Cool Tech Gadgets: Nov 14, 2007

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

AT&T USBConnect 881 HSUPA card now available

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Those of you yearning to hop on AT&T's HSUPA highway with a card other than the recently unveiled AirCard 881 can finally spark up a celebration of your own, as AT&T is now deploying Sierra Wireless's USBConnect 881. As the title insinuates, this bugger connects to your Mac or PC via USB, weighs in at just 1.25-ounces and plays nice with tri-band HSPA and quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE networks. AT&T claims that your average download speed will range from 600kbps to 1.4Mbps, while the upload side will pretty much hover between 500kbps and 800kbps in HSUPA markets. Also of note is the included AT&T Communication Manager software, which comes pre-loaded on the card and "automatically installs" when first used on a Windows-based machine, saving you the trouble of fiddling with an install disc to get things up and running. Starting today, interested consumers can snatch the card up for $49.99 (after rebate) with a two-year DataConnect agreement of $59.99+ per month, or you can shell out $299.99 for the gizmo itself if contracts get you all hot and bothered.

Holiday Wii shortages expected in the UK

Filed under: Gaming

We already knew Nintendo was anticipating Wii shortages this holiday season, but it's just the beginning of November and UK retailers are already reporting dwindling supplies. While we're certain the problem is at least in part due ot what Nintendo cheerfully calls "unprecedented demand," it's a little ridiculous for there still to be supply issues a year after the Wii's launch. Come on Ninty, get crackin' -- that Vii is starting to look pretty tempting.

Nokia's patent-licensing case against Qualcomm dropped by Dutch court

Filed under: Cellphones

Last we heard from the seemingly endless Nokia / Qualcomm kvetch-fest, the former company was soliciting the ITC's help in barring US Qualcomm chip imports, but for those wishing on their lucky stars that this spat would simply vanish into the night, we've got marginally good news. Apparently, a trio of judges in a Dutch court ruled that it didn't have jurisdiction to rule on the phone maker's claims outside of The Netherlands, thus, the patent-licensing case against Qualcomm was dismissed. Aside from claiming that its "jurisdiction was limited," the court also stated that Nokia's gripe was "too broad to give a reasoned decision." Of note, a German court also dismissed the case just last month on "similar grounds," but if you were counting on Nokia to just take the news in stride, we doubt you'll be pleased to hear that it's already "considering if it will appeal the decision."

Creative sells 25 million MP3 players

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

It's been a long and winding road, but Creative announced today that it's sold 25 million MP3 players since it first shipped the parallel port-only Nomad in 1999. While that's not quite as many players as a certain fruit company, it's still a pretty astonishing number, and it speaks to the giant shift that's taken place in how we all consume media here in the future. Although the competition has gotten stiffer lately, Creative's various Zen and MuVo players seem like they're still in the fight -- here's to another 25 million.

Zune 80 not available in stores?

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

So while the Zune 2 launch seems to be humming right along, we've noticed that the big daddy Zune 80 doesn't seem to be available anywhere -- and that it's oddly listed as "not available in stores" on a couple retailer websites. That's pretty strange, especially since we've spotted a number of floor displays for the Zune line that include the Zune 80, but damned if anyone has actually seen the thing -- and we're hearing that Best Buy employees can't even order them for in-store customers. As of right now, Target and Best Buy are both displaying no-store-sales messages on their sites, Circuit City just has the 80 as out of stock and Wal-Mart doesn't even have it listed. We've been told by sources that while the Zune 80 is in short supply, it will eventually be on store shelves, but when that'll happen is still the big question -- and if anyone has actually seen one for sale, let us know in comments.

