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Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - Posts
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Freeplay's ZipCharge has already made its debut, but it's showing itself once more at Mobile World Congress now that it has a definitive ship date and price. For those out of the loop, this here power stick can charge up in just ten minutes, and the supplied cable provides all sorts of tips to juice up whatever random gadget you have laying around (Palm's Foleo notwithstanding). The device is expected to splash down on store shelves this April for around £60 ($85), and you can peek a few more hands-on shots in the read link below. Filed under: Peripherals Freeplay's ZipCharge spotted, priced and dated originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Not to be outdone by Sony, Samsung, or FujiFilm, Canon has unveiled nearly a dozen digital cameras bound for the US ahead of March's PMA. Of the ten, the big guy is that 10 megapixel SX1 IS we originally heard about last September, which sports 1080p Full HD movie mode and a built-in HDMI connector. Not too far off is the SX200, SD970 and the already-leaked SD960 / SD780, which all record 720p and also feature HDMI ports. The more rugged D10 boasts it's freeze proof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, shockproof up to four feet, and can withstand depths up to 33 feet deep. As for the rest, well, they've certainly got more appealing price tags. Full rundown of the specs after the break. Continue reading Canon PowerShot SX1 IS coming to US in April, nine others unveiled Filed under: Digital Cameras Canon PowerShot SX1 IS coming to US in April, nine others unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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As Marlin Perkins used to remind us on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, naturalists have observed as many variations of the common frameus digitalus in nature as they have mammals of the felidae family. We've seen digiframes that are actually routers, digiframes that scan your old non-digital snapshots, and (sadly) digiframes that come pre-infected with a Trojan Horse or two. Doing its part for biodiversity, Digital Foci is back with what it calls a "Photo Book" -- another way of saying that they've put a digital photo frame in a "soft leather-like case," making for "a convenient, elegant photo display." The one interesting development here is support for RAW images -- otherwise, this is just another $189 / 8-inch / 800 x 600 / 4GB digiframe. In addition to all that, this guy supports the usual bevy of file formats (JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, MP3, AAC, WMA, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-4 SP) and boasts 2.5 hours of battery life. Wake up, guys -- there is some PR jazz for you after the break. Continue reading Digital Foci's Photo Book displays RAW files, at home and in the wild Filed under: Displays Digital Foci's Photo Book displays RAW files, at home and in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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We still don't know whether to call it the Sidekick 2009 or the Sidekick Blade, but either way, T-Mobile's upcoming hiptop has finally been caught on camera, looking just as it did in a survey from last month and later via render. Unfortunately, we can't glean any specs from the image, but the aforementioned questionnaire listed 3G, a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera, microSD card slot, and GPS with turn-by-turn navigation. Alright, Danger, you've made us believers -- now give us some official press shots to gaze upon lovingly. Filed under: Cellphones Sidekick 2009 caught strutting its stuff in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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In June 2008, Microsoft released three tools to help IT administrators, DB administrators, and Web developers prevent and mitigate SQL injection attacks. Now, the software giant is trying to do the same with a tool to fight Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that adds an extra layer of defense.
The Dynamic IP Restrictions Extension beta integrates seamlessly into Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0. The beta is available in 32-bit (655 KB) and 64-bit (739 KB) flavors. The tool is mainly for IT Professionals and Hosters who want a configurable module to help them mitigate/block DoS Attacks or cracking of passwords through brute-force by temporarily blocking IP addresses of HTTP clients who follow a malicious pattern. Analysis and blocking can be done at the Web Server or the Web Site level. Since the extension also offers the same functionality that exists in IIS 7.0 built-in IPv4 and Domain Restrictions, it is provided as a replacement for that component.
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Google is fast replacing Microsoft as everybody's favorite antitrust target. Even the U.S. Justice Department last fall indicated it was ready to file an antitrust lawsuit against the search giant if it went ahead with its proposed search ad deal... 
