Apple’s Push notifications while grossly past due from their original due date of last year, were at least delayed for good reason. At the iPhone OS 3.0 preview, Apple stated the delay was because of “developers suggesting ideas and methods of implementing the push service that they had never thought of”, which in return required a complete re-write of the service, hence the massive delay. But the real question is why does Apple refuse to bring by far the most requested and undoubtedly most important feature, background processes, to the iPhone platform?

Terms of service are becoming increasingly restrictive as well as increasingly cryptic. What exactly can you do with your own property/services? What can big corporations do with that data?

With the race for alternative energy sources to replace our dependence on non-renewable sources grows more intense, scientists are looking for more exotic and unique ways of supplying energy to our gadgets and electronics. Moving past carbon based fuels, wind, and solar power alternatives, biomass seems to be taking the favoring eye of the military. Biomass doesn’t must mean “plants”. Do little and big military robots who are on a mission to kill and eat humans sound like the sort of cute little Johnny 5’s you want running around the planet?

The World Wide Web is quickly becoming the one stop shop if you will for everything in our lives. Everything from cooking classes, to how-to mechanic videos, to live concerts. Online video, whether it be in the form of movies, live events, or other forms, are becoming the biggest draw to the internet. All of the new found love in video over broadband connections is making broadband providers sweat. Why? Are tiered plans really all they’re cracked up to be?

If you have ever spent a few billing periods with either company, you know how expensive their entertainment packages can be. In some areas, you don’t even have a choice as Comcast has either paid someone to be the exclusive provider in that area (apartments), or other providers simply haven’t made it there yet. Still, in the year 2009 one would like to think that competition in on the uptick, especially with the economy so low. Why with the economy in the gutter and the assumed competition, the consumer should be saving a boat load right? Not to mention, with the growth of the internet, almost unlimited amounts of new technologies and services are just waiting to be discovered. The only problem is, the industry doesn’t want to discover. They want to recapture the monopolistic past.

In what can be a sad revelation and truth to come to terms with, the U.S. of A. is not as steadfast in their “free internet” beliefs outside of home grown soil. While the internet in the U.S. is uncensored, and hopefully will remain that way for…..ever, it seems we have different motives elsewhere. When you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, the west *that’s the U.S….among others* is one of the top providers and supporters of internet censoring software and tactics outside of U.S. borders. Surprised? I was. So how exactly has the U.S. aided such anti-American tactics abroad?

On device app stores while still all the rage are now coming off of their peak. Last summer with the arrival of the Apple App Store, several manufacturers and companies including RIM, Google, and Nokia just to name a few announced plans for their very own app stores. Carriers, the gatekeeper of the data pipe naturally want in on this extremely lucrative market. There’s only one problem, the innovation and features that keep customers happy and constantly purchasing never came from “the network” (carrier branded stores). Look at the small app centers that carriers have run for the last decade, from AT&T to Verizon to T-Mobile. You could access these pathetic excuses of WAP shopping goodness from practically any phone…but who actually did? I know I didn’t. The app selection was abysmal at the absolute best and apps and services were often overpriced. That isn’t exactly the best combination if you ask me. So, now that the App Store hoopla is starting to die down, who is trying to break in and steal the spotlight multiple months late?

Blackberry users who enjoy a “deeper-than-average” weather forecast on their addictive devices will find that BerryWeather, while not perfect, brings a lot to the table. Is it enough to part with $10 of your hard earned money? If you can live without a dedicated radar and a few inconsistencies between the in-app temperature/condition current forecast and the homescreen icon’s display of temp/forecast, you’re already winning half the battle. BerryWeather while not perfect has a lot to offer. Is it your next app purchase?

We’ve all had times where we were trying to grab that last gummy bear underneath the seat but just can’t quite see where your paw is grabbing. Sure, you could use one of those little keychain lights. But those require batteries that you have to change all of the time. You can also use a bigger flashlight that could be seen from space. Though, those also take large batteries that over time are costly to replace. Why should you even have to replace batteries? Take your old flashlight and throw it in the trash because the 12v Spotlight will be the last light you ever have to get.

