Toshiba sings NAND Flash's praises, thinks you should too

Have you taken a moment today to stop and thank NAND Flash for existing? No? Well, Toshiba would like to say tsk, tsk. Today the company launched a full-scale campaign to promote this storage technology -- and by full-scale we mean a dedicated "25 Years of NAND Flash" website, a "NAND Flash Deprivation Experiment" video series, new Facebook and Twitter accounts and a Toshiba Excite 10 giveaway. We must have missed the memo that NAND was dangerously underappreciated, because we're still trying to figure out why it needs a marketing campaign of its own. Toshiba has a slew of laptop refreshes and the Excite 7.7 and 13 tablets just around the corner -- and that interim period between announcement and launch date can be killer -- but somehow talking up NAND Flash doesn't seem the right course of action. Take a look at the campaign's first video below the break and decide for yourself.

Sony announces its first Ultrabooks, the VAIO T13 and T11, for the European market

Finally escaping its plate glass prison at CES, Sony's unveiled its first Ultrabook, the VAIO T13 and T11. It's set for release next month and currently packing a Sandy Bridge Intel Core i3-2367M processor (no third-generation processor just yet), within a 323mm-thick frame that weighs in at around 1.6kg for the 13-inch version. Storage is a hybrid of a 320GB HDD and 32GB SSD, which promise to juggle fast start-up times with capacity, while a HD web cam beams out from above the 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) display; no word on the res of the 11-incher. There's 4GB of DDR3 memory with Intel's own HD Graphics 3000 on the side and Sony reckons you'll be able eke out up to nine hours from its SSD model. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output, and USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. Interested? Then hit up the full gallery of Sony's new Ultrabook below, with a press release thrown in after the break for good measure.

Ivy Bridge-packing Inspiron 15R hiding in plain sight on Dell's Singapore site

It may not be as wavy as the alloyed 15R from a couple of years back, but this new "special edition" Inspiron is packing a few goodies that are far more interesting than a set of sinuous patterns. Thanks to a product page on Dell's Singapore website, we were able to spot one of the company's first Ivy Bridgemachines, the Inspiron 15R. Per the listing, Dell's 15.6-inch laptop is sporting a hot-off-the-press Core i7-3612QM CPU, 6GB or 8GB of RAM (depending on configuration), AMD Radeon HD 7730M graphics and a 1TB, 5400RPM hard drive. Additionally, you'll be able to choose between two different displays: an HD WLED, 1366 x 768 or a 1920 x 1080, FHD True-Life. As of right now, the better-specced of the two models is carrying a hefty S$1,749 price tag (around $1,410 in American dollars), while the lower-end 15R is S$1,599. Those living in Singapore can hit up the source link below if you'd like to grab a piece of that fresh Ivy Bridge pie.

Olympus TG-1 iHS Tough leaks out at Best Buy, brings OLED to the rugged camera party

Looks like Olympus won't be waiting long to follow up on its 2012 Tough camera updates: Best Buy accidentally posted details of the TG-1 iHS Tough. Although it's since been taken down, the store listing showed that Olympus will be bringing a 3-inch, 610,000-pixel OLED display to the mix, making a preview of your scuba diving photos that much prettier. It shares the 12.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and 1080p movie making of the TG-820 iHS, with waterproofing now good for up to 40 feet. Olympus is, however, making a trade-off, where photogs get a shorter 4X optical zoom in return for a much wider f/2.0 aperture that will get those fish in focus. There's no word on when the TG-1 will ship, but Best Buy was showing a $400 price tag before the store took down its inadvertent sneak peek.

Microsoft SkyDrive impressions: a look at features and functionality

You may remember a certain, somewhat anticipated cloud service finally coming in to land in recent days. That wasn't the only news in nebular computing last week, however: perhaps in anticipation of Google's long-rumored Drive service, Microsoft made some updates to the Windows Phone app for its own offering, SkyDrive. This comes not long after the release of desktop SkyDrive applications for Windows and OSX, all suggesting that Redmond's hoping to cut itself as large a slice of the cloud-storage pie as it can, preferably while others are still taking their seats at the table. We spent some time with the latest quiver of tools from Microsoft, to see how they've progressed.

Microsoft reportedly launching subsidized Xbox 360 bundle next week for $99 with a two-year subscription

Microsoft has long been pushing to get the Xbox 360 into as many living rooms as possible, and it looks like it could now be about to attempt a new tactic to further expand its reach. According to The Verge'ssources, the company will launch a new bundle next week that will include both a 4GB Xbox 360 console and a Kinect sensor for just $99 -- the only catch being that you'll also have to sign a two-year contract at a rate of $15 a month. That will give you access to the Xbox Live Gold service, and potentially some additional streaming content, as well as a two-year warranty (there's also naturally an early termination fee for those that break the contract). From the sound of things, though, the new offering could be getting something of a soft launch -- the only outlet mentioned for the bundle so far is the rather limited number of Microsoft Stores in the US.