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These aren't completely official just yet, but an impromptu appearance on Canon's own website certainly seems to indicate that the company's new PowerShot SD780 IS and SD960 IS should be getting the official treatment sooner rather than later. Both of these are 12-megapixel compacts and, most notably, each pack an HD movie mode (720p) and the requisite HDMI port to go along with it, along with Canon's trademark DIGIC IV image processor, and a 3x optical zoom on the SD780 (pictured above) and a 4x on the slightly larger SD960 (after the break). Unfortunately, there's no indication of a price, but both are apparently on track for a release sometime in April in a range of colors. Oh, and as if those weren't enough, we've also seen a stable of new models names leaked, though there aren't any images to back these up: A480, A1100 IS, A2100 IS, SD780 IS, SD960 IS, SD1200 IS, SX1 IS and SX200 IS. Is PMA just around the bend, or what? [Thanks, Craig] Read - PowerShot leaks Read - Model name leaks Continue reading Canon PowerShot SD780 IS, SD960 IS make brief, semi-official debut Filed under: Digital Cameras Canon PowerShot SD780 IS, SD960 IS make brief, semi-official debut originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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ZDNet has spotted a note on the Microsoft Help and Support website that announces Microsoft will keep its legacy support pricing at 2008 levels for Custom Support Agreements through the rest of this year, apparently to help customers control costs during the recession. "The global economic downturn has adversely affected businesses in every geography and sector. Microsoft understands that customers have to make difficult fiscal decisions on a daily basis in this turbulent economy. Therefore, in response to the feedback provided by valued customers, Microsoft is announcing flat year-over-year (YOY) pricing for Custom Support in 2009," the statement starts off.
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Samsung sure has made some high claims about its OmniaHD supermegaphone, and now we've got some HD footage and stills to put those claims to the test. The camera does seem pretty stellar for a phone, and the video is undoubtedly HD, but we saw pretty sluggish performance in the HD recording mode, both in the on-screen preview and in the finished product. We'll chalk that up to the super-early build of the device software, but hopefully this will be resolved before the phone ships. The phone also does ultra-slowmotion video, which is awesome, but seems similarly inconsistent and stuttery in frame rate. We'll shut up and let you see it all for yourself, both in the gallery below and the videos after the break. Again, this is all from a pre-production phone, and we're really expecting (or at least hoping for) the frame rate to smooth out by launch. The video was shot in 720p, but it was downsampled for web playback -- it looks pretty sharp in native form, and the first image in the gallery is a screencap from the video in full resolution for your perusal. Continue reading Samsung OmniaHD's camera put to the test Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Handhelds, HDTV Samsung OmniaHD's camera put to the test originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The battery on the now-shipping 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro may not be removable for average, warranty-abiding users, but that didn't stop the folks at iFixit from removing it and just about everything else that isn't soldered on. As you might expect, however, apart from that over-sized battery, the internals aren't too different from the 15-inch unibody MacBook Pro, although the 17-incher unsurprisingly has a pair of noticeably larger fans to keep everything cool, and iFixit describes the component density as "amazing." Hit up the link below for the complete teardown, and try your best not to imagine a matte black MacBook Pro after catching sight of that battery. [Via Mac Rumors] Filed under: Laptops 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro gets disassembled, examined originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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The Windows Home Server parade has slowed to a crawl, but we figure we speak for each and every streaming media lover out there when we invite more companies to give this whole thing a go. CyberPower, a firm that generally sticks to gaming towers, has apparently done just that with its Windows Home Server 100, a plainly styled SFF machine that automatically backs up local PCs and provides networked access to all sorts of files. But for those who look closely, you'll realize that the model name here is just coincidental, as it's "Windows 2003 Server OEM version" running the show. If you're still interested, the rig boasts a 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, a mini-ITX motherboard, GMA 950 graphics, gigabit Ethernet, a 500GB SATA II hard drive and 2GB of DDR2 memory. Shame on you for getting our hopes up, CyberPower. Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage CyberPower intros Atom-powered Windows Home Server 100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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In order for the correct user base to be able to see all the support information they need in the places they visit anyway, Microsoft today started to move its Developer and IT Professional primary support content, also known as Knowledge Base (KB) articles, from support.microsoft.com to MSDN and TechNet, respectively. The average user will likely not be affected by this change. Even though the relevant websites that provide support for IT Pros and developers will now be directed to TechNet or MSDN, content is still staying on the Microsoft.com domain since msdn.com and technet.com started to redirect in 2008.