Coming off of yesterday’s review of BerryWeather, HandyWeather is following closely vying for your dollar and dedicated spot on your berry. As far as weather information is concerned, HandyWeather does a good job of laying out the information on the screen in a decent manner that is easy to read. Though, while the app isn’t ugly by any means, I much prefer BerryWeather’s visual appearance and overall more “modern” feel. Is it the right Blackberry weather for you?

A weather nut and Crackberry lover knows that finding a good, robust, and fully featured weather application for Blackberry is no small chore. The market is flooded with them (no pun intended). However, with all of the choices to choose from, the results so far (in my search so far), are proving to be more elusive and difficult than I believed. My next stop in the Blackberry Weather application scene took place using eMobile Weather.

The Mobile Rak by New PC Gadgets allows you to easily stow your digital devices up out of the clutter that is your desk while presenting it to you in a convenient fashion. No longer will you have to dig though a plethora of wires trying to find the end of a different wire or worse yet your device!

Accuweather makes the jump into iPhone weather applications with a self titled weather app that puts up some serious competition to others already available such as The Weather Channel and My Weather. How does it stack up. Come inside!

The iPhone version of Scrabble brings the many joys of Scrabble to the mobile world and does a great job doing it. Many hours of my life will now be gone…invested in trying to muster a 3 letter word while the computer puts together a 30 word sentence…

Those of you wanting the crisp style of the Pre with undertones of BlackBerry appeal will find Visto Theme’s latest “BB Pre” theme to be quite the catcher. Featuring Corey’s trademarked slim style banner and big, beautiful icons, BB Pre will give your BlackBerry a new lease on life and a pretty face to boot. The theme features a bottom dock with the now standard, fully user customizable icons and nice simple yet graphically intense menus. The CrackBerry Store is beckoning you…just be sure to bring $6.99 with you.

Until now, the only Android device in the U.S. has been HTC.  They were in fact the first manufacturer to debut the mobile OS.  Times are a changin’ as more manufacturers announce their own plans to bring the open source goodness to their handsets.  Today, LG has announced that by June we will see an [...]

The Racer theme brings adds a new dimension to Blackberry themes by way of a slick customizable wallpaper. Racer has a dark overlay with a small spot left transparent as to let a real wallpaper show through. Wallpapers just got a tad cooler! The how to and more info on where to get this sweet theme are right inside!

Those Crackberry users looking to bring a bit of Sony flare to their beloved 8900, Bold, or Storm can now do so thanks to Elecite, you can now have the Playstation 3 UI on your Berry. What is different about this theme from others is the navigation on the homescreen. It is uncluttered and relatively free of any objects blocking the wallpaper except for 5 icons. However, once hovered above an icon, 4 more icons will appear beneath it bringing the grand total of icons on the homescreen to 20…

Visto Themes knocks one out of the park with Droid Berry 2.0 for the Blackberry Bold. Now you can have the “softer” feel of Android feel right at home on your precious berry!

Are you a Blackberry user who has so many favorite applications and/or email address that you couldn’t possibly just pick 5-7 to fit on a bottom dock theme but despise “Icon” style themes? Good news for you as the 50 x 50 Bottom and Hidden docks today theme is exactly what you’ve been looking for. CrackShack.com has stuffed 11 icons into a hiding bottom dock as well as crammed 4 more additional icons on a second hidden side dock bringing the grand total to 15 icons on the homescreen. Indecisive users have finally met their match!

It is true, OS X inspired themes are becoming quite common, almost to the point of too common in that people just might be starting to get tired of them. No matter how tired you may be, or how saturated the market of OS X BlackBerry themes may be, the latest from EThemes is nothing short of beautiful. osXHD is a wonderfully crafted representation of Leopard for your BlackBerry.

Nature lovers and camping gurus who constantly find themselves toting around dying/dead flashlights in the wilderness as they aimlessly wonder through the earth’s various layers of environment will find the NoPoPo Water-Powered Flashlight a blessing from above. Wait a minute…a flashlight that runs on water!? We’ve seen hand cranked flashlights, shake activated flashlights, and even the old as dirt battery powered flashlights…but water? How?

Perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments of any geek anywhere is that of the home experiment or mashup if you will. Taking two seemingly objects that absolutely no relation to one another and then somehow combining them often makes for rather unique creations. Case in point: the Rocket Board.

As you read the title above, think about how much 1 Trillion truly is. That is how many text messages we sent in 2008 according to CITA’s CEO, Steve Largent. But is it surprising? With the number of wireless subscribers in the billions and phones with either half qwerty mashups like RIM’s suretype keyboard or full qwerty keyboards, texting has becoming the new defacto standard for quick communication.

In years past, letting bad drivers know how you really feel made you resort to such barbaric practices such as cryptic hand gestures, rolling down the window and screaming obceneties, or even returing a favor or two with your own car. Such practices are now outdated. Thankfully technology and gadgetry has stepped in to make this once troublesome task more of a joy. The Drivemocion is a neat little LED sign which you can hang anywhere inside you car that will display on it’s “screen” either one of several pre-programmed expressions/words as well as user generated content. Get a Drivemocion and receive a new outlook on driving.

If that quesiton above has been bouncing around the hollows of your head for days on end if not years, I have the answer to your most sought after question. The picture above depicts the “Rosetta Disk” - 13,500 pages of data in an astonishing 1,500 different languages all crammed on to a solitary nickel (talk about eagle eyes). Speaking of which, you will need a 500x or greate microscope to read any one page…not to mention the know how of the language. Sooo…anyone know where the table of contents is….?

It is no secret that washing machines, even today’s highly efficient models consume large amounts of water. Gaining more mainstream attention in recent times, low water and waterless washing machines on the other hand offer little to no watter consumption. So where are they?

If you a nerdy nerd and like all kinds of little gizmos and gadgets as well as having an affinity for saving energy and the planet, I have something neat to show you. Jinwoo Han has designed what could be considered the *insert comparison to sliced bread here*. This nifty little wonder gadget goes by the name of the “Mini Hydro Turbine”.

If you have an unlocked WiFi enabled Blackberry and want to use it with T-Mobile’s UMA service, you’ll have to take a few extra steps than your locked brethren. Come inside to get your device up and running quickly and easily.

The WSJ is one of the most widely read and highly regarded newspapers in the world. Because of their global success, the subsciption costs that are required to read said paper don’t deter many as it is again a very established and well respected newspaper. As far as actually spreading news and getting the word out there, having subscription costs and paywalls aren’t exactly the greatest method for Google popularity or subscribers as the people receiving the subscription payments are the only real beneficiaries. In order to be more indexable by Google, a sweet little back door is now open allowing anyone and everyone the ability to read any WSJ article online for free. While more technologically less intelligent people won’t ever stumble upon this wonderful backdoor, I’m letting you fine people know about it in order to “spread the open flow and movement of news”. Want to know how?

Has Safari 4 beta left you wanting a blast from the not so distant and still kinda-sorta present past? If you figured that non-sense out and want to get the tabs back on the bottom in Safari 4…check this out!

For those dear readers out there left wondering if they could ever mix food and TV quite literally…today is your day. Get out your old VCR and get ready to turn it into a toastin’ machine!

One of the great parts of the Blackberry experience is the ability to save files to the SD card for use in sending to another recipient or simply by using your Berry as a big radio wave emitting flash drive. However, while process of entering mass storage mode is extremely easy, occasionally things go awry. Have you ever connected, enabling mass storage mode, only to find that your SD card inside your berry doesn’t show up or get recognized?

If you are a Crackberry user but aren’t too kosher with mixing and matching the Blackberry OS files Crackmem makes it drop dead simple to edit your Blackberry OS to your little hearts content.

If there’s one thing about Mac fanatics it’s that they love eye candy. That love spreads to others areas than just the immediate Mac operating system. For those Mac readers who want to give Google Reader a bit of Leopard flare this how-to is just for you.