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I was on the phone with TMC’s Verizon representative to discuss changing our mobile phone plans. The Verizon rep told me it was bad timing since their entire intranet ordering system had completely crashed as a result of the Blackberry Storm launch. TMC’s business Verizon rep couldn’t even make changes to our account as a result. Well, it certainly looks like the Storm is having a tremendously successful launch. Should the iPhone be worried?

Heck, hundreds of people lined up at Verizon Wireless stores today across the U.S. to buy the BlackBerry Storm, the first touch-screen phone from Research In Motion.

According to Reuters, more than 200 people had waited at a Verizon store in mid-town Manhattan but were turned away after it ran out of the new phones less than an hour after opening. The angry customers were seen wielding pitchforks and torches until the police came to restore order. No really…

Tags: blackberry storm, crash, mobile phone, Storm, Verizon

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Ruh roh. Seems that swanky new LCD on Sony’s PSP-3000 could be garnering more complaints than anything else. If you’ll recall, the aforesaid system was touted as having a brighter, better screen than the PSP-2000, but now the PlayStation forums are filling up with irate PSP-3000 buyers who are experiencing unexplained scanlines and totally peculiar interlacing problems. As you can see above, the 3000’s screen looks noticeably worse than that of the 2000, and while we always hope that these issues are contained, we have at least one Engadget staffer and a Joystiq comrade who can attest to this being real. SCEA has been contacted and is currently “looking into” the matter — we won’t dare say that r-word just yet, but this doesn’t look particularly good on the surface. We’ll keep you posted.

[Via Joystiq]

Update: A Japanese Sony Computer Entertainment representative has informed us that the interlacing-like lines are just “features” of the new LCD, and currently, there are no plans to fix it with a future software update since it is in the hardware.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

We received an interesting tip that we thought we’d share with the group. Windows expert and all-around bon vivant Paul Thurrott recently previewed Microsoft’s new Arc mouse on his personal blog, detailing the device with a handful of photos. In the final shot of the series, what appear to be two Xboxes side-by-side can be seen in the lower right-hand corner… but one of those consoles looks thinner than the other. The appearance of what might be a slimmer Xbox 360 has (needless to say) sparked a debate amongst our editors here. Some say it’s nothing — a matter of angle — while others argue that this could be just the scenario in which you’d see a leak of a new form factor. Either way, you can’t simply brush off the differences here, and a little Photoshop matching on our end proved that these edges are decidedly different in angle. So we put it to the Engadget reader: is this a sign of things to come, or just our imaginations running wild?

[Thanks, Brian]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Gaming

We received an interesting tip that we thought we’d share with the group. Windows expert and all-around bon vivant Paul Thurrott recently previewed Microsoft’s new Arc mouse on his personal blog, detailing the device with a handful of photos. In the final shot of the series, what appear to be two Xboxes side-by-side can be seen in the lower right-hand corner… but one of those consoles looks thinner than the other. The appearance of what might be a slimmer Xbox 360 has (needless to say) sparked a debate amongst our editors here. Some say it’s nothing — a matter of angle — while others argue that this could be just the scenario in which you’d see a leak of a new form factor. Either way, you can’t simply brush off the differences here, and a little Photoshop matching on our end proved that these edges are decidedly different in angle. So we put it to the Engadget reader: is this a sign of things to come, or just our imaginations running wild?

Update: And we have our answer! Paul Thurrott has gone to the trouble of detailing just exactly what’s going on here, and it is an angle issue. Needless to say, we’ve got a lot of deflated dreams and lightened pockets in the office today.

[Thanks, Brian]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Displays, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Remember that Freestyle Audio player that was supposed to blow folks away with its integrated color mirasol display? Yeah, that one that still hasn’t shipped? Qualcomm is apparently uninterested in that tiny little factoid, as it’s proudly pumping the MFM Pro headphones as the “second color mirasol-enabled design for the US market.” According to Jim Cathey, vice president of business development for Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, the deal with Skullcandy is being made to “move mirasol displays into the hands of more consumers,” but considering just how long we’ve been waiting for the aforementioned DAP, we’d say the burden of proof is squarely in its court. Oh, and the ship date for these cans? There isn’t one.

[Via Slashgear]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We know it’s been a long day of Apple news, what with all those colorful new nanos, the thin-as-all-get-out touch, a fresh version of iTunes, and that forthcoming iPhone / touch update (and don’t forget about those new shuffle colors). It’s all a lot to take in, but as usual, we′re presenting it to you in one delicious, easy to digest roundup. Enjoy!

The liveblog:

Live from Apple’s ‘Let’s Rock’ event in San Francisco

Hands-on coverage:

iPod nano 4G hands-on
iPod touch 2G - first hands-on

Product announcements:

iPod classic refreshed, only comes in 120GB flavor now
Official: iPod nano reaches 4G, looks tall for its age
iPod touch updated — same screen, new case, Nike+ integration
Apple introduces $79 in-ear headphones
One more thing: New iPod shuffle colors

iTunes / iPhone / touch updates:

Apple launches iTunes 8, NBC comes back, TV shows at $1.99, Genius in the house
iPhone 2.1 software update announced (update: $10 for some iPod touch owners)
iPod touch 2.1 firmware update now available