Samsung unpacks the Galaxy tomorrow, we'll be liveblogging the London event right here!

Is that Galaxy S II feeling a bit stale? It's just about time for Samsung to name a successor to themassively popular smartphone, live at the company's Mobile Unpacked event at the Earls Court Olympic venue. We'll surely see a brand new mainstream handset make its debut, but what's not quite as clear is what other gadgets Samsung plans to show off in London. With defined divisions, the Korean device maker's "Mobile Unpacked" event title implies that Android phones will steal the show, so it's unlikely that we'll see an updated Tab or two. We have 24 hours and change to find out for sure, however, so bookmark this page to stay abreast of the news as it happens in our liveblog. 

Facebook's iPhone Messenger to get video chat, enlarged variant for iPad?

Been itching for Facebook's iPhone-dedicated Messenger app to make its way over to the iPad? ? Maybe for the iPhone variant to finally reap the benefits of Skype video chat integration as well? Well, according to 9to5Mac, Camp Zuckerberg is testing both in-house, with the latter planned to hit iPhones this summer. According to the site, one of its trustworthy tipsters was able to grant it access to beta versions of the new apps, and it has the pictures to prove it. Unsurprisingly, the Messenger app for iPad is described as simply a sized-up port of the iPhone version, but surely the bump would be appreciated by many if it ever gets officially released. Perhaps more interesting, though, is having Skype video chat baked into the iPhone version -- tapping an arrow next to a contact initiates your video session, and9to5Mac reports that it's "smooth most of the time." Of course, it's always worth taking such leaks with a grain of salt, but hit up the source link below if you'd like to find more information and screenshots of the apps in question.

Windows Phone Developer Summit coming June 20th, makes for one busy month

Just in case June wasn't busy enough for mobile app developers, between Apple's WWDC and Google I/O, Microsoft has thrown its hat into the ring. It's scheduling a Windows Phone Developer Summit in San Francisco for June 20th and 21st, just a week before Google's meetup. Details are scant in the notice Engadget received, although Microsoft teases us with the prospects of learning "developer opportunities and platform capabilities in Windows Phone." Whether that means Apollo or just more about Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh (Tango) is still very much a mystery. Either way, it's likely to be good news for Metro-friendly developers crestfallen after MIX was shut down.

E Fun launches $130 Next 7S tablet with Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GHz CPU

If you're still in the quest for that perfect Mother's Day gift, E Fun believes you should have to look no further than its recently announced Next 7S tablet. The outfit isn't a newcomer to budget-friendly territory, and it's keeping the trend rolling by pricing its latest 7-inch slate at a mere $129.99. That small amount of cash will get you an 800 x 480 display, a 1GHz single-core processor, 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD) and, more importantly, a serving of Android four-dot-oh (4.0.3 to be exact). Unfortunately, the Next 7S -- which itself might be some rebadged hardware -- isn't offering support forGoogle Play at the moment, thus you're stuck with either Barnes & Noble's Nook shop or the lesser-known GetJar App Store. Head on past the break to check out an extra pic of the Next 7S and the official word from E Fun.

PoP Video peripheral turns iPod touches and iPhones into pico projectors for $99

While it may not be the first time we've come across such a concept, this PoP Video add-on is certainly quite different than, say, WooWee's Cinemin Swivel -- and significantly cheaper, too. The PoP Video pairs up with iPod touches (3rd / 4th generation) and iPhones via Apple's proprietary 30-pin connector, essentially turning your device into an unorthodox pico projector. According to PoP's site, the 3.5 ounce peripheral's capable of 960 x 540 video output and can give you up to two hours of "playtime" on a single charge -- achieved by way of micro-USB. It all wouldn't be worth it without the free iOS app, though, which lets folks tinker with settings and do what it's intended to do: project videos, pics as well as browsing within Safari. 

TSMC ramps 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 chip to 3.1GHz, gives your desktop jitters

We know TSMC's energy-miser 28-nanometer manufacturing process has a lot of headroom, but the company just ratcheted expectations up by a few notches. Lab workers at Taiwan's semiconductor giant have successfully run a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor at 3.1GHz under normal conditions. That's a 55 percent higher clock speed than the 2GHz maximum that TSMC normally offers, folks, and about twice as fast as a 40nm chip under the same workload. Don't expect that kind of clock speed from your next smartphone or tablet, though: expect processors of this caliber to find "high-performance uses," which takes us that much closer to NVIDIA's Project Denver as well as other ARM-based desktops, notebooks and servers that should give x86 chips a run for their money.