But that's exactly what you are going to get.

ZDNet is refocusing its efforts on the enterprise and, as a result, is plucking from its ranks the blogs that don't quite fit with its new mission. The ToyBox is one of those blogs.

A brief history:

Over the last four years, the ToyBox contributed 4,398 posts of gadget goodness.

The first post came in January 2008 from former ZDNet contributor Josh Taylor, who flew solo until current ZDNet Associate Editor Andrew Nusca joined him two months later.Jennifer Bergenjoined in March 2009, and wassucceededby Rachel King that October.

Gloria Sin and I joined in May 2011, taking the reins from Andrew and Rachel as they moved on to Between the Lines.

Iwouldn'teven know where to start listing some of the best ToyBox posts over the past four years, but for the sake of eulogy, here are a few of my own favorites:

It's been a long time coming, but it looks like Sprint's Evo 4G LTE finally has a final street date:The device, whichsupposedto be released on May 18th, will finally hit stores this Saturday, June 2nd.

Slowed down by a patent spat, the release of the Evo 4G LTE was given the go-ahead by U.S. Customs after it became clear that the device wasn't infringing on Apple's patents, as speculated.

Sprint began shipping pre-orders for the device last week, though it's only now that its getting a wider release date.

Edit: June 2nd is this Saturday, not Sunday.

Logitech is doubling down on solar-powered keyboards with the Wireless Solar Keyboard K760, an updateto a similar device the company released last year.

With the update comes support for up to three devicessimultaneously, which the keyboard manages via so-called easy-switching. This allows the device toalternatebetween devices via the pressingof one of its function keys, which is obviously a big deal for owners of multiple devices.

Of course, we can't ignore that the device is also solar-powered, whichcertainlyadds to its appeal. Logitech says that a single charge will have the keyboard running for three months on eight hours of use per day.

Solar power is something that Logitech does pretty well and often, having announced a solar powered iPad keyboard earlier this month.

The K760 runs for $79 and goes on sale in June.

Notably absent from the long list of video streaming services with their own dedicated Xbox 360 apps has been Amazon's Instant Video.

Fortunately Amazon is finally filling that void. Its new Instant Video app brings with it access to thousands of streaming rentals and purchases, as well as free videos through Amazon's Prime service. Amazon has also added a new Watchlist feature that allows users to keep track of the content they'd like to watch in the future.

The move comes as Microsoftcontinuesto position the Xbox as more than just a game console, a feat the company has managed to pull off with majorsuccess. Seeing has how just about every major streaming service has an Xbox app, omissions tend to be pretty notable -- which is why this is big news.

Amazon itself has a been a bit slow in getting its service onto gaming consoles, having onlyreleased its Instant Video app for the Playstation 3 last month.

First things first: Wacom's Intuos5 tablet is nice.

Even as someone fairly new to using drawing tablets, using the Intuos5 just feltright. It obviously doesn't fix the basic problem of not drawing on the same surface on which your drawings appear, but the basic experience is seamless enough that that doesn't especially matter.

And how did Wacom pull this off? For one, the nib of the stylus and the somewhat rough surface of the tablet interact in such a way that using the tablet feels almost identical to using a pen and paper. And that's a big deal. The best thing I can say about is that it feels just like drawing in a notebook, a conclusion that, while simplistic, is probably just the sort of praise Wacom is aiming for.

Billed as a "professional tablet" the Intuos5 has a rather wide (and fairly impressive) set of features that range from apressuresensitive pen to a set of customizable keys along its left side. Other notable features include mutitouch gestures, a "touch ring", and the ability to link up with Wacom's Wireless accessory kit, which frees up the tablet from the tethers of cords.

Another major plus about the Intuos5 is that it comes in three different sizes. I tested the mid-sized one, which has a drawing area of 5.5 by 8.8 inches. The smaller andlarger versions feature 3.9 by 6.2 and 8 by 12.8 drawing spaces,respectively. This flexibility gives you a lot of optionsdependingon your preferences and space constraints.

Also nice are device's bevy of customizable settings, which allow users to set keypreferenceson a per-applciation basis, which is much more helpful than a global shortcut system.This was helpful in programs likeAnime Studio Debut, which really shines once its equipped with avarietyof shortcuts.

