Is every kid in America (at least at a certain age bracket) heading back to High School (or even Middle School) this week with a cell phone and iPod?

I'm sure there a many other variations of gadgetry in the average back-to-school back pack (or other notebook, pencil, paper, lunch carrying device), but that's got to be the one.

Wait ... Maybe it's just the iPhone without anything else, but that would seem to be more appropriate for a higher demo that what I'm given to thinking. 

Or maybe the real debate is the iPod and a specific model of cell phone in tandem?

Anyway, before I get myself all confused over this burning issue, what do you think? Anybody out there got anything to contribute?

Amazon will reportedly ship new versions of its Kindle e-book reader before year's end. The original reader launched last November sold out in its first week and had Amazon scrambling to fill holiday orders. While sales have been brisk, estimates vary.

A Seattle newspaper confirmed late last week that Amazon.com is in the late stages of rolling out two new versions of Kindle. Reports unconfirmed by Amazon indicate there will be at least two new devices -- one with a new user interface, but the same dimensions of the original paperback-sized reader, and another the size of an 8-by-11-inch sheet of paper. Other tantalizing details are that the new readers may sport color choices.

The original Kindle has been criticized for its bland appearance and somewhat clunky controls, so color and a new interface could help sales. Not that Amazon seems to be complaining.

Low estimates of current Kindle sales are pegged at around 230,000 units shipped in nine months, while others speculate that more than 380,00 have been sold.

Get more at NewsFactor.

And for another take, go here.

Blogged about the intriguing Netflix/Roku deal back on May 20, but now an interesting piece on VentureBeat makes it even more (and more!) interesting.

The new Roku box (doesn't look like much, does it?) lets you stream any of Netflix's 10,000+ "Watch Now" movies (movies that can be watched immediately over the internet for free with your subscription) to your TV set instantly. However, a new wrinkle may make the device even more attractive -- with a simple software download, other services beyond Netflix will soon be able to use it, according to Forbes.

This changes the device from a nice little purchase (it's only $99), into a potential Trojan horse for digital content in your living room. Of course, it entirely depends on what other services reach agreements to use the device. Roku would only say that other "big name" providers could bring their services to the device with a simple update.

At the same time, Netflix plans to release another box featuring its "Watch Now" service in conjunction with LG later this year. There's also an intriguing rumor that the service could come to Microsoft's Xbox 360. 

 ... but only on ebay or some other similar source.

Amid all the wonderful Apple news, just harkening back to the days when PDAs were just seeing the light of day and handwriting recognition was going to change computing and the way we worked and played forever.  

(Am I going too far back???)

That's what the Newton seemed to promise.

Well, it didn't quite work out that way, but companies innovated, came and went and look where we are today ...

But amid all of the Newtons for sale, I'm sure there are still some tried and true believers out there who live and swear by their Newton, using it day after day to make their lives easier.

Are there????

Let us hear from you!!!

I don't know about you, but before I left to go to the office today, I made sure I had my cell phone, laptop and BlackBerry, and on my way here, I programmed my navigation system for directions, switched between listening to CDs and traffic reports on the radio and checked my cell phone for voice mail.  Sound familiar?

It's amazing how connected we are today.  It's changed the way we live - and will continue to change the way we live -- at home and on the go.

We live in an age where devices are everywhere.  We have more ways to communicate and be entertained than ever before - PCs, cell phones, BlackBerrys, digital music players, CD and DVD players, terrestrial radio, HD radio, satellite radio, text messaging, voice recognition, ring tones, video games, navigation systems, e-mail, TiVO, Wi-Fi - and I'm sure I missed a few.

This convergence of factors - digital music players, broadband, voice recognition and everything else - is now dramatically changing our experience as drivers while at the same time it has already changed how car companies design their cars.

We want to be connected 24x7, any time, anywhere, and we want to the the same things in our cars as we do at home and in the office. 

With Ford's in-car connectivty system, SYNC, you control the devices you already have. You control most digital music players and Bluetooth-enabled phones from the driver's seat, with both hands on the wheel, using only voice commands.  You can operate your digital music player through the car stereo without touching it, or make calls without even taking your phone out of your pocket.

Does this sound great or what?

What has your experience been as a Ford owner?

Will this really make a difference how we buy our cars?

The Internet is open for your response ...

We are waiting ...

