MSI X-Slim X600 Pro tweaks the 15.6-inch thinsanity formula

The last time we bumped into MSI’s 15.6-inch X-Slim X600 we were unimpressed with the build quality — it just seemed like too much plastic in too thin of a form factor to be trusted. Well, the X-Slim X600 Pro seems to have addressed some of the perceived quality issues, with a new scratch-resistant surface and silver inlays, but we’ll have to play with one before we really know if these refinements are merely skin deep. The largest hardware tweak is the new chiclet keyboard, while inside the laptop has scored “the latest” Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor, matched with the same ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics from last time. There’s no word on price or availability, but we’re sure we’ll be seeing and hearing more at CES.

MSI X-Slim X600 Pro tweaks the 15.6-inch thinsanity formula originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t

There’s been an immense amount of crosstalk, speculation, and just plain noise over the past 48 hours about a device allegedly called the Nexus One, or as it’s more commonly known: the Google Phone. We’ve heard all sorts of reports about the HTC-made device, and figured it might be helpful to put together a little roundup about what we know — and don’t — on one of the potentially more exciting devices we’ve seen recently. Read on for an exploration of what this device could mean, as well as a little editorial perspective on some of those “confirmed” stories of the day!

Continue reading The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t

The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t

There’s been an immense amount of crosstalk, speculation, and just plain noise over the past 48 hours about a device allegedly called the Nexus One, or as it’s more commonly known: the Google Phone. We’ve heard all sorts of reports about the HTC-made device, and figured it might be helpful to put together a little roundup about what we know — and don’t — on one of the potentially more exciting devices we’ve seen recently. Read on for an exploration of what this device could mean, as well as a little editorial perspective on some of those “confirmed” stories of the day!

Continue reading The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t

The Google Phone: what we know… and what we don’t originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Legend still looking good — as a render, anyway

We got a pretty good glimpse of HTC’s rumored Legend back in that huge roadmap leak a few days back, but now we’re circling back for a better shot (and a few more details) of the probable Hero successor in all its roughly-rendered glory. High-end aficionados are probably still going to want to set their sights on the Bravo (or the Google Phone, Nexus One, Passion, what have you), but this sucker won’t be a slouch, either — it looks like it’s signed up for a 600MHz MSM7227 and, more importantly, a WVGA display. We’d already known this from the last leak, but what’s new here is the presence of HTC People II and Footprints II, suggesting that Sense is going to get some sort of refresh to commemorate the launch. Add in the alleged metal casing, and we bet this thing’s gonna be a looker in the flesh; needless to say, March can’t come soon enough.

HTC Legend still looking good — as a render, anyway originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pixi clears FCC with Verizon frequencies and WiFi in tow

If you were looking for just one more reason to ditch Sprint then this could be it. A CDMA-flavored Palm Pixi just cleared the FCC — yes, another one — and we can say with confidence it’s not coming to Sprint this time around. Better yet, Palm’s model P121EWW matches up with that P121 code we saw leaked a while back for Big Red (Sprint’s model is P120EWW), and this sucker got tested for 802.11b/g WiFi. Looks like that Sprint ad touting the Pixi’s non-existent WiFi was more than just wishful thinking. With webOS-powered Palm gear already confirmed on Verizon for “early next year,” are you really going to make the jump to a WiFi-less Pixi on Sprint knowing what’s on the way? And more importantly, can we expect another terrifying series of ads targeting Sprint this time instead of AT&T?

Palm Pixi clears FCC with Verizon frequencies and WiFi in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hikari to unleash iFrame Android tablet on Japan (video)

Continue reading Hikari to unleash iFrame Android tablet on Japan (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Hikari to unleash iFrame Android tablet on Japan (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 16 for $199.99

Anyone looking for the hottest T-Mobile-powered BlackBerry experience that money can buy need only wait a few dozen hours now, because the carrier has just revealed that it’ll be launching the latest rendition of the Bold — the 9700 — on Monday, November 16 for $200 on contract. Your hard-earned cash reels in T-Mobile’s very first 3G BlackBerry underpinned by a 3.2 megapixel camera and 480 x 360 display, beating AT&T’s launch by a solid six days. Enjoy, folks.

