Aug 12

US, Canada, and Spain ‘win’ the battle for most expensive cellphone bills

Posted in: cellphone, cellphones, research, Today's Chili, us

It’s not the kind of thing you’ll probably want to brag about winning, of course, but, according to new research conducted by the OECD, people in the US, Canada and Spain come out on the top of the heap when it comes to high cellphone bills. The research was conducted by categorizing bills into three usage categories, with the mid-range being 780 minutes per year of voice calls, and 600 SMS per year. For that amount, people in the US of A pay about $635 (the highest rate), while runners-up Spain pay just over $500. The countries with the lowest phone bills include the Netherlands and Sweden, where that same usage runs about $130. Yes, that’s a huge discrepancy, alright, meaning that in the Netherlands you’d pay around $11 a month with that level of usage, while in the US the same amount will run around $53 a month. Then again, they don’t get to watch “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” in the Netherlands, do they?

Update: The CTIA has issued a statement in response to the OECD’s study, stating that it is, essentially, inaccurate by way or its choice of unrepresentative calling packages. The CTIA’s full statement is after the break.

[Via IntoMobile]

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US, Canada, and Spain ‘win’ the battle for most expensive cellphone bills originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 12

The Real Cost of Upgrading to Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Posted in: Apple, feature, Mac, os x, Today's Chili, top

The good news is that upgrading to OS X Snow Leopard is going to be pretty cheap for people who wisely sprung cash for Leopard. But before you buy, you better check your situation and plan the right move, money-wise.

You may have a few questions: Am I eligible for a cheap upgrade? How about a “free” upgrade? What’s this about family packs? Should I be shopping for a new Mac? Not to worry, Prof. Dealzmodo will help clear things up.

As you can see from this handy chart,, the process of upgrading to a new OS is a little more straightforward for Mac users than it is with Windows. Again, everything starts with meeting the minimum system requirements, which in this case means bye-bye, Power PC—you gotta have an Intel chipset:

• Mac with an Intel Processor
• 1GB of memory
• 5GB of disk space
• DVD drive (though MacBook Airs can “Remote Install” from another computer)

Snow Leopard Pricing
Upgrading from Leopard is the easiest: $29. If you own multiple Macs, a Family pack is just $20 more: $49 for 5 users. Keep in mind, though, that Snow Leopard does not have any activation restrictions, so buying a Family Pack for two or three computers is kind of a waste of money (though using a single-Mac disc on multiple machines is technically illegal). Just remember, if you need tech support on any of your multiple machines during the 90 days that you are covered after buying the OS, you’ll have to have a legit software license.

If you bought a Mac anytime after June 8, you get Snow Leopard even cheaper with the “Up-To-Date” program: $10. Sure, it’s not “free” like Windows 7, but Apple sends you the install disc, and says that the $10 mostly goes to shipping and handling.

The Tiger Catch
Apple has said it themselves:

For Tiger users with an Intel-based Mac, the Mac Box Set includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 and will be available for a suggested price of $169 (US) and a Family Pack is available for a suggested price of $229 (US).

And retailers are doing a good job of making sure people know:

If you are an Intel Mac user running OS X 10.5 or above (Leopard), then there is no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of such an inexpensive upgrade to Snow Leopard. However, OS X 10.4 (Tiger) users will be forced to pick up one of the much pricier boxed sets that bundle Snow Leopard, iLife and iWork if they want to make the jump. iWork ’09 is about $55 on Amazon, so you’re getting something for your money, but it may not be what you want.

If you fall into this latter category, I would say it might be time to start looking into a new Mac with Snow Leopard and iLife ’09 pre-installed, rather than putting an additional $169 into a dated machine. This is especially true if you are are still running a PowerPC, which can’t be upgraded at all.

From time to time, Apple abandons users of dated machines and OSes—the rationale is that it keeps them from having the heavily layered code that Windows is always criticized for. Still, if you’re the guy running Tiger on an old PPC machine, you’re definitely feeling like a second-rate citizen in the Apple-verse. It’s time to move up… or move on.

Of course, dropping over $1000 on a MacBook might not be in the cards for everyone right now (although a Mac Mini is a relatively affordable way to get your foot in the door at $600), but it is important to consider that Apple’s Up-To-Date Program offers a Snow Leopard upgrade for $10 on purchases that include qualified refurbished systems. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—buying refurbished is the smarter move.

[Background Image via Flickr]

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Aug 12

Xbox 360 Elite dropping to $299 (finally)?

