We’ve heard plenty of arguments for high priced products before — many of them from Sony, oddly enough — but this has to one of the odder ones. Sony UK’s Claire Blackhouse says that Sony was actually expecting a greater backlash from retailers than it got in regards to the PSP Go, and that many retailers are seeing the new launch as a way to get consumers into stores, at which point they’ll realize they’re too poor for a PSP Go and might end walking out with a PSP-3000 instead. Sadly, the logic sounds pretty sound, though Claire’s own suggestions that some families might get a PSP Go for dad and PSP 3000s for the kids seems a little fantastical — kinda hard for dad to rock those Hannah Montana UMDs, yeah Sony?

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Sony thinks its “aspirational” PSP Go might encourage an uptick in PSP-3000 purchases originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I have to admit that this $1 million 700hp Batmobile, built over a 1973 Lincoln Continental chassis, looks amazing. Even without seeing its interior, which apparently is loaded with gadgets, from…

Coming straight out of a brand new 10G production facility in Sakai, Sharp’s line of LX HDTVs (in 60-, 52-, 46- and 40-inch sizes) are all sporting the latest in LCD technology with UV²A panels and LED backlighting. Unfortunately, like Sony, these new screens abandon the higher quality RGB LED technology of the pricey XS1 series for cheaper white LEDs. Still, with a price of around $5,000 for a 52-inch compared to the $12,000 sticker shock of the XS1, it’s easy to see why the switch was made. Other improvements include a light sensor for auto-calibration, a six speaker (5 speakers on the 40-inch) integrated 2.1 channel sound system with “Duo Bass” subwoofer and the usual assortment of VOD and AQUOS network support in store for Japanese buyers this November. While already available on a few U.S. models expect the new tech to spread across Sharp’s U.S. lineup shortly, not to mention Sony and anyone other parties interested in a piece of the company’s suddenly expanded manufacturing muscle.

[Via AV Watch & Akihabara News]

Filed under: HDTV

Sharp combines its latest LCD improvements in LX series HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fermi is Nvidia’s new GPU architecture that’s going to be the basis for all of its upcoming graphics cards. With 512 cores and 3 billion transistors, it will nuke Crysis.
The architecture really is…

To follow up his time lapse Voltron painting, Robert Burden went for another influential cartoon of the ’80s: He-Man. See 420 hours of Battle Cat painting distilled down to 3 minutes.

Continuing its streak of questionably high priced media PCs Okoro has announced the new OMS-Q100 and OMS-Q200 Quantum mini Digital Entertainment Systems. Combining an Intel Atom processor and NVIDIA ION in the OMS-Q200 and Mobile Core 2 Duo in the OMS-Q200 with 4GB of RAM with 320GB of hard drive space, 7.1 audio outputs, OTA & QAM recording capability (plus optional digital cable tuner) these tiny, quiet boxes could find a welcoming home theater somewhere, though the starting price of $1,295 may make for a difficult fit. You probably don’t need our help to put together something equivalent or better for less than that, but feel welcome to it.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Okoro delivers mini Media PCs with a full size price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Fuelank Uno does exactly what it says it does: charge one device at a time. And with the Callpod’s adapter tips, it can charge one of a lot of things at a time. The Price:
$40 The Verdict:…

The idea to make plug-in electric vehicles charge more efficiently and reduce strain on the grid is hardly a new one, but it looks like none other than Google thinks it can do things better, and it’s now reportedly doing some “preliminary work” in the area. As you might expect with all things “Google” and “preliminary,” however, there’s virtually a complete lack of details at the moment, with the company’s director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, Dan Reicher, only going so far as to say that it has “done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure.” As Reuters notes, however, this isn’t the first time Google has dabbled in the electric vehicle waters, with it previously forming a partnership with Toyota and Ford back in 2007 to test some gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles converted into plug-ins that run mostly on electricity, which Google says it has been testing “pretty intensely” over the last few years.

Filed under: Transportation

Google working to make electric vehicles charge more efficiently originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the Sholes has seemingly been gifted with a less bizarre, less reminds-us-of-a-shoe-insert name, pictures and specs of the so-called Tao are starting to flow en masse — just in time for a possible introduction at next week’s CTIA show out in San Diego (we can only hope, anyway). The first round of in-the-wild shots really didn’t reveal much of anything, but the cameraman has elected to apply just enough wide-angle this time around to give us a full-on view of the high-end Android beast in its closed position — and if this is what we’re going to be getting on Verizon shelves, HTC (and heck, even Moto’s own CLIQ) should be on high alert. So, who’d switch to Verizon for this?

