Apple released Mac OS X Lion this week and, so far it seems to be a hit with more than 1-million downloads sold of its new operating system in less than 24-hours.

But, as with most iterations of OS X, Lion has a lot of new features (more than 250 of them actually) and some will jump out at Mac users with more than a few iOS-like additions, while others will be trickier to find.

In the video below, we offer up a quick rundown of a few key features that should make for an easier user experience in Lion -- namely Launchpad (an iPad-like view for finding and sorting apps), Mission Control (OS X's old Expose and Spaces features combined to sort programs running across multiple desktop windows), full-screen apps, the ability to easily resize windows for just about any app, gesture controls and AirDrop (which allows users to wirelessly transfer files between Macs released in fall 2008 and later).

As we find more new features in Lion that might be useful to Apple users, we'll add more posts and videos on those tasks. But this should provide a basic overview of what Lion looks like.

That being said, for Mac users who are not sure if they should take the leap to Lion or not, there are a few things to consider. 

First, make sure your Mac can run Lion -- any Mac with an Intel processor and at least 2-gigabytes of RAM should run Lion just fine, though 4-gigabytes of RAM will make for a speedier experience. Also, Lion ditches support for apps written for old Macs using IBM's PowerPC processors (older than about the fall 2007) known as Rosetta. There are resources to find out if your apps are compatible with Lion if you're unsure such as the website Roaring Apps.

And, of course, backing up important data or even cloning your hard drive on an external hard drive is a good call. This way, if anything does go wrong when downloading and installing Lion from the Mac App Store, you'll be covered with your important files, apps or even a bootable drive.

All that being said, downloading Lion was possibly the easiest operating system install I've experienced so far, and many others I've spoken with said it was painless for them as well.

Once Lion is installed, it may run slow at first as Spotlight -- OS X's document finding tool -- reindexes everything on your hard drive. After that's done, check for software updates (iTunes and iLife have some updates for Lion) that need to be downloaded and you should be on your way.

Feel free to sound off in the comments below to let us know what you think of Lion for those giving the new OS X a shot.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Twitter.com/nateog

Image: Apple MacBook Pros, newer and older, running Mac OS X Lion. Credit: Armand Emamdjomeh / Los Angeles Times

Now that the iPhone is your address book, GPS system, camera, email reader, MP3 player and a whole host of other things, you want it with you wherever you go all summer long. That includes the beach, a canoe trip, fishing, river rafting and hanging out poolside. 

To help you feel more comfortable taking your phone to these potentially gadget-wrecking places, we scoured the Web looking for a variety of covers to keep your iPhone safe from splashing, drowning and cocktail spills. Here's what we found, from high to low:

1. Magellan ToughCase,$99.99

Pros: This doesn't just protect your iPhone, it improves it. The ToughCase includes an internal battery that charges the iPhone, and it has an integrated GPS chip that improves reception accuracy. Also, it allows the phone to be submerged at a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes, and it is completely interactive -- you can still use the touch screen, hard buttons and audio jack.

Cons: It adds bulk to the phone, and it's pricey.

2.Krusell SEaLABox Waterproof Case, $69

Pros: Capable of holding other electronic devices, not just the iPhone. The company says it will keep the phone dry at a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes, comes with a neck strap and allows you to take pictures and movies underwater. Also, the website gives specific instructions on how to use the case so you won't ruin your iPhone.

Cons: Still pretty pricey, especially if it's your second case.

3. Otterbox 2000, $17.95

Pros: The Otterbox 2000 offers more than just water protection -- it offers drowning protection too. Drop your phone over the side of a boat while it's in this case and the iPhone will bob on the water until you fish it out. The $17.95 price tag is well within the range of reason.

Cons: Your iPhone may be totally protected, but it's also unusable while in the box. Also, the Otterbox is even bulkier than the Magellan ToughCase. You won't be sliding this into your pocket.

4. Expansys Waterproof Case, $11.99

Pros: A fairly sleek, airtight case that boasts 16 individual sealing points and a twist-lock design that makes it easy to take the device in and out of the case. The case floats, and the company says special "Play Through" material gives users full access to the phone, allowing them to use the touch scren. Also, this neon-yellow color would make it easy to find in a beach bag. (The case also comes in black.)

