The 10 Laws of Design Simplicity

List includes advancements from iPhone, Amazon and Netflix

(NEWSER) - David Pogue runs down the best tech ideas of 2008 in the New York Times, “the flashes of genius that somehow made it through committee, past the lawyers, and into the marketplace.” Highlights include:

• Headache-free packaging: Amazon’s plastic-free alternative is good for the environment and does not require the jaws of life to open.
• Freehands gloves: Type away on your PDA—effectively—without exposing your paws to frostbite.

These top-shelf items will make excellent additions to the pile under the Christmas tree

(NEWSER) - Popular Science combed through the year's new tech products to find the top 200 items worth your holiday dollar. Selections include a wetsuit from Patagonia made of environmentally friendly merino wool, recycled polyester, and Japanese neoprene. Also on the list is a travel-friendly guitar from Black Bird that weights just 3 pounds and costs $1,600. More»

Customers can bundle it with MiFi wireless device

(NEWSER) - Verizon delivered a surprise today with the announcement that it would start carrying the iPad in its stores later this month, Electronista reports. An optional deal would bundle the iPad’s standard Wi-Fi model with a Novatel MiFi 2200, allowing users to share a 3G connection with other devices. The move firms up those still unconfirmed reports that Apple will begin offering iPhones on a Verizon plan, ending AT&T’s exclusive hold on the smartphone. More»

'More blood' in latest version of slash game

(NEWSER) - An iPhone video game application that features virtual fighting with broken glass bottles and gushing blood is eliciting screams from parents. "Swing to slash! Thrust to stab!"players are told as they "break" bottles with a flick of the wrist and get down to it, reports the Telegraph . The updated Broken Bottle 2 game delivers even "more blood and a bigger variety of breaks to the bottle," points out one reviewer. One incensed dad called it "totally sick." More»

Single-purpose devices' days are numbered: Manjoo

(NEWSER) - After yesterday's announcement that the iPod Nano now has a video camera, Apple's future direction is clear, writes Farhad Manjoo for Slate. Eventually, every iPod will be what Steve Jobs calls a “general-purpose device,” aka a small computer—a music player/phone/camera/web browser/GPS. Sure, Apple still sells dedicated music players. But its runaway hit is the multipurpose iPhone, the App Store is its most popular feature, and "tech is always getting cheaper and smaller," Manjoo observes. More»