Apple chief says Foxconn ‘not a sweatshop’
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs defended conditions at Taiwan-based Foxconn, an iPhone-linked electronics producer plagued by a rash of worker suicides in China.
Read more on AFP via Yahoo! News

iRiver S100 Brings Sleek Good Looks to Entry Level PMPs [Video]
iRiver has been in the MP3 and PMP industry for a long time, and some of their most recent devices have been remarkably well manufactured. Especially in the shiny aesthetics department. And in today’s market, that’s almost half the battle. No one wants an ugly gadget to show off to their friends, after all. And there’s definitely no worry about anyone being unimpressed with the shiny good looks …
Read more on SlashGear

Wired Video: HTC 4G Evo Dissected
HTC’s next smartphone possesses a number of powerful features, exposed in this tear-down of the device.
Read more on Wired News

Could there be a way to play your favorite songs on guitar fast right now? It is possible, but you need to have a plan. This is vital as most beginners jump straight into learning guitar without thinking about what they want to achieve or how they plan to get there. Check out the 3 helpful tips in this article. They will guide you in avoiding the mistakes most beginners make.

Starting the guitar can be tough. You have know idea what to start learning first, your fingers are not as strong as you would like and you find it tricky to keep the strings pressed down or, you get angry and annoyed trying to get the guitar in tune so it makes any sort of reasonable sound.

Half the battle when you first start playing is finding a good guitar to learn on. A poorly made guitar with a very high action (the gap between the strings and the fretboard at the 12th fret) will make learning more difficult and you will spend a lot of time tuning it to keep the sound okay. The best bet is to buy a guitar with low action. Steel string guitar are more versatile for beginners and unless you only want to play lead buy an acoustic instead of an electric.

Once you have a decent guitar it’s time to find a course that suits your habits and time. If you like being shown and told what to do the best idea is to find a good teacher in your area. If you are more independent minded try getting a quality home study course you can use in your own time.

To discover more check out teach yourself to play guitar

Just so you don’t, you know, leave your place of work today without this bit of news: Kindle is making an app for Macs and Blackberries. This news follows the announcement for a yet-unreleased PC version announced yesterday.

No expected release date. It’s just being worked on. And now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

Sony’s slimmed-down PS3 is a cute little ugly duckling, and not without its concessions. From fewer USB ports to an over-priced vertical stand, and its removed “Install Other OS” feature, here’s what you should know before picking one up.

First off, it’s not actually called the PS3 Slim, that’s just it’s nickname. It’s officially called the PS3 120GB. Either way, I plan to buy one myself. I like that the matte finish is more scratch and fingerprint resistant, even if it comes over as a little retro Chinese knock-off. In the same vein, these 10 considerations may not affect how you plan to use the Slim—but knowing is half the battle, right?

1. Available September 1, Prices Already Dropped (North America)
If you prefer your PS3 fat and glossy, the existing 80GB model has now dropped to $300—that’s how much the new 120GB PS3 Slim will be in September. (The current 160GB PS3 has also been reduced, to $400.) And be on the look for bargains as retailers wind down stock: Today’s Gadget Deals of the Day has an 80GB bundle that includes LittleBigPlanet and a Blu-ray copy of Wall-E for $299 (normally $400).

2. You’ll Probably Want the Stand
As Jason said in his hands on, the Slim isn’t really stable enough to balance vertically without its stand. Problem is, the stand is sold separately, and at $24, seems over priced. You also won’t be able to pick one up until 2 days after the PS3 Slim first goes on sale. Expect to eventually see third-party alternatives in a Skittles-rainbow of colors.

3. Hard Drive Upgrades
As we’ve mentioned, FCC records indicate that Sony may also have plans for 150GB and 250GB versions of the PS3 120GB. Either way, it only takes one screw (now located under the front, instead of the side) to swap in your own SATA laptop hard disk (and doing so won’t avoid the warranty).

4. PS3 3.0 Firmware Not Initially Pre-Installed
That’s because it’s released on September 1, the same day the Slim goes on sale. So to get the 3.0 Firmware goodness, you’ll need to sit through a software update out of the box. Sony says it’ll preinstall 3.x in later units. Sounds fair to me.

