Alan Buckingham

America has been a leader in space since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and I was still wearing diapers. A teacher rolled a TV into our classroom letting us all view the landing of the first Space Shuttle mission and, later, Challenger's journey tragically ended on my birthday as I sat stunned in front of my TV.

Not since an Apollo mission have I witnessed a launch, and I have rather vague memories of that -- I was four at the time. However, tonight I can, and so can you if you reside on the east coast.

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Microsoft is locked in a battle for your note-taking needs on mobile devices. Evernote is the perceived king of the field, but OneNote is certainly a strong competitor and today the software giant announces improvements to the iOS version of the Office app.

The latest update allows users to create notebooks on the iPad as well as create, delete and rename sections. Microsoft claims this was one of the most requested features from customers already using the previous version, but it is also not the only enhancement made to this build.

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Microsoft's partnership with the National Football League has entered the spotlight recently, thanks to the software giant releasing details explaining what the marriage of technology and gridiron means, as well as a confirmed release date for the Xbox One. Now with the season officially underway (apologies to Ravens fans) the software maker launches a commercial to promote both the console and the deal.

A new 30-second ad for Xbox One features the football experience of using the console -- no, not Madden 25, though you can get that, but the real games, as well as the fantasy ones.

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In its continuing effort to thwart the evil Google (except when partnered with it) Microsoft announces another improvement to its search engine alternative, this time in the form of video. Microsoft terms this update "completely reimagined", but users can be the judge of that.

"We know there is more than one great video service out there and that’s why we showcase the best the web has to offer. On Bing you can not only find great videos from YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo, but also content from Dailymotion, Vevo, MTV, CBS, MSN and more", says the Bing video search team.

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Apparently smartphones are not the only area of technology that is growing, rather than shrinking. Tablets, it appears, are moving in the same direction, at least if Panasonic has its way. Beginning on September 7 you can purchase a massive 20-inch Windows 8 tablet from the hardware maker.

"The Panasonic Toughpad 4K will enable photographers, architects, cinematographers and other creative professionals to experience the cutting edge of high resolution tablet technology", says Microsoft's Gavin Gear.

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On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, but despite the extremely high intensity of the tremor itself, it was the resulting tsunami that caused the real damage. Most notable, and scary, was the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Now, two years after the tragedy that cost more than 15,000 people their lives, Google Maps, through Street View, takes users back into the teeth of this disaster.

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Ever since consumers flocked to HD flat-screen television the manufacturers have been busy hatching plans for the next get-rich-quick scheme. With 3D pretty much in the toilet, the next scheme to get consumers to all fork over their money yet again is 4K. Also known as ultra HD, the spec has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the current 1080p format, with four times as many pixels.

Today that vibrant 4k future moves a step closer with the official announcement of HDMI 2.0. The specifications bandied about in the announcement are eye-popping. "This latest HDMI Specification, the first to be developed by the HDMI Forum, offers a significant increase in bandwidth (up to 18Gbps) to support new features such as 4K at 50/60 (2160p), which is four times the clarity of 1080p/60 video resolution; 32 audio channels; as well as dynamic auto lip-sync and extensions to CEC".

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Summer is over, the nights are getting cooler and thoughts turn to... holiday shopping season, of course. 2013 promises to be a big one, with Windows 8.1 devices on the market and a new round of console wars ready to heat up consumers in overcrowded retail outlets around the globe.

Sony plans to launch its competitor, the PS4, on November 15, and today we learn that Microsoft will follow its rival into the market, albeit one week later, on November 22. Both consoles will be awaiting shoppers on Black Friday -- providing there is any stock left by that point.

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Playing with fire is generally considered bad practice -- I know, as a parent I recommend my kids avoid it. Amazon, however has a whole new Matchbook that it can not wait to set alight. In this case, thankfully, there are no pyrotechnics involved -- just some good literature.

Today the online retailer announces Matchbook -- "a new benefit that gives customers the option to buy -- for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free -- the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon".

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The long Labor Day weekend is now behind us and though it is sad to see summer go, every cloud has a silver lining, and for many of us that lining glows on Sunday afternoon from September to February. In May of this year Microsoft partnered up with the National Football League and today the company details a bit more of what has come from this marriage of technology and gridiron.

"Surface is landing on the NFL sidelines with select club personnel to support teams with player health initiatives. Surface will help keep important player medical information at the fingertips of team trainers and medical staff in the locker room and on the field. This includes the X2 concussion assessment app to quickly diagnose potential player concussions after a hard play. Surface tablets and the X2 app will be an additional tool to help medical staff and trainers to determine whether a player should return to the game", said Surface director James Bernstrom.

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New design concepts are certainly not in short supply these days, with manufacturers throwing just about everything against the wall in hopes that a product sticks. This has resulted in some rather weird concepts seen at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every January. A number of those products never see the light of market and, honestly some really shouldn't.

Now Acer unveils a new model of an idea that apparently worked -- the Aspire R7, shown off today at IFA, a trade show held in Germany -- is an update to a model already on the market. The notebook comes with a  rather unique hinge that allows for a range of different positions. The notebook is clearly intended for more of an art design crowd thanks to the screen movements and the included pen for the touchscreen.

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Kids and web browsers -- they grow up so fast these days. Seems like only yesterday that Google released its web browser to the public and set geek hearts aflutter with its speed and light footprint. Things have changed a bit, but many of us stick to the software as our browser of choice.

Google launched Chrome, in beta form, on September 2, 2008 for Windows only, and followed quickly with the source code as an open source project known as Chromium. The initial kickoff came in 43 different languages.

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Crackle, the online streaming service from Sony, remains one of the competitors in today's growing and increasingly competitive market. Today the entertainment arm of Sony announced a new strategy. The company will partner with tech giant Microsoft for what both hope will be mutual benefit.

"Sony’s Crackle is the latest digital network to start producing its own original feature-length films, with next Thursday’s premiere of the martial arts flick Extraction. But antsy Windows Phone action junkies don’t have to wait: Crackle is giving us an exclusive early pass" reports Microsoft's Michael Stroh. Windows Phone customers are not the only one who will get this exclusive content -- Xbox Live and Windows 8 users will also benefit from the deal.

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I continue to hear about the death of the PC, but trust me, I am not writing this story or anything else, on a tablet. I have three of them, and enjoy using them -- "Under the Dome" looks great on the Kindle Fire HD while I am "Under the Covers" at night -- but they are essentially useless for my job. In fact, I mostly work from a two-year old Gateway laptop -- the device is more than suitable for my needs and I rarely venture to my home office to touch the desktop.

Acer, however, has decided to try and tempt me away from what I had been considering more than adequate at this point. I write this latest missive from the brand new Aspire M5 that FedEx dropped off to me for review, courtesy of the hardware maker.

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I own several tablets and am always on the lookout for a good deal on a new case for one of them. One place I keep a frequent eye on is Poetic, which manufactures a full line of cases for a number of different devices. As of this afternoon, we can add one more device to that lineup -- the Apple iPhone 5C.

You can imagine the surprise I got upon arrival on the company home page when I was greeted with the image seen above. The company appears to be unveiling its line of bumper cases for a phone that has not yet been released or even announced. In fact, Apple has yet to confirm it will even be holding an event in early September.

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