Google Glass has some cool features, to be sure, but it’s the look that seems to be the problem for the majority of Americans.  Indeed, only 1 in 10 people say they would use Google Glass with the current announced features, and the reasons are myriad for its lack of attraction for the public.  Of the 1000 responding smartphone owners surveyed by BiTE Interactive and YouGov, 45 percent said they found Google Glass to be too awkward or irritating-looking to wear.  On top of that, another 44 percent responded and said that they aren’t sold on Google Glass’s current line of features.  Only 10 percent of respondents said that they would wear Google Glass at any cost and 38 percent said they wouldn’t buy Google Glass regardless of price!

“Google’s past successes have occurred when they provide an innovative product that solves a real consumer need.  However, with Glass it looks like Google risks exposing a serious disconnect between its pioneering technology and the key problem it solves.  The Google Glass Adoption Forecast uncovers many more concerns for Google’s Glass strategy with the majority of smartphone owners unconvinced that its key features would make it worth buying,” says BiTE Interactive Executive Vice President of Operations Joseph Farrell.

Would you use Google Glass?  Does it have any any features you like?  Of the people interested in Google Glass, 44 percent said they liked the photo capturing capabilities and 37 percent liked the video capture (39 percent want to use it for voice calls, which is just madness).  If they could make the glasses cooler, or less obtrusive, would you be interested?

Windows 8 tablets are an interesting breed.  Unlike the Kindle Fire and the iPad, there’s only one size of Windows tablet out there for your perusal.  So far, anyway.  Windows 8 tablets, no matter who was making them, were only available in 10-inch models (or larger).  Not anymore.  Amazon accidentally posted an image of an 8.1-inch Acer Iconia running Windows 8.  That would be the world’s first sub-10-inch Windows 8 tablet, and it was debuted by accident.

The most interesting bit of Acer Iconia is the fact that despite its small size, it packs an x86 processor and runs the full-fledged version of Windows 8, not a gimped version.  That’s pretty impressive.  Even more impressive is the price:  $379.99.  That’s a full-fledged Windows 8 tablet for the price of an iPad Mini (plus $50).  If you’re at all interested in Windows 8, this just may be the tablet for you.  Unfortunately, after leaking the tablet, Amazon pulled the listing and you’ll have to wait until the Acer Iconia is officially released to get your hands on one.

The rumors have been floating around, but they have increased in recent weeks.  Now, there are leaked images of what is supposed to be a Facebook smartphone.  Facebook and HTC are teaming up to produce a Facebook-branded smartphone.  Depending on who you ask, the phone is either the HTC First or the Facebook Home.  Interestingly, Facebook Home is also the name of the special Android build that will be powering the phone.  Amusing that Google’s operating system would power a Facebook phone.

“It looks pretty much identical to the Facebook-HTC device that we described last week,” says rumor website 9to5Google.  ”Given that the image lines up with what [we] previously heard, we expect the device shown above to be the first, or one of the first, Facebook Home handsets.”

Facebook Home supposedly integrates Facebook features into the smartphone environment to make it a more user-friendly and natural experience.  There’s going to be a Facebook Home OS running on the HTC First.  You’d think that the two companies should just call it the Facebook Home by HTC or something to that effect.  Less confusing branding, at least to me.

There’s nothing worse to a technology fan than dropping your device.  Will the case crack?  Will the screen break?  Even if the screen doesn’t break, it can crack, scuff, get cloudy, and otherwise spoil your experience with your technology.  Nothing’s worst than breaking something expensive and new.  However, there may be a way to protect your devices even further.  What about a virtually-unbreakable screen made out of sapphires?  GT Advanced Technologies has developed a prototype glass made out of sapphires that may be the toughest glass on the market.

Dubbed GT ASF Grown Sapphire, the sapphire glass screens are 2.5 times stronger than Gorilla glass.  Corundum, as the industrial sapphire is called, is the second-hardest mineral on Earth, second only to diamond.  Of course, sapphire glass is ten times as expensive as Gorilla glass ($30 to $3 for a smartphone screen), so that might slow down adoption, but if it proves popular and the price comes down (and it will), sapphire screens might be the future of phones.

Finally, a solution to a problem no one has!  Ladies, are you struggling to comprehend that big, confusing tablet computer that your husband, boyfriend, or father got for you?  Are you tired of using a device that isn’t tailored to your unique needs, delicate hands, and love of pink?  Well, fortunately, someone has designed a tablet computer just for women.  Dubbed the ePad Femme from Eurostar, it’s a pink-background, pink-case device preloaded with all the apps women need, like shopping lists, recipes, weight loss helpers, and grocery apps.  Because if there’s one thing women need help with, it’s apparently downloading apps.

“It makes a perfect gadget for a woman who might find difficulties in terms of downloading these applications,” Mani Nair, associate vice president of marketing for Dubai-based Eurostar Group.

The device is currently being sold in Asia and the Middle East, which makes a lot of sense given the rampant sexism in those regions of the world.  Then again, the more tech-savvy women in those regions are pretty offended by this, as are multitudes of women in Europe and the United States.  It’s pretty sexist to think women need a pink tablet that holds their hand and comes preloaded with all the yoga apps a girl might want.  However, the device isn’t all bad.  On the plus side, preloaded useful apps are always nice and the device is only $170, not bad for an Android device and much cheaper than an iPad.

