The tactile pleasure of worn pages between your fingers is hard to replace. But when it comes to encouraging people to embrace the written word, e-readers trump their physical counterparts.

According to the infographic below, people who own e-book devices say they read more than people who don't, at a rate of 24 books per year to 15. Education, escape, relaxation and entertainment rank as people's main motivations to plow through books -- proving that, whether electronically or via dead tree, reading remains a popular pastime.

E-readers are also rising in popularity, signaling that it may not be impossible to imagine a world without traditional books sometime in the not-so-distant fut…
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More About: e-readers, infographics

Welcome to this morning's edition of "First To Know," a series in which we keep you in the know on what's happening in the digital world. Today, we're looking at three particularly interesting stories.

Sony Announces Slimmer PlayStation 3 and More

Sony has announced a plethora of news at its Wednesday event at the Tokyo Game Show. Most importantly, the PlayStation 3 will get revamped, with a slimmer body and a new CD tray mechanism.

Furthermore, PlayStation Vita owners will be able to enjoy the benefits of the PlayStation Plus premium subscription, including free games, discounts and automatic software updates.

Finally, the company announced two new colors for the PS…
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More About: Firefox, Mobli, features, first to know series, iPhone 5, maps, mashable, playstation 3, sony, zte

What's worse than being 30,000 feet in the air stuck between a crying baby and a lousy meal? Being 30,000 feet in the air stuck between a crying baby, a lousy meal and shoddy Wi-Fi access.

That's about to change.

JetBlue is expected to announce a new high speed, in-flight Wi-Fi option later this week at the World Low Cost Airline Conference, according to a company email obtained by The Verge.

The best part? It will be free of charge. (Free for the meantime, while they activate the service on 30 planes.)

Most airlines use Gogo for their Wi-Fi with the exception of Southwest Airlines that chose Row 44. JetBlue's move to ViaSat is big news because of their purported speed. The e…
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More About: jetblue, travel, trending, wi-fi

A Kentucky teen's refusal to delete her Facebook account now has her eating her own words -- or, rather, her own letters.

Paula Asher, 18, was jailed for two days last week after she posted an update on Facebook about hitting another vehicle while under the influence. Here's what she said:

"My dumbass got a DUI and I hit a car LOL."

According to Louisville, Ky., NBC affiliate WAVE, the parents of the four people in the car Asher struck -- who, by the way, are all fine -- contacted a local district judge after reading the post. When the judge ordered Asher to delete the post, she refused -- and was quickly slapped with a two-day sentence for contempt of court.

She apologized a…
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More About: Facebook, Social Media, trending

PlayStation's premium subscription service, PlayStation Plus, will become available to PlayStation Vita owners in November, Sony has announced.

The benefits of the subscription for Vita users will be similar to those for PS3 owners -- free games, discounts, cloud storage and automatic software updates as well as trophy synchronization.

Users will only need one subscription to enjoy the benefits of PlayStation Plus on both the PS3 and the Vita.

At its pre-Tokyo Game Show event Wednesday, Sony has also announced two new colors for the Vita console in Japan: "cosmic red" and "sapphire blue."

Japan's manga fans also have something to be joyful about: PS Vita is getting a m…
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More About: PlayStation Vita, playstation plus, sony

Baxter is like most reliable employees -- he uses common sense to do his job, and works well with others -- except, he's a robot.

To be precise, Baxter robots are a new line of androids that can apply common sense behavior in manufacturing workplaces.

Developed by Boston-based Rethink Robotics, Baxter automatically adapts to changing environments through cameras, sensors and software that enable it to "'see' objects, 'feel' forces and 'understand' tasks," according to the company's website.

For this reason, Rethink claims that a Baxter robot can safely work alongside humans. It can also be trained like a person, with the robot capable of juggling multiple tasks, and learning a…
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More About: Baxter, Rethink Robotics, trending

Brand-new Xbox Slim ready for disembowelment

Click here to view this gallery.

Ever wanted to take your gaming console with you when you hit up the bar?

Redditor DBrizzle spent eight months solving this problem by modifying his Xbox 360 to play in a portable case with an LCD monitor. He showed off his creation on Reddit Tuesday. The whole enclosure is only 2.5 inches thick, and it's easy to see how it can pick up and go anywhere.

"Since finishing, my favourite thing was a visit to see friends on the release of the latest DLC for Battlefield 3 - I took it along and when I met them we gave it a go IN THE PUB!" DBrizzle said.

Check out the gallery of DBrizzle's images above, taken from his Imgur post.

