Archive for July 17th, 2009

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Irony_Amazon_remotely_deletes_copies_of_1984_from_Kindles’; If you’re into keeping tabs on irony, check this out. Amazon apparently sent out its robotic droogs last night, deleting copies of the George Orwell novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four from Kindles without explanation, then refunding the purchase price. As you can imagine, a lot of people caught in the thick of Winston and Julia’s love story aren’t very happy — and rightfully so — the idea that we “own” the things we buy is pretty fundamental to… ownership. We’re not sure exactly what happened, but it seems that the publisher of said novels, MobileReference, has changed its mind about selling content on the Kindle, and poof! Amazon remotely deleted all previously purchased copies. It’s all a bit Orwellian, is it not? Good thing we “permanently borrowed” hard copies of both from our middle school library, huh? Let Hate Week commence.

Update: According to commenters on Amazon, this message was sent out from the company’s customer service department:

The Kindle edition books Animal Farm by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) & Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) by George Orwell. Published by MobileReference (mobi) were removed from the Kindle store and are no longer available for purchase. When this occurred, your purchases were automatically refunded. You can still locate the books in the Kindle store, but each has a status of not yet available. Although a rarity, publishers can decide to pull their content from the Kindle store.

While that publisher’s version of the book may have been removed, it appears other versions of the novels are still available.

Update 2: Drew Herdener, Amazon.com’s Director of Communications, pinged us directly with the following comment, and now things are starting to make a lot more sense. Seems as if the books were added initially by an outfit that didn’t have the rights to the material.

These books were added to our catalog using our self-service platform by a third-party who did not have the rights to the books. When we were notified of this by the rights holder, we removed the illegal copies from our systems and from customers’ devices, and refunded customers. We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances.

Still, what’s upsetting is the idea that something you’ve purchased can be quietly taken back by Amazon with no explanation and no advance notice. It’s a rotten policy, regardless of the motivations behind this particular move.

Filed under: Handhelds

Amazon remotely deletes Orwell e-books from Kindles, unpersons reportedly unhappy (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So plenty has already been said about this, but we’re going to weigh in too because it’s just so ridiculous. Amazon began remotely deleting books from Kindles this morning. Illegal books? Nope. Perfectly legal versions of George Orwell’s “1984″ and “Animal Farm”, purchased through Amazon.

Why? Well, apparently the publisher changed their minds about having digital versions of the books available for the Kindle, reports David Pogue. Okay, that’s up to them — from this point forward. But those who already paid for the books, own them. In a word, this is bullshit.

Seriously, why doesn’t Amazon just come into our houses and burn the print copies as well while they’re at it?

Guess what the Gadget Stork delivered on our doorstep today? A robot baby? No. Better. An actual, real, in-the-Teflon HTC Hero. Let’s just say this — it’s pretty much the sexiest Android device ever created. We’re not going to go into too much detail right now, as we’re planning on delivering a full review next week, but we do want to say that this thing has our eyes glazed over like Scrooge McDuck checking out a pile of gold… if you know what we mean. HTC has truly outdone themselves here, not only with build quality (the thing kind of feels like a luxurious rock in your hand — it’s a good thing), but so far the software seems truly outstanding as well. Of course, we haven’t taken the deep dive yet, so for now, feast your eyes on these photos, and get ready for the main event.

Update: Oh why, HTC? Apparently, this thing ain’t covered in Teflon at all. According to the company’s PR, only the white models are getting the dirt-resistant treatment. We’re guessing the unit we have is just sporting a regular, soft-touch coating. It feels good and all… but now it seems so much less special.

Filed under: Cellphones

The HTC Hero has landed… in our hands originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Collins America may have been first out of the gate with the promise of some non-Apple Mini DisplayPort LCDs back in April, but it never got around to the little business of actually releasing them. That hasn’t stopped the company from coming back with some fresh new promises of updated models, however, and it’s even thrown in a whole new product for good measure. Leading off this batch is the 24-inch CinemaView 24 LCD, which packs a full 1080p resolution, a 2ms response time, a 1,000:1 static contrast ratio, four USB ports, and the same $499 price tag as before. Moving on up considerably is the all new CinemaView 47, which is intended to double as both a TV and PC monitor, and of course packs that same 1080p resolution, along with four USB ports, a 4ms response time, a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, and a significantly higher $1,499 price tag. To go along with it, Collins has also debuted its new $399 CinemaView TV device, which packs dual HD tuners, both Mini DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, picture-in-picture support, and inputs for up to four separate HDMI sources. While things are obviously still subject to change (or disappear), both it and the CinemaView 47 are now slated for release in January, while the CinemaView 24 is supposedly on track for an October release.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Displays

Collins America announces new Mini DisplayPort LCDs, HDTV tuners originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When I first heard that Mastercard was releasing an iPhone app called “Priceless Picks,” I thought for sure it would be a lame gimmick. But I must admit, it’s actually a kind of cool gimmick.

