Filed under: Cellphones

Well, now isn’t this something? Best Buy has its fancy little iPhone 3G, but it’ll be Wally World offering up the G1 outside of official T-Mobile outlets. As we’d heard yesterday, 550 Walmart stores across the country will begin selling the Android-powered handset beginning tomorrow, and folks who opt to pick one up here versus a traditional T-Mob store will save $31.11. Yep — according to company spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien, the new / upgrade-eligible customer price for a Walmart-sourced G1 will be just $148.88 with a 2-year agreement. Wait, what? You already purchased your G1 at the full price? They always said the early bird pays the premium… or something along those lines.

T-Mobile G1 coming to Walmart for $148.88 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

We had a chance to gaze through the wireframe of this 8.1 megapixel Casio W63CA Exilim cellphone back in August courtesy of the FCC’s finest. Now check it in high-gloss, plastic flesh. The latest Japanese super-phone squeezes 480 x 800 pixel into a 3.1-inch OLED display. Let that sink in for a second… the very same 384,000 pixels on a display smaller than the 3.8-inch LCD heralded by the Touch HD. The camera features a wide-angle lens, 9-point auto focus, face detection, anti-shake, and a YouTube video mode that records VGA video at 30fps to microSD. All this in a Japanese-only flip measuring 110 x 50 x 17.4 ~ 22-mm when it launches in early November.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

In a move that seemed like it would never, ever, ever happen, Netflix has finally managed to bring its streaming video technology (and decent library) to Macs everywhere, thanks to Microsoft’s Flash-esque also-ran, Silverlight. It seems that the software will allow the rental house to safely DRM its content where ever it goes via Redmond’s Play Ready, thus leaping the hurdle that has kept some 12,000 movies and TV shows off of non-PC systems. Netflix claims that the new implementaiton in Sliverlight provides “breakthrough navigation for fast-forward and rewind,” though fails to indicate exactly when this is all being rolled out (we assume immediately). Unfortunately for super-duper late adopters, the software will only work with Intel-based Macs, so if you’ve been holding onto a G3 for dear life, here’s one more reason to finally can it, along with your Xbox 360 HD-DVD player, Von Dutch trucker cap, and gas-guzzling Escalade. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Netflix finally brings ‘Watch Instantly’ to Macs via Silverlight

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Filed under: Laptops

We knew more Inspiron Minis were in the works, and Dell’s just officially announced the next member of the family, the Inspiron Mini 12. Yep, the same machine we first spotted all the way back in June, and nothing much has changed in the meantime — you’re looking at either a 1.3GHz Atom Z520 or 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor (a step up from the usual 1.6GHz Atom N270), up to an 80GB drive, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth / WiFi, and that 12-inch, 1280 x 800 display, all in a 2.72-pound package less than one inch thick. The bad news? It’s Japan-only for now, but it’ll hit the States late next month with a starting price under $600. That’s a pretty hot price / performance ratio on paper — if this thing performs like it should, it could potentially take away sales from more full-featured ultraportables like the Envy 133 and the MacBook Air. We’ll see how it goes — the netbook market suddenly got interesting again, eh?

Read - Dell announcement
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Read - Dell Q+A

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Locked in a footrace with AT&T’s Fuze to become the first US national carrier to launch a variant of the HTC Touch Pro, Sprint has announced that folks can start ordering the QWERTY smartphone this week from “select national retailers,” making good on a promise made at CTIA last month. That’s not quite as cool as a full-scale launch, but at least we’ll start to get ‘em in the wild in the next few days — meanwhile, a more full-scale, fanfare-filled launch is planned for November 2 when the Touch Pro is made available online, via phone, and in all Sprint stores. Any Touch Diamond buyers feeling lingering regrets right about now?

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The hopes and dreams for a “summer release” have long since faded, but at least AT&T’s finally agreed to a hard date for the hotly-anticipated Bold: November 4. The news comes courtesy of the company’s earnings call — not the most obvious place to slip in news this big — but at least it’s coming straight from the horse’s mouth.

[Thanks, Joe]

Update: And the press release just slipped out, too — $299.99 on a two-year contract. Yikes!

