The Retrode is the world’s most versatile (and fun!) USB adapter for vintage video games. Revive the good old 16-bit times on your computer/smartphone/tablet, using your original cartridges and controllers!

For 65€, it seems like a good deal.

That’s a new world record for data transfer.

The rate is equivalent to moving two million gigabytes per day, fast enough to transfer nearly 100,000 full Blu-ray disks-each with a complete movie and all the extras-in a day.

Remember when an agreement to use micro-USB as the standard interface for EU mobile phone chargers was signed by Apple, Nokia, Samsung and many others back in 2009? Well, the iPhone 4S can be charged via micro-USB, but it still requires its own proprietary connector. And it’s sold separately.

Adhering to standards but still making money off accessories. Genius.

The Inkling digital sketch pen captures a digital likeness of your work while you sketch with its ballpoint tip on any sketchbook or standard piece of paper. Designed for rough concepting and creative brainstorming, Inkling is ideal for the front end of the creative process.

$199, and available from mid-September. But what makes this product interesting is this:

Inkling does not require any specialized paper. It is intended to be uses with standard paper or Sketchbooks on flat, rigid drawing surfaces.

This is unlike my LiveScribe Pulse, which requires its own notebooks.

Hewlett Packard has confirmed plans to exit PCs, tablets and phones, in order to refocus on software.

HP also said it was considering a sale of its personal systems group, which includes the world’s biggest PC-making business.

Aside from the potential purchase of Autonomous, what software of major significance does HP have?

[Update] The Financial Times has the details on how large a role software plays in HP now:

Former SAP chief executive Léo Apotheker, who took the top job at HP last year, has said that the company wants to expand in software, an area that accounted for only 2.4 per cent of HP’s $32.4bn revenues in its latest quarter, and 4 per cent of its operating profit, or $154m.

If it decides to sell its PC business, the company is in for a major change in how it operates.

Sony has revealed that Vita development kits will cost just €1900 plus VAT, making the upcoming portable a viable proposition to smaller studios.

I really want the Vita to succeed, as it has many things going for it: attractive hardware, especially the addition of a second analogue stick; a competitive price point, helping it to compete with Apple’s and Nintendo’s offerings; and a cheap devkit with which to entice indie developers.