OLPC XO and iRobot Create brought together for telepresence hack

Filed under: Laptops, Robots

While the project is still classified as "ongoing," Damon Kohler nonetheless looks to have made some considerable progress in his OLPC XO / iRobot Create combo, which together forms a makeshift telepresence robot. Among other things, if you decide to build your own, you'll apparently be able to control the robot via a web interface, and make use of the OLPC's webcam and microphone to monitor its surroundings. Some of the more recent additions include some text-to-speech capabilities to totally freak out your pets, and a high-tech night vision system (pictured above). If that's enough to tempt you, hit up the links below for the complete details on how to put together your own.

Wendy's and Rhapsody giving away 100 million songs, plus a few players

Filed under: Portable Audio

It looks like Rhapsody could soon be seeing a pretty big increase in traffic, as the company has just teamed up with Wendy's to give away up to 100 million free song downloads. To get in on that action, you'll have to purchase a medium or large-sized combo meal between now and December, with which you'll receive a code that'll entitle you to a free song download of your choice. What's more, you'll also be able to enter the "Combo Up to Download" sweepstakes, which'll give you a shot at a 50-song download bundle from Rhapsody, or one of one hundred SanDisk Sansa e280R Rhapsody players. Those that frequent Wendy's on a daily basis apparently won't be able to take full advantage of their fast food ways, however, as the promotion is limited to just 25 downloads per user.

Sony, NXP get official with Moversa joint venture

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Chances are, you had forgotten all about Sony and NXP's little initiative to cooperate on a NFC (near-field communications) standard, but the two seem to have finally worked out all the kinks and are ready to move forward. The joint venture, dubbed Moversa, will seek to "drive global adoption of contactless smart card applications in mobile phones," and it's already planning to develop, produce and market a Universal Secure Access Module (U-SAM) that "incorporates both MIFARE and FeliCa operating systems and applications." Essentially, the duo is hoping to accelerate the adoption of integrated contactless support, which would enable users to make payments (among other things) easily via their handset. If you're curious about availability, we're hearing that samples should be shipped out in mid-2008, but commercial deployments aren't scheduled to happen until the end of next year.

[Via Yahoo / Reuters]

Samsung's Q1 UMPC down to $580

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

We aren't generally ones to pass along gadget deals, but every so often an opportunity pops up that just seems too interesting to ignore. Merely 1.5 years after the highly-anticipated Q1 hit shelves for $1,100, the UMPC is available now (in refurbished fashion) for nearly half of that. Granted, you won't be buying Sammy's latest and greatest Q1, but maybe that inexplicably short battery life won't bother you so much when you're only shelling out $579.99. So, now that this thing has reached new lows (in price, that is), will you finally buy in, or will you try and squeeze one more year out that Newton?

[Thanks, Ben]

Zune people: we hear you, expect more coverage soon

Filed under: Announcements

So yesterday I posted a look at the new Zune device and software, which caused quite a stir with the Microsoft faithful in the house (as I suspected it might). Ok, I'm sugarcoating it. Some Zune fans went ballistic over my criticisms of the new products -- and took it out on me, often personally.

There are lots of things I'd like to remind these people of. Like, besides the fact that it's just a product, I (and Engadget) have been a vocal advocate of Microsoft's entry into the space since before the Zune was ever announced. We led the charge in press coverage of the Zune last (and for a while the Apple fans even called us Zune fanboys). Nothing's changed though, we're critical of all this stuff, and whether some people believe it, we don't easily let Apple off the hook either (read our iPhone review and iPod touch review if you want to dig in). If we didn't care about -- or hated -- the new Zune we wouldn't waste our time telling Microsoft how to get it right, we'd just ignore the thing and you wouldn't see any risky, critical editorial. (Believe it or not, PR agencies by far prefer negative reviews than having their product ignored.)

The thing is, we have high expectations of companies like Microsoft because we know that they can deliver. And you have high expectations for us for the same reason. We get that, so we'll be posting further, deeper Zune coverage this week.

Just two things you need to know: first, don't expect our thesis to change. We're disappointed by the Zune, but only because we were hoping that MSFT would blow it out this time and really raise their game like they did with the Xbox 360. We definitely see the improvements -- and that's important -- but we'd be lying to you if we didn't think there was a lot that could be better.

