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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

With Sprint snagging the vast majority of the WiMAX limelight of late, we aren’t going to complain with a similar network halfway across the globe yanking it back. Out of absolutely nowhere comes HTC’s first WiMAX-enabled handset, the sure-to-be-delightful T8290. Reportedly, this bugger packs a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, GSM and WiMAX radios and is expected to launch soon on Russia’s Yota. Granted, we can’t take this as hard truth or anything quite yet, but the images that reside in the read link are more than convincing. Oh, and HTC — given that you’re passing on the US with the Touch HD, do you think it’d be possible to get this over here for use with XOHM? We’d really, really appreciate it.

[Via Slashphone, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Not that Motorola’s Q11 comes as any big surprise, but it’s nice to see the Windows Mobile 6.1-packin’ smartphone get all official on us. Now boasting its very own dedicated page on Moto’s website, the Q11 comes to us with quad-band GPRS / EDGE (no 3G, for whatever reason), a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, 64MB of RAM, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.1, a 320 x 240 resolution display, integrated GPS and a multimedia player with support for all sorts of file formats. You can also expect up to 450 minutes of talk time and up to 195 hours in standby, but you won’t be able to wrap your paws around it until December. As for carriers and pricing? Patience, friends, patience.

[Via UnwiredView]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Not that Motorola’s Q11 comes as any big surprise, but it’s nice to see the Windows Mobile 6.1-packin’ smartphone get all official on us. Now boasting its very own dedicated page on Moto’s website, the Q11 comes to us with quad-band GPRS / EDGE (no 3G, for whatever reason), a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash, 64MB of RAM, microSD card slot, Bluetooth 2.1, a 320 x 240 resolution display, integrated GPS and a multimedia player with support for all sorts of file formats. You can also expect up to 450 minutes of talk time and up to 195 hours in standby, but you won’t be able to wrap your paws around it until December. As for carriers and pricing? Patience, friends, patience.

[Via UnwiredView]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Check out this awesome remake of Daft Punk’s “Something About Us”:

So many stuff used here: aside from the DS Lite, you’ve got a midi controller, a theremin, and even a papier-mâché helmet complete with a LED display! (makezine.com)

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Original post by Rico

Filed under: Handhelds

Man, the Peek email-only handheld must really be, uh, piquing people’s interest — it just went up for pre-orders and two of the three colors are already backordered a week. The $100 device should also be showing up in Targets nationwide Monday, so if you’re as curious as we are they’ll be easy to impulse purchase in person as well. Too bad that you’re locked into that $19.95/mo data plan as your only option, though — if we could somehow use our existing data plan or even pay a flat fee upfront for lifetime service we’d be way more likely to snag one. Anyone else picking one up?

[Via Silicon Alley Insider]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

Back in March it was the world’s first laptop with a 128GB SSD. Now the Dynabook SS RX1 makes the bump to the RX2 while grabbing the title to the world’s lightest 12.1-inch laptop. Or so says Toshiba. Fortunately, Tosh didn’t skimp on battery life (up to 12.5-hours when configured with an SSD) to achieve that 858-grams (1.89-pounds) weight. Shipping in late September, the SS RX2 features a semi-rugged frame, a 1.2GHz SU9300 ULV Core 2 Duo processor; up to 160GB of hard disk (or 128GB SSD); an LED backlit 12.1-inch 1,280 x 800 pixel display; up to 3GB of memory; Intel GS45 Express graphics chipset; 3x USB and 1x eSATA; 802.11a/b/g/n draft 2.0; integrated DVD super-multi drive; and built-in 3G data — a road warrior’s weapon of paradise.

[Via Impress]

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu-Siemens’s Amilo 3000 laptops have always been decidely stylish in their two-tone duds, and now the company’s polishing them up a bit with new Centrino 2-based guts. First out the gate is the 15.4-inch Amilo Pi 3540, which features the new platform and NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics driving a display Fujitsi-Siemens claims is dramatically better than the industry standard. There’s also a spill-proof keyboard, silent mode, and a 15-in-1 card reader. Europe only at the moment, should be out in August starting at £699 ($1,392).

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Straight from the “spotted at the mall” files, one eagle-eyed tipster has shared a picture snapped at a local shopping venue where the presumably astounding PNP was being kept under lock and key. This marvel boasts the iconic PSP shape, obligatory D-pad, dedicated On / Off button (let’s see your Sony do that… in this manner) and four puzzling buttons to the right of the “display” mounted in the middle. Yeah, it was only being sold for around $10, but you’d have to slip a Hamilton in our pocket before we’d mar our collection with this filth.

