Here’s a quick backgrounder. A Japanese software programmer has released Microsoft Windows XP/Vista drivers for PlayStation 3’s SixAxis and DualShock3 controllers.
Unlike Microsoft, Sony has never released the relevant software to enable its controllers for PC gaming. These unofficial drivers are a stopgap that also unlocks the …
You know the saying "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again"? It now applies to Apple rumors.
Either disappointed by the lackluster Macworld Expo keynote, or just plain lazy, China’s Economic Daily News is recycling the iPhone Nano rumors which were swirling around like a Quidditch Snitch at the end of last year.
According to the newspaper, two Chinese chip makers are lined up to receive orders from Apple: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation. The story goes that the orders will be placed in March and the iPhone Nano will ship in June.
This is either wrong or just plain dumb for a few reasons. Apple likes its secrets, and if these contracts aren’t signed yet, leaking them ahead of time is a sure way to make certain they’ll never be signed.
We’re not discounting an iPhone Nano, and to be sure Apple is a lot more leaky than it used to be, but this report just doesn’t sound right — it smacks to much of recycling.
See Also:
TSMC and UMC likely to receive orders for iPhone nano, says paper [Digitimes]
Scads of tempting TV hardware was announced at CES, but is it really worth waiting for?
(Credit: Panasonic)
Dear David,
Just saw your report on the new plasmas from Panasonic at CES. I was all set to get an TH-50PZ800U, your current Editors’ Choice, but these look better. Should I wait or buy the 800U now?
–Anonymous, New York City
Howdy Anonymous,
If I was in your situation I would wait for the new models, but if you’re a bargain hunter, then there’s no better time to buy than now.
Every year around this time, the flood of new gadgets announced at the January Consumer Electronics Show washes the diligently researched product picks from the wish lists of thousands of careful shoppers. The product you had your heart set on suddenly looks obsolete in the face of the latest and greatest, and the CES hype machine (guilty as charged) somehow makes even the lowliest entry-level gear seem shinier and more desirable than the cobweb-encrusted former flagships rotting away on store shelves today.
Every year improvements are made, such as the “better picture quality for half the power” claimed by Panasonic with its plasmas; the new 240Hz and LED-backlit LCDs, at least one for a formerly unheard-of price; and the addition of Netflix streaming. But are the improvements worth it?
…
Dell’s budget gamer
Has the heart of a Dragon,
But lacks graphics oomph.
—Nicole Price Fasig
For the full-length, free-verse Dell XPS 625 review check out PCMag.com.
Behold the power of bad press: Monster Cable last week decided to drop its ridiculous trademark lawsuit against Monster Mini Golf. According to founder Noel Lee, Monster Cable will drop any opposition to the “Monster Mini Golf” trademark, won’t require any licensing fees, and it’ll also step up and pay Monster Mini Golf’s attorney’s fees in an effort to make things right. Of course, it wouldn’t be Noel Lee if he didn’t caveat his actions with some weird martyr nonsense — are you ready? “I will say that this is a landmark kind of situation, as public opinion wins over what is the right thing to do for trademark protection of a famous mark. We have made the decision that public opinion, and that of our valued customers is more important than the letter of the law that requires us to prevent the dilution of our mark and risk losing it.” Yeah, somehow we just don’t believe Noel Lee really thinks that Monster is in danger of losing its mark over putt-putt — a better paranoia would be the fear that consumers will one day realize that Monster’s cables and power strips are just overpriced snake oil.
[Via TechDirt]
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Monster Cable tries to make it better, drops minigolf suit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s already been a number of states that have passed some form of ban on cellphone use while driving, but the National Safety Council seems to think that there’s still far too many folks out there talking or texting behind the wheel, and it’s now calling for an all out nationwide ban on the practice. What’s more, the group also says that laws that allow for handsfree cellphone use are “giving people a placebo, in effect,” and that they don’t, in fact, make calling while driving any safer. The group also seems to be taking particular aim at businesses, saying that calling while driving can increase costs and even open up employers to liability. As you might have guessed, however, the cellphone industry, and the CTIA specifically, disagree with that assessment quite a bit, and instead say that they believe that “safe, sensible and limited use of a cell phone when you’re behind the wheel is possible,” and that if someone is “driving irresponsibly because of cell phone use, they should be cited for that. And under current law, they can be.”
