Leaked Nexus One Documents: $530 Unlocked, $180 With T-Mobile

A tipster just sent in these Nexus One screenshots that supposedly confirms two things: that Google will sell it unlocked and unsubsidized for $530, and that Google will sell it by themselves. Plus, some other very interesting details. UPDATE

Some of the most important bits of info we extracted (assuming the tipster is accurate, and it seems like he is). Oh, and take a look at our hands on with the device in case you haven’t familiarized yourself with it yet.

• Yeah, it’s $530 unsubsidized. Google’s not going to be selling the phone at cost, like so many people considered. They’re not going to save us from the “making money off of hardware” culture we’ve got right now, so this is basically just another Android handset, albeit a really good one
• If you want it subsidized, you’ll have to sign up for a 2 year mandatory contract and pay $180 for the phone
• There’s only one rate plan: $39.99 Even More + Text + Web for $79.99 total
• Existing customers cannot keep their plan if they want a subsidized phone; they have to change to the one plan, and this only applies to accounts with one single line
• If that doesn’t fly with you, you have to buy the $530 unlocked version—this actually might save you money over two years if you already have a cheap plan
• Family plans, Flexpay, SmartAccess and KidConnect subscribers must buy the phone unlocked and unsubsidized for $530
• You can only buy five Nexus One phones per Google account
• There is language in the agreement of shipping outside the US
• Google will sell it at google.com/phone, which explains what they were doing with that page a few weeks ago
• Google will still call it the Nexus One apparently, and not the Google Phone

And here is a big one:
• If you cancel your plan before 120 days, you have to pay the subsidy difference between what you paid and the unsubsidized price, so $350 in this case. Or you can return the phone to Google. You also authorize them to charge this directly to your credit card.

One weirdness in the Terms of Sale that we quickly glanced through was that Google made sure you acknowledged that the manufacturer is HTC, and not Google.

UPDATE: TmoNews is citing sources who claim that Google will begin taking orders on January 5th at 9am

Gizmodo’s Essential iPhone Apps: The Best of 2009

Each month, the best new iPhone apps-and some older ones-are considered for Gizmodo’s Essential iPhone Apps Directory. Who will join? Who will live? Who will die? Here are the best of December, and of the entire year.

For the full directory of Gizmodo’s Essential iPhone Apps for 2009, click here. Here are the best of the month, and what we’ve added to the directory:

December’s Best Apps

For a single-page view, click here.

Essential App Directory Inductees

As you can see, it was a hell of a month in the App Store—we’re adding a fair few of the month’s best to the Essential Directory.

Pastebot, for giving the iPhone the clipboard it deserves, and coming so close to greatness (lack of backgrounding capabilities are the only thing holding it back, and not the dev’s fault). $3

N.O.V.A, for finally showing the world how to make a proper FPS on the iPhone. $7.

Mint, because as far as personal finance apps go, things don’t get much better than this. With the last few updates, it’s become basically perfect. Free.

Dragon Dictation, for getting voice recognition right on the first try, and providing an extremely useful tool for text input. Free.

Gorilla Cam, for offering most of the features of a paid camera app for free.

Ustream, for giving iPhone users live video streaming capabilities they can actually use, and for not neglecting older iPhones. Free.

Bing, for providing decent, well-packaged alternatives to services that Google previously dominated, and even improving on some of them—I’m looking at you, maps. Free.

And that’s it! What counts as an essential iPhone app changes all the time, and so should our guide: If we’ve missed anything huge, or you’ve got a much better suggestion for a particular type of app, let us know, or say so in the comments. We’ll be updating this thing pretty frequently, and a million Gizmodo readers can do a better job at sorting through the app mess than a single Gizmodo editor. Enjoy!

Garmin spits out new handheld, touchscreen GPS devices

If you’re the outdoorsy, adventurous type, this will no doubt be of interest to you. Garmin‘s just outed two new touchscreen, handheld GPS devices — the Oregon 450t and 450. These mid-range devices both boast 3-inch displays, weigh in at in 6.8 ounces, and supposedly get around 16 hours of battery life on their two AA batteries. They also have 850MB of internal storage, microSD card slots, and can store up to 2,000 waypoints, 200 routes, 5,000 caches and a track log of 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks — good news for avid hikers, no doubt. The main difference between the two units here is that the 450t comes preloaded with topographic maps of the entire United States, with coverage of major trails, urban and rural roads, interstates, highways, coastlines, rivers and lakes, national, state and local parks, forests and wilderness areas. Both units are available to order now on Garmin’s site, and the Oregon 450 retails for $399.99, while the 450t will cost you $499.99.

Continue reading Garmin spits out new handheld, touchscreen GPS devices

Garmin spits out new handheld, touchscreen GPS devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Recycled Christmas Tree

Recycled%20Christmas%20Tree.jpg

Inhabitat: Talk about re-cycling! This simple and elegant alternative Christmas tree in Bermondsey Square, London is made out of 35 wheels from old bikes, and has been delighting passers-by with its unconventional looks.

Designed by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, the tree is a very fitting symbol of sustainability on a worldwide scale – especially since the wheels making up the design are borrowed from U.K. charity Re-Cycle which collects recyclable bike parts to restore old bicycles and ships them