Toshiba and GQ have teamed up to auction off limited-edition notebooks designed around celebrities’ lifestyles. The celebrities involved are Hines Ward, Joe Perry, Omar Epps and Rainn Wilson.
All bias for The Office’s Dwight shoved aside, my vote goes to Rainn Wilson. He was the only celeb in this event to design his own notebook (above), according to a Toshiba spokeswoman, and it looks ludicrously hysterical. The other three celebs’ notebooks were designed by Toshiba.
The notebooks are being auctioned off on eBay until Friday. Each celebrity lists his chosen charity on Toshiba’s website.
It was but a year ago that Samsung graced us with the original Behold. At the time it was more or less positioned to win the hearts of folks who wanted a luscious touchscreen but had no real truck with smartphones. So what do we have here? With the Behold II, the company has switched things up a bit: instead of a respectable feature phone, you not only get Android 1.5, but a 3.5mm headphone jack and WiFi as well. At least this shows that Sammy has been paying attention! Still, a couple questions come to mind: how does this one compare to the original? And how does it stack up as a Google Android device? Engadget has put her through the paces and our findings are sure to shock or surprise you (or maybe not). Continue reading below.
We’ve taken the reigning champion of mobile devices, the Apple Newton Messagepad, out of retirement to put it up against a brand-new contender, its very own grandchild, the iPhone 3GS.
As we head into the holidays, what gadgets are you going gaga over? pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnettv.com/8301-13415_53-10406263-11.html” class=”origPostedBlog”CNET TV/a/p
Hey gang. Normally we’re not very concerned with prizes or accolades; just getting to play with the latest and greatest gadgets is reward enough for us… though we’re a little excited about this one. Adweek has just announced its “Best of the 2000s” awards, and Engadget is up for “Blog of the Decade”! We’ve got some pretty amazing — and fierce — competition over there, but you guys can help decide who takes the prize by voting for your favorite (us, right?). If you like, you can hit the read link and cast your vote for Engadget. That would be super cool of you. If you’re not into the awards thing, that’s okay too; we promise not to come to your house and force you to vote for us under threat of physical harm. That would be crazy. Just crazy enough to work.
If you’re a fan of both Windows and projectin’ stuff, this is your lucky day! Hot on the heels of news that LG’s WinMo-powered pico projector-packin’ eXpo is heading for AT&T, Lancerlink has announced a little something called the MPJ-104WCE. This 5.5-inch long projector ships with Windows CE 5.0, 4GB memory, 64MB flash storage, an ARM9 (400MHz) CPU, a USB port, and two 0.5 watt speakers. This guy will project your various docs (including PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WMV, and MPEG-4) at 640 x 480 resolution, but only in Japan for the time being. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for domestic price and street date.
Microturbine maker Capstone launches a hybrid sports car at the Los Angeles Auto Show to demonstrate its technology. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31166_7-10406217-271.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Los Angeles Auto Show/a/p
Be honest: you really want to crack open a magazine and find one of these paper-thin USB key ads, right? No? Well… here’s the thing. We really think this is a cool concept — made to order, super slim, die cut USB drives that can be tucked in the pages of a newspaper or magazine (if you know what those are) — with whatever content a company wants to throw on there. However, we’re also not really sure the inserts would be compelling enough for us to ever consider loading up whatever content was on it. Regardless, that phone on the right sure seems to be familiar…
You’ve gotta love analytics. A developer has spotted a new iPhone model identifier in usage records of its iPhone app, which indicates Apple has begun field-testing prototypes of its next-generation handset.
IPhone developer Pandav told MacRumors that usage logs revealed “iPhone3,1″ — a device identifier that does not match up with any shipping iPhones. Apple’s current iPhone 3GS is distinguished by the identifier “iPhone2,1,” an internal device-identification number assigned by Apple.
Pandav’s analytics report was provided by PinchMedia, which in the past noted the device identifier for the iPhone 3GS prior to its release. PinchMedia in October 2008 spotted an unfamiliar device ID labeled “iPhone 2,1,” which turned out to be the string representing the iPhone 3GS that launched in June.
While it’s dead obvious that Apple is planning to release upgrades for its products, the timing offers insight into Apple’s workflow. If “iPhone3,1″ is indeed the next iPhone, the time between field testing and release is consistent with the iPhone 3GS (aka “iPhone2,1″) — about eight months.
MacRumors also discovered over the weekend a new Apple job listing that hints at Apple’s plans to deliver a major upgrade to its Maps app for the iPhone. The job listing seeks an iPhone Software Engineer to help take the iPhone’s built-in Maps App to “the next level”:
We want to take Maps to the next level, rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things. We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way. We’ve only just started.
If you’re cursing yourself for sleeping through Black Friday, you can still indulge your inner cheapskate today on Cyber Monday! No, it’s not what you’re thinking, dirty birdy–Cyber Monday is the first Monday after Thanksgiving when all the vendors come together to tempt you with online deals and take whatever coins are left in your bank account.
Since it’s our first day back, we take the first half to update each other on our holiday festivities: Jeff visited the Norman Rockwell Museum, Justin is missing an arm after shooting guns in the Garden State, and Wilson stuffed himself silly with a batch of be-deviled eggs. I also suffered through “Twilight: New Moon” and “Ninja Assassin” over the weekend. Which movie deserves the award for least entertaining flick of the year? Check out our full review!
And speaking of Cyber Monday, Wilson digs up a controversial story about an “Adult-only” app arriving on the Android marketplace. The steamy app is pseudo-cleverly called “MiKandi” and according to Phandroid, the app only works with the Android. Sorry, iPhone users, your Web browser will have to do.
We’re super excited to be back and ready to tackle the rest of 2009 with more giveaways, surprise guests, and a series of year-end wrap-up episodes coming your way, so don’t miss an episode of CNET’s The 404 Podcast. While you’re listening, leave us a voice-mail at 1-866-404-CNET and give us your two cents. You can also send us an e-mail at the404(at)cnet[dot]com or just leave a comment on this blog!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
