Hoping to find an Apple tablet in your Christmas stocking? According to the results of a new survey, you're not alone.

For the second year running, a survey by online shopping site PriceGrabber shows Apple products at the top of consumer wish lists this holiday season.

A refreshed iPad (in fact, you could call it double-refreshed) since last Christmas, together with the introduction of the smaller 7.9-inch iPad Mini, have evidently enabled the Cupertino company to maintain strong consumer interest, with 63 percent of respondents hoping to receive a tablet this holiday season wishing for an iPad 3 or 4. Twenty-four percent said they’d like to receive an iPad Mini.

It was neither a Kindle Fire nor the Nexus 7 that placed third, with 22 percent saying they’d like to receive Samsung’s latest 5.5-inch Galaxy Note device instead. Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD was the preferred choice for 20 percent of respondents, while 13 percent went for the Surface.

PriceGrabber’s survey, which allowed respondents to select as many tablets as they liked, involved 1,475 US-based online shoppers interviewed between October 24 and November 1, 2012.

Of course, the tablet market has changed greatly in the last 12 months, with big hitters like Amazon introducing its new range of Kindle Fire tablets. Google also entered the tablet arena this year with its Asus-made Android-powered Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices. The Nexus 10 doesn’t appear in the survey results, presumably because it was announced at the tail end of the period during which the research was conducted.

Lower-priced category

In the lower-priced tablet category – a category that’s expected to generate a lot of revenue for tech companies this holiday season – PriceGrabber asked consumers not which tablet they’d like to receive but instead which one they’re most likely to buy as a gift.

The iPad Mini was chosen by 45 percent of consumers, while 27 percent went for the Kindle Fire HD. The Nexus 7 and non-HD Kindle Fire tablet tied for third spot, each receiving 19 percent. Six percent selected one of Barnes & Noble’s tablet offerings.

PriceGrabber’s Rojeh Avanesian commented on the results in a release, saying, “Tablets continue to grow in popularity as a top holiday gift, especially with the emergence of lower priced tablets in the $200 to $300 price range targeting budget-conscience consumers.”

Does it surprise you to see the Galaxy Note in third spot among consumer preferences – placing higher than the Fire HD and Nexus 7 – or, considering its feature set and portability, does it make perfect sense? 

Potentially a useful way to stop an attacker from hurting someone, a new iPhone case includes a blast of pepper spray for personal protection.

Designed as a personal protection device, an Arizona man has created a case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S that includes a built-in pepper spray canister. Located in Scottsdale, Spraytect founder Scott McPherson thought up the idea when he was concerned about this daughter’s safety after she left for college. On the back of the Spraytect iPhone case, a user slides the custom pepper spray canister canister along a rail positioned horizontally when looking at the phone in a vertical position. Since the pepper spray canister significantly protrudes from the case, it may be difficult to store in a pocket. However, the canister does act as a “kickstand” when the phone is positioned vertically or horizontally and can help the iPhone user view the screen.

After the canister has been installed and locked into place, the user must pull a safety clip off the canister to start the activation process. The safety clip is designed to keep the canister locked and unable to fire. After the clip is removed, the user rotates the actuator knob into the down position.

When the bright yellow color is completely visible, the canister is ready to be fired. If the user needs to spray an assailant, they rotate the case horizontally and spray the attacker as if they were taking their picture with the iPhone camera.

Spraytect recommends using short bursts lasting approximately half a second and spraying from ear to ear across the face. Similar to other types of pepper spray, Spraytect also recommends moving in the opposite direction after releasing the spray. The spray takes a few seconds to kick in and disable an attacker.

In order to help the user feel more comfortable with using pepper spray, Spraytect includes a test cartridge without any active pepper spray to practice installing, activating and firing the spray from the canister. According to Spraytect, the pepper spray mixture includes habanero pepper. Usually the hottest pepper at your local grocery store, habaneros typically rate between 200,000 and 300,000 Scoville units. The blend is similar to what’s used by police officers, members of the U.S. military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security.  

Since the canister is detachable, the user can choose the right time to utilize the protection. For instance, a college student likely wouldn’t need it during class, but it could be useful when going out with friends at night.

Users also have the option of rotating the actuator knob back into the locked position once they feel safe. The canister would have to be removed before passing through airport security, but the TSA does allow one 4-ounce container of mace or pepper spray included in checked baggage. 

Split into two pieces, the simple iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S case doesn’t obstruct the smartphone’s built-in, rear camera. The case comes in four different colors including black, white, aqua blue and pink. McPherson is currently selling the pepper spray iPhone case for a price of approximately $40 on the Spraytect site. Besides the case, the Spraytect case owner will also get one pepper spray cartridge and one test cartridge. Replacement pepper spray cartridges cost approximately $18 each and they can be color matched to the case.

We rely a lot on our smartphones to do just about everything. It’s not just about phone calls. We listen to music, we play games, we watch videos, we update Facebook… and all of these drain our batteries like there’s no tomorrow. Literally, because most smartphone batteries barely make it through the day.

That’s why there are so many chargers and backup battery solutions these days and one of the best could be the ReVIVE Solar ReStore XL. It’s got a solar panel and a whopping 4000mAh of internal juice, giving you enough to recharge most smartphones two times over. Better yet, it’s on sale for 60% off the regular retail price.

