Archive for August 18th, 2009

	120GB PS3 Slim	160GB PS3	80GB PS3
Product code	CECH-2000A	CECH-Pxx	CECH-Kxx / CECH-Lxx
Price	$299.99	$399.99	$299.99
Color	Matte Black	Piano Black (Glossy)	Piano Black (Glossy)
HDD	120GB 2.5-inch SATA	160GB 2.5-inch SATA	80GB 2.5-inch SATA
Dimensions	11.42 x 2.56 x 11.42 in.	12.75 x 3.86 x 10.8 in.	12.75 x 3.86 x 10.8 in.
Weight	7.05 lb.	11 lb.	11 lb.
Power	250W	280W	280W
Vertical Stand	Optional ($24)	Not necessary	Not necessary
Compatibility	PSOne	PSOne, Linux	PSOne, Linux
PS2 compat?	No	No	No
BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC)	Yes	No	No
Bundle	Wireless DualShock 3 controller	Wireless DualShock 3 controller, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, PAIN downloadable game voucher	Wireless DualShock 3 controller

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/playstation/PS3_Slim_sized_up_smaller_deeper_no_Linux_or_PS2′; At this point, would-be PlayStation 3 buyers have two options: wait until next month to get the ultra-hip PS3 Slim model for $300, or plop down that same figure now for its chunkier older brother. As far as we can tell, unless you’re absolutely dying to load Linux or another OS on top of the console, or have some strong aversion to matte finishes, there’s really no incentive to purchase one right now without a more drastic price cut — or if you’re really lucky, perhaps you can find one of the older, discontinued models that can still play PS2 games.

Filed under: Gaming

PS3 Slim sized up: smaller, deeper, no Linux or PS2 compatibility originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a world where print media is collapsing, it would seem that fashion magazines could easily make a case for why they’ll still exist in the future. As great as their content may or may not be, a large part of their success is about seeing the pictures of the hot new fashions. But there’s an online site that arguably does that better too, Polyvore. And they just got a big bag of new money to expand their service.

The service, which just crossed 4 million unique visitors and 150 million pageviews a month, allows web shoppers to pull their favorite items any online store and mix and match to create personalized outfits online. Users can then share their creations with friends, and, most importantly, anyone can then buy the items shown.

Remember those digital home products we saw Lenovo tease yesterday? Yeah, they’re real, and they’re now more official than ever. Kicking things off is the company’s first-ever home server, the IdeaCentre D400, which sort of resembles a certain Acer product and supports up to 8TB of storage via multiple types / sizes of HDDs; there’s also five USB sockets along with an eSATA port for adding even more storage externally. Next up is the IdeaCentre Q100 and NVIDIA Ion-powered Q110 nettops, both of which measure in at just 6- x 6.3- x 0.7-inches and offer plenty of basic power for the size. The WinXP-equipped Q100 hums along on 14 watts when idle (40 watts at full load) and sports a single VGA port, while the Vista-laden Q110 dishes out 1080p content over HDMI; further specs include an Atom 230 CPU, 1GB / 2GB of RAM, 160GB / 250GB hard drives, gigabit Ethernet and WiFi. As for pricing? The D400 should start around $499, the Q100 approximately $249 and the Q110 at $349 when they all ship next month. Feel free to peruse the full press release and specifications after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo debuts IdeaCentre D400 home server, ‘world’s thinnest’ Q100 and Q110 nettops

Filed under: Desktops, Home Entertainment, Storage

Lenovo debuts IdeaCentre D400 home server, ‘world’s thinnest’ Q100 and Q110 nettops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you think the posts about me quitting the iPhone are just a stunt, think again. I’ve been using the TMobile myTouch for a couple of weeks now and haven’t looked back at the iPhone at all (background apps + full Google Voice Integration is awesome). But resident Apple fanboi and general iPhone enthusiast MG Siegler refuses to agree that Android > iPhone. We spend hours debating it internally on Yammer, although mostly we devolve into personal attacks. Comments like the one to the left are about as deep as MG is able to dive.

A thread from earlier today is below. Read from the bottom up – the post I refer to, which basically describes MG perfectly, is here:

It’s been nary a year since the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka “the North”) got its very own 3G network, and now the Daily NK is reporting that — no surprise — cellphone use has taken the capital by storm. “Demand for mobile phones has been increasing” said one source. “Almost 30 percent of Pyongyang citizens seem to be using them.” Still, this is the same country that refers to Kim Jong-Il as “Dear Leader,” so while things are certainly looking up for Pyongyangites, there are any number of restrictions. For instance, not just anybody with disposable income can pick up one of these things — the devices are still off-limits to cadres in the Central Committee of the Party and foreigners. In addition, using two phones simultaneously is illegal, as well as using a phone in someone else’s name. And you thought the T-Mobile store was a pain in the ass? When an individual or a group of workers buy a phone, they must get a stamp from their home village, and then submit an application to the Communications Center — all this for the privilege of having the government listen to their phone calls. There is no word on what phone / phones are available, but we do know that one will cost you between $90 and $120. Charges are reportedly ₩3,000 (around $20) a month for eight hours of talk time, with an additional €15 (also around $20) surcharge if you go over. Service is currently only available in Pyongyang and Sariwon, but apparently the service in Sariwon “kinda sucks.” So really, service is only available in Pyongyang. And you know what? If you’re reading this, you’re probably not in Pyongyang.