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Toshiba's Qosmio X305-Q725, which was unveiled amidst a flurry of other gizmos at CES, boasts the same incredibly controversial motif as the higher-end X305-Q708, but with an MSRP of $2,700 (versus $4,200 on the Q708), it's at least a wee bit more affordable. The benchmarking crew over at HotHardware decided to put this newer, marginally more affordable iteration to the test in order to see if it still performed under pressure, and by and large, it did. While it couldn't go toe-to-toe with higher-end desktops, the GeForce 9800M GTX GPU, quad-core processor and SSD helped it to blaze through everyday tasks and hold its own in the gaming arena. Our biggest issue is the omission of a 1,920 x 1,200 display, but we suppose that's why there's the more expensive alternative. Hit up the read link for pages upon pages of test results and impressions. Filed under: Laptops Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 reviewed: a nice performer, but it's still ugly originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Now that Apple is allowing third-party browsers into the App Store, Safari alternatives are cropping up almost as quickly as fart apps, sans the lack of utility. While most of these browsers seem to be stricken with an anorexic case of the "me toos," Full Screen Web Browser (iTunes link) by SOPODS.com offers some compelling features over the iPhone's incumbent.
To get the headlining feature of Full Screen Web Browser (FSWB) out of the way, it offers a truly, erm, full screen Web browser. Starting up FSWB reveals a slim address bar at the top and a spartan, translucent toolbar at the bottom as the default Google homepage loads. That's right: I said default homepage. You can change your homepage in the Settings app (loss of 10 points for following Apple's Human Interface Misguide here), and this page loads each time you start FSWB. You hear that, Apple? Someone created an iPhone browser and actually remembered that homepages exist. Astounding!
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We just stopped by TechnoSource's booth at the Toy Fair to check out its just-announced Rubik's TouchCube, a fully touch-sensitive update on the old classic Rubik's Cube. The new model boasts a few features the old one did not (besides the lights and touchscreen), namely undo and hint options if you get stumped. Each of its six sides are touch-sensitive, and the cube's got an internal accelerometer so that it only recognizes the touching going on on the top side of the cube. It also remembers your place even if you turn it off -- great for those of us who will likely spend years trying to solve it just once. The Rubik's TouchCube is going to hit shelves this fall for $149.99. Check the gallery and video demo after the break Continue reading Rubik's TouchCube hands-on and video Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Rubik's TouchCube hands-on and video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Usually, it's Apple who has the problem with a potential app. Now, it's The Man taking issue with one that Cupertino deemed fit for distribution. Nevada gaming officials have been tipped off a card counting application that can be installed on the iPhone and iPod touch, which would obviously give Blackjack gamers an upper-hand over the system. According to control board member Randy Sayre, using a device to "aid in the counting of cards is considered a felony under Nevada laws governing cheating," and considering that the program can even be used in "stealth mode," it could be easy to miss unless you're really on the lookout. Of course, it's up to individual casinos to determine their policies on cellphones, but if you were planning to counter this recession by racking up on ten straight 21s this weekend, you might want to seriously consider the consequences first. [Via TUAW] Filed under: Cellphones Card counting iPhone app frowned upon in Vegas originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Microsoft's mansion at Mobile World Congress contains -- among other things -- a playground of recent Windows Mobile-powered models designed to show off its licensees' collective design and manufacturing prowess. By and large, the models were nothing we haven't known about for days, months, or years, but one stood out for us: this here Samsung Valencia. We've heard of this sucker through Expansys as the C6625 with a $365 sticker price -- but Samsung doesn't seem to know anything about it and it's only being shown by Microsoft, so we suppose they've opted against an unveiling here at the show. Microsoft's spec sheet indicates that it's got 3G (which jibes with Expansys' details), GPS, 128MB each of RAM and ROM, a totally pedestrian QVGA display, and a 393MHz processor -- slow for a Professional device, yes, but this sucker's Standard with some minor UI mods. One thing that's got us a little confused is the line item indicating 20GB of storage -- something tells us that a phone with these kinds of specs wouldn't be packing 20GB on board, so it might refer to a theoretical max of 20GB with the microSD maxed out. We're not losing sleep over the missing announcement with this one, guys, so don't sweat it or anything.