Posted in: Today's Chili

The end of the Xbox 360 Pro is nigh.

(Credit: Kotaku)

Treat this right now as very likely, but still a rumor–a photo of a catalog page posted to Kotaku shows the 120GB hard drive-and-HDMI Xbox 360 Elite going for $299. The Meijir catalog (a Midwest store chain) in question

…

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Aug 12

PCMags Zune HD Hands-On

Posted in: Microsoft, MP3 Digital Audio, Today's Chili, zune hd

Zune’s new senor director of marketing paid a visit to PCMag yesterday to show off the snazzy new Zune HD. A few of our editors had the chance to check out the new MP3 player, and seem to like generally like what they saw.

There’s praise for the hardware, which they called “incredibly thin,” but the software seems to be the device’s true selling point,

One clear strength is the slick and stellar user interface, which moves fluidly from one screen to the next, looks fantastic, and has a clever “history” tab that allows you to access, in one click, the last video, photo, radio station, Website, or song you were playing. Everything moves quickly.

This statement sums up the hands-on fairly well: “Is the Zune HD a worthy adversary to the iPod touch? In a word: Yes.” For more of the review, and a handful of pictures, check out PCMag.com.

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Aug 12

Nokia rumored to be kicking Symbian OS to the curb, moving in with Maemo

Posted in: Linux, maemo, nokia, rumor, rumors, symbian, Today's Chili
Nokia rumored to be kicking Symbian OS to the curb, moving in with Maemo
Poor Symbian. Sony Ericsson’s been giving you some hot play with its Satio smartphone, but lately it seems Nokia wants little to do with you, always throwing a cold shoulder and mentioning what a great guy that Maemo dude is. Now, according to rumors from the (still pink) German Financial Times, Nokia is looking to drop Symbian OS altogether and move to Maemo wholesale, powering not just its internet tablets but also its smartphones, the first of which is due in “the next few weeks” — possibly referring to the RX-51 Rover that’s been out and about lately. According to the report, the Symbian OS just can’t keep up with the younger players these days; “far too cumbersome to work with.” Nokia has issued a typical no comment, but interestingly last night’s mention of a “alliance” between Microsoft and Nokia for the creation of Office for Nokia phones made no explicit mention of Office for Symbian. Intrigue; we love it.

Update: As Reggie has pointed out in the comments, Peter Schneider, Nokia’s Maemo marketing guru, has put the brakes on this rumor via Twitter. “No, Nokia is not replacing Symbian with Maemo. Symbian and Maemo will continue to coexist.” So much for intrigue, and romance.

[Via TechCrunch]

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Nokia rumored to be kicking Symbian OS to the curb, moving in with Maemo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 12

Logitec DisplayLink-certified USB-to-DVI dongle handles QWXGA

Posted in: 1080p, adapter, Today's Chili

DisplayLink may not have the rampant following you probably thought it would when it was originally introduced, but we’d credit much of the indifference to the inability of most adapters to hit the magical 1080p mark. Up until now, most USB-to-DVI dongles couldn’t support resolutions higher than UXGA (1,600 x 1,200), but at long last Logitec has stepped in to provide an alternative that blows right on by 1,920 x 1,080 and stops at QWXGA (2,048 x 1,152). If this here product looks like just the thing you and your spare monitor have been waiting for, feel free to hit the read link and place your pre-order for ¥12,980 ($136). But hey, don’t blame us if your graphics card gets envious.

[Via Akihabara News]

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Logitec DisplayLink-certified USB-to-DVI dongle handles QWXGA originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 12

Ridicu-priced Xbox HDD Screws Both Gamers and Microsoft

Posted in: Today's Chili, top, xbox 360

Hey Microsoft, this isn’t 1965. Computers don’t take up entire rooms anymore. And hard drives are cheap.

With the Elite looking to get a $100 price cut, you’ll be able to purchase a 120GB Xbox 360 console for $299. Yet the retail price on the 360’s 120GB drive is still more than half that ($160).

Even though most retailers shave the price down to about $135, the idea that we should be paying anything approaching a dollar per gig is ludicrous.

Both Sony and Nintendo—two companies not necessarily renown for open hardware platforms—have both addressed and solved the issue of rapidly dropping storage prices on their current consoles by handing the reins to their users. The Wii has always been equipped with an SD slot that now even accepts stock 32GB SDHC cards—normal, consumer-grade tech that you can price-compare anywhere. And the PS3 has supported users who wanted to install their own hard drives (or even Linux!) since day freaking one.

