This is a wild one, and we’re still parsing through the announcement, but on the surface it looks like the Library of Congress has added new anti-circumvention exceptions to the DMCA that, among other things, allow people to tweak their handsets for the purpose of installing legally obtained software — known as jailbreaking in iOS land, and rooting in the Android / webOS world. Check out the full statement from the Librarian of Congress, which is mostly an update of existing exceptions on record, after the break, but here’s the primary excerpt: Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.

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Library of Congress adds DMCA exception for jailbreaking or rooting your phone

HP’s Jon Rubinstein — formerly of Palm CEO fame, of course — just mentioned in an interview with Fortune that webOS 2.0 is on track for “later this year.” Considering that 2010 is more than half over, that doesn’t leave a whole heck of a lot of time — but with a mix of presumed kick-ass HP hardware in the pipeline running webOS, we imagine this should all dovetail nicely. On a related note, Rubinstein again drove home the point that they’re developing new hardware “aggressively,” so let’s hope we finally see a Pre 2, a Palmpad , or heck, a frickin’ LifeDrive 2 in the next few months. webOS 2.0 coming ‘later this year,’ says HP’s Rubinstein originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:40:00 EDT

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webOS 2.0 coming ‘later this year,’ says HP’s Rubinstein

We can’t say we know exactly what’s going on here, but it does appear that the HP Slate still lives in all its Windows 7 (and Intel Atom) glory. Yep, the guys at IDG News spotted the good ol’ 8.9-inch HP Slate — now apparently the Slate 500 — hanging out on a rather hidden HP.com page.

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HP Slate 500 surfaces on HP’s site

Ever since we heard that Nikon was joining the league of mirrorless cameras, the whole world’s been waiting for its arch rival to make the next move in the battle of smaller prosumer cameras .

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Canon developing smaller DSLRs to compete with mirrorless cameras?

Apple just posted up its third quarter earnings — its first full quarter selling the iPad — and, well, it’s raining cash in Cupertino.

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Apple posts record $3.25b profit in first full quarter of iPad sales, says more ‘amazing products’ coming this year

Looks like Samsung’s 3D Blu-ray players aren’t the only ones coming in cheaper versions , as it’s unveiled the new 680 Series and 490 Series plasma HDTVs.

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Samsung’s new plasmas will do 3D for much cheaper - Update: $989 for 50-inch 720p

When we took Brammo’s Enertia motorcycle for a test ride last summer we found it to be a lovingly crafted and fun to ride bike that really only disappointed when it came to ultimate performance — far closer to your average scooter than your average sportbike. Since then the company has gone racing, taking on the iconic Isle of Man as part of the all-electric TTXGP and finishing third place with a top speed of 102mph

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Brammo goes street fighting with the 100mph Empulse electric motorcycle (video)

Remember NTP ?

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NTP awakes, sues Apple, Microsoft, Google, HTC, LG, and Motorola over wireless email patents

We weren’t exactly sure whether Apple was going to approve third-party video calling apps using the front camera on the iPhone 4 , but good news: the answer is “yes.” Fring just slid in a new version of its longstanding iPhone app today featuring support for video calling, which is pretty awesome in and of itself — but the real news is that it works just fine over 3G, as you can see in our quick test above between Chicago and London. This opens the door for services that could have potentially broader implications than FaceTime itself, since Apple’s service is limited to WiFi and currently only works between iPhone 4s. Just make sure you’re wearing clothes when you call, alright?

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Fring update approved for iPhone, does video calling with front cam over 3G

The rumored Charm has just gotten a proper unveiling from Motorola — and while it’s not getting nearly the media fanfare its Droid X corporate cousin did, it’s arguably even more unique. The phone features a full portrait QWERTY keyboard placed directly below a 2.8-inch landscape touchscreen, but for most operations, you don’t have to touch it if you don’t want to because you’ve also got a touchpad mounted on the back of the phone (the so-called “Backtrack”) much like AT&T’s Backflip . Not only is this the first widely-launched Android phone to employ such a form factor, it’s also the first to run Android 2.1 with Blur — and interestingly, they’ve carried over the old version’s general look and feel rather than going with the Droid X’s updated skin.

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Motorola Charm official for T-Mobile: portrait QWERTY Android at long last