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 16 for $199.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia rumored to be eyeing Palm buy yet again

We’ve been around this rumor pretty much since Palm started looking competitive again, so take it for what you will — but a bunch of fat cats down on Wall Street have been going ape today over renewed “chatter” that Nokia might be taking an interest in acquiring Palm. Palm’s share prices are up well over 5 percent on the day, though we wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if there was some behind-the-scenes manipulation going on here — an acquisition would make less sense now than ever with suitors on the hook for $2 billion or more, a hefty sum even for a giant like Nokia, never mind the fact that they’ve still got two smartphone platforms of their own in the mix. Licensing webOS is being floated as a possible alternative to an outright Palm purchase — but we’re having such an exceedingly difficult time picturing a 5800 running webOS that we’ll put this one on ice until we get the joint press release.

Nokia rumored to be eyeing Palm buy yet again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round

If you’ve already watched our interview with Philippe Starck, you’ll want to catch this quick game of word association we play as well!

Host: Thomas Ricker
Directed by: Daniel Gallenkamp
Edited by: Chad Mumm and Michael Slavens
Music by: Bit Shifter
Titles by: Julien Nantiec

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Continue reading The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round

The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck

If you care about design, then you know the name Philippe Starck. As an industrial designer, Starck has been responsible for some of the most groundbreaking — and divisive — products ever created. He’s been both vilified and deified, and while there are solid arguments for both stances, there is no denying that he is a force to be reckoned with. Fresh off of his design of LaCie’s new Mobile and Desktop drives, Engadget’s Senior Editor Thomas Ricker had a chance to sit down with the man himself in Paris and hear his thoughts on life, love, and good design. What we learn will shock you, amaze you, warm your heart… and convince you that Starck is a serious Apple fanboy. The full video is after the break. Don’t be a fool — watch it now!

Bonus round: Catch a game of word association with Starck right here!

Host: Thomas Ricker
Directed by: Daniel Gallenkamp
Edited by: Chad Mumm and Michael Slavens
Music by: Bit Shifter
Titles by: Julien Nantiec

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Continue reading The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck

The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s TransferJet-packin’ Memory Stick Duo hits the FCC

Continue reading Sony’s TransferJet-packin’ Memory Stick Duo hits the FCC

Filed under: Storage

Sony’s TransferJet-packin’ Memory Stick Duo hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ION Cube case mod wins NVIDIA design contest

Continue reading ION Cube case mod wins NVIDIA design contest

Filed under: Desktops

ION Cube case mod wins NVIDIA design contest originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google makes Gizmo5 acquisition official, offers few details

This one wasn’t exactly the best kept secret of the week, but Google has now come out and officially announced that it has acquired VoIP company Gizmo5, and that Gizmo5’s engineers will expectedly be joining the Google Voice team. This being Google, however, it isn’t saying much more than that it’s looking forward to “working together to bringing more useful features to Google Voice,” although that’s no doubt more than enough to make the folks at Skype have a slightly less relaxing weekend. Current Gizmo5 users can also expect their service to continue as normal, but Google has suspended new signups “for the time being,” and existing users can no longer sign up for a call in number.

Filed under: Software

Google makes Gizmo5 acquisition official, offers few details originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Hey, AT&T — drop lawsuits, not calls

AppleInsider published a piece this week that does a good job rounding up the latest counterarguments we’ve been hearing against Verizon’s claims in its suddenly ultra-aggressive attacks on archrival AT&T’s network — attacks that have offended AT&T right into getting the legal team involved. Both sides are applying enough spin to make you dizzy at this point, so let’s break down the latest round of pot shots, shall we?