At 6.7″ x 3.6″ x 0.8″ and 8 ounces, the ReVIVE Solar ReStore XL is roughly the same size as your cell phone, making it easily portable for wherever your day may take you. The solar panel has a 300mA charging rate in direct sunlight, getting enough energy “to charge most phones after only 4-6 hours.” You can also recharge it via USB, checking on its charge level via the 4-level LED indicator.

LG today announced the launch of the world's first 21:9 UltraWide monitor; and with the ability to break down the 29-inch screen into four split screens, the company has our attention.

Whether you’re a hardcore multitasker, a tech fanatic, or simply just a bit myopic, LG has a new monitor to pique your interest. The EA93 UltraWide Monitor is a whopping 29-inches wide and boasts a 21:9 aspect ratio. The company says it’s the world’s first monitor with that format. 

LG is focusing on the new product’s multitasking capabilities for its launch. Not only does the impressive size mean plenty of space for however many documents, files, or windows you might have open at once, but the EA93 also has a feature called 4-Screen Split, which allows you to divvy up screen real estate into quarters, with the ability to separately customize each section. That could make this monitor a possible alternative for people who use a dual-screen setup. In fact, it has a Dual Link-up option to connect the monitor to two external devices, which means you could have a similar setup to multiple monitors without any variation in color or image quality. It also features a DVI-D port and two HDMI connectors.

The company insists that the UltraWide monitor can perform double duty as a machine for work and personal use. The aspect ratio makes the EA93 an excellent choice for watching movies. With a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1080, the IPS display is designed for people who live and die by intense visuals. Although LG has not given a price point for this impressive monitor, it is due to roll out in South Korea early this month before making its way to the US market. 

LG has been making waves with its efforts to improve screen quality this year. The company has gone very small with a 5-inch LCD screen with high definition and 440ppi, and insanely big with a whopping 84-inch Ultra HD television. Between these updates, Apple’s proliferation of Retina displays, and other companies working hard to offer comparable technologies, computing will only be getting easier on the eyes.

Assuming Vulture is to be believed, the screenwriter for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII may very well be Michael Arndt, an Oscar winner best known for writing Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Ever since news broke that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, and has plans to release three new live-action Star Wars movies over the course of the next decade, the geek masses have been alternately celebrating with abandon and racking their brains for any snippet of information that might reveal who exactly Disney will tap to work on this crucially important continuation of George Lucas’ world-famous sci-fi saga. To wit, this article published only yesterday which claims that Harrison Ford may return to reprise his role as Han Solo in Episode VII.

In reality of course, nobody outside of the expansive Disney family has any idea who might be tapped to work on this project, but that won’t stop journalists from clinging to anything that could possibly be construed as a hint. Thus, Vulture reports that Disney wants to hire Michael Arndt to script Episode VII. According to unnamed, “informed sources,” Arndt has already completed a “a 40- to 50-page treatment for the film and is likely to be at least one of the writers when the Disney/Lucasfilm project begins shooting in 2014.”

Though you may not be familiar with Arndt directly, you’ve certainly seen his work. He wrote the indie hit Little Miss Sunshine, and provided screenplays for both Toy Story 3 and the upcoming Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire. Further, he’s also apparently penned screenplays for an upcoming film based on The Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb cartoon series, and a Pixar film that IMDB calls “The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind.” Obviously we know nothing about that last project, but based on Pixar’s past efforts it’s likely to be delightful fun for the whole family.

With Arndt’s credentials established, we should probably mention the two other aspects of Vulture’s claims. While the Disney/Lucasfilm deal seemingly caught everyone by surprise, Vulture claims that talent agencies were hit hardest. Instead of using this as an opportunity to pitch their writer clients to Disney for the coveted script writing gig, these agencies were informed that Arndt had already been working on that aforementioned treatment for quite some time prior to Disney’s announcement. Intriguingly, now that the treatment is complete, Vulture believes it will shortly be sent out to a swath of big-name Hollywood directors to gauge their interest in helming this movie. Names listed in Vulture’s report include JJ Abrams, Brad Bird and Steven Spielberg.

As with all rumors, we caution you to take this news with a huge grain of salt. We have no reason to doubt any of Vulture’s claims, but without official confirmation, all of this will remain a rumor until such time as Disney sees fit to solidify some of these ethereal details. That said, if Vulture is entirely correct, Episode VII could be an even bigger event than we’d previously imagined. A new Star Wars film written by one of the guys behind Toy Story 3 and helmed by the beloved director who brought us Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park? If that doesn’t get you worked up into an excited lather, then your sense of whimsy has been dead for years.

GameFly has expanded its ability to distribute games to its members by releasing a PC client that allows players to download titles directly. To celebrate, the company is giving out free copies of BioShock.

When GameFly started out, it was a pretty transparent effort to ape the success of Netflix in the world of video games. Both Netflix and GameFly made their names by delivering discs to subscribers via the mail, and both eschewed the traditional rental model by allowing users to hang on to their rented media for as long as they might like. As of this morning, GameFly has further increased its resemblance to Netflix by releasing a PC client that, like Netflix’s various streaming video clients, allows players to download games on demand from a huge list of Windows- and Mac-compatible titles.

