The VW Beetle Convertible

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The front-wheel-drive Beetle Convertible comes equipped with three engine choices, each sporting unique performance qualities: a somewhat perky 2.5-liter inline-five, a robust turbocharged 2-liter four-cylinder, and a highly efficient 2-liter TDI turbocharged diesel. At just about 3,200 pounds, the Beetle isn't light enough that the 2.5-liter’s 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque will set any hearts aflutter.

The turbo 2-liter outpaces the base engine's numbers, an engine choice designed to appeal to the male buying group on which VW is banking. Each automatic-equipped Beetle has an 'S' mode that holds rpms higher to give the driver more immediate throttle response, and of all the group, the Turbo makes the most use of this mode. Its 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque are sent to the wheels through either a six-speed manual transmission (also available on the TDI) or VW's DSG automated manual (available in all trims). One of the best on the market, VW's dual-clutch automatic prepares gears with one clutch while another clutch is operating the lower gear, making for near-seamless shift transitions.

For the more fuel-conscious, the TDI -- with 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque--is a solid bet. This ain't your dad’s diesel car; the diesel engine is whisper-quiet as it pushes through an impressive amount of torque, and it rakes in solid fuel economy numbers: 28 mpg city and 41 mpg highway for the manual and 28 mpg city and 37 mpg highway for the automatic.

All Beetles come with Bluetooth connectivity, a trip computer, an auxiliary input jack, and an integrated previous-generation iPod cable located in the glove box. VW offers an additional USB port connector, but it's a little disappointing that a separate USB port isn't standard. Still, hooking up a music device is simple and the knob-plus-touch-screen configuration makes it easy to scroll through music selections. 

The Dell Inspiron 15z

What you should know: 
Dell takes a stab at combining touch with Windows 8 and a larger screen in the Inspiron 15z. The "z" designation means this is part of the higher end of Dell's lower-end laptop line (if you can follow that logic). The affordable Inspiron series tacks on the "z" to designs that are slightly thinner and sleeker, while not rising to the level of the more expensive XPS series.
The big 15.6-inch screen is covered by edge-to-edge glass, which is normal for a touch-screen laptop. However, the screen is one of the few parts of this laptop that clearly gives away its budget origins. With a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, text and icons can appear overly large, especially when using the traditional desktop mode (the Windows 8 tile UI handles different resolutions better), and some apps and games can lack clarity and detail because of the lower resolution. For a 14-inch or larger laptop, a resolution of at least 1,600x900 pixels, or even better, 1,920x1,080 pixels is recommended. For the $900 our review sample cost, a higher resolution is not out of the question.

Specs
Video: HDMI
Audio: Stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack
Data: 4 USB 3.0, SD card reader
Networking: Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive: DVD burner

What it offers: 
Dell's Inspiron line continues to look sharper than its budget reputation would suggest. The new touch-enabled version of the 15z works as a reasonably priced Windows 8 laptop with a big screen and an optical drive.
The advantage: 
The Dell Inspiron 15z has a great, slim design for a budget-minded 15-inch touch laptop, and even includes an optical drive.
The unfavorable: 
It's at the top end of the budget category, and for the same money, there are more-upscale systems available. Low screen resolution looks cartoonish.
The price:
$899.99

The Dell Inspiron One 2330

What you should know: 
The design of Dell's all-in-one systems is consistent across its XPS and Inspiron lines. It's a polished and beefy aesthetic, like that of a more expensive SUV. You will also notice that Dell has not embraced the push by Apple, Lenovo, and Vizio toward thinner all-in-one displays. This system, 30mm thick at the edge of its display, might look clunky next to all-in-ones like the new iMacs, which come in at just 5mm thick at the same point.

And while the Inspiron One 23 looks like a smaller version of the 27-inch XPS One 27, it has a key design difference. Where the XPS One has a double-hinged display stand that lets you tilt the screen 60 degrees and adjust its height, the Inspiron 2330 has only a single hinge that gives you about 40 degrees of tilt. It's not unreasonable for Dell to swap in a cheaper stand to help keep the price down, just be ready to prop the Inspiron 2330 up on a book or two if you aren't happy with the height of its screen.

What it offers: 
The Dell Inspiron One 2330 has a reasonably attractive design, and a surprisingly broad selection of video and audio connectivity options.
The advantage: 
The Dell Inspiron One 2330 has a reasonably attractive design, and a surprisingly broad selection of video and audio connectivity options.
The unfavorable: 
Aside from the AV inputs and its not-unattractive looks, nothing about this mainstream PC really stands out.
The price:
$1,199.99

Biggest Mobile Network in the world

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The biggest mobile carrier in the world comes from the distant land of China, and is called China Mobile! China Mobile serves the spectacular number of 703.46 million customers (data from November 2012) - more than twice the population of the Unites States. Isn't that amazing? The world's largest mobile carrier is owned by the state of China, and as such is controlled by the Chinese government. China Mobile is created at the end of the 20th century, when it gets separated from the currently third-biggest operator in the country - China Telecom, which is also state-owned.

But if China Mobile is the biggest, and China Telecom is the third-biggest carrier in the People's Republic of China, then who is in the middle? The answer is China Unicom - yet another state-owned carrier.

So where do our well-known US carriers fit into the whole picture? Right now, the biggest US carrier, Verizon Wireless, is 19th in the global carrier rank-list by number of subscribers (108.7 million), while AT&T Mobility is 21st with 107 million. Unfortunately, both Sprint and T-Mobile USA are not in the top 30 of the global rank-list, signaling that the attempted merger between AT&T and T-Mobile may have indeed been a bad idea!

Samsung did not infringe Apple patents willfully

Apple won't be receiving any additional damages for willful infringement as it had hoped. However, it's important to remember that just because the willfulness has been overturned, the $1.049 billion infringement verdict itself hasn't. That said, Koh could in theory reduce the damages Samsung owes, though she has yet to offer any rulings to that effect at this time.

The willfulness finding followed a bevy of other rulings in connection with the case, with Judge Koh otherwise hewing closely to the jury's own findings — including a refusal to ramp up damages on several other grounds as Apple had requested. One exception was Samsung's '941 standards-essential patent, which covers wireless packet transmission.Judge Koh ruled that claims 10 and 15 of the patent were invalid — something the jury felt Apple hadn't proved. Since Apple wasn't found to have infringed on said patent claims in the first place, however, Koh's judgment has no immediate impact on this particular case.Source

The LG Nexus 4

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This is the image of the new LG Nexus 4.

According to the EXIF data on the image, the picture was taken with an LG Optimus G last week. This may mean the image is coming from someone within LG, or it may not mean anything. It certainly looks like a white Nexus 4, and you can even see the reflective pattern on the bottom right that was a distinctive feature of the black Nexus 4.