Developing nations are often the recipients of used, donated baby incubators, as new ones cost about $40,000 each. Often lacking either the technicians or the parts to fix them, however, most of the incubators don't actually work. Enter Jonathan Rosen of Boston University's School of Management, who's ingeniously devised an incubator out of the very abundant Toyota 4Runner. The device is cobbled together using headlights as the heating source, the filters for air purification and the door alarm for emergency notification. The resulting incubator costs about $1,000 to make and can be repaired by auto mechanics, which is obviously good news for hospitals in need. The bad news? Dr. McDreamy's in the garage, "fixing" your car.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Baby incubators made from Toyota 4Runner, Aunty Entity would be proud originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It looks like
RIM's virtualization software is getting close to materializing for end users on Windows Mobile, a bold statement by the company that it's not the least bit afraid that extending the BlackBerry ecosystem to WinMo devices in a far more rich, attractive, and useful way than
BlackBerry Connect ever could won't risk cannibalizing sales of its own devices. Shots of the so-called BlackBerry Application Suite running on a
Fuze have shown up, looking darn near as polished as a native RIM handset -- except you won't find anything like this form factor from RIM, now will you? All told, that makes it a good option not just for folks that are stuck to Windows Mobile, but also to anyone looking for their nonexistent QWERTY slide BlackBerry. Unforutunately, there's no telling when this thing is going live, but hey, at least it isn't vaporware.
[Thanks, Mark D.]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
BlackBerry Application Suite for Windows Mobile spotted virtualizin' in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It's no secret that the Samsung Yepp YP-P3 PMP is on the way -- Sammy's
shown it off, it's
kicking around the FCC and we've already
seen it unboxed -- but it looks like it's getting an official launch in Korea just ahead of CES. Specs are the same as we've known forever: the same 3-inch, 480 x 272 touchscreen as the P2, but with added haptic feedback and a new Flash-based UI with customizable widgets, Bluetooth with A2DP, the usual codec support, and a 30-hour audio playback battery life. No US prices yet, but the Koreans out there should look to have scrounged together 239,000 won ($177) for the 4GB, 279,000 won ($207) for 8GB, and 329,000 won ($244) for the 16GB model by the time these ship in early January. Interface vid after the break.
[Via
DAPReview, thanks Michael]
Continue reading Samsung P3 gets official... in Korea
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Samsung P3 gets official... in Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sierra Wireless has just announced two new ExpressCard modems for HSUPA wireless users. Sporting download speeds up tp 7.2Mbps and upload speeds up to 5.76Mbps, the AirCard 501 supports 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz bands, while the AirCard 502 covers 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz. Both are backward compatible with UMTS, EDGE and GSM networks world 'round, and they're being touted as "durable," meaning there are no little antennas or plastic pieces to break on you. That last part should be good news to all of you post-apocalyptic Road Warriors out there (or not -- they're still just regular ExpressCards, as far as we can tell). The AirCard 501 is slated for release later this month, while those of you interested in the AirCard 502 will have to wait until the first part of 2009.
[Via
Slash Phone]
Filed under: Laptops, Wireless
Sierra Wireless intros 'ruggedified' AirCard 501 and 502 modems originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments
Folks with capacitive touchscreen devices like the G1 and the iPhone who miss the glorious days of the stylus should be happy to hear this news. InPlay Technologies has announced that they've developed tech for a new RF pen called WriteSense which eliminates the necessity for a separate digitzer -- it communicates directly with the capacitive touch sensors. Essentially, this will mean smaller and cheaper RF pens, which is probably a good thing since capacitive touchscreens will likely continue their assault on resistive touchscreens (
cough, Nokia). The pencil doesn't stand a chance.
[Via
Gotta Be Mobile]
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
WriteSense digital pen tech for capacitive touchscreens announced originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments After six months of what we can only imagine were pained, laborious negotiations, Nintendo and Nyko announced today that they've settled
that lawsuit over Nyko's
Kama wireless nunchuk controllers. No mention of how much Nyko had to pay up to make this all go away, but apparently the company's agreed to tweak the Kama's design to make it looks less like Ninty's original -- we'd say a good beginning exercise would be to try and figure out why anyone actually
needs an off-color wireless nunchuk, and then going on from there.