Cons: None immediately apparent, but I haven't tried this one yet.

5. Ziploc bag    

Pros: You can't beat the price, and you probably already have this on hand. If not, it is easily purchased at a supermarket or drugstore. My sister, who just spent a month on a research boat off the coast of San Diego, said this was the way most of the seafaring scientists kept their phones dry.

Cons: This is more of an "in a pinch" option. On the Ziploc website a commenter reported that the Ziploc kept her phone dry when it plunged into a river on a rafting trip, but nobody would suggest you actually submerge a phone in a Ziploc bag. (We did it, and it did eventually get wet.)

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Photos: Magellan ToughCase, courtesy of Magellan; Krusell SEaLABox Waterproof Case, courtesy of Krusell; Otterbox 2000, courtesy of Otterbox; Expansys Waterproof Case, courtesy of Expansys; David Sarno's old cellphone in a Ziploc bag, Kathy Pyon/Los Angeles Times

 Automakers these days are all abuzz about interactivity, integrating voice-activated calling functions, personalized Internet radio access and a slew of other fancy telematics into the dashboards of their vehicles.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s busy gazing out the window.

In a concept project, Toyota Motor Europe and the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design envision car windows as touchscreens that allow passengers to interact with the passing scenery.

Dubbed the “Window to the World,” the glass would be used like an Etch-a-Sketch toy, where riders can trace objects they see outside to create a drawing. They would also be able to see a zoomed view of distant objects or gauge their distance from the vehicle.

Take a look above.

But car windows are leaping to life in other ways too.

Last month, digital marketing agency Fusion92 debuted a prototype of an interactive window sticker as part of an experiment for Cadillac. The sticker -- displaying the standard information about price, fuel economy and more -– becomes a touchscreen kiosk in the presence of customers.

The sticker would provide customized details, such as updated prices, loan payments and informative videos. See it in action below.

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Stop the presses: Flat-panel televisions are drastically lighter than their less-evolved ancestors.

The Consumer Electronics Assn. released a report this week about the "dramatic reduction" in weight and size of TVs and computer monitors after ditching the cathode-ray-tube technology and going to flat-panel.

If you're rolling your eyes and thinking "duh," you're not alone. But the curious can read the entire 12-page report online. It's titled "Materials Footprint Reduction of Televisions and Computer Monitors: 2004-2010."

Among the study's findings:

• Flat-panel TVs are 82% lighter and take up 75% less space than their tube ancestors of a similar screen size.
• Today's flat-panel TVs between 40 to 70 inches weigh 34% less than their hefty 13- to 36-inch predecessors.
• Smaller TVs and computer monitors are better for the environment.

Good to know.

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Photo: Cathode ray tubes from used televisions in Hanoi in July. Credit: Kham / Reuters

After pulling the plug on Google+ pages set up for businesses on Thursday, Google laid out some details (and a bit of regret) on what it has done so far and hopes to do next to get companies, nonprofits, bands and other entities into the social network as soon as possible.

Almost two weeks ago, Google asked businesses eager to get started on Google+ to stay out of the fledgling social network. The reason? Google said current Google+ pages were designed for people to network, not companies or other groups.

The tech giant promised that it would roll out pages for businesses and other entities later in the year and began taking applications from groups interested in trying out test versions of such pages.

But the response to Google's call for business-page testing partners was more enthusiastic then even the Mountain View, Calif., company expected, and now Google is working to speed up the process and get its act together faster.

Christian Oestlien, the advertising lead on Google+, said in a post on the network that Google has received tens of thousands of applications:

With so many qualified candidates expressing intense interest in business profiles, we've been thinking hard about how to handle this process. Your enthusiasm obligates us to do more to get businesses involved in Google+ in the right way, and we have to do it faster. As a result, we have refocused a few priorities and we expect to have an initial version of businesses profiles up and running for EVERYONE in the next few months. There may be a tiny handful business profiles that will remain in the meantime solely for the purpose of testing how businesses interact with consumers.

Oestlien also reiterated his call to businesses to stay out of Google+ until Google has a proper offering.

Doing it right is worth the wait. We will continue to disable business profiles using regular profiles. We recommend you find a real person who is willing to represent your organization on Google+ using a real profile as him-or-herself.