Theunendingcustomization, on theflip side, is also one of the device's most daunting features. There is a reason why the Intuos5 is billed as a professional tablet: There is a lot going on with it, and seemingly an infinite number of ways that you can customize what buttons do. For heavy users, this is great, but for someone looking for a simple and basic drawing pad, it's sure to get overwhelming.

For those people, I'drecommendsomething like Wacom's entry-level Bamboo tablet, which runs for $80. That device, while lacking a bit in the functionality department, offers a more streamlined, bare-bones experience that newbies will appreciate.

In case you were looking for more evidence that Facebook is serious about capturing the attention of its 500 million mobile users, here you go.

Earlier today, the company announced Facebook Camera, a standalone camera app that puts photos center stage.

Via the app, Facebook users can more easily take, batch upload, tag, view, and comment on photos. Taking a cue from Instragram, the app also features its own set of fourteen photo filters, though they don't appear to be quite as nice as Instagram's own.

In true Instagram form, the app is only available for iOS at the moment, though Android and Windows Phone versions are sure to materialize eventually.

For Facebook, releasing a standalone camera app merely a month after acquiring Instagram might seem a bit odd, but it's clear that the app was in development long before the Instagram acquisition was even in consideration.

One of the larger problems with buying mobile apps is the general inability to test out an app before you buy it.

Amazon, however, is fixing that problem with an update to its Appstore app, which now offers users the ability to test drive apps before they plunk down the cash for them. The featurejoins Amazon's web-based Test Drive feature that's already up and running.

The mobile update is a welcome solution. Previously the only thing that came close on the mobile end was on Google's Play Store, which offers a 15 minute return window inlieuof a test drive feature. Seeing as how no funds areexchangedon the Amazon side of things ahead of the testing, Amazon's solution may be a bit morepalatablein the long run.

One problem? The new featuredoesn'twork in all that many devices, and Amazon has yet to announce a full list of supported phones.

Limited support aside, the update is sure to help Amazon steal away some of the attention away from the Google Play side of things.

[Via TechCrunch]

HTC's delayed EVO 4G LTE may finally be nearing its U.S. release.

Sprint will begin shipping pre-orders on or around Thursday, May 24th -- or at least that's the plan. There's no word on a larger rollout quite yet.

Here's the company'sofficialstatementon the matter:

Sprint expects to begin shipping HTC EVO 4G LTE for arrival on or around Thursday, May 24 to customers who pre-ordered the device online from Sprint. We will provide details on the full national launch as soon as possible.

Could theannouncementmean that HTC has ironed out the U.S. Customs snafu that held up shipments last week? It's certainly likely.

Of course, the EVO 4G LTE is probably a bigger deal for Sprint than it is for HTC, as we've discussed extensively. As a result, it's certain Sprint is a lot morerelievedby the device shipping than even HTC is.

Fortunatelyfor the next round of college students, the program is returning this year in a largely similar form. Buy a Windows PC worth $699 ($599 in Canada) or more, get a free 4GB Xbox 360. The deal starts May 20th and can beredeemedat retailers like Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, and New Egg. (Canadianscan take advantage of the offer starting today.)

Microsoft, has been very busy trying to get as many people plugged into its Xbox 360 ecosystem as possible. Its most recent and most interesting attempt came earlier this month when the companyannounced$99,subscription-subsidedXbox bundle.

There's no mention of when new student deal ends, but it's likely to extend well into the summer.

Amazon's Kindle with Special Offers program has apparently beensuccessfulenough that the company is planning to expand it to the Kindle Fire, reports ADAge.

The news comes via twoadvertisementagencyexecutives, both of whom decided not to work with Amazon due to the general vagueness of its plans. Amazon, for instance, isn't quite sure whether to offer the advertisements on already-purchased devices or just new ones.

That's a big detail to work out, as it has major consequences for the general user experience. Unlike with the Kindle with SpecialOffers, which is sold with the advertisementfunctionallybuilt in, sending ads to a formerly ad-free Kindle Fire could make a lot of users angry -- not just at Amazon but at the advertised products as well.That's bad news for advertisers.

