Verizon is drumming up interest in its remaining stock of smartphones before it rolls out the long awaited CDMA iPhone, and the most effective method of doing so? Why, slash the prices of your existing phones, of course. Among the handsets where you will receive discounts would be the HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2, as well as both of Samsung’s Continuum and Fascinate, seeing their prices drop by up to $100.  According to Verizon, there will be 10 days of deals which will happen right before the iPhone hits Verizon shelves on February 10. Could this be a move to help steer some fence sitters over to Verizon’s network and have them purchase an Android phone instead of an iPhone in the crucial days to come? Perhaps, but we will continue to look into our crystal ball and wonder just how fast the CDMA iPhone will sell.

Verizon throws sale for Android phones, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

Hyundai attempts to go green further with the Blue-City CNG hybrid bus, making it the first of its kind in Korea. Blue-City is a true blue (no pun intended) Korean invention, fully developed in Hyundai’s home country while offering better fuel efficiency with lower emissions thanks to a CNG engine and an electric motor. Capable of churning out 177kW (240ps) of power and a 6-speed automated manual transmission, its 60kW (82ps) highly-efficient electric motor and 3.8kWh lithium-polymer battery lets you enjoy safe driving and efficient charging. The number of fuel tanks have also been cut down to five from seven, where a full charge can let the Blue-City go on for 340km. It is around 30% to 40% more fuel efficient than a standard CNG bus, with 30 test units of Blue-City ready to undergo testing in selected metropolitan areas in Korea from July onwards. If all goes well, mass production of the vehicles will commence in 2012.

Hyundai Blue-City is first CNG hybrid bus in Korea, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

Apple has caustically derided the idea of a 7-inch tablet PC. In the wake of the iPad’s insane, nearly unexplainable success – a year ago, few could figure out why anyone needed or wanted a tablet PC, its purpose and function unclear, and its name mocked as scatalogical – I would have agreed with them. Why buy a 7-inch tablet, whose screen is more like a third the size of an iPad’s?

Then I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab and started to use it. And I now understand a 7-inch tablet. I’m not saying the Samsung Galaxy Tab, available from all four major cell carriers in the U.S., is better than an iPad or even worth the price. But I understand its primary usage case – you can fit a Tab and any other 7-inch tablet PC into any pocket of a sports coat or other jacket or overcoat (other than the front breast pocket), or into the rear or cargo pocket of a pair of pants. That’s not exactly geeky, but being able to quickly access the device is what drove the cellphone itself to such popularity 20 years ago. The only question is, does Tab or any coming 7-inch tablet offer much more than pocketablility? More…

Galaxy Tab Review, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

Sony intends to usher in a brand new photo taking experience with the DSC-HX100V as part of its Cyber-shot series, offering Full HD video shooting capability at 60 progressive frames per second (1920×1080 60p), not to mention throwing in a 27mm Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonar T lens with 30x optical zoom. To put another feather into its cap, this shooter is also another Cyber-shot camera first, boasting a 16.2-megapixel “Exmor R” back-illuminated CMOS sensor within which is capable of supporting the new Intelligent Sweep Panorama HR (High Resolution) mode. To shoot a lovely panoramic shot, just give the shutter button a press, sweep the camera, and watch it freeze up to 42.9 megapixel panoramic images in crisp 10480 x 4096 resolution for posterity.

Sony DSC-HX100V Cyber-shot has 30X zoom, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

If there was one ability that we would like to have, it would be being able to understand different languages wherever we go. Surely that would help us in a long way, imagine being in a foreign land and yet knowing what is going on around you with all the chitter chatter, and getting directions is a whole lot easier. Well, Samsung might have something up their sleeves that could very well deliver what you’re looking for – on a smaller scale, of course. Transparent AMOLEDs will play a role here, where the Real Translator works by holding up the device as seen above while facing your friend. You can then go ahead and talk, where the Real Translator will interpret whatever is spoken in real time and give a rough translation on the spot. Of course, we don’t know how accurate the translation would be, and how fast is it since there are plenty of other variables to consider such as accent, speed of speech, etc, but with Samsung Mobile Display claiming that this product can be mass produced in due time, we look forward to the future with delight.

