Acer shows off Aspire R7 Star Trek edition, we go eyes-on at Computex Hands-on

No, we're not making this up. We've always thought the Aspire R7 bore an uncanny resemblance to the USS Enterprise, and now it appears that Acer's officially in on the fun, too. Our friends at Engadget Chinese stumbled upon a new version of the starship-esque convertible at Acer's Computex booth today -- the company manufactured just 25 of these special-edition notebooks, one of which it plans to offer up on eBay from June 14th through the 24th, with all proceeds going to charity. This variant is unique enough for us to look past the device's shortcomings, and perhaps place a bid of our own. Star Trek (and industrial design) fans can get their fix in the eyes-on gallery just below.

Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 and A3000 available to order, starting at $189

Not everyone wants an iPad. In fact, some people might even prefer affordable Android tablets if all they want is a slate that can connect to the internet. Two new devices that fit the bill perfectly are Lenovo's IdeaTab A1000 and A3000, which are available to order now in the US for $189 and $229, respectively. Both are pint-sized 7-inch tablets with 1,024 x 600 displays, each running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. However, the A1000 is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek MT8317 processor while the A3000 is equipped with a 1.2GHz single-core MT6575 chip. They each come with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage that can be supplemented by a microSD card, but only the A3000 will play nicely with 64GB modules. While the tablets both have a VGA front-facing camera, the more expensive one also has a 5-megapixel rear cam. Curiously, the A3000 has a 7-hour battery life that's rated at an hour less than A1000's. Note that if you pre-order the entry-level tablet on Lenovo's website (shipping will begin on June 12th), you can get it at a $40 discount. You can also pre-order the $229 slate, but you'll have to wait at least four weeks before it starts shipping.

Leaked court documents reveal NSA is collecting bulk call logs from Verizon Mobile

A court document published today by The Guardian reveals the NSA is currently collecting call records in bulk from Verizon. The request, granted by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on April 25th, extends until July 19th and mandates Verizon produce all call detail records on a daily basis to the NSA. The data collected includes the numbers of both parties to a call, how long it lasted, location data, IMEI / IMSI numbers, but not the content of the call or identifying information about the customer. As the report indicates, security officials had revealed bulk collection of call records previously, but until now there has been no indication of it happening under the Obama administration. In 2006 Verizon Wireless was one of the few to state it had not turned over call records to the NSA, but that appears to have changed. Among the many things that are still unknown however, is whether this order is a one time event or one in a series of such requestscollecting vast amounts of data on unsuspecting citizens, and whether other communications providers have received orders to do the same.

Microsoft teams up with financial services industry, FBI to take down hacker botnets

It turns out Microsoft was serious when it declared war on botnets: the company just announced that its Digital Crimes Unit has successfully disrupted more than 1,400 criminal networks. The company says the action was a coordinated effort between Microsoft and the financial services industry, noting that the FBI chipped in to help out with legal hurdles -- giving Redmond the leverage it needed to shut down malicious servers in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. These machines had been infecting computers with Citadel malware, a keylogger that allowed cyber criminals to skim account information from victims. According to Reuters, authorities don't yet know the identities of the criminals involved, but Microsoft thinks the ringleader lives in eastern Europe, and may be working with 80 or more accomplices. The company has already filed a civil lawsuit, listing the lead hacker as "John Doe No. 1" in the complaint.

Microsoft says it will use the data it collected from the operation to help ISPs find more efficient ways to detect and notify users if their computer is infected. The company also pledges to make the information available through its own cyber threat intelligence program. Check out the firm's full press announcement for yourself after the break.