Offering an ad-sponsoredKindle would also likely allow Amazon to drop the price of the device by a fairly significant margin, making the $199 tablet even more of an impulse buy than it already is.

Sprint,comparativelylate to the iPhone party, really wants to steal potential iPhone 4S owners away from the ranks of Verizon and AT&T.

Which is why the carrier plans to offer consumers a carrot: Trade in your current iPhone and get at least $100 towards the purchase of the iPhone 4S. Offered in conjunction with a new line and two-year contract, the deak will run from May 18th to June 30th,TechnoBuffalo reports.

With the $100 discount, the cost of a new 16GB iPhone 4S drops to $99, making for a very tempting buy for those still on the fence. More, that discount could potentially be higher than $100, as Sprint emphasizes above.

Sprint is extending the deal to both new and existing customers, though the offer is clearly all about the former group. The company has to make that iPhone investment pay off in any way it can, after all.

The last time we heard news about Toshiba's Canvio drives was September 2011, when Toshiba equipped the devices with USB 3.0 and cloud back up software.

Months later, Toshiba is making a few more changes: Both the Canvio 3.0 and Canvio 3.0 Baiscs drives are getting their capacity bumped up to 1.5 terabytes.

Alongside the capacity upgrade, the Canvio 3.0 is also gaining the ability to seamlessly work between Macs and PCs without the need for a reformat. If that's not a big deal to you, then its probably because you've never had themisfortuneof attempting to transfer data between the two operating systems. It aint easy.

The 1.5 TB Canvio 3.0, which also features software back up and internal shock sensors, will run for $199. The 1.5TB CanvioBasics3.0, which offers a more simple (or perhaps basic) set offeatures, will run for $189.

With just a $10 difference between the two drives, it's clearly the smart option to ditch theBasicsdrive in favor of its more capable counterpart. But, then again, thats probably the idea.

Both drives will be available in early June.

That's the story according to DigiTimes, which says that Amazon could make move as early as the second half of this year.

But the real wonder is that it's taken this long: E Ink has been promising that manufacturers would adopt color displays since at least 2010.

At last year's IFA Conference last year, E Ink showed of the latest version of its color screen, dubbed Triton. The screen, which runs of the same low-energy technologyas the monochrome E Ink displays, is capable of displaying4,096 colors.

But there was a problem. As you can see in this video, the most obvious issue with the Triton technologywas its fairly lackluster color saturation.

Jeff Bezos agrees -- or at least he did last May. Inan interview with Consumer Reports, Bezos said that the color E Ink technology wasn't quite ready to be thecenterpieceon an Amazon device. The reason? Blame the colors, which Bezos called "very pale."

Even E Ink marketing execSriram Peruvemba alluded to the technology's limitations in the above video: "One of the issues with the higher-resolutiondisplay is that it reduces the light going into the display material, and therefore the color is not as saturated as we would like," he said.

So its no surprise to see that a color E Ink device from Amazon or Barnes & Noble has yet to materialize. It can't be easy to create a high-resolution E Inkdisplay that also offersadequatecolorsaturation. But if the DigiTimes report is true, E Ink is finally getting close.

Mobile hotspots fall into a very particular subset of gadgets that only a very particular subset of people care about. This post is aimed at them.

Sprint on Wednesday announced the Tri-Fi, a wireless hotspot compatible with 3G, WiMax, and LTE connections. Sprint is in a big transition on the network front, and buying the Tri-Fi essentially ensures present and future compatibility with Sprint's current and future plans.

Sprint estimates that the device's 3,600 mAH battery will last eight hours on a single charge. The Tri-Fi also features a microSD card slot, allowing it to act as a file host.

The Tri-Fi lands on May 18th, when it will run for $99 after a two-year contract and $50 rebate.

Lenovo on Monday announced theThinkCentre M92p and M72e, a pair of tiny desktops that are about as thick as a golf ball.

Theirdiminutivesizes, Lenovo says, make the devices easy to hide, hang, and mount, which is valuable in offices where space is a constant concern.

Both drives come with the option of upgrading to Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors.The devices also come with the choice of eitherplain old HDD or a comparatively more excitingsolid state drive. The latter, coupled withLenovo's Enhanced Experience 3 for Windows 7, means that the desktops will boast some pretty impressive boot speeds. There are also options for integrated graphics and Wi-Fi.

