.::REALITYRECALL::.

As a loyal iPod user, you’d have thought that Queen Elizabeth II would have seen fit to bestow an honorary knighthood on a certain Steven Paul Jobs by now. After all, Sir Bill received his back in 2005 even though his company couldn’t quite get its cellphone or tablet strategies to stick with consumers. According to an anonymous senior Labour MP who left Parliament in the last election, Jobs had reached the final stages of approval for “services to technology” only to be rejected in 2009 by the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Why? Well, according to The Telegraph, Jobs had the audacity to turn down an offer to speak at Labour’s annual conference. In retaliation we hear that Apple is holding Jony Ive — himself, an honorary Commander of the British Empire — hostage in an infinitely looping orange grove somewhere in northern California.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Steve Jobs’ knighthood rejected by Gordon Brown? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not available on actual phones yet, but a core code change in Android 2.3.3 allows for apps to take screenshots, without “rooting” or setting up a development kit. Yes, iPhone users have been able to do this for some time, and, yes, it should have been available earlier. But, hey, it’s a major pain that’s going away. [Android Central] More »

The IE9 Release Candidate came out on February 10th, so you might think it’s about time it stepped its game up to a final release and Microsoft seems to be of the same mind. Download Squad reports insider sources have pinpointed the South by Southwest gathering in Austin, Texas, this month as the launch platform for the non-beta, non-RC Internet Explorer 9, with a direct download becoming available around 9PM ET on March 14th. That’s highly specific, though still unconfirmed, information. For some more official word on the matter, we have to go to the Indian branch of the Microsoft Developer Network, which has tweeted out the announcement that IE9 will launch on March 24th at Tech.Ed India 2011. We imagine that’s a launch party specific to India itself, however it does provide an official date for the latest time we can expect Microsoft to take the training wheels off its newest, shiniest browser.

Internet Explorer 9 expected on March 14th, definitely released by March 24th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft to demo Windows 8 tablet interface in June? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I should first explain the radio silence of the last couple of weeks. We'd wanted to respond to feedback not with promises of future improvements but with actual fixes. So that's what I'm doing now—but I regret any impression that we weren't listening. Without more verbiage, the main changes you wanted: More »

Samsung’s 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab likely to launch at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point, MSI has been showing off its 10-inch Android tablet for a good half a year, but at least this time it’s coming clean with some specs, and they’re actually not half bad. Yep, the company brought its WindPad 100A to CeBIT and has announced that it, like most of the others, is powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and will get some sweet Honeycomb when it hits the market in late May or early June. The model on hand at CeBIT was running some 2.X version of Android, and the hardware was identical to the one we saw back at CES. MSI’s told us that pricing hasn’t been set yet, but hopefully, like Moto’s Sanjay Jha just proclaimed, these tablet prices will be dropping come the second half of the year. Hit the gallery below for some closer hands-on shots.

Tablet shocker! MSI WindPad 100A packs Tegra 2 and will ship with Honeycomb originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Ping Chen, Software engineer

Over the past few days, we’ve been testing a new Picasa Web Albums layout that does a better job of of updating you with new and inspiring photos. Based on the positive response we’ve received, we’re now rolling out this new homepage for everyone.

This new design centers around photos that are interesting to you. We wanted to give you faster access to the newest photos from your family and friends along with some great photos from the talented Picasa community.

When you log in to Picasa Web Albums, you will not only see your own albums, but albums that have been shared with you, the latest public albums from people you follow, and featured photos from the Picasa community right on your home page.

Go to picasaweb.google.com now to begin exploring your new homepage.

Most Americans would be amazed to learn that Canada actually extends further south than the northern border of California!

Click to enlarge

Click here for more information

Thanks Agnes

iPhones! iPads! Android! We’ve updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. More »

Amanda Hocking doesn’t have a deal with a major book publisher. Just as well. Because the 26-year old author is making millions self-publishing through Kindle, selling 100,000 copies of her books each month and keeping 70% of the proceeds. More »

Picasa offers everyone 1 GB of storage for photos and videos, and its paid storage is pretty cheap, too. Now it’s even cheaper, because the service has stopped counting photos under 800 pixels wide, or videos less than 15 minutes, against users’ storage counts. More »

Long exposure photography is plenty awesome on its own. But pair it with a staff that lights up according to how strong Wi-Fi signal is and you get something even more illuminating: a picture of what Wi-Fi networks really look like. More »