Second, abusive comments are why I closed yesterday's Zune thread; it's no secret we moderate comments, and even shut them off completely when things get out of control. Cool down, don't take this stuff personally, be reasonable, lay off the personal / ad hominem attacks and Apple-bias stuff, and we can all have a fun, productive conversation about the gadgets we love (or at least want to make better).

-Ryan

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Alienware M15x / M17x laptops revealed with NVIDIA 8800M GTX

Filed under: Laptops

It's no secret that Alienware laptops have long loved to pack some serious NVIDIA-based heat, and judging by screenshots (another shown after the jump) of a reported slip up earlier today, those scouting a new extraterrestrial rig might want to hold out just a tick longer. It looks as if the firm will soon be unveiling (officially, that is) the 15-inch M15x and 17-inch M17x gaming laptops, both of which will seemingly be available with the 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8800M GTX graphics processor. As for the 8M-series GPU, it'll boast full DirectX 10 support, the Lumenex Engine, second-generation PureVideo HD technology, a 500MHz core clock, 1,250MHz shader clock and an 800MHz memory clock. Regarding the actual lappies, all we know is that the smaller of the two will be available with a 1,440 x 900 resolution display, 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB HDD, dual-layer DVD writer and Vista Home Premium. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for something official, but don't worry, it ought not be long now.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Continue reading Alienware M15x / M17x laptops revealed with NVIDIA 8800M GTX

China Mobile in talks with Apple over iPhone

Filed under: Cellphones

Bringing the iPhone to Europe was big, but potentially bigger for Apple is the Chinese market, which probably explains why China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou is in talks with the company over its much publicized handset. Mr. Jianzhou admitted in a speech at the GSM Association's Mobile Asia Congress that he doesn't like the revenue sharing agreements that Apple has managed to wrangle: you and every other mobile executive worldwide, Wang! But who knows, maybe the fact that China Mobile has 349.66 million subscribers will be enough for Apple to make ~~one~~ two very big exceptions and do a more traditional deal. Whatever happens, the Chinese market is likely to throw some curveballs at Apple's usual pitch.

Philips 7-inch PET722 DVD player: cause you'll never reach the top

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Philips has this new 7-inch portable DVD player they're scheming to release from the cold, damp origins of their Holland HQ. The PET722 is said to support a "variety of disc formats" including JPEG and MP3 files. A "smart sliding design" will keep you comfy as you squander your remaining hours watching other people's adventurous lives from the safety of your own toilet. Gezellig!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Polk Audio's SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

As far as these surround sound bars go, Yamaha seems to have made quite the name for itself, but it looks like Polk Audio is offering up another iteration in its own lineup to compete. The SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater features a single 44-inch long speaker that purportedly provides a 5.1-channel experience "using patented SDA technology." Furthermore, the system looks to come with a dedicated DVD console, but we've no idea if the pair will ever be offered up separately. No word on price / availability at the moment, but we're expecting Polk to spill the rest of the beans sooner rather than later.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Niveus prepping Sierra Edition Media Center PC

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Those keeping tabs on Niveus' outdoorsy naming system shouldn't be shocked to hear that it has chosen the Sierra Edition to follow the Rainier and Denali Edition Media Center PCs. Unfortunately, we've absolutely no information on what kind of hardware we can expect to find within this stylish box, but the firm has promised that it'll deliver "impressive Media Center functionality, digital content management, and superior convenience for the whole family." Keep an eye on this space for more, and feel free to join us in hoping for an HD disc drive of some sort to make an appearance when this thing gets official.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Alpine's TUA-T550HD tunes HD Radio, supports iTunes tagging

