No real surprises came from Verizon's press event today. Their 4G LTE network is officially starting up in 38 cities and 60 airports across the U.S. starting December 5th. Verizon states it will cover "one third of Americans." $50 will get you 5GB of data a month while $80 a month will get you 10GB.

According to Verizon, customers can expect 5-12Mbps downstream and 2-5Mbps upstream in "real-world, loaded network environments." Current phones are not currently compatible with LTE; Verizon is making the LG VL600 USB adapter available at launch to take advantage of LTE with the Pantech UML290 coming later. More "consumer oriented" devices are expected to get some face time at CES next month. Check out the full list of covered areas after the break.

The full list of covered areas: (courtesy of Gizmodo)

When most of us want to listen to our favorite music or watch a movie, we want to hear the audio not the noise in the room around us. This is particularly true for the user that travels a lot in a car, plane, or train where things can be noisy. Noise cancelling headphones are also a great way to block out noisy spouses and kids so you can get some work done. Audio-Technica has unveiled two new sets of noise cancelling headphones.

The new offerings include the ATH-ANC27 and the ATH-ANC25. The ANC27 set claims to block up to 85% of the noise in the room around you and the ANC25 version will block up to 80% of the noise. Both headphones use active noise cancellation and use high-efficiency drivers inside. Both of the headphone models are compatible with the iPhone and iPods as well as computers and in-flight entertainment systems.

You can also turn off the noise-cancellation feature and the headphones will still work. They come with a ¼" adapter, airline adapter and the AAA battery for the noise cancellation tech. The ANC27 headphones are $99.95 and the ANC25 are $79.95 making these some of the cheapest active noise cancellation headphones around.

One of the most compelling reasons for me to upgrade to the iPhone 4 from my iPhone 3GS (other than the cracked screen on my 3GS) was that the iPhone 4 has a much better screen. The quality of the screen is one of the biggest reasons that media consuming smartphone users will use to upgrade to a new device. That is assuming that a geek needs any reason at all to upgrade other than a new device is available.

One of the largest companies in the mobile display market is Samsung Mobile Display. SMD makes screens for all sorts of smartphones and other devices and the company has unveiled a new screen technology called Super LPS that will replace current generation IPS screens. You can see from the image here that the Super PLS screen is much clearer and brighter than other screens on the market. According to SMD, the new screen is 100% better in viewing angles and 10% brighter than other screens on the market.

The best news is that despite the improved performance of the screen, it's also cheaper to build. SMD says that the screen costs 15% less to produce than IPS and other LCDs. SMD also notes that it owns 30 patents that relate to the construction of the screens. It plans to start mass production on screens using the tech in Q1 2011 and will build screens sized for the smartphone and tablet markets.

I think that more patent applications surface from Apple than any other company. Maybe it's that we only hear about the Apple ones, either way a cool new app has surfaced today that comes from Apple and shows some cool tech that we may be seeing on future Mac computers and notebooks. The patent app shows off a new version of the MagSafe cable, which is one of the coolest things about the MacBook line of notebooks in my opinion.

The MagSafe cable is familiar to many of us with the design that pops free easily if it's pulled on to keep you from catching the cord and knocking the notebook off a desk. The patent app outlines a new version of the MagSafe connector that provides the juice the notebook needs along with servicing the function of a power cable as well.

The design has a single MagSafe connector that provides power and then runs to a box that has lots of connectivity like a docking station would offer. The line art shows the adapter having an Ethernet port, USB ports, optical ports, and DVI output. One image with the app also shows the MagSafe splitting into a fiber optic cable that would be perfect for Intel's Light Peak that Apple is thought to be launching first.

The weather has finally turned cool here in Texas so thinking about swimming right now is enough to give me chills. If you live where it is warm all the time or have an indoor pool you like to use, H2O Audio has a new set of waterproof earbuds that will also stand up to sweat without breaking on you. The new earbuds are called the Flex All Sport buds and they are offered in four different colors.

You can get the things in Super Hero Blue, Envy Green, Onyx Black, and Power Pink. They look nice and the Super Hero Blue ones remind me of Superman. The Flex earbuds promise clear and rich sound in up to three feet of water and the ability to stand up to the sweatiest of workouts without breaking down. They ship with three different earplug sizes for a comfortable fit and you can pick up a set in any color right now for $29.99.

You will need to add some sort of waterproof case to your music player or phone before you try these things in water. "Flex headphones are another example of H2O Audio's innovation in waterproofing music for your active lifestyle. Flex provides the quality and waterproofing H2O Audio is known for, now in fun, fashionable colors for everyone," said Tom Kampfer, CEO of H2O Audio. "We are excited to expand our line of waterproof, sweatproof headphones to include an all sport earbud that delivers performance, style and value, perfect for running, gym workouts and an active, fit lifestyle.