In an interview with the website TechCrunch, Vic Gundotra, who is leading the Google+ project, said that the company has dropped the ball on this aspect of building a social network so far.

"We underestimated the rate at which we were going to grow," Gundotra told Alexis Tsotis of TechCrunch in an interview. "So if we had known that we were going to be this attractive to people who want audiences, we would have probably prioritized some of the brand work earlier. So, in that sense, looking back in hindsight, uh, it was probably a mistake. And if anyone is to take blame for that, it's me. And we're working to correct that."

Tsotis took Gundotra, and Google+ Product Manager Bradley Horowitz, to task in the interview for what many at TechCrunch and other blogs believe has been unfair treatment of certain brands that broke Google's rules on Google+.

For example, after Google directed all business pages to be switched over to a person from a company or they'd be deleted, TechCrunch created a profile for a fake person it called Techathew Cruncheri. Google removed Tecathew's page. The blog Search Engine Land, as well as Ford and Sesame Street, each had Google+ pages (not named after fake people) and those were deleted too.

The blog Mashable also had a page with more than 109,000 followers, but that page remains in action because it was transferred in name to the site's CEO, Pete Cashmore. But Cashmore already had a personal profile page of his own, with 40,000 followers, which he's now ditching to run the new personal page.

The moves have left some in the tech blogging community feeling burned, so much so that Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land, wrote an open letter to Google about the ordeal. He argued that all business pages should be restored or all should be wiped out, writing:

I know you have great plans to have super wonderful business profiles eventually. But if you're going to only let a "tiny" number of businesses operate before that, then you taint them and yourselves with favoritism.

At least when you announced applications for business profiles, there was a sense that anyone interested would have some type of a fair shot. Now that's gone.

Don't try to put the genie back in the bottle. Restore the business profiles you have closed. Drop the rule you silently added that blocks business profiles. Let businesses use profiles here just as regular people do. Works just fine on Twitter. Then upgrade those accounts when you're ready.

If you're really into doing things right, that's what you should do. Otherwise, you're just further doing it wrong.

Google didn't follow Sullivan's suggestion, so he wrote a follow-up statement on Google+:

The experience has led me to think that ironically, Google+ is perhaps the worse place to talk about issues with Google. The posts people seem to like are "Hey, check out today's cool logo" or nice pictures or cheerleading for Google+.

I think that's kind of sad, especially when there are so many people who actually work for Google who read what's on Google+. Today's experience has just given me a personal chilling effect that I have never, ever felt with Twitter or Facebook. And I'd have never, ever expected that to be the case with a Google social network.

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We tip our hat to the intrepid American blogger who broke the story this week about an Apple store in Kunming, China, that turned out to be a fake. She has caused a media firestorm and has created a story that continues to spawn new angles. Also, she's gutsy. She went back to the store and took the above video Friday evening.

Earlier today we reported on a Taiwanese computer reenactment of the fake Apple Store news story, but the latest development comes to us from Reuters, which we applaud for having done some firsthand reporting.

Because of all the attention the store has garnered thanks to the American blogger's original story (which has been re-reported by a multitude of news organizations), customers of the fake Apple Store are demanding their money back.

Here are some choice quotes from the Reuters piece:

"When I heard the news I rushed here immediately to get the receipt, I am so upset," a customer surnamed Wang told Reuters, near tears. "With a store this big, it looks so believable who would have thought it was fake?"

And:

"The media is painting us to be a fake store but we don't sell fakes, all our products are real, you can check it yourself," said one employee, who didn't want to give his name.

"There is no Chinese law that says I can't decorate my shop the way I want to decorate it."

Despite all the media attention, Apple has still made no comment about these stores.

In the meantime, the original whistle blower has logged close to 1 million views on her website since posting her story Wednesday. She says the store is still open and is operating as usual. For more of her thoughtful update on this developing story, check out her recent blog post.

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T-Mobile USA is targeting iPhone owners with the release of new Micro SIM cards that work with the Apple smartphones.

The T-Mobile Micro SIM cards sell for $9.99 in T-Mobile stores, or can be had for free if purchased online -- either way, a user will need to sign-up for a new two-year data plan with the carrier.

The new SIM cards popped up on T-Mobile's website and were first reported on Appadvice.com.

