SmartQ R7 e-reader boasts 3G, touchscreen LCD, magazine service and IPTV (video)

Late to the touchscreen MID party, Chinese manufacturer SmartQ was determined not to miss another opportunity. That's why it spent the month of April touting its new R7 e-reader as -- you guessed it -- the iPad killer. With the same ol' 600MHz ARM11 and 256MB of RAM inside as its ho-hum MIDs, that claim's quite a stretch, but our cohorts at Engadget Chinese actually found the Ubuntu-powered 7-inch SVGA touchscreen device moderately capable in a recent hands-on. Like fellow PMP / e-Reader the Onda VX560, the device supports 1080p in most every video format under the sun, reads e-books (PDF, EPUB and CHM), and has a built-in 3G modem for on-the-go capability. Ubuntu standbys Midori and Pidgin handle web browsing and IM, respectively, and it can even stream live video and purchase Chinese magazines through SmartQ's services. Sluggish as it might be, for $1,680 RMB (about $250) we'd say that's a pretty respectable featureset.

Samsung's technicolor N150 netbook gets Verizon-powered 3G

Recently, about the only thing worth getting excited about regarding the Samsung N150 was the plethora of colors that its casing could be ordered in. Now, though, the little thing has been finally been updated to include the 3G modem it's always promised, and is ready to connect up to Verizon Wireless. Sure, it isn't the LTE model that was spied at MWC -- that is still a few months off, at least -- but it does mean there's yet another option out there for road warriors who like little lappys. Some bad news, though: this model appears to be only available in black, but we do dig red highlights.

Kindle version 2.5 update gets Facebooked and Twitterized

Amazon just announced a 2.5 software update for its Kindle and Kindle DX readers. At the moment, it's rolling out the update to a "limited group" of Kindle users with a general release coming at the end of May. Enhancements include the ability to organize books and documents into "collections," pan and zoom within PDFs, Kindle password protection, two additional fonts, and just what you've always wanted: the ability to "share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter." Somebody pinch us.

Great Wall GBook fills that 11-inch Windows 7 tablet hole in our hearts

In case you hadn't noticed, there are just a few folks in China heck bent on building every conceivable tablet form factor, and your potential indifference, horror, or focus-on-the-software pleas can't stop them. Here's an interesting example: the GBook tablet from Great Wall. The 11-inch number runs a 1.2GHz Intel ULV SU2300 processor with integrated Intel graphics and 2GB of RAM. There will apparently be options for a 2.5-inch HDD or SSD for storage, but most refreshing is the 10-point multitouch panel Great Wall has on top of Windows 7 here. There's no word on price or when this will be hitting the market, but we're sure it will be out just in time and priced just appropriately to disappoint us completely and utterly.

Pixel Qi manufacturing delays fixed, ready for 'some of the largest computer companies in the world'

We've long had a thing for Pixel Qi and its energy sipping dual-mode LCDs with switchable backlight; displays that carve out a niche between traditional LCDs hungry for power and long living e-paper displays. Unfortunately, even though Pixel Qi began to ramp production lines late last year, we still haven't seen the displays shipping in any retail products. Turns out that while the screens have been made available in some "specialized products that aren't sold in stores yet," Pixel Qi's manufacturer of choice ran into some snags that slowed down deployments. That seems set to change according to a new blog post by CEO Mary Lou Jepsen. Manufacturing has now ramped to the schedule and scale required to meet "strong pull from the some of the largest computer companies in the world." Mary Lou also tells us that Pixel Qi's DIY display kit partner will be announced shortly and that it has "wider viewing angle technology" coming in the fall that should help rectify one of Pixel Qi's weaknesses. So yeah, good news all around, but we've heard these promises before and still don't have product in hand.

Leica unveils V-Lux 20 digital compact with built-in GPS

Leica has unveiled its first compact superzoom, the V-Lux 20 which also features built-in GPS tagging. A near-identical twin of the Panasonic ZS7/ TZ10, but with a more expensive price tag of US $699/£495 GBP, the camera includes almost all of the features including a 12.1MP sensor, 460k dot 3" LCD and 12x optical zoom (25-300mm equiv.). Like the ZS7 it also features 720p HD video recording, however it can only shoot it in a less sophisticated Motion JPEG format than the Panasonic's AVCHD Lite format.

Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3

And just like that, it's official. We heard back at CTIA that Nokia's N8 would see an official reveal during April, and just a few short days after surfacing in Russia, that very smartphone has indeed been announced over in Espoo. There's not much here we didn't know about -- it'll be rocking a 12 megapixel camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash), 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, HDMI output, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, HD video recording, access to Ovi Store apps, free Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, and of course, the company's new Symbian^3 operating system. The N8 touts multiple, personalizable homescreens "which can be loaded with apps and widgets," native multitasking, support for multitouch gestures and integration with the Qt software development environment. It'll also ship in a variety of lovely hues (read: five), with availability pegged for "select markets" in Q3 for €370 ($494) without any subsidies involved

Silicon Valley cops raid Gizmodo editor's home, take four computers

Police broke into the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen and confiscated four computers and two servers, the tech blog reports. Gizmodo broke the news last week about Apple's next-generation iPhone, after paying a source who found it in a California bar $5,000 for the device

TiVo's $90 Wireless N Network Adapter now available

Took you long enough, eh TiVo? Just under five months after the AN0100 802.11n WiFi adapter splashed down in the FCC's database, the company responsible for the Premiere has finally decided to ship this here dongle. The newly christened TiVo Wireless N Network Adapter is designed to function with all dual-tuner TiVo boxes (though it won't play nice with the DirecTV DVR with TiVo), enabling those who'd rather not run a 50 foot Ethernet drop to still access web features. Fortunately, it's available now for those who've waited; unfortunately, it'll cost you a staggering $89.99. Check it out now from TiVo's website or pick it up later this week at your local Best Buy.