Anthony Myers

Only one day after NASA announced the discovery of the first earth sized planets orbiting a distant star, scientists working on a different project have said they have found two even smaller alien worlds. Using the same Kepler instrument as the NASA discovery, a team of researchers focusing on another distant star found two rocky planets they weren't even looking for.

Perhaps you've seen the commercials with the secret spy dude trying to get his hands on the new Droid Razr, or the young men listening to his new Rezound with Beats Audio ear buds that literally blow things up as he walks past. Whether or not you've seen the commercials, you're interested in knowing which of these devices make a better gift, and we aim to help you.

iPad 3 should be available by March or April 2012, so in the meantime, 10-inch tablets like the Sony Tablet S may be they type of device that could hold you over until then. iPad 3 could come out with predictable updates like 4G, Siri and better resolution, but it could also surprise with 3D gestures or even a rimless build for a larger screen area.

Google finally began rolling out the Ice Cream Sandwich update now that Galaxy Nexus hit the shelves. Samsung's Nexus S is the lucky winner and Dec.16 Google started sending the updates out, a process that will take about one month.

Now that AT&T is aggressively rolling out its LTE high-speed data network, the company has a tiered system of super-smartphones. In the first tier is the LTE enabled smartphones like the Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and HTC Vivid. Next are the iPhone and other non-LTE phones followed by the mid and entry level devices.

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet is an affordable option in the tablet world, but there five other choices out there you may have overlooked. Anyone thinking of grabbing the Kindle Fire should consider these five tablets before you get one.

Two new Earth-like planets have been discovered, and one of them is actually a bit smaller than the Earth. They are about 1,000 light-years away, and Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f are two of the smallest planets ever detected orbiting another star.

Every year, the Winter Solstice falls between Dec. 20 and Dec. 23 because that is when the Earth is tilted away from the sun more than any other time. It's the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter.

Even though Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 came out in the summer, it holds up well to the newly released Droid Xyboard from Motorola. That helps explain why the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is about $50 less than Xyboard 10.1, but that number improves in Samsung's favor when you don't included the Verizon subsidy for the Xyboard.

Besides being $100 cheaper than Verizon's flagship devices, there are nine other reasons Droid Bionic is a great holiday gift. Bionic has a 4.3-inch qHD display, an eight megapixel camera, up to 10 hours of talk time and 16 gigabytes of on-board storage.

Amazon's new tablet and e-reader line-up includes four devices with very similar names, so the Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard may be just similar enough to need a brief explanation. Obviously, one is a touch screen device and one relies on a full QWERTY style keyboard, but the Touch has a couple extra features readers might really love.

One of NASA's hardest working space explorers has helped astrophysicists determine a series of X-ray bursts from a distant system may be the telltale heartbeat of the tiniest black hole ever found.

Nook Tablet is a great seven inch tablet in the sub-$300 range, while the Droid Xyboard 8.2 is a 4G-enabled full feature tablet that requires a two-year contract and data plan if you want it for the $430 price. That means the Xyboard should be twice as good as the Nook Tablet because without the Verizon subsidy, Xyboard costs $600.

T-Mobile is offering the Samsung Galaxy S2 for $99 on their Web site only, but the sale ends today, Dec. 18. Only the white version is being offered, and the $99 price is after a $50 mail-in rebate.

iPhone 4S makes a better gift than Droid Razr because it is $100 less, has better resolution, and includes Siri the voice recognition software that can send your messages and texts just by hearing your voice.

iPad 3 may be here before Spring, but that doesn't mean you have to wait to grab a speedy, lightweight tablet computer like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Featuring a screen slightly larger than the iPad, and possibly the same size as the iPad 3, Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a bright display and good resolution.

Two of Verizon's top smartphones will be the subject of some debate over the next week as holiday shoppers size them up and wonder if Droid Razr makes a better holiday present than the Galaxy Nexus. They are both only on Verizon, and they even come at the same $300 on contract price.

Asus' Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the sequel to the Eee Pad Transformer, and like the original, the Prime is a real contender for the best Android tablet. They are both 10-inch tablets that double as notebook computers because they can be attached to sold separately docks that include physical keyboards, trackpads and extra battery life.

If you've already done the bulk of your holiday shopping, congrats to you, but we've put together our Holiday Gift Guide 2011: Top 10 Must-Buy Gadgets for anybody still procrastinating, or even if you need a few final items.

Comet Lovejoy -- on a near-collision course with the sun and presumed to be doomed to a fiery death -- surprised astronomers on Thursday when it passed completely through the sun's corona and shot back out into space.

Just like the software Apple makes for its many computing devices, Steve Jobs, the bestselling autobiography of Apple's co-founder and cultural icon is ready for an update.

Nook, Nook Color, Nook Tablet. What's an e-reader fan to think of all these similarly named tablets that look so, well, similar? Here are ten things you need to know about the new and improved Nook Color.

Buying a smartphone for somebody else is no different than buying any other gift, except for the pesky carrier data plans and limited availability of many devices. Luckily, both the Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4S are available on multiple carriers, and that makes comparing them much easier. You aren't forced to go to only one carrier, although that wasn't the case with previous iPhone versions.

Galaxy Nexus finally went on sale Dec. 15 at Verizon, and it's $300 on contract with a bonus data deal available for a limited time from Verizon's Web site. That $300 is the highest price you can expect to pay for a subsidized smartphone in the U.S. right now (only exception is the 64GB version of iPhone 4S). It's also on par with Verizon's other flagship phones. Droid Razr, HTC Rezound and the 32 gigabyte version of iPhone 4S.

Astronomers are eagerly awaiting the collision of a recently discovered gas cloud with the giant black hole at the center of our galaxy in 2013. Such a cosmic event has never been seen up close, and it will help scientists better understand exactly what happens when gas and light fall into a black hole.

Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus makes a great holiday gift because it is very portable, super fun to use and has a great feel without being too heavy or bulky.

So many tablets came out in 2011, it was easy to miss one that was actually pretty solid. Many were overpriced or underperformed, but the Asus Eee Pad Transformer and Lenovo IdeaPad K1 are nice tablets that are available for $400 or less. The IdeaPad K1 can be found on Amazon for $350 and the Eee Pad Transformer is $400.

Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound would both be excellent choices as gifts if you can afford the $300 on contract price. That's assuming the Galaxy Nexus will cost as much as the Rezound because, like the Droid Razr, it will be one of Verizon's flagship smartphones. As great as the Rezound looks on paper, unless the Nexus comes out with a higher price tag, Nexus would be a better gift.

Apple's iPad 3 is rumored to be launching in February, but the holiday season is here now, so perhaps you should pick up a brand new Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 instead. While we can only speculate on what features the iPad 3 will have, we know exactly what we are getting with the Xyboard 10.1.