[Via
Joystiq]
Filed under: Gaming
Nintendo, Nyko settle lawsuit over wireless nunchuks, Nyko agrees to stop hitting itself with ugly stick originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Speakers come in all
shapes and
sizes (and
colors) -- usually the more exotic the look the higher the price. But what would you pay to turn
anything you own into a speaker? $80 is the asking price for the Yorozu Audio Sound Revolution kit, a somewhat pretentious name for a little vibrating bud that plays your tunes on whatever you like. It comes in a cardboard milk container that will get you started, but the site shows boxes, bottles, suitcases, and even entire walls dropping beats. Don't worry structural engineers: with only 2-watts on tap don't expect to literally rock the house. Oh, and if you're looking for a cheaper way to get your crap buzzing, you could just
make your own from those neodymium magnets you have kicking around.
[Via
Engadget German]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household, Portable Audio
Yorozu's milk carton speaker asks: "Have You Heard Me?" originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
If there's one problem with modern GPS devices it's that they're "highly complex" -- at least that's what you might think if you're a frequent Hammacher Schlemmer shopper. Believing that people find things like touch screens or buttons a little too much, the gadget company has created what it calls a "GPS Homing Device." For a penny under $80 (roughly the price of a real nav system) the over-sized key fob lets you mark your current location and then, after an exhausting day of bargain hunting, find your way back to where you began just by following an arrow -- all without relying on the help of the parking lot attendant. Makes a great gift for the directionally-challenged shopaholic in your life.
[Via Chip Chick]
Filed under: GPS
GPS homing device gets you back where you started, nowhere else originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We all know that you can't trick someone into falling in love with you (unless in you're in a movie with Kate Hudson -- in which case the results are sure to be
hilarious), but it looks like the kids at NVIDIA are looking to do just that. It's been previously rumored that
NVIDIA's been working on Atom support in its MCP79 chipset, and now the company's in Taiwan, trying to rally support for a crazy scheme whereby PC makers will demand that Intel begin selling them Atom CPUs without bundling in their own graphics chipsets. And if that weren't enough, the GPU maker releases their Ion platform today, designed to replace Intel's graphics chipset on Atom systems. There's no word on how Intel will react to these saucy moves, but we're guessing that at the very least the chipmaker is a little flattered.
Read -
Nvidia working with PC makers to force Intel to open the Atom platform
Read - Nvidia Goes Netbooks: Releases Ion Graphics Platform for Intel AtomFiled under: Laptops
Nvidia schemes to get in on the Atom platform originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Okoro Media Systems isn't the first
HTPC maker to
offer up systems with Intel's potent Core i7 within, but it clearly has no issue with showing up to the big ball a few months late. Starting now, prospective buyers can select the OMS-TH550, OMS-GX100 or OMS-GX300 with a Core i7 within, and we're also told that two forthcoming HTPCs -- the RK200 and RK300 -- will be available with the CPU in due time. Oh, and if you're looking for a little something to sweeten the deal, Okoro's offering 5% off on a number of machines and is throwing in a free
The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc with BD-equipped rigs. Shame the starting prices are still through the roof.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs
Okoro Media Systems crams Intel's Core i7 into select HTPCs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments When
everyone was going hybrid, taking baby-steps toward an alternative-fueled future, Mercedes jumped into its prototype Hydrogen-powered machines and buzzed off toward the horizon. Now, perhaps realizing that it moved a bit
too quickly for the distribution infrastructure to keep up, the company seems to be pulling back a bit, introducing the BlueZERO line of autos that all share the same shell -- pictured above looking good at its most flattering angle, but not so hot after the break. The series will encompass three cars: the fully-electric E-CELL (possibly featuring
Tesla batteries), with a 120 mile range; the hydrogen-powered F-CELL, with a 248 mile range; and the hybrid E-CELL PLUS that, like the
Volt, will carry a gasoline engine to recharge the batteries and provide up to 370 miles of non-stop motoring (10 more than Chevy's offering). The trio are set to release in 2010, which should be a historic year for the auto industry... assuming we still have an auto industry in 2010.
