A recently revealed Lenovo user manual pretty much confirms an updated S10-2 netbook. We don’t have complete specs, but it looks like more than a minor update, as the netbook appears to have a different hinge rounded edges, an extra USB port, a larger trackpad, and a revised keyboard layout.

There are also some new access bays for RAM, hard drive, and wireless card. But sadly, Lenovo has removed the ExpressCard slot. Consider that a trade-off for the built-in 3G. Nothing on pricing or availability yet, but we expect them to make it official any day now.

Chargers for plug-in electric vehicles are nothing new, but the folks at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have some smart plans for their new Smart Charger Controller. They hope that it might one day serve as a standard charger for all manner of electric vehicles.

Apparently each controller would be wirelessly linked to the local electric company, which would feed the controller power prices and other pertinent information so that it can charge during non-peak hours. That right there will save owners roughly $150 a year. It might even be able to sense “stress conditions” and shut down before the grid overloads.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise, but RIM CEO Jim Balsillie just told Reuters that the company is working on a successor to the BlackBerry Storm. He said that the company believes there is a large consumer segment for such a device and according to Jim Balsillie, the current Storm is a “huge success in terms of sales and adoption.”

We would agree on both counts. He also noted that “we have next-generation devices with [touch] and the whole roadmap.” Balsillie did not give any specific details, of course. And he didn’t say when such a product might hit the market.

If you’ve been in suspense and can’t wait to find out more about that BlackBerry Curve 8520 with the optical trackball in place of the spinner, the folks over at CrackBerry have posted a pre-release review. Overall, it’s a pretty nice phone, and the optical trackball works well. The hardware is well put together and the OS runs smoothly.

Is it as cool as the Curve 8900? Not really. The design in general has been updated, but things like the screen, battery, and camera are from the Curve 8300. What gives? It is EDGE-only and may turn out to be a pay-as-you-go phone. We’ll see

Looks like the rumors were true. RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be making its way from T-Mobile over to AT&T. There is now official confirmation from the carrier itself. Some of the features of this BB device are WiFi, GPS and a 480 x 360 resolution display.

This one also includes free AT&T WiFi at over 20,000 hotspots (with an unlimited data plan) and a 3.2 megapixel camera. There’s also a microSD / SDHC slot for cards up to 16GB in size, and while AT&T’s not talking pricing yet, you can expect it sometime in “early summer.”

Word on the street is that Amazon will be rolling out a larger version of its Kindle e-book reader sometime this week. A model designed to help the tanking newspaper business, with a larger screen for displaying newspapers and magazines, even textbooks.

The textbooks aspect should be interesting, as school kids have to carry all those heavy ass books in their backpack. Also this is bound to tick off the makers of those physical books who have until now profitted nicely on their overpriced tomes.

Eastern European sites are all excited about the MSI GX633 this morning. The new gaming laptop comes with a GeForce GT130M, which is a mid-range GPU. On the CPU side, MSI decided on an AMD Turion dual core.

Frequencies and memory size will vary depending on how much you want to pay, but this looks to be a mid-range gaming PC, so it shouldn’t be too expensive. At least we hope not.

Envirobank’s “cash for cans” reverse vending machines hold up to 3000 containers and accept PET (#1),HDPE (#2) and PVC (#3) plastic, brown, clear and green glass and aluminum cans. Deposit your recyclables in these and you’ll get credits for discount shopping.

Pretty nice incentive to recycle your goods huh? It may not give out snacks, but Envirobank claims that their machines cut CO2 emissions, reduce waste disposal and collection costs, and even provide advertising and fund raising opportunities for those who need it.

There are a few times when you want to use a mouse, but you don’t have a desk handy. Typically, this need is most common when you are trying to navigate the web on your HTPC from the couch across the room or when giving a presentation standing up in front of a group.

The WeraMouse V2 is now available for just such occasions. The wireless mouse has a range of 8 meters and has a trackball that sits on top of a ring like device. Under the trackball is a pair of mouse buttons and a scroll wheel.

While I am not a big Mac fan, I admit that the design and thin profile of the MacBook Air was very cool. Still, it wasn’t cool enough to lure me into buying the overpriced machine and I hoped that other manufacturers would offer similarly sized Windows PC.

At CES 2009, I laid my eyes on the MSI X-Slim series that offers Air-like dimensions at a much lower price. MSI reportedly has two more X-Slim machines debuting soon called the X600 and the X400. The machines are thin and offer larger screen sizes for users wanting portability with more screen space.

There have been a few occasions when I was getting email on my iPhone that I wanted to print the document. You can synchronize the document and then print it from your computer, but directly printing a doc from the iPhone would be much easier and add some value to an Epson printer.

Epson has announced a new application for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows users to print documents, emails, and even images directly to an Epson printer from their phones. The app is called the EuroSmartz Print & Share App.

The EA and Will Wright video game Spore has been on the market for a while now and is one seriously cool video game. The game allows you to take your character from a single cell through evolution all the way to a space faring species trading with an entire galaxy.

EA says that since the game launched in September 2008 there have been about 100 million creations added to the Spore universe. Out of the 100 million creations in the universe, 31,017,761 are creatures, 19 times as many creatures as there are on Earth says EA.

Check out this Wiimote chocolate candybar. Now you can have your cake and eat it too. Now you can throw your Wiimote at the TV and eat it too. This Wiimote chocolate replica is the product of Digital Chocolates, a company that specializes in making chocolate bars shaped like various game controllers, like the Sony Playstation controller and this Wiimote.

Not only is it delicious, but it’s got some nice detail too. It’s made of Merckens melting candy wafers. I don’t know what those are, but I’m sure they are yummy. They supposedly taste like the white from Hershey’s cookies n’ creme chocolate bars.

We reported on a nail printer previously, of the Barbie variety. Apparently this is the new hot thing. I wouldn’t know myself since I’m not a girl, goth or anyone else who paints their nails. But hey why not, we have printers for everything else.

Nilo is apparently all about “Nail Fashion”. And having taken years to perfect their nail printing devices, they are now ready to sell them to you so you can start your own business etc. The printers will run you from $2,999.00 for the standard all the way up to $3,544.00 for their deluxe printing kit.

The coolest thing my Hot Wheels cars ever did was go in loops real fast and lose a little paint with each crash. What you see above is a hot wheels track that was hacked into a margarita dispenser. The track is set up with a series of microswitches and a Basic Stamp 1 board to communicate that your Hot Wheels cars have completed the tricks performed.

That’s when this system rewards you as a 12-volt pump fills up the margarita cup from the pre-mixed gas can full of alcohol. I’m guessing the more you play this game, the funner it gets. It’s the new nerd drinking game of choice for modders and Hot Wheels enthusiasts alike.