Despite the Droid 3 by Motorola being released just last July, the Droid 4 has already made an appearance at CES to take its place.

The most immediate improvement over its predecessor is the inclusion of 4G LTE network support on Verizon USA. Droid 4 still sports a 4 inch QVGA display which presumably still maintains the less popular pentile sub-pixel arrangement found on the Droid 3 and most AMOLED displays. Increased from the Droid 3′s 1GHz dual-core processor, the new handset will feature a 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor. Additionally, the Droid 4 will double the available RAM of the Droid 3 from 512MB to 1GB. There is an 8MP camera on the rear of the phone capable of recording video in 1080 and 16 GB of built-in storage, similar to that of its predecessor.

The slide out QWERTY keyboard is, of course, the Droid’s claim to fame and has been improved upon in every revision since its introduction in 2009. The Droid 4 has a slightly improved design in the backlighting functionality. The keys are edge-lit rather than simply back lit. So, instead of the letter on the key being illuminated only, the entire key’s boarder is illuminated to aid in low-light typing. Another notable feature not found in previous Droid models is the ability to dock to a webtop laptop like the Motorola Atrix.

The Droid 4 will ship running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread and say that an upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is inevitable. Motorola have not supplied a solid release date, but say the new handset should be available in the coming weeks.

The HTC Rezound can now be had for $150 from Amazon’s Wireless Store (currently in beta). Previously available for $300 with a 2-year contract, the resoundingly impressive drop in price is sure to capture any Android fan’s interest.

Customers are given the option to either sign a new 2-year contract with Verizon, or use their upgrade on the HTZ Rezound to take advantage of the discounted price.

The Rezound is packed with a 4.3 inch, 1280×720 resolution super LCD screen, a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, a 2-megapixel camera on the front, and an 8-megapixel dual LED flash camera on the back.

The phone is connected through Verizon’s famed LTE 4G network. Reports from customers on the network so far are promising, with Armando Rodriguez from PC World clocking a download speed of 11.55 megabits per second in San Francisco.

The HTC Rezound ships with a set of Beats Audio headphones (valued at $99+). These ear buds combined with the Beats Audio software enhance the user’s experience while they enjoy their songs & videos.

Battery life has thus far been the main concern for users who take advantage of the device’s substantial media capabilities. Games & movies specifically are said to be a drain on the phone’s battery life, which at the moment appears to be the price you have to pay for enjoying handheld high-definition content, regardless of the device.

The hype in the blogosphere regarding the imminent unveiling of the next iPad revision is reaching critical mass. Loyal Apple fans and average tablet consumers alike are eager to hear what will be offered in the new tablet, and when they can get their hands on it. In this article we’ll take a look at just a few of the rumors making their way around the net.

Release Date:

The iPad 3 is expected to make its debut early this year. The most prominent rumor being that we’ll see an announcement from Apple by the end of March. However, some speculate that a more likely date is February 24, which would coincide with the birthday of the late Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs.  Apple are expected to have a press announcement in late January regarding iBooks, publishing, and their ilk, and so information pertaining to new products isn’t expected until February at the earliest.

Additionally, DigiTimes suggests that a second revision, an iPad 4, will be available in October. This rumor, however, has been greeted with a great deal of skepticism.

Specifications

The most notable hardware improvement that just about every rumor seems to agree upon is the inclusion of a high definition retina display similar to those of the 2010 iPhone 4 and the 2011 iPhone 4S. The display is expected to have a resolution of 1536×2048 pixels.

However, many also speculate that the iPad 2 will continue to be sold perhaps as-is, or with minor revisions and adopting the iPad 2S nomenclature used by Apple for its iPhone product line. This lower end iPad 2/iPad 2S is expected to drop in price from $499 for the base, 16GB wifi only model to $299 – $399 for the same model in an effort to compete with lower end, more inexpensive Android tablets available on the market already.