Continue reading Mercedes hedges alt-fuel bets with BlueZero electric, hydrogen, and hybrid models
Filed under: Transportation
Mercedes hedges alt-fuel bets with BlueZero electric, hydrogen, and hybrid models originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It's been
happening for centuries in one form or another, but packing in a favorite diecast car or trophy just seems a bit different than sending your loved one six feet under with a
BlackBerry 7290. According to the London-based The Future Laboratory think tank, the amount of people arranging to have their cellphones or portable media players buried with them is on the rise, with a family service counselor for Hollywood Forever funeral home and cemetery stating that "it seems that everyone under 40 who dies takes their cellphone with them." Truth be told, the psychology behind it isn't all that odd; after all, in today's world, mobile phones go a long way to connecting one person with other loved ones. Just make sure to not go down with a
Vertu or
the like -- wouldn't want to get unwillingly exhumed, now would we?
[Image courtesy of
cc275, via
The Inquirer]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video
More deceased taking cellphones, PMPs to their graves originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Just in time for the holidays, it's Tickle Me Layoffs. Western Digital is cutting loose 5% of its workforce -- that's 2,500
more people who'll be staying home against their will. Hey
Nintendo, why are you so happy?
Filed under: Storage
Western Digital sheds 2,500 jobs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments After 13 months into a five-year exclusivity deal in France, the French competition agency has ruled the
Apple and Orange (the mobile subsidiary of France Telecom) cartel illegal. Something that could have a knock-on effect throughout Europe. The agency criticized the Orange/Apple pact for having "grave and immediate" effect on the overall French mobile marketplace and thus, the French consumer, by introducing "a new flavor of rigidity in a sector that already lacks competition." The injunction, while temporary, is enough to allow other French carriers to distribute the iPhone 3G in time for the holidays. Shrug.
[Thanks, Tieum and Nick]
Filed under: Cellphones
Orange's iPhone exclusive ruled illegal in France originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments MSI's
VR220 YA Edition laptop is a unique piece, packing a tiny 12.1-inch frame (which usually demands a premium)
and a relatively reasonable $699 price tag. The laptop straddles an interesting fence, providing better performance than a netbook and less sex appeal than most other 12.1-inchers around. On one hand, the 2GHz T3200 CPU is a nice step above the Atoms that are
popping up everywhere else, but on the other, the (comparatively) bulky frame, "cheap feeling keyboard" and "polarizing design" are features you aren't to appreciate. So, who exactly is this thing good for (if anyone)?
Laptop Mag feels that students looking for an ultraportable on a budget will probably find what they need, but folks obsessed with performance or petiteness will probably care to pass. Have a look at the full writeup in the read link below.
[Thanks, Todd]
Filed under: Laptops
MSI's VR220 YA Edition laptop reviewed: average, or just slightly above originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It's actually pretty amazing what you can do with four extra USB ports. For instance, you can
chill a Coke Zero for you and three buds. You can power four sets of
warming gloves. You can cover the family in
USB-heated blankets. Whatever you choose to do, you'll likely have a much easier time hooking things up if using the 4-port USB Revolving Hub. Two of the sockets remain flat, but two can rotate up to 90-degrees each to provide ultimate plug-n-play flexibility. Claims yours in black or white for $12.
[Via
Coolest-Gadgets]
Filed under: Peripherals
4-port USB Revolving Hub is simply useful originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Nothing celebrates excess like a holiday murder immortalized in 10 bucks of USB-powered plastic. The Mini X'mas Desktop Snowman USB Aquarium Office Gift (really, that's the name) features a built-in motor that keeps Santa's corpse and undelivered package in constant motion. Festive, sure, but only if you share The Snowman's contemptuous glee at becoming the number one pitch man for the holidays. Hurry, only two left.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Crapgadget: Dead Santa edition originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments John Maushammer enjoyed his 15 minutes in the limelight from the creation of the
Pong wristwatch, but as any true superstar will tell you, a quarter of an hour just isn't enough. The DIY Asteroids Watch is a real step above the aforementioned predecessor, with an inbuilt tilt sensor so the wearer can control the action by simply tilting their wrist. We'd gush about it more, but that'd just be doing ya wrong -- instead, we'll point you to the live action vid waiting just past the break.
