Now that the iPad 2 has been officially announced, it’s time for some accessories to show up. Apple’s Smart Covers are specially designed to protect the iPad 2′s screen and also keep it propped up for watching movies, FaceTime or typing. Of course other manufacturers are going to come up with their own and so Targus has just announced its series of new cases for the iPad 2 and one of them is the THZ045US, a 360° Rotating Stand/Case for iPad 2.

This iPad 2 case protects your tablet from scratches and acts as a stand too. It features a unique rotating mechanism that allows you to rotate your iPad 2 while it is still in the case. The THZ045US is available now for $59.99.

Texting while driving is already a serious problem, but now there’s another danger to watch out for. Drivers who use the internet on the phone while driving. According to a survey by US insurance company, State Farm, one in five Americans that own a smartphone admits to using the internet while driving.

One of the biggest reasons they log on to the internet is to check their social networks. Other reasons cited were looking for directions, reading email or just searching for topics that interest them. Most of the time this occurs during red lights or when drivers are caught in traffic jams. I guess that at least is good news.

There has been a lot of talk about Sony’s upcoming portable being able to pack a PS3 punch and for awhile Sony just let us think that the device was that powerful, but now they have laid their cards on the table. David Coombes, a platform research manager put a quick end to the rumors.

He explained that although the NGP is equipped with a high-performance quad-core CPU theoretically capable of 2GHz, the clock speeds will have to be dialed down to preserve the PSP successor’s battery life and prevent it from running too hot. Otherwise it would last maybe 5 minutes and burn you. No one wants that. Sony wants hot sales, not burnt customers.

Steve Jobs said earlier that the new iPad pricing will stay exactly the same as the original iPad, which means a base price of $499 for the 16GB WiFi version. Well, despite the fact that you can’t get an iPad 2 until March 11th and you can’t pre-order it yet, it looks like Apple is already putting the original models on sale.

The base model 16GB WiFi only iPad is $399, with prices ranging up to $729 for the 64GB 3G model. You can also get a refurbished one for a starting price of $349. So if you want the original model, now is the time to get one. Will you be getting one?

At GDC 2011, Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aime revealed a ton of info about the 3DS. As far as video content, the news is that the 3DS will get Netflix this summer as well as the ability to pause a video on your handheld and continue watching on your Wii.

We aren’t sure but we assume that you can also do the same with an XBox or PS3 as well. Nintendo is partnering with AT&T to provide free WiFi access at 10,000 hotspots starting in late May. It will also use the SpotPass passive connection feature that works even when no game is in the system and when its in sleep mode, to download new content.

RIM has been keeping pretty quiet about how long their upcoming tablet’s battery life is, but now some leaked screenshots of the tablet’s “Battery Assistant” app are shedding some light on the issue. If these pictures are the real deal, then we won’t have to worry about the tablet’s battery life. It is amazing.

They show the tablet at 50% battery life and the indicator says that it can last another 8.5 hours of web surfing. If 50% is 8.5 hours, then that means that the tablet will be able to surf the web for 17 hours on a full charge.

SteelSeries has announced the Siberia v2 for PS3 headset for serious gamers. This headset is for the PS3, but will still play nice with other platforms like the Xbox 360, PC and Mac. It features comfortable leather earcups for those long hours of gaming, impressive audio reproduction for optimal directional sounds, and independent audio/voice volume.

It uses lightweight material, so your ears will be comfortable for the duration of your gaming session and 50mm driver units will deliver superior sound reproduction. The SteelSeries Siberia v2 for PS3 will arrive in the third quarter for $119.99.

In the US we have to wait for the Nintendo 3DS still, but those who already have the handheld have just gotten a firmware update for the device. There are some bug fixes and enhancements and the update also comes with a 3D music video of a band performing the “Super Mario Bros theme”.

Odd content for a firmware update, but at least you will have something extra to show your friends in glorious 3D. Mario fans will be delighted.

Apple has officially announced the next generation iPad at their special event in San Francisco. The iPad 2 packs in a new dual processor called the A5, and Apple says it is up to two times faster than the original iPad but uses the same low power.

It also has faster graphics, up to nine times faster than the graphics of the original iPad, and it is also 33 percent thinner than the original iPad. It also comes with a built in gyrospcope and two cameras, and will be available in two colors, black and white. Both models will be available from AT&T and Verizon.

Graphics pros as well as serious gamers will love NEC’s new 30-inch screen called the PA301W-BK. You can also get the screen bundled with sensor and calibration software. The resolution is 2560 x 1600 and the panel used is a 10-bit active matrix p-IPS panel. The brightness is rated at 350 cd/m2 in landscape mode.

The contrast ratio is 1000:1 and the screen has 14-bit programmable look-up tablets. You get dual DVI-D and DisplayPort and the screen supports two PCs with PiP capability. There’s also an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness according to the room. The screen sells for $2299 and the screen with calibration gear is $2549.

The Razer DeathAdder is one of the better infrared gaming mice around and now it has a special edition in the new DeathAdder Dragon Age II Collector’s Edition. The mouse is black with red lighting and features a red dragon on the top.

Other than the special game branding, the mouse is the same thing under the hood. It has a 3500dpi sensor, right-handed design, five programmable buttons, and 1000Hz ultrapolling. The sensitivity is adjustable on the fly and it has a 7-foot long cable. The DeathAdder is compatible with Mac and PC. The launch date is unknown, but it will sell for $69.99.

Seagate, who is always rolling out the latest and greatest hard drives now has another new offering. No surprise there. Their newest 3.5-inch hard drive comes equipped with 3TB of storage space.

It’s called the Barracuda XT and the drive features a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, 64MB of cache memory and works at 7200 RPM. The 3TB Barracuda XT is available for purchase now if you have the scratch for just $279.

Panasonic has launched three new iPhone/ iPod docking stations in Japan. They are the SC-HC55, SC-HC35 and SC-HC05. All of these new docking stations come with FM radio and Bluetooth support. The Panasonic SC-HC55 is the high-end version and features a CD player and Bluetooth hands-free module with an output of 2x40W.

The Panasonic SC-HC35 lacks the Bluetooth hands-free module, while the Panasonic SC-HC05 is an entry-level model without a CD player and Bluetooth hands-free module. They look pretty good.

Olympus has announced that they will be releasing the world’s first 100kg crushproof camera. The TOUGH TG-810 has been designed to take a serious beating and survive. It’s waterproof up to 10m, shockproof from a height of 2m and freezeproof to -10C. It features a 3-sensor GPS & Electronic compass, and even a built-in manometer to make sure users don’t dive too deep.

The TOUGH TG-810 has a 14 megapixel, 5x wide optical zoom lens, a 3D shooting mode, 720p HD video recording capability, underwater scene modes, face detection, shadow adjustment technology and more. The TOUGH TG-810 will be available in April for $399.99.

It looks like HTC has been having some drama regarding their upcoming “Facebook phone”. The HTC ChaCha was recently sued by ChaCha Search Inc for infringement of the ChaCha trademark. And now the ChaCha name has gotten HTC into trouble once again.

Apparently, the HTC ChaCha will be renamed the ChaChaCha in Spain because the word “chacha” is offensive in the country. In the future they obviously need to do better market research when naming their phones.