Amazon’s been cooking something in a supposed Android-based oven for quite some rumored time. Now, an invite has gone out from the Bezos-backed company for an event on the 28th of this month at 10AM. Will the e-retailer officially announce a pair of 7- and 10-inch Kindle refreshes we’ve seen so much digital ink spilled over, or is this the heavily-skinned Android tab that TechCrunch got its hands-on earlier this month? Well, we’ll know very soon.

We all know that Google’s going to unveil their Ice Cream Sandwich very soon, and it’ll most certainly be tagging along a few friends, like the Nexus Prime smartphone and some tablets. Well, now we know that Motorola Xoom 2’s tablet will be one of them, and will be loaded with Android 3.2 when launched.

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As difficult as it may be to see, radiation can be a scary thing, especially for expectant mothers. Electromagnetic radiation can be very dangerous in the early stages of pregnancy as it can hinder the growing abilities of embryonic cells. To prevent such dangers, there are a handful of radiation shielding clothes out there, but nothing really provides information about what radiation, if any, is actually present.

Thanks to the Care Bracelet concept designed by Gang Wang, pregnant mothers will be able to get a grasp on the levels of radiation nearby, keeping them informed of any potential dangers. The Care Bracelet looks like an ordinary fashion accessory but will be able to warn and remind pregnant women about any possibly dangerous environments they may be venturing into.

The device is equipped with a radiation detecting chip, micro motor and thermal energy conversion module that allows it to change colors and vibrate depending on nearby radiation levels. When the bracelet is green, it means that the area is healthy. In areas where radiation may be present, the bracelet vibrates and turns pink until the wearer leaves the polluted area.

Although most expecting mothers are probably smart enough to avoid standing in front of the microwave or curiously green glowing substances with danger signs all around, you can never be too safe with a baby on the way!

SOURCE via Designbuzz

HP yesterday surprised the tech world when it announced that CEO Leo Apotheker was being removed from his position in favor of Meg Whitman. The company said it needed a new leader if it was to successfully carry out its strategy to transform the company. The news was somewhat sudden in that Wednesday’s news brought rumors of Meg as a replacement CEO, so Thursday’s announcement wasn’t a total shock. However, the fact that HP decided to up and hire a new CEO when the old one had been in the saddle less than a year was hard to believe.

Then again, perhaps no, as Leo did make some questionable decisions during his time as CEO of HP. Aside from killing off the TouchPad and Pre and announcing plans to spin off the company’s personal systems group, Apotheker’s HP has been forced to lower sales forecasts three times and the company stock has dropped nearly 50 percent in value. Serious problems to be sure, but not entirely Apotheker’ fault. HP has been in something of a downward spiral for years, dogged by high-profile tablet and smartphone failures, expense account ‘irregularities’, not to mention the infamous 2005 employee spying scandal, all of which happened under Mark Hurd’s watch.

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Instead of supporting a particular browser version for just six weeks, an “extended support release” (ESR) would be supported for a total of seven Firefox release cycles, or 42 weeks.

Mozilla would still be updating an ESR version every time a new Firefox is released, but would only apply security patches, according to a proposal. If Mozilla starts this idea with Firefox 8, then ESR versions would be called 8.0 ESR, 8.0.1 ESR, 8,0.2 ESR until 8.0.6 ESR with release dates that coincide with Firefox 9 – 14. Mozilla also said that businesses that choose the ESR version will have 12 weeks to qualify a new Firefox ESR version once it becomes available. The current proposal suggests that Firefox 8 ESR will be introduced on January 1, 2012 while the will not have to switch to the successor Firefox 13.0.1 ESR (including two qualifying cycles) until August 28, 2012.

Mozilla is currently asking for feedback on the proposal, but said that it is planning on launching the ESR versions with Firefox 8 or 9.

SOURCE via Mozilla

Friday morning Blizzard Entertainment said that it has pushed back the release date of its highly-anticipated action-RPG PC game, Diablo 3. Instead of a Q4 2011 launch, the game is now expected to arrive on retail shelves and Battle.net in “early” 2012. The news isn’t unexpected, but unfortunate nonetheless for those who were hoping to hack/shoot/electrify their way through the holiday season.

“With every game we make, the temptation is always very strong to launch as soon as possible. However, we didn’t put so many years of work into Diablo 3 to release a game that was almost ready,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “The beta test is going very well, and we look forward to making the most of the extra time we’re taking to deliver an experience that lives up to our vision for the game and the expectations of our players. Next year is going to be an incredibly busy one for Blizzard, and we hope an incredibly fun one for Blizzard gamers.”

As indicated, Blizzard will use the additional time to extend the Diablo 3 closed beta test which launched earlier this week. This means there’s a potential for additional players, and anyone with an active Battle.net account that has a Blizzard game attached to it (any Diablo, Warcraft and StarCraft title) should visit Battle.net account management to opt in for a chance to participate in the beta test.

According to Blizzard, additional testing phases, as well as further details regarding the launch plans for the game, will be announced on the company’s Diablo 3 community website.