[Via
NerdWithSwag]
Continue reading Asteroids wristwatch one-ups the Pong-playing original
Filed under: Wearables
Asteroids wristwatch one-ups the Pong-playing original originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments At this point, it's clear that the
$99 iPhone 3G rumor was just that: rumor. We have a letter that we believe to be authentic from a source within Walmart that says the iPhone will launch in the house that Sam built at 9am December 28th. At launch, only the 8GB ($197) and 16GB ($297) iPhone 3Gs will be available with a required signature on a 2-year AT&T contract. An internal pilot program kicks off today at 488 stores across the nation. The iPhone 3G and a sack of garden manure all under the same roof... heaven.
Filed under: Cellphones
Walmart iPhone on sale the 28th for a lot more than $99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
What if you could relive all the magical moments of your childhood, like playing with the blood pressure machine at your local supermarket? Now, thanks to the personal, portable No Cuff Blood Pressure Monitor, you can. Just slide your hand in and press the button to inflate -- it's that simple. In addition to the hours of fun you're sure to have as you feel the device lightly squeeze your arm, the blood pressure reader comes with a detachable LCD display that stores as many as ninety readings, offers AM/PM systolic averaging, an irregular pulse indicator, an alarm, and an arm-movement indicator to keep you from lousing up the reading. Not bad for $200, eh? And if you're feeling generous, maybe you could share this with a sick relative, an elderly neighbor, or anyone who might need to need to check their blood pressure regularly. That is, unless their
underwear already does it for them.
[Via
Engadget German]
Filed under: Household
No Cuff automated blood pressure monitor proves that you can go home again originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology claim to have created a see-through non-volatile memory chip based on resistive random-access memory (RRAM) technology. Made with transparent oxide film and electrodes on clear glass or plastic circuit boards, the group believes commercial production could begin in 3 to 4 years and could be cheaply manufactured (current backers of RRAM include Fujitsu, Sharp, Samsung and others). They're hopeful the new technology will pave the way for
transparent devices such as monitors and televisions. No images of the transparent chip have been published -- but they're not much to look at, anyway.
[Via
cellular-news]
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Storage
Korean scientists create transparent memory chip... or so they tell us originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Yup, it's true, the dual-mode CDMA / WiMAX modem is real and will be sold by Clearwire Sprint starting December 21st. The $150 device (after $50 rebate and two-year Sprint contract) is a first to function on both Sprint's EV-DO network and Clearwire's nascent mobile WiMAX service currently supporting Baltimore's collection of kitschy beauty salons. So yeah, the modem is of limited interest until Clearwire can build-out its network in 2009, starting with Portland in early January.
Filed under: Wireless
Clearwire's $150 dual-mode WiMAX / Sprint CDMA modem launches Sunday originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
While those only versed in the ways of the
iPod-based DJ mixer may want to steer clear, those with a bit more DJing experience will no doubt find plenty to like in
Hercules' new DJ Control Steel mixing deck here, which can be hooked up to the Mac or PC of your choice via USB. As you can see above, the unit itself will give you two mixing decks, along with 13 rotary switches, six faders, and no less than 46 push buttons, including five effects buttons and six kill buttons. To add your own stamp to the deck, you can also remove the steel center plate and replace it with a customized one, and you can use it with the MIDI-based DJing software of your choosing if the included Virtual DJ 5 isn't to your liking. At $299.99, it also won't be
too much of a hurt on your bank account, although you'll have to wait until December 22nd to actually get your hands on it.
