ordering

This weekend's Internet fire sale of HP TouchPads ignited a fury of interest from bargain hunters, as well as just plain fury from some who say Barnes & Noble reneged on their purchases.

The tablets, which Hewlett-Packard announced last week it would discontinue, went on sale at a steep discount this week, with the 16GB model dropping in price from $399 to $99 and the 32GB model dropping from $499 to $145. The price drop sparked a frenzy of bargain hunters and reduced to a crawl many retailer sites rumored to have stock of the phased-out tablets. By this morning, most sites were sold out of the devices.

Barnes & Noble was among the handful of sites offering the device. However, many unhappy buyers lit up Twitter today with complaints that the Internet retailer had sent them e-mails informing them that the orders they placed for TouchPads over the weekend had been canceled, presumably because B&N oversold the tablet (see Barnes & Noble letter sent to CNET reader below).

Barnes & Noble representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment, so it's unknown how many orders had been nixed. But judging by the number of tweets on the topic, it's more than just a few. … Read more

Amazon's tablet is showing signs of arriving in relatively large numbers in the third quarter, according to a speculative report Thursday in Digitimes, which said shipment figures put it behind Apple's iPad.

Shipments may hit between 1 million and 1.2 million units for the Amazon tablet, the Taipei-based technology news site said, citing "conservative" estimates. Orders for Amazon-bound touch panels is higher at up to 2 million units. An earlier report said Amazon monthly order numbers would be between 700,000 and 800,000 units, with the tablet arriving in August.

Any number pales next … Read more

For the third time in a week, hackers have released information pilfered from compromised online accounts of Arizona law enforcement officers.

Under the "AntiSec" umbrella, the combined Anonymous-LulzSec hacker group is targeting government agencies, financial institutions, and other high-profile targets. AntiSec first released e-mails, phone numbers, passwords, and other information belonging to the Arizona Department of Public Safety on June 23. The hackers said they are targeting the police organization to protest "racial-profiling anti-immigrant" policies, specifically SB1070, which makes it a crime to be in Arizona without documentation proving United States residency.

Earlier this week, AntiSec … Read more

Real Desktop from Schillergames is a free desktop application that simulates a three-dimensional desktop resembling the top of an actual desk. You can customize everything from the intensity of the colors and lighting to the direction of the shadows; even configure them for a specific time of day. While the effect is interesting, the freeware's limited features limit its usefulness.

Real Desktop's download attempts to install a variety of "extras," such as Facemoods, a search aid, a toolbar, and something called PageShots Pro. Read each screen carefully and deselect the agreements to install these dubious "… Read more

A full-fledged MMO on the iPhone? In this week's Tap That App, I take a look at Order & Chaos Online, the massive online multiplayer role-playing game from Gameloft. Featuring a look that very closely resembles Blizzard's World of Warcraft, the game provides a sweeping world in which you'll be able to create a character, choose a class, customize your look, and set off on an adventure.

If you've ever been a fan of online MMOs or just want to see what the fuss is all about, check out this week's Tap That App.

Some interesting Apple news this week from AppleInsider revolves around Apple's acquisition of the iCloud domain name. Apparently, according to sources, Apple paid Sweden-based company Xcerion an estimated $4.5 million for the domain. It is rumored that the cloud service will be announced this summer at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference here in San Francisco.

There have already been plenty of rumors that Apple's cloud service would enable users to stream music to iOS devices, but according to the article, it may also offer a personalized "locker" where you can keep photos and videos as well. It will be exciting to see how this all pans out at WWDC, and whether people will be more inclined to sign up with iCloud than with MobileMe, which received a somewhat lukewarm response from users.

What kind of things would you like to see offered in an Apple-based cloud service? What would be a reasonable price for such a service? Let us know in the comments.

This week's apps are an instant voice mail messenger and a full-featured MMORPG that closely resembles one of the most popular games of all time.… Read more

Since Apple has still not announced how many iPad 2s it's sold since the device went on sale last Friday, analysts and onlookers alike have tried to scrap together numbers from line counts, anecdotal stock reports, and order numbers.

That last part of the strategy may no longer work, however. Citing sources familiar with Apple's ordering system, Apple Insider reports that Apple has tweaked its Web ordering tools to randomize order numbers so that users can't figure out how many units the company has moved between two different points in time.

During the first iPad launch, forum … Read more

Verizon Wireless got off to a relatively smooth start today as it began the preorder process for the long-awaited Verizon iPhone.

The company started taking preorders from existing Verizon Wireless customers for the device at 3 a.m. EST. It will be begin selling the device to all consumers online and in retail locations starting next Thursday, February 10.

As many iPhone fans will recall, in June of last year AT&T's Web site was overwhelmed by customers trying to preorder the iPhone 4. Orders couldn't be processed through AT&T, and many customers simply gave … Read more

Like many free applications, The Hat from Harmony Hollow Software uses software to do something usually done "the hard way." In this case, it's drawing names from a hat, the time-honored method for randomly selecting individual entries from a group. The app can randomize a list of names so no one can complain about who goes first and who goes last. It can also draw individual names or pairs of names for raffles, sweepstakes, and ongoing contests. It does this all without requiring you to actually write down names, cut up the list, and throw it all … Read more