Archive for September 14th, 2009

Of all the fakeables in consumer electronics, the weekly newspaper ad has to be one of the easiest marks. Still, this one looks pretty legit, and if it’s real it means either we’re getting a much overdue Wii price cut on September 27th, or someone on the Toys R Us ad team has been severely misinformed. If it’s not true and we have to wait another holiday season for the Wii to break the $200 mark, we’re not getting Nintendo that Snuggie we promised it for Christmas — everybody knows only good little boys, girls and multinational game companies get presents.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Wii getting $50 price drop this month? One Toys R Us ad seems to think so originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure you can monitor your home energy use with any number of “useful” and “easily readable” gauges and gadgets, but why settle for straightforwardness when you can have something verging on art? That’s the thinking behind the so-called Visual Voltage exhibition created by a group of Swedish designers, anyway, which features this eye-catching clock-like device front and center. As with other energy monitors, it promises to do nothing more than monitor your daily electricity use and let you know when you’re using more than you should. Instead of spewing out a series of digits and blinkin’ lights, however, this one creates a nifty visualization of your homes daily energy rhythms to attract a bit more attention — or it will if it ever turns into an actual product, that is. The designers aren’t stopping there with the whole “visual voltage” idea tough, and are also showing off a power cord that lights up when in use, and a concept for a set of solar-powered blinds that can absorb energy during the day and provide ambient light at night (check it out after the break).

[Via Engadget German]

Continue reading Visual Voltage clock turns electricity monitoring into art

Filed under: Household

Visual Voltage clock turns electricity monitoring into art originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for HTC Hero early adopters: HTC has a new firmware update out now for the device, and it considerably speeds up the interface if the multitude of reports to be found on the internet can be believed. Seeing as this was the number one gripe with the overall excellent UI, we’re incredibly glad HTC has gotten work on this, and we’ll be spending some more time with the device to return our newly tinted impressions. There’s a video after the break demonstrating changes, and most actions seems quite a bit quicker and smoother, all the way down to opening and closing the apps menu, and sliding between home screens. The update doesn’t really include much else in the way of features, but since it’s addressing the main pain point of the phone, we sure don’t mind — and neither will Sprint users, who we suppose will be getting this newly improved interface right out of the gate.

[Via Gizmodo]

Continue reading HTC Hero firmware update peps up the Sense Experience to something usable

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Hero firmware update peps up the Sense Experience to something usable originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been well over two years since high-end audio outfit Bowers & Wilkins introduced the iPod-lovin’ Zeppelin, and evidently it’s time for a downsizing. Today, the good folks over at B&W slung out the Zeppelin Mini, which promises the same dirigible-inspired sound but in a form factor that fits in a wider assortment of areas. To be honest, this version seems toned down quite a bit on the design side, with the key differentiating features being an updated docking arm and the addition of USB connectivity. Said socket enables direct PC / Mac streaming if your iPod gets lost, and it also enables your ‘Pod to sync with your computer whilst playing back tunes. As for specs, you’ll find a pair of 3-inch full-range drivers, 36 total watts of power, a 3.5 millimeter auxiliary jack and a bundled remote. It’s expected to hit next month for £299 ($495), but you can get acquainted right now by jumping past the break and mashing play.

[Via Macworld]

Continue reading Bowers & Wilkins downsizes with Zeppelin Mini iPod speaker

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Bowers & Wilkins downsizes with Zeppelin Mini iPod speaker originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Transportation

Steenstra Styletto all-electric vehicle gives Tesla a run for its money originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No shock here, but it seems as if the Zune world as we know it has closed up for the day. The Zune homepage is currently displaying the banner shown above, while a good number of our tipsters and staffers have confirmed that signing into Zune Marketplace is impossible. Of course, it’s not like a major new product (and software update, most probably) is slated to officially ship on September 15th or anything, so we’d say a little patience could go a long ways here.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Zune portals close up shop for the day, should re-open with Zune HD launch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple breaking support for third-party devices in iTunes may not have been all that unexpected, but you’d think it’d have support for its own products lined up before pushing a major update out the door — especially something that it had already broken with the last major iTunes update. AirTunes users apparently aren’t that lucky, however, as reports are now cropping up that iTunes 9 is breaking connections with the home audio streaming service left and right — although at least a few people seem to be reporting only intermittent problems. No word from Apple itself just yet but, if the last go ’round is any indication, it should have a fix for the problem sooner or later. In the meantime, feel free to relay your tales of AirTunes woe in the comments.

[Thanks, Sami K]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

iTunes 9 breaking AirTunes connections? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pinky and the Brain were consulted, and you can rest assured they were both highly supportive of Clearwire’s latest initiative. Announced today in cooperation with Russia’s Yota and Japan’s UQ Communications, Clearwire has banged out a memorandum of understanding with the aforesaid WiMAX carriers that “identifies the objectives and activities each operator will perform towards the realization of establishing WiMAX roaming between the [two].” With translators in tow, the trio are hoping to define and institute the necessary processes that’ll ensure devices from each carrier works on the other’s network, and while American’s probably couldn’t care less about these two operators in particular, it’s the thought that counts. Just imagine — 4G global roaming at a decent price point. That, friends, is the future.

Filed under: Wireless

Clearwire eyes global WiMAX roaming agreement, Kanye blurts out: ‘LTE is better!’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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People of Earth — we wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out to the first-ever taping of The Engadget Show last night! We couldn’t have asked for a better crowd, and Jon Rubinstein was an amazing first guest. We’re going to have the full video on the site this week, but if you can’t wait till then, the folks over at Gear Patrol took some photos and did a writeup, and Weblogs Inc.’s director Brad Hill snapped some great pictures as well — hit the links below and check it all out.

Note: If you were in the audience and want to know how to get your Touchstone, we’ll have all that info in the video post!

Read – GP Events: The Engadget Show
Read – Brad’s photos

Filed under: Announcements

Thanks for coming out to The Engadget Show! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve enjoyed seeing what INQ is bringing to the featurephone space, most recently with the Facebook and Twitter-centric INQ Mini 3G and INQ Chat handsets (which still haven’t been announced for the States), but things are getting a lot more interesting on word that INQ is going to be using Android for upcoming touchscreen smartphones. We’re guessing INQ will be blending its Synergy-style blended social networking capabilities with traditional Android goodness, much in the way HTC and now Motorola are approaching Android. So far all INQ is saying is that Android hasn’t done well against the iPhone so far, and that “you need to get the experience better,” promising “cool things” in response to this self-defined challenge. You know what else is a “cool thing”? America.

Filed under: Cellphones

INQ picks Android for upcoming touchscreen handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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