Filed under: Portable Audio
Hercules introduces DJ Control Steel mixing deck originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Our first thought when we saw
Boy Genius Report's alleged shots of
Moto phones that'll find a home on
Verizon in 2009 was, "holy cow, these look fake." And yes, granted, they're all renders -- but what really set off the alarms for us was the fact that they look... well, nothing like Motorolas. At all. But then we thought about it for a second and realized that hey, you know, when you're a once-great cellphone manufacturer losing market share hand over first and you're looking for the Next Big Thing, you probably want to try something a little new, a little fresh, and a little crazy. So on that note, Verizon can apparently expect a "Rush 2" early in the year that continues Moto's
contribution to the low-cost messaging phone trend; the "Calgary" (pictured), looking like a high-end
Sidekick Slide minus the Sidekick; the "Inferno," presumably succeeding the
ZN4 (which was coincidentally codenamed "Blaze"); and finally the gorgeous "Flash," which -- as far as we're concerned -- should just take the
A3000's place. So yeah, these could be an elaborate hoax, but for Motorola's sake, we hope they're not.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Motorola apparently planning another year of existence with claimed 2009 lineup for Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
We got a good look at the
M98xNU a few days ago, and now it seems that one of those crazy kids over at the Notebook Review forums has dropped the dime on some other new Clevo notebook models we might be seeing at
CeBIT 2009. Most notably, he names the predecessor to the company's D901C laptop: the D90xF will offer a 17-inch screen (up to 1920 x 1200), and it may be Core i7, though this is not certain (sometimes desktop chips end up in high-end laptops, so it wouldn't be unheard of). Also in this batch are several touchscreen tablets, including the 7-inch TN70xM with an Atom Z series processor and passive cooling, the 8.9-inch T89xM with "rugged" design, and the TN12xT, a 12.1-inch based on the Montevina platform with Intel's GM45 chipset. Additionally, we can look forward to the second quarter of 2009 for the launch of the 10.2-inch M71xL, the 10.1-inch M81xL and the 13.3-inch R13xT. And if
that weren't enough, early next year should see the release of the company's widescreen W76x series of laptops with 15.6-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio displays. Not that you'll necessarily see the Clevo name on many of these -- the company is known primarily as an OEM. Still, this is an interesting peek into next year's possible Alienware, Voodoo and Sager machines. And you know what? There's plenty more where that came from -- hit the read link for all the glorious details.
Filed under: Laptops
Clevo laptop shocker! Scores of new, cryptic model names originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Pentax's K2000's already gotten itself some... shall we say
"glowing" reviews, but news that the DSLR will now come in a Limited Edition white is like icing on a super delicious cake. The camera will be exactly the same as its old-fangled black predecessor, and will come with custom white-and-black 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses. Considering the real lack of color in the DSLR category, some people should be pretty stoked when it goes on sale in February. An exact price wasn't released, but the black K2000 runs about $800.
[Via
CNET]
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Pentax K2000 to come in Limited Edition black-and-white cookie style originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
If you've been waiting around for the elusive 8.9-inch
Lenovo S9 Ideapad, today's your lucky day. A smaller version of the already available
S10, this one boasts a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, and 4GB SSD, all paired with a 1024×600 resolution. It's available for $344.99 at Geeks and $359.46 at Buy.com, so you might want to burn rubber over there right away. Go ahead and admit it: you love ZZ Top, just like us.
[Via
Laptoping]
Read - Lenovo Ideapad S9 at Geeks
Read - Lenovo Ideapad s9 at Buy.com
Filed under: Laptops
Lenovo Ideapad S9 available now in US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Fujitsu first let out word of its Stylistic ST6012 tablet PC
back in September, and we also caught sight of it at the FCC a
little while back, but the company has only just now actually gotten the device out the door. Despite the slight delay, however, there doesn't seem to be any changes to the tablet itself, with it still packing a 12-inch WXGA display, a low-voltage Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, and 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive in its standard configuration. Those looking to max things out can also take advantage of a number of optional upgrades, including an SSD drive, integrated UWB, some Intel turbo memory, a built-in camera, a 9-cell battery, and no less than three different docks. While all those options can easily push things past the $4,000 mark (really), those less demanding should be able to get by just fine with the base $1,999 model.
[Via
GottaBeMobile]
Filed under: Tablet PCs
Fujitsu finally gets its Stylistic ST6012 tablet PC out the door originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
AT&T's SideKick-esque
Quickfire handset has been up for grabs for a little while now, but if you're still undecided, you may want to take a gander at Phonescoop's review of the phone, which covers just about every aspect of it in minute detail. On the whole, they seem to be mightily impressed with the phone, saying that it "almost makes good on all that it sets out to do," with only a few relatively minor problems holding it back somewhat. Those include a lack of threaded SMS, and some general slowness in the music and gallery apps. On the upside, the phone re-orients itself between landscape and portrait mode "immediately," the camera takes decent pictures and, while not the most responsive around, the capacitive touchscreen apparently gets the job done. Hit up the link below for the full rundown and, of course, plenty of pics.
