Hasta La Gadget!

For the past few years E3 has been a tale of two guitar games. In a lot of ways it still is, with the Guitar Hero and Rock Band clans still battling it out for plastic instrument supremacy, but this year two turntable games are also vying for your attention. DJ Hero has far more brand recognition on the box, but Scratch: the Ultimate DJ has the better hardware, and we got our hands on it.

Continue reading Scratch: The Ultimate DJ hands-on

Filed under: Gaming

Scratch: The Ultimate DJ hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s just be totally honest with each other here: Walt Mossberg probably has a new iPhone that none of us have ever seen. In fact, he could very well have two or more, depending on exactly what Apple intends to unveil at WWDC next week. We doubt the guy’s actively trying to blow Apple’s cover, but he’s been surprisingly candid in the past ahead of press embargoes both on the original model and the 3G, so it’s anyone’s guess what’s really going on in that mind of his — other than proper goatee grooming techniques, obviously — and there’s a little gem in his just-released Pre review that gives us pause:

“Whether the Pre is better than the iPhone depends on your personal preferences, though I’d note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations.”

Now granted, Walt could simply be talking about all the great stuff 3.0 will bring to the platform, but we tend to think there’s something a little more revealing afoot here — the notion that the new iPhone is awesome enough to potentially tip the scale against the Pre for some cross-shoppers. Whether it’s the rumored 3.2 megapixel AF camera, the integrated radio tuner, the OLED display, the faster processor, the butter pecan ice cream dispenser, or some totally unknown stuff that has him fired up, we don’t know — but we wouldn’t be surprised if Palm execs were furiously refreshing our liveblog of Schiller’s keynote come next Monday.

Update: Reading further into the review, Walt continues to walk the fine line between harmless speculation and thinly-veiled news leakage, saying that new iPhone hardware will be “likely available within a month.” He also goes on to mention that it’ll “likely” lack a physical keyboard, quashing a longstanding rumor that’s gone quiet in recent months.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Mossberg on new iPhone: it’ll have “lots of added features,” available within a month? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netbooks, such as those AT&T is bundling with its data plans, are about to get a new module that helps connect to the Internet via cellular networks.

The Ericsson F3307 module installed in a Netbook.

(Credit: Ericsson)

Ericsson is expected to launch on Thursday its latest mobile broadband module, …

Even without Steve Jobs emceeing, this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference sold out in record time. Hopes are running high for products that the secretive corporation will unveil at the conference next week. Rumors about new iPhones, upgraded MacBooks and a highly anticipated touchscreen tablet abound, and there’s even gossip about a possible partnership with Verizon.

But as wonderful as all those items sound, they remain unconfirmed by Apple. And frankly, some of the rumors sound too good to be true.

What should we realistically expect? The following is a list of everything Wired.com has heard about WWDC, accompanied by our analysis on which rumored announcements will or will not become a reality.

New iPhones

There’s a pile of evidence in the blogosphere suggesting Apple will release a lackluster upgrade for its popular iPhone. Likely features include a digital compass, processor and memory upgrades, an improved digital camera with auto-focus and video-recording capabilities, and other minor improvements.

These hardware enhancements don’t add up to much. Instead, Apple seems to be training most of its focus on the previously-announced iPhone 3.0 — a major upgrade to the operating system that will add in-app commerce, tethering, live streaming, the ability to integrate apps with external accessories and push notification, along with a variety of other features such as cut-and-paste.

We’re confident that Apple will introduce an iPhone upgrade at WWDC — it would be a perfectly logical move because Apple announced the current iPhone 3G at WWDC 2008. Also, it would be ideal for Apple to unveil the iPhone at the event so it can hold WWDC sessions on any new hardware APIs (the rumored digital compass, for example).

The latest iPhone-related rumor involves Apple adding a 4-GB model to the line. We’re skeptical about this, because Apple already killed the 4-GB model introduced with the original iPhone just two months after its release in June 2007. Would many people buy one, even if it only costs $100?

It’s more likely that Apple will add a 32-GB model to the iPhone family, because that’d be the next step up from the current 8-GB and 16-GB models.

(See which specific features we predict will appear in the next iPhone in our earlier story “Rumor Round-Up: Everything We’ve Heard About the Next iPhone.”)

No Verizon Deal

BusinessWeek in April reported hearing from two sources “familiar with the matter” that Apple was working with Verizon on two new iPhones, which could be available as soon as this summer. This would be great news for Verizon customers unwilling to switch to AT&T, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone.