Bitfenix pulled the wraps off its sweet Colossus case a while back and it was one of the coolest cases I have ever seen. Before the Colossus hit the market, I had not heard of the company at all and I was very impressed with the design and features of the chassis. Bitfenix is back with a new version of the Colossus called the Colossus Venom.

The main difference between the new Venom and the original Colossus case is that the Venom has a new lighting color to choose from. The case has LED lighting that can be changed from red to a new green hue at the touch of a button. The green with the black aluminum shell looks fantastic. Like the original, the light channels run down the sides and across the front of the case. The chassis has a pair of USB 2.0 and a pair of USB 3.0 ports on the top under a trap door to keep things clean looking along with other connectivity options.

Other features include a CPU cooler cut out on the mainboard tray, five external optical drive bays and seven internal 3.5" or 2.5" drive bays. The cooling system has a 230mm front fan and either a 140mm or 120mm fan on the rear. Bottom and top fans are optional. Bitfenix is also announced a new windowed side panel for the Colossus that lets you see inside the computer. The only downside with the window panel is that you lose the cool lines on the side of the case.

Earlier today we caught up with Andrew and Holst from Foxconn at their headquarters in Taipei and discussed all things motherboards.

Firstly we got some exclusive hands-on time with their upcoming high-end Quantum Force P67 motherboard. When it comes to the market sometime early next year for a rock solid price of around 150 USD, it will support upcoming Intel Sandy Bridge Socket 1155 processors. It comes with a nice red and black style with several overclocker friendly features.

Besides the hands-on, we also got into Foxconn's thoughts on the motherboard market and trends that it is seeing. Andrew from Foxconn marketing commented about how his company is focused more on mid-range products packed full of features, rather than over-exuberant high-end products that cost an arm and a leg to own. In a nutshell, Foxconn notes that it sees more revenues being generated from mid-range products due to sales numbers.

ViewSonic have announced it will it's upcoming ViewPad will reach Australian shores in January 2011. The device comes in two sizes, 7 and 10-inch will obviously be up against Telstra's T-Touch Tab, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the ever-so-popular Apple iPad.

The ViewPad includes an 800x480 screen, two cameras (a 3-megapixel rear camera and VGA-quality front camera), Bluetooth and of course WiFi, thrown in is also in-built GPS. To show the iPad up, it includes MiniUSB and a MicroSD slot built into the ViewPad - it will be powered by Google's Android 2.2 operating system.

As for pricing, the 7-inch model will come in at $699 with the 10-inch not much more at $799. The 10-inch ViewPad has a feature that the 7-inch is missing which is the ability to dual boot it's Android OS with Windows 7 Home Premium. This unlocks endless possibilities and combinations of use amongst a much broader user-base.

DoubleTwist isn't taking Winamp's official arrival on the Android music player scene lying down. On the same day that Winamp went out of beta and into public consumption mode, DoubleTwist fired back with a major update that brings wireless sync to the popular Android music player.

AirSync, the simply titled new feature, will allow you to wirelessly sync your movies, music, and photos. Simply connect your phone to your PC's WiFi network, start the app, and touch the AirSync button. After keying in a passcode, you can set up the app to sync music, video, and photos. After the initial setup AirSync automatically syncs to your network, picking up new files if they're added. You'll have to shell out for the paid version to play with AirSync; the first 10,000 users to sign up will get it for 99 cents and after that it will cost $4.99.

With this obviously being a response to Winamp's wireless syncing ability, TechCrunch reached out to DoubleTwist to get a response about Winamp hitting the market. Their response was straight to the point and a bit testy:

Home theater is built on HDMI for the most part today. The move from multiple cables to a single cable for audio and video was huge for fans looking for an easy way to wire their home theaters and superior sound and video at the same time. Analog Devices has unveiled a couple new physically small and power sipping HDMI receivers for home theater hardware that have some nice features inside.

The new receivers are the ADV7611 and the ADV7612. Both of the receiver chips support HDMI 1.4a 3D connectivity and have full 1080p resolution at 60fps support. The smaller 7611 is very compact with chip dimensions of 10mm x 10mm x 1.6mm and the 7612 measures 14mm x 14mm x 1.6mm. The footprint of the receiver chips is 50% smaller than other similar chips and use 25% less power than other chips.

The new chips are aimed directly at power-sensitive ultra-slim home theater in a box systems, projectors, AV receivers, and TVs. The chips will also find their way into sound bars and other items. The 7612 supports 32-bit deep color whereas the 7611 only supports 24-bit color. The 7612 also supports ADI's Xpressview for changing between HDMI inputs in under a second.