Hasta La Gadget!

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got an 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable hard drive, complete with a swank black / white motif and a nearly unlimited amount of room for, um, whatever the heck you want. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Huge thanks to Toshiba for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable HDD, model number HDDR500E03X. Approximate retail value is $139.99.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, April 24th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements, Storage

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a 500GB Toshiba USB 2.0 portable HDD! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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President Obama has had to tote around two smart phones up until now: a BlackBerry 8830 that he uses for personal calls according to ABC News, and a General Dynamics Sectera Edge that he uses for secret government business.

According to the Washington Times, those two devices will soon become one, once Obama’s BlackBerry gets a SecurVoice software package from Genesis Key. Obama will then be able to use his BlackBerry for up to “Top Secret” communications, the Times says. General Dynamics told us back in January  that standard government-issue BlackBerries can be used for “sensitive, but unclassified” calls, a few notches short of Top Secret.

According to Genesis Key, SecurVoice uses Type 1 encryption algorithms, the same NSA-developed spy-movie stuff used by the Sectera Edge.

The Times story says that right now “The General Dynamics Corp.-made Sectera must be plugged into the presidential BlackBerry,” which makes no sense. They also say BlackBerry makers Research in Motion are based in Toronto, which they aren’t. But we’ll let that pass. There’s no reason that the rest of the story couldn’t be true.

We’re generally downright Ludditic when it comes to our music (we like it loud and bratty — and no backing tapes, please) but one can’t help but get a little giddy when confronted with a guitar that does, you know, other stuff. Matt Bellamy’s Manson MB-1 signature is not only a respectable ax in its own right, but it also features an X-Y controller (think Korg Kaoss Pad) for two dimensional control of damn near any FX plug-in you can get your hands on. Available in “Matt Black” and “Red Sparkle,” this bad boy starts at £2,999 (that’s almost $4,400, folks). But what do you expect for what Music Radar has termed “easily the most technologically advanced signature guitar on the planet?” Or you could just buy a Kaoss Pad and shove it in your Les Paul. But we wouldn’t recommend that. Make sure you check out the stunning video demonstration after the break.

[Via Music Radar]

Continue reading Video: Manson MB-1 guitar sports X-Y midi controller, tons of ‘tude

Filed under: Peripherals

Video: Manson MB-1 guitar sports X-Y midi controller, tons of ‘tude originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(Credit: Sony)

Sony’s first entry in the mini-camcorder arena was 2007’s NSC-GC1 Net-sharing Cam. That model didn’t fare too well in our review, but Sony seems to have learned from that experience and made some improvements to its new line of YouTube-friendly budget camcorders, dubbed “Webbie HD” …

President Obama's BlackBerry 8830 is getting the super-secure treatment.

(Credit: Research In Motion)

After months of waiting, President Obama will soon get his super-secure BlackBerry.

The Washington Times newspaper reported Thursday that the presidential BlackBerry 8830 is “in the final stages of development by the National Security Agency.” The agency is still testing the encryption software to ensure it’s up to snuff. And the president could have his new device in a matter of months.

A Washington, D.C.-based company, Genesis Key, developed the software called SecureVoice that will be used to secure the high-security BlackBerry. Research In Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, has also been involved in development, the Washington Times said.

Since the inauguration in January, President Obama, who vowed security officials would have to pry his BlackBerry out of his hands, has been using a cumbersome work-around to communicate with key members of his staff and close aides.

…

Originally posted at News – Wireless