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Samsung Valencia outed by Microsoft, not Samsung originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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 Well, this is certainly interesting. Just a couple of days after a top European Union commissioner mused about the need for a universal cellphone charger, the GSM Association has now come out and announced that it and 17 of its partner companies are indeed working on such a solution, and that they plan to have a common format in place by 2012. That rather ambitious date will be a bit easier to meet considering the group's choice of connector, micro-USB, which has already gained quite a bit of acceptance as a common format. The use of micro-USB apparently won't be firm requirement by 2012, however, with the GSMA simply saying that the "majority" of new phones sold by then will support what they're describing as the universal charging solution (or UCS), which itself will have to meet a number of strict requirements in order to be broadly compatible. Of course, while everyone including the likes of Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson have signed on with the GSMA, there are a few big names absent, not the least of which, unsurprisingly, is Apple, so there's certainly still quite a ways to go before we have a truly universal standard. [Via BBC News] Filed under: Cellphones GSM Association sets 2012 target date for universal cellphone charger originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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 It's not exactly a huge surprise at this point, but Fujitsu and Toshiba have announced today that they've signed a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of Fujitsu's hard drive business to Toshiba, and that they plan to conclude a transfer contract "at an early date." To make the transition as smooth as possible, Fujitsu says it'll spinning off all its HDD-related business into a separate company in the interim, which Toshiba will buy an 80 percent stake in and make a Toshiba Group subsidiary. Then, once things are fully transitioned, Toshiba will buy up the remaining 20 percent and make the company a wholly owned subsidiary. Notably absent from today's announcement, however, is any word of a dollar figure, though previous reports had pegged the deal at anywhere from $335 to $447 million. Toshiba also doesn't seem like it'll be resting on its laurels once the deal is complete, saying that it hopes to increase its overall HDD market share 20 percent by the year 2015. Filed under: Storage Fujitsu and Toshiba reach agreement on hard drive business deal originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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While scavenging for pricey handsets to hang on the gilded walls at the Mansion, we luckily bumped into one Alexander Amosu, of Amosu fame. The Amosu brand is synonymous with gold, encrusted and dripping with gemstones, and most of all, pricey. In his bag of tricks we found three fully-kitted BlackBerry Bolds, a pink iPhone, and an iced Motorola Aura. If you lined them up on a table -- which, of course, we did -- you'd be looking at some 12 plus carats and a price tag somewhere up around 50k. Sure, we're normally harsh on these types of things, but seeing them up close, we could almost kinda get it. Huge sparkling gallery after the break, so if you have shades, now's the time to don them.
Filed under: Cellphones Amosu hands-on: pink, pricey, and plenty of diamonds originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Okay, this one's a little late today -- but better late then never. Right? Right? Right. Anyhow, we know that you're being crushed under the seemingly endless weight of economic despair and financial strife, and we want to help. That's why Engadget is giving away one thing every day until we run out of stuff and / or companies stop giving us products to hand out. It's our little way of putting the recess back in recession! Today you'll be playing for a Roku Netflix Player, so read the full rules below, and start commenting! Special thanks to Roku for providing the gear!
The rules:
- Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too.
- You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
- If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
- Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one Roku Netflix Player. Approximate value is $99.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
- Entries can be submitted until Tuesday, February 17th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
- Full rules can be found here.