"Already have a GSM phone or iPhone that you need to activate -- or have an unlocked GSM phone you want to use on the T-Mobile network? Just get a Micro SIM card and choose a plan. Slip the ready-to-use Micro SIM Card into your phone and you're ready to go," T-Mobile said online.

Unlocked iPhones, which are bought directly from Apple, went on sale last month for $649 with 16 gigabytes of memory or $749 with 32 gigabytes.

AT&T, which along with Verizon sells the iPhone 4, is looking for regulatory approval to take over T-Mobile. The iPhone has been a big hit for the nation's two largest cellphone service providers. And so far, it seems T-Mobile has benefited from the unlocked iPhone being on sale in the U.S.

In June, T-Mobile told the website 9to5Mac that it had seen more than 1 million iPhones activated on its network.

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Twitter.com/nateog

Image: A screen shot from T-Mobile's website listing for its Micro SIM card targeted at Apple iPhone owners.

A dog bites a shark, a man captures it on video, and a YouTube viral event is born. This video, featuring two dogs that appear to be experienced shark herders, is closing in on 3 million views on YouTube.

The video began to garner major attention earlier this week, but it was uploaded a little over a month ago by a 32-year-old construction worker from Perth, Australia, who has a fishing-and-travel blog sensibly called Fishing Western Australia.

He titled the video "Dog has a ride on a shark" and not the more sensationalist "dog bites shark," which is perhaps why it took a while to find legs. But now that it has legs, the video is on fire, going from 1.5 million views to close to 3 million on Friday alone.

On July 20, the videographer posted a note on his blog, using his new-found fame to plug tourism to Australia.

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in my video, the response has been amazing, i would really like to urge anyone who is thinking of travelling to Australia to include Broome and Cape Leveque in your trip as they are really amazing places.

Cheers Russell

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Armie Hammer will once again take on the roles of both Winklevoss twins, but this time it won't be in a cineplex -- it'll be on "The Simpsons."

Hammer played Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in :The Social Network," which depicted (among other things) the longstanding legal battle the brothers have fought with Mark Zuckerberg, who they say stole the idea for Facebook from them. 

"The Simpsons" episode featuring Hammer as the Winklevi will run early next year, on Fox of course, and will be titled "The D'oh-cial Network" (a reference to Homer Simpson's catchphrase), according to EW.com, the website of Entertainment Weekly magazine, which first reported the cameo.

"Lisa creates a social network site in Springfield and gives too much credit to everybody, so we thought of doing a joke involving the Winklevoss twins," Al Jean, an executive producer on "The Simpsons," told EW.com in its report.

Jean also said in the report that once the show's writers decided to include the twins in the script, they went straight to Hammer -- not the actual Winklevoss brothers themselves. 

"We were like, 'Wait, he played them, that's who people think they are, we should just get him,'" the producer told EW.com. "It's not like they're going to sue us."

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Twitter.com/nateog

Photo: Armie Hammer, left, and Max Minghella in the film "The Social Network" about the founding of the website Facebook. Credit: Columbia Tristar

A federal judge has dismissed Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss' latest attempt to pursue claims that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea for the world's most popular social networking site.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston dismissed the case on Friday. The Winklevosses abandoned an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last month. Instead the Winklevoss twins and their business partner Divya Narendra asked Woodlock for permission to investigate whether Facebook had suppressed instant messages and other evidence during settlement talks.

The Winklevosses' attorney Tyler Meade said Friday that he expected the ruling and would be submitting a post-judgment motion relying on a federal rule that allows judges to reopen a case if vital information was not produced. So this may not yet end the seven-year legal feud that was featured in the hit movie "The Social Network."

The Winklevosses could not be reached for comment. Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes declined to comment.

In June, the Winklevosses abandoned an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. They had wanted the nation's highest court to review the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the $65-million cash-and-stock settlement they reached in 2008 with Facebook.

Instead they said they would focus on claims in federal court in Boston that Facebook and its lawyers hid instant messages from them during litigation.

The Winklevosses have been trying for years to undo the settlement, alleging that Facebook duped them about the value of the shares they received. They persisted in their efforts even as the value of the settlement soared to more than $200 million along with the valuation of Facebook, one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies.

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Photo: Cameron, left, and Tyler Winklevoss Photo credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times