Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

I made a New Years resolution not to hate on Taylor Swift, Ford, Apple and pretty much anything in general that I’ve grown to dislike. I think I’ve done well to stick to it and feel good about that. So I’m not about to break that resolution here. That doesn’t mean I can’t review something right? Today Apple announced the iPad 2 and by nature I’m a geek so I sat in the front row (on engadget) and watched Steve Jobs and a few others tell us all about it. I have to say I was impressed for several reasons. Light, thinner, faster, cameras, and the battery life and price stayed the same. Good show Apple, good show! However I can’t simply applaud them without pointing out a few things against them. First up the obvious still no Flash support. Steve, you may think the future is html 5 and Flash is dying, but you’d still be the only one. Again no USB, I think Steve is just being stubborn. How about no 4G? If you’re trying to be a leader then why wouldn’t you use the latest in mobile network technologies? No, you won’t find support for LTE or HSPA+ on the iPad 2; however it will be sold on AT&T and Verizon’s 3G networks.

Now, let’s take another look at the price, yes it’s true that it stayed the same, however if you want HDMI, then you’ll have to fork out another $40. If you want their nifty cover that seems to be actually part of the design then you’re looking at another $40 for the poly and $80 for the leather. Adding these seemingly necessities could cost you $40-$120 more just for HDMI and the case, I’m sorry “cover”. Well that puts you up a few notches in price. Since there is no 4G support, USB, and Flash then you’re loosing a more than a few “how much is it really worth” dollars in my mind. So yeah the iPad 2’s out the door price is a little cheaper than the other major tab players, but your getting a lower end tab. -Greg

Here is a nice comparison chart provided by phandroid.com:

 You’ve heard “go big or go home”, well Motorola could use that as their new slogan. I had planned on waiting out my next 2 years on AT&T with my Captivate. I love it, don’t really have the problems (except that notoriously slow GPS problem) or complaints of some owners and have had it running Froyo for a while. I am more than satisfied and had planned on only looking to grab a tab after the frenzy that is about to be unleashed in 2011. I planned to let every major player get their tab out and fully tested and in the hands of the public before making my decision. However, Motorola has decided to tempt my patience with not only a tab, but also a phone.Motorola is looking to top Samsung in the Android Phone and Tab market, and help leave Apple’s iPhone and iPad in the dust.

I’ll start with their tab, Motorola’s XOOM:

• Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
• 10.1″ screen
• 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 CPU
• 1280×800 resolution
• 1GB RAM
• 32GB internal
• front and rear facing camera
• records 720p video
• plays 1080p
• 32GB microSD
• HDMI & USB 2.0
• Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope
• 3G/4G
• and of course Flash.

Safe to say it’s pretty well the top of its class. This out of all the tabs I read about from CES is the one that caught everyone’s eye and are sure to be purchasing. The Galaxy S and iPad (maybe even iPad 2) just can’t compete with this. Of course it’s only to be expected that the devices will continue to get better. So, I thought that once it had been out for a month or so, I’d grab one. Now somehow either in concentration for only Captivate and tab related posts or my laziness of scanning Android related blogs all together, I missed Motorola’s game killer of a phone the Atrix. Thanks to John for pointing out this mammoth of a phone and creating a stir in my head on what the heck do I do now? If you haven’t read much on this phone (as I hadn’t) then you might not understand the dilemma that I have now found myself in. So, let me enlighten you..

Motorola’s Atrix:

• Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• 4″ qHD display – 24-bit
• 2GHz NVIDIA Tegra dual core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB internal
• microSDHC 32GB
• 5MP Camera w/ Flash
• VGA front facing camera
• Dual microphone
• 1930mAh battery for 9hrs of talk time
• Full version of Firefox
• 3G/4G
• and of course Flash

As if that’s not enough, this thing docks and I mean it docks. First, how about a multimedia dock that connects to your TV and lets you use a remote to playback everything you could think of. Next up, how about docking your phone into a laptop shell whichturns it into a full fledge laptop. You beginning to see where my problem is, do I buy the tab or upgrade my phone to the Atrix. I’m thinking the cost will be similar, XOOM I’m looking at around $600. For the Atrix I’m looking at $150-$200 for the phone and then another $150 for the laptop dock and maybe another $100 for the media dock. Really either way you go it’s going to be about $600, then the additional data plan. If it wasn’t for my new truck and upcoming honeymoon, I’d probably get both <insert huge grin>. Maybe your in the same dilemma, maybe you have an easy answer, maybe you just don’t care (loser). Well I leave you with the latest video from Motorola for the Atrix, enjoy. -Greg

Having dual monitors is great, like say watching a video in 1 screen and doing some work in another. However, if its a Flash video you can’t watch it full screen and work in another window because as soon as you click anywhere else the video restores. Well someone has figured out how to fix that. Someone that goes by d.i.z. has made some changes to a .dll file and tada, once patched you can watch a Flash video in full screen on 1 side and continue working on another screen without losing your full screen. Geek’s making the world a better place, 1 patch at a time. -Greg

You can grab the patch from the original blog:
Watch fullscreen flash while working on another screen [via MakeUseOf]

Do you know what this means? This means I can finally start streaming noshoesradios.com on my Blackberry! THANK YOU Adobe, its like I was reading about 1 of my own Chrismas presents! Yes I’m excited and you should be too.. -Greg

By Kevin Purdy, 7:00 AM on Mon Oct 5 2009

Adobe has promised betas of a mobile-ready Flash 10.1 for Windows Mobile and Palm Pre late this year, and early next year for Android, Symbian, and BlackBerry phones, as well as NVIDIA-powered netbooks. The only hold-out? The iPhone, of course.

Adobe describes Apple as “closed device” and continues to offer a fig leaf, but given Apple’s general stance on opening up new development platforms on their device, it seems a tad unlikely. As Gizmodo points out, though, that might become a selling feature for those annoyed by memory-hungry Flash apps and advertisements.

More notable than even the ability to watch YouTube and Hulu clips on your phone, though, is that Flash 10.1 will support graphic chip acceleration on systems with NVIDIA graphics cards, allowing full-screen viewing on netbooks whose processors might otherwise choke, and giving laptop and desktop users perhaps a bit more performance from low-quality clips. Adobe AIR, the cross-platform app engine that powers apps like TweetDeck, will also see improvements with the release of Flash 10.1.

Promises of multi-platform support “by the end of this year” might not be bank-able, but it’s reassuring to hear Adobe’s firm expectations on all but one platform. Tell us what you’d like Flash to do, or stay away from, on your own smartphone or netbook in the comments.