Sony’s just announced in SCEJ press conference, Tokyo that the PlayStation Vita will debut in Japan on December 17th, and it’ll partner with NTT DoCoMo for the console’s prepaid 3G service in Japan. Customers will have two choices of connection here: 980 yen ($13) for 20 hours, and 4,980 yen ($65) for 100 hours. The first 500 units sold will come with 100 hours of prepaid 3G connectivity. Pre-orders open on October 15th. Alas, the rest of the world will still have to wait until 2012.

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Sure we’ve seen plenty of Windows Phone Mango demos, but so far as slickness is concerned, few can compare to this latest offering from Microsoft, which looks to bring developers on board, while showing off some key features like Live Tiles and speedy switching between apps in dramatic hands-off fashion. The Mango is so close we can taste it. Video after the break.

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Thunderbolt is certainly taking its sweet time catching on, but Intel isn’t about to give up yet. In 2012 the company will be rolling out Cactus Ridge, a replacement for its current Light Ridge and Eagle Ridge solutions. There will be two versions: a quad Thunderbolt channel, dual DisplayPort model (replacing the similarly speced Light Ridge); and a dual T-bolt, single DisplayPort edition (taking over for Eagle Ridge). Exactly when they’ll land next year or how much it’ll cost OEMs to shoehorn the controllers into their machines is still a mystery, but we’re holding out hope that this time next year the 10Gbps jacks will be in every Dell, Acer and Apple. Hopefully the motherboard market will also include them.

SOURCE via Anandtech

Did you download Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 developer preview ISO? Microsoft made available the preview few days ago at their BUILD conference, and well according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer himself, who took to the stage at Build, the download managed to hit about 500,000 downloads in the first 12 hours. That sounded about right. Now the real question: “When will we actually see the final product?”

SOURCE via All Things D

These days we always move around with a portable hard drive tagging along. Most data stored in these portable drives are songs and movies, but not all of them. Sometimes we also store confidential materials such as project blue prints and sensitive documents, and so how safe can they be when we’re bringing them to almost everywhere. If you keep close watch over your digital belongings like we do, security is an utmost concern for external storage devices.

Now you can keep your valuables under lock-and-key with Satechi’s LockDown — a SATA HDD enclosure that guards data via an encrypted 256 bit protection and allows lightning fast USB 3.0 transfer speeds. Utilizing a touch keypad on an OLED display, the device is only accessible through a 4 to 8 digit passcode — even if it’s connected to a PC or another device. This gives you the ability to keep “your backup data as secure as the data on your personal computer.”

Pretty sweet, right? The LockDown plays nice with both Mac and PC and is shipping now for $90.

Apparently, even with a proven script, replicating the success of the most beloved automotive show on television isn’t as easy as it sounds. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian version of Top Gear has been cancelled.

After the initial report, host Steve Pizzati sent out a confirmation via Twitter stating the following:

    It’s true – as of next week, TGA will be on at the special time of not at all. Sorry to the open-minded people that gave it a go and enjoyed!

For those keeping track, Top Gear down under lasted for four seasons spread over two different networks before finally succumbing to poor ratings. There were also six separate presenters used over different time frames, along, of course, with The Stig.

We can’t say that we ever really watched the show, but we’re sure at least a few Aussies will miss it. Here’s hoping the U.S. version of the series, as well as few others like China and Korea finds enough homes to avoid the same fate.

Toyota has peeled back the sheets to finally reveal its 2012 Prius Plug-in production model at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Toyota describes the plug-in hybrid as the “greenest, most technically advanced Prius yet,” and with an electric-only driving range of 14.3 miles, fuel consumption targeted at 112 miles per gallon equivalent and CO2 emissions listed at 49 grams per kilometer, we’re inclined to agree with the Japanese automaker’s bluster.

Unlike currently available Prius hatchbacks, the plug-in version is rechargeable using an electrical connection, rather than only from electricity generated while the vehicle is in motion. Toyota says that after the Prius Plug-in’s 4.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack is depleted, the vehicle seamlessly switches to hybrid mode. The Prius Plug-in can be fully recharged in less than 1.5 hours.

On the performance front, the plug-in Prius cranks out 134 horsepower, which Toyota says is sufficient to propel the hybrid hatch from nought to 62 miles per hour in a leisurely 10.7 seconds and onward to a top speed of 112 mph.

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