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Motorola Tao’s photographer zooms out a little, better shot ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re a little skeptical of speakers that look this good, since it seems like they’re trying to compensate for something—LaCie’s Sound2 laptop speakers are USB-powered, after all—but the…

Love reading Gizmodo? Have more than a little tech ability? Looking for a job? This is the post for you.
We’re looking for a new Office IT person for Gawker tech (in New York). Think you have the…

Dagens store iPhone nyhed må uden tvivl være dropbox der omsider er færdige med en klient til iPhone. Den har vi ventet længe på, men de har til gængæld også virkelig leveret.

Til dem der ikke ved hvad dropbox er, så er det en gratis (for 2GB plads) tjeneste der tillader synkronisering af filer mellem flere computere og brugere, på tværs af operativ systemer.

Dropbox er et lille program du installerer på din Mac, windows eller linux. Herefter har du en lokal dropbox mappe på din maskine og alt du smider i den bliver synkroniseret til din dropbox konto. Hvis du på en anden maskine ligeledes installerer dropbox og logger ind på din konto, bliver alle filer tilgængelige på begge maksiner og ændringer på en af maskinerne synkroniserer automatisk.

Yderligere kan du “dele” mapper med andre dropbox brugere så hver gang en af jer putter noget i den delte mappe kan begge brugere tilgå det.

Men videre til iPhone klienten.

Klienten er primært tiltænkt i samarbejde med en eksisterende konto, så man har dokumenter liggende fra sin mac, pc eller linux. Jeg har f.eks. mange vigtige ting liggende som jeg på den måde har tilgængeligt på begge mine maskiner og jeg er sikker på der er en backup.

Man kan vælge at markere filer som “favorites” hvilket downloader dem lokalt til iPhonen og gemmer dem til “offline viewing” altså man kan tilgå dem uden netforbindelse. Denne funktion er dog ikke helt som jeg gerne havde set. Først når man har loadet en fil ind har man mulighed for at markere den som favorit. Jeg mangler lidt en måde at markere en hel mappe. Evt et swipe i modsatte retning af når man skal slette.

En fed feature er dog at man bliver gjort opmærksom på hvis den lokale kopi er outdated og skal synkroniseres igen.’

Yderligere kan man via kamera ikonet oppe i højre hjørne sende video eller billeder direkte ind i en hvilken som helst mappe på sin dropbox. Dvs. at delte mapper, eller din public mappe som du kan sende andre direkte links til, kan bruges som en hurtig måde at lade omverdnen få fat i dine videoer og/eller billeder.

Programmet genkender automatisk billeder og når du er inde på et billede kan du vælge at se alle billeder i mappen som galleri. Du kan også slide fra billeder til billede som i foto.app, men der er ikke slideshow funktion. Den kan jo komme i en update.

Sidst men ikke mindst kan du sende links til dine filer til andre via email. Dette program er en sikker must-have til din iPhone.

iTunes link

Google Wave started limited beta testing today, but chances are you’ll miss out on an invite, since the 100,000 open slots will fill almost instantly. Not to worry, though — our in-depth impressions of El Goog’s innovative new IM/email/everything service are still right here if you want to get in deep. Will Wave change the world? Only one way to find out.

Read - Google Wave beta testing begins
Read - Our hands-on impressions from last month

Filed under: Software

Missed the Google Wave beta? We’ve got hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After confusing that thing for Wall-E’s eye and pinching myself to stop thinking about how cute it is, I learned that the Blackfire Clamplight is, well as its name implies, a flashlight that clamps…

Unbagging is a new feature inspired by one of our favorite Flickr groups: what’s in your bag? The premise is simple — empty out your bag, arrange what’s inside, and snap a photo. Engadget will be taking a look inside the bags of some of the people we know and love in the tech world, combining our two favorite pastimes of gadgetry and voyeurism. Want to be included? Send an email to unbagging [at] engadget [dot] com with your submissions!

