The
Kindle 2 is here folks -- it should look pretty familiar at this point! Feast your eyes on the photos. We're building out with more photos and video, so stay tuned. We played for the unit for the briefest of moments, but it really does feel great in hand. The brushed metal back is great, the device is incredibly light and comfortable to hold, and the keyboard is fairly usable. We're not convinced the five-way joystick is the best they possible could've worked into this space -- a d-pad seems much more logical -- but it's responsive and comfortable enough to twiddle with for what it is.
Filed under: Handhelds
Kindle 2 first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Just as
expected, Amazon announced the second-generation Kindle ebook reader with the exclusive Stephen King novel UR today -- the page actually went live during the press event. The new version will still cost $359, but it's much thinner than the angular original -- in fact, it's thinner than an iPhone at just .36 inches. Arguably the biggest new feature is Read to Me, which can read any content on the device back to you in a decent-sounding computerized voice, but there's also seven times more storage, a sharper 16-level e-ink display that turns pages 20 times faster, 25 percent longer battery life, and a new five-way joystick that improves navigation. Amazon's Whispernet service is also getting a feature bump, adding in Whispersync bookmarking -- if you start reading a book on one Kindle, you can pick up again on any other Kindle automatically. Sadly, it's still only available in white -- the pink Kindle here is just a one-off made to promote UR. Video after the break.
Update: We spent some time playing with the Kindle 2 hands-on -- check it out
right here!
Continue reading Amazon Kindle 2 announced: $359 on February 24
Filed under: Handhelds
Amazon Kindle 2 announced: $359 on February 24 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 9:20AM We're at Morgan Library for Amazon's totally secretive, unpredictable press event. We're out in the cold waiting for the doors to crack, so hold tight for updates!
Continue reading Live from Amazon's Kindle 2 press conference
Filed under: Handhelds
Live from Amazon's Kindle 2 press conference originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Just a month after AMD
launched its Phenom II CPUs and Dragon desktop platform, the chip maker is hitting back with five new processors in the quickly expanding line. The newcomers include the planet's first 45nm triple-core CPU and three more quad-core siblings, all of which can operate in either AM2+ or AM3 sockets. As for performance? We hope your expectations haven't been set too high, as the chips were generally found to be just "a logical extension of [the company's] piecemeal upgrade plan and a fill in [the] gap to its lineup." Reviewers across the web were generally pleased but underwhelmed by test results, with
HotHardware noting that "overall, Intel still has the performance edge clock-for-clock and core-for-core." In fairness, these chips were found to be
good for overclocking, and for the right price, we could certainly see a few gamers giving them a go. For the full spill, dive on into the deep, intricate reviews below.
Read - Official AMD announcement
Read - HotHardware benchmarks
Read - PCPerspective benchmarks
Read - DesktopReview's review
Filed under: Desktops
AMD ushers in five new Phenom II CPUs, benchmarking ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It may be hard for you monogamists to understand, but in the world of CPUs, it's perfectly acceptable to play friends with multiple chipsets. To that end, the leaked Intel slide above sure explains a lot about what's going on with the newfangled 1.66GHz Atom
N280. First
spotted in the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE with Intel's
older 945GSE chipset, many wondered why the supposed match-made-in-heaven GN40 chipset (and its 720p hardware-based video decoder) was left out. Apparently, it's all part of the plan. Both the N280 + 945GSE and N280 + GN40 are considered "off-roadmap" solutions meant to give companies a subtle differentiating factor until the "real" N270 successor hits the scene. So yeah, that 1000HE you've got on the brain isn't actually a hodgepodge of components, but a real, certifiably okay combination of CPU and chipset -- though it'd be so much more bodacious with that GN40. Confused yet?
[Via
Fudzilla]
Filed under: Laptops
Intel slide shows Atom N280 with 945GSE and GN40 chipsets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It's out, and it works; the WiiGator GameCube Backup Launcher we mentioned
last week has been released to the open arms of a community of incredibly clumsy gamers. Yes, you who can't possibly keep your discs from getting scratched or cracked or covered in peanut butter by your two-year-old sibling can now play backups of GameCube games on your Wii without having to install any modchips or void any warranties. The app, available with source at the read link, runs in the Wii's Homebrew Channel and enables the playing of GC games from a DVD-R (demonstrated in some incredibly dramatic shakeycam footage below). There are some issues with save games on certain types of memory cards, and not all titles work, but before you complain feel free to crack open those C files and try fixing things yourself, Mr. Critical.
