TOP TECHNOLOGY NEWS

It seems impossible for Apple to put a decent camera into anything but the iPhone, and despite many hopes, both cameras in the iPad 2 are about as rudimentary as you could get without having to load a roll of film in there.

In fact, the iPad 2’s camera has more in common with the low-res camera in the iPod Touch than it does to the rather excellent one in the iPhone 4.

The specs for the iPad’s rear-facing camera only lists one number: 720p. That should mean 1280 x 720 pixels, which gives a megapixel figure of 0.92, clearly useless for stills.

IDisplay, the not-so-well loved iOS app to turn a tablet or phone into a secondary display, has come to Android. Now, with this app and an Android tablet or phone (v2.1 or better), you can extend your display.

It works like this. By the app from the Android Market, and grab the companion app for your Mac or PC. Install both, and fire them up. Your computer should show up on the tablet.

On of my biggest complaints in yesterday’s iPad 2 wish-list was that the back of the current iPad is just too slippery. It never feels secure in the hand, and if you tuck it under your arm or prop it on the arm of a couch, you’re looking at imminent disaster.

And as if by magic, today I got a pitch from the Dodo people, behind the famous Moleskine-like Dodocase for the iPad. The new product is a simple rear skin for the iPad, and also the iPhone, which is made from the exact same leather-like material that covers the Dodocase itself.

Given that a cellphone case can easily run to $35, the iPhone Telephoto Lens is something of a bargain, combining as it does both a long, long lens, a case to hang it on, a mini-tripod to keep things steady, and a micro-fiber cloth to polish everything up.

It works like this: You slip the iPhone into the case (where it can be left, should you be a case kind of person) and then clip the lens on, over the iPhone’s existing lens-hole.

Apple might be preparing a smaller, less-expensive version of the iPhone for release this year, according to multiple media outlets.

The smaller iPhone could be half the size of a normal iPhone, and it may have a strong focus on internet-streamed media and “cloud” storage, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bloomberg followed up with a report citing a source who claimed to have seen a prototype of the device.

This rifle-mounted golfball launcher is either a great way to spice up yet another pitifully dull round of golf, or a Darwin Award waiting to happen. It’s impossible to know which way it will go.

The flared tube, fashioned from “solid stock”, fits onto your rifle barrel in the place of a muzzle brake. Pop a golfball into the tube and load up the gun with blanks and you’re off. To illustrate just how lively it can make every Pringle-junkie’s favorite waste of time, take a look at the comments from the product page:

[T]his is just too much fun! I had to make my own blanks to try it. The golf ball still went a healthy 280-290 yards into a stiff wind.

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Amidst a slew of new announcements from Canon comes the new entry-level T3 (EOS 1100D) SLR, a replacement for the Rebel XS or EOS 1000D. Like the two-and-a-half year old camera it replaces, the T3 is built down to a price, but competition is so fierce in the low-end of the SLR market that you still get a full-featured camera.

Tired of carrying two items down to the store? Sometimes hold you wallet to your ear when the phone rings? We’ve all been there (no we haven’t), but now relief is in sight. No, not the expected NFC-equipped iPhone 5, but a dongle for your existing iPhone that ties into Visa’s payment network.

You can’t go a day without hearing someone mention Angry Birds.

Fans on Twitter share pictures of cakes they decorated with the Angry Birds characters. On YouTube, parents post videos of their kids playing Angry Birds in real life. Even talk show hosts like Conan O’Brien can’t resist cracking a joke about the game every night.

The game’s creator Rovio on Friday announced a new game, Angry Birds Rio, based on a movie made by Fox. (See teaser images below.)

The game is so ubiquitous it’s almost obnoxious.

Writer is another keyboard case for the iPad, but this one seems to be small and slim enough to carry with you, and better than my previous favorite solution, an Apple Bluetooth keyboard.

The case folds to just under an inch thick and around a pound in weight (iPad included), and folds out around a hinge that includes its own light-up battery indicator.