The celebrity was among the first in the UK to get their hands on Apple’s latest gadget, the iPad. . Follow us on twitter at twitter.com .

www.T3.com – The Gadget Website. Fry on Google’s monopoly in the tech world and how he feels about being one of the most influential names in tech.

PC Magazine and USA Today also weigh in, and are similarly positive. Among PC Mag’s cons is the fact that earbuds are not included. Really now. Xeni has one over at BoingBoing, and she likes it so much she shot pictures of it with a soft focus filter — my mistake, it’s probably just an iPhone camera.

I notice there are few complaints about the lack of Flash support. That’s something that will emerge in time, I think — when a hundred thousand people start cruising the net and find that quite a few of their favorite sites have a few bits missing. Will they complain or merely shrug? We’ll soon find out. The whole Apple/Flash thing is a powderkeg, of course, so I’m just going to let the consumers decide.

But the best review came from Modern Family where the iPad was a major player in the story.

We’ll have our review as soon as possible. With any luck we’ll be able to throw a few of the newest apps at it as well. And my advice is, as always, to get the thing in your hands if you’re not sure. A quick trip to the Apple Store could save you (or make you part with) quite a lot of money.

And Stephen Fry go one, as well, but he’s nice about it.

[image: Reuters]

It might not be as comprehensive, nor is it narrated by Stephen Fry, but Openmoko’s WikiReader could be the closest thing we have to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy right now. It’s a palm-sized encyclopedia that contains over 3 million English language articles from Wikipedia, available offline.

Thanks to its monochrome touchscreen display that allows you to click on hyperlinks and scroll an article with a finger stroke, the WikiReader will run for months on a set of 2xAAA batteries. And since Wikipedia is constantly being updated, the WikiReader can also be kept up-to-date with quarterly updates that can be downloaded for free from their website, or there’s a $29 yearly subscription plan which provides the updates via microSD cards. $99 available from Amazon today.

[ WikiReader ]

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Microsoft

2009 is suddenly a holiday of racers. If you don’t believe that, consider the trifecta that dropped–or will drop–shortly: Need For Speed: Shift, Dirt 2, and Microsoft’s holiday tentpole Forza Motorsport 3. All of them promise realistic physics, blazing speeds, and tons of customization, but NFS: Shift and Dirt 2 are multiplatform, while Forza Motorsport 3 is an Xbox 360 first-party exclusive. For my money, though, I’ll take Forza 3. After playing all three, the newest Forza has, surprisingly, won me over–not with realism, but with fun.

I say surprisingly because “simulation racers” generally lie in a calcified place among the hearts of the mainstream gamers: the hundreds of factory-immaculate car models and pitch-perfect world racing circuits, along with the endless class licenses and intricate engine tune-ups, can turn most gamers off completely. Right here in the CNET offices, I told a colleague I was playing Forza 3, and that I actually enjoyed it. “Really?” he asked, somewhat disbelieving. It’s assumed that Gran Turismo and Forza will be inaccessible to those who don’t appreciate racers, just like Madden often erects a wall between NFL fans and gamers and the rest of the world.

I am a casual racer, and Forza 3 sucked me in.

Its first success was employing a calm British man to talk to me. Much like LittleBigPlanet, a gentle voice of authority (although in this case, not Stephen Fry) welcomed me, showed me the basic ropes, and told me everything was going to be all right. Rather than worry about detailed car controls and under-the-hood tinkering, a simple press of a few A and B buttons got me right into a season-long circuit of races. The voice tutorials gently tailed off naturally, until I had the ropes completely. Suddenly I realized that I had been playing for several hours, and was itching to complete just one more race challenge to unlock more credits. That’s when I realized that, fundamentally, Forza 3 is a success.
…

The word Twitter is to appear in the forthcoming Collins English Dictionary as both a verb and a noun: Twitter – verb: to write short messages on the Twitter website. Twitter – noun: a website where people can post short messages about their current activities. The word Twitterati, which refers to the elite users of Twitter, such as Stephen Fry and Ashton Kutcher who attract a large following, will also be entered as will Twitterverse which defines the whole Twitter phenomenon. Elaine Higgleton, Collins editorial director, said: “Hardly a day goes by when you don’t see some Twitter-related article. Hence I find it entirely unsurprising that this year we have not one Twitter-related entry in the dictionary, but three.” Every year we see these sorts of stories where the latest fad phrases are entered into the dictionary and every year I get a bit annoyed. Yogalates was added last year. Yogalates. sigh. I suppose Twitter is a valid entry – but Twitterati and Twitterverse? What’s the point? (via The Telegraph)

While most had their eyes on Stephen Fry at the Nokia N97 launch, some keen bods were busy pumping the execs for information and it seems they pumped well. It turns out that Nokia is planning on phasing out the DRM on their Comes With Music package meaning that users will be able to download tracks as MP3s and actually keep their tunes. It’s always been the desire of the mobile giant to go DRM-free but ultimately the decision has always been down to the labels who have never exactly been first to come round to new digital ideas. It seems, though, that the big wigs have softened/modernised their attitudes since deals like the DRM-free one between Virgin and Universal and it looks as all with CWM will reap the rewards as of 2010. A Nokia spokesperson said: “Nokia is committed to going DRM free on the Nokia Music Store in 2009″. “Comes With Music offers great value and even with the DRM in place, it continues to have great appeal to our consumers. We are constantly discussing with the music industry about how to evolve Comes With Music and further enrich the proposition we currently have”. It’s not clear if this evolution will continue to involve an all you can eat service if it is to be DRM-free but, given the extent of the CWM catalogue, I’m looking forward to finding out. (via ME & Pocket Lint)

Nothing is more jarring in the morning than that terrible buzzing sound emitted by the cheapest of cheap alarm clocks. So even though this Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock from Hammacher Schlemmer comes with a steep $99.95 price tag, it’s totally worth the cost since it plays one of 126 different wake-up messages in the calming voice of Reginald Jeeves, played by Stephen Fry in the series Jeeves and Wooster.

It’s almost impossible to wake up in a bad mood when you’ve been cajoled out of bed with phrases like “Excuse me sir, I’m so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning… Very inconvenient, I agree… I believe it is the rotation of the Earth that is to blame, sir.” And if you still don’t feel like getting up, hitting the clock’s rosette acts like a snooze button which also triggers one of 10 additional replies including “Sir has a firm touch, but fair.” It’s like having your very own English butler, except that you’ll have to make your own breakfast once you’re up.

[ The Infallibly Polite Speaking Alarm Clock ]