Filed under: Cellphones
National Safety Council calls for nationwide ban on cellphone use while driving originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Palm has yet to launch its new smartphone, the Palm Pre, but already many are are expecting it to be a hit. But just how big could the Pre get?
Palm could sell 1.5 million Palm Pre phones in the first twelve months of its launch, says Jim Suva, an analyst with Citigroup in a research note. And that’s based on potential sales just in the U.S. on a single carrier, Sprint which will be offering the device initially.
If Palm hits those numbers, it will be a big milestone for the company and could help revive Palm’s fortunes. Palm has seen its market share eaten away by rivals including Apple, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and even the recently launched HTC G1 phone.
The Pre’s success should help make Palm a serious contendor in the smartphone business again.
Pre’s estimated numbers while significant will still not be a patch on Apple’s 3G iPhone or the Android based HTC G1 phone–two devices it is most likely to be compared to. The 3G iPhone sold a million units in just three days after its launch last year, while the G1 phone from T-Mobile sold more than a million units within three months of its debut on Oct. 22.
The $99 Centro phone from Palm sold two million units in its first nine months, says Suva. The Palm Pre will be a priced higher–potentially in the $199 to $249 range with a contract, he estimates.
Palm hasn’t committed to a launch date for the Pre other than to say it will be out in the first half of the year.
See Also:
Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre
Six Reasons Why The Palm Pre Is Special
Video: Hands-On With the Palm Pre
New WebOS Is Palm’s Secret Sauce
Up Close and Personal With the Palm Pre
Is Motorola preparing to lay off roughly half of its handset unit?
According to a single-sourced report on PhoneScoop, yes. The single-paragraph report goes on to say that Motorola is preparing to trim the number of new phones it brings to market down to just a dozen per year, and eliminate the Windows Mobile platform in favor of Google’s Android platform.
A Motorola representative said that the company doesn’t comment on rumors.
So far, no one’s quite sure if this report is true or not. But the report sounds viable, always a solid foundation for a juicy rumor.
“Even if the actual details prove to be somewhat off, the credibility attached to the leak throughout the markets indicates how serious everyone knows Motorola’s situation to be – and that radical action on the scale indicated is required if the company is to prove bearish analysts, predicting that it will crash out of the cellphone market this year, wrong,” Rethink Wireless’ Caroline Gabriel wrote.
We were really hoping to see some wild Android devices at CES, and while we did see one or two interesting applications, we sadly missed Compulab’s crazy exeda. Ostensibly designed for the enterprise market, the squared-off handheld features a 3.5-inch sun-readable VGA touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and a capacitive touchpad that acts as a mouse. Like other recent Asian Android handsets we’ve seen, the exeda can also boot Windows Mobile 6.1 on its 520MHz Marvell CPU and 128MB of RAM, and the radio setup is similarly flexible — resellers can pick from quadband GSM / GPRS, CDMA, and 3G UMTS. Craziest of all? The exeda has a 10/100Base-T Ethernet port in addition to WiFi. Yeah, we want one. No details on pricing, but hopefully we’ll find out more when it hits in March.
[Thanks, James R.]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Compulab unveils the exeda Android / WinMo handheld originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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(Credit: Schulte Design)Who doesn’t enjoy a nice warm fire crackling away when it’s chilly outside? The primordial cave dweller hiding somewhere deep inside of all of us certainly understands the allure. As beneficial as drywall and glass windows may be to modern humans, there is one way …
Originally posted at Appliances and Kitchen Gadgets
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