Kickstarter is a popular place for wild ideas to gain some traction, but sometimes an idea clicks with so many people it's possible to wonder why no one thought of it before. Such is the case with the Pebble digital wristwatch . It uses an e-paper display, similar to the screen on the Amazon Kindle, and connects to the iPhone (and Android devices) via Bluetooth.

Marking yet another milestone in its rollout of 4G LTE connectivity, Verizon today announced that with another major expansion coming later this week, the carrier's LTE network will now cover two-thirds of the United States population. This week's expansion, officially going live on Thursday, will see coverage in 27 new markets and expansion of coverage in 44 existing markets.

The Next Web notes that a new iPhone 4S ad aired during ESPN's SportsCenter this afternoon, featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson giving Siri orders.

While a number of alleged iPad 3 parts have leaked in recent weeks, one piece that has so far remained unseen is the device's front panel. But now Apple.pro points to a posting (registration required) on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo showing what is claimed to be the front glass and digitizer assembly from the iPad 3

While Apple's partnership with the Fair Labor Association to conduct independent audits of working conditions at factories in Apple's supply chain has been gaining headlines in recent weeks, USA Today reports that Apple is also gearing up for independent environmental audits of several suppliers. The news comes as Apple yesterday released its annual environmental report , touting a number of new initiatives and improvements, including significant investments in alternative energy at its new North Carolina data center. Ma Jun, founder of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs, told USA TODAY in a phone interview Monday that Apple agreed to the independent reviews in late January in response to two reports that IPE and other environmental groups released last year documenting hazardous-waste leaks and the use of toxic chemicals at suspected Apple suppliers.

The Commercial Times relays a report from Daiwa Securities that the iPhone 5 is expected to launch at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) to be held in June 2012.

Sony today announced ( via Macworld UK ) the launch of new image sensor technology that the company expects will help improve performance and shrink the size of cameras on mobile devices by later this year. The new back-illuminated complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor utilizes a pixel section layered directly onto the sensor's circuitry, significantly reducing the sensor size from the previous design that utilized pixel and circuit sections side-by-side on a substrate layer.

According to new survey data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project ( via VentureBeat ), the share of U.S.

AppleInsider claims that Apple is planning on incorporating support for the new faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi specification into products this year. The new 802.11ac standard achieves much faster wireless networking speeds than the existing 802.11n specification (in use on the latest Mac, AirPort and iOS devices) by using 2 to 4 times the frequency bandwidth (from 80 to 160MHz), more efficient data transfers through sophisticated modulation, and more antennas (up to 8; existing standards support up to 4, while Apple's Macs currently use up to 3). This "Gigabit WiFi" offers speeds 3 times as fast as existing 802.11n wireless networks can with speeds of over 1 Gigabit per second.

A rumored Apple event to be located in New York City later this month was originally reported to be "media-related" and not about an Apple television or iPad update. TechCrunch now reports the event will be focused on publishing and the iBookstore. According to the source the event will not involve any hardware at and instead will focus on publishing and eBooks (sold through Apple’s iBooks platform) rather than iAds