Filed under: Portable Audio

The natural successor to the TUA-T500HD does more than just enable a slew of HD Radio-ready Alpine head units to tune into HD Radio, as it throws in that recently unveiled iTunes tagging feature for good measure. Hailed as "one of the first in-car applications combining HD Radio with iTunes tagging," this accessory will team up with Alpine's latest lineup of in-dash players to let users bookmark over-the-air tracks for purchase at a later time, effectively eliminating the "Now what was that song?" syndrome. Sadly, we've yet to see a definitive price or release date, but you can rest assured that the TUA-T550HD is on the way.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

ATI delivers TV Wonder 650 Combo USB HDTV tuner for Mac

Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Peripherals

Ok, it may not be the beloved CableCARD we so quickly learned to love in our Windows Media Center PCs, but we certainly wouldn't kick ATI's new TV Wonder 650 Combo USB for Mac out of bed. We're not sure why ATI didn't just announce it along with the PC version a couple of weeks ago, but this dual tuner package does what's expected for your Mac, including ATSC and NTSC and playback via its tvPORTAL software. It'll run $150 when it hits retailers later this month.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Wolfking's latest gets a suitable name: Warrior Xxtreme

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Merely days after we caught Wolfking's astonishingly bizarre gaming keyboard lurking in the FCC's database, it seems that the firm is giving the pup a proper (and we mean proper) name. Just as Elmo would attest, things just seem a little more hardcore with any variant of "extreme" in the title, and the Warrior Xxtreme goes the xxtra mile by doubling up on the x's and kicking the e to the curb. The self-proclaimed "hybrid two-in-one PC gamepad / keyboard" supposedly combines the utility of a full-fledged keyboard with the "ergonomics and space saving design of a gamepad." No matter how you slice it, this thing certainly won't please everyone, but hopefully we'll have a price to pass along in the not-too-distant future for those already gearing up for battle.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Clarion's double-DIN MAX685BT head unit sports Bluetooth, iPod controls

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

We've oh-so-little to go on right now, but initial impressions of the double-DIN MAX685BT are underwhelming at best. This in-dash AV center looks to sport a relatively ho hum display, integrated cellphone / navigation support and Bluetooth connectivity, but none of these totally expected features are likely to drop any jaws. Additionally, it plays nice with your dock-connecting iPod and offers up a built-in USB port, but unless Clarion reveals some earth-shattering addition that we're not yet aware of, we'll probably pass on this one.

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The Nokia N82 gets official

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Right on schedule, Nokia has announced its latest addition to the multimedia-centric (and game-riffic) Nseries line, the N82 candybar. The phone clearly bears a striking resemblance to its recently announced cousin -- the N81 slider -- but the N82 ups the ante with a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens paired with autofocus (naturally) and a xenon flash. Other features include microSD expansion, support for Nokia's own Ovi goodies, WiFi, assisted GPS, a 2.4 inch QVGA display front and center, and an honest-to-goodness 3.5mm headphone jack like the N95 before it. The GSM / EDGE radio does the quadband thing, but HSDPA's available only on the 2100MHz band -- so North Americans with an appetite for data need not apply. Others can buy the N82 starting today for about €450 ($657).

Sling taking SlingPlayer to version 2.0

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video

Shortly after hearing that SlingPlayer Mobile would finally be headed to the BlackBerry, we're now getting word that Sling Media is updating its SlingPlayer software to version 2.0. Unfortunately, no details have been doled out regarding specific platforms, and there's not even a changelog to speak of just yet, but it looks as the firm wanted to make absolutely sure you realized its Clip+Sling feature would definitely be showcased. Stick around, we'll be sure to keep you up to date with any developments.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Emtrace's Photoskins digiframe fits in your wallet

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

Just in case you weren't exactly keen on buying a new wallet just to get a digital photo frame built in, Emtrace is offering up the perfect alternative. The ultrathin Photoskins PS100 is skinny enough to slide right inside your wallet, and it can also be docked in a cradle and used as a "Widget-Player." Regrettably, that's all the information that's available right now, but hang tight, all the nitty-gritty details you crave should be just around the bend.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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