You guys might not be able to purchase your very own Microsoft Surface, but you can definitely get to experience it in a few weeks time. AT&T has just announced that they will be utilizing this particular display technology in retails stores in order to enhance mobile shopping experience. Find out the details in the full article.

It was reported that three teens were arrested by the Waverly Police (in New York) after they were caught burglarizing a house. It was mentioned that the suspects were able to steal properties amounting to US$ 2,500 including a Nintendo Wii and two Xbox 360 consoles among others. The rest of the story at the full article!

If you have no qualms about wearing a mobile phone made out of tapioca on your wrist, then you might want to try out Nokia's new Morph phone. A video featuring this innovative concept phone is currently running at New York's Museum of Modern art and shows off the Morph's unique features. You can read more about the science behind this new mobile phone by checking out our full article after the jump.

See no evil, hear no evil, text no evil. Think your text messages are just between you and the one who's meant to read it? Think again. In the US, text messaging is quickly becoming a matter of public record that can be brought as evidence in court. Read the full story by following the "read more" link below.

After receiving US$ 2000 worth of roaming charges from AT&T, Herbert H. Kliegerman decided to sue Apple for not properly disclosing to customers that the iPhone is locked to AT&T, and the use of the handset in other countries will result in roaming fees.

A frequent traveller, Kliegerman travelled to Mexico and continued to use his iPhone. Not aware of the roaming charges applicable when using a local network provider's service internationally, Kliegerman was content that he will not be charged extra for using internet and checking emails. However, he received the US$ 2000 bill upon his return from the trip.

Kliegerman contacted AT&T to have his phone unlocked, but since iPhone is exclusive to AT&T for the meantime, AT&T refused his request to unlock his phone. Disgruntled, he filed a 9-page complaint in a New York Supreme Court and accused Apple of deceiving customers by not properly informing them of the iPhone's exclusivity with AT&T, and about the roaming charges as well.

Here's a short quote from the lawsuit:

As a result of [Apple's] deceptive and misleading acts, members of the Class have been injured because they are unable to unlock their phones for use with non-AT&T SIM cards.

It looks like it's another day, another lawsuit for Apple and the iPhone. However, it looks like this particular case would have been avoided with a careful reading of the contract before signing anything.

 

Electronic Arts officially announced earlier today that the cover of FIFA Soccer 08 is to feature teen soccer star Jozy Altidore of the New York Red Bulls (Major League Soccer), one of only five teen athletes to grace the covers of an EA-branded game. Altidore is also the second youngest in that shortlist at 17 years old, topped by Freddy Adu who was the cover athlete for FIFA Soccer 06 when he was 16 years old.

Also joining the cover athlete lineup will be 22 year old Guillermo Ochoa of the Mexican Primera Division, who will feature side-by-side with FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho for the North American versions of FIFA Soccer 08 (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, mobiles).

Expect to see these athletes in the covers of their respective versions by October 2007, when the EA SPORTS soccer title developed by EA Canada will be launching on multiple game platforms. The game has yet to be rated by the ESRB as of press time.

There's no doubt that the Apple iPhone's launch was a runaway success, and new owners of the handset couldn't be happier. But Gizmodo reports some flimsy incidents that might dampen the parade a bit.

According to the report, AT&T might be cashing in on the launch by forcing consumers to buy two accessories if they want to get the handset. This happened in two stores in Seattle, one in California, one in New York and a weird variant of the act in North Carolina.

According to sources, consumers who waited in long lines to buy the iPhone were required by shopkeepers to purchase two of the product's accessories. If they didn't, they were simply denied the privilege of trading. In the New York branch, it took a man hollering that AT&T was doing illegal stuff to get them to sell without forcing accessories.

In one Seattle store, a source reports that AT&T had 20 units in stock and declared them sold out after 10 people entered the shop. However, they did offer the remaining people that they could get them handsets through "special deals" within a couple of days if they ordered two accessories along.

Gizmodo also reports that there are sources saying that AT&T personnel were required to sell products on a given quota. Unless they perform according to the company's benchmarks, they were subject to termination.

In Greensboro, North Carolina, accessories weren't forced on buyers but accessories were placed within the package of the iPhone. This way, the store was able to charge an additional 10 percent for restocking if the box was reopened.

And in the mobile world today, Steve Job's hobby - the iPhone - has just hit North America's east coast today, at a very prompt 6 p.m. launch as announced by the Cupertino-based company. People have lined up on Apple's retail outlets in New Jersey, Florida, New York, and Philadelphia, among some.
 
And while the west coast nears its launch window, Apple stores in California and Connecticut have already been prepping up for their share of the iPhone purchase craze. There are claims of people whisking past potential iPhone customers lined up, teasing folk with their iPhone.

The first iPhone owners have walked out of the official Apple stores with iPhone in-hand, although not one person has been named as the first official iPhone owner post-launch as of press time. Photo courtesy of Engadget.

The New York Post has put up a few more bits of info on Sony's rumored PSP phone. You guys will remember that we posted about the company getting a patent for it last week.

According to the New York Post, Sony has reportedly signed a deal with UK carrier BT Mobile. The deal includes bringing advanced multimedia communication features such as video chat and messaging to the PSP handheld system.

Analysts are also linking the PSP phone to possible moves by Sony to protect Sony Ericsson, its mobile communications arm and one of the company's few thriving departments. Apple's iPhone would be a threat to the Sony Ericsson Walkman, and coming out with a PSP phone could boost sales of both Sony Ericsson and the company's gaming division.

Schools in New York are now pulling the plug on laptops and laptop-based teaching programs. The reason for this? Not only do they disrupt lessons with glitches and bugs, but they also give students a way to cheat and view materials not conducive to the learning process, as Winnie Hu of the New York Times reports.

In the dawn of the Internet age, where one could easily connect to the Information Superhighway and access the knowledge stored within - teachers and parents ferociously pushed for that same technology to be installed and instilled in their respective schools' classrooms and curriculums, banking on the benefits of students having such a large source of information at hand.

It was to be the 'Classroom of the Future', with pen and paper replaced with laptop screen and keyboard. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out quite as planned.

Nowadays, students use their school-issued laptops to surf pornographic websites, play video games, even cheat during exams which they're instructed to take ON the laptops in question - the exact opposite utility of the high-end (and high-cost) electronics. Of course, measures were already taken at the start to prevent this type of misuse, but as today's youth having the tendency to funnel their creativity into some wayward purpose, students continue to easily find back doors and loopholes through those measures, as if they never were.

It doesn't stop there. When the chance to be used for assisting in lessons comes up, laptops conveniently glitch out and crash - delaying lessons and stretching already thin school budgets even thinner with the necessity of laptop repair staff. It's these reasons that force the hand of school administrators to drop the programs themselves, and to switch back to the days of pencil and paper. "You have to put your money where you think it’s going to give you the best achievement results,” said Tim Bullis, a district spokesman.

But there could be hope for laptops in schools yet. Mr. Mark Warschauer, who supports laptop programs, cites the benefits of technology that the old, traditional teaching methods could never replicate: a Middle School in Yarmouth was able to use their laptops to create a Spanish book for poor children in Guatemala, as well as debate Supreme Court Cases found online.

"Where laptops and Internet use make a difference are in innovation, creativity, autonomy and independent research," he says. "If the goal is to get kids up to basic standard levels, then maybe laptops are not the tool. But if the goal is to create the George Lucas and Steve Jobs of the future, then laptops are extremely useful."