I know a lot of people who have tablets.  Lots of iPads, lots of Android-powered things, lots of Kindle Fire variations… but no Microsoft.  I don’t know anyone with a Microsoft Surface or Surface RT, and I know a whole lot of nerds, geeks, and people who spend too much on technology.  However, I can’t think of a person I know with a Surface, or who may have even bought a Surface, and I’m not the only one.  Microsoft has only sold 1.5 million Surface and Surface RT tablets since their debut.

In comparison, Apple sold 22.9 million iPads in the same time period.  Microsoft themselves expected to sell 2 million Surface tablets… in December.  Obviously, that didn’t happen.  This is Microsoft’s first ever computer product, and it comes at a time when computer sales are down and tablet sales are booming.  It seems to be a very important step in Microsoft’s corporate evolution, given the assault on the company’s main products by the tablet revolution.

So here is the question: would you buy a Surface and what would influence your decision?

When it comes to the most intriguing idea of the future, it has to be Google Glass.  The idea of a heads-up display combined with the power of an Android-powered smart phone is pretty awesome, but there’s one place where Google Glass will not be welcome.  Seattle, Washington bar 5 Point Cafe has become the first place to ban Google Glass, promising to throw out anyone who might be taking secret pictures with their eyeglasses.

“Part of this is a joke, to be funny on Facebook, and get reaction.  But part of it’s serious, because we don’t let people film other people or take photos unwanted of people in the bar, because it is kind of a private place that people go,” says owner Dave Meinert.

That’s a funny way to get attention, but it’s also a really pressing concern.  What will the world do when people can just look at something and take a picture without the attention-grabbing effort of using a camera or even a camera phone?  I guess all those concerts where photography isn’t allowed will be a whole lot harder to police, assuming security guards aren’t on the look-out for sunglasses.  Then again, I guess camera phones didn’t create a new world of police state shenanigans, so I doubt this will be too bad in the end.  And if it becomes a problem, then you just ban Google Glass like 5 Point did.

When Danny Kitchen wanted to use the family iPad to play a free game, his father Greg handed over the family password right away.  The five-year-old played with the iPad for 15 or 20 minutes before getting bored.  While the child was at play, the family got some strange emails.  Thinking them mistakes, they ignored the itemized bills to their own peril.  As it turns out, Danny Kitchen was racking up a 1700-pound ($2550 or so) bill via iTunes.

“He was very upset when he realised what he had done,” said Sharon Kitchen, Danny’s mother.  ”His brothers and sisters were telling him off, but of course he didn’t know what he did – he’s only five.  To be honest, I’m not sure how he did it.”

To Apple’s credit, they’ve been working closely with the Kitchen family and the app makers to get the money refunded, which is a great PR move on Apple’s part, but also kind of a risky strategy for parents who might hand their tablets over to recklessly-clicking kids.  Be sure to disable online purchasing and/or shut down the WiFi if you’re gonna pass your tablet on to the kid in your life.

For Microsoft, it’s points.  For Amazon, call them coins.  Amazon has announced they are going to have a digital payment system dubbed Amazon Coins.  Basically, Amazon takes your real money (or your credit card) and turns it into virtual currency that can be used for buying apps, buying in-app content, and games for your Kindle Fire (and presumably everything else).  Basically, the Coins work like cash; you buy a pack of them for $5 or whatever, then you spent those coins on apps without adding to your credit card debt or risking your credit card being stolen.

Here’s the interesting thing.  Because the Coins aren’t real money, they aren’t subject to real money rules on stuff like, say, gambling.  That means app developers can offer coins as rewards for achievements, filling out surveys, and signing up for Facebook/Twitter or whatever else they might want to encourage you to sign into or whatever else they might want to give you pretend money for.  As for App developers, Coins work like real money and get the same split with Amazon for all app sales and in-app purchases.

You can read more about it at Amazon’s App Store Developer Blog.

Research In Motion was once the leader of the smartphone world, but no longer.  Having been passed by Apple and Android, RIM finds itself increasingly trying to return to prominence and continue thriving as an enterprise, and to do this, RIM has decided to capitalize on its most famous brand name in a big way:  with a name change.  RIM is now officially BlackBerry, closing the gap between the company and its products.

“We thought this was time to symbolize a real change with a name change,” said Frank Boulben, chief marketing officer of BlackBerry.  ”We wanted to have one brand, one premise, to focus all of our marketing efforts.”

With the new name comes a new pair of phones, the BlackBerry Q10 and the BlackBerry Z10.  The BlackBerry Z10 is a touchscreen smartphone, like all the other ones on the market.  However, it’s the BlackBerry Q10 that’s most interesting.  It’s both a keyboard phone AND a touchscreen phone in one!  However, if that intrigues you, prepare to be waiting.  The Z10 will not be released in the US until March, well after its Super Bowl ad campaign (and the Canadian launch on February 5); the Q10 won’t be for sale until April!