Microsoft is set to unveil their latest innovation in hand held entertainment technology with their ‘Xbox Smart Glass’ at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) for 2012. Mobile devices and hand held systems have become more and more popular in recent years as smart phones and Blueberries have been dominating sales and customers are demanding more convenience with their personal technology. The gaming platform Wii set the tone for the environment just a few months ago with their U controller but Microsoft is looking to expand even further to allow multiple apps across numerous media. The smart glass is already rumored to not only let users access the information on their own Xbox 360 systems but also connect to staple applications such as the music stream program Zune and the movie streaming app Netflix. On top of this, the smart glass will also be able to cross platform with other operating systems such as Android, iOS, and Windows.

The move towards a mobile gadget is quite a surprise to many fans coming from Xbox. In recent years Microsoft has been viewed by many gamers and tech enthusiasts as more of a follower rather than a leader when it comes to technological advances (which actually has a grain of truth to it as they are indeed following the footsteps of the Wii in this regard). However, it appears that this technology is moving forward at a very fast pace as Microsoft filed their trademark for the term ‘smart glass’

The free Gmail app for the iPad, iPod touch and the iPhone have appeared once again in the Apple application store. This newer version of the program is considered just as underwhelming as the previous. Only hours after the older versions release in the Apple store, November 2nd, the device was pulled off by Google. Apparently there were some bugs that caused error messages to pop up when the application was launched, and the notification feature of the program wasn’t working like it was supposed to. The newer Gmail application may have a few more features than Apple’s very own email client that comes bundled in with the iPad, but some claim that it’s really not that much better.

There are many praised features of the Gmail client, one of them being the universal search function, which allows the device user to search for any phrase or word that can be found in their messages. The application also has an auto-fill feature which simplifies the process of filling out fields from your Gmail address book. That is considered a huge plus for Gmail users because the native Apple email client will typically only auto-fill from the native contact application. Adding photos is also considered much faster and convenient with the Gmail app, as you simply just use a tiny widget at the top of your message to choose a photo from the iPad’s photo gallery.

Google strives to keep the newer app’s interface clean – there are now only five icons and a menu button in the new Gmail app, aside from the arrow icons for moving through a message list, and the sign out and help buttons. The notifications that were found in the original application are in the new one as well, for things such as new message arrivals.

Amazon Inc is preparing to launch their new tablet computer this year which will extend the e-commerce lead’s position in the battlefield of technological dominance, according to analysts and investors. The tablet will feature a 9-inch screen, and will be set to run on Google’s Android operating system. Analysts and investors have been waiting for an Amazon tablet for a long time now, and believe that its release will only serve to better the record high company shares that were seen in early July. It seems that Amazon’s plan is to utilize their new tablet in a way that will encourage its device users to purchase additional digital media from their store. There are at least 1.5 million Amazon tablets in the making for the third quarter and up to 5 million units total for the year of 2011.

This move will certainly fire up the competition between Amazon and Apple Inc, with the Amazon tablet being perhaps the first to challenge the iPad’s popularity. Apple is currently following a similar digital media route by selling their digital books, music and videos through iTunes. Some analysts think that the upcoming Amazon tablet will only be the number two player in the mobile world, and that it could be awhile before we even see that level of competition, as the newer tablets coming out haven’t even begun to take off yet. Amazon already has lots of content that tablet users will find highly compatible Kindle ebooks, music and video downloads, rentals and even streams.

Experts are saying that in regards to Apple and Google’s location tracking privacy issues, there may be some who want to be tracked, and that most people will fall into that category in the near future. The two media giants have been summoned to a Senate hearing to discuss privacy issues after it was revealed that both companies are tracking their user’s historical location data. Apple is even facing a federal lawsuit on the matter. All of it is focused on the alleged violations of the user’s privacy. Still, there are those who believe that there is reason to accept this kind of tracking, albeit under heavily defined privacy protection rules.

The data that Apple collects is currently hidden deep within the iOS, in a file called “consolidated.db” this particular file contains within it a time-coded list of approximate positions of the phone based on previous geo-located Wi-Fi networks and cell phone masts. This file only became an issue when researches revealed last month how it could potentially be used to track a user’s position. The press went crazy about it. Apple defends itself how ever, stating that it does not track the user’s location, because none of the information is ever sent anywhere to begin with. It’s quite the same case with Google.

Recent patents suggest that all of this data collection could soon be used for security measures such as location verification and even emergency calling, and that device owners should not worry so much about it.

NVIDIA announced today that it would be entering into a new cross-licensing agreement with Intel lasting for the next six years. Intel will be paying NVIDIA a total of $1.5 billion dollars in licensing fees through five annual installments, beginning on January 18, 2011. In addition, all outstanding legal disputes have been dropped between the two hardware leaders. NVIDIA believes that this agreement is a sign of a new era for the company. Both companies believe that this agreement will make it much easier for them to move into the future of computing, including the expansion into mobile and cloud computing. Intel will have continued access to NVIDIA’s complete range of patents while under the new agreement, and NVIDIA will retain the use of Intel’s patents. How ever, this excludes Intel’s proprietary processors, particular chipsets for the Intel platform, and flash memory. The current existing agreement will expire March 31, 2011.

A portion of the proceeds are going to be accounted for and attributed to the settlement of any prior legal claims. NVIDIA anticipates this amount to be less than $100 million, and expects that it will be included in the company’s fourth-quarter results. The licensing fees balance will be accounted for over the six-year agreement term on a straight-line basis. It’s currently estimated that this will amount to approximately $233 million dollars annually, including operating income as well as an increase in net income of $0.29 per diluted share, over the course of an entire year. A conference call will be conducted to discuss the license agreement.