Serving as a warm up to the imminent next generation iPad announcement, refreshes abound for the Apple MacBook Pro laptop family. The new Apple MacBook Pro Thunderbolt laptops ($1,200 to $2,500 U.S.) feature dual core or if you prefer quad core processors (Intel i5 or i7), fresh FaceTime HD cameras with three times the resolution of the previous generation, Radeon HD graphics and Intel’s new lightning fast Thunderbolt I/O technology technology that boasts transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps.

With all of the competition out there when it comes to Android powered tablets, the Motorola Xoom hopes to separate itself from the pack. Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, the Xoom tablets gets bragging rights as the worlds first Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered tablet. Motorola’s Android tablet features a 10.1-inch touchscreen, 2-megapixel front camera and a 5-megapixel rear facing one that captures video in 720p HD and support for Adobe Flash. The “Best of Show” winner at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show rolls out on Verizon Wireless for $599 with two-year agreement and $799 with no obligation.

Before I begin let me point out a few things gone awry.

More specifically let me point out three screwy occurrences, and from there I may wander off in tangents.

Motorola, HP and Sony Ericsson

Motorola – The good people at Motorola are clearly living in a fantasy world by pricing the cool looking but unproven, Motorola Xoom tablet out of damn the stratosphere. Somebody over there is obviously drunk with nostalgia of Motorola RAZR sales long forgotten and past brand perception.

HP - The gargantuan printer company that happens to sell all the bloatware loaded laptops and PC’s that are either waiting to be fixed (by a friend of a friend) or are for sale on Craigslist and eBay, unfortunately decides to completely scrap the Palm brand.

Sony Ericsson – Thirdly, Sony Ericsson unveils the Playstation Phone. Wonderful. Except for the fact that the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play phone is not the Playstation phone it is a Playstation phone. More specifically, it is a Playstation Branded device. If that isn’t a crock of shit, I don’t know what is.

If you were not in a rush and decided not to pre-order the Palm Pre 2 you are in luck. Verizon Wireless still happens to have some Palm Pre 2 phones in stock. Even more to your benefit and of testament to your patience, the last Palm branded device (HP acquired Palm HP in 2010 for just over $1 billion U.S.) is now available for purchase from Verizon Wireless ($99 w/ terms). With a multi-touch screen, a 1GHz chip backed by 512 RAM, 16GB of hard drive space to store your digital stuff, 5-megapixel camera and a QWERTY keypad, I am sure the Palm Pre 2 will serve as a nice parting gift for you to remember Palm.

With a price yet announced the Sony Playstation Phone is official. Like the iPhone 4 and other highly anticipated devices, the Playstation phone is heading to Verizon Wireless. Dubbed the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the Android powered phone is backed with a 1Ghz Snapdragon chip, 5 megapixel camera, 4-inch touchscreen and of course, Playstation games.

Nokia and Microsoft have announced a strategic partnership. So far, the announcement apparently solicited a Nokia employee walk out and contributed to slashing the price of Nokia stock 15 percent in one day. Numerous articles spawned on the subject, ranging from this being a small step towards Microsoft eventually taking over Nokia, to opinions of a Google Vice President referring to the two companies as being ducks and not eagles and then of course Nokia responding.

While I can speculate the negative regarding the yet finalized deal, I instead hope for the best of outcomes regarding this relationship. Should Microkia (Microsoft + Nokia) create the hardware and software that they are truly capable of, we can only benefit. The entire mobile phone industry will shift and options of better performing mobile phones, tablets, PCs and other products will be available for us to use and enjoy.

Motorola, Rim, HP, Sony Ericsson, HTC and others will have to make changes to their approach when it comes to devices and the software that runs on them. In fact, if this more formalized agreement between Microsoft and Nokia bodes well, you can expect other similar agreements to take place. The Microsoft Nokia partnership may signal a shift of the mobile phone industry and not just be one-off arrangement.

However, before looking too far ahead, here are three reasons that suggest the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft will be good for each company and ultimately beneficial for us as consumers who thanks to their efforts will have better choices when it comes to mobile phones and tablet computers.

The Apple iPhone begins a new era on Verizon Wireless  and marks the end of an era of iPhone exclusivity for AT&T. In what appears to be part celebration and part sales pitch, Verizon is airing commercials sending subliminal messages to both AT&T and their customers regarding the poor call quality often complained about when it comes to the iPhone.

The Verizon iPhone pre-sale is over but you can still buy the smartphone online and in Verizon Wireless retail stores of course. Verizon iPhone pricing is only $199 for the 16GB model or $299 for the 32GB version of the phone when you agree to the two-year activation and data plan requirement.

Of course, you have the option of buying the Verizon iPhone without contract. The prices are $649 for the 16GB version and $749 for the 32GB model. The voice plans Verizon offers are on par with AT&T, priced at $40 for 450 minutes and $60 for 900 minutes. The $60 plan Verizon allows you to choose five phone numbers that you can call unlimited. Alternatively, you can spend $70 for unlimited calls across the board.

Aggressively priced at $199 with a two-year agreement, the Dell Streak 7 is hoping to become the perfect tablet pc for those not looking to shell out at least three bills for an Android tablet built by the competition. However, you must turn in a $50 rebate, in addition to the two-year term limit to get that sweet $199 price. That is unless you want the Dell Streak 7 for $450 bucks.