[Thanks, Omega]
Continue reading WiiGator Backup Launcher released, makes chipless GameCube backups on Wii a reality
Filed under: Gaming
WiiGator Backup Launcher released, makes chipless GameCube backups on Wii a reality originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Yes, your greatest / worst dream has come to fruition:
Steve Wozniak will be featured on the next season of
Dancing With the Stars. There's not much we can tell you right now about his upcoming moves, though we will be watching with bated breath, quietly hoping for a double Lindy, the Sugarfoot, and Denise Richards being dipped on a Segway.
[Thanks, Ethan]
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Steve Wozniak comes to 'Dancing With The Stars,' universe quivers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It sure took awhile, but the
iClooly aluminum stand has finally been updated to fit your second generation iPod touch or iPhone 3G. Set for release on February 18th, the pivoting and rotating stand still costs ¥4,980 in Japan or
$47, um, $54 Stateside. While the rising Yen could account for the delay, there's no way we could possibly explain the motivation for producing the iClooly video posted after the break.
[Via
Impress]
Continue reading Video: iClooly stand gets extra cleepy, iPhone 3G / iPod touch support
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Video: iClooly stand gets extra cleepy, iPhone 3G / iPod touch support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Last year upstart Acer
stole the netbook crown from ASUS, a sales stat that might have been helped by the ability to buy an Aspire One at your local neighborhood Walmart. While you can already pick up an Eee at places like Target and Best Buy, from what we hear at wholesale mixers you're nothing until you go Supercenter, and that's just where the company that started the netbook craze wants to go, said to be planning its own push into the biggest of big-box retailers. If this report is correct, expect to be able to pick up a little Eee with your groceries (and shame) sometime in the latter half of this year.
Filed under: Laptops
ASUS's little netbooks go big-box; Eee PCs expected in Walmart by year's end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Just last Friday HP
finally released the installer for MIE, its clever and clean version of Ubuntu, and, though we warned about running it on anything but a Mini 1000, Dan from
Dan's Web threw caution (and whatever was currently installed on his netbook) to the wind and tried it on an Aspire One. Straight out of the box the OS and UI overlay seem to work quite well, as shown on the video below, missing only an audio driver but having WiFi and even Bluetooth. He suspects things will function just as well on other netbooks (since there's so much hardware overlap between them), but as always your compatibility may vary. To get in on the action you'll need the 900KB installer from HP, the 900MB image the installer will download, and a 2GB thumb drive to boot. If you have the necessary bytes, bits, and bravado, be our guest and let us know how it goes.
Continue reading Video: HP's MIE Linux distro runs just fine on Acer's Aspire One
Filed under: Laptops
Video: HP's MIE Linux distro runs just fine on Acer's Aspire One originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
The Wall Street Journal just weighed in on today's Amazon press event with two nuggets of information. First, they state
as fact that Amazon.com will announce a
new version of its Kindle e-book reader. Additionally, Amazon is expected to announce an exclusive new work available only on the Kindle from best-selling author and be-spectacled weirdo, Stephen King. According to the WSJ, "a Kindle-like device" could play a role in the story. Oh Stephen, don't you know that they're all going to laugh at you? Find out all the details later today with
our live Kindle launch coverage.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
WSJ: Kindle 2 launching today with Stephen King exclusive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Here's something we don't see everyday, a sexy voice recorder with a built-in digital camera. Samsung's YP-VP1 made its first appearance at CES, apparently, and now sees its official Korean launch. The 2GB / 4GB recorder features a directional mic that records up to 30 hours in 192kbps max quality with support for MP3 / WMA playback (up to 50 hours) tossed in for grins. As to the camera, a VoicePix function allows you to tag a recording with a photo -- something that should help with searching for specific items later on.
