iRobot updates Looj gutter bot, entry-level Roomba

Autumn is a-comin' down the track, and with it the whiff of rotting leaves and election promises. Robots can clear away the former now, the latter after the revolution.

iRobot is updating its Looj gutter cleaner, a leaf-churner extraordinaire that reduces the time it takes to unclog your gutters.

If you're not familiar with Looj, it's a portable, waterproof, rotating scrubber on treads. You set it in your eavestrough and it trundles along, spitting out leaves, needles, and other gunk with its spinning rubber flaps. Messy but effective. … Read more

Lenovo has new ultrabook details, Windows 8 tablet for ThinkPad at 20

During an event at New York's Museum of Modern Art, PC maker Lenovo has announced new details about upcoming laptops, as well as a new ThinkPad-branded Windows 8 tablet.

The event was to mark the ThinkPad brand's 20th anniversary. Originally IBM's PC line, Lenovo bought the brand in 2005. The three new products profiled have all been spotted before, at CES 2012 or later in the year, including the flagship ThinkPad X1 Carbon ultrabook.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon First spotted in May 2012, we've already given this 14-inch ultrabook an extensive hands-on look. It starts at $1,… Read more

Just how much will Microsoft Surface cost?

Recently the Internet at large and tech sites in particular (including CNET) jumped on the "news" that a Swedish retail site had the skinny on the supposed retail price of the Microsoft Surface tablets.

Thankfully, and after only a few hundred forums and comment spaces exploded, calling for the head of Steve Ballmer, the Swedish site in question responded, clarifying that it came up with the price on its own, with no inside knowledge from Microsoft.

Typical weekday Internet confusion birthed from a lack of facts and no desire to actually seek any out. If nothing else, the ordeal left me with one primary thought: "Wow, I'm glad I'm off today and don't have to cover that story." However, my secondary thought was closer to, "With less than three months before the purported release of the RT version of the tablet, we still don't have an actual price from Microsoft."… Read more

Rumor Has It: iPhone 5 isn't the only trick up Apple's sleeve

On this week's show, we discuss the latest iPhone 5 release date rumors, Samsung's possible Retina Display, and an alleged new tablet from Sony, and we wonder if Apple is really interested in buying a stake in Twitter.

The New York Times came out with a report over the weekend describing talks between Apple and the 140-character proselytizer. The report alleged that Apple has considered buying a minority stake in Twitter, a company that hasn't yet filed an IPO. The Wall Street Journal chimed in to say the talks were more than a year ago, and its … Read more

Friday Poll: Do you still use your Nintendo Wii?

I just slayed a nasty-looking giant spider in the Skyview Temple. I got there thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It came out last year, but I'm a little behind the times with my gaming. Maybe that's why I'm still enjoying the Wii when so many have consigned it to collecting dust.

Wii sales have slowed to a crawl, leaving Nintendo in a tough financial position. When the Wii first came out in 2006, it was next to impossible to track one down. It was the Cabbage Patch Doll of game consoles that holiday season.… Read more

Raspberry Pi to get camera add-on by October

If you're one of the 200,000 owners of the ultra-low-cost Raspberry Pi computer, you'll soon be able to buy a camera add-on.

The tiny 5-megapixel camera module attaches to the Raspberry Pi via a ribbon cable and is expected to cost between $20 and $25. Founder Eben Upton revealed this information at the Raspberry Jam event in Cambridge, England.

He also mentioned that the Raspberry Pi Foundation -- a British nonprofit formed to create this tiny and cheap Linux computer for kids -- has been working on improving the software for the computer. According to Upton, there has been a "fourfold" increase in performance since April. … Read more

Xbox, Nintendo 3DS consoles see high sales numbers

Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's 3DS sales are going strong in the U.S., according to numbers the two companies released today.

The numbers, gathered by research company NPD Group, show Nintendo maintaining a 75 percent market share for portable hardware and Microsoft's Xbox holding onto the top spot for console sales.

This is Xbox's 18th consecutive month at No. 1, with its sales making up 47 percent of current-generation console sales, Jeff Meisner, editor of the Official Microsoft Blog posted today.

The sales equal 257,000 units sold in June with total retail spent on … Read more

Rumor Has It: Is Amazon crazy enough to make a smartphone? (video)

Amazon has planted its flag firmly in tablet land, desktop land, and even streaming-media land, but one faraway atmosphere has yet to be graced with Amazon's shopping presence: Smartphonia.

Never fear, brave app-loving residents of smartphone world, a new rumor suggests that even as you read this, Amazon is sending scouts to your universe to find out what you like and is working with fabled smartphone manufacturer Foxconn -- of iPhone and iPad fame -- to infiltrate your borders and free you from the shackles of...clunky smartphone shopping apps.

What would an Amazon smartphone look like? With the … Read more

Game console Ouya to bring gaming back to the TV

Hard-core gamers like a challenge. Just ask gaming business veteran Julie Uhrman.

Uhrman wants to disrupt the gaming industry with an affordable console called Ouya, a name she hopes will become the battle cry of game developers. Her company is soliciting developers to help build an open ecosystem of games on Android, essentially bringing the openness of mobile games back to the TV set.

"It's very ambitious -- it's hardware, it's software, it's building an ecosystem," Uhrman said.

But Uhrman said she believes her team has what it takes to challenge the status quo. … Read more