Filed under: Announcements Engadget's recession antidote: win a Roku Netflix Player! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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 Right around this time last year, Texas Instruments was busy showing off its OMAP 3 platform, which enabled 720p playback from a mobile phone. At this year's MWC, we've got a real live handset recording 720p, and TI upping the ante once more with a chip that handles 1080p. For those still with us after being blasted with resolutions, the predictably titled OMAP 4 aims to bring 1080p support, 20 megapixel imaging and "approximately a week of audio play time" to mobiles and MIDs that house it. Granted, TI also calls this stuff "future-proof," so don't believe it's totally incapable of uttering some pretty outlandish stuff. At the heart of the platform is a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 chip, a programmable multimedia engine based on TI's C64x DSP and a POWERVR SGX540 graphics engine. We're told that it'll play nice with Linux variants such as Android and LiMo, Symbian and Windows Mobile, though it'll have to be mighty impressive to outgun NVIDIA's Tegra. Battle on, we say. [Via Linux Devices] Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds TI's OMAP 4 bringing 1080p support to smartphones and MIDs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Despite the fact that LTE looks to be the de facto standard for next-gen mobile data, ASUS has an unwavering love affair with WiMAX. In fact, we've already seen the company introduce a WiMAX-equipped laptop, and a WiMAX-enabled Eee PC was demoed way back at CES 2008. That said, the company is just now getting around to producing a new one for the adoring public, but for whatever reason, it's not even boasting about it. Tucked deep, deep within a release gloating about the Eee PC 1003HA and T91's ability to handle Windows 7 Beta is the promise of an Eee PC 1000HG. Said netbook will include both WiMAX and WiFi capabilities -- or, more specifically, IEEE 802.16e, WAVE2 and WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n support in the 2.4GHz~2.7GHz and 5.1GHz~5.8GHz bands. Of course, "future" could mean "we'll release this in late 2019," but we're banking on hearing more details sooner rather than later. Filed under: Laptops ASUS announces WiMAX-equipped Eee PC 1000HG originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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We associate the Hyundai name more closely with cars and ten-year warranties than we do phones in these parts of the world, but Hyundai Mobile does a little business selling low-cost phones in parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (cars... phones... right, makes sense). We had a chance to check out some of the offerings today, and yeah, let's just put it this way: some of these devices are a bit off the beaten path. Pictured above from left to right are the MB-400 (bearing absolutely no resemblance to any existing device), the MB-910 touchscreen watch phone, and the lovely MB-105 "Chico" (which -- interesting fact -- features a whopping 50-message SMS storage capacity). The Chico wasn't functional for us, but follow the break for some hands-on time with the unfortunate iPod rip and one of the nicer watch phones we've seen come to market. Odd couple, isn't it?
Continue reading Hyundai's phones are creatively ridiculous Filed under: Cellphones Hyundai's phones are creatively ridiculous originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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LG was all too happy to show this one off at CES in January, but it wasn't quite ready to talk about it any sort of official manner, though it has now finally rectified that situation more than a month later at MWC. From the looks of it, the netbook seems to be unchanged from its CES iteration, with it packing a 160GB hard drive, the Splashtop-powered LG "Smart On" quick-boot interface and, we presume, the same 10-inch WSVGA display and de rigeur 1.6GHz Atom processor as before. Most notably, LG has also now confirmed that the X120 will indeed come equipped with standard 3G HSPA connectivity, which is no doubt why LG took advantage of MWC to finally get official with it. If you missed it the first time around, be sure to check out our CES hands-on for plenty of pics and a video of that quick-boot in action. [Via Liliputing] Filed under: Laptops LG gets official with 3G-equipped X120 netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Acer made a lot of noise about launching "eight" handsets yesterday, but we only got hard details on the four Tempos -- which was probably the wrong way to go, because the prototypes of the F1, white C1, L1, and the E1 due to launch later this year are way hotter. Too bad Acer won't turn 'em on or tell us anything about them -- we can see the F1 has a five megapixel camera, but the lack of a Windows Mobile 6.5-required hardware Start button on any of these doesn't bode well. Check 'em all out in the gallery. Filed under: Cellphones Acer's four other phones in the flesh, not powered on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It's official, folks -- PMA is on. Er, almost on. At any rate, it's on enough for Sony, FujiFilm and Samsung to dole out a smattering of new cams today in their respective lineups. Today, Sony is introducing five new Cyber-shot models, all of which seek to remove the burden of taking the perfect picture from you. The DSC-T900, DSC-T90, DSC-W290 and DSC-H20 all feature an intelligent auto mode, which automatically detects scene conditions and adjusts settings to best take advantage of the situation. The whole April-bound lot sports Optical SteadyShot and Smile Sutter, while the W290, H20, T90 and T900 all feature 720p movie recording at 30fps. Here's a rundown of the specs for each:
- DSC-W230: 12.1 megapixels, 4x (30mm) Carl Zeiss optical zoom lens, 3-inch LCD; available in silver, black, blue and red for about $200.