More About: Gaming, case mods, reddit, xbox

Some of the world's biggest tech companies, including Microsoft, Facebook and Google, have teamed up with Pew Charitable Trusts to help voters research candidates and successfully cast their ballot on Election Day.

The Voting Information Project (VIP) is a non-partisan effort to distribute information voters need -- registration details, polling place locations, issues on the ballot -- in the places they're most likely to look: search engines, news websites and social media platforms.

VIP works like a middleman between difficult-to-navigate government sites and more commonly frequented destinations on the web. Because it's linked to official elections' board websites, it has the mo…
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More About: Facebook, Google, Pew, Politics, US, microsoft

Sony announced a slimmer version of its gaming console, the PlayStation 3, at the Tokyo Game Show Wednesday.

Due to be launched this fall, the new PlayStation will keep the same name as its two predecessors, but will be 20% smaller and 25% lighter than the second-generation model, Sony says. It will available in two versions: black and white, with either 250GB or 500GB of storage memory.

As far as physical differences from the previous model, the new PS3 will be thinner; it will also have a disc tray (instead of a slide-in disc mechanism) and a grooved design on top.

The "charcoal black" model should hit the market on Sept. 25, while the "classic white" should arrive Nov. 22 i…
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More About: playstation, playstation 3, sony, trending

The German government is warning citizens against using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, because of a security hole in the browser which is currently being exploited by hackers.

The security flaw, which affects Windows XP, Vista and 7, was made known to the public over the weekend. When IE users on these operating systems click a malicious web link, they can open their computers to hackers.

The flaw has affected hundreds of millions of IE users around the world and has yet to be fixed.

"A fast spreading of the code has to be feared," said the German government in a statement. The German Federal Office for Information Security recommended that IE users switch to an alternative bro…
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More About: World, cybersecurity, germany, internet explorer, microsoft

Wary of getting your child a cell phone? A new study shows that teens who "sext" aren't leaving it to just that.

The study of nearly 2,000 teens found that those that sexted – sending explicit pictures or text messages – were more likely to engage in sexual activity, raising their risks for sexually transmitted diseases.

"No one's actually going to get a sexually transmitted disease because they're sexting," Dr. Eric Rice, a researcher from the School of Social Network at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, told Reuters. "What we really wanted to know is, is there a link between sexting and taking risks with your body? And the answer is a pretty reso…
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More About: handhelds, sexting, study, teenage, trending

Three media interest groups announced today their intent to file a complaint with the FCC against AT&T for the cellular network's blocking of FaceTime on the iPhone for customers who do not subscribe to a particular data plan.

More About: att, facetime, fcc, iphone

The upcoming 007 Legends game will include a mission inspired by the iconic Goldfinger James Bond film, publisher Activision announced Tuesday.

007 Legends already will include chapters from Die Another Day, Moonraker, Licence to Kill and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, all tied in one story arch. It will also include a chapter that ties in to the upcoming Bond film Skyfall.

Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, will appear as the actor through all the Bond sequences. The game, which is a first-person shooter, is set to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise.

SEE ALSO: Bond is Back in '007 Legends'

Goldfinger was re…
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More About: 007 legends, Gaming, James Bond, Skyfall

There are great Emmy award acceptance speeches, and there are terrible ones. Actress Parker Posey, playing a character named JA,N, or "Just Act, Naturally," wants to make sure that Emmy nominees have honed the skills they need before their names are called to accept the award.

"The Emmy acceptance speech is the first time you get to show the world who you really are," one of the "students" in the short says. "Well, not who you really are, but the character that JA,N says you should be. And I like that, because I don't like me very much. "

She also prepares nominees to lose, recommending a "nodding strategy as the winners names are being announced, so when you lose you don't have e…
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More About: emmy awards, viral marketing, viral videos

While Apple fanboys and girls anxiously await the latest iPhone, some businesses aren't so excited.

Unlike its predecessors, the iPhone 5 will come with the "Lightning," an eight-pin, all-digital connector. The Lightning is reversible, and reportedly more durable and 80% smaller than the original. But the updates are causing headaches for hotels and gyms outfitted to accommodate Apple's old 30-pin connector, according to the Wall Street Journal.

SEE ALSO: Apple's Lightning Connector: What We Know, What We Don't

Michael Mueller, chief executive of Dallas-based hotel chain NYLO Hotels LLC, for example, told the Wall Street Journal that he b…
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More About: apple, iPhone 5, lightning connector, trending

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, fresh from a day of smartphone Twitter app releases, said Tuesday night that his company saw Apple as a "mentor" to Twitter.