Or, at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work in theory. Like Netflix’s streaming service, GameFly’s list of titles that can be streamed by subscribers without dropping extra cash to actually purchase the game is relatively paltry. Though GameFly as a whole boasts “over 1,500″ computer games that could feasibly be eligible for inclusion in the firm’s Unlimited PC Play program — that’s what GameFly is calling this service — the current list of titles you can download and play right this very minute features fewer than 400 games. Again, this mirrors Netflix’s streaming service, which didn’t really become a compelling addition to the Netflix subscription plan until the company began adding new content en masse. We shot an email off to GameFly to ask if the firm would be implementing a similar plan for its Unlimited PC Play titles, and it confirmed that yes, the list of games available will increase over time.

Derivative though it may be, we support GameFly’s decision to release this PC client, not only because Netflix has become an indispensable facet of modern home entertainment, but also because GameFly is clever enough to know that simply issuing a new PC client isn’t a substantial draw for the large numbers of new subscribers it hopes to attract. To assist in this effort, the company is offering a free, downloadable PC copy of BioShock to anyone who downloads the new, free PC client. While BioShock is a bit long in the tooth at this point, it’s still a phenomenal game. 

Plus, thanks to that zero dollar price point, BioShock is one of the most cost-effective primers on Ayn Rand’s Objectivist theory available. Just please don’t finish the game and immediately start railing on the rest of society for being a bunch of soft-hearted pinko commies. We got enough of that in the lead up the recent elections.

Anyway, if you’re interested in scoring your free game or exploring GameFly’s offerings in greater detail, you should click through to the firm’s official site and download the free PC or Mac client. That page also lists the necessary system requirements for the client, though assuming you have a computer built in the last half-decade you should be fine. Enjoy your new bounty of free entertainment.

Three of Japan's consumer electronics giants are on the ropes - how have the mighty fallen, and what does it mean for your next tech buys?

Japanese manufacturers used to dominate consumer electronics, with brands like Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, Sanyo, JVC, and Toshiba practically cornering the global marketplace for desirable tech goods in the 80s and 90s. But times have changed, as evidenced by recent reports of massive losses and considerable layoffs at Sony, Panasonic, and Sharp – three of Japan’s largest manufacturers and some of the most recognizable brands in the world. Perhaps even more troubling for a nation once synonymous with technological innovation, Japan’s entire electronics industry has fallen increasingly behind rivals like Samsung, Apple, LG Electronics, and numerous Chinese manufacturers. These rivals aren’t just developing hardware innovations to match – or exceed – the Japanese giants; they’re bringing them to market faster and cheaper. 

What happened? And what does it mean for the future of gadgets in your home, pocket, and life?

Japan’s economic turmoil

Japan is still a powerhouse: It has the third largest national economy on the planet, surpassed only by the United States and China. But it’s had an uneven path in recent years. Japan’s stock market crashed in slow motion during the early 1990s due to over-valued stock and real-estate prices, something that will be familiar to anyone who survived the dot-com and real estate bubbles in North America. The result was the “Lost Decade” or “The Lost Two Decades,” depending who you ask and how they count. In very broad terms, after the crash, Japanese firms chose to pay down debts and build up their savings rather than take advantage of near-zero interest rates to invest in new businesses and technology. That’s a solid, conservative approach to maintaining solvency, which prevented permanent employees from being laid off, but it gave rivals in other countries (particularly in South Korea and China) an opportunity to invest in their own R&D and electronics manufacturing capabilities. The Lost Decade let rivals find ways to out-produce and under-sell Japanese electronics makers.

Japanese electronics makers were not oblivious to what their overseas rivals were doing. They largely chose to bet on their traditional, historical strengths: advanced technology and high-precision goods.

Part of that effort was an emphasis on monozukuri, a uniquely Japanese concept that loosely means the “art, science, and craft of making things,” according to the University of Tokyo’s Takahiro Fujimoto. It’s been said that monozukuri cannot be fully translated from Japanese, but the concept encompasses both the process of developing, designing, and producing a product, as well as qualities of dedication, continuous refinement, and superior craftsmanship. In other words, Japan’s electronics industry might have aggressive competitors, but Japanese products would focus on the high end: quality, valued products that would hopefully generate high profits.

Japanese electronics did see a resurgence in the mid-2000s, fueled in part by a weak yen that made Japanese products more affordable around the world, as well as a North American consumer market flush with cash from a housing bubble that hadn’t yet burst. The resurgence also coincided with the consumer launch of flat-panel, high-definition televisions, a market dominated by companies like Sony, Sharp, Pioneer, and Panasonic. Sony and Nintendo built gaming empires; Toshiba and (particularly) Sony pushed notebook computers forward; firms like Kenwood and JVC saw solid success with consumer and professional audio-video products. As participants in a protectionist economy, Japanese firms prefer to keep their manufacturing on-shore, and the companies invested heavily in pricey new facilities to make things like high-quality flat panel displays and products that embodied monozukuri.

But in 2008, the global recession took hold: The U.S. housing bubble burst, financial crisis rocked the Eurozone, and demand for consumer electronics dropped worldwide; much of the remaining demand leaned towards goods with the lowest prices, and many of those were not Japanese. Suddenly Japan’s electronics giants found themselves saddled with expensive manufacturing plants that made a high volume of products that few people were buying.

So who’s in the most trouble?