Palm keeps on churning out products --ahh, bet they still wish it was the heady days of the Palm Pilot ...

Anyway, now surrounded by relentless competition, the yet-to-be released Treo 850 apparently features a 400 MHz processor and 100 MB of RAM. Check out photos at The Boy Genius Report here.

Rich Tehrani has a great review on the SkyFire browser that gives Windows Mobile devices the Apple iPhone browsing experience. Well, not quite, but definitely much better than the built-in Windows Mobile browser. It supports easy zooming, Flash support, videos (including YouTube videos) and more. Rich was getting so frustrated with the crappy Windows Mobile browser that he even weighed the pros and cons of switching to the Apple iPhone from his Verizon HTC 6800 Windows Mobile.

But now Rich is giddier than a kid that just got a PS3 for Christmas, or that blogger who just got an iPhone and can't stop blogging about it. Yesterday, Rich had this big smile on his face and he couldn't wait to show me a demo of his new toy. Read on!

The Touch Screen Pointer from Krussell is a universal stylus that replaces the original stylus and can't be misplaced of lost ...

Interesting product, gentle on touch screens, that takes the company beyond its core PDA and cell phone case market -- and they do make nice cases.

www.krusell.se

Enkin is a developer of a location-based content that bridges the gap between reality and classic map-like representations using Google Android. It combines GPS, orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video, several web services and a novel user interface into an intuitive and light navigation system for mobile devices. This project is a submission for the first round of the Google Android Developer Challenge. Their product is similar in concept to Wi-Fi Army that I wrote about.

Enkin's Rafael Spring and Max Braun created a new 3d-navigation system for Android phones that even includes a "radar" map of POIs (Points of Interest) that changes orientation as you change the orientation of the Google Android mobile device. Rafael and Max both study Computational Visualistics in Koblenz, Germany and started this (private) project when they were in Osaka, Japan for Robotics Research.

They told me, "We are both really excited about it since there is nothing even similar on the market, yet. Our project, which is called "Enkin", uses different kinds of sensors, live camera views, GPS, wireless internet and a lot of new interfaces provided by the Android platform to introduce a new way of navigation."

Enkin allows you to navigate through your environment without using a map. Instead, all your navigational content (such as directions, annotated placemarks, etc.) is displayed extending real objects on the screen, using the devices built-in camera. Turning and moving the device will make the camera image and the content float by.

Enkin uses GPS to determine the user's position on the globe and motion-sensors to calculate the device's current orientation in space. So when you aim your camera at say Yankee Stadium from 100m away, the phone's video display will overlay the "real world" image of Yankee Stadium with annotated text that says "Yankee Stadium 100m". Even cooler, say you are lost in the Bronx and are trying to find Yankee Stadium -- simply swivel your camera around until you see the annotated text "Yankee Stadium 100m" on the screen. Even if the Stadium is blocks away behind several buildings, since it uses GPS and motion sensors to detect your orientation, it doesn't require line of sight.

Another perspective in Enkin makes you watch your content from a virtual camera high above you. The content then comes embedded in a fully textured three-dimensional landscape.

According to Enkin, tou can also see your content on a classic 2D map (driven by a motionsensor-interface) which is similar to Google Maps. The different views can be switched seamlessly using 3D graphics. You can therefore "dive" right into a map. Enkin combines GPS, different orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video and several web services into an exclusively mobile application.

Enkin will be released soon after the first Android devices are available.

Sometimes seeing is better than explaining. So check out the cool video!

Microsoft has announced plans to rollout an updated version of its Windows Mobile platform called Windows Mobile 6.1. The new updates include enhancements to existing features as well as some new ones. Features include e-mail, Web-access, instant messaging, traffic updates, photo capabilities, music and the ability to edit documents. One nice feature is a new zoom capability that lets you view an entire Web page or picture and zoom in up on a portion of a page. The new IE Mobile browser should help Microsoft compete with the "wow" factor of browsing on the Apple iPhone.

It also features a new Getting Started Center designed to make it a snap to set up e-mail, Bluetooth devices, and Wi-Fi. Other major enhancements include Adobe Flash Support, H.264, and Silverlight support, as well as a new camera interface. You'll now be able to play YouTube videos (Flash).

Lastly, they added the Microsoft Live search engine. Whoopie. Microsoft stated the updated software is scheduled to be available in late spring of 2008. The update announcement was made during the CTIA convention in Las Vegas.