Samsung says it will launch its own open mobile platform called Bada in December. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-10394190-85.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Dialed In Podcast/a/p

Libe Goad

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Libe Goad)

The much-anticipated and controversial Modern Warfare 2 finally arrives in retail stores today, which gives us an excuse to invite AOL GameDaily.com’s Libe Goad to give us some insight into all the action. Although it’s definitely not the first Call of Duty game, Libe and Jeff tell us it’s the most controversial of the pack, with disturbing scenes that let you take the side of terrorists.

It’s hard to believe anything can be scarier than making the trip down to Chinatown, N.Y., to pick up your “advanced” copy, though. Don’t call it a bootleg; the copies they’re selling down there are actually legit, a first for Canal St. merchants, which raises the question–the appeal is that although they cost the same as the big box stores, Modern Warfare 2 has been available at these “select retailers” for the past week! Good to know I live in such a respectable part of NYC.

Yesterday’s episode sparked such a heated conversation about censorship, video game and movie ratings, and parenting video gamers that we’re happy to revisit the topics today, with Libe’s valuable industry input of course! This time, we address the world of online gaming that’s brought a new level of offensive material to young people who might not understand the implications of their trash-talking. With no moderators to police Xbox Live or PSN, players are allowed to communicate directly with each other, which more often than not results in racist and misogynistic epithets. Tune in to today’s episode to listen to our opinion on what should be done.

Finally, we hate to take the spotlight away from Libe, but we’ve been resisting the urge to announce our guest for the past week. We finally got the green light, so we’re happy to announce that Tony Hawk will be in The 404 studio on Monday, November 16, to chat with us about his latest game, Tony Hawk: Ride and maybe even do a live in-studio demo! Start thinking up questions, as we’ll most likely be taking questions from the audience as well.

EPISODE 464

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Originally posted at The 404

Please tell me I’m not the only one.

When two of Japan’s largest mobile carriers conspire to release nearly 40 phones in the span of 24 hours, editors covering the story are sure to lose hair and a solid year of lifespan — but for consumers in the local market, it’s nothing but good news. Here are some of the highlights from NTT DoCoMo:

• Fujtsu F-02B: Described as a “jewelry quality” phone with a snap-on perfume holder for “an air of elegance.”
• LG L-03B: Has support for Korean, Japanese, and English for frequent travelers (in other words, English speakers, if you find yourself on this archipelago and you don’t speak a lick of the local tongue, seek out this phone).
• Sharp SH-04B: Designed to look like a melting chocolate bar by food-themed wardrobe accessory maker Q-Pot — for some reason we don’t fully comprehend.
• Fujitsu F-04B: Realizing the concept shown off at CEATEC last year, this one features a removable keyboard that operates via Bluetooth and a 12.1 megapixel camera.
• Panasonic P-01B: This flip looks like pretty much every other in the lineup, but its got a secret — the keypad doubles as a touchpad. Clever.
• Samsung SC-01B: Samsung’s Windows Mobile 6.5-powered entry here appears to be a remix of the B7330 sold globally, which makes it about 1,000 times weaker than every other phone in the lineup.

And from Softbank:

• Sharp AQUOS Mobile FULLTOUCH 941SH: All we need to say about this one is “4-inch 1024 x 480 display,” which, as you might be able to imagine, is a world’s first.
• Sharp AQUOS Mobile 943SH: Dual one-seg tuners let you watch one program and record another, and a mention of transferring Blu-ray content has us thinking that Managed Copy is along for the ride.
• Toshiba dynapocket X02T: Remember how NTT DoCoMo had previously gotten the TG01 as the T01A? Yeah, well, now it’s Softbank’s turn — and this time, it’s called the X02A. Not much more to it than that.
• Samsung X01SC: This looks to be a localized version of AT&T’s Samsung Jack, of all phones, meaning that it’s a Windows Mobile 6.5 Standard phone (no touchscreen) with a QVGA display and portrait QWERTY keyboard.
• Sharp 942SH KT: No lineup would be complete without the obligatory Hello Kitty marketing tie-in, and the 942SH KT does the honors this time around with a black shell featuring stylized pink text and graphics.
• Samsung OMNIA VISION 940SC: Samsung’s now-famous OMNIA brand comes to Softbank on the wings of a 3.5-inch AMOLED display, one-seg tuner, and kickstand for desktop viewing.
• Sharp Jelly Beans 840SH: We don’t think you’d want to try eating it, but the 840SH comes in seven colors — hence the name, we think.
• Android: The simply-named Android runs — you guessed it — Android with a 3.7 inch AMOLED display and 1GHz Snapdragon processor; unfortunately, it won’t be available until next Spring and the manufacturer isn’t being revealed right now.

Both companies are also adding wireless digital photo frames to the lineup, and in Softbank’s case, a pair of data modems with support for 7.2Mbps on the downlink. We’ll admit — we didn’t think we’d live to see the day when Canada had three live networks with data rates trouncing Japan’s.

Read – Softbank Winter ’09 / Spring ’10 collection
Read – NTT DoCoMo’s new series

Filed under: Cellphones

NTT DoCoMo, Softbank announce grand total of 37 phones: Android, perfume holders, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy is launching its lowest-advertised-price laptop to date–and it’s definitely a laptop, not a Netbook. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10394133-64.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Nanotech – The Circuits Blog/a/p