Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report, the show about the tech news
that e eryone's talking about.
This week, it's the imminent new iPad, your brain on
cell phones, and a really sad Facebook breakup story.
But first, it's the Gadget of the Week.
The Gadget of the Week is the Motorola XOOM.
Not the regular one that you chumps
get ...
I mean, I know it launched this week and everything, and it's all exciting and $699
for the WiFi version and cool.
But that's actually not the XOOM I mean.
I mean the new,
limited edition GOLD Motorola XOOM for the beautiful people.
It's a special gold-plated
tablet made ONLY for Oscar nominees and hosts.
It'll be in their high-priced goodie bags
on Sunday at the Academy Awards.
Sadly, half the people who get these will probably drunkenly leave them on chairs at the
Vanity Fair afterparty.
And now for the news.
Apple will hold an event March 2nd, to almost certainly announce
iPad 2.
The real questions now are whether Apple will also announce iPhone 5, and how
soon the new iPad will come out, to counter the threat from the coming crush of Android
tablets.
There WERE some rumors this week that there might be iPad 2 production delays, but
then other analysts and Apple blogs rushed to say there were absolutely NO delays, and
don't even be THINKING Android was going to get a little window of opportunity, there,
folks.
No no no.
iPad will RULE FOR EVA!
In other news, a new medical study this week shows that cell phone radiation has a
measurable effect on nearby cells in the brain.
In fact, the study said areas of the brain
near the phone's antenna showed "unusual" and "surprising" increases in activity during a
call.
But they also said they don't know whether the INCREASED ACTIVITY IN YOUR
BRAIN is actually bad for you.
Dude.
It's bad.
I guarantee you, it's bad.
I am not saying cell phones cause cancer.
I'm just
saying they probably do.
Also this week, developer Dan Loewenherz created a Facebook app that would email you any changes
in relationship status of specified friends.
So, you know, you could keep track of when your crush finally
dumps that loser she's dating.
OR, you know when those people get together and you know it's TOTALLY
not going to work out?
Then when they break up, you could send out your I Told You So cards!
UNFORTUNATELY, even though the app racked up 3.6 MILLION users in just like, two days, Facebook
came along and shut it down AND disabled Loewenherz's account.
And Facebook won't even say why.
And they won't give him his records and t-shirts back.
Worst breakup ever!
But hey, MySpace, I hear he's
available!
And now for a few other tech headlines of the week.
Thursday the 24th was Steve Jobs' birthday, so ...
happy birthday, Steve!
Hope you're
doing ok, buddy.
Possibly as a little birthday present, Apple shareholders this week rejected a proposal to
force Apple to reveal a succession plan in case Steve Jobs doesn't come back.
Steve did
not make an appearance at the shareholders meeting, though, so ...
figure Tim Cook.
Microsoft released its first Windows Phone 7 patch this week, and it's not going well.
The
update is causing some people major problems including BRICKING their phones.
So,
that's just the kind of press you need when you're up against iPhone and Android.
Not
good.
A couple in Egypt just named their newborn daughter Facebook, in honor of the social
networking site that sparked a regime-toppling revolution.
They couldn't have just put it
on their license plate?
And finally, Wikileaks opened up a gift shop, selling shirts and bags and stuff to raise
more money.
Because if there's anyone I'm giving my credit card info to, it's Wikileaks.
But I do kind of want a Julian Assange beach Towel.
That's the Buzz Report for this week, everyone.
I'm Molly Wood, and thanks for watching.