[Via
DAPreview and
AVING]
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets, Portable Audio
Samsung's YP-VP1 voice recorder with VoicePix photo tagging originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
We'll be straight up with you -- there's a lot of fancy work going on with this one that laypeople will have a tough time grasping, but the long and short of it is this: a team from Rice University (Krishna Palem pictured) and Nanyang Technological University have created a microchip that "uses 30 times less electricity while running seven times faster than today's best technology." Already crying snake oil? Not so fast. By trashing the traditional set of mathematical rules (that'd be Boolean logic) and instead applying probabilistic logic, researchers have figured out how to deliver similar results with a fraction of the energy. The tech is being dubbed PCMOS (probabilistic CMOS), and could eventually end up in embedded systems and even cellphones. In the case of the latter, this type of chip will be able to display streaming video on a minuscule display with more artifacts than usual, but due to the small screen size and the human brain's ability to piece together nearly-perfect images, the errors involved would be all but forgotten. Meanwhile, your battery bar would still be nearly full. We always heard there was beauty in imperfections -- now, at long last, we finally get it.
Filed under: Desktops, Misc. Gadgets, Laptops
Probabilistic logic makes microchip more energy efficient originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Samsung's Lapfit monitors are here to solve a problem most laptop owners are familiar with: the secondary monitor offset. See, a laptop's integrated display typically sits just a few centimeters above the desktop. That can create an unnatural panning effect when trying to move the mouse or drag a window from your laptop's display to the higher secondary. Samsung's solution is to offer these new low-profile monitors that sit at the same height as your (desktop replacement-sized) laptop's display. The 19- (LD190G) and 22-inch (LD220G)
UbiSync Lapfit monitors offer a 10-30 degree tilt, a 1,360 x 768 (16:9 aspect) pixel resolution, 4ms response, and a 20,000:1 dynamic contrast. Great, a physical solution to a problem solved long ago by laptop stands or by your laptop's OS -- way to go Sammy.
[Via
I4U]
Filed under: Displays
Samsung introduces Lapfit monitors in a fit of insanity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
With Mobile World Congress around the corner, Samsung is prepped to launch the latest version of its increasingly impressive, finger-friendly
TouchWiz UI. Already spotted on the
Ultra Touch S8300 slider, the interface has been fitted with new 3D-effects eye candy, enhanced haptic feedback, and new gesture and voice controls. A new widget dock allows you to more easily manage an increased variety of downloadable widgets while Samsung's new Photo Contact feature provides better integration of your photos and contacts with what appears to be face recognition technology. We'll know more after getting our hands on with the UI at WMC next week -- an event that's shaping up to be the biggest cellphone show in years.
[Via
I4U]
Filed under: Cellphones
Samsung's TouchWiz UI getting a MWC makeover originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We can't really knock the folks at APSI for trying to make the M480 into a product it's not, but in all seriousness, this thing is just two curved edges away from
KIRFing the
Archos 5. That said, there's no doubt this piece is trying to get all up in Archos' grille, with an expansive 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, 30GB / 60GB of internal storage, a TV output, dual-core 400MHz OMAP2530 processor and a battery good for six to seven hours (with audio) / four to five hours (with video). There's even support for a multitude of file formats, but the lackluster Windows CE 5.0 operating system essentially murders any chance it had at being successful. Sorry, buddy -- better luck next time.
[Via
PMPToday]
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
APSI's WinCE-based M480 can't quite reach Archos' level originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments If having your cake and eating it too is just how you roll, you're probably the kind of hard-to-please son of a gun that wants a numeric slider keypad to go along with your phone's AMOLED WQVGA touchscreen. Wait, let us guess: you also want an 8 megapixel camera, AGPS with geotagging, integrated FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, and microSD support up to 16GB. And naturally, you want it all somehow magically packed into a shell measuring no more than 12.7mm thick. Well, guess what, sweet pea? Samsung's gone and called your bluff with the
rumored Ultra Touch S8300, earning itself an official announcement ahead of MWC -- and as long as a real smartphone OS isn't on your shopping list, this 7.2Mbps HSDPA monster should fit the bill. We don't have launch territories or pricing just yet, but see that little "Barcelona" on the weather widget there? Yeah, we suspect we'll be seeing plenty of this one on the Mobile World Congress show floor.