If you’ve ever watched TV, you’ve undoubtedly seen at least a dozen of the Mastercard “Priceless” ads. You know the ones, “So and so consumer items: $5. Such and such memorable moment paid for with your Mastercard: Priceless.” Yeah, now there’s an app for those.

Well not exactly. It’s not like this app is limited to the priceless moments mentioned in the commercials, that would be kind of pointless. Instead this is a social app that allows consumers to point out their best deals at their favorite local spots for all to see. The app uses the iPhone location services to figure out where you are. It then shows you on a map and shows all the deals others have placed around you.

Native Apps, or Web Apps? It’s the great debate of the mobile world right now, essentially fueling the platform wars from behind the scenes. Palm took the Web App route with the Pre and webOS, though with the SDK just now available to all its a bit too early to gauge that decision. The iPhone began its life with Web Apps, only to later open up native support and become the apotheosis of how app development and distribution can be done. Even Google, who will try to jam just about anything into the cloud, is putting a lot of weight behind running things locally on their Android platform.

Still, Google VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra says Web Apps are the way.

Ah, yes… the future. Remember that? That magical land of flying cars, wearable chariots and Robot Apocalypse? Well, none of that has come to pass (yet!) but if researchers at Liverpool University have their way (and all indications are that they will) the next Ford you purchase will use a laser beam ignition system instead of spark plugs. According to The Telegraph (UK), lasers can be split into multiple beams and aimed at multiple ignition points, making the new system much more reliable. In addition, the engine’s cold weather performance is improved — and as the article points out, “this is the time when around 80 per cent of the exhaust emissions are produced and the engine is at is least efficient.” And if that weren’t enough, the laser system produces more stable combustion, using less fuel in the process. Consumers can expect to see this technology hit showrooms “within the next few years.”

[Via Auto Blog]

Filed under: Transportation

Ford to swap out spark plugs for lasers, windshields for googly eyes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It wasn’t too hard to see this one coming, but Microsoft has now officially rolled out the beta version of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 which, among other things, brings with it a slew of new features that tie into Windows 7. That includes support for full image backup of Windows 7 PCs, Windows 7 libraries support for shared media folders, built-in Windows Search 4, and a number of Windows Media Center enhancements, as well as “better support for netbook computers,” although Microsoft doesn’t seem to have elaborated too much on that. No word on a release date for the non-beta version just yet, but Microsoft is apparently hoping to get it out in advance of Windows 7 — and, yes, it will be a free update for current Windows Home Server users.

[Via The Windows Blog]

Filed under: Desktops, Networking, Software

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 beta adds Windows 7 conveniences originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been awhile since we heard anything about Gigabyte’s Booktop M1022 netbook with dock or its tablet pc, the TouchNote T1028 — but it looks like both have finally landed on US shores. If you’ve forgotten, the 10.1-inch Booktop M1022 boasts a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, optional integrated WWAN, VGA output, an Ethernet port, ExpressCard slot, 4-in-1 multicard reader, and its got Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and WiFi.The TouchNote features nearly identical specs, with a swivelling touchscreen panel. The M1022 and the T1028 can both be ordered now on Amazon, for $449 and $599 respectively.

[Via Portable Monkey]
Read – Amazon product page for Booktop M1022
Read – Amazon product page for TouchNote T1028

Filed under: Laptops

Gigabyte Booktop M1022 and TouchNote T1028 tablet PC make their way to US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ultrasone’s been kickin’ out $1.5k headphones for as long as we can remember, and it only takes a glimpse at the Edition 9s from 2006 to see just how far we’ve come. The newest model, curiously titled the Edition 8, was initially announced a few months back, and we’ve just now been able to stuff our cranium between its Ethiopian sheepskin-covered earcups and hear ‘em out. We’ve listened to our fair share of audio products over the years, and we definitely feel as if these are some of the most exquisite we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. Still, with a $1,500 price tag, it’ll take a little more than “yeah, these are pretty wicked” to win us over. Head on past the break for our two pennies.

Continue reading Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones hands-on and impressions

Filed under: Portable Audio

Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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