Archive for November 4th, 2009

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC DROID Eris unboxed and examined: ‘feels much better’ than Sprint Hero originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There wasn’t exactly much secrecy left around this one after ads started popping up online, but Walmart’s now set aside any doubt about its $300 HP G60-519WM laptop with a listing for it on its website, which also thankfully includes the complete specs for it. Apparently built exclusively for Walmart by HP, this particular model packs a 15.6-inch WXGA display, along with previously rumored specs including a 2.2GHz Celeron 900 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a LightScribe DVD burner, and some basic Intel GMA 4500M integrated graphics — not to mention Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition for an OS. Not exactly the worst deal for someone looking for bigger, more full-featured alternative to a netbook, to be sure, but we have a feeling this is just a taste of what’s to come for bargain hunters on Black Friday.

[Via I4U News, thanks Luigi]

Filed under: Laptops

Walmart’s $300 HP G60 laptop gets real, detailed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steve Ballmer might have no idea what’s going on with the Microsoft Courier tablet, but a new set of documents leaked to Gizmodo certainly suggests the product is more than just a couple videos the boss-man hasn’t seen. The images detail the Courier’s unique user interface, which draws on everything from multitouch gestures to pen-based handwriting recognition. The heart of the interface appears to be the Smart Agenda, pictured above, which pulls together all your disparate content like calendar entries, emails, and to-dos into one unified starting place, described as “Cliff Notes” to the Pagestream “novel.” The journal itself appears to be searchable by all kinds of data, including time, location, and tags, and it’s all accessed by a special multi-button pen. There’s also a camera and an offhand mention of “boos and subscriptions,” so it sounds like whoever was dreaming this all up considered using the Courier as an ebook reader as well — which would be totally sweet, given the types of annotations you could do. Of course, none of this is real yet, but we’re hoping against hope — please, Mr. Steve, make our holiday dreams come true?

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Microsoft Courier interface explained in more detail originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No matter how it tries, Intel just can’t shake those pesky antitrust monkeys off its back: the attorney general of New York today filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the chipmaker, saying it unfairly prevented AMD from competing under state and federal law. That’s pretty much what the EU just fined Intel $1.45b for in May and exactly what AMD itself is suing Intel for in Delaware, so we’re guessing things are a little busy for Chipzilla’s lawyers right now — and it’s just going to get worse, as the smart money says this is all just a precursor to the Federal Trade Commission dropping the hammer sometime soon. Hey, maybe this would be a good time to for Intel to distract everyone with some USB 3.0 chipsets?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

New York attorney general files antitrust lawsuit against Intel originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pioneer’s BDR-205 may not be hitting shelves in retail form until early next year, but those who desperately need a Blu-ray burner that outpaces the optical media currently available still have an option. OWC has today updated its long-standing Mercury Pro external BD drive — which boasts FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA connection options — with Pioneer’s latest, giving it the ability to toast BD-Rs at up to 12x. Of course, you’ll need lady luck on your side to actually find any media that’ll support said rate, but hey, there’s always the future. It’s available today for $349.99, or $449.99 if you want Roxio Toast Titanium PRO bundled in.

[Via Macworld]

Filed under: Storage

OWC takes quad-interface Mercury Pro external BD burner to 12x originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not as compellingly styled as the Starck Mobile Hard Drive, nor as ostentatious as the Golden Disk; in fact the Network Space 2 is visually identical to the earlier Network Space, featuring improvements where it counts: on the inside. The Network Space 2 can act as either an external drive over USB or as a NAS, with UPnP, DLNA, and iTunes compliance for media streaming — but that’s old hat. New is integrated torrent support for all of your non-copyrighted download needs and some enhanced eco-friendly tweaks, like the ability to power itself down at certain times of the day then wake-on-LAN when needed. Storage is still capped at 1TB and there’s no RAID in here to protect your infos, but we’re not expecting this one to stray too far from its predecessor’s $160 mark when released before the end of the year.

Continue reading LaCie’s Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futile

Filed under: Software

LaCie’s Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How much would you pay for a netbook? $200 on contract? Maybe as much as $599 for a so-called premium model? How about $699 — a price that doesn’t even include the $19 remote control? Well, what if we told you that the Litl Webbook, a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS that pumps accelerated H.264 content at 720p over HDMI-out, has a unique hinge that allows it to bend backwards and stand upright like an easel? Sorry, no touchscreen… but that display is 12.1-inches and you get Flickr and Facebook content as well as custom “channels” like The Weather Channel displayed in a “fun” and “engaging” way. You can even scroll between content via that baby-blue scrollwheel on the hinge. Not enough? What about the 2GB of storage, 1GB of memory, 820.11b/g WiFi, headphone and USB 2.0 jacks? Still not sold? Us neither.

[Via Netbook News]

Litl Easel Webbook now official, unbelievably overpriced originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Be still, our beating hearts! HTC has just pressed the “Go” button for European and Asian shipping of its latest object of desire, and it’s served notice to American phone lovers that the HD2 is coming to them soon as well. Slated for a “major US carrier” some time “early 2010,” it’ll land squarely in the same time bracket as the XPERIA X10, which should lead to some really quite interesting decisions to be made, presumably by March 2010. The WinMo 6.5 device might be shipping now, but you’ll have to wait at least until the 9th of November before you can spill your Euros for it, and we expect to see a flurry of pricing and contract information filling that short waiting time. Full PR after the break.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Continue reading HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the Motorola DROID debuts in Verizon Wireless stores bright and early this Friday, one nice little feature that won’t be making an appearance yet is tethering, for computing with your laptop on-the-go when that Android 2.0 interface just won’t cut it. We’re pretty sure that missing functionality won’t be lessening the early adopter crowds too much, but if you are so inclined, Gearlog’s confirmed with VZW that its “Broadband Access Connect” tethering plan is indeed coming to the device, but not until sometime early 2010. Now, how about muscling Motorola and / or Google for some of that double-finger pointing our fine European friends get to indulge in?

Filed under: Cellphones

DROID tethering? It’s coming early 2010, says Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The sketchy Apple tablet rumors have continued apace in the past few days, and rather than hit you with each bit of fluff as it comes in, we’re going to be rounding them up from now on. Today’s edition builds on earlier reports that Apple’s trying to drag print media kicking and screaming into the future, with whispers that Apple execs recently met with Australian media execs to pitch them on new ways to distribute their content on a device “small enough to carry in a handbag but too big to fit in a pocket.” Apparently the deal involves a 70/30 revenue split, just like the iPhone App Store — and unlike the insane 30/70 split Amazon demands on the Kindle, which Apple executives called an “unattractive industry structure” during an investor event a few days later. Of course, Apple tends to say it’s not interested in something right before it enters the market, so read that as you will. And finally, China OnTrade today posted up an “Apple iPhone 4 Generation Midboard,” which would be a totally boring piece of plastic with no connection to anything… except these guys managed to score some iPhone 3GS parts way early as well. Is this just junk, or is it is really a new iPhone leaking months and months early? Or maybe just leftovers from a camera-equipped iPod touch that never was? Or… is this also some random part of a new tablet? No one really knows — which is why we’re sticking it all in this post and moving on with our lives.

Read – Apple pitches to Australian media
Read – Apple execs call online print media “unattractive”
Read – China OnTrade iPhone 4 Generation midboard

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Apple tablet rumor roundup: future of media edition originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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