Hasta La Gadget!

Sprint had told us in a statement that its BlackBerry Tours only had trackball issues on “early production” units, and now Verizon is telling us pretty much the same thing:

Early on there was an issue with the trackball that affected a small percentage [of] the early production units — far less than industry norms. The issue was detected early, addressed immediately and is no longer an issue. Returns on this device are some of the lowest among any of our smart phones.

In other words, it sounds like new buyers (and anyone who’s taken the plunge recently) should be fine, and Verizon’s actually taking it to another level by boasting that the handset’s now one of its most return-proof smartphones. That doesn’t change the fact that the trackball’s a little too recessed for our liking — but at least it should stay functional.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Verizon says trackball issue is ‘addressed’ on Tour, no longer a problem originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already witnessed the unveiling of ASUS’ largest two UL series laptops, so it’s only fair to pass along an in-depth look at the midget of the bunch. The UL30A was recently taken for a ride over at HotHardware, and while we’ve had our suspicions as to whether Intel’s CULV platform really would provide an incentive for to-be netbook buyers to spend a bit more, it seems as if this ultraportable definitely is worth the extra scratch. Unlike your average Atom-powered netbook, the UL30 could actually handle 720p video like a champ (though 1080p brought it to its knees), and even with Vista taking a toll on its resources, day to day work was found to be surprisingly snappy. At $749 and up, the seductively silver UL30 was found to be a solid buy in its category, but we’re not asking you to take our word for it. Hit that read link for the full writeup, benchmarks and all.

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS 13.3-inch UL30 gets reviewed, called a cutie pie originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen a few different approaches to printable, and occasionally paintable solar cells over the years, but it looks like JA Solar was particularly taken with Innovalight’s so-called silicon ink-based solar cells, and it’s now announced that its teaming up with the company to commercialize the technology. In addition to being “printable” and cheaper to manufacture than traditional solar cells, the company also claims that the silicon ink solar cells also boast an impressive 18 percent conversion efficiency, which has apparently just been backed up by both the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Details on the deal are otherwise a bit light, but JA Solar says that it’ll manufacture the new cells using its existing solar cell manufacturing lines, which should lower the cost even further and, if all goes as planned, allow for “initial commercialization” sometime in 2010.

[Via CNET News Green Tech]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

JA Solar and Innovalight team up to commercialize ‘silicon ink’ solar cells originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Popgadget: The last thing you would want to do with such gorgeous fruit is feed them to that unforgiving abyss called the stomach. And that too when they can sit so pretty on your table, radiating a mysterious sense of calm each time you steal a glance. Which is why someone has already ensured that these beauties are not at all edible, to begin with. These “slices” of fruit (apple and pear) are post-it note dispensers called Kudamemo.

Amazed, huh? Not surprising at all, this great design by D-BROS caught us unawares too. These beautiful memo dispensers derive the name Kudamemo from the Japanese word for fruit, “Kudamono”. Each fruit can dispense 150 mini memos which aren’t self-sticking like their clinical 3M cousins. But really, that’s little worry considering that it is a piece of art on your desktop that we are looking at, isn’t it?

Kudamemo: Delicious fruit slices can be your memo(ry) aids [Popgadget]

First there was an alleged Toys R Us ad, and now we’ve caught wind of what’s claimed to be a Best Buy spot showing the Nintendo Wii getting that long-desired $50 price drop, down just below the two Benjamin mark. Easily Photoshopped image? You betcha, so we’ll just have to play wait-and-see as the evidence seems to mount up — it’s been a long time coming, after all, we wouldn’t be that surprised given the oncoming holiday season and the recent downward trend in demand.

Filed under: Gaming

$199 Nintendo Wii spotted in Best Buy ad? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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