. Though even still, we carry on. So what was the biggest Black Friday purchase? According to our poll, smartphones won out with 31% (8 votes) while computer hardware was a relatively close second with 19% (5 votes) out of the total 26 votes tallied. Meanwhile, gaming, home audio/video, and tablets each garnered 15% (4 votes), 12% (3 votes), and 8% (2 votes) respectively.

Smartphones were our guess for the top gadget gift/purchase for the 2010 holiday. The smartphone market is still experiencing an explosion of new users due to plenty of healthy competition as well as a prices that are hard to beat. Last chance to tell us what you bought…

Premium Twitter App Comparo: #Twitter, #Weet, and #UberTwitter. #ios

Uh-oh, another Twitter app review/comparison for the iOS platform. I know, I know. This horse has been beaten many times already. Poor thing has nothing left. But stay with me for a minute because we’re not looking at your typical Twitter apps here. Today, we’re going to look at two, relatively new Twitter apps for iOS: Weet and UberTwitter. And because the stock iOS Twitter apps is so well developed, we’re going to be using it as our baseline if you will.

So without further adue, the Twitter/Weet/UberTwitter comparo is now in session. Jump on in…

2011 Macbook Pro Refresh to Move SSD-Only, Drop DVD Drive? #apple

Looking forward to the usual 1H of the year Macbook Pro refresh that’s guaranteed for spring time? Yeah, me too. While I love my new Air, my Macbook Pro has seen better days. With that said, Three Guys and a Podcast made some rather interesting claims that the upcoming early-2011 MBP refresh would see a number of significant changes including the abolishment of HDD hard drives, the removal of the DVD drive, and LightPeak…

Orange UK Reveals Subsidized iPad Prices. Pre-orders Starting Today. #orange #ipad

Orange has officially come forward with their subsidized iPad offerings. Starting later today, interested parties can pre-order the 16GB version for £199 ($312) , the 32GB iPad for £249 ($391), and the 64GB iPad for £349 ($626). In order to qualify for the subsidized pricing, customers will need to subscribe to a data plan costing £27 ($42)/month. Said plan will give you 1GB of peak data, 1GB of off-peak (midnight-4pm) data, and 3GB of BT Access Open Zone Wifi per month as well. Slightly odd to see the cap on data over WiFi, but whatever. We’ll take what we can get, especially when that means a cheaper up front cost for an iPad.

Any UK readers going to bite?

New Writer – Phillip

Looks like it’s time to sound the alarms, Gadgetsteria is in trouble. Mike has decided to let me come on board and start writing articles.

Some of you may be wondering just who is this me? Well let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is actually not me, but Phillip, and I am a lover of anything that runs on electricity or takes electricity. Yes, this includes electric dryers.

In all seriousness I love gadgets, electronics, and gaming. I will be bringing you all the best in the world of gaming and look forward to brightening your lives. If you want to give a shout out, friendly hello, or just be mean do it below!

Pirate Bay Founders Appeal Upheld. Jail time and Fines Like Their Future. #thepiratebay

Today is not a good day for the founding members of popular torrent site, The Pirate Bay. The three amigos, Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström, have had their previous guilty verdicts upheld in a Swedish Cout of Appeals. While their overall sentences for jail time were reduced, the trio will end up having to pay back more monetarily — 40 million kronor vs. 46 million kronor (~6.5 million USD). As for the prison terms, Neij, Sunde, and Lundström will be looking at bars for 10, 8, and 4 months respectively.

In somewhat more humorous news, Ludvig Werner, chairman for the Swedish arm of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, commented on the ruling stating that “this kind of piracy would be completely gone in two years”. The funny part of course is that with Pirate Bay losing relevance, multiple sites will spring up to replace it. You see, Ludvig sings the same tune as most music industry executives in that they have no idea how to run a modern music business. It’s a business model problem, plain and simple. Not to mention, this rampant piracy issue is increasing with each and every lawsuit that is filed.

Of course at the time of writing, The Pirate Bay is still live. We’ll see how long that goes…