Everyone’s favorite Princess rescuing plumber is 25 years old today. That’s right, Super Mario has been around since 1985 and is probably one of the most recognized game characters in the world. This news makes me feel old.

Nintendo is celebrating Mario’s birthday with a contest where you can win a bunch of Mario themed prizes. They are giving away a range of Nintendo DSI XL consoles as well as a copy of the new Super Mario Bros. You can also check out a cool video which shows Super Mario Bros history over the last 25 years here.

We can thank Japanese accessory creator keysfactory for a slip that may have revealed Nintendo’s plans in regard to the 3DS release date. A designer with the firm posted some Twitter updates (now deleted) that 11 add-ons for the game console would ship on November 20 and, apparently the 3DS itself. Nintendo has implied an end-of-year launch in at least Japan but hasn’t given us a firm date so far.

It’s not confirmed, but the details line up with Nintendo’s recent launch history. The Wii, DSi and DSi XL were all released on a Saturday, and Nintendo often prefers weekend launches.

Rumor is that the iPad might hit Target stores in October. There’s no concrete proof yet, but some info from a tipster seems to suggest just that. Among the compelling evidence is a list featuring a mysteriously unnamed product that’s set to become available on October 3rd (in six different versions), and a series of images from a Target PDA that seem to show that the item numbers match the iPad prices exactly.

Also it will be located in the Digital Audio section, which is apparently how e-readers like the Kindle are classified, as well as iPods.

Remember when “antennagate” turned into a big deal and Steve Jobs went out on stage and offered everyone a free case, as well as extending the normal 14-day return policy to 30-days? Good times. But, now it’s September 12th today, and the program is closing in 18 days.

While Apple is ending the overall program, which meant that owners of the iPhone 4 could get a free case, it also meant that Apple’s return policy was “upgraded” from 14-days to 30, and the traditional restocking fee of 10% was waived. But, those two features are going back to their old ways.

Now you can start the morning off with a hot cup of coffee and a hole in one. You would rather be golfing anyway right? So just set this mug down and it’s play time. When you’re done practicing your golf, you could probably navigate some small rc cars through the hole in this mug or run a small train through it.

The possibilities are endless and none of them involve getting back to work. The Morning Putt Golfers Coffee Mug holds 18oz and measures 5″ x 4″.” It will cost you just $30. That’s a lot of fun for that price.

Last Friday Microsoft employees got out of their cubicles at the Redmond campus to attend a funeral parade that resembles some kind of geek Mardi Gras. There were apparently plenty of crazy outfits, like zombies, Darth Vader and even some Village People impersonations. They were there to lament the BlackBerry and iPhone’s demise.

It looks like it was a sad affair as iPhone and Blackberry mock-ups were carried coffin style to the grave. Obviously Microsoft wanted to make a statement about the upcoming Windows Phone 7.

Packard Bell has announced two new Full HD monitors with the introduction of the 21.5-inch Maestro LED 220 and 24-inch Maestro LED 240. Both of are LED-backlit monitors that support a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and deliver a 12,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness and 2ms response.

These monitors are also Energy Star 5.0 certified which is great for your wallet and the environment. They also have both DVI and HDMI connectors. Nothing on pricing and availability yet, but hopefully we will know soon.

Elecom’s Nano SSD is a mini Solid State Drive hardisk that can be installed directly on your computer’s motherboard so that it’s out of your way. It measures just 25mm x 6.5mm x 39mm and supports Serial ATA Revision 2.6 specifications and delivers a high speed data transfer.

It’s priced at 13,900 Yen or about $165. You can get the Elecom Nano SSD in 8GB and 16GB storage capacities.

We all joked that the new iPod nano could be turned into a watch, so of course now iPod accessory makers are making accessories to turn your iPod nano into a digital wristwatch. It’s just gadget evolution. Incipio has announced the Linq, which is basically a case for the iPod nano, that also allows it to function as a wristwatch.

It will protect your device from bumps and knocks and drops. There’s no pricing info or a release date for this yet, but the nano really does make a nice watch it seems.

If you purchased the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon, then surely you have noticed that the phone comes standard with Bing instead of Google, and getting the Google Search application installed is a pain. This is because Verizon and Microsoft have entered a multi-device deal to promote Bing.

This might not be a deal breaker to most, but to some of us it’s pretty annoying. To anyone who prefers Google’s search engine to Bing, it is annoying. At least we have some good news. According to a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, when the Fascinate is updated to Android 2.2, users will be able to download the Google Search application to get easy access to Google’s search, but the downside is that users will still be unable to change the default search setting from Bing to Google.

A Microsoft job listing suggests that the company may be committing to the design of a Zune HD sequel. The Senior Mechanical Engineer is ostensibly under the phone division but would be working with the Portable Entertainment Group to build “cutting edge mobile devices.”

Details are scarce as to the nature of the hardware, but the team is the same that made the original Zune HD. There is also speculation of a Microsoft-influenced smartphone design or maybe even a portable Xbox gaming console.

The Nexus One might not take the kind of macro photos that your DSLR is capable of, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still take good macro shots with a little bit of DIY elbow grease. Check out this handy macro lens attachment for the Nexus One.

The lens comes from a pair of mini binoculars, and is fastened to a mounting bracket using epoxy putty. You’ll notice the 3.5mm male plug, which holds the lens securely in place and also keeps it removable.

Product packaging is often ridiculous. We all know this. That’s why Amazon introduced Frustration free packaging two years ago. Sadly, only 600 of the millions of products available on Amazon.com have been modified to reflect the simpler packaging needs of online customers.

Why is this? We know that customers love it. When manufacturers switch to more streamlined wrappers their products get a 73% reduction in negative feedback. Amazon is trying to take this message directly to product manufacturers. For instance, Philips recently saw success with downsized packaging for its Essence toothbrush and plans to “expand frustration-free packaging options with Amazon.”

We’ve been waiting to see more dual screen laptops like this here Onkyo and this guy here, but it’s been dry lately. Now we hear some news that Acer is testing a rig that might be powerful enough to do the trick.

Some pictures from Tech Review purportedly show a 2.67GHz Intel Core i5 processor (likely a Core i5-580M) with dual fifteen-inch multitouch screens, making other dual screen lappies look dated by comparison. According to the source however, this device is “still slow and buggy,” so we likely have a long wait.

Sony’s latest marketing campaign is aimed directly at Microsoft’s motion-sensing peripheral. If you go over to www.yaybuttons.com you can interact with a two-dimensional PlayStation Move, and see some quotes from Kevin Butler, explaining Sony’s various advantages over Microsoft’s Kinect.

Sony fans will love it. Microsoft fans will hate it. The rest of us just wish they would stfu and concentrate on making good games. If you want to sell consoles and peripherals, it’s all in the games.