Hasta La Gadget!

It’s no secret that the Windows 7 beta that’s creeping about the world is generating a lot of excitement — people want this OS, like, now. To that end, Kelly Poe of Nashville, Tennessee has started up a “Release Windows 7 Now” campaign to get Microsoft to move its behind a little faster. It hasn’t gained that much steam yet — as of this writing, he’s only collected 153 votes — but hey, you just never know, right? Right.

Update: Kelly Poe’s actually a man… sorry about that, Kelly!

[Via PC World]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Windows fanperson revs up “Release Windows 7 Now” campaign originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We thought we’d seen all that Palm intended to reveal about the magical company-saving Pre at CES a few weeks back, but quality footage continues to roll in — and it just gets even better when it’s being shown off by an exec instead of your standard-issue PR type. Peter Skillman, Palm’s design VP, does the honors here with a 4-plus minute overview of some of the cooler things the Pre has to offer, including a demo of the Touchstone inductive charger at about 2:26 in (curious fact: it apparently uses the “same technology that are in gecko feet” to stick to the table). At the 2:06 mark, he puts down the Nokia N95 for looking like a post-apocalyptic industrial design nightmare of exposed hardware and mechanisms (our words, not his), which is kinda funny since we’d never really considered the N95 as a Pre competitor. Finally, he wraps up with a quick look at the Amazon music store starting around 3:19 — and at a first glance, it looks a heck of a lot prettier than the one we get on the G1. Not to say we’re going to let the prettiness of the store affect how much DRM-free music we buy. Wait, yes we are. See the full video after the break.

[Via PreCentral]

Continue reading Palm’s VP of design shows off Pre features, scoffs at N95

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm’s VP of design shows off Pre features, scoffs at N95 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had ample discussion on laptops catering to this and that, but what about the hordes of individuals who just need a perfectly capable, perfectly average machine to get work done with? We’ll let Karl spell it out:

“I need a new laptop, mainly for browsing, programming, AutoCad, and a bit of low-stress gaming. I’ve been checking out options from HP and ASUS, but everything just starts to run together after awhile. I’m looking to spend between $500 and $1,000, and it just simply needs to work. Any opinions?”

Oh yes Karl, we’re sure there will be opinions. And after you’ve dropped your own, feel free to send over a question that’s been nagging you to ask at engadget dawt com.

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Laptops

Ask Engadget: Best totally awesome $500 to $1,000 laptop? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hearing rumors of a Dell smartphone for a while now, but The Wall Street Journal gave more shape to the speculation with a report Thursday that the PC maker “has had a group of engineers working on the phones for more than a year from an office …

Over the years, filmmaking auteurs from Hong Kong have changed the landscape of action movies, from the early Wuxia-style of martial arts to the hanging-by-a-wire Kung Fu fantasies of the last 15 years. So it’s not surprising that they’re ready to change the landscape once again with the use of technology. What’s surprising is that they’re using 3D tech to create the most realistic sex movie ever.

The movie is called 3D Sex And Zen, and will come in at a budget of $4 million, which is supposedly quite high for a movie of this genre. About one-third of the movie will include sex scenes, and it’s likely that only those scenes will be the ones in 3D, in the same way that many current action movies save the 3D effect for the climactic, plot-driving scenes. 

Stephen Shiu Jr., a spokesman for the film, told the Sunday Morning Post that, "there will be many close-ups," and it will feel as if the performers will only be "a few centimetres from the audience."

We’ve previously noted that 3D films from all genres are growing in popularity, and as a result, many movie companies are now more willing to invest in them. The 3D Journey to the Centre of the Earth last year grossed $216 million worldwide, and more than half of that came from the 3D version of the movie.

According to the announcement, the same company that worked on the 3D version of The Nightmare Before Christmas will be the one working on this one.

There’s no word on which type of depth perception 3D trick will be used, or if the movie will also incorporate elements of wire-Fu into the story.

Photo: LiveNews.com