Sharp

Of Japan’s largest consumer electronics manufacturers, Sharp is perhaps in the tightest spot. In it’s most recent financial results (PDF), Sharp increased its forecast loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013 to a whopping ¥450 billion, or  more than US$5.6 billion. This followed Standard & Poors downgrading Sharp stock to junk status back in August, making it more costly for the company to borrow money. Sharp is currently being viewed as having a 94.9 percent chance of defaulting on its debt in the next five years. Companies are known for putting the boldest face possible on their financial reports, but even Sharp doubts its own future. The original version of the release said there was “material doubt” about the company’s ability to survive, although it has since edited the release to say there are “uncertainties about Sharp being an assumed going concern.” Tomato, tomahto.

Sharp’s decline exemplifies the challenges facing Japanese electronics makers. From 2000 to about 2007 Sharp was riding high: Its profits jumped about 150 percent as it created a premium brand in its Aquos line of high-end flat screen television. (Sharp was also wildly successful in Japan with Aquos phones.) Sharp built cutting-edge facilities in Kameyama to make LCD flat-panel displays. Its success seemed to validate monozukuri and Japanese’ companies’ predisposition to do their own manufacturing. However, even as industry watchers were warning the bottom would soon drop out of flat-panel displays – and the storm clouds of the global financial crisis were gathering – Sharp doubled down, building a new factory in Sakai that could produce 6 million TV-sized LCD panels a year. Then the LCD market collapsed, and Sharp’s Aquos phone business in Japan was cut in half by the consumer smartphone revolution, led by the Apple iPhone. Sharp had also seen success in a solar panel and battery business; however, just as with LCD panels, its high-end products got undercut by competitors in China and other markets in 2011.

What to do? Sharp’s Kameyama factories have now been repurposed to make small LCD displays used in things like the iPad and the iPhone. The company has mortgaged the facilities, along with most of its other factories and offices, and got a fresh round of financing from Japanese banks on promises it would cut jobs, sell off assets, and regain profitability. Sharp thinks it’ll be able to bring in an operating profit in the second half of 2013 and begin paying back debt, but industry watchers and the company itself aren’t sure that’ll work.

Panasonic

Think Sharp’s projected ¥450 billion loss for the fiscal year is steep? Try Panasonic: It’s forecasting a loss of ¥765 billion (about US$9.6 billion) for the same period, based on writedowns in its mobile handset, battery manufacturing, and solar power businesses. That’s a 30-fold increase on the company’s previous estimates, and will be the second-largest shortfall in the company’s history – and that’s saying something for a company founded in 1918. Panasonic will also skip a dividend to investors for the first time since 1950, citing an “urgent need” to shore up its finances.

Some of Panasonic’s woes are tied up in the same solar and battery businesses that have hit Sharp – augmented by the company’s decision to buy up Sanyo back in 2009-2010, which primarily centered around Sanyo’s battery and solar businesses. But where Sharp bet on LCDs, Panasonic bet on plasma, sinking ¥600 billion into factories in Amagasaki. Plasma display technology, of course, has been surpassed in popularity by LCD displays, but unlike Sharp, Panasonic couldn’t repurpose its plants to meet the needs of mobile devices.

“We are among the losers in consumer electronics,” newly-installed Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga told a news conference on November 1. However, Tsuga’s writedowns of Panasonic’s businesses are moves to scale back the company’s operations and move it away from its money-losing businesses in televisions and consumer electronics. Tsuga is repositioning the company – still Japan’s largest employer with over 330,000 workers after laying off 36,000 people last year – to function as a series of small- to medium-sized operations, each of which generate positive revenue.

Sony

Although Sony is as deep into televisions and consumer electronics as rivals Sharp and Panasonic, its path has been a bit different, and as a result it isn’t in quite as much trouble. Sony posted a ¥15.5 billion loss for its July-September quarter (PDF) – it’s seventh straight quarterly loss – although the company still says it believes this year will mark its first annual profit in five years. New CEO Kazuo Hirai is working to refocus Sony on mobile, gaming, and digital imaging (including medical imaging augmented by the stake in Olympus), although it still clings to a television business that has been losing money for eight years. Sony is now getting its LCD panels from manufacturers like Sharp, LG, and Samsung rather than making them itself; the company is hopeful that getting panels on the open market will reduce its costs and allow the the television unit to return to profitability. Sony has also sold off its chemical products businesses that made materials used in LCD panels and optical discs. And Sony is cutting jobs: 10,000 workers last spring, another 1,000 from its mobile division this summer, and another 2,000 layoffs due by the end of 2012.

Unlike Sharp and Panasonic, Sony has long had a hand not just in consumer electronics, but in content businesses. It wants to make money selling movies, books, music, and games – not just devices. Consider Sony Pictures, the PlayStation network, and the company’s movie and music services. In a way, Sony pioneered aspects of the business models being pursued by Apple (and extended by Amazon and Google) by offering content that brings people to their devices. Between more diversified offerings and a demonstrated willingness to jettison money-losing businesses (except, so far, televisions), Sony may be able to stage a turnaround. That said, Sony cut its estimates of how many televisions, PSPs, Vitas, and digital cameras it expected to sell for the year by 6 to 16 percent; only its PlayStation forecast was unchanged at 16 million units.

What it means

The financial turmoil of some of Japan’s largest consumer electronics companies is partly indicative of the broader global economies. Consumers around the world have been tightening their belts, and that limits how many of them will buy luxury items – and monozukuri produces luxury items. Instead, the consumer electronics market has shifted towards manufacturers that can deliver new products fast and cheap, and for the last several years, that hasn’t been happening in Japan.