[Thanks, Enrique]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

While that lone image above doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence of its actual existence, China’s Epoda is apparently now looking for partners to help distribute its EP2501 water-proof watch phone, which supposedly packs more features than your average, non-wearable cellphone. That includes Windows CE 6.0 for an OS, quad band 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900Mhz connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera, a 1.4-inch display, the usual PMP functions, 1GB of memory, and “support” for WiFi and Bluetooth (it’s not clear if that means it’s built-in or not, although dongles would pose a bit of a problem). Of course, there’s no word on price or availability, but those interested in doing business with Epoda can contact ‘em at the link below for more details.

[Via PMP Today]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Handhelds

Get ‘em while they’re hot. Amazon has its Kindle e-book reader back on sale, finally following up on that 5.5 hours of stock available the first time around. Of course, that $399 pricetag isn’t budging, so if you were looking for a cheaper way to get into this racket, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Or just squint really hard and pretend those two nines are zeros.

[Via GizmoScene]

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Handhelds

The AP has a story out on the Amazon Kindle’s impact on the teensy tiny e-book market. It hasn’t been insubstantial, with some reporting double digit increases in e-book sales since the Kindle’s release, and it hasn’t hurt the competition either — Sony numbers were apparently doubled or tripled from what they were before the Kindle arrived. Opinions are still torn as to whether the Kindle is really the right device for the job, but the press buzz around the device has certainly impacted the struggling e-book market, which is hovering around $33 million of the $35 billion publishing business. Some analysts are fairly certain e-books will remain a small niche, similar to audiobooks, but we think everybody’s missing the big picture here: direct-to-brain downloads. Get on it, people.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Gaming

The last time we heard someone proclaim the death of the game console, it was EA’s head of international distribution saying that an open gaming platform distributed within cable and satellite set-top boxes would take over within 15 years — a prediction at which we laughed pretty heartily, given that most cable companies can’t even manage to get a functional DVR out the door. So it’s fairly surprising to hear the former VP of Xbox Europe make the exact same prediction, and bump up the timeline pretty dramatically: Sandy Duncan, who was with MS for 15 years, recently said that dedicated game devices “will die in the next five to 10 years,” and that “most of this stuff will be ‘virtualized’ as web services by your content provider.” Of course, Duncan’s now with YoYo Games, which is a web-based gaming company, so he might be a little biased, but there’s truth in his statement that the console gaming market is risky and that launch costs of new hardware are incredibly high. Still, as Duncan should know first-hand, it’s an investment that can definitely pay off, and we think consumers are always going to demand choice and quality — two things that aren’t exactly synonymous with cable and satellite hardware.

[Via GameDaily]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Colorware are the masters at redecorating consoles, notebooks and other mobile devices so it’s a welcome surprise to see that the great, yet bland, Nintendo DS is getting a makeover.

Alongside the garish Simpsons-themed Xbox 360s to the bright and cheery MacBooks, Colorware has turned its brushes on the DS but you get to choose the colours.

On its site you can choose the colours you want and how you want them portrayed to create a one-off DS all of your own. The proprietary hybrid coating process is shiny and durable and if your inner Salvador Dali has the day off, there’s a Brainstorm button on the design page that will suggest combinations to get the ball rolling.

It’s not cheap though at around £85 a throw when you send in your own DS for pimping - US only - but you can buy a new one already pimped for around £155.-Martin Lynch

[Colorware]

games DS nintendo

Original post by nafiz

Despite rumours - and the fervent hopes of many console gamers - that Microsoft was planning a Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360, a senior Microsoft executive has popped the bubble.

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Group Marketing Manager, has said in an interview that Microsoft will not be producing any Blu-flavoured Xbox hardware. None. Zip. He said:

“Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience.”

That flies in the face of what Sony Corp’s US president, Stan Glasgow, just said a few days ago, so now it’s one of those “Which one of them is a lying scumbag?” situations.

Hands up for Chinese water torture. 1-2-3-4….-Martin Lynch

[AHN]

sony blu-ray xbox microsoft

Original post by nafiz

I like my consoles but not enough to tattoo them on my skin. Trust me, if ‘I Love Mum’ isn’t there then neither is Xbox, PS2/3 or Wii.

One UK fan though has opted to proclaim his love [obsession] by tattooing PS3 onto his forearm in big, black letters.

Apparently, it’s a ‘World’s First’ but let’s be honest here, it’s not exactly up there with walking on the moon or heart transplants.

The user, known as Mobiletone, a regular commenter on Sony’s semi-official Threespeech blog site, said:

‘How much do I love my console? I guess this video says it all. It’s been nearly a year since the PAL UK launch of the console and I decided to get this tattoo done in honour of what I consider the best console ever made. Love gaming, love women and love life.’

There’s a YouTube video of the pointless process below if you really require more proof that Mobiletone needs to get out more.-Martin Lynch

[PS3fanboy]

PS3 sony console

Original post by nafiz