Filed under: Cellphones
Samsung melds slate, slider with Ultra Touch S8300 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments While some of you meanies nominated Sega's 32X (or Genesis 32X for the North Americans) as the
worst gadget flop of all time, we know there's still a dedicated following out there somewhere who will be completely elated to hear of this. The tremendously skillful JLF65 has delivered homebrew to one of Sega's most quickly forgotten console attachments of all time, and what better to showcase your work than to port over the heralded
Wolfenstein 3D? Sadly, there's still no audio in the latest alpha, but rest assured that addition and many, many more are just around the bend. Hit the read link for more details, and best of luck locating your 32X underneath all those other dust-filled boxes in the attic.
[Thanks, Craig]
Continue reading Wolfenstein 3D comes to Sega 32X at long last in homebrew form
Filed under: Gaming
Wolfenstein 3D comes to Sega 32X at long last in homebrew form originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Bang & Olufsen's
BeoSound 5 is only apt to be actually experienced by those with more disposable income than sense (or just loads of cash and a taste for finer things, actually), but even us laypeople can get a quick peek at this $5,900 music server / controller thanks to the wonders of YouTube. Hop on past the break to see what you're missing out on. Or what you're
headed out to pick up today, you lucky, lucky individual.
Continue reading Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 5 music server / controller demoed on video
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 5 music server / controller demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Generally speaking,
Kohjinsha is better known for its dabbling in the
UMPC /
convertible tablet arenas than netbooks, but there's nothing like a retina-searing lime green shell to bring attention to your latest. Reportedly, the outfit has teamed up with famed toy maker
Bandai in order to create a Gachapin and Mukku netbook aimed at kids with no sense of style and a simple desire to smile at all times during the day. As for specs, everything's pretty much par for the course, with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 160GB HDD, 8.9-inch display (1,024 x 600 resolution), WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and 1GB of RAM. We must say, the inclusion of a 1Seg digital TV tuner is a nice touch, and one we're sure your TV-loving youngsters will greatly appreciate. The bad news is that this rig is selling for a whopping ¥79,800 ($866), so you can be certain those fuzzy cartoon characters are getting some serious royalties.
[Via
PortableMonkey]
Filed under: Laptops
Kohjinsha livens up netbook game with shockingly green Gachapin edition originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Tired of waiting for that
NC20, are you? Fret not, as Samsung has apparently hammered out a deal with Amazon to exclusively sell a special edition of the
NC10. As we saw with MSI's
upgrading of the Wind U100, the nicely refreshed NC10 checks in with most of the same specs -- a 10.2 WSVGA display, 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 160GB HDD, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR -- but it does add a few delectable extras for just $50 over the "other" NC10. Most notable is the 5,900mAh 6-cell high capacity battery, which extends the already respectable battery life to a staggering 9.4 hours. Furthermore, the enlarged touchpad should make mousing around a bit easier, and there's also an anti-reflection gloss coating display that may or may not float your boat. Obviously, there's no word on a ship date just yet, but we'd put our money on "sooner," not "later."
[Via
PortableMonkey]
Filed under: Laptops
Special Edition Samsung NC10 gets 6-cell battery, larger touchpad originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments The sketch artist at the Kanagawa, Japan police department must've been on vaca last week -- local authorities there decided to use this shady-looking Mii to try and catch a man suspected of a hit and run. Crude, yet effective -- although something tells us a man with no arms who can still swing a tennis racket might just stand out on his own.
[Via
Danny Choo; thanks Penny]
Update: The local police are apparently
saying they're not responsible for the... uh, "mug shot," so, you know, mad props to the good samaritan out there doing their part to bring this case to a close.
Filed under: Gaming
This Mii is a criminal originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We don't have to caution those familiar with the name "
Meizu" that this may not be what it seems, but we'll do it anyway for those new to the field. The outfit's long, long, long awaited
M8 appears to be on sale now for anyone with $439.99 and a remote desire to own one. However, we
have seen this thing "on sale" before, but outside of
a few anomalous reviews, we haven't actually seen it ship to anyone in the US. In all honesty, we'd love nothing more than for this to be the real deal, but we've a sneaking suspicion that no one with half a brain is going to pull the trigger and pray for arrival. Though, the idea of surfing on top of one's handset is surprisingly enticing, wouldn't you agree?