Filed under: Cellphones

North Koreans love their spotty cellphone service originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/playstation/Sony_unveils_slimmer_PS3_300_lands_in_September’; Hardly a surprise, but Sony got on stage today at GamesCom and confirmed what we’ve all known deep down in our hearts: the new, slimmer PS3 is really real. It’ll be out in the first week of September (September 1 in North America and Europe, September 3 for Japan), and will retail for $300 (or 300 Euro, or 29,980 Yen). It’s smaller and lighter, has a 120GB HDD, and packs “all the same features” of the regular PS3 while consuming 34 percent less power and taking up 32 percent less space. Existing PS3 SKUs have their prices dropped a hundie apiece tomorrow in anticipation, so be sure to grab a space heater while you’ve still got a shot — though we’re not sure why you’d pay $300 for an 80GB PS3 when you can wait a couple weeks and get 120GB in a cuter package. A couple pics of the unveil are after the break.

The new 3.0 firmware will be released concurrently with the PS3 slim, which should provide a breath of fresh air for existing machines. Other new features of the PS3 slim include BRAVIA Sync, which allows you to control the PS3 XMB over HDMI through your BRAVIA TV remote, and System Standby to shut off the PS3 when the BRAVIA TV is off. Sony also claims this new machine will run more quietly than existing PS3 systems, which is good news for people who like to watch movies or have conversations in the general vicinity of their game console. There’s also a Vertical Stand, which will retail for $24. Not so awesome is Sony’s removal of the Install Other OS feature… farewell, Linux. We hardly knew thee.

Update: We’ve got press shots! Check ‘em all in the gallery below, and be sure to pore over that to-scale comparo pic up top. There’s one from above as well, which reveals that the new model is actual “deeper” than the PS3 fat.

Update 2: Video! Our main man Jack Tretton talks up and shows off his spanking new slim PS3 after the break. We’ve also got a full rundown of the specs for your perusal, and added some new information above.

Continue reading Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September (updated!)

Filed under: Gaming

Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September (updated!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia may have shot down rumors that it was planning to completely replace its Symbian OS with Maemo, but that hasn’t taken all the shine off the mobile OS, and a new, lone screenshot has now surfaced to further stoke those flames of anticipation (it’s okay, you can admit it). As you can see above, however, it’s not exactly the most exciting of screens to capture, but is supposedly the real deal and not just another SDK sourced image.

[Thanks, Eric]

Filed under: Handhelds

New Maemo 5 screen shows fascinating, unique array of settings originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Center’d, the service that looks to help you figure out what to do with your day, has released a new iPhone application that lets you tap into the site’s restaurant, event, and activity recommendation engine on the go. The application is free and you can grab it here.

Center’d competes with sites like Yelp and CitySearch, but instead of simply offering text reviews, the service scours the web for reviews and descriptions and performs semantic analysis on them, allowing you to perform more detailed searches than you could on other sites.

In my testing I found the app’s manual search mode, which lets you search by keywords, to be pretty hit-or-miss. During one search for “large portions” Center’d pulled up a list of matching restaurants, but the app didn’t do a good job explaining why it thought they had large portions (you’d expect it to display any relevant text in its database, but it didn’t).

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Translated into this Twitter world we now live in, that’s like, thousands of characters. Thousands easily beats 140, so the people constantly complaining about Twitter’s brevity need to check out DailyBooth.

What is it? It’s a Twitter-like quick message service, only the main form of communication is pictures. You can send pictures of anything you want, though most users tend to send images of themselves, photo booth-style, and attach messages to them. The result is a crazy amount of interaction in the community. And interestingly enough, unlike Twitter, it seems to be a hotbed for teenage activity.

Sure, Sony’s had plenty of big announcements at Gamescom today, but fans of lowered expectations aren’t out of luck either, as the company’s once again gone back to the paint shop and brought out three new colors for the still-sticking-around PSP-3000. Those include the all new “turquoise blue” and “blossom pink” colors, the former of which will come bundled with LittleBigPlanet, as well as the “lilac purple” model that’s already made an appearance in the US (which’ll also get the same Hannah Montanna Entertainment Pack). Still no word on the new colors getting a release over here, but it looks like folks in Europe will be able to get their hands on them in November.

Filed under: Gaming

Sony announces three new PSP-3000 colors for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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