The Apple iPhone seems to be unstoppable these days. Everyone wants one, and the handheld portable device is now sold out online. But this is not stopping Apple In its mission to sell at least 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.

According to the Associated Press, Apple just signed a deal with French wireless company Orange on Friday, sealing the deal for the device to be on sale in the Middle East, Africa, and in many European countries.

Orange says that it will sell the iPhone in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Austria, Poland, Jordan, Egypt, Slovakia, Portugal, Romania, Africa, and Switzerland later this year. And Apple still is planning to sell its coveted product to even more places around the globe. According the article, Apple plans to sell the iPhone later this year to Latin America, Canada, Italy, Australia, and Turkey.

The most nerve-wracking part of buying a tech gadget is worrying that a newer model will come out tomorrow. Companies keep product announcements a secret until the last moment, lest they hurt their own sales while you cool your jets.

That's what makes a recent discovery so tantalizing. Bob Atkins was taking a look at an upgrade to Canon's Digital Photo Professional software when he discovered this:

"Interestingly, the compatibility information in the DPP 3.4 help file mentions that it's compatible with the Digital Rebel XS/1000D. This is interesting because there currently is no Digital Rebel XS/1000D!"

Stuff like this creates a feeding frenzy, as photo cognoscenti scour for more clues.

Over time, Canon has shown a propensity to give higher model numbers to lower-end cameras, and single-digit numbers to its pro lines. So this Rebel will probably land somewhere below the entry-level DSLRs with model numbers in the hundreds. With the Rebel XT currently selling for around $400, can this really cost less?

When will it get here? Back to Bob Atkins who speculates that it's this month.

Post by Geoff Fox

When it comes to computer icons and images, I've seen them on jewelry and shirts, but never on a laptop case, until now.

Designed by Tawaian-based 25togo, "My Document" bag series features the "My Documents" computer icon we've all come to know and love, designed onto a shock-proof laptop bag, digital camera bag, music player bag, and small change bag.

Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait for this unique case to be available, because it doesn't look like it's for sale yet.

[via Gizmodo]

The Kyosho Robo Hopper, a remote-controlled robotic-like toy made popular in Japan, is now available in the States, kids. Hmmm, looks a lot like the ASIMO robot, doesn't it? This 2.4GHz 2-channel R/C system consists of the main motor for flying, tail motor for stable control, and an auxiliary wheel to help keep the "pilot" upright.

The Robo Hopper can fly on over to your home for $106.69 from AudioCubes.com.

We've got a handful of dedicated gamers here at PC Magazine, so I've definitely seen my share of injuries: sore wrists, limps, bruises...it's enough to make me wonder what exactly goes on when they're at home rocking out on Rock Band or dancing up a storm with DDR. So it just goes to show that there are some risks involved when it comes to this level of dedicated gaming!

It's hard to believe that so much pain and suffering can be associated with, well, playing a game. But the gamer's devotion is real, and so is their pain. That's why I decided to document these "reported" gaming symptoms and offer diagnoses, causes, and treatments for each. For instance, if you've experienced blisters, paraesthesia, and thumb swelling, I hate to break it to you, but you've got an ugly case of the Nintendo Thumb, my friend. A PC Mag staff member developed the Nintendo Thumb after trying to execute the Zangief pile driver in Street Fighter. Ouch! Be sure to exercise your hand and apply ice to the thumb to reduce swelling.

Check out the rest of my guide to gaming injuries. And yeah, that's my arm, in case you were wondering. I'm fine.

Who lives in a pineapple under your--oh god, sorry, I can't finish the sentence, but now that I've mentioned it, let me just state for the record that I'm very glad that this thing is not shaped like a pineapple.

The shape of the giant thermometer protruding from SpongeBob's square pants is, however, a matter for you to take up with your neighborhood Freudian psychologist in 20 years or so.

If the mere thought of this thing hasn't managed to scar your inner child, how about the fact that the big, yellow, smiling rectal thermometer also plays the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as it snuggles into your bum? A fact; it's illustrated on the products box by the image of Mr. SquarePants playing his nose flute.

I doubt we'll get this device in at PC Mag for testing, though. For some reason, no one will respond to our multiple job-board postings for a lead musical-rectal-thermometer analyst.

There's nothing new about pen-based computers and devices that upload handwritten notes to a PC. IOGEAR's Digital Scribe digitizes notes written on plain paper, but the device's usefulness is severely limited by the fact that it needs to be connected to a PC at all times. The LeapFrog FLY Fusion pentop computer does a good job of enticing youngsters to text a little bit less and write a bit more, but it's a bit bulky, requires proprietary paper, and is aimed squarely at kids.

That being said, the latter device is the closest anyone has come to making a pen-based computer useful, practical and fun. It's no surprise, then, that that Fly pen's creator, Jim Marggraff, has brought the pen-based computer to adults with the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen.

Like the FlyFusion, the Pulse records images of everything you write, so long as you write it on the company's proprietary Dot Paper, which allows the infrared camera in the pen's tip to always know where it is on the page. The company promises it will soon allow users to print their own paper from laser and some inkjet printers. In in the meantime, 100-sheet Dot Paper notebooks can be had from Livescribe's web site in four-packs, for $19.95.

The real innovation of the Pulse, though, is that it's also a voice recorder that records audio while recording images of your notes--and links the two together.

What will help the world's poorest children? A Microsoft-based operating system, of course! The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization's low-cost XO laptops will now be available with Microsoft Windows.

"The intention is to create a version of the XO laptop that provides the ability to host both Windows and Linux operating systems, giving users the ability to run either on the XO laptop," according to Microsoft.