[Thanks, Lance]
Continue reading Meizu M8 on sale for $440: buy at your own risk
Filed under: Cellphones
Meizu M8 on sale for $440: buy at your own risk originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Verizon's BlackBerry
Storm is getting a little kick in its pricing courtesy of an Amazon rebate-free rebate. The deal here is that the infamous touchscreen BlackBerry is now $99.99 on a two-year stint, no rebate paperwork, no mailing things anywhere, just shell out cash, get phone, call people. Verizon has a buy one get one free thing going on right now, so if you're looking for two Storms for the price of one -- and that one is still $199 -- you can head on over to see them. Everybody happy now?
[Via
geardiary]
Filed under: Cellphones
RIM's BlackBerry Storm shows its cheaper side on Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Rather than waiting for the
KM900 to get lost amongst hundreds of other handsets set to vie for attention at Mobile World Congress, LG has decided it best to go ahead and make its newest touchscreen handset official a few days early. The so-called Arena, which will take the crown as LG's "flagship phone for 2009," is hoping to wow onlookers with its dynamic 3D S-Class user interface. According to Dr. Skott Ahn, president and CEO of LG Mobile: "The direct, intuitive and dynamic S-Class UI will be unlike anything that has appeared on a mobile phone before." We're not quite sure we believe all
that just yet, but there's little doubt this bugger will be keen on multimedia. Other specs include integrated
Dolby /
DivX technology, support for HSDPA 7.2Mbps, WiFi, Assisted GPS and "far more" amenities that should be uncovered in Barcelona. Excited yet?
[Via
UnwiredView, thanks Staska]
Filed under: Cellphones
LG Arena (KM900) pops official, brings along 3D S-Class UI originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments The 10.1-inch
Acer Aspire One D150 has found its way onto Amazon and J&R's websites and is now available for pre-order in blue and black color options, respectively. This version's got the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 6-cell battery, with no word on the 3-cell or 1.66GHz N280 variants. Asking price is three Benjamins and an Ulysses S. Grant, or $350 if you're not into presidential pricing nomenclature. Additionally, the fine folks at
netbooknews.de that gave us
unboxing photos this week have a video hands-on of the laptop. High expectations from the
market leader apparently turned into low marks for the glossy display, small trackpad, and a keyboard that's "separated by universes" -- and not in a good way -- when compared to the
Samsung NC10. Further testing is expected later this week, check out the video after the break.
[Via
iTech News]
Read - Amazon product page
Read - J&R product page
Read - Netbooknews.de video hands-on
Continue reading Acer Aspire One D150 with N270 previewed, now available for US pre-order
Filed under: Laptops
Acer Aspire One D150 with N270 previewed, now available for US pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Panasonic's
HDC-HS300 was unleashed amidst a flurry of other camcorders at CES this year, but according to
Trusted Reviews, it won't be hiding under the shadows of everyone else for long. Rather than bogging you down with details, we'll just get right to the punch -- critics didn't hesitate to suggest that this "could well be the best [consumer] camcorder released all year." The most important aspect (yes, we're talking about image quality) was said to be "nothing short of stunning in virtually all conditions," and low light performance was deemed "particularly amazing." There were plenty of outputs, a swank touchscreen LCD and a very impressive cross-shaped array of microphones that could record 5.1 audio. Add all that up, and you've got a real winner; in fact, these guys suggested that even Canon's stellar line of
VIXIA camcorders should watch closely, 'cause the HS300 is stepping all up in that rarefied air.
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Panasonic's HDC-HS300 HD camcorder reviewed, thoroughly enjoyed originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Oh, the horror! You know, Samsung's
Omnia isn't terribly unique, but we never thought we'd see it knocked off and disrespected like this. Clearly created for use on China Mobile (and by fools who don't actually inspect the devices they buy), the Sumsang Omnia is a GSM smartphone that sports a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, an MP3 player, a 13 megapixel camera (right...), USB connectivity, a couple of games, a microSD card slot and a sure-to-be-counterfeit version of Windows Mobile running the show. Of course, this abomination will only set you back a buck twenty, and hey -- at least this version comes with dual SIM slots!