Unsurprisingly, there are no optical drives built into the devices, though Lenovo did manage to furnish them with five USB ports.

Prices for the M72e start at $499, while the M92p will run for $799. Both devices will be available next month.

The generalknee-jerkreaction to Microsoft's $99 Xbox plan is that it's crazy, odd, a bad deal.

But the move is really the latest in a long line of similar efforts to get consumers to plunk down cash for things they would otherwise be unwilling to pay quite so much for.

Thesubsidizationmodel does a few things well. Most obviously, it keeps prices low, reducing the barrier for entry and opening up and increasing the revenue streams elsewhere. We've already seen this on multiple fronts, from free-to-play games like Angry Birds and Team Fortress 2, to, most notably, the smartphones industry.

Even Amazonintroduceda similareffort last year when it announced the Kindle with Special Offers, an ad-subsidizedversion of the device that ran for $25 less than the ad-free version. The idea? Amazon takes a hit on the Kindle sale, but gets to put advertisementsin front of far more consumers. (Kobo also tried something similar.)

Video game consoles have run on a less overtsubsidizationmodel: Sell consoles at a loss and make up the cash on games sales.The $99 Xbox deal pushes that a bit further, cutting the entry price by asignificantmargin to attract new buyers. The difference here lies in the contract, which binds the consumer to Microsoft for two years. This, as ZDNet's Mary Jo-Foley notes, makes it more likely that consumers will opt into other purchases.

And then there are the cell phone carriers, which take a hit on cell phone sales in exchange for two-year contracts.Not that it's been entirely rosy here. Subsides arenotoriouslydisastrous for the profit margins of the cell phone carriers: The more smartphones Verizon and AT&T and Sprint sell, the more they have to shell out to subsidize the purchases. (See: the ongoingsnafuover the iPhone.)

This reality prompted T-MobileChief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman topublicly decry the carriersubsidizationmodel that his industry has come to rely on. “It actually distorts what devices actually cost and it causes OEMs, carriers — everybody to compete on different playing fields,” Brodman said last month.

Clearly, subsides have been a major double-edged sword for carriers -- not that that will prevent other industries from also experimenting with them.

These kinds of subsideswork by pushing the complete financial picture far into the general haze of the future, where short-term benefits faroutweighlong-term costs:Be happy now, worry about consequences later.

With the $99 Xbox deal, this means that consumers ultimatelypay more for something that they can get for a lower price now. But here's the thing: Most consumers aren't going to run those calculations; they'll only see the $99 price tag.And the price difference after two years? That simply becomes the cost of financing.

That's why subsidies work for both consumers and companies, and also why the model seems like a logical next step for other device's and industries. Assuming that Microsoft's $99 Xbox test works out, it's likely that we will end up seeingsimilarefforts with the next Xbox as well. And the sky's the limit from there.

Confirmingrumors reported last week, Microsoft today announced that it plans to sell a specialsubsidizedXbox 360 bundle.

The bundle, which runs for $99, comes with a 4GB Xbox 360, a Kinect, and a two-year $14.99 per-monthXbox Live Gold subscription.

There is, however, a catch: the deal can only be redeemed in a Microsoft Store, which could be a problem for those not living in thevicinityof one.

Here's the price break down, taken from our previous coverage:

The cost of the rumored Xbox subscription totals $360 over two years, a number that seems too apt to not have been intentional. Add that to the cost of the bundle itself and you’re paying $459 over two years, which is a bit higher than the $418 thatcustomerswould pay for a 4GB Xbox, Kinect, and two-years of Xbox Live.

Theofficialconfirmation also sheds light on the deal's early termination fee. Starting at $250 for the firstthreemonths of the contract, the fee decreases by $12 each month, eventually dropping to zero by the time the agreement ends.

Of course, while all of this comes a bit too late for those who already own an Xbox, the deal is certainly anattractiveone for those who have yet to take the Xbox (or Kinect) plunge.

By itself, Samsung's recently-announced Galaxy S III is fairlyiterative. Samsung hasn't pushed the design envelope all that far, and insteaddecidedto play it safe with its latest flagship phone. The interesting bits with the phone lie elsewhere.