"Apple is in many ways a mentor company for us," Costolo told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose. He said the companies had "a great relationship." Facebook, by contrast, got this chilly description: "We're very different companies."

Facebook was pursuing symmetric networks, Costolo said, but Twitter saw the world as asymmetric. They were fundamentally opposed, and competed for ad dollars.

He also spoke of Twitter needing to have control over its own user experience. This was on the day that Twitter unified its experience across iPhone, i…
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More About: Facebook, Twitter, apple, trending

Do you get frustrated when your flash drive is out of storage space? It's all a matter of perspective.

Take a deep breath, look at this photo, and remind yourself: at least it's not 1990.

Imagine what this photo would look like if they tried to compare it to cloud computing.

SEE MORE: The History of Digital Storage [INFOGRAPHIC]

For a bigger version of the photo, which we found on world-shaker.tumblr.com, click here.

More About: data storage

Not content with free food, now Marissa Mayer -- Yahoo's new CEO -- is giving all employees brand new smartphones.

And not just any smartphone either. According to Business Insider, Mayer is going to allow employees to choose from an iPhone 5, Galaxy S3, a few HTC devices or Nokia's Lumia 920.

Notably absent from the list: BlackBerry. Yahoo is going to move its users off of BlackBerry devices in 22 countries and onto something more consumer friendly.

Mayer is encouraging her staff to think and act more like Yahoo's users. In fact, that was a big part of the rationale for the new smartphone program, aptly named, "Yahoo! Smart Phones, Smart Fun."

In a memo sent out to staff mem…
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More About: Yahoo, iPhone 5

You've misplaced your remote before and have felt too lazy to get up in search of it. What if you could simply switch channels with a wave of your hand?

eyeSight Mobile Technologies has teamed up with Innodigital to create the nTobeBox, a set-top box that allows you to interact with your TV in an entirely hands-on/gadget-free way.

The nTobeBox, running on Android's Ice Cream Sandwich OS, turns any ordinary TV into a SmartTV that goes past conventional televised broadcast viewing, but allows for streaming content, apps, video calls, Internet connectivity and intuitive hand gesture recognition.

SEE ALSO:Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver Is Your New TV Remote [VIDEO]

eyeSight's techn…
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More About: Ice Cream Sadnwich, TV, android, box-top

So you thought "Gangnam Style" was over when K-pop star PSY popped up to perform it on the Today Show? Perhaps you felt it was played out once the song passed 100 million YouTube views, inspired a SNL spoof, or after it got mashed up with "Call Me Maybe"?

Oh no, my friend. This meme is just getting warmed up. We likely have at least a dozen good lip-sync videos waiting in the wings. Case in point: the officers and gentlemen of the United States Naval Academy, 22nd company, who produced the spirited version above.

SEE ALSO: Gangnam Style! Anatomy of a Viral Sensation [INFOGRAPHIC]

Wherever the Navy goes, of course, the other armed forces will have to follow -- so expect Army, A…
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More About: Watercooler, YouTube, gangnam style

Dice, a site for job listings in the tech industry, has acquired tech news aggregator Slashdot and two other sites from Geeknet Inc. for $20 million in cash.

More About: Slashdot, dice, sourceforge

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley found a fun way to share news of an upcoming South Park appearance with his fans late Monday night: He posted an image of his cartoon self hanging out with the show's main characters on Facebook.

"Guess who's gonna be on south park this season???" Woodley wrote on his Facebook Timeline.

His fans appeared to love the news and its direct delivery, as the update gained more than 19,000 Likes, 2,200 shares and 900 comments in less than one day.

Woodley isn't the only social media-savvy Steeler, however. Earlier this season, star wide receiver Mike Wallace came back from an extended holdout over a contract dispute with the team. But his…
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More About: South Park, Sports, nfl

The iPhone 5 is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 21. A few lucky reviewers, however, have already gotten the chance to spend a few days with the device and craft their reviews of the latest-generation of the iconic smartphone.

So what are they saying?

Overall, reviewers are pretty impressed with the update. The phone's hardware has earned accolades from every reviewer across the board -- they love both how the new phone feels and looks.

Reviewers also laud the iPhone's new 4-inch screen, although not all are in love with how some current apps -- not yet having been adjusted for its new size -- look on the latest device's screen.

The same can be said for Apple's new Light…
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More About: apple, iOS, iPhone 5, iphone, trending

Now that you can upload a fancy-shmancy image to the top of your Twitter profile, we've already seen some impressive uses. Some of them employ a fluid design -- the avatar is actually part of the header image.

