Archive for June 5th, 2009

It’s getting close, people — the Palm Pre officially goes on sale for Sprint Premiere customers tonight at invite-only launch parties around the country, while the rest of us can get in on the action bright and early tomorrow morning at 8AM. Of course, Palm and Sprint have been trying to spin the launch as a bit more low-key than the usual Apple hysteria, and so far it looks like things are pretty quiet — actually, we haven’t heard a peep about lines anywhere so far, which seems a little strange to us. So what’s going on out there? Anyone camping out tonight? Setting multiple alarms? Drinking all night and getting to Best Buy with no pants on? Or is everyone waiting for Monday? Sound off!

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Filed under: Cellphones

Are you getting in line for a Palm Pre? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer’s range of CULV-based Timeline machines should be trickling out to US stores any moment now, and if you’re wondering if any of these are right for you, we’ve rounded up a trio of reviews that are guaranteed to be relevant to your interests. If you’re looking to get the long and short of it, here it is: those seeking great battery life in a relatively affordable package need look no further, but performance junkies should definitely hunt elsewhere. All told, Acer managed to concoct a few machines that’ll go eight hours or so under the right conditions, but none of ‘em will set any records in the benchmarking department. It’s called compromise people — are you willing to make it? Check the links below to help answer that.

Read – PCPro (“Nondescript looks and plodding performance are elevated by absolutely stunning battery life”)
Read – Laptop (“Lightweight design. Eight hours of battery life. Good-enough performance”)
Read – ComputerShopper (“Delivers great battery life in a lightweight chassis; however, comes up short in terms of features and performance”)

Filed under: Laptops

Acer Aspire Timeline review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, Sprint and Palm are hoping the Pre turns the page on their relatively dark recent past, but karma’s a bitch sometimes — the other Palm news this week is that Sprint and Palm have settled a class-action lawsuit alleging the two companies misled customers into thinking there’d be WiFi and Bluetooth accessories for the Treo 600. Remember how crushed we all were when nothing ever hit the market? The pain was almost immeasurable — unless you’re a class-action settlement attorney, in which case you instinctively know anyone who bought a Sprint Treo 600 before October 27, 2004 is owed either a $20 Sprint service credit or a $27.50 credit to be used in Palm’s online store. So, anyone still have their Treo 600 receipts from 2004? Yeah, we didn’t think so.

[Via TamsPalm]

Filed under: Cellphones

Attention Sprint Treo 600 owners: you’re owed $27.50 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This won’t apply to many of you, but just a little public service announcement to members of Sprint’s elite Premier corps: you can get your Pre tonight if you’ve received an invitation to do so and you’re willing to make the trek to one of ten stores around the country where launch parties are being held. Our understanding is that this is strictly an invite-only event and that non-Premier riff raff (and non-Sprint customers) will be turned away, but honestly, if we were in the market for a Pre, we’d probably loiter for a bit just to see what’s up and get a gauge on whether they’re willing to bend the rules — particularly if the Pres end up not selling out by the time the night’s over. Either way, if you want a Pre this weekend you’ll need to leave your basement at some point because the phone won’t be sold online initially — so let us know how it goes out there in the trenches, folks, and we’ll do the same. Stay tuned!

[Image via PreCentral]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm Pres available tonight to invited Premier customers at launch events originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You see, the name “xpPhone” is rather disingenuous here. At first glance, you may assume that you’re about to discover what’s likely the planet’s first cellular telephone to run a full-fledged version of Windows XP. Sadly, we’ve got to slot the device shown above squarely into the MID category — GSM support be darned. Still, we can’t help but applaud the engineering efforts; after all, this thing somehow packs an AMD CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchpanel, WiFi, various cell radios, a 1.3 megapixel camera and a battery good for five solid hours of use into a device barely larger than the average, yawn-inducing MID found in every last corner of Computex. In fact, it’s so impressive that we’re beginning to question its authenticity as a real, working product. Much like the number of licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

xpPhone runs Windows XP, gets costumed as a MID originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aiptek isn’t dishing out a ton of details on these just yet, but the company has two fairly interesting pico projectors on display at CES, including the flask-like, USB-powered T20 model (pictured above), and the T30 (after the break), which is apparently intended for use with iPods and iPhones. About all that’s known about the first of those is that it can display VGA images at sizes up to 42-inches, while the T30 can pump out a slightly larger 50-inch image, and boasts some AV-in recording capabilities — and, presumably, some internal storage, much like the company’s earlier V10 model. Incidentally, that model has also now been upgraded to the V10 Plus (which adds 4GB of memory and H.264 decoding), and Aiptek has also rolled out its new DDV-JF1 pico projector / camera, although that appears to be identical to DigiLife’s model, right down to the model number.

[Via PicoProjector-info.com]

Continue reading Aiptek debuts USB-powered T20 pico projector, T30 model for iPods

Filed under: Displays

Aiptek debuts USB-powered T20 pico projector, T30 model for iPods originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was bound to happen sooner or later — this poor Cowon S9 got the vivisection treatment and the startling pics have been posted in the Anything But iPod forums. And guess what? It’s choc full of tiny components, a little bit of “wax paper or something,” and let’s not forget that world renowned AMOLED touch screen. This endeavor hasn’t been undertaken in vain, however — the good doctor has included tons of pics and step-by-step instructions in case you ever have to conduct the operation yourself. You know, in the name of science.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Cowon S9 gets pulled apart, put back together again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Voice control accessories for the iPod aren’t an entirely new invention, but they’ve often been more expensive than the iPods themselves. While it’s still far from a bargain, this new $85 AITALK adapter for the iPod nano on display at Computex does seem to be one of the more affordable to date, and seemingly just as full-featured as the rest of the options out there. That includes the ability to speak artist and song names in addition to the usual player controls, and support for multiple languages (although it’s not clear exactly which ones). Unfortunately, there’s no word on a release ’round here just yet, but you can get a closer look at the device courtesy of our pals at Engadget Chinese by hitting up the read link below.

Filed under: Portable Audio

AITALK adapter adds voice control to your iPod nano originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t say they look a whole heck of a lot different than the EB-300 and EB-100, but Netronix’s EB-600 and EB-500 are still a push in the right direction. Seen at Computex, these e-readers pack a battery good for 8,000 page turns as well as a 6-inch (EB-600) / 5-inch (EB-500) e-ink display. We were even told that the EB-500 may end up with a slide-out keyboard, but as of now, all we can do is sit Indian style, meditate on the hands-on shots down in the read link and dream of what may some day be.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

Netronix EB-600 and EB-500 e-readers spotted at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Been thinking about settling down with an XP netbook but can’t get the idea of an Android tablet out of your mind? We understand your pain — and so does Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry, which is showing off the Mtube II netbook / tablet at Computex. The slick remix of an HP Mini 1000 runs XP when in netbook configuration, but then switches over to Android on an unspecified ARM processor when the screen is pulled off and used as a tablet. Yes, it’s basically the product most of us have daydreamed about for ages — much like the Touch Book — but there are some tradeoffs here: first, the Atom in the netbook base has been swapped for a VIA C7-M, so it’s not exactly a rocket, and second, the screen is connected by VNC, so video performance isn’t going to be all that great. We’re hoping the additional year of development III says it needs will solve some of those problems, but until then you know we’ll be doodling this thing all through math class. Videos after the break.

Continue reading Mtube II mixes an Android tablet with an XP netbook

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Mtube II mixes an Android tablet with an XP netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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