Many of Galaxy S III's most interesting features are unique to the phone. Samsung, it seems, is intent on differentiating the device on a variety of levels - from software to hardware to extra unexpected add-ons.

See also:Samsung announces Galaxy S III with a focus on natural interaction

An AMOLED Screen

The biggest pull of the Galaxy S III, at least initially, is its screen. At4.8 inches, it's huge, larger than the screen of the Galaxy S II and a tad bit smaller than that of the Galaxy Note.

SmartStay looks into your eyes

One of the more unique and compelling features in the Galaxy S III is Smart Stay, a technology that uses eye tracking to prevent the phone's screen from dimming while the user is looking at it. It's a clever feature, and though Samsung will be hard-pressed to be able to effectively advertise it, it's certainly something that owners of the Galaxy S III will notice and appreciate.

S Voice listens to sound of your voices

S Voice is, in short, Samsung's answer to Apple's Siri. Built on voice commands, S Voice allows users to do anything from silence their alarms (say "Snooze") to call friends while in the middle of texting them. The feature, which understands English, French, Italian, and German, will also be able to tie into other services, giving it a fairly robust potential forexpandability.

Dropbox: 50GB free

While more than a few phones have come with free Dropbox space in recent months, none of them have launched with quite so much. There are some question marks though: the free space is only set to last two years, and while that tends to be how long smartphoneownershold onto their phones, it still seems a bit strange that Dropbox would impose such a limit.

LTE support

While the Galaxy S III is set to launch later this month in Europe with an HSPA+ radio, LTE support will also be incoming a bit down the line. This, of course, is a big deal for Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon, all of which are pushing heavily their own 4G LTE offerings. That alone makes it likely that the Galaxy S III will appear on at least one, if not all three, of the carriers when the phone launches in the U.S. this summer.

FlipBoard: Exclusive to the Galaxy S III (for now)

One of the bigger surprises with the phone is that with it would be arriving Flipboard, the social mediaaggregationapp previously exclusive to iOS. Somehow Samsung managed to get exclusive access to the Android version of the app -initiallyanyway. Flipboard will eventually make its way to other "select" Android phones, but for now, it belongs to the Galaxy S III.

See also: Samsung unveils Galaxy S III phone with quad-core, Android ICS |CNET's Hands-on First Take |Photos: Galaxy S III is plastic, powerful |Galaxy S III has ears, eyes just for you

While there is no shortage of iPad keyboard cases, not too many attempts have been made at making solar powered ones.

Logitech, however, is taking a stab at it. Its new Solar Keyboard Folio uses the energy of the sun and lamps to power its Bluetooth keyboard. According to Logitech, the device's battery lasts two years on asinglecharge (assuming you use it for amaximumof 2 hours per day.) Useless number? Probably - but at least you'll never have to worry about the keyboard running out of juice.

Built for the second- and third-generation iPads, the device uses the same magnet mechanisms as Apple's Smart Cover for quick powering on and off.

This isn't Logitech's first foray into solar-powered keyboards. It's been here before withdevices like Wireless K750 Mac keyboard, which was released last year.

Available now for pre-order,Logitech's Solar Keyboard Folio runs for $130. Expect it in stores later this month.

Early specs on the 4G PlayBook revealed at a pre-conference breakfast attended by the Canadian Reviewer suggest the new slate will be getting a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor and a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip built-in. It is expected to look similar to the first-generation PlayBook, though there is no word yet on whether it will be another 7-inch or 10-inch device as rumored. (A RIM rep confirmed to me last week at CES on the Hill that both a 7-inch and a 10-inch PlayBook will be coming to market this year, but did not specify which size is the 4G version.)

According to Engadget, Heins was careful not to specify the 4G technology that the new slate will have under its hood, but did preface his announcement by "saying that his company admittedly has a glaring lack of LTE devices." Hmm...

Of course, the bigger question is after the mess of the first-gen PlayBook (from the lack of native email at launch to the almost-firesale prices just to clear inventory late last year), will consumers and businesses be willing to give the new and improved PlayBooks another go?

[Source: Canadian Reviewer via Engadget]

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