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/T_Mobile_G1_now_available’; Now that T-Mobile’s systematic discrimination against non-T-Mobile customers (how dare they?) has come to an end, we can all exhale, pull out our credit cards and get to maxin’ out the plastic. That’s right — the Android-powered G1 is now available for sale from T-Mob’s website to all comers, though we’re only seeing the black and bronze models listed at the moment and both are tagged with an ominous “extremely limited availability” label which tells us they probably won’t be there long. $179.99’s the price on two-year contract, and if they do sell out online, don’t sweat it just yet — sweep your local stores today.

[Thanks, Elisha]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Continue reading Apple Q408 results out: 6.9m iPhones sold, record Mac sales UPDATE: Steve answers analysts’ questions

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Making good on a promise it made at the very beginning, Google has today announced that the source code underpinning its Android platform for mobile devices is available for free to anyone who wants a crack at it. The code is being provided through the newly-announced Android Open Source Project, which will give the public at large the opportunity to make contributions to the platform’s all-important core — a first for a mobile operating system with true mass-market appeal. Theoretically, the move should position Android to benefit from a fairly democratic, speedy evolution, and it’ll also give anyone with a few spare chips lying around the chance to build a smartphone of their own without shelling out a dime in licensing fees. We’re really looking forward to seeing Android pop up on a whole bunch of devices for which it was never intended — but we have to admit, in a sick, totally twisted sort of way, we’re looking forward to some truly deranged individual porting Windows Mobile to the G1, too.

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Filed under: Handhelds

Continue reading Intel unveils world’s first working Moorestown MID

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Filed under: Handhelds

Continue reading Intel unveils world’s first working Moorestown MID

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Filed under: Handhelds

Continue reading Intel unveils world’s first working Moorestown MID platform

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Filed under: Gaming

Xbox 360 consoles are already dirt cheap in the US. Now Microsoft has utterly soiled itself through a series of Dell coupons dropping the prices of the Xbox 360 Arcade, Pro, and Elite Holiday Bundles by $30 (now $169), $50 (now $250), and $70 (now $330), respectively, just in time for the holidays. Better yet, we’re talking free shipping and either one or two free game tossed in for grins. Hurry now, the offers expire on Monday and it’s not like you can afford to take the family to grandma’s house this year anyway.

Read — Arcade
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We can’t call it official with a straight face, but seriously, what else could you call it? A not-at-all mysterious Inspiron Mini 12 (1210) has emerged on Dell’s website in the Product Support pages, hinting (and we’re using that as loosely as possible) that a 12-inch netbook could be fast approaching to complement the current Mini 9. We’re talking about a User Manual, Setup Guide, Troubleshooting documents — the whole nine. Packed within the Setup Guide is a nice list of basic specifications, including your choice of an Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 10 / 100 Ethernet, Bluetooth / WiFi, optional WWAN, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, audio in / out, and a 12.1-inch display with a 1,280 x 800 resolution. It’ll also feature a 1.3-megapixel camera, 3- or 6-cell battery and weigh around 2.73-pounds. Oh, and we get the impression there will at least be an option for Ubuntu. Feel free to dig around in the read link for as long as Round Rock keeps it active, and in case everything collapses prior to the formal launch, we’ve screened capped a few looks below.

