The time-killer of choice for many smartphone and tablet users is headed to an out-of-this-world location, with a little help from the space experts themselves.

The trailer for Rovio's newest title Angry Birds Space takes actual footage from NASA and gives it the Angry Birds treatment. Check it out for yourself:

For this latest installment in the franchise, Angry Birds has partnered with NASA to not only include the footage in the trailer, but to provide promotional support on the day of the game's launch as well.

"Science and education are very important to us," said Andrew Stalbow of Rovio North America in a collectSPACE story, "and we are very excited to have NASA and National Geographic as launch partners on Angry Birds Space."

NASA's appreciation for Angry Birds is nothing new. In images taken on the Soyuz TMA-22, an Angry Birds stuffed doll hangs in the spaceship as a "zero gravity indicator."

Currently, Angry Birds Space has been confirmed for the iPhone, iPad, Android phone

You're out with a couple of friends for after-work drinks and decide to check out some live music. Where to start?

A new app lets you see what's playing in your city, buy tickets on the spot, view the venue on a map and maybe score some exclusive goodies, too, such as free tickets or backstage passes.

This is the idea behind Thrillcall Live Music, a smartphone and tablet app based on the Thrillcall.com live music site.

The way it works is as follows: Open the app and tap on the Tonight's Music tab. Because your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is location-aware, it will show you what's playing in your area. You can scroll through all the artists and venues and tap to view it on a map, with optional directions on getting there. There's also a map view to see pushpins for all the live events in your city.

While only available in San Francisco at this time, the Thrillcall app really shines in its "flash" offerings. Simply tap the Exclusive icon and you may be presented with a bunch of deals to

Facing a burgeoning threat in the mobile gaming industry, Sony released the highly anticipated PlayStation Vita on Wednesday, placing an all-or-nothing bet on their new portable gaming unit.

And as Dean Takahashi explains, the PS Vita could make or break the tech giant's future with on-the-go gaming.

"This handheld device is Sony's last stand against competitors such as the Nintendo 3DS, not to mention the iPad, iPhone, and all of the other mobile devices out there that have become vehicles for inexpensive or free games," said Takahashi in a Venture Beat story.

Featuring two analog sticks, a rear touchpad, vibrant graphics and a beautiful screen, the PS Vita proves Sony was thinking big when they put their chips all in.

They've made an effort to boost the portable system with PlayStation's back catalog, supported the release with the new Uncharted: Golden Abyss (only available on the PS Vita), and have thrown in a new selection of bells and whistles - a standard pack of augmented

Research in Motion's Mike Lazaridis holds the PlayBook.PlayBook owners, rejoice! Research in Motion has released an upgrade for its operating system, which brings with it the long-awaited native email client.

RIM has finally given PlayBook users what iPad and Android tablet users have had all along: built-in email. It has come almost a year after the launch of the PlayBook, long after the 60 days RIM promised consumers it would take to roll out the feature.

The new email client integrates messages from Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter alongside business and personal email accounts. Other improvements that PlayBook OS 2.0 brings include an update to BlackBerry Bridge, which connects the PlayBook with other Bluetooth devices; social integration with the calendar and contacts; and thousands of newly available apps, including some Android apps that can now run on the PlayBook.

There are still some glaring omissions from PlayBook OS 2.0, however. Users who were hoping to use the popular BlackBerry Messenger app on their PlayBooks are still out of

Philips and LG have a plan to boost consumer interest in their 3D TVs, and they're targeting gamers worldwide.

LG introduced the concept of the "dual-view" gaming last September and it looks like the brass at Philips are hopping on the bandwagon. The latter has announced their 2012 TV lineup, highlighted by the Phillips 6000 and 7000 series, which will feature an application that allows two gamers to see different displays on the same television.

Check it the demo in the video below:

In his Tech Spot blog, Shawn Knight explains how this feature could effectively render "split-screen gaming" a thing of the past.

"The televisions utilize 3D technology to essentially play a trick on the human eye. With both players wearing special 3D glasses, one player only sees images from the left side of the screen while the other gamer only sees images from the right side. The beauty of the system is that it expands the half-screen view for each gamer so they see a full-screen image as they

If there is one genre of games that has perfected the formula of scantily-clad women and finely-honed combat, it would have to be arcade-style fighters. And no other series incorporates swords into the mix quite as well as SoulCalibur. As a long-time fan of the series, I had high hopes for the latest installment to the SoulCalibur series. Here's how the game breaks down, and how one fan feels about the evolution of this series.

Characters

The fighters available in SoulCalibur games have been pretty standard between each new version of the series. With each new console version, there have been new characters added and a few quietly shuffled away. But SoulCalibur V seems to have had the biggest overhaul of characters yet. Maybe it's just because they took out my favourite character, but it feels like there are some real absences from the character lineup this time around. While Sophitia features prominently in the storyline, she isn't a playable character. Some other fan favourites from

If you rely on your smartphone for entertainment on those long subway rides, you may want to reconsider.

A story from OpenFile Montreal reports that the theft of electronic devices, including smartphones, is on the rise on Montreal's subway system.

According to Alain Lariviere of the Montreal police, theft of electronic devices continues to be a growing problem.

"Generally the crime rate in the metro went down," Lariviere said in the OpenFile story. "But one crime that is increasing every year it is theft of electronic devices."

The theft of these devices can be extremely brazen, too. Karim Corban was riding the subway in Montreal one day in 2009 when a group crowded around him. Someone suddenly shouted "Ok, go for it, grab for it!" and in an instant the phone was snatched from his hand.

Corban managed to fight off the thieves and retrieve his phone, but most thefts don't turn out that way. Lariviere and the Montreal police embarked on an awareness campaign on February 15 in downtown

Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews stands during Question Period in the House of Commons.Public Safety Minister Vic Toews opened a can of worms even he couldn't have seen coming when defending the bill to allow police access to Canadians' Internet activity. And the little birdies on Twitter are diving in for the feast.

Toews' Twitter account (@ToewsVic) has been inundated with tweets marked with the hashtag #TellVic everything, as users take a more lighthearted approach to the Tories' bill seeking greater access to their Internet activity.

These are a few of our favourite tweets from users as they share the mundane aspects of their life with the minister:

Some users are also using the hashtag #DontToewsMeBro to share their displeasure.

Not everyone is responding to Toews' stance on the bill in such a lighthearted manner, particularly after his declaration that Canadians either "stand with us, or with the child pornographers."  The Twitter account @vikileaks30 is allegedly tweeting details from Toews' divorce proceedings in 1999, according to Yahoo! Canada News' Political