• Verbiage on Verizon’s site suggests that swaths of its 3G network are still running at EV-DO Rev. 0 speed: false. In fact, 100 percent of Verizon’s 3G coverage has been Rev. A since 2007 — the wording refers to 1xRTT, which is the transport technology in use where EV-DO hasn’t been deployed.
• You can’t distinguish between EV-DO and 1xRTT on Verizon’s coverage map: false. Turns out Verizon has one of the more comprehensive coverage browsers among top-tier carriers. The technologies aren’t called out by name, but they’re there — they list compatible features in different coverage zones, ostensibly to reduce customer confusion since your average Joe (not to be confused with our own Joe Flatley) doesn’t know or care what “1xRTT” means.
• EDGE approaches the “low end” of EV-DO Rev. A: false. At the top end of the specification, EDGE can theoretically approach 500kbps in a cleanroom environment — but in reality, it’s runs at a fraction of that and suffers more severe latency issues in practice (which is sometimes a greater detriment to a mobile web browsing experience than raw speed) than UMTS and EV-DO. Heck, AT&T itself claims 75-135kbps. Meanwhile, we got 823kbps on the downlink in real-world modem use on Verizon’s Rev. A.
• AT&T’s 3.6Mbps and 7.2Mbps deployments are significantly faster than EV-DO Rev. A: true, but only in theory. We’re getting downlink speeds ranging from the low 100s — yes, 100s — to the high 800s in Chicago and New York; Chicago’s got a trial 7.2Mbps network that’s live, but even if we’re not connected to it (hard to say), we should still be on 3.6. We seriously have no idea what AT&T’s doing behind the scenes with these rollouts, but in urban areas, at least, they’re not helping. At all. And that’s assuming we can help ourselves from dropping down to EDGE.
• AT&T’s service is augmented by the nation’s largest WiFi network: we won’t even justify that with a rebuttal.
• Verizon’s gaming the system by comparing only their 3G networks: the truth hurts, AT&T. Verizon’s commercials would have you believe that by comparing only 3G coverage, Verizon wins by a country mile. And guess what? They do. To AT&T’s credit, the 3GPP’s WCDMA technology path is considerably more advanced and extensible than EV-DO Rev. A is, but beyond UMTS’s simultaneous voice / data capability, the end user’s experience is pretty similar in day-to-day use. We go where the faster real-world speeds (and the reliable calls) are.
• Verizon is “defending steep losses” with its anti-AT&T, anti-iPhone commercials: false. Verizon added 1.2 million net customers in the most recently reported quarter, excluding acquisitions.
• LTE is “still years away from viable use” on Verizon: false. They’ll have 20-30 markets commercially live in 2010, which is 20-30 more than AT&T will have. It’s not nationwide coverage by a long shot, but it gives the carrier a notable lead in the 4G transition since AT&T has sparsely detailed its LTE plans and isn’t expected to go live with any markets until 2011 at the earliest.

To be fair, Verizon’s taking a questionable angle in its advertising by trying to associate 3G coverage with call reliability — in AT&T’s case, the two are totally, completely unrelated — but the fact remains that for a bunch of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco-based Engadget editors, Verizon bests AT&T in both categories, and we’re having a hard time arguing with personal experience.

So listen, AT&T, we’re sorry Verizon made you upset, but the solution’s actually pretty simple: compete. Fix your network, keep scoring hot exclusives, and get hungry again — because in a year or two, no one’s going to give a damn that you used to have an exclusive on the iPhone.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Editorial: Hey, AT&T — drop lawsuits, not calls originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chumby One review

Let’s be honest: it’s really hard to dislike Chumby. In fact, you feel almost compelled to root for any company bold enough to put out a product as unapologetically wacky as the original Chumby, a device that somehow managed to marry a soft, cuddly vinyl sphere with WiFi and a touchscreen. It didn’t make a lot of sense, and as far as we can tell, the company didn’t really intend it to — they basically threw it out there and said, “hey, so we’ve got this… uh, thing… now let’s see what you can do with it.” It was an open platform, Chumby encouraged hackers to dig in and understand the guts, and over time, a small-but-vibrant community of users and developers emerged with several hundred widgets capable of doing everything from showing the time to cracking a few Chuck Norris jokes.

A quirky, overpriced alarm clock without broad market appeal can only take you so far, though — someone’s eventually got to pay the bills. Enter the $100 Chumby One, Chumby’s first attempt to grow up and produce an affordable device that loses a little bit of the Chumby Classic’s insanity while carefully staying true to the company’s roots. Will this be Chumby’s ticket out of the geek niche and into mainstream living rooms and offices?

