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Popular tech site TechRepublic recently polled their audience of IT professionals, asking them which vendors make the most and least reliable notebooks.

While the numbers were not huge in their favor, TR's audience says Dell makes the most reliable notebooks. Acer being the least reliable was more unanimous.

Says the site: "TechRepublic recently asked its massive audience of IT professionals which vendors make the most reliable laptops and which ones make the least reliable laptops. Since most IT departments tend to use multiple vendors and/or switch vendors every 2-3 years in order to land the best deal, we thought IT departments would have a great perspective on this."

Of the 4609 IT pros polled for the "most reliable" study, 21 percent claimed Dell makes the best notebooks, followed closely by HP at 18 percent and Lenovo at 17 percent. Acer and Asus bottomed the list, at just 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

According to multiple reports today, Google's way-in-the-future Android 3.1 update will be dubbed Honeycomb, following their still developing 3.0 update, Gingerbread.

Currently, only a handful of smartphones have Google's latest 2.2 Froyo update, so thinking about 3.1 is just a dream at this point.

Says TechCrunch: "It's likely that it will be more of an incremental upgrade, in the same manner as Android 2.2 (Froyo) was to Android 2.1 (Éclair) as Google seeks to perfect the new platform on tablets and high-end smartphones. That means Android Honeycomb will probably be Android 3.1 or Android 3.2, rather than a leap to the unimaginable magic of Android 4.0."

Details on Gingerbread are still sketchy, although many expect 3.0 to add a significant UI overhaul, one that will remove the need for other brands to add custom skins such as HTC Sense or MotoBLUR.

Intel announced early this morning that it was acquiring security firm McAfee for $7.7 billion, in an effort to expand outside of its core semiconductor business.

The company paid a hefty premium for McAfee, $48 per share, an almost 60 percent boost from McAfee's closing price on Wednesday of almost $30 per share.

Paying in all-cash, the deal represents Intel's largest acquisition, ever.

Intel chips are currently used in about 80 percent of all the world's PCs and servers, and McAfee will help improve the security of the chips.

Additionally, Intel will continue to sell McAfee's mainstay security software to individuals and enterprises, adding another revenue stream.

Intel did make it clear, however, that any joint products from the companies would not be available until 2011.

"Everywhere we sell a microprocessor, there's an opportunity for a security software sale to go with it," says Intel CEO Paul Otellini. "It's not just the opportunity to co-sell, it's the opportunity to deeply integrate these into the architecture of our products."

PlayStation 3 has given modders and hackers a run for their money. For nearly fours years hackers have tried to create a working mod that would bypass the PS3 software protection and run homebrew applications and backups. However, there has been no real breakthroughs, until now, if you believe what PS3News has to say.

According to the site, a product called PSJailBreak will allow owners of any version of PS3 to run backups of PS3 games as well as homebrew applications. The $170 mod is a piece of software stored in a USB drive. By inserting the thumb drive to your PS3 you'll be able to install and run the launcher application in seconds without permanently modifying the console or its software.

The PSJailBreak application also includes a backup tool which allows users to backup their game discs to the PS3 hard drive. Movies whether DVD or Blu-ray, or previous generation PlayStation games aren't supported by the tool. The backup manager can also be downloaded for free.

If a new leak proves accurate, SanDisk may finally be updating their aged MP3 player line, launching the new Fuze+ media device.

The Fuze+ will be the company's first update to the line since 2008.

SanDisk's new device will have a color OLED screen, capacitive touch buttons and new support for AAC and H.264.

Additionally, the device will have a microSDHC slot which includes slotRadio, and an FM radio.

A few models will be available ranging from 4GB to 16GB, with strong stated battery life of 24 hours for music and five hours for video.

Not priced yet, the device will go on sale in mid-September.

The music video website VEVO has launched a native iPhone app today, giving users a way to access the service's millions of music videos on the go.

Vevo, launched last year as a joint venture by YouTube, UMG and Sony Music, has reached over 1.1 billion streams, with almost 60 million unique visitors in the U.S. and Canada, monthly.

The service has licensing deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, ABKCO, Beggars Group, Big Machine Records, CBS Interactive Music Group, Concord Music Group, Hollywood Records, Lyric Street Records, Razor & Tie Entertainment, Ultra Records, Walt Disney Records, Wind-up Records, Caroline Distribution, Fontana Distribution, INgrooves, IODA, RED, SAAVN and The Orchard.

Vevo's app is pretty straightforward, giving users the option to search for music videos, as well as filter through top video, premieres, new artists, artists on tour, and "nearby" videos that are hot in your city.

Any video debuting on Vevo.com will be available simultaneously via the app.

Unfortunately for users with iOS 4.0 installed on their iPhone/Touch, the app cannot multitask, yet.

T-Mobile has teased their upcoming flagship smartphone, the G2, the first phone to access the carrier's extremely fast HSPA+ data network.

The phone is expected to be the long-awaited successor to the T-Mobile G1, the world's first Android device.

T-Mobile posted the teaser page today, although it gives little details.

Says the site: The T-Mobile® G1® was the world's first Android™ -powered phone. Launched nearly two years ago, it created an entirely new class of mobile phones and apps. Its successor, the T-Mobile G2™ with Google™, will continue the revolution.

The T-Mobile G2 will deliver tight integration with Google services and break new ground as the first smartphone designed to run at 4G speeds on our new HSPA+ network. In the coming weeks, we’ll share more details about the G2 and offer exclusive first access to current T-Mobile customers.