As for the processor, it is widely believe that the iPad 3 will pack the power of a new A6 chip from Apple. The iPad 2 and iPhone 4S carry Apples A5 chip, while the iPhone 4 uses the A4 chip found in the original, 2010 iPad model.

Camera

The iPad 2 is the first iPad model to sport not one, but two cameras. One rear-facing 5 (correction, 0.7)  megapixel camera, and one front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime video chat. Speculation around the net suggests that the next iPad will bump that up a notch and have an 8MP camera similar to that of the iPhone 4S on the back, and a 5MP on the front for FaceTime.

iOS

iOS 5, which made its debut alongside the iPhone 4S last October, is expected to be upgraded to iOS 5.1 before the announcement of a new iPad model. Many iOS 5 users have complained of poorer battery life over iOS 4.3. Apple have acknowledged that some bugs remain in iOS which cause the decrease in battery performance, but as of the latest iOS 5.1 developer builds have not eliminated the problem.

iPad 3 is certainly around the corner and so hype is building fast. As more information becomes available we will be sure to update you all here!

The long-awaited third iteration of the popular Diablo action-RPG video game by Blizzard Entertainment is just around the corner. The image shown below is a Best Buy standee advertising a midnight release on February 1st for the long overdue game.

The game, originally announced back in 2008, has been delayed several times in traditional Blizzard style. Going on two years late, players have been itching to get their hands on the much-hyped addition to the story.

Blizzard Entertainment is, of course, extremely well-known for its legendary World of Warcraft MMORPG. WoW players looking to get their hands on Diablo 3 should consider upgrading their WoW subscription to an annual one, as Blizzard says players can get Diablo 3 for free when they do so. Read More

Diablo 3 will be the second sequel to the 1996 instant hit. Diablo 2 still sells thousands of copies a year even today.

Some sources are alleging that the next generation of Apple’s iPad tablet computer will be unveiled in late March of 2012.

Those same sources believe that the new iPad will sport a long-awaited retina display with a pixel density similar to that of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The display will keep its existing 10″ display area, but feature a resolution of 1536×2048, a marked improvement over the existing 1024×768 of the iPad 2 released last March as well as the original iPad iteration of 2010.

The iPad 3 is expected to complement the iPad 2 and not replace it. Some believe the iPad 2 will remain for sale but at a discounted price of somewhere between $299 and $399 for the base model. This, they say, is in an effort to compete with Android tablets such as Amazon’s profitless Kindle Fire. No information has yet come to light regarding the pricing of iPad 3.

Additionally, DigiTimes claims that another revision of the iPad product line will come in October of this year. The quick turnaround, DigiTimes says, will be in an effort to compete with the Windows 8 tablets expected to be available around that time.

Rovio Mobile, the company that brought the increasingly popular mobile gaming phenomenon that is Angry Birds to cell phones all around the world, has announced their acquisition of Kombo, an animation studio based in Finland.

“We have had a long and fruitful relationship with Kombo in the past. This acquisition is an important step in the execution of our media strategy. We look forward to delighting our fans with more Kombo animations,” said Mikael Hed, CEO of Robio Mobile.

The terms have not yet been announced, but Kombo will be receiving some mixture of cash and stock in the deal. The announcement was made on Wednesday, only days after Rovio announced a deal with Roku that would allow users to play Angry Birds on their Roku devices.

This deal is yet another step for Rovio and Angry Birds in the direction of becoming a digital media giant, akin to a digital-based version of Disney. The fast-moving company is clearly ambitious, but it is making plenty of headway in becoming a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry.

Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, and the rest of the franchise have combined to amass 200 million downloads since the game’s inception.

A former mortgage broker has been declared guilty of numerous charges associated with his false mortgage “elimination” business. Attorney General Terry Goddard announced that Edward L. Carpenter, currently a minister from Phoenix, Arizona, was found guilty of the 10 charges by a Superior Court jury.