Our thoughts? Not happening — not anytime soon, at least. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg told the Wall Street Journal he expects Apple to consider sharing the iPhone with Verizon in 2010 — when Verizon begins deploying its fourth-generation network. If Apple is indeed interested in working with Verizon, there is no incentive to make this announcement in mid-2009 — especially when Apple can stretch out the negotiations to shake more money out of its carrier partners. Also, historically Apple does not enjoy making announcements about products until they are finalized.

Also, Apple said in late April it has no plans to change its exclusive relationship with AT&T. Flip-flopping on that statement about six weeks later would make that a blatant lie, wouldn’t it? If any deal happens between Verizon and Apple, we expect it to happen no sooner than 2010.

No Touchscreen Tablet

As much as you might want one now, we don’t see this launching at WWDC. We agree with analyst Gene Munster’s arguments for why an Apple tablet is likely to appear no sooner than 2010. The strongest point raised is that Apple purchased chip company PA Semi in 2008, and Steve Jobs said the purpose of the acquisition was to develop iPhone and iPod chips. Also, Apple has recently been hiring chip designers.

It’s reasonable to infer Apple would wait to introduce its newly developed mobile processor with the release of a highly anticipated touchscreen tablet. There’s no indication this is happening anytime soon.

Incremental Upgrades for MacBook Family

9 to 5 Mac reported a rumor that Apple will roll out incremental upgrades to its unibody MacBooks. We buy that. Apple typically refreshes its notebooks every seven months, and the last upgrades were released in October. WWDC would be an opportune event to announce new MacBooks.

More Details on iPhone 3.0, Mac OS X Snow Leopard Operating Systems

We saved the most obvious for last. Apple said in a press release that it plans to preview new features and APIs for its next-generation operating systems iPhone 3.0 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. For iPhone, expect Apple to lay out the final roadmap for the iPhone 3.0 software developer kit, speaking more extensively on the features we previously wrote about. For Snow Leopard, Apple will likely nerd out about the OS’ optimization for supporting multi-core processors (i.e., Grand Central).

Agree, disagree or have anything to add? Comment with your WWDC predictions below.

See Also:

• Apple Bestows Cut-and-Paste, MMS on iPhone Users
• iPhone 3.0 Beta Reveals More Clues of Voice Control
• iPhone 3.0: Will the Gold Rush Continue?
• Why Apple Can Afford to Phone It In With the Next iPhone
• Easter Eggs Give Clues to Next-Gen iPhone
• Analyst: No New iPhone at WWDC 2009
• Apple Posts WWDC Details; No Mention of Jobs

Photos: Adam Jackson/Flickr, Jon Snyder/Wired.com, Incendiary Mind/Flickr, blakie/Flickr, vernhart/Flickr, macnerd93/Flickr

WIRED senior writer Steven Levy has spent the last few days with the Palm Pre and he is impressed with it. Despite a battery that sucks down as fast as the iPhone 3G and a keypad that forces you to type with your fingernails, the device is fantastic. Especially noteworthy is the WebOS platform that not only provides multitasking goodness for multiple apps, but works incredibly well with the 3.1-inch touchscreen. From Levy’s review:

Shaped like a small bar of shower soap, the dense, ebony Pre matches many (if not all) of the features of its chief competitor, the iPhone. But in one key aspect, the Pre does the iPhone one better. While a lot of the Pre’s features — a bright 3.1-inch touchscreen manipulated by taps, swipes and pinches; apps sold by third parties in an open online bazaar; integration of e-mail, contacts and calendar — are now standard in 3G smartphones, Palm also lets users keep multiple applications running simultaneously.

It’s a huge win. The Palm gets around the inherent difficulty of multitasking with a concept dubbed “cards” which work like windows on a regular computer. When browsing open apps or web pages, you swipe through the cards as if viewing photos. Tap on a card to use the app. The other apps are still active; your inbox still collects mail, web pages still update. Just as with your computer, you can stay constantly connected to Facebook, Twitter, IM and other online activities. Best of all, when you’re using an app and need something from another app, you don’t have to go through a tortuous process of closing, launching and reloading. When you’re navigating with Google Maps you can slide over to check a contact’s address, choose a podcast or answer an e-mail, and then return to Maps without losing a beat.

$200 (with a two year contract), palm.com

There’s a lot more to the review. For a deeper download you can read the rest of the write-up right here.

Photo by Jim Merithew for Wired.com