Multiple sites have gone wild with speculation on the specifications, and a few have said the device will have dual 1.2GHz processors, a first for phones, as well as incredibly powerful. Additionally, a leaked T-Mobile memo seems to point to a September release.

According to the annual financial report for EMI, smallest of the Big 4 record labels, the company lost 624 million euros (just over $800 million using today's conversion rates) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

The report is prepared each year by EMI's owner, Terra Firma owned Maltby Capital, a Terra Firma owned company which purchased EMI in 2007.

Maltby Capital Chairman Stephen Alexander began the report by addressing developments in recent months suggesting Citigroup, the principal lender in Terra Firma's acquisition of EMI, might take over the company due to an alleged breach of lending terms.

Alexander wrote, "despite the issues around the financing structure and the related public speculation, both divisions of EMI have shown marked progress in their underlying performance during the course of the last twelve months."

This translates into losing less money than the previous year, which saw a loss of more than 1.7 billion euros. He also admitted having no actual first hand knowledge of the legal proceedings between Citigroup and Terra Firma.

There is a glimmer of hope for the future if they can survive long enough. EMI's goal, it says, is becoming "a comprehensive rights management company that can take full advantage of global opportunities in all markets for music to the maximum benefit of its artists and songwriters."

According to multiple reports today, HTC is set to launch their Google Chrome OS tablet on Black Friday, in conjunction with Google and Verizon.

Dubbed the HTC Chrome, the tablet will be the first real competitor to the Apple iPad, which has sold 3.5 million units already since its launch in April.

The reports say the Chrome will use a Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, have a 1280x720 multitouch display, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of SSD memory, a front-facing camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G and of course, Chrome OS as the operating system.

Says one source: "Expect it to be every bit as geek-tastic as the Nexus One."

According to Game Informer Australia, Sony is already preparing games for the upcoming PlayStation 4, the console which has not even been announced yet.

Rumors of the PlayStation 4 have been around since the start of the year, with most expecting a 2012 launch.

While Sony's talk of games is not a direct announcement of the upcoming console, it does make sense that the company is preparing its publishing partners for the eventual launch. Most games take over 16 months to develop, so it is completely necessary for developers to know the specs of the new console at least a few years before its launch.

Sony has long said the PS3 will have a decade-long lifespan, and we are currently only in the fourth year of the life cycle. The now aged PS2 had a decade long lifespan as well, despite the PS3 being launched in 2006.

The company did not comment on the story, but Game Informer has it in their news section, not in the rumors section.

The popular video host Vimeo has introduced a new version of its video player today, one that detects the hardware being used by the end user and then outputs either an Adobe Flash or an HTML5 video player.

Additionally, the video stream output is based on how fast your connection is.

The feature was mainly implemented to add full compatibility to smartphones and other mobile devices, many of which still cannot play Flash.

Popular devices like the iPhone will never have Flash support, and a good number of Android devices still lack the 2.2 software update, which brings native Flash support.

Embed code is the same, and the new player's interface is the same as the previous player.

Larger rival YouTube has been testing the same type of player, and plans to make it the default soon.

Verizon has reported the results of a fiber-optic network trial they held in June for one lucky customer in Massachusetts, and it appears the customer received almost 1Gbit/sec speeds.

CW says "the customer received 925Mbit/sec. throughput to a server at its business location from a Verizon central office less than two miles away."

Speeds as high as 800Mbit/sec were achieved for servers 400 miles away.

Earlier in the year, Google said it wanted to experiment with a 1Gbit fiber connection trial for up to 500,000 lucky customers in a community. 1,100 communities submitted bids, with one city even temporarily changing its name to "Google." Google says it will pick a location by the end of the year.

When asked about the Google network, Verizon said: "We are not competing with things [Google is] planning. They may be thinking about competing with things we already have. We have the network in place today."

Earlier in the month, the popular Taiwanese daily Digitimes reported that Apple was creating a 7-inch iPad, almost three inches smaller than the current tablet.

Today, a second paper, Economic Daily News (EDN) is reporting the same thing, although with some details different from the first report.

EDN says the new device will weigh 500 grams, compared to the 700 grams of the current model. The paper says the device will use the same IPS display as the current model, while Digi's article said the device would get revamped with an OLED display.

The second report says Apple could release the new device as early as the end of 2010, although that seems unlikely.

Apple, of course, did not comment on the speculation.

The RIAA and NAB have proposed a new bill that would force all smartphones, MP3 players and tablets to include an FM radio in the future.

Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), had some harsh words for the proposal, as it would affect a large number of devices built by CEA members.

"Rather than adapt to the digital marketplace, NAB and RIAA act like buggy-whip industries that refuse to innovate and seek to impose penalties on those that do," Shapiro added, via Ars.

For example, a product like the iPod Shuffle would be impossible to create, as the body would need to be made larger, and more controls would be needed to be able to tune stations.

The NAB is willing to cave into paying $100 million a year to the RIAA in royalties (under the Performance Rights Act), if the FM radios are implemented.

Last week, former Apple employee Paul Devine was arrested and charged with selling secrets to Asian suppliers in exchange for over $2 million in kickbacks.

Devine, one of Apple's global supply managers, was charged "with offenses that include wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions," which began in 2006.

This week, Devine has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors say Devine's email accounts clearly show him "orchestrating" deposits from the Asian suppliers.

Furthermore, Apple has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Devine.

Devine worked for Apple from 2005 until this year. Apple, in their suit, allege that Devine "colllected commissions" for years from at least six Asian supplier in exchange for confidential information that helped them to secure deals.