Samsung Real Translator concept, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

It goes without saying that special forces people tend to get the latest and greatest toys to “play” around with in their line of work, and some of these are pretty top secret stuff, to. One of the latest gadgets employed would be liquid crystal ballistic sunglasses that are smart enough to change color automatically a whole lot faster compared to traditional “photochromic” offerings, and it can even do so with a single button touch. According to the US Office of Naval Research, it managed to design the new Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear (FTPE) lenses according to the requirements of the famous yet reclusive US Navy SEAL frogman-commandos. Currently, SEALs are issued different-colored interchangeable lenses for varying light conditions, but this might be too cumbersome for dangerous situations such as assaulting buildings where operators will move swiftly from blazing outdoor sunlight to dark or dim interiors. FTPE lenses are here to help, where they are in essence liquid-crystal display screens that can turn amber, blue, grey or clear whenever one applies a small electric charge, taking less than 0.5 seconds to do so.

Fast-Tint Protective Eyewear for the Navy, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

When you mention Daytona International Speedway, chances are you would think of high speed thrills and spills, but last Saturday saw an exciting event unfold that didn’t involve any race – Mark Riccobono, legally blind since the age of 5, managed to show off a bunch of the Ford Escape’s new features on the same circuit. Riccobono, an executive director of the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute, actually piloted the hybrid SUV around the racetrack while thousands of people were watching, not to mention hundreds of blind crowd members listening. This is part of the Blind Driver Challenge, where its ultimate objective would be to “build interface technologies that will empower blind people to drive a car independently.” It will be some time before that objective is achieved, but you can never underestimate the human will and intelligence, can you?

Blind man drives around Daytona International Speedway, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

The Nanocade turns your old netbook into a functional gaming console. If you’ve got an old netbook or laptop lying around the house, why not make use of it instead of letting it collect dust? The Nanocade aims just to do that. Making use of your netbook or mini-ITX motherboard, this DIY kit from designer Rasmus Sorenson lets you create a mini arcade machine for you to run all your favorite arcade games using the MAME emulator. While it certainly looks awesome, it comes with a pretty hefty price tag though, so you might want to stick with just running MAME on a regular computer if you’re strapped for cash. It’ll set you back $349 when it starts shipping in March. Head here for more details.

Nanocade is a mini arcade machine in your home, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

Google’s internet office suite, Google Docs will be receiving some new updates that increase its functionality. Announced today, and rolling out over the next few days, the update will refresh the documents list – Google has added new filters that allow you to look for documents much more easily, as well as an option called Priority Sorting. Working similar to the Priority Inbox in Gmail, Priority Sorting automatically sorts your documents for you using Google’s method of determining how useful and how often you access a document and put frequently opened documents at the top of the list. And if you’re more traditional, the options to sort by last modified date or by name are still there. The file browser also received an update that allows you to preview your files before you insert them into the document. Other updates include – a new Home view, Collections replacing folders, and a streamlined interface. Great stuff from Google, if you’re a Docs user, you should find this update very helpful. Let us know if you’ve received it, and how you find the changes in the software.

Google Docs updated, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,

Hydrogen-powered vehicles haven’t exactly been successful due to the highly volatile nature of hydrogen – it is extremely difficult to store. At the moment, storing hydrogen requires high-pressure cylinders that are up to 700 times the atmospheric pressure, or super cooled to a liquid at -423 degrees F. A solution was previously presented to solve this problem – Hydrides, but it wasn’t very successful because it would take hours for it to heat up to become useful again. Not very practical at all. However, some scientists seem to have come up with a solution to the problem. Called Nanobeads, these beads are made from Hydrides attached to nanoscale polymer fibers that can almost instantly release the hydrogen upon heating. In addition to being easily combustible, it is easier to fill a car with, due to its tiny nature it can be poured out like liquid. If nanobeads prove to be affordable and safe enough for general consumption, we might see a future with hydrogen-powered cars. What energy source do you think will power the cars of the future – hydrogen or electricity?

Nanobeads to store Hydrogen for fueling cars, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : LG Optimus 2X Review, Nexus S Review,