[Thanks, Derek]
Filed under: Cellphones
Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXXI: Sumsang Omnia can't fool anyone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Because you're not cool unless you've got an app store, Nokia is reportedly set to join the ranks of
Apple,
Palm,
BlackBerry,
Samsung, and pretty much everyone in opening a software portal for its Symbian OS. According to
Mobile-Review editor Eldar Murtazin, the Finnish phone maker's already got it running and is testing behind-the-scenes, with a formal announcement to come at the Mobile World Congress. While we'll have to wait until Barcelona to find out with some degree of certainty, at this point we'd be more surprised to see a company
not open up an online app shop.
[Via
Unwired View]
Filed under: Cellphones
Nokia launching a Symbian app store at MWC? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments
It slipped under the radar this past week, but Dell and Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced a partnership that'll see Dell donate $5 to the foundation for every new Promise Pink laptop it sells. Most of Dell's line is available in the new hue, including the various Inspiron Studios and Minis, the XPS m1330 and m1530 -- hell, even the Latitude E4200 for all you trendster suits out there. Dell's committed to raising at least $250,000 through the program, so it apparently thinks these are going to be quite popular -- we'll know for sure if
this dude trades up to Promise from Flamingo.
[Via
Coolest-gadgets]
Filed under: Laptops
Dell Promise Pink laptops fight breast cancer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments It's been a long, long time since the first information about Dell's update to the venerable XT convertible tablet
snuck out of Texas, and while we got some
choice morsels of information last month, we were still missing any semblance of a release date (that original November 2008 target proved to be a bit optimistic). Now we have what
could be the official spec sheet for the series and a date to boot, confirming much of what we'd heard before, like your choice of 1.2GHz SU9300 or 1.4GHz SU9400 Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, a 12.1-inch multitouch display, up to 5GB of DDR3 memory, and either 80GB worth of platters or 64GB of SSD. Base weight is 3.62 pounds, just over the 3.5 pound
target the company had been aiming for, and if this source is correct the machine will be getting an official unveiling on February 11 -- close enough that we'd advise holding off on any other tablet purchases for a few days.
[Thanks, Sam]
Filed under: Laptops
Dell XT2 specs and availability leaked, launching on Weds? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Remember that alleged Microsoft
MyPhone beta page that popped up on getskybox.com yesterday? It's back up now and being hosted under the company's official domain, with everything apparently intact except that tantalizing "Sign In" button. According to a statement from the gang at Redmond, a limited invite-only beta is in the cards, and more details on the syncing service formerly known as
SkyBox are coming to Mobile World Congress later this month. As for the beta itself, the wording's a bit ambiguous here -- will we just be getting new details on the trial or will the signup actually launch then? Looks like we'll find out for sure in just over a week.
Filed under: Cellphones
Microsoft confirms MyPhone, invite-only beta coming to MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you thought last month's $99 Mini 9 was just too cheap (unlikely), or were scared off by the two year contract that came along with the offer (rather more likely), check out Dell's latest deal. The company is selling its lowest-spec Mini 9n, offering 512MB of memory and Ubuntu installed on a 4GB SSD, for just $249. That's $100 less one went for for last September. Can't live without Windows? You'll still need to pony up another $50, but will at least get an extra 4GB of storage out of the deal. Surely one of these two bargain portables will fit into your budget and your lifestyle, but don't spend too long deciding which -- this deal expires on February 12.
[Thanks, Justin R.]
Filed under: Laptops
Dell's Mini 9 selling for just $249 -- who needs a subsidy? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPhone users in the US have recently been hit with a "carrier update" when they sync with their machines, and a little digging reveals that the package contains two "AT&T M-Cell" carrier logos -- suggesting that Ma Bell's upcoming MicroCell femtocell is close to launch. Still no word on how much the Cisco-sourced hardware will cost when it does arrive and we're still not super-stoked on the idea of paying a monthly fee to improve AT&T's own service, but if you've been patiently waiting to take matters into your own hands, we'd guess you'll be rewarded soon.
[Via TUAW]
Filed under: Cellphones
iPhone Carrier Update hints at AT&T MicroCell coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Developers have been able to get their hands on a
Fonera 2.0 for some time now, but others haven't been able to do much more than stare at their current Fonera and imagine all the USB devices that'd be so much better connected to it. Now folks can at least get a pretty good idea of what's in store courtesy of a demo video from Fon CEO Martin Varsavsky himself (available after the break), which provides a decent overview of the device and includes a couple of new details. From the looks of it, the router delivers as promised, with it able to get along nicely with a whole host of USB devices including hard drives, printers, or a 3G modem, and make use of plug-ins for everything from Flickr to BitTorrent. What's more, while Varsavsky didn't offer too many specifics, he did throw out €50 or €60 as a possible price point, and said that it should be launching in the next 60 days or so.
