This slider was still lacking its most important spec when we went hands-on , but a carrier document outed over at Droid-life fills in the blank: it lists a “minimum advertised price” of $249 on 24-month bond to VZW. Of course, we’re still waiting on the second most important spec — the release date, which hopefully won’t be as futuristic as the handset’s appearance.

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One of the first things I was told when I ducked into one of Nintendo’s suites to play with the Wii U was what they wouldn’t tell me. Price, release date, technical specs, games in development — all of these were taboo topics that would be (and were) met with a gentle dismissal if I broached the subject. Great. With that load lifted, I picked up the Wii U controller and dove in. Holding the Wii U controller is your hand is… unusual. It’s been historically rare to see a controller that maintains such a considerable distance between the user’s hands (save for some funky Japanese one-offs ), but it’s not so large as to be awkward. It’s also surprisingly light, but again, not so light as to feel chintzy. Nintendo seems to have nailed a very tricky balance between size and weight, as well they should considering how critical the controller is to the new experiences they hope to deliver. The controller’s built-in gyroscopes were very responsive when we played Battle Mii (more on that later), and the buttons had…

[CES 2012] It’s almost the end of the CES Day 2 and we hope that you’ve enjoyed our coverage of the events and products that were shown off, announced or launched today. We’ve posted up quite a number of articles today, so there’s a chance you might have missed out a few important ones but not to worry: that’s what our daily wrap up is for. For the whole of CES 2012, we’ll be ending every evening with a short list of links to posts that shouldn’t be missed. If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions on what you want to see in our CES coverage, don’t hesitate to let us know via the comments below. (more…) CES Day 2 Wrapup , By Ubergizmo . Top Stories : Asus Transformer Prime Review ,

The Android OS version of Street Fighter IV we originally caught wind of back in September is now Street Fighter IV HD . As per the original announcement, the game will initially be exclusive to the LG Spectrum, which launches on Verizon January 19 . After LG’s limited exclusivity blackout expires, however, Street Fighter IV HD will hit the US Android Marketplace in May for $12.99. A Wifi-enabled VS. mode allows for local multiplayer, although it’s unclear whether wireless VS. will require two of the same handsets. Also no word yet on system requirements for non-LG devices, although since the Spectrum is launching with Gingerbread and not Ice-Cream Sandwich, any dual-core Android device seems like a good bet.

In a rapidly warming world, the task of finding a way to reduce greenhouse gases — primarily carbon dioxide — has been on the mind of scientists everywhere. Because so much of what we do produces carbon dioxide, a widespread solution was thought to be expensive and challenging to introduce. Now, a team of researchers may have found a solution courtesy of an inexpensive polymeric material.

CloudMagic , the personal search service that indexes your Gmail, documents, contacts, calendar and Twitter updates, is now available as a mobile app. The release follows a major update for the service this past fall, which added the ability to search Twitter and a move to host your personal index in the cloud. This switch is what enables CloudMagic to work across multiple devices, including now, iPhone and Android smartphones. Using the new mobile app, CloudMagic is surprisingly fast – and far more useful than the phones’ built-in search functions alone. We first looked at CloudMagic back in summer 2010 when the startup made its debut as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that indexed your Gmail and Google Apps. The extension is still around, if you want it, but is not required for the service to work. Instead, you can simply connect your accounts (Gmail, Google Docs, Google’s Contacts and Calendar, and Twitter) using OAuth. If you choose to use the extension, however, you’ll also have access to a CloudMagic search box you can access within…

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