Yet Microsoft, who has put forth so much effort in securing deals like Netflix and offering us a New Xbox Experience, is stuck in a proprietary hard drive pricing pattern so old that it probably doesn’t know women can vote, Man’s walked on the moon or we have 0-calorie sweeteners.

I know what you’re thinking: Microsoft charges a lot for their drive because it’s some special, expensive to produce tech. It’s not. Inside that plastic shell is a stock, boring-as-hell 2.5-inch laptop drive. And you can find such a drive with 500GB of storage for $90 right now.

Keep in mind that Microsoft is buying in bulk.

Oh, and then there’s the point that Microsoft is really, really, really, really stupid for not just subsidizing hard drives to begin with. How many of us with 20GB HDDs have gone to download demos only to find our drives full? How many of us are daunted by DLC because we know an extra few maps will necessitate deleting content? And while I know Microsoft doesn’t take the 360’s video store seriously, how could they ever expect any of us to have the free space to download I Love You Man?

But everything I listed above—that’s not the worst of it. It’s one final kick in the nuts that Microsoft has sent to those of us willing to do some modding ourselves that rubs me the wrong way.

While I could just pop open my 360 hard drive case and toss in a new drive myself (of course, I get to feel like a criminal while doing so as the process requires a separate PC and various unauthorized firmware files), Microsoft has limited the 360 to only supporting hard drives in their designated 20GB, 60GB and 120GB sizes.

So in other words, even though I can technically go through the trouble of installing a sweet, 500GB of storage capable of holding my entire game collection, Microsoft has taken the time specifically to thwart me in that endeavor. Doing my own installation is no longer a treat, like sticking a turbocharger on an engine. Instead it becomes a home repair I do myself to save a few bucks, like negotiating a new drain line to my dishwasher.

I never thought I’d see a day when Microsoft was more willing to give away software than hardware. But in a great irony, their latest dashboard update is once again free. The dinky hard drive to store it on? That’ll still cost ya…more than even a new copy of Windows 7 Home Premium.

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Aug 12

Samsung’s Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow

Posted in: samsung, Today's Chili
Samsung's Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow
Samsung has been teasing us with its Blue Earth solar-powered smartphone since February, and now it’s showing us a bit more of that sultry photovoltaic skin a mere day after its budget-minded solar brother, the E1107, came out into the light. This cerulean one has finally been given an official name, the S7750, but we’re still missing many bits if crucial information, including how effective that solar panel will be in the real world, when it will be available in that real world, how much real money it will cost, and how many eco-chic celebs will be spotted talking on these while drunkenly driving their Priora (it’s Latin, dig) into crowds of spectators — all bits of info we can’t wait to learn.

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Samsung’s Blue Earth solar touchscreen phone gets dubbed S7550, handled in Moscow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 12

Backpack Adds Tidy Shelf to Back of Mac

Posted in: Accessories and Peripherals, Mac, Today's Chili

mac back pack

The Backpack is an ingenious, gravity-secured shelf that sits on the rear stand of an iMac or an Apple Cinema display. The punched-aluminum platform pushes against the rear stand and a couple of clips reach around to grab the back, and the shelf just hangs there. And don’t worry: There’s no metal-on-metal action. The clips are protected by non-scratch inserts.

This is clearly a home-makeable product, but we love the smooth lines and Apple-like finish to this commercial version, plus the design details (there is a scale on the slots where the clips attach so you can make sure you have it perfectly centered, for example). The product page, too, is like being at Apple.com, and even the price is a Cupertino-cloning $29.99, with a six-pack for $150.

Product page [Twelve South via Noquedanblogs]


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Aug 12

iriver E30 shows love for the lossless, long-winded

Posted in: PMP, Today's Chili

It ain’t too much different than the E50 and E150, but considering that iriver felt it necessary to label it a score less than the former, it’s new to us. Introduced today over in the Far East, this pocket-friendly PMP touts a 1.8-inch color display (220 x 176), a user-customizable equalizer and support for MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC and MJPEG files. Oh, and it can purportedly keep the tunes flowing for 52 frickin’ hours without needing a recharge, so those with trouble locating AC outlets should certainly take notice. There’s no mention of a price or release date, but both of those tidbits should become crystal clear soon. Very soon.

[Via The MP3 Players]

iriver E30 shows love for the lossless, long-winded originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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