- DSC-W290: 12.1 megapixels, 5x (28mm) Carl Zeiss optical zoom lens, 3-inch LCD; available in silver, black, blue and bronze for $250
- DSC-T90: 12.1 megapixels, 4x Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar optical zoom, 3-inch touchscreen LCD; available in silver, black, pink, blue and brown for $300
- DSC-T900: 12.1 megapixels, 4x Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar optical zoom, 3.5-inch Xtra Fine touchscreen LCD; available in silver, black, red and bronze for $380
- DSC-H20: 10.1 megapixels, 10x Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar optical zoom, 3-inch LCD; available in black for about $280
Filed under: Digital Cameras Sony's Cyber-shot T900, T90, W290, W230 and H20 do the thinking for you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Acer's new Tempo lineup of middling Windows Mobile 6.1 sets isn't going to steal the show from the TG01, the OmniaHD, or the Magic, but it's not like they're total failures -- they're just way behind the curve. Engadget Spanish did the honors, and it looks like Acer would have been better off spending the time getting these ready to ship with 6.5 instead of the amusingly quaint Microsoft Bob-like Acer Shell it's come up with to skin 6.1 -- all it's missing is the dog. Add in a general sense of lagginess and a stubborn resistive touchscreen, and we'd say this round is better off skipped. So much for those budding Acer fanboys. More galleries and a video after the break. Continue reading Acer F900, M900, X960, and DX900 hands-on with video Filed under: Cellphones Acer F900, M900, X960, and DX900 hands-on with video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Whatever Samsung can do, FujiFilm can do better -- right? It is if you ask the latter company, which has matched Sammy's new SL offerings with five new models in the FinePix point-and-shoot range. Up first is the Z33WP -- FujiFilm's first waterproof digital camera -- which sports a 10 megapixel sensor, a 2.7-inch LCD monitor, 3x optical zoom and a green, black or pink shell. Moving on, we've got the 10 megapixel Z30, which aims at tweens with its black, pink and orange color options and goes par for the course with a 3x optical zoom and 2.7-inch display. The S1500 is a 10 megapixel megazoom (12x optical), which features Dual Image Stabilization and SR AUTO Automatic Scene Recognition. Lastly, the J20 and J250 both check in at just 17.4mm thick and claim a 10 megapixel sensor; the J20 has a 2.7-inch LCD, while the J250 ups it to 3-inches even. No mention of pricing or release dates, but we'd expect 'em all on hand at PMA next month. Filed under: Digital Cameras FujiFilm delivers five new FinePix cameras: Z33WP, Z30, S1500, J20, J250 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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We guess those bailout talks with DirecTV weren't so futile after all, huh? The satcaster's parent company, Liberty Media, has just stepped in to rescue Sirius XM from the clutches of bankruptcy, providing a $530 million life raft that it will use to pay off looming debt payments and keep operations humming. Liberty will write a $280 million check immediately, of which $171 million will go straight to debtors. Another round of funding (to the tune of $250 million) will be available to Sirius XM in order to "help it pay its debts and ward off a potential takeover of Sirius by Charlie Ergen's DISH Network." In return for this mighty appreciated favor, Liberty Media will own 12.5 million shares of preferred stock in Sirius XM, which it can convert into common stock should it so choose. Also of note, founder John Malone and Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei are likely to join Sirius XM's board of directors. Is that a collective sign of relief we just heard, or what? [Via Denver Business Journal, thanks Michael] Filed under: Portable Audio Liberty Media rescues Sirius XM from bankruptcy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/NVIDIA_Tegra_in_the_flesh'; NVIDIA really has a technical wonder in the Tegra APX 2600 chipset, and is more than happy to show it off, with a myriad of tech demos on display here at MWC. Some of this they showed off back in June of last year, but it's no less impressive -- there aren't really any mobile devices out there capable of this stuff right now. Still, we're here for the new, and NIVIDA showed up with Android running on one of its proof-of-concept units, and with another unit pumping out 1080p video, with a claimed 10 hours of battery life at that task. NVIDIA says it took them just a few weeks to port Android to the system, and we found it already quite snappy and even usable on the capacitive touchscreen-ed device. We also saw the forthcoming Android-running Yulong N8 and IAC S2 Tegra APX phones, along with an untitled CompalCom set -- they were all in non-working prototype form, but it's clear this chipset isn't just for MIDs. Check it all out in the videos after the break and the gallery below! Continue reading NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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In light of its fresh tie-up with Microsoft, we can understand how any LG smartphone not running WinMo might be perceived as a black sheep this week. Still, it bums us that the the company has launched its latest S60-powered handset -- the KT770 slider -- at MWC this week with little more than a brief mention on LG's official MWC site and a couple of forlorn demo models stuffed in the corner of the company's booth. The good news is we decided to make good on LG's oversight and give this little beauty the love it deserves with a mention, a gallery, and a quick video of its tweaked S60 3.2-based UI in action. The faux carbon fiber back is a little cheesy -- particularly for a device that otherwise looks fairly businesslike -- but with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, a WQVGA display, and a 5 megapixel camera on board, it's hard to argue that this device can't be competitive (put this up against the far bulkier, uglier N95, for example). The UI seemed reasonably responsive, and though we weren't able to test the browser without a connection, we imagine the stock S60 apps work every bit as well as they do on Nokia fare. Check out the video after the break!
