Hasta La Gadget!

The Pre might have slowed the drain at Sprint but it hasn’t managed to turn things around completely — America’s number three carrier posted a second-quarter loss of $384m as it lost another 257,000 subscribers. That just continues Sprint’s trend of bleeding customers to the competition, and we doubt this balance sheet will turn around anytime soon — not only will next quarter reflect the $483m purchase of Virgin Mobile USA, it’s pretty clear that Verizon will get the Pre and AT&T will carry another webOS handset, leaving Mr. Hesse and crew without their shiny halo device to lure new subs to the fold. We’ll see what Sprint does to turn this all around — did someone say they need a Hero?

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Sprint loses $384m, 257k subscribers in first quarter of Pre availability originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Upon the initial release of PlayStation Home (a free service for owners of the PS3), fanboys were abuzz with the opportunity to play around in their own 3-D realm. The service promised to be an interactive social network, but after its release, there was an outcry of disappointment. Users could create their Avatars and prance about the square well enough, but there was nothing to do–most likened the experience to Second Life, but with better graphics.

Since then, the European developers have been trying to make amends with fresh content and something for users to do besides dance and wait in a line to go bowling. After taking a look at the Home network at the PlayStation Editor’s Holiday Showcase, I was happy to see that a new world of content has been added to the once-desolate network.

Developers have created miniature worlds that users can visit to preview games and interact with the environment. For instance, there is an inFamous setting where users can play an electric shooting game, paint graffiti on the walls, and explore (possibly find small hints to use in-game).

These worlds featured within Home may go unnoticed by users who first downloaded the PlayStation 3 social network and have not bothered to revisit it. But there is now content being added and updated that is worth thier attention.

Barnes & Noble customers have had access to paid Wi-Fi hotspots at individual outlets of the popular nationwide bookseller since 2005. The company announced yesterday that it has signed a strategic agreement with AT&T to implement free and unlimited access to all of its 777 stores’ wireless networks.

This move seems to be intended, at least in part, to help support the company’s ever-expanding eBook initiative. We reviewed Barnes & Noble’s new eReader application last week, and this move seems like an excellent way to keep the company’s enormous list of titles at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Giving everyone with a wireless device instant access to preview and download over 700,000 eBook titles (including hundreds of thousands of additional public-domain selections from Google) is a terrific marketing tool.

And this strategy doesn’t end there. Customers who opt in will also be able to receive special offers and useful information directly over the network. The company is currently suggesting such things as coupons to in-store cafés, information on book signings, and specific instructions on how to find new releases as being among the potential benefits for customers.

Filed under: Gaming

DJ Hero goes renegade with premium edition turntable, DJ stand originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like viewers in the Benelux countries have one more option for their Eurovision parties this year. BenQ has just announced the MK2442, a 23.6-inch LCD TV / computer monitor that sports a 5ms response time, full HD at 1920×1080 / 1080p / 24Hz, an HDMI 1.3 interface, and something called Senseye Human Vision Technology (a proprietary image enhancement engine that, you know, “mimics the human eye” for “deeper, richer and more detailed images”). Available from August 20 all over Europe — and just the thing for all your Russian techno-pop viewing needs.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

Continue reading BenQ’s new 1080p LCD TV monitor makes someone in Europe very happy

Filed under: Displays

BenQ’s new 1080p LCD TV monitor makes someone in Europe very happy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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