Fewer Japanese TVs — Sharp, Panasonic, and Sony are Japan’s first, second, and third-largest television makers, and while none are currently shutting down their television businesses, they are all looking to reduce their losses. Unless one or more of the companies decide they want to try to take on the likes of Samsung, LG, and Foxconn directly on a price basis, that means Japanese TV makers will probably have to cede the mainstream television market to competitors and focus on high-end, luxury products. However, this is a very chancy proposition; although Japanese manufacturers were pioneers in OLED television development (remember Sony’s astronomically expensive 11-inch OLED TV?) rivals like Samsung and LG are now driving OLED innovation. Panasonic and Sony have announced plans to partner up on OLED production, but Japanese companies remain behind the curve.

Selling off brands? — If Japanese consumer electronics makers do fail, some of their brands might hold some value… for a while. Sharp’s Aquos brand still has major recognition around the world, and might be something the company would consider selling off to help fuel its survival. Panasonic’s Viera brand could potentially do the same. Sony has similar opportunities with brands like Bravia and Walkman. Given the financial situations at all these companies, it’s possible that icons of Japan’s past dominance could be bought by their more-nimble overseas rivals.

Lessons for Apple? — If there’s a leading electronics company that exemplifies monozukuri, it’s probably Apple. The Cupertino company is world-famous for its attention to detail, craftsmanship, and dedication to design, both in its hardware products and onscreen. Even its product line revisions reflect that: Updated products are rarely revolutionary departures from what came before. They’re consistent, continued refinements and improvements. Apple also targets the high end of the market, focusing on profit margin rather than market share. The company would seem to be vulnerable to many of the same market forces that are rocking Japan’s largest consumer electronics makers.

There are some key differences, however. Apple does outsource its manufacturing, most famously to China’s Foxconn. Apple also outsources most of its components: it buys memory and processors from Samsung, Gorilla glass from Corning, and still more components from Toshiba, Panasonic, Intel, Nvidia, and more than 150 other companies (PDF). Apple isn’t on the hook for manufacturing facilities that cost it billions of dollars: It leaves the risk of owning those kinds of facilities to the likes of Samsung.

[Akihabara image via Shutterstock / tororo reaction
Japanese factory worker image via Shutterstock / bluehand]

Maybe you’re not a fan of the Siri or you think your digital voice assistant could use some digital assistance. If you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone, you can now pick up the NowNow app to address that very need.

I should be clear, though, that this isn’t really Google Now in the way that you get with Android Jelly Bean. You don’t get those “cards” for the weather and directions for the drive home. Instead, what NowNow does is bring Google Voice Search to the forefront. All you have to do is hold the home button and up will pop the Google Voice Search. That part of the interface really does look like the Android equivalent.

It should be noted that Google Voice Search doesn’t communicate with other iOS apps, so you won’t be able to set appointments or that kind of thing, but you might find the Google searches to be more accurate than what Siri is giving you. You can find NowNow in the BigBoss repository in Cydia and it’s a free download.

BioWare is working on a new entry in the Mass Effect series. Try to feign surprise.

“We’re in early stages of designing a completely new Mass Effect game. What would you want to see in it?”

That message appeared on the official Twitter account of Casey Hudson, a man who is best known as the executive producer of the Mass Effect series. Given his position (and the fact that he’s become something of a spokesman for the series over its past few entries), we’re inclined to believe Hudson, though none of this comes as much surprise.

As you might recall, we published a story in October examining an interview with BioWare Montreal producer Fabrice Condominas. VG247 had asked Condominas where BioWare might go with the Mass Effect series following the conclusion of Mass Effect 3, and while his answers were vague, he did say that the company would be exploring the Mass Effect universe in greater detail in the future. However, Condominas also explicitly stated that Commander Shepard, protagonist of the Mass Effect series to date, would not return to headline the series’ next entry.

“There is one thing we are absolutely sure of — there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over,” Condominas said. “This is really our starting point. Now, the Mass Effect universe is vast, and very, very rich. So at this point in time, we don’t even know what kind of time frame we’re going to be in. All we’re doing is more gathering ideas from the teams, gathering feedback to see several things.”

Given that quote, and Casey Hudson’s Twitter comment, we feel safe in confirming the idea that BioWare will be bringing us a new Mass Effect game relatively soon. Of course, by “relatively” we mean “at some point in the next three years,” and even that is mostly an assumption, so while you have permission to get a bit excited, don’t try holding your breath until you see Mass Effect 4 (or whatever it’s inevitably called) on the shelves of your nearest GameStop.

That aside, there is one odd quirk about all of this that we feel should be mentioned. It might be entirely meaningless, but prior to the last 24 hours Casey Hudson hadn’t used his Twitter account since March 17. Then, today, he offers up the aforementioned message, along with at least six others. All are related to Mass Effect, so it’s entirely possible that Hudson just isn’t a fan of Twitter and only uses it when necessary to promote the series he’s working on.

Honestly that’s probably the explanation here, but we also like the idea that BioWare drops Casey Hudson into cryogenic stasis when the company doesn’t have an imminent Mass Effect title to promote. Now that the firm is working on a new entry in the series in earnest, Hudson has been thawed out, and we can expect to see him offering up little snippets of info on the title until shortly after it hits store shelves at which time Hudson will again take up residence in the massive cryogenics facility housed beneath EA’s Redwood Shores campus.

Fun fact: This is also where EA stores the Road Rash and Dungeon Keeper franchises.

Thanks to an agreement between publisher Activision and YouTube, the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops II will offer players the chance to live-stream video of their in-game action directly to the Internet.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is scheduled to hit store shelves next week. Specifically, Tuesday, November 13. Given that we’re only five days away from that point, you’d think that Activision would have already rolled out all the planned features for Black Ops II, no? You’d imagine that the company would want to have all of the game’s features laid out far in advance of the title’s release so that prospective buyers could use the full feature list to make a proper informed decision on how to spend their cash. 

Well, that’s what we thought too, and then an email appeared in our collective Digital Trends inbox this morning revealing that Black Ops II will feature in-game live streaming, courtesy YouTube.

According to the official announcement, this “first of its kind innovation” will, as you’d expect, allow players to stream their in-game antics to YouTube, but in a nod to the popularity of online personalities and the appeal of commentary in the burgeoning eSports arena, Black Ops II will also allow players to include webcam footage and audio with their streams. Specifics on how this system is supposed to work are still missing, but we’d assume that those hoping to use the streaming technology to its utmost extent would need both a microphone and camera compatible with their Xbox 360/PlayStation 3. Further, while these streams will be available to view on any device capable of pulling up YouTube, those who have Call of Duty Elite accounts will be able to pull up far more detailed information on the match and its players while watching whichever live gunfight has caught their interest.

“With our competitive play and eSports initiatives, we wanted to deliver live streaming capabilities built right into Call of Duty: Black Ops II, because Call of Duty is not only fun and exciting to play, but we believe it will be just as exciting to watch,” states Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia. “By making the capability of live streaming as accessible as possible to our fans, straight from a player’s console without the need for any additional hardware or sophisticated setups, we are empowering our fans to share their multiplayer experiences.”

Though Activision and Treyarch are obviously excited to offer this gratis streaming option to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users, the announcement fails to mention whether or not this functionality will also be found in the upcoming Wii U version of Black Ops II. We began to doubt this possibility when we read that a Call of Duty Elite subscription would be required to take full advantage of the YouTube streaming — Call of Duty Elite won’t support the Wii U at launch — so we contacted Activision and were told that while the company would certainly like to support the Wii U game exactly as it does the Xbox 360 and PS3 titles, that version of the game will not feature this live streaming technology at launch. Will it ever receive the streaming option? Activision’s representatives either couldn’t or wouldn’t comment.

Marketing gimmick or not, Sony's Xperia TL actually has a few spy-worthy features that make it fit 007 like a Tom Ford suit. Just don't take it any more seriously than the films.

Back in Connery’s days, Bond was lucky to have a giant phone in his car, but these days, he’s using a different kind of mobile phone. In the new film, Skyfall, Bond will again be touting a Sony smartphone: the Xperia TL. However, for the first time, the things he does with it might not appear so out of character. The TL is as fast and capable as almost any spy could hope for these days, and with a nearly limitless number of crazy apps that can be installed, Bond’s only limit is Q’s imagination … and programming skills. We haven’t yet written a full review of the Xperia TL, but we did get the chance to spend some time with it. Here’s how we think it might benefit Bond in his 23rd adventure.

Good thing Bond waited for Skyfall

Skyfall may have been released years ago if not for the troubles at MGM. But Bond benefits from the holdup. The Xperia TL solves a lot of the problems of its predecessors. Many had high hopes for the Xperia Ion when it came to AT&T earlier this year. It was the first handset to lose the “Sony Ericsson” branding and be released as a true Sony product, and one of Sony’s first to get a decent push from a major U.S. carrier in some time. Sony has struggled to get the attention of wireless carriers in the U.S. since the days of feature phones and Walkman-branded handsets. With a $100 price on AT&T, it appeared that the carrier was finally giving a top Sony smartphone a real push. Unfortunately, like some ions, it was ultimately unstable. The Ion was running an old version of Android (2.3 Gingerbread), had some construction issues, ran on an older processor, and didn’t produce the quality photos its 12-megapixel camera promised. Fortunately, Sony has addressed these issues with the Xperia TL. Good thing, too. I don’t think Bond would be happy if his phone had trouble focusing or locked up when he needed to call M.

Comfortable for Daniel Craig’s man hands

James Bond is all about business, but he’s also about style and comfort. Those fancy suits don’t press themselves. With the Xperia TL, he’s got a top-notch Android smartphone, but also one that’s pretty comfortable to hold. To me, the Xperia TL felt more comfortable than previous Sony handsets by a good margin. Sony has replaced the sharp edges on previous Xperia phones with a smooth, curved edge that just fits better in the hand. Whether you’re a secret agent or a twenty-something phone reviewer choking down a cocktail that’s shaken, not stirred, your hands will thank Sony for smoothing out its edges. The 4.55-inch screen is large, but still manageable for even the most petite of spy hands. Bond likes his phones big.

Instagram those super secret photos

Thanks to the 13-megapixel camera on the TL, 007 can now take some detailed shots of all the ladies and locales in Skyfall. Though we imagine Bond already has Instagram (I mean, why not?), he doesn’t really need it. The Xperia TL’s built-in photo app has a myriad of crazy filters, letting you ruin all of your favorite photos in more ways than ever. If James Bond is feeling a little Connery,  he could make all his photos black and white, like the Cold War days. Or he could get modern and turn his shots of evil Javier Bardem into hipster gold, with washed-out, Polaroid-style filters abound. He could even take a picture of Goldfinger and color it yellow. Snap a picture of each Bond girl on his Facebook page and remove red eye? Easy to do on a TL.

