Could this be Apple’s next iPod nano? Taiwan’s Apple.pro website thinks so and since they also recently got their hands on a purported next-gen iPod nano chassis that seems to match the device pictured above, it looks likely.

The obvious change is the built-in camera, which is apparently 1.3 megapixels. Take this with the usual grain of salt for now, as we don’t have any confirmation, but it is looking like this is the real deal. We will know for sure before long.

Sony’s latest update on its PlayStation blog regarding the nearly three-week long PSN outage gives us some hope that we will be playing games very soon. Understandably, they can’t give an exact date for when access to the network will be returned, but Sony says that it will “likely be at least a few more days.”

You might remember that the security breach potentially exposed the private information on over 100 million user accounts. So when the network goes back online, Sony’s work will be far from over as they will have to deal with some consequences, including a class-action lawsuit. The company may even reward users by giving them a free month of access to the PlayStation Plus paid subscription service, free ID theft monitoring and free extra content.

Google has now unveiled Android 3.1 at Google I/O 2011. This update offers more advanced multitasking that shows all recent tasks, even if they have been shut down to save memory and the USB host device is also new, so Android devices can now import photos from a camera, use a gamepad, etc.

Some other new features include: Widgets that are resizable and can use XML code as well as finger dragging to expand windows. So with Gmail you can check more e-mail even from the home screen now.

If you love 3D, then LG has some good news for you today. The company has revealed that it will use Wikitude’s 3D browser in its LG Optimus 3D smartphone. The browser allows better interaction and engagement with real-time user environments. 3D Augmented Reality can show places, landmarks and objects in 3D, making them easier to distinguish and of course, much cooler to look at. The Optimus 3D, is set to arrive in Europe this summer.

It should be a hit since the Wikitude World Browser is the first AR smartphone browser ever and the LG Optimus 3D also incorporates several other world firsts. Like the world’s first dual-core, dual-channel, dual-memory architecture and they also claim that the phone is the first full 3D platform providing glasses-free viewing, recording and sharing of 3D content.

Microsoft has now officially confirmed their acquisition of Skype, in a deal which is said to be worth $8.5 billion. The big M announced the deal on their website and they say that the deal is worth $8.5 billion in cash, and that includes taking on Skype’s debts. The deal was approved by both the board of Microsoft and the board of Skype.

Does this mean that we should start calling them MicroSkype or Skypesoft? The rumor had been that Google and Facebook were looking to buy Skype, but it seems like no one guessed that Microsoft would be acquiring them.

Looking for a tough notebook? Luckily for you, Panasonic has announced its new Toughbook 53, the company’s latest semi-rugged notebook in the Toughbook family, which sports a 14″ High Definition LED display and is powered by a second generation Intel i5 or i3 processor.

Its weighs about 5.6 pounds and will deliver up to 10 hours of battery life and also comes with optional 4G LTE mobile broadband, with optional dual antenna pass-through for in-vehicle use in passenger cars and light-duty trucks.

Good news for those of you in Japan, if you want, you can now purchase the LG FX166. The company will be releasing this micro Hi-Fi and 3D Blu-ray combo later this week.

The FX166 comes equipped with not only a DVD/Blu-Ray video player with 3D support, but also DLNA support, an FM radio and the always appreciated alarm clock. This music player is also compatible with your iPod touch and iPhone.

The Anyroom wireless speaker from Ion Audio allows you to enjoy the music from your iPod or iPhone anywhere in your home without headphones. The speaker delivers CD-quality audio transmitted wirelessly from your iPod or iPhone directly to speakers in your home.

Other features include a total of 32 Watts speaker output, a range good for up to 300 yards, RCA audio inputs and outputs, and the system can be expanded with additional Anyroom units. The Ion Audio Anyroom wireless speaker is just $199.99.

PSN may be suffering an outage, but Sony still needs to keep the empire rolling along as best they can. So Sony has just introduced a new line of PlayStation Portable branded earphones. They come in six different colors (black, white, silver, red, blue and pink) and will deliver high resolution sound. They claim that it has powerful bass and clear treble output.

These are perfect for the PlayStation Portable and should work fine with your other devices that have a 3.5mm audio jack. These Sony PSP earphones arrive this summer in Japan for $27 (2,200 Yen). Hopefully we get them soon after. By then PSN should be back up. We hope.

Are you looking for a slim monitor? How does a 22-incher sound? That’s the screen size, not the slimness. The Elite L2201x LED-backlit display measures just 0.4-inches thick. It features a 1920 x 1080 display, 5000:1 contrast ratio, and a DisplayPort.

It may not be the slimmest screen ever offered, but it looks pretty sexy and it’s just $250, which isn’t bad at all. The Elite L2201x arrives in the US on June 1st.

For most of us the PSN outage has just cost us some time playing the games that we love, but for others it has cost much more. PSN is losing money for developers just by keeping people from buying games and content.

VP Christian Svensson, in a post on the Capcom Unity forums says, “As an executive responsible for running a business, the resulting outage [is] obviously costing us hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in revenue that were planned for within our budget. These are funds we rely on to bring new games to market for our fans.” Hopefully Sony sorts things out sooner rather than later, but I think we can all agree that Sony and any hurt developers may have gotten a bit complacent in thinking that such a thing could never happen and not being at least a bit prepared for a scenario like this. Never put all of your eggs in one basket people.

Good news movie lovers. YouTube has confirmed that starting today it will add rughly 3,000 new movie titles for rental in the US, as well as reviews and behind the scenes extras. NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. are the new studios that YouTube is partnering with to add these new and catalog releases. It will double the amount previously available.

Pricing is $2.99 and $3.99 for movies viewed via your PC or Google TV. There was no mention of other devices supported. And though YouTube supports resolutions up to 4K, “most” of the new additions are in SD, which is kinda sad. Still, at least you have more choice than you did before.

Pioneer Japan has introduced four new and very interesting in-car navigation systems. They use a dash-mounted camera to display live images on the screens and superimpose digital images on it to help you navigate. The Augmented Reality GPS systems include the AVIC-VH09CS, AVIC-VH09, AVIC-ZH09CS and AVIC-ZH09. The systems can also show distances between cars and points of interest.

But that’s not all. They can also tell which lane the car is in, if a light is red or green and it can identify other traffic signals. All four feature DVD video playback support, Bluetooth, USB ports, a 1Seg digital TV tuner, and an SD card slot. Hard drive-based navigation is standard, as well as three years of free map data updates.

According to advertising firm WPP’s “BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” report, Apple has now moved past Google and taken the number one spot as the worlds most valuable brand. Apple’s brand has seen some amazing growth, growing 859 percent since 2006, with an increase of 84 percent to $153 billion this year alone. That growth is phenomenal. No wonder they were able to overtake Google.

The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study, commissioned by WPP and conducted by Millward Brown Optimor, ranks the world’s most valuable 100 brands by their dollar value.

For those of you who have been waiting for the arrival of the ASUS Eee PC 1015PX Netbook, we have some good news. Asus has now started shipping their new netbook and it is now available to purchase. To refresh your memory, the new ASUS Eee PC 1015PX is powered by an Intel Atom N570 Dual Core Processor 1.66Ghz, and has 1 GB DDR3 SODIMM memory, which can be increased up to 2 GB.

There’s also a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 screen and it runs Windows 7 Starter edition. There are two versions of the netbook: the 1015PX-PU17 with a 56W/h battery providing “up to 11 hours” of battery life and the 1015PX-MU17 with a 48W/h unit for maximal “10 hours” of battery life.