[Thanks, estqwerty]
Continue reading La Fonera 2.0 gets demoed on video
Filed under: Wireless
La Fonera 2.0 gets demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments In the world of low-end DAPs, it's incredibly tough to find anything worth its salt. Believe it or not, Philips'
GoGear Spark is a so-called "diamond in the rough," with reviewers at
CNET noting that the respectable feature set and skimpy price tag ($49 for 2GB; $59 for 4GB) made it a good bet for those scouting a simplistic player for the gym. Specs wise, the 1.5-inch OLED display and "squeezable edges" make for a unique package, and unlike most bite-sized DAPs, navigating this one proved to be doable, if not enjoyable. We're personally a bit more upset by its limited format support (MP3 and WMA only) than these critics, but again, this probably isn't going to be your primary / only music player. Finally, the stellar sound quality and impressive 27 hour battery life really put the cherry on top, with the Spark netting a 3.5 out of 5 star rating.
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Philips GoGear Spark gets reviewed: a diamond in the rough originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We've
known this was coming, but plenty of you will no doubt be excited to hear it's finally here. That's right, HP's just made MIE installation files available for the
Mini 1000 -- great news if you've wanted to get in on all that MI action. As you can see above, they've unleashed one version to install the recovery tool from an XP machine onto a USB flash drive, and one to install the image from Linux machine to a USB flash drive. There is absolutely no guarantee these images will work with anything other than the Mini 1000, of course, so... watch out!
[Via
GottaBeMobile]
Filed under: Laptops
HP makes MIE installation and recovery files available for download, fun times originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 07:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Anyone's who's bought a car with a built-in nav system knows the pain of seeing their expensive accessory totally eclipsed by even the cheapest external GPS units just a year or two later -- everything from UI to multimedia integration progresses so fast it's almost not worth it. That might change soon, though -- Harman and Mercedes are working on a "hybrid" nav system that combines the easy replaceability of an external PND with the integration and sleek looks of a built-in system. The goal is to build a standard design that can upgraded quickly -- right now OEM systems have to be designed almost three years in advance -- so the screen and controls will be mounted on the dash in a cradle, while a second hidden "processing box" will handle the actual GPS system, music storage and playback, and Bluetooth connectivity. Harman says eventually prices should fall to the point where automakers can compete with aftermarket GPS systems -- we'll see if that hold up when Mercedes ships the new kit in eight vehicles scheduled for the second half of 2010.
[Via
Gearlog]
Filed under: GPS, Transportation
Harman, Mercedes working on modular built-in nav systems originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Simply aping one device at a time has just become
too easy for the cloning labs in the backwoods of China, as evidenced by the two-for-one produced here by QQ. The K805 does its best Zune and iPod impersonation, and amazingly, it does so at the same time. The all too familiar
click wheel is there, yet so is the rectangular design first made
famous by the cats in Redmond. For those looking for the worst of both worlds, you'll be interested in knowing that this here player features a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 resolution display, support for a plethora of files, USB 2.0 connectivity and a microSD card slot for loading up your favorite EMF jam
s. We aren't clued in on a price, but do yourself a favor and pretend you never actually wanted to know.
[Via
DAP Review]
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXX: It's a Zune! It's an iPod! It's a spoof! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments While there's
clearly demand for downloadable music, there's
clearly not enough of it being funneled to Ruckus Network. The oft forgotten music service -- which
somehow reckoned it could take on the likes of Rhapsody, Apple, Microsoft and countless others in the saturated digital download space -- has officially folded. Quite honestly, we're shocked that it managed to hang on for this many years, though we suppose its demise was always just a matter of time. Ruckus' homepage now directs to the image you see above, giving the four avid users no indication of whether any partial refunds or gratis hugs will be given out. Rest in peace, Ruckus -- we're sure you'll find comfort in knowing that you were already dead to 99 percent of us.
[Thanks,
nizzy1115 and Gabriel]
Filed under: Portable Audio
Ruckus music service calls it quits originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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