Calculate while you spy

If you’re an international secret agent, you don’t have the luxury of performing just one task at a time. That’s why Bond was likely super stoked when Q told him that the Xperia TL has a modified Recent Apps menu. Like all Android 4.0 and higher handsets, you can quickly re-enter recently used apps, but Sony has now added the concept of mini apps. Now, you or Mr. Bond can open up something like a miniature calculator and drag it around the screen, crunching numbers while you furiously browse Google News for signs of international peril. Maybe Bond needs to calculate a tip for one of his expensive lunches? It can now be done while he checks his Twitter feed. This is the freedom he’s always fought to defend. Any widget installed on the TL can also be used as a mini app.

Snappy specs

With the TL, James Bond isn’t using the most powerful phone on the market, which is a shame, but it’s up there. A 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor puts his phone on par with most top-notch phones like the Galaxy S3, as does the 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, expandable microSD slot, and 1280 x 720 pixel LCD screen. But I hope Bond has a secret Micro USB cable hidden in his watch, because the 1,850mAh battery on the TL may leave him needing a recharge before a heavy day of spying is up, especially if he downloads or streams a lot of his own theme songs.

Fit for a secret agent?

We’re looking forward to spending more time with the Xperia TL. Is it fit for a secret agent? We can imagine some cooler phones, but the Xperia TL is one of the best Android phones available on AT&T this holiday season. And the $100 price probably helps with government budget cuts around the world. At the very least, it’s a lot nicer than the Sony Ericsson JB988 flip phone that Pierce Brosnan used in Tomorrow Never Dies or even Daniel Craig’s Sony Ericsson K800i from Casino Royale. For the first time, Bond is on Android. Hopefully Q labs has some cool apps in development.

Skyrim developer tweets update on PS3 and PC DLC release status.

PlayStation 3 users eagerly anticipating the release of DLC content for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim might not have to wait much longer, according to a new message posted by the game’s developer.

“To update: we’re also close on new Skyrim content for PS3 and PC,” reads a tweet from Bethesda Game Studios that was posted Wednesday (November 7) evening. A follow-up tweet reads: “Thanks to all our fans. We think you’ll love the new stuff. We know it takes us time and thanks for all your support and patience.”

Two pieces of add-on content have been released for the popular sword-and-sorcery game thus far: the vampire-themed Dawnguard in June 2012 and the home-building Hearthfire DLC a few months later. Previously, Bethesda expressed some concern that the PS3 version of Dawnguard might not ever be available, so it’s uncertain whether yesterday’s tweets are an update to that DLC’s status, or only concern the PS3 release of Hearthfire.

A third DLC pack, Dragonborn, was recently announced, and is expected to arrive in December for Xbox 360. There’s no word on when/if it will be available for PS3 and PC players.

New image offers our first look at the game's trio of protagonists.

The next trailer for Grand Theft Auto V will arrive on Wednesday, but a few more details about the much-anticipated next installment of the open-world crime series have already found their way online.

In order to promote the upcoming GTAV-themed December issue of Game Informer magazine, the publisher has posted a new image featuring the game’s three, still-unnamed protagonists. The trio’s stories will serve as the narrative thread for the game, which will unfold across all three characters’ adventures in the fictional city of Los Santos — a faux Los Angeles of sorts.

While we’ve seen at least one of the characters in previous GTA marketing material, there’s still no official word on how the three men relate to each other and how their stories will blend to form the over-arching narrative of the game.

What we do know, however, is that the next trailer for Grand Theft Auto V will debut November 14, with the game itself scheduled for a Spring 2013 release, possibly mid-May if Rockstar sticks to its recent release pattern. Pre-orders for the game kicked off this week at certain retailers.

More details about the game are sure to arrive online soon, once the full issue of Game Informer is available.

Microsoft announces big numbers for Gears of War franchise sales.

Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad continue to beat the odds and make the Gears of War franchise one of gaming’s most impressive success stories. A new report has the sci-fi action series selling more than 19 million units since the first game hit shelves in 2006.

According to Joystiq, the Gears of War franchise has sold more than a million additional units in the time between a July report from Microsoft and a recent update from the company which trumpeted the series’ landmark sales. While specific sales figures haven’t been made available for the most recent release, Gears of War 3, the new tally suggests that there’s been quite a few more units sold since the game moved more than 3 million copies in its first week of release.

All told, the Gears of War franchise encompasses three games and a long list of DLC packages. A fourth game, Gears of War: Judgement, was announced in May of this year and is scheduled for a March 2013 release.

The new game will follow returning characters Baird and Cole and feature a few new characters, including “a straight-edge elite Onyx Guard and a refugee of the URI.” As we saw at E3, Judgment will be a prequel “told through a series of flashbacks, as the trial [of Baird and Cole] makes up the framework of the story. But beyond being part of the narrative, this actually becomes an integral piece of the gameplay itself.”

Players who adopt a Cinder Kitten make a donation to the American Red Cross.