[Via CMSReport]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

We already saw Panasonic’s 50-inch TH-50PZ80Q plasma doing the tru2way thing at CEDIA 2008, but the official lever has just been pulled in Denver and Chicago. As of today, Comcast’s tru2way platform is active in the aforesaid cities, and the very first tru2way-capable HDTVs are arriving to retail. Eager consumers in the Windy or Mile High City who are ready to ditch the set-top-box altogether without sacrificing VOD and such can polish off their wounded credit cards, as both a 42-inch (TH-42PZ80Q; $1,599.95) and 50-inch (TH-50PZ80Q; $2,999.95) VIERA plasma will be on sale by “late October.” As for the rest of the US anxious to dip in the cool, cool waters of tru2way? A few undisclosed locales should be going live with the service “in the coming months,” though your guess is as good as ours as to what exactly that means.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Tough luck, Mitsubishi and Funai. Big talk is all fine and dandy, but in our world, it’s the results that count. Say hello to Sharp’s AQUOS DX family, the world’s first range of LCD HDTVs to boast internal Blu-ray players. Slated to hit in 26- (LC-26DX1), 32- (LC-32DX1), 37- (LC-37DX1), 42- (LC-42DX1), 46- (LC-46DX1) and 52-inch (LC-52DX1) sizes, the whole lot will come equipped with an integrated HDTV tuner, bottom-mounted speaker and the ability to handle BD flicks sans an external deck. Of note, only the 37-inch through 52-inch sets offer Full HD 1080p resolutions (1,920 x 1,080), as the other two get stuck with “just” 1,366 x 768. Best of all, those in Japan will barely have to wait a month to see these in shops, as the entire crew is destined to ship in late November (in black and white motifs) for around ¥200,000 ($1,963) to ¥500,000 ($4,909) depending on size. As for the rest of the globe? Put on your patience caps.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Gaming

Good news, friends, you won’t have to wait until tomorrow to get at that new Flash 9 support offered up by the PS3 2.50 update: the firmware is available now. Sony tossed in a few other assorted updates like power-saving options and voice chat enhancements, but we’re sure you’ll be too busy watching Doogie Howser, M.D. on Hulu to notice. Happy downloading!

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Filed under: Gaming

Good news, friends, you won’t have to wait until tomorrow to get at that new Flash 9 support offered up by the PS3 2.50 update: the firmware is available now. Sony tossed in a few other assorted updates like power-saving options and voice chat enhancements, but we’re sure you’ll be too busy watching Doogie Howser, M.D. on Hulu to notice. Happy downloading!

Update: PSP 5.00 is available now too.

[Thanks, Tony]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_s_Steve_Jobs_calls_Blu_ray_a_bag_of_hurt’;Straight from El Jobso’s mouth at today’s notebook keynote: “Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It’s great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we’re waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace.” Phil chimed in with “We have the best HD movie and TV options in iTunes.” Damn. As if that weren’t enough to make Mac-lovin’ home theater junkies cringe, Steve also commented (when asked about the dearth of HDMI in his introductions) that HDMI was “limited in resolution,” and Philip Schiller elaborated by saying that “for typical computer use, DisplayPort is the connector of the future.” So, does that mean we can’t count on Blu-ray support in OS X 10.5.6?

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Filed under: Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_introduces_new_MacBook_Pro’; Oh, don’t act so surprised. A refresh of Apple’s long-in-the-tooth MacBook Pro line was pretty much the only sure thing slated for today’s event, and Apple certainly delivered. As for looks, you probably know the score by now: chiclet keyboard, Air-inspired aluminum stylings, and a glossy screen that’s flush with a new iMac-like black bezel (there’s no non-gloss option for the purists out there). What’s new is confirmation of a multi-touch glass trackpad, which suspiciously rids the computer of a single mouse button and adds some new gestures like app switching. Apple’s also put in some effort on slimming down the computer, bringing it down to a mere 0.95-inches thick (though at 5.5 pounds it’s a hair heavier than the original), but much of the real excitement happens under the hood. There’s a new internal structure, that rumored “brick” of aluminum that helps Apple make the new Pro thin, strong and leaves room for the real goodies: the specs. Apple’s using NVIDIA’s new 9400M GPU + chipset 1-2 punch for integrated graphics, supplemented by 9600M GT switchable discreet graphics chip for heavy lifting, and pumping out those graphics over a Mini DisplayPort connector, if you’d like to supplement the LED backlit screen. As expected there’s an SSD option, with drive accessible underneath the battery. The 15.4-inch base model retails for $1999, with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and both GPUs. Step up to $2499 and you get a faster CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD. The 17-inch MacBook Pro comes in a similar configuration with a 2.6GHz processor, starting at $2799, but sans the redesign and GPU love. Hit the jump for a breakdown of the configurations.

Continue reading Apple’s all-new MacBook Pro packs new NVIDIA GPUs, glass trackpad

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