5. It Won’t Play Your Old PlayStation 2 Games
That won’t be returning,” Sony’s John Koller recently confirmed. Likely not a big deal unless you’ve got a massive collection of PS2 titles that you don’t want to part with. If so, the launch PS3s with hardware PS2 Emotion Engine are your best bet (for greater compatibility), but the second-generation 60- and 80GB models will also play PS2 games using software emulation.

6. No Linux for You!
In its infinite wisdom, Sony has removed the “Install Other OS” feature (Settings -> System Settings -> Install Other OS) and official Linux support along with it. The current 80- and 160GB PS3s support Linux, but Sony’s cut the cord on the Slim because it wants to “standardize” the OS. Counting down to open-source hack in 3, 2…

7. No On-Off Switch
The Slim has no on-off switch at the back, so now relies on the standby power button at the front. Both the power and eject buttons are no longer touch-style; they’ve been changed to physical buttons.

8. No Media Card Reader
No surprise here: PS3s haven’t had media card slots for ages. Why not just stream photos from your laptop to the PS3 wirelessly, or copy them to a USB drive? Speaking of which…

9. Two USB Ports, Not Four
Not what we had hoped for, but again, not surprising. Not only is this a slimmed-down model, but all third-generation PS3s have only 2 USB ports (and skip the media card reader).

10. Bravia Link
Connect the PS3 Slim to a Bravia Link-capable Sony HDTV (via HDMI) and you’ll be able to control the XMB interface with your TV remote. The TV will even automatically power down the PS3 when it gets turned off.

11. It Plays The Same PS3 Games!
Slim or not, it’s still a freakin’ PS3 and will play the same PS3 games and Blu-ray movies you throw at it! Plus, the smaller 45nm Cell chip helps it consume less power, and may potentially even be a little faster.

Taking advantage of the hype surrounding the upcoming G.I. Joe feature film, Hasbro is releasing the complete animated series on DVD. Including all 95 episodes, and the legendary PSA’s, here’s your big chance to revisit your youth.

So what price nostalgia? For $145 you’ll get the aforementioned 95 episodes, including everyone’s favorite public service announcements, the original toy commercials, a reunion of the original voice cast, a printable script, and 1 GB “dog tag” USB drive with a new exclusive comic. All in all, a very worthy package for a classic show.

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

(thanks to reader Nick Nagoo for the tip)

World of Warcraft players are a notoriously picky bunch. They know what they like, what they don’t like, and have absolutely no issue with telling you exactly how they feel. Loudly, and with many, many petitions and forum postings. And that’s just the basic game. When you get into modifications, you’re into a whole new ballgame. And just making sure you have the most up to date software installed can turn into a major undertaking.

Some guilds won’t even let you go on a raid unless you have the proper addons, and anyone who’s had to try to help the less, shall we say, technically inclined know that getting everything to work right is sometimes half the battle. Now of course, we have software like the Curse Client Addon manager.

Put simply, the Curse.com’s software client allows you to manage all your favorite addons without making it complicated. Click the refresh button up at the top of the screen, and the client automatically checks all of your installed addons for new versions, and gives you the option to update them if a newer version is available. When you are looking for something new, you can search via name, category, or author. The interface then displays the description of the addon, the version number, and has a link to the addon where it is hosted. Curse hasn’t forgotten the Mac players either, there is a version of the client that works with the Mac OS as well.

There are a few things that set the Curse client apart from the other addon management software out there. Yes, you have to log in to download the addons, but registration for the website is free. The Curse.com website also has a very active community on their forums, and many times you can discuss future versions of the addons directly with the authors themselves. Curse also has a subscription option, which adds the ability to update all of your addons at once, removes the advertisements, and allows you priority access to the servers when it’s time to download. The subscription price varies based on the time period you are signing up for, but it runs anywhere from $2.45 a month (the best deal, billed annually) to $4.95 a month (billed month to month). The subscription fees help to cover bandwidth costs, and a percentage is passed on to the addon author, making it easier to help support your favorite.

As a WoW player myself, I feel confident recommending the Curse client over the other options available. I’m also able to show you something very something very special, a sneak peek of the new 4.0 client which is still in alpha, and won’t be available for download for about 1-2 months. All I can share with you is a screenshot, but having used the new client myself, I can tell you it is significantly faster then the 3.0 version, and works great with Windows 7 and Vista.