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Sure, Apple alleges to have flipped over a million iPhone 3Gs at this point, but what does that mean? The devil’s in the details, as always; yes, true, the first one took 74 days to reach that same milestone, but it was available in less than one-twentieth the number of countries and an even smaller fraction of carriers. Hell, the very definition of “sale” is under scrutiny here, with some suggesting that Apple’s making reference to the number of phones it’s sold to its carrier partners, not end users — a metric that would make sense from Cupertino’s perspective since Apple’s payday technically ends there. We have some metrics on hand here that paint an interesting picture of the iPhone 3G launch that might be a little different than what you expect; head on over to Engadget Mobile for the scoop.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Now that you’ve had a little over a month to cram down popcorn while enjoying your shiny matte new Roku Netflix Player, we’re interested to find just how pleased (or displeased) you are with the $99 purchase. Has it lived up to your expectations? Is the quality sufficient for you? How does it look on your HDTV? Is wireless performance up to par, or were you practically forced to run an Ethernet cable all the way downstairs? We already know what the paid professionals said — we want the cold, hard facts straight from the users themselves. Let us have it comments below.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

The YBox was pretty much destined to become a hit with the DIY crowd just as soon as it was handed 15 spectacular minutes at last summer’s Maker Faire. For those who reckoned the project would fade into the sunset as quickly as it arrived, we’ve got news proving your assumptions wrong… dead wrong. YBox2 has at long last arrived to the party, ready to serve up widgets and all sorts of pertinent information on your television screen. The new kit boasts an 80MHz Parallax Propeller chip and functions with any NTSC / PAL TV and any DHCP-compatible router — and yes, it still all fits within a flashy Altoids tin. Score!

[Via MAKE]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

Shortly after hearing TiVo’s top dog speak of a “whole home model” to reduce the amount of STBs required for entertaining individuals in various rooms, along comes Time Warner Cable’s chief executive talking up some innovation of its own. We’ll be frank — we’re not entirely sure what Glenn Britt is getting at here, but through a broken series of quotes, we’re led to believe that the carrier is prepping some “equipment″ that will easily bring internet content to TVs. Not like there isn’t a perfect solution for this quandary already, but we digress. Specifically, he mentions a ” new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house,” which is about as broad / vague as you can get. Nevertheless, it’s enough to keep us watchin’, though we can’t say our expectations are extraordinarily high. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Well, would you look at that? After a mildly uncomfortable wait, the very first Netflix set-top-box has landed (the Xbox 360 with plug-ins notwithstanding). Thanks to Roku, users can finally tap into (a portion of) the Netflix library without having to wait for physical discs to arrive — and for just $99.99, no less (though unlimited access to online films still requires an $8.95 or higher monthly fee for the traditional service). Better still, the HDD-less Netflix Player can even utilize a wireless signal to pull in streams, though your miles may vary on actual performance. As for ports, you’ll find HDMI, component, composite, Ethernet, S-Video and a Toslink optical audio jack. Initial reports are looking pretty positive from here (save for the glaring lack of HD support), but feel free to dig into the reviews below to get a better feel of what this box really has to offer.

Read - Roku Netflix Player officially introduced
Read - PCMag review (4 out of 5)
Read - CNET review (7.7 out of 10)
Read - Wired review (”…just shy of totally amazing.”)

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment

If you’re looking for a standalone Blu-ray player that hits all the checkmarks, make room for the Panasonic DMP-BD50 on your list. After being teased with this unit at CES, only to see it go to European consumers first, it’s finally official in the US of A. BD-Live support gets tops billing in the press release, so rest assured that once the floodgates of internet-enabled additional content are opened, you’ll be ready to surf. Considerably more usable right now, the next-gen Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA audio codecs (also with in-player decoding) are there as well. Good stuff, but the $700 MSRP is little extreme for what amounts to an internet-enabled disc spinner, and won’t exactly be invigorating those struggling Blu-ray player sales.

[Thanks, Mike S]

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Original post by Steven Kim

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Though not quite as impressive as the idea of toppling Intel and AMD within the next ten years, Hynix Semiconductor still has a decent reason to brag today. The South Korean chip producer has announced that it has just started mailing out the “fastest data transferring advanced dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip for mobile devices.” Said chip is the one-gigabit LPDDR2 (low-power double-data-rate 2), which was crafted using 66-nanometer technology and features an 800-megabits per second operating speed at 1.2-volts. No word on exactly what devices will see the super-speedy chip packed within, but a company spokesperson did note that it plans on ramping up production during ̮ to meet “growing demand for flat-panel television sets and high-end handheld devices.”

[Via Physorg]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola’s Linux-based A1600 MING 2 may still not have seen a release ‘round these parts, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the company from churning out a new model in the form of the 򟈘, which has now wound up in the hands of The Boy Genius Report. According to BGR, this one shrinks things down even further while still staying “sturdy as a rock” and, somewhat interestingly, includes two SIM card slots. Apart from that, you can expect the CDMA / quad-band GSM handset to pack a 3-megapixel camera and built-in Bluetooth, but any other details seem to be a bit hard to come by at the moment. That unfortunately also includes any word on pricing or availability, though BGR says not to expect a launch at CTIA next week.

 

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s been a rough couple months for Motorola’s handset division — rumors of a sale, two high-profile executive departures, layoffs, and that pathetic showing at Mobile World Congress — but today it looks like the company might have some tricks left up its sleeve for CTIA. We’re not sure where it came from, but this supposed marketing video popped up on YouTube with shots of several new handsets, all of which jive with rumors we’ve heard about Moto’s upcoming devices, like the Linux-based Ming 2 and the 5 megapixel cameraphone developed with Kodak (pictured above). Other notables are a Q variant running Windows Mobile 6.1 and an odd new music slider that could be the ROKR E10. Of course, none of this is official (and Moto did release a hype-laden video just before MWC only to fall totally flat), but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t hoping to see Moto try and come back around at CTIA — we’ll see what happens. Video after the break.

[Via Unwired View]

Continue reading Motorola to unveil a slew of new handsets at CTIA?

 

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Original post by Nilay Patel