If you're looking to achieve the same effect, our pal Jeremiah Warren created the tutorial above. You can even download the Photoshop template here.

Will you go this route with your header? Do you even like the new Twitter profiles?

If you're still stumped, check out these examples for inspiration.

More About: How-To, Social Media, Twitter, Video

Jennifer Aniston addresses persistent pregnancy rumors and the authenticity of her signature locks in a new video for SmartWater.

As the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest explains, the video was leaked from a security camera at the actress's home. Among the revelations: She's pregnant. No wait, maybe she's not. She has at least two sons, including Jimmy Kimmel and an alien. She fills her pool with SmartWater. Every night she puts "The Rachel" wig to bed and has frizzy black hair underneath.

Though some will argue that Aniston's SmartWater video last year was better, as the supermarket tabloids show, the public has an inexhaustible appetite for all things Aniston. SmartWater hopes that they…
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More About: Advertising, jennifer aniston, viral videos

Motorola announced the Droid Razr i at an event in London Tuesday. Rocking a similar look to the Razr M released this week in the United States, the Razr i is designed for select European and Latin American markets including the U.K., France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

The most interesting feature of the phone is not what it looks like, but what's inside. The Razr i boasts an Intel Intel 2GHz CPU, one of the first phones created from a collaboration between Intel and Motorola.

Touted as the "the full-screen phone," the handset has a 4.3-inch edge-to-edge display much like the Razr M, which Motorola says "gives you more screen with less phone."

Other specs include…
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More About: Motorola, Motorola Razr M, Motorola Razr i, android, ice cream sandwich, intel, jelly bean

Don't "Call Me Maybe" ever again, Internet, but let's get ready to "Kiss."

Believe it or not, Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" has been around for almost a year, and with the launch of her Kiss album Tuesday, it's time we say goodbye to the good times we've had with the catchy original and its countless parodies, lip-dubs and dance remixes.

On Sept. 20, 2011, the song came out in Canada, gaining little airplay. But then something "so absolutely shocking" happened, as Jepsen's manager Jonathan Simkin told Mashable: Social powerhouse Justin Bieber tweeted about it and followed that with an appearance in a viral lip-dub video:

Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepson is possibly the…
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More About: Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen, Entertainment, Music, Opinion, Viral, justin bieber, viral videos

The New Twitter on Tablets

With Version 3.4, Twitter updated its Android app to incorporate the big changes to profile pages. However, the experience is ruined on the larger screens of tablets, like the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, with down-rezzed cover art and poor positioning of elements like the profile picture.

Click here to view this gallery.

Android is a phenomenal platform in many ways. It's powerful, it's easy to make hardware and develop for, and it's everywhere. It's also super-easy to push out new editions of your app, just as Twitter did this morning with Version 3.4.

But it's also suffers from the plague of fragmentation. Since it's so easy to build Android devices, their specs and capabilities vary widely. And so does the experience. This weakness is plainly evident in the new Twitter app. While it displays decently on an Android phone, when you launch it on something with a bigger screen (say, a tablet), things start to get ugly.

Looking at my new profile page on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, my cover photo -- wh…
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More About: Droid Razr M, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Twitter, android, apps, reviews

Mr. Wizard crushes the spirits of mini scientists harder than the Large Hadron Collider smashes atoms in the encore installment of "Mr. Wizard's a Dick."

The video once again chops and stitches together -- or dissects and agglomerates, in science-y terms -- clips from Mr. Wizard's World to make Mr. Wizard, aka Don Herbert, look like a jerk.

SEE ALSO: Mr. Wizard Kind of a Jerk [VIDEO]

If you don't count yourself as one of the 1.2 million views from the first meanie Mr. Wizard YouTube video or would like to keep your childhood idolization of the TV science king alive, consider watching the vintage clip below of Herbert disassembling an Atari 1200XL instead.

More About: Watercooler, atari, viral videos

Twitter didn't just roll out new profile headers today, it also rolled out updated versions of its iOS and Android clients.

While the iPad app received some fairly significant changes, the biggest change in the iPhone and Android apps -- header photos aside -- was in how Twitter handles third-party services.

As rumored, Twitter has decided to remove the ability to upload images to a third-party service within its official Twitter clients.

Even after Twitter unveiled its official photo-uploading service back in June 2011, the company still provided users with an option to upload photos to other services -- including TwitPic, img.ly, yFrog and Mobypicture.

That ends today. While Tw…
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More About: Twitter, apps, developers, twitter apps