Filed under: Cellphones
AT&T Quickfire gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Okay, so maybe the unlocking of the GPS on Verizon BlackBerrys wasn't an accident after all -- and maybe hell has frozen completely over. WMExperts is reporting an official statement released by the carrier claiming that GPS has remained locked down on many of its models simply because it hasn't met Verizon's "performance goals," which granted, sounds like a crock -- but to Verizon's credit, they're the ones getting the phone calls when things aren't working smoothly, not the phone's manufacturer. Still, when you consider that VZ Navigator runs a pricey $9.99 a month for WinMo devices, the financial motivation was certainly there to keep it locked down, so maybe customer dissatisfaction with the policy has reached a boiling point or Verizon is simply realizing that they're not milking enough money to bother. Specifically, the Touch Pro, Saga, and Omnia have all been mentioned as getting fully unlocked, standalone GPS via firmware updates in the first half of next year.
[Via Brighthand]
Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Handhelds
Verizon relents, promises to open GPS on some WinMo phones next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Philips has trickled news about these DAPs over the past few months, but things just got
real, man. The Raga is a completely nondescript flash player with 2GB or 4GB of flash storage, a tiny multi-line display, 27 hours of battery life and a $35 or $45 price tag; the
Spark steps things up with a fancy 1.5-inch OLED color screen,
clix-style navigation and $50 / $60 price points; while the
LUXE (pictured) adds Bluetooth and style into the mix for $90 or $100. Spark and LUXE both offer Rhapsody integration and some new "FullSound" EQ tech from Philips, but the real hotness is the LUXE. The player can clip to your clothing and pump tunes as would be expected, but also syncs up with your phone to allow you to interrupt the music and answer calls without ever swapping out your headphones. We got to play around with a couple versions Philips had on display, and it really does look the part -- though we wouldn't mind it a bit slimmer. The Spark looks nice and really does offer a good amount of screen for the size -- plus we're suckers for the clix interface -- but the Raga looks like the red-headed, overweight stepchild of the lineup. LUXE will be available in January, but the other two should be hitting store shelves now. Check out our hands-on shots in the gallery below. Or don't, we're not the boss of you.
Filed under: Portable Audio
Philips debuts new GoGear lineup: Raga, Spark and LUXE originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Watch this space folks -- it's the end of an era. Apple has just issued a press release stating that this coming MacWorld in January will be its last, and Steve Jobs won't be on hand to say goodbye. Instead, Phil Schiller will be heading up the proceedings, thus marking a quiet end to a conference that's been the launching point of some of the most important pieces of consumer tech in recent memory. In Apple's words:
Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
Update: Oh, and just to clarify, this is merely Apple's last MacWorld, not the last MacWorld. IDG just made a statement confirming that it's on for an Apple-free MacWorld 2010 at the Moscone Center -- January 4th through 8th if you're planning ahead.
[Thanks, JBCornelius]
Apple announces final MacWorld, Steve Jobs won't deliver keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We don't usually see many gadgets aimed at the high rollers in the foreign exchange market who read this site religiously, so when we ran across this sweet piece of PR for the Al-1 Compact Keyboard for TraderTools' Liquidity Management Platform, we pounced! Sick of all those other trading keyboards that have been piling up with each new piece of software? This guy has been "humanly engineered" to replace all of 'em, with extra large, color-coded keys for the those things you do best -- like destroying the lives of average Americans. Now you can "buy low" and "sell high" with a single keystroke. This keyboard will have you aggregating liquidity with the best of them. There's no word yet on pricing or a release date, but keep your eyes open -- with the way this economy's headed, we're certain these units will be flooding eBay (and estate sales) soon enough.
Continue reading TraderTools' keyboard for traders -- all that's missing is the panic button
Filed under: Peripherals
TraderTools' keyboard for traders -- all that's missing is the panic button originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remember the
Ainol V3000 we saw a while back? It looks like
Gemei and
RAmos are playing catch-up with some 800 x 480 PMPs of their own. It's been speculated that like the Ainol handheld, Gemei's X690HD will be rocking an Ingenic chipset, while the RAmos T9 could follow up its
iMovie with either an Ingenic or a Rockchip. Hopefully this bombshell makes your day, because there really are no other
specs to report. We assume you'll see these guys with FM tuners, TV outs, batteries, and storage at some unspecified point in the future. The usual. Keep your eyes peeled, Mainland China!