Continue reading LG doesn't rock the WinMo boat, launches S60-powered KT770 on the downlow Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds LG doesn't rock the WinMo boat, launches S60-powered KT770 on the downlow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Got a hankering for an all new gaming rig, preferably one that could fit in your over-sized backpack should the need arise? Ready to spend boatloads of cash to make it happen? If you're eagerly nodding your head up and down, have a look at Shuttle's liquid-cooled SDXi Carbon, a fancily painted machine that checks in at 7.3- x 7.9- x 12.2-inches and gets powered by a 3GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU. Other specs include 2/4/8GB of RAM, between 250GB and 2TB of hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray writer, your choice of NVIDIA GPU, gigabit Ethernet and optional WiFi. The starting price on this bugger is an amazing $2,599, and if you plan on customizing the base configuration whatsoever, you should probably plan on taking out yet another line of credit on what's left of your home. [Via HotHardware] Filed under: Desktops Shuttle ships liquid-cooled SDXi Carbon SFF gaming PC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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It was but merely a month ago that Samsung introduced two new ones in its blossoming SL series, and now the company's shooting out four more in the run-up to PMA. Kicking things off are the SL820 (pictured) and SL620, two 12.2 megapixel shooters which sport three-inch LCD monitors and a 5x optical zoom. With the former, users are presented with a 28mm wide angle lens, while the SL620 offers a standard 35mm lens. The pair also touts Optical and Digital Image Stabilization, while the SL820 steps it up with 720p video recording (compared to the SL620's VGA mode) and HDMI connectivity. Moving on, we've got the SL202 and SL30, which both arrive with 10 megapixel sensors and a 3x optical zoom. Beyond that, everything's about as plain as it gets, so we'll just skip right to the prices while hosting up the full release after the break. The May-bound SL820 will go for $279.99, while the March-bound SL620, SL202 and SL30 will sticker for $199.99, $149.99 and $99.99, respectively. Continue reading Samsung expands SL camera lineup: SL820, SL620, SL202 and SL30 Filed under: Digital Cameras Samsung expands SL camera lineup: SL820, SL620, SL202 and SL30 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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 Make no mistake, there are quite a few sophisticated ways to monitor one's glucose levels, but we're pretty certain we've never seen an approach as simple and as bodacious as this. Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratories has stumbled upon a new embeddable nanosensor that could, at least in theory, eliminate those painful pricks endured today by so many diabetics. The so-called "injectable nanotech ink" could be inserted under the skin much like a tattoo, though Draper's Heather Clark notes that it "doesn't have to be a large, over-the-shoulder kind of tattoo." In fact, it can be as small as a few millimeters in size, though if it were us, we'd use it as the perfect excuse in order to plaster our backs with Ice Climbers. Testing of the new approach is expected to begin very soon, though that usually means it won't be ready for humans until at least a few years later. Ah well, plenty of time to dream up the perfect design, right? [Via medGadget] Filed under: Wearables Tattoo-like nanosensor could monitor glucose levels, enhance your cool factor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Same story, different company: yet another Windows Mobile ODM has broken down, taken the plunge, and invested some cash engineering its own unique skin for the platform. This time around it's Gigabyte's GSmart division with its "Smart Zone" UI, and to kick it off on the right foot, they're grafting it onto the all-new S1200. We spent some time fiddling with the S1200 at MWC today, and we're actually pretty impressed; it's sleek, a wacky thin 11.4mm, narrow enough to comfortably fit in the smallest hands, and feels pretty well-built -- and with full HSPA and a 3.1-inch WVGA display, it's spec'd with the best of 'em. Gone are Gigabyte's days of chunky plastic, thank goodness. We talked to Gigabyte about its announcements, and it turns out they've designed both Smart Zone and the S1200 with aspirational feature phone users in mind -- these are people who might not otherwise consider a smartphone because they're worried about sacrificing style and ease of use in the process. To that end, the skin definitely seems to get the job done. The transition animations got choppy in places, but we felt immediately at ease with the swipe gestures for getting to different screens, and the graphics look particularly superb at these resolutions. The S1200 launches this quarter in a variety of colors (it's fashion-friendly, after all) with WiFi, a 528MHz Qualcomm core, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, a microSD slot to bump up the storage to something more usable than the 256MB built-in, and -- perhaps most importantly -- upgradeability to Windows Mobile 6.5. Follow the break to see it in action!