"Today's announcement, coupled with future plans for a dual boot version of the XO laptop, enhances our ability to deliver on this vision," said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC. "In addition, OLPC will work with third parties to port its user interface, called 'Sugar,' to Windows."

The move is a shift in OLPC's original goal, which was to offer developing nations inexpensive laptops equipped with free and open-source software. "Free" and "open source" are not usually two of Microsoft's favorite words, but Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft, said the company's goal in joining OLPC was to "make technology more relevant, accessible and affordable for students."

Superman may no longer be the only person who can bend steel and lift thousands of pounds. In an effort to create a stronger military force, a robotics firm known as Sarcos, based in Salt Lake City and under contract with the U.S. Army, is currently building robotic suits that amplify human strength and endurance up to 20 times, according to CNN.

"Everybody likes the idea of being a superhero, and this is all about expanding the capabilities of a human," says Stephen Jacobsen, chief designer of the robotic suit. The new invention, in essence, provides a way for people to increase their mobility and lift heavy objects with ease.

According to a recent survey conducted by Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo on behalf of ad agency Prime Access and PlanetOut, Apple joins such companies as Bravo, Showtime, HBO, Absolut, and Levi's as the most "gay-friendly" brands. On the other end of the spectrum, Korean manufacturer Samsung joins WalMart, Dunkin Donuts, Cracker Barrel, and Exxon Mobil as the most "unfriendly" companies.

2,259 adults aged 18-64 were interviewed for the survey, including 1,502 "general population" respondents and 757 gay and lesbian respondents. The study found that nearly 68 percent of the latter group are "likely to buy from a company they considered to be gay-friendly, a perception they base largely on a company's advertising, followed by input from friends and the media."

"The survey reveals that gays and lesbians are fiercely loyal customers to brands they perceive as reaching out to them," said said Prime Access's CEO, Howard Buford. "A marketing communications program directed at the gay and lesbian audience can be a significant opportunity for brands to build business."

For more information on the study, check out Prime Access's site.

There doesn't seem to be a heck of a lot of information about Xziex on the Web beyond what the company and its supporters have seeded themselves, like this Craigslist San Francisco posting listed on the site's Classes section: "I would be very glad, if You start the warter business with me in May. The people all over the world need to have good water. Without drugs and so on."

There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm surround this thing, and why shouldn't there be? It is "the future of water," after all. It's just tough to find any that doesn't seem to be drummed up by the company itself.

A visit to Xziex's official site doesn't reveal much, though entering your name, phone number, and e-mail address does reveal a touch more information along with a fear-mongering infomercial-quality video that involves, among other things, the animated word "arsenic" floating around in a woman's drinking glass. Honestly, I didn't make it far enough into the video to figure out how to pronounce that jumble of Zs and Xs.

Beginning today, all passengers flying on Singapore Airlines A340-500 flights between Singapore and Newark, N.J., will get a little extra love for their iPods and iPhones. The airline's in-flight KrisWorld entertainment system offers an integrated 9-and 30-pin connection, letting passengers charge their Apple devices and connect them to the 15.4-inch widescreen LCD display and noise-canceling headphones. Docked iPods and iPhones will mute for cabin crew and pilot announcements, just like standard in-air entertainment. The service will expand to those traveling between Singapore and Los Angeles in August.

Because there aren't enough ways to imbibe caffeine in this fast-paced world of ours, Rudolph Foods has combined America's passion for not sleeping with its unquenchable desire for snack foods: introducing Engobi, the "love child of caffeine and snack chips." It's junk food for those who are lacking the precious time or the energy to get their empty calories and caffeination from separate sources. Referring to itself as a "functional food, a single 1.5-ounce bag of Engobi chips contains approximately 1.75 times as much caffeine as a can of your average energy drink, all for the low price of $1.29.

And really, what would a caffeinated snack food be without the appropriate video game tie-in and roving tour of scantily clad women? The company is running a "Girls, Guitars and Geeks City Tour," with a Guitar Hero-equipped van, giving gamers willing to leave their basements the chance to compete for Guitar Hero controllers and gear emblazoned with the name of everyone's favorite insomnia-inducing snack product.

Says the company's VP, Mark Singleton: ""If this contest, the Engobi girls, or our high-octane Engobi snack chips don't perk you up, I'm not sure you have a pulse. With Engobi on the scene, couch potatoes just earned a place on the endangered species list." That's probably how I would talk too, if I were full of Lemon Lift and Cinnamon Surge. No doubt a plethora of "woos!" were tossed in for good measure.

For more info on the irritatingly titled "Don't Be a Piano Hero" promotion, visit Engobi's site. Woo!

Joining the mob of celebrities who endorse things, Dr. Dre has teamed up with Monster to create a headset worthy of his name: the Monster Beats By Dr. Dre. The headset, originally announced at CES in January, will be available for purchase in mid-July, says Monster.

A few folks from Monster visited our offices today to give us an audio preview of the headset (look for a review very soon on PCMag.com; we'll link to it when it pubs). Click through the jump for some initial impressions.

For anyone who wants to better understand the cosmos, Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope (WWT), now in its public beta, will bring the night sky down to your computer screen. It's scientific, educational, fun--and it's free. As someone who's used a number of astronomy software programs, Web sites, and Web apps over the years, my first look at the WWT, left my head spinning in awe.

WWT is a major effort, representing years of development by Microsoft's Next Media Research Group and assists their partners in the scientific and academic worlds--and it shows. WWT provides far more resources than the Sky mode in Google Earth.