Compared to the other crazy handsets Dell leaked today, the Aero is definitely the runt of the litter. But with a leaked Q2 AT&T release date, the Aero will be first on our doorstep. What other juicy morsels have we gathered? On the hardware side, it's sadly a slow 624MHz Marvell processor that drives that 3.5-inch capacitive multitouch screen, but hey, like the Chinese model, it's planned to ship with a capacitive stylus for handwriting recognition.

More interesting is software. Like Motorola's CLIQ, Aero comes with QuickOffice right out of the box, and supports Microsoft ActiveSync and Exchange to ostensibly keep in touch with your business. For the social crowd, there's on-device photo editing and "aggregated notifications" for the bevy of social networks Dell's agreed to support. While you probably knew the device would have a WebKit browser with Flash Lite, leaks reveal it will have a robust media player as well -- robust enough to have some sort of music streaming and download ability (PlayReady, anyone?) protected by Windows Media DRM. Though it's probably still Android 1.5 onboard, docs show Dell plans a "refresh" to Android 2.1 sometime between Q3 and Q4, but it's hard to say whether the Aero will get an OTA update, or whether only new Aeros will ship with Eclair. That said, given the relative insignificance of this handset compared to its new big brothers, we're more than willing to wait and find out.

If you're a diehard iPhone user waiting for a similarly-gorgeous Android phone before you jump ship, you could spend time pining for a new HTC or Dell. Then again, the Droid you've been looking for might be right under your nose. Intrepid Linux fan planetbeing claims to have ported a debug version Android to the iPhone itself, drivers and all, and you'll find a thoroughly convincing demonstration of his bona fide dual-booting Apple device taking calls, playing music and even surfing the web after the break. While the iPhone isn't the speediest Google phone around, it's not all that sluggish, either, and with the iPhone's hardware buttons remapped to Android controls, planetbeing seems to get along just fine. Now, let's see him work on some pinch-to-zoom, eh? Video after the break.

Hot damn, people. The mother of all Dell leaks just dropped into our laps, and the absolute highlight has to be the Lightning, a Windows Phone 7 portrait slider. That's right -- a portrait slider. The renders on these slides look slick as hell, but they're no match for the spec sheet, which looks even better: 1GHz QSD8250 Snapdragon processor, WVGA 4.1-inch OLED display, AT&T and T-Mobile 3G, five megapixel autofocus camera, 1GB of flash with 512MB RAM plus 8GB of storage on a MicroSD card (non-user-replaceable, we're assuming), GPS, accelerometer, compass, FM radio, and full Flash support including video playback. We'll see what happens with that -- the ship date is pegged at Q4, indicating this is a WP7 launch device, and Microsoft's told us Flash won't make it into the OS initially. Here's the real kicker, though -- other slides in the deck indicate this thing is getting an upgrade to LTE in Q4 of 2011. Are we stoked? Yes, you might say that.

Alright, Devour users, we know the very first thing you want to know is whether this is Android 2.1 we're dealing with here -- and sadly, the answer to that is a forlorn "no." That said, it looks like this update is going to tidy up a whole bunch of stuff for you with improved call performance, better UI response time, stability enhancements, a handful of minor email tweaks, better audio over headsets, and updated Google apps. As usual, Verizon and Motorola are rolling out this OTA in phases, so if you haven't gotten it yet, just hang tight and see what the Firmware Fairy brings you over the next few days.

NVIDIA's next generation Ion platform was announced back in early March, so naturally we've been wondering where all the souped-up netbooks based on the tech have been hiding. We wish we had better news, but it looks like the wait will have to go on a little while longer. While NVIDIA claims no delay on its end, ASUS and Acer have confirmed that their respective Ion 2 netbooks will not arrive until the end of May or even as late as the beginning of June in the US. The 12-inch ASUS 1201PN, which packs a dual-core Atom processor and a 16-core Ion chip, is set to hit Europe and Asia in mid to late May and will make its US debut in June. Similarly, Acer's 10-inch Aspire One 532G is planned to be released around Computex in early June. We just have a feeling there will be some more joining the Ion 2 netbook brigade in the interim, but it's looking like we'll just have to kick off the summer with another Ion showdown.

Socle Technology, a system-on-a-chip manufacturer based in Taiwan, has just announced its sPad A11 design and development platform. Consisting of the GlobalFoundries 65nm chipset, the ARM 1176 CPU and FPU core, Mali 3D Graphic Core, and a full HD 1080p Video CODEC application processor, this bad boy supports multitasking, 3D graphics, and sports a camera, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. This is a device for those of you who believe there aren't enough Android tablets in the world -- or at least for those of you who realize that the Intel Atom and the Apple A4 aren't the only games in town. Are you an enterprising young businessman or woman hoping to get into the slate game, and in a hurry? We thought so (you do have that "look" about you). The company promises that this thing'll be available sometime in the second half of this year.

Gateway's just launched two 15.6-inch laptops -- the NV59C-H34E and the NV59C-H54E. Both of these Windows 7 Home Premium bad boys boast 1366 x 768 HD displays, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 640GB SATA HDD. They also have Intel integrated graphics, HDMI, VGA and three USB 2.0 ports, plus Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, and Gigabit Ethernet LAN. So what is the difference between these two lookalikes? Unsurprisingly, it's their CPUs. The NV59C-H34E packs a 2.13 GHz, Core i3 processor, and is available in silver and blue, while the NV59C-H54E (which sadly only comes in silver) boasts a 2.26GHz Core i5 CPU. These will be available on April 23rd in Japan, but you can already score Gateway's Core i3 NV5933u in the U.S. right now.