Today’s Unbagging installment comes from Peek CEO (and all around bon vivant) Amol Sarva. Clearly a man who loves the written word, you can see no less than three separate pieces of reading material here (though of course, two are made from dead trees — do they still count?). If you want to see the whole list, click on through after the break. For a larger picture, as well as a group of reader submissions we’ve gotten, hit the gallery!

Continue reading Unbagging: Peek CEO Amol Sarva

Unbagging: Peek CEO Amol Sarva originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re a MID fan that’s curious about this crazy “Android” you’ve been hearing about, it looks like the realms are colliding in many new and interesting ways as of late. E World, which seems to be owned by China Mobile, is selling the SmartQ5a touchscreen device pre-installed with Android 1.5 for $199.99. We know some of the more hardcore have been taking it upon yourself to install the open source OS on Smart Devices’ 4.3-inch wonder for a while, but now the whole affair appears to have the stamp of approval of the People’s Republic itself. We’re just wondering who you’d contact if you have to take advantage of the one year warranty.

Filed under: Handhelds

Smart Devices SmartQ5a MID… now with Android! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm says that they sold about 810,000 Palm Pre units. However, that figure may be bogus, according to analyst David Eller. He says that this includes all units sold to resellers, not only activated…

LaCie isn’t exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think “sound,” but it’s definitely near the top in the design department. Neil Poulton, the same fellow responsible for designing the outfit’s line of sleek, sexy hard drives, has placed his touch on the speakers you see above. The simplistic Sound2 setup boasts 30 total watts of peak power, and all it requires to function is a free USB port, an open AC outlet and an Earthling kind enough to connect it all. If you just know these would look sound great on your desk, get ready to fork out $99.99 for the privilege.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

LaCie’s Sound2 PC speakers look good… real good originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If this bug is real—and it seems seamless enough that it is—this is one weird ass iPhone 3GS bug. The OS seems to be stuck in a zoomed-in mode, with everything scaling in size to match….

We’re still not sure if that many people are interested in buying Blu-ray burners yet, but Pioneer just unveiled the first 12x capable drive (up from 8x, and with an 8x read speed that gives us a great idea for the next PlayStation 3 revision) the BDR-205. Initially rolling out to OEMs this month, this drive couldn’t wait for 12x certified discs to exist, though its full speed has been tested on Panasonic and Sony 6x BD-R blanks, “12x writing on all media cannot be guaranteed.” Minus that caveat, expect to see these popping up on Newegg and the like any second now, the only price mentioned is for the full retail package BD-2205 coming Q1 2010 for $249.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

Pioneer’s 12x BDR-205 Blu-ray burner is so fast it’s ahead of its time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The BDR-205 is pretty much like any other mainstream 5.25-inch internal Blu-ray writer, in terms of looks and features, except for the fact that it, get this, spins slightly faster than the current…

Welp, that didn’t take long. Just a few months after TerreStar announced that it had completed its first call on the new bird, the revived sat phone provider has now announced the first dual-mode smartphone for AT&T. Granted, we knew these two would be holding hands in the near future, but it’s still refreshing to see the Genus hit the landscape. The WinMo-based phone will ship with a 2.6-inch touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and GSM / GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA radios. Oh, and it can tap into satellite waves too. This one’s actually aimed at government, energy, utility, transportation and maritime users, and while it’s slated to ship in Q1 2010 for an undisclosed amount, AT&T assures us that a consumer-oriented version is in the pipeline. Too bad this only enhances coverage in the US, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and territorial waters — we always dreamed of phoning home from Komsomolets Island.

[Via phonescoop]

Filed under: Cellphones

TerreStar Genus: AT&T’s first dual-mode cellular / satellite smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There is no doubt that Qualcomm is planning to bring its FLO TV Personal TV (or PTV) to market soon with this fresh box shot we received. The device, as rumored, puts live terrestrial digital TV in…

Watch our friend Mary Kirby getting all excited about the LTV3 in-flight TV system. I can’t blame her. It will expand the number of live TV channels in airplanes to two hundred. Coach potatoes,…

To be sure, a certain number of dropped calls are to be expected when you’re dealing with the wonders of cellular communication, but some phones do seem to fare worse then others when paired with certain carriers in particularly congested regions. Apparently fed up with such problems in New York, Gizmodo reader Manoj decided to stop by an Apple Store to see if something might be wrong with his iPhone — this, after apparently being assured by AT&T that everything was all right on its end. After a few tests, the Apple Genius determined that Manoj’s phone was dropping 22 percent of its calls, which turns out to actually be “excellent” compared to most iPhone users in the New York area, where a dropped call rate of 30 percent is said to be average — according to the dude at the store, anyhow. The Genius further went on to confirm that the phone was indeed “fully functional,” and that the problem is “consistent with the service provided by AT&T.” So, nothing to worry about, folks — everything is “normal.”