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Gemei and RAmos to offer 800 x 480 PMPs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dell's Inspiron
Mini 12 was already blurring the lines between netbooks and traditional laptop when it was shipping with Vista and Vista only, but it looks like Dell is intent on breaking down the walls between the two categories, with it now offering both Ubuntu and Windows XP on the, er... system. Expectedly, there's no changes to be found on the hardware side of things, and you can get either of the new operating systems installed on both the 1.33GHz and 1.6GHz models, the former of which now starts at $499 with Ubuntu pre-installed. And, yes, you can still get Vista if you like -- at no extra cost, no less.
[Thanks, TxdoHawk]
Filed under: Laptops
Dell Inspiron Mini 12 gets more netbook-y with Ubuntu, XP options originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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From the looks of it, there's a fierce storm brewing (see photo), and it's probably due to our excitement at the prospects of this rather unsettling MP3 doll
for children. There's a real paucity of information about the fire-haired pair, but their names appear to me Man-Man and Niu Niu. Their controls seem to be in the hands and feet, they boast an automatic shutdown feature, and the players are "hidden" in the guts of the doll to ensure safety. That doesn't really do a whole lot to reassure us that the dolls aren't somehow dangerous, but as long as they don't scream "give me the boy and I'll let you live!" we figure it's probably fine. No details about price or availability.
[Thanks, Bill]
Filed under: Portable Audio
Newsmy MP3 dolls will entertain, creep out your children originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We're not ones to just abruptly stick our nostrils in someone's business, but we couldn't help but drift over when waltzing by
PC Authority's most recent unboxing. The smell we caught was of pine, and given that it's a pine-scented
ASUS F6V that's being unwrapped, we suppose that all adds up. On the real, testers took note of an "unmistakable wafting scent of a pine forest, floating on the summer breeze and carrying away their troubles" as they cracked the seal on the carefree machine. For those curious, the scent was far from overbearing, though it was strong enough to separate itself from, um, non-smelly alternatives. Sadly, critics also mentioned that the odor had "almost entirely disappeared" after it had sat out in the open for a few hours, and at last check, there's no way to recharge or refill these things. Ah well, pack a few Christmas Tree Air Fresheners[TM] and you'll never know the difference.
[Thanks, Geller]
Filed under: Laptops
Pine-scented ASUS F6V laptop gets unboxed, smelled originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Man, talk about a much needed refreshing. Last we recall,
Epson was eliciting "awws" from window shoppers who just couldn't get over how delightfully cute its
Endeavor ST100 micro PC was. Fast forward two years, and here we have the equally tiny (albeit entirely more useful) ST120. The all-black box comes equipped with a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 80GB of hard drive space, an HDMI output, a Blu-ray writer and a digital TV tuner. Too bad the loaded configuration we just spouted off rings up at ¥137,500 ($1,531), but those with less lavish lifestyles can opt for a DVD model that starts at "just" ¥65,100 ($725).
[Via
Engadget Spanish]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs
Epson trots out tiny ST120 HTPC, finds room for Blu-ray / TV tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It sure made it longer than
Dell and
Fujitsu-Siemens, but really, this was inevitable. Today, yet another icon in handheld computing has died, as Sharp has already scheduled the burial of its famed
Zaurus lineup. Said devices were all the rage in the white hot 90s, with everyone from Zack Morris to Dawson Leery sporting one while strutting around Hollywood. We're led to believe that the
ubiquity of more functional cellphones are to blame for the waning demand in PDAs, and we even pinged Captain Obvious to make sure that assertion was on point. Sayonara, dear Zaurus -- we will
never forget.
[Via
CodeZine]
Filed under: Handhelds
Sharp halts Zaurus PDA production, smartphones to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We heard a
good while back that the WiFi-loving BlackBerry Curve 8320 would be making its way to AT&T, and here it is. The stunningly conservative Sapphire Blue shade might draw you in if the WiFi enhancement wasn't enough to convince you to upgrade from your
8300. Of course, this is all a bit less enticing now that options like the
Bold (and the likely arrival of the
8900) exist, but hey -- better late than never, right? It's going for $149.99 with a two-year contract and a mail-in rebate, or $399.99 if you're just dying to pay full retail and have stacks and stacks of cash lying around.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
AT&T rolls out BlackBerry Curve 8320 at long last originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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