They may not quite have dipped into impulse buy territory just yet, but e-readers are definitely getting cheaper, as evidenced by Sony's $169 Pocket Reader, Kobo's $149 eReader and, now, Paradigm Shift's $130 EER-051D. Despite appearances above, this one supposedly has a 5-inch color screen, and packs an FM tuner along with the usual MP3 support, plus a photo viewer, 2GB of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, and support for most popular e-book formats (including DRM-enabled ePub books). As you might have surmised from its nondescript appearance and model name, Paradigm Shift is also pitching these at OEMs looking to do a quick rebadge job, but it will apparently be available in the US in its current form through Delstar Wholesale Electronics as soon as next month.

Just three months after HP bought itself into the 3D printer market by making a partnership with established player Stratasys, the company's first Designjet 3D models are now shipping in Europe, set to start churning out bits and bobs soon. HP is offering two models, the plain Designjet 3D and the Designjet Color 3D which, wait for it, prints in color. We don't know what the multi-hue model will set you back, but the base model clocks in at €13,000 -- about $17,500. That's roughly $2,500 more than a low-end, non-HP Stratasys additive fabrication printer will cost you, and we're not sure what else you're getting for that premium beyond the little chrome HP badge stuck on the top. Expensive? Sure, but we remember a time when color laser printers cost more than cars and now look at 'em, selling for less than $200 shipped. Funny how their toner cartridges aren't any cheaper...

It took so long for electronic ink screens to finally hit the market we feel a bit silly getting impatient for the next-generation, but the Kindle has been on the market for a year and a half now, Sony Reader models for twice that long, and still we're dealing with the same crummy 7:1 contrast ratio, 16 shade grayscale, and .74 second refresh rate. E Ink's Sriram Peruvemba, however, is finally showing off next-generation models of the sort parent company PVI told us were coming, the first an improvement on existing screens that offers a 12:1 contrast ratio and a refresh rate fast enough for simple animations. Also shown is a larger, (slightly) flexible model rugged enough to take a meaty fist square in the face without blinking a single pixel. This version Peruvemba sees playing a major role in digital textbooks in the future. Unfortunately we still have a bit of time to wait for either, with the boosted contrast ratio model entering production later this year and the flexible one sometime in early 2011. Add another six months or so for devices using the things to make it to retail and hopes for a brighter, next-gen Kindle shipping by the holidays start to look a bit dim.

Talk about being flexible. Sierra Wireless' newest 7.2Mbps-capable AirCard (the 890, if you're curious) obviously isn't content with fitting into just one slot. Rather than forcing users to choose between compatibility with PCMCIA (PC Card) or ExpressCard, this particular WWAN card actually fits into both... but not at the same time, naturally. It's the first DataConnect card on AT&T's network to boast a 2-in-1 form factor, and moreover, it touts integrated GPS functionality for use with location-based services. 'Course, you won't be using one of these with your shiny new 15-inch MacBook Pro (smart move on that SD-for-ExpressCard swap, Steve-o), but everyone else can procure one starting May 5th for $49.99 after mail-in rebate and a new two-year DataConnect contract of at least $35 a month.

Molasses, snails and glaciers: none are slower than an organization developing a new wireless standard. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is no exception -- it's been nearly three years since it announced it would roll Wibree into Bluetooth and four months since it made Bluetooth 4.0 official, but still no dice. This week, the SIG says the low-power specification is ready for action, its minutiae finalized. However, fine print in the org's press release disagrees. The main reason for Bluetooth 4.0 was to include lower power devices, but that all-important integration is still pending a "before June 2010" completion date. That means we still won't see Bluetooth-toting cats till the end of the year, and we have no idea what SIG has accomplished in the meanwhile.

It's a little past January, but it's not like you've had too much trouble burning through your credit limit these past few months anyway, right? VeriFone -- that company responsible for the other iPhone credit card accessory -- has just announced that its slip-up case is now available in Apple retail stores. For those unaware, this card reader works on all iPhone 3G and 3GS handsets, and there's a built-in stylus for capturing signatures from those arguably shady street-corner transactions that you'll be engaging in. Best of all, the device and app are totally free assuming you agree to a 2-year service contract and a $49 "activation fee," but we'd caution you to read through the fine print under "merchant fees" before tossing away too much of that profit margin.

Down for a solid spate of updates? Wipe that sleep from your eye and listen up, then. HP's pushing out a list of updates tonight across a rather strange combination of desktops, so we won't waste any time breaking it down. The standouts of the bunch are the revamped TouchSmart PCs, with both the TouchSmart 300 and 600 getting a dose of Core i3 / i5, some sort of "Beats Audio" inclusion and a suite of software that you may or may not wish to keep loaded on. Starting tags on these are listed at $799 and $1,099, respectively. Moving on, there's the All-in-One 200-5020, a $699 (and up) machine with a 21.5-inch 1080p display, Windows 7, built-in WiFi, an optional keyboard / mouse, DVD burner, integrated webcam and MediaSmart software bundle. For the suits in attendance, there's the HP Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim, which measures 10-inches high and 2.6-inches wide, includes ATI's Radeon 4200 GPU and sports a $599 starting point. The whole lot should be available by the month's end if you find something you like.