TOP TECHNOLOGY NEWS

While Apple’s iPad dominated tablet sales in 2010, there may be room for change in 2011. Enthusiasm for Android app development is rising fast in the coding community.

And that means the apps available to Android users is set to grow — fast.

A recent global survey of app developers by research firm IDC shows 74 percent of respondents as “very interested” in developing for upcoming Android OS-running tablets, up from 62 percent three months ago.

Arthur Xin’s Soft Screwdriver is a clever combination of tool-roll and multi-tip screwdriver. Like a bullet-belt, the soft case has tubes to stow seven screwdriver shafts, plus one larger tube with a metal handle into which you slip any of these shafts.

Then you just roll up the bag and it wraps around the central section to form a big, easy-to-grip handle.

It’s a concept design, and as such could do with a little more work. In particular, chirality seems to have been somewhat overlooked, which is a problem in a screwdriver.

Kensington’s PowerLift is a combo dock, stand and battery charger for the iPhone, with a 1200 mAh battery on board to add a good chunk of a day to the battery life of your phone.

How much extra time? Kensington says 3.5-hours of talk-time, 1.5-hours of FaceTime, 5-hours of video and 20 hours of music.

To fit in this big battery, Kensington ignored skinny-case or tiny pocket-dongle designs and went for a heftier dock. The PowerLift can hang off the bottom of your phone while you use it but if you flip up the stand and drop the thing onto a desk it looks a lot more natural. And if you are using it alongside a computer – or if you should chance across a power outlet on your rare travels through the corporate world – you can flip out a USB cable to charge or sync.

Evan Solida’s Rael is yet another concept bike, although this one doesn’t dicker with the time-tested double-triangle frame, wheels and chain. Instead, it aims to make a regular carbon-fiber road-bike safer to ride.

What you don’t see is Solida’s Cervellum Hindsight digital rearview camera hidden in the seat-stays. It continuously records a loop of video and if it detects a crash with its accelerometer, it keeps recording for ten seconds and then stops, keeping the footage as evidence.

U.S. iPhone customers have been eagerly awaiting a Verizon-branded iPhone almost since day one.

Starting February 10, they’ll have that option. Verizon announced Tuesday that it would soon offer the iPhone 4 on its 3G network. The 16-GB model will cost $200 and a 32-GB model will go for $300, both with a two-year contract.

But will you want to make the switch? That depends on what’s important to you.

Here are a few things to consider in weighing which network to go with.

What did we miss? Ask your burning questions in the comments, and if we’re able to get answers, we’ll add them to this list.

LAS VEGAS — Tired of playing endless sessions of Spider Solitaire on your laptop? Fear not, weary game enthusiasts. MIT Media Lab alums Jeevan Kalanithi and David Merrill have a solution that blends real-world objects with computer circuits and LCDs.

Sifteo is a very different kind of game cube. Using 1.5-inch blocks that communicate through a Wi-Fi connection, Sifteo brings puzzle games that might otherwise be played on a computer screen to the tactile, tabletop environment.

LAS VEGAS — Microsoft unveiled its vision of the future, where everything from phones and tablets to big-ass tables runs Windows.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a somnolescent and nearly news-free keynote presentation on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show here, laying out his company’s strategy for home entertainment, mobile content, PCs and tablets.

“Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there,” Ballmer said.

LAS VEGAS — Droid this, iPhone that. If all you want — and all you can afford — is a media-savvy handset with some very basic functionality, there’s a phone just for you.

It’s called the Samsung Suede/Cricket— a $200, contract-free handset that comes with unlimited voice, texting and music downloads for $55 per month.

That’s not bad considering an iPhone or Android device will cost you at least $90 per month for limited voice, data and texting plans combined.

Photogene has long been one of the better photo-editing apps for the iPad, but a new update — version 2.0 — turns it into arguably the best around. First I’ll run through the main features, and then tell you about the new stuff, which includes non-destructive editing, something usually only found in desktop software costing hundreds of dollars.

Like most iPad photo apps, you can apply a whole lot of tweaks familiar from desktop applications like Photoshop.

Somebody call up Radio Raheem. We have some good news: The boombox is back.

TDK’s retro-styled portable speakers ditch the tape deck (although they do still have a radio), but otherwise you get an authentic 1980s experience. The “2 Speaker Boombox” puts out 20-Watts, and the “3 Speaker Boombox” goes up to 35-Watts.