Continue reading Gigabyte's S1200 and Smart Zone user interface on video Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Gigabyte's S1200 and Smart Zone user interface on video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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 digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/HTC_Magic_first_eyes_on';
Surprise, surprise! Vodafone and HTC launched a new Android set named the Magic today. We had a brief eyes-on with it, though the version we see above is not final hardware. If you peek at the slides in the gallery you'll notice that there are more buttons and they're laid out quite differently than what you see above. Of course, we plan a more extensive tour of the Magic and all its Cupcake goodness a little later on today. Pics and a shaky vid after the break. Continue reading HTC Magic first eyes-on! Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds HTC Magic first eyes-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Remember that mysterious dual-boot QiGi i6 from a few months back? If you dream of Windows Mobile / Android dual-boot devices at night, then odds are you do, and we've been able to spend a little time with one humming along in Android mode today. It turns out that the i6's manufacturer is none other than TechFaith Wireless, an ODM more closely associated with WinMo devices -- but like so many other manufacturers these days, TechFaith is apparently looking to branch out by adding another platform into the mix. Anyhow, let's just be straight about this: odds are you don't really want this phone, even if you think you do. The physical design feels one or two iterations behind, but the real problem stems from the fact that you're rocking QVGA resolution here; yes, granted, Android runs -- but in its default layout, it's clearly designed for a few more pixels both horizontally and vertically. Furthermore, we're told that end users can't swap ROMs themselves (in other words, distributors would choose one platform or the other and be done with it) -- the hardware is designed to run both Android and Windows Mobile, but it's not like you get some fancy Boot Camp-style setup for booting into either environment. Also, since the i6 features no physical keyboard and Cupcake was little more than a twinkle in Google's eye by the time the phone was released, you're dealing with a pretty poorly-designed soft keyboard that's been grafted onto the build; individual keys are small enough so that you need a stylus to press them, and when you call up the keyboard, it takes up the full screen so you can't see whatever app you were in while you're typing. Check it all out (for the hilarious power-on splash screen, if nothing else) in our video after the break!
Continue reading Hands-on with TechFaith's QiGi i6 in Android mode Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Hands-on with TechFaith's QiGi i6 in Android mode originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
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When it comes to the storied Street Fighter franchise, I think the majority of our readers are like me. You played Street Fighter II in the arcades and followed the game through its different incarnations on the consoles, you were aware of the 3D versions of the game but didn't care for them that much, you think it's silly to spend $100 or more on a copy of 3rd Strike for the Dreamcast. So the main question you're now asking is the following: is the new Street Fighter IV something I'd be interested in, or is it more of a game for the smoky arcades filled with inscrutable and talented gods who pump thousands of dollars into the game to master every move?
This review is my attempt to answer that question, and right here at the start let me give away the ending by saying that I have very good news for you: Street Fighter IV feels like coming home. The game employs a brand new, striking art style including 3D graphics and backgrounds, but it's also fast; the Xbox 360 doesn't feel like it's struggling to keep the framerate up at any time. All the moves take place on the same plane, so while the characters are rendered in 3D, the play itself is as two-dimensional as it gets.
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