Japan Sees World’s First Android-Themed Bar. #android

Japan is home to some pretty unique, pretty “out there” stuff. Quite simple: They never fail to impress. And the oddities keep coming with a new bar that recently opened up in Shibuya, Japan — it’s Android themed.

From Android-themed food to drinks, to Android giveaways, everything is dedicated to the little green guy. Prices aren’t all that bad either, with the typical consumable good coming in at 500 yen (~$5-$12 USD). The only really weird thing is the operating hours which happen to be 7-11:30pm. Better make plans.

Rogers Implores Users on “Pay for Priority Data”. #rogers

Canadian GSM carrier Rogers, revealed a plan today to charge customers based an added fee for priority access. The way the plan works is simple. In times of overloaded network capacity, users who pay an added fee could have their data packets given priority over other, non-paying users. While no actual fees have been stated, $10 has been heard mentioned a few times in passing.

Now, we don’t even have to begin to go into how wrong this is. From a business standpoint, it’s great. You can charge people $10 extra for a service you’ll rarely ever have to offer them. With that said, the plan is unsurprisingly receiving criticism because of how it will “reward the rich and punish the poor”. We all understand cellular capacity and bandwidth are being strained. But there has to be a better way. What do you think? Would you pay extra for priority access? Finally, is it even right/ethical/legal?

For now, we don’t have to worry too much. Rogers has no plans of rolling out the feature — they’re merely gauging public interest. At the same time, none of the other competing Canadien cellular providers have vocalized interest in such a plan.

“Fair Use” Can’t be Claimed in Matthew Crippen Xbox Modding Trial. #xbox

For one 28-year old Matthew Crippen, his days of Xbox modding and enjoying free air will be coming to a close. Unfortunately for fair use advocates everywhere, an out of touch, incompetent judge stated that Matthew cannot use the “fair use” argument simply because the DMCA doesn’t have a specific exemption for it, and that any exemptions mentioned for mobile phones do not apply. Unfortunately for Matt, this judge is wrong on many levels. And because of that, he could be looking at 3 years behind bars…

Nintendo Not Showing at CES After All. #nintendo #ces

Earlier Monday morning, the CEA (governing body behind CES) issued a press release stating that Nintendo was ending their 16-year CES hiatus and returning to the excitement of nerds everywhere. The only problem — they were wrong. During the few short hours that Nintendo was believed to be returning to CES, the most notable rumor for their return was to unveil their upcoming Nintendo 3DS 3D portable gaming handheld. According to the CEA’s correction, Nintendo will in fact be at CES, but it is only for meetings and other suit-and-tie affairs — not to show of great gadgets.

Meanwhile, Nintendo will be holding their own event during CES to showcase their new hardware, and most likely the 3DS. Disappointed?

HTC Not Ruling Out Building Their Own OS. #htc

For the last year, HTC has been hitting plenty of hits on the Android front. Using their Sense UI layed atop Google’s mobile OS has brought both companies quite a bit of success. It’s almost hard to remember when HTC and Windows Mobile were just as friendly. But a time may come when HTC tosses Android aside too and moves forward — alone. In an interview with Pocket-Lint, HTC’s director of User Experience, Drew Bamford, stated the following:

“We will do everything necessary to create the best experience possible. Right now, working with Microsoft and Google is the best approach, but that might not be the case in the future”

Basically, if HTC isn’t given the freedoms they’re seeking from either Microsoft or Google, they’ll find it elsewhere or create a new experience from scratch. The latter option — making their own OS — is both intriguing and worrisome. On one side of the coin, options are great. However, do we really need another mobile OS?

With that said, we shouldn’t worry too much about HTC leaving Android or Windows Phone 7 anytime soon. Bamford states that he believes both companies will give HTC the access and freewill they are seeking. Let’s hope.

T-Mobile Black Friday Deals Include BOGO Offerings. #tmobile #blackfriday

While AT&T is currently in the process of drumming up hype for their Black Friday ventures, T-Mobile has some things they’d like to share with you too. Most importantly, they’re offering up their own BOGO sales to interested smartphone buyers. Phones that fall under the sale include the T-Mobile myTouch 4G, Samsung Galaxy Tab, T-Mobile G2, HTC HD7, BlackBerry Bold 9780, Motorola Defy, Motorola Charm, LG Optimus T, or the T-Mobile Comet. Netting you and yours one of these fine devices will require a new 2-year agreement and accompanying family plan. Sales start on Black Friday (November 26th) and run through January 28th.

LG Bringing 240Hz IPS LCD to Market. #LG

Home theater and PC enthusiasts have a new gem to lust after. Today, LG revealed a new high-end monitor featuring a 240Hz refresh rate and IPS-based technology. The latter of which is a big deal for installations in which viewing angles are a concern. Though IPS displays typically look nicer than other display technologies (save for OLED and AMOLED displays). As for that 240Hz refresh rate, a combination of 120Hz of actual panel refresh speed coupled with a rapidly flashing scanning backlight add up to the claimed 240Hz speed.

Production is currently up and running. Price and release date information are however, not available at the time of writing.