Yahoo may have purchased Tumblr, but changes have arrived to its photo sharing service, Flickr. The website has receive a major overhaul putting the focus on the photos–especially those in full resolution. In addition to white space disappearing, in-line photo streams take up most of the screen and photo-centric profile pages are front and center. Do check out the update…and especially Juan-Carlos Bagnell’s photostream from CITA.

This was probably my favorite find from the CTIA show floor. This quirky little company from Portland Oregon is producing some of the most unique phone and tablet covers I’ve seen in a while. Using real wood and leather, and combined with a mild adhesive, you can cloak your device in a durable shell which will prevent scratches and provide the device a very unique look.

Toast laser cuts and engraves each piece for outstanding fit and finish. This gives them tremendous flexibility in developing covers for new devices, and for etching designs onto their gear. Customers can also have their own custom artwork etched onto covers. These natural materials feel really good in the hand and add a little extra grip, making your electronics easier to hold, while (thankfully) adding very little bulk to the device.

Cases are currently available for the iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Pro, and Galaxy S3. While it’s not unlikely that we’ll see GS4 cases soon, Toast can deliver custom covers for pretty much any device with publicly available dimensions and measurements.

Toast is made up of a small team of only six people. Their products are manufactured in Portland. All of their materials (with the exception of  the bamboo covers) are sourced in the United States, and their facility is powered entirely by renewable energy. It’s geeky, modern, unique, and environmentally conscious.

If there’s one compromise to be made here, these covers aren’t designed to be reusable. The cover adheres to the device, and the shell is built to be durable and long lived. Toast uses a strong adhesive to execute that, and while that adhesive wont leave any residue or damage your device, it will almost certainly wreck the cover while trying to remove it. A small price to pay in my opinion for a premium experience.

See, these are the kinds of companies I love finding. These little gems that offer a premium solution with a unique vibe. This aesthetic wont feel like any bumper or sleeve case people are familiar with. I like that moment when people see something, even something as simple as a case, they’ve never seen before.

Check out their gear at http://www.ToastMade.com

It’s one of those rare happy accidents.

I was walking the CTIA show floor with Jeb Brilliant from The Mobile Perspective and Pablo Ortega from Actualidad Blog, and you stop paying attention to things like data. After several shows like E3, CES and CTIA, you kind of take it for granted that you’ll most likely have very poor coverage inside a convention hall with thousands of other people trying to use the same “innernet-pipes.”

So, Jeb notices that we’re getting a pretty decent LTE signal on AT&T, and he decides to run a speed test. On his first try with a Galaxy S4 we nail a 20Mbps download. Interesting.

We scout around the show floor, try a few more speed tests, and manage to find a really great sweet spot. Well, between us we had a number of AT&T devices to try out, so we decided to hold an impromptu LTE battle between the cream of the AT&T crop. Among the three of us we had six monster phones: the iPhone 5, Lumia 920, Note 2, LG Optimus G Pro, Galaxy S4, and HTC One. LTE is LTE, but would there be much difference in throughput with these different devices?

Now before you fanboys get your knickers in a twist, we’re not trying to claim this testing as anything scientific or definitive; it was a fun thing to try in the middle of a convention, and honestly, we were surprised to see much of any signal at all. Our testing methods were simple: Take off all cases. Point all phones in the same direction. Run three speed tests back to back using the Speedtest.net app.

And the results?

Donkey Kong Country Returns.. well… returns. The classic Wii platformer has been remastered and given a 3D upgrade for it’s imminent release on the 3DS. Sporting all the features of the original game (like mine cart riding, barrel jumping and banana collecting), the new 3DS version also includes “new mode” which brings portable DK barrels and other new power-ups that bring a new gameplay experience to experienced players. Nintendo will also be celebrating the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns with a special Memorial Day event at Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens  from May 24-27.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is out on 3DS on May 24th, and you can find more information after the jump.

We may not be sure what awaits us at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote, but we are sure about when–as Apple has officially confirmed June 10th at 10am Pacific for the much anticipated event. Though we’re likely to see Apple’s latest operating systems on display (both iOS and OS X), hardware announcements remain a mystery, though the experts seems to think that we’ll see some Macbook updates at the very least. If you were planning on attending this year, you may be out of luck–tickets sold out for the event in a record breaking 2 minutes; but fear not–we’ll have all of the WWDC coverage you can handle once the conference starts.

Stay tuned…

The Q10 is here and is the company’s attempt to re-introduce the world to a touch-enabled Blackberry with a QWERTY keyboard. The first thing my wireless dealer pointed out is that the device is not being “sold” properly to consumers – BlackBerry users are used to OS 7 on the Curve or Bold and expect to just pickup a Blackberry 10 device and continue where they left off; but if you’ve spent any time with BB10, things are now a bit different, making it a big adjustment for existing BlackBerry users. The keyboard itself has a great feel, much like the high-end Bold series of yesteryear – but coming from an on-screen keyboard back to a physical QWERTY is not as seamless as one would thing. I used to be a rocket on my Bold 9900, but until today didn’t realize how used to an on-screen keyboard I have become, as typing on this QWERTY really makes me feel like I have fat fingers! Lets go a bit more hands on, video-like, after the jump.

It’s funny how these trade shows work.

A blogger pal of mine forgot to pack not only his memory card reader, but also the cable for his camera. Poor guy was on deadline yesterday to cover events on the show floor with no way to transfer images off his camera.

And then we happened upon Kingston’s booth.

This MobileLite Reader is a bit bigger than most phones and connects to PC’s, iOS, and Android devices over WiFi. Pop in an SD card, or connect a USB flash drive, and you can share the contents of that card or drive with multiple devices up to a hundred feet.

The 1600 mAh battery can power the device for about 6 hours of actual use, and in a pinch you can leach off of the MobileLite to recharge your phone.

Trying it out on the show floor, even with a bunch of other wireless signals firing off around us, two tablets were able to stream HD video with almost zero lag.

An impressive little lifestyle device for its $70 street price, and it totally saved my buddies butt.

Barbara Gordon lands in Injustice: Gods Among Us as the second DLC character for Netherrealm’s DC Comics fighter. To brief those of you who might not be as familiar with the original Batgirl, WB Games has released an informative trailer detailing Babs’ history. Also released are the Red Sun and Killing Joke skin packs that contain new appearances based upon two of the most critically acclaimed stories in DC Comics history.

The Batgirl DLC is available now on Xbox Live for 400 MSP and PSN for $4.99. The Red Sun and Killing Joke packs are available for 240 MSP or $4.99 each.

They’re portable because they’re foldable and wireless…yes, they are Kinivo’s BTH240 Bluetooth headphones, allowing you to stream any audio (from your bluetooth-enabled audio player, smartphone or  tablet) to your head via Bluetooth. The stylish on-ear headphones are a great travel companion; and with an integrated rechargeable battery, you’re good for most overseas flights, as well as day-to-day commutes. For more info, check the full release after the jump.

We got a preview of WeMo at CES, and now Belkin will be adding HD video capabilities to their home automation set up.

As a quick recap, WeMo is a very loose system. Rather than having a “brain” for all your home automating, each individual device connects to your router, and then the Belkin app can manage those devices from a phone or tablet. It’s an interesting setup as you’ll only pay for the individual pieces you need, and it’ll use your existing infrastructure to control those pieces.

Netcam HD and Netcam Outdoor provide video surveillance capabilities, allowing you to monitor and record. Both feature a wide angle lens to maximize your field of view, and both have infrared night vision.

Belkin currently sells NetCam HD for $129, and we’ll update once we know the MSRP for NetCam Outdoor.

For more info on WeMo, here’s our video preview from CES: