Techland Roundup: The Daily Dose; Technology News 1/20/10 | Techland

Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010

Today in Techland: Superman is a dick, Lev seeks out the meaning behind Twilight and Peter brings us the news that PS3′s motion controller won’t be here until the fall. Bummer. The good news? Techland launched its very own YouTube page. You should probably subscribe to it.

Here’s what else going on in nerd news around the Web:

Twilight Gets A Little Graphic. Twilight, The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 will hit stores on March 16, via Yen Press. Entertainment Weekly has a sneak peek and interview with author Stephanie Meyer, who must be reveling in the fact that anything she “Twilights” rakes in millions. (Cue the squealing pre-teens.)

Welcome to Twitter, Bill Gates! Today in Gates’ tweet history: The launch of his new site, Gates Notes. It’s basically his brain, all laid out on the Internet.

Avatar For Haiti. Going to see Avatar again? Maybe instead of giving more money to James Cameron, we should think about giving it to Haiti, or so think the founders of charity site Avatar For Haiti. Donate the worth of a matinee at $10, the IMAX 3D Experience at $17 or IMAX plus snacks at $26. Donations will be given to UNICEF.

Ghostwriter? FX’s “Powers” signs on a new writer. Only problem? They wouldn’t tell use who.

Uh oh, Mr. Cameron. During an Avatar screening in Taiwan, a 42-year-old man suffered a brain hemorrhage and remained unconscious until he died, 11 days later. So sad.

More Super TV. Variety reports that Summit is in the process of developing a TV series based on the sci-fi film Push.

YouTube, the Netflix of Indie Films. That’s right, YouTube is launching its own video streaming rental service for indie flicks, only.

OK Go’s Video Beef. The boys of band OK Go are in a tizzy over the ability to embed their latest music videos. They talk about it with NewTeeVee. Dra-Ma.

Yes, There’s Even An App For That. The White House launched it’s very own app for iPhone and iPod Touch. It’ll even stream live presidential speeches.

Microsoft And Apple? It’s possible according to a new report by Business Week. Apparently Microsoft is in talks with Apple to make Bing available on the iPhone. But so says Peter Ha: “Bing on the iPhone won’t happen unless MS gives Jobs a huge pile of cash and that isn’t going to happen, so everybody STFU.” There you have it.

Trying to Be Optimistic About a Google Music-Streaming System

The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati and Ethan Smith are reporting that Google is working on a consumer-electronics system designed to stream music–and, eventually, maybe video and other media–around the home. Their story doesn’t have much in the way of detail, but does say that Google’s brainchild might be akin to a lower-cost version of Sonos’s excellent-but-pricey music-streaming products. Absent more details, there are several ways to respond to this sketchy bit of news.

The 12 Best Android Widgets for 2012

With all due respect to smartphone apps, sometimes you don’t want to open a new program just to get some quick info or perform a minor task. That’s where Android widgets come in handy, bringing the functionality of those apps right to the phone’s home screen. But not all widgets are wonderful. Some are glorified app launchers, while others are downright ugly. Here are the 12 best widgets that no discerning Android user should be without.