Droid Razr teardown reveals impressive guts

iFix has voided yet another warranty in order to show us exactly what makes the new Droid Razr tick. To open the phone, they begin to saw the unit apart with a dozuki, but quickly realized a spudger and plastic opening tool were also reasonably effective.Motorola has been making a come back after being set aside for years by other companies that have had a seemingly endless stream of hipper smart phones. About two years ago though, the company introduced the Droid, which turned out to be a very successful smartphone series. Back in action, the company is betting its super-identifiable Razr namesake and styling will bring back the same "wow" factor as it did in 2004. Be sure to check out our hands on review, if you have...

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Intel Sandy Bridge-E Debuts: Core i7-3960X Reviewed

Intel kick started 2011 with the release of their 2nd generation Core processors as they unleashed the Sandy Bridge architecture for the first time. Initially there were five processors, which included the popular Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K. Enabling these new processors was the LGA1155 platform, which brought about three new chipsets. Two of these, the H67 and P67, went on to spoil what would have otherwise been perfect execution by Intel. Plagued by a SATA 3Gb/s bug, this put the entire platform on hold for numerous months until Intel could ramp up production of working B3 stepping chipsets to replace the defective models, effectively costing Intel a billion dollars or thereabouts.By March the company was on the mend and before...

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Amazon increases Kindle Fire production again to 5 million units

Amazon has increased production output on its Kindle Fire tablet for the second time to the tune of 5 million units by the end of the year. The company is betting big based on strong pre-orders, according to sources from upstream component suppliers as reported by DigiTimes.                                         This is the second time that Amazon has ramped up production on the 7-inch tablet ahead of its public launch. In the middle of the third quarter, the Kindle maker called for 4 million units to be produced, up from the original 3.5 million when the tablet was announced.These rumors fall in line with similar statements...

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Xbox.com getting Metro UI ahead of Xbox Live dashboard update

Microsoft will be making some changes to Xbox.com in the coming days in anticipation of the next Xbox 360 dashboard update. The familiar “My Xbox” section will be replaced by a forward-thinking “Social” area, complete with Metro UI styling.Social builds on the current My Xbox by allowing you to see more detailed information regarding what your friends are doing. One new feature is called Beacons which lets you to mark games you wish to play with others on your friends list.Your friends will see the Beacon and can decide if they also want to play the game, rather than you having to send multiple game invites or arrange playing together through traditional means. You can have up to three Beacons active at a time and you can optionally...

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Motorola Droid RAZR hands-on impressions

While we work on the full written review of the Motorola DROID RAZR, I thought I'd at least share some of my gut feelings and impressions of the device, now that I've been using it for a short while.To start with, Motorola really hit it out of the park with the hardware. The 7.1mm thick body is super tough thanks to its Kevlar back cover, Gorilla Glass up front, and a steel internal frame. You might lament the lack of a user replaceable battery, but you'll love the qHD resolution Super AMOLED display, speedy dual-core 1.2GHz processor, and fine 1080p-capable 8 megapixel camera. You simply can't argue with the results.The software is surprisingly good, too. The Motorola user interface is mostly unobtrusive and workable, and the new Smart...

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Mozilla Thunderbird 8.0, Lightning 1.0 released

he Mozilla Foundation has officially released Thunderbird 8.0 and Lightning 1.0, their full-featured email and calendar clients, respectively. Mozilla added Thunderbird to their rapid release schedule awhile back, so users will continue to get frequent, periodic updates.While Firefox 8.0 will probably be enjoying most of the spotlight, Thunderbird 8.0 is a substantial upgrade from its previous iteration.                                                     Download: Thunderbird 8.0, Lightning 1.0, Firefox 8.0Thunderbird 8.0 highlights (more)Improved speed and responsiveness! Thunderbird is...

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New carrier offers unlimited service, no contracts or overages for $19/mo

Tired of restrictive contracts and costly overages? Republic Wireless is too. The newcomer has busted onto the scene with a service that is currently unmatched by Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. For only $19 a month, the company says it can provide smartphone users with unlimited voice, data and text without lengthy commitments and hidden fees. The catch? For most users, there isn't one.To eliminate the expense of maintaining pricey cellular networks, Republic Wireless utilizes a hybrid calling technology that sends communications over Wi-Fi whenever possible -- and that's pretty often. The company reports that mobile users are around Wi-Fi about 60% of the time. If you happen to be outside the range of Wi-Fi, your handset...

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