Blizzard Entertainment has turned their attentions — and those of the World of Warcraft community — to disaster relief once again with the announcement of a new in-game pet that players can purchase, with all proceeds going toward Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

The arrival of the Cinder Kitten was announced on Blizzard’s Battle.net website, with the fiery feline going up for adoption later this year. The Cinder Kitten will cost $10, and all proceeds will go to American Red Cross.

“Your support will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support, and other assistance to survivors of disasters like Superstorm Sandy,” states the announcement.

Blizzard and the World of Warcraft community previously teamed up to raise more than $2 million for the tsunami relief effort in Japan using the sale of Cenarion Hatchling in-game pets.

More information about the Cinder Kitten and the exact day it will be available for adoption is likely to come soon.

The phablet world started with one device, the Samsung Galaxy Note. Since then, it looks like the market is exploding. The LG Intuition (Vu), the HTC Droid DNA (J Butterfly), Oppo Find 5 and now a Sony Phablet as well?

The so-called Yuga is a 5-inch quad-core Sony handset that is believed to arrive sometime in early 2013. The above image comes from a Swiss Android site and apparently is a prototype for the Sony flagship phablet. According to the source, the device will run on a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 12MP camera and a 5-inch 1080p display— from the sounds of it the specs are very close to the HTC J Butterfly (aka Droid DNA).

Keep in mind that the somewhat boring design of the Yuga doesn’t necessarily represent its final form. Considering the device isn’t arriving until sometime in early 2013, this is likely just pre-production hardware that could dramatically differ from the actual finalized production model.

Don’t be shocked if we officially see this the Yuga by Sony at CES 2013. What do you think, would you be interested in a Sony-made 1080p phablet?

AT&T has provided more details about the Samsung Galaxy Express, set to be released onto the network next week. Aimed at first-time smartphone owners, it has 4G LTE connectivity and a sensible price tag.

Previously announced in September, AT&T has now provided some more details about the Samsung Galaxy Express, it’s latest mid-range Android smartphone. The network is pushing the Galaxy Express as being suitable for first-time smartphone owners, or those who’re planning to upgrade from a basic device.

It’s making it an attractive proposition too, as it has slapped a $100 price tag on the front, provided you scrawl your signature on the bottom of a two-year contract. For that, you’ll get a curvy, Galaxy Ace 2-alike device that will happily connect to AT&T’s 4G LTE network.

The specification, while not quite up to the standard of the current crop of superphones, is still intriguing, particularly the screen. It measures 4.5-inches, a fairly unusual size, and one that’s shared by devices such as the Nokia Lumia 920, the Motorola Atrix HD and the Huawei Honor 2. It’s a Super AMOLED Plus panel too, meaning it’s the same as that seen on the Galaxy S2, and not the often unfairly maligned PenTile display used on the Galaxy S3.

Inside is a 1.5GHz, dual-core processor of currently unknown parentage, which should see the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system perform well. There’s no information on the amount of RAM, nor any clues on how much internal memory will be found inside the Galaxy Express, although a microSD card slot is present.

A 5-megapixel camera sits on the real panel, and other features include GPS, Bluetooth and a 2,000mAh battery.

Anyone interested in the Galaxy Express will be pleased to know it’s going to be available from AT&T on November 16. It’s also part of an AT&T offer where you’ll get $100 off a second Samsung smartphone when you buy a Galaxy-branded device with a new contract.

Civl Servant developers in the U.K. have created a Web app that incorporates government data with trending topics from around the Internet and social media to help elected leaders make better decisions.

Believe it or not, governing a nation is tough work. There’s special interests to consider, tax plans to wrestle, budgets to contemplate, wars to run, opponents to blackmail. It’s almost too much for the human mind to handle. Or, in the case of British Prime Minister David Cameron, it is too much to handle. Which is why he did what any computer programmer would do when faced with a pesky problem: He got a computer to do the work for him.

The BBC reports that Cameron has begun testing a mobile Web app “to aid in decision-making and day-to-day government affairs.” The app, dubbed simply “Number 10 Dashboard,” was developed by British civil servants in the “Technology in Business Fast Stream” program. According to the app’s developers, Number 10 was designed to give government leaders “an at-a-glance overview of everything that’s happening in government and elsewhere.”

“With a few taps or swipes of his fingers, [Cameron] can see very quickly what important new information has come to light, how certain government services are performing, and a selection of relevant and important news reports,” according to those involved with the project.

According to the BBC, Number 10 will also keep its high-powered users informed about trending topics around the Web, and on social media outlets in order stay on top of events that might require government action, like “markets crash” or “bomb threat.”

Alice Newton, one of Number 10′s developers, says that Cameron likes the app, which he uses on his iPad, so much that he plans to give U.S. President Barack Obama a demo at the 39th annual G8 summit, which will take place in the U.K. next year.

“He in particular liked the statistical side, where we could give him quotable facts about what was going on,” said Newton. “He found it useful to have a hard evidence base.

“He liked it so much, he was looking forward to showing it to President Obama at the G8 summit.”

Chances are, Obama will be receptive to the app. His administration has been one of the most technology-focused in U.S. history, with initiatives concerning everything from increasing access to high-speed Internet to cyberwarfare and robotics.

Unfortunately, there’s no indication that the rest of us will have a chance to peep Number 10 anytime soon. But we imagine it working something like Apple’s Siri, but the answers take 20 times longer to appear thanks to stifling bureaucracy.

Image via DFID/Flickr