Continue reading Chumby One review

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Chumby One review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UK Channel 4 set to throw some 3D programming our way

Sony and Panasonic are both hellbent on convincing us their forthcoming super-duper 3D television sets are the future, but before we all start selling off the children and re-mortgaging our homes, how about a little taster of what it might be like? Channel 4, the British answer to a question nobody ever asked, is about to offer up a selection of 3D programming this month, which it dubs as a return to “good old fashioned fun.” The menu includes a documentary about the Queen’s coronation (in other words, ancient history), a magic show, and even a couple of goodies like Flesh for Frankenstein and Friday the 13th, Part III. If we find can remember to get down to the local Sainsbury’s and grab ourselves a free pair of those rad-looking three-dee glasses, you might even be treated to our eyes-on impressions. Watch this three-dimensional space!

[Thanks, Mitch T]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

UK Channel 4 set to throw some 3D programming our way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings

There are a lot of improvements we here at Engadget like to see in netbooks — more SSD storage, higher-resolution screens, less flimsy construction — but not a one of us put “greater aerodynamic lift” anywhere on our list. Someone at Kivu Technology Co. apparently did, as the company has launched this G-Five KTNO2 netbook, a machine that is at the same time boringly derivative and patently ludicrous. It was modeled after an aircraft’s wing and, while it looks sophisticated enough with that titanium hue, you’ll have a hard time taking it seriously after seeing the graphic after the break comparing it to a bird’s wing. Specs? Everything you’d expect in an otherwise copycat 10-inch netbook, from the 1.6GHz Atom processor to the 160GB HDD. Fly away, little netbook, fly away.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings

Filed under: Laptops

Kivu’s G-Five KTNO2 netbook sports ridiculous ‘aerodynamic’ design, could be the wind beneath your wings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s VAIO Bluetooth Laser Mouse pictured in the wild, almost as ugly as last week’s OpenOfficeMouse

While it may not sport the same egregious number of buttons and blue and white aesthetics as last week’s affront to ergonomics, Sony’s VGP-BMS80 VAIO Bluetooth Laser Mouse certainly doesn’t offer much better looks. It does, however, allow for wireless control of either a PC or a PS3 and, with an optical sensor on top, can be used in the air like a trackpad or on a flat surface like a mouse — a place where that “bar of soap” design will surely not do your carpal tunnels any favors. It’s available now at various internet destinations and, if you’re still interested, about $80 will get you into this party.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wireless

Sony’s VAIO Bluetooth Laser Mouse pictured in the wild, almost as ugly as last week’s OpenOfficeMouse originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ICD confirms Vega tablet, includes Android 2.0, Tegra processor, our hearts

The CrunchPad may be dead, but with devices like this on the docket forgive us if we’re not shedding any tears. The mystery tablet from earlier this week is the Vega from Innovative Converged Devices, or ICD. Available in 7-, 11-, and 15-inch sizes it’s a simple but beautifully svelte design, and with that Tegra processor should have plenty of muscle. The resistive nature of those screens may be a bit of a bummer for some, but it’ll naturally it’ll do everything Android does — though without a GPS sensor we’re guessing Google Navigation is out. The only questions left left now are when, how much, and who will be pumping the bits to its cellular antennae? Those are answers we hope to bring you from Vegas in two months’ time.

[Via Android France]

Filed under: Storage

ICD confirms Vega tablet, includes Android 2.0, Tegra processor, our hearts originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA turns iPhone into chemical sensor, can an App Store rejection be far away?

People have been trying to turn cellphones into medical and atmospheric scanners for some time now, but when it’s NASA stepping up to the plate with a little device to monitor trace amounts of chemicals in the air, it’s hard to not start thinking we might finally have a use for all those tricorder ringtones. Developed by a team of researchers at the Ames Research Center led by Jing Li, the device is a small chip that plugs into the bottom of an iPhone and uses 16 nanosensors to detect the concentration of gasses like ammonia, chlorine, and methane. To what purpose exactly this device will serve and why the relatively closed iPhone was chosen as a development platform are mysteries we’re simply not capable of answering. Damn it, man, we’re bloggers not scientists!

[Via Gizmodo]

Filed under: Cellphones, Science

NASA turns iPhone into chemical sensor, can an App Store rejection be far away? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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