Carpenter reportedly reached out to homeowners, saying that his mortgage elimination business could get rid of the names of the homeowners from their mortgages. He claimed that his business was legal and would give the homeowners full property ownership. Carpenter charged the homeowners fees of over $1,000 upfront.

With his financial knowledge, the minister filed false foreclosure papers, using the homeowners to aid him in his fraudulent efforts. The papers were purposely designed to be misleading and confusing. Ultimately, the filings caused several mortgage companies to provide loans. Carpenter received portions of these loans. He made over $250,000 illegally with the scam.

According to Goddard, the fraudster used his status as a minister to “gain the trust of homeowners”. He falsely stated that the homeowners could own their properties without any mortgage loans, and then went on to file false foreclosure papers, wronging consumers and title and mortgage companies. Carpenter is now in custody, and will face sentencing in October.

Home mortgage rates have decreased to record lows.  These low rates have prompted a sudden surge in refinancing, with more homeowners applying for refinancing this month than has been seen since May of 2009.

Charles DiPino Jr. of New Penn Financial says that they are “extremely busy”, with many calls being received throughout the past month. Freddie Mac has also reported that the average rate for a 30-year loan has dropped to around 4.36 percent. Such low numbers have not occurred since 1953.

As well, rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are down to 3.86 percent as of last week. Adjustable-rate mortgages are also down to 3.52 percent. With the weak recovery of the United States’ economy, it appears that mortgage rates will continue to reach new record lows.

Still, most experts are advising homeowners to not wait to refinance. Although some believe that rates will continue to lower, this will only mean that the economy is getting weaker and weaker. Greg McBride, an analyst with Bankrate.com says that if you wait too long to refinance, and the economy has weakened, you might “lose your job and not quality for the lower rate.”

People refinance for several reasons. It can reduce monthly payments, but it can also reduce the loan term and allow people to depend on a fixed-rate loan. Still, the numbers are low, according to Freddie Mac. Although not everyone is able to qualify, most experts believe it is worth looking at for many homeowners.

For the first time since they were bailed out by Congress two years ago, it seems that many banks are finally starting to ease standards on lending for small businesses and individuals. However, despite the increased availability for credit nationwide, there is little demand for it anymore.

Many people have placed the blame of the slow economic recovery on the banks unwillingness to lend money. And since individuals and small businesses depend on banks for loans, analysts say that the lack of credit being given by banks has significantly reduced spending and hiring for consumers and small businesses, further slowing down recovery of the economy.

Now, as banks begin to increase credit, it seems that it may not have the effect needed to aid the U.S. economy. More and more banks are increasing availability for industrial and commercial loans. However, demand for credit is barely increasing, with most banks stating that demand was “about the same”. The public is concerned about debt, and is more reluctant than ever to use loans to make investments and purchases.

Overall, consumers are spending less and less to make up for the overspending that occurred for many people before the financial crisis began. Having credit is now undesirable for many who are just looking to save their money.

Photo courtesy: Andres Rueda/ Flickr

Recent car buyers may be able to save money by refinancing their loans.  Rates for auto loans have significantly decreased over the past year, and with auto loan refinancing, consumers may be able to lower their current rates throughout the remainder of their loan.

Unlike mortgages, auto loans are extremely simple to refinance. Appraisals are not necessary, and with online services, it is easy for borrowers to check on the status of their application within hours of applying. Borrowers will have to send some paperwork to their lender should they accept an offer, but once the lenders have the necessary information about the car and the loan, refinancing can occur within one or two days.

There may be some additional fees, like a re-reregistration and title transfer fee. Still, the lender may charge further fees, with lenders like Bank of America charging a $200 fee for processing.

If you have met the qualifications for a new car loan over the last year, it should be easy to refinance your auto loans. However, different lenders might have different requirements for the car itself, such as age or mileage.  As well, the loan will often have to have at least one year of payments left before refinancing is possible.

Photo courtesy: U-g-g-B-o-y / Flickr