[Thanks, Canis]

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple Genius says 30 percent iPhone call drop rate is average in New York originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You could load movies onto your phone. Or you can go to m.mSpot.com on all four major carriers using most smartphones to access $5 movie rentals.
You can expect movies a few weeks after they arrive…

This Alligetter LED tool isn’t just a lousy pun, it shines a light into dark (and small) places where you couldn’t normally see or reach. Places like drains, or garbage disposals, or behind the…

Love that brain-pounding sensation when you jack that volume past the sensible limit? If so, you best hop on the next flight to somewhere not within Europe, as the almighty European Commission is fixing to peg the default volume limit on portable media players at 80 decibels. If you’re stricken with an awful case of déjà vu, you’re not alone. You may recall that a similar French law forced Apple to limit the volume level on its iPod family to 100dB, and at that time, it decided to make the limit apply to all units shipped within Europe. Now, the EU is seeking to bring that ceiling down to 80dB on all portable music players in an effort to protect the precious hearing abilities of its citizens, though we should note that said level would only apply to the default setting, not overall maximums. In other words, you can override the recommended listening level if you please, but don’t bet on that socialized healthcare taking care of you if The Man finds out. Kidding. Maybe.

[Via Telegraph]

Filed under: Portable Audio

EU seeks to make ‘cranking it to 11′ on DAPs happen less often originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SPAWAR) is the Navy’s new command center designed to create an “unfair advantage” over enemy forces. And I’ll be damned if they didn’t set it up to…

The new camera in the Hubble keeps sending mindblowing desktop wallpapers to Earth. This is NGC4522, a massive galaxy in the massive Virgo Cluster, where galaxies orbit around at 6.2 million miles…

mSpot has been streaming full-length movies to cellphones for a few years now, but not until this week has the company had a potential customer base of 40 million. As of right now, mobile phone users on Sprint, AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile (yes, that includes the G1, Pre, iPhone and every other smartphone with a half-decent browser) can surf over to m.mspot.com in order to stream major motion pictures, and being that the service is on-demand, you can also pause and restart ‘em whenever you darn well please. Deals have been inked with Paramount Studios, Universal Pictures and the Weinstein Company, and we’re told that more agreements are in the works. Movie rentals will cost $4.99 per title, and can be viewed from 24 hours to 5 days after they’re rented. Naturally, mSpot recommends paying for an “unlimited” data plan, and if you’re smart, you won’t utilize the service whilst traveling abroad.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

mSpot brings new release movie streaming to major US carriers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s spent millions of dollars sending its Street View cars around the world, photographing streets so you can see them on the internet. And now you can replicate this for some reason.
Created…

With the update that’ll bring VUDU to owners of the LG BD390 Blu-ray player on schedule for next week, the crew over at Engadget HD managed to get an early look. As you might expect, those HD snobs at EHD are hard to please, so that combined with the comparison to Blu-ray and Netflix’s Watch Now, makes for an interesting read that you’ll just have to click on through for. The bottom line though is that new features on existing hardware is always appreciated and if you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on a Blu-ray player, this might just be the feature that’ll make your finger twitch.

Continue reading Engadget HD reviews VUDU on the LG BD390 Blu-ray player

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Engadget HD reviews VUDU on the LG BD390 Blu-ray player originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After months of flirting, an engagement, and even an infamous sex tape, BlackBerry and Mac OS have finally set a date: This coming Friday, BlackBerry Desktop Manager, which makes syncing your…

I get way too excited about the prospect of more powerful netbooks, but adding another processor to a cheap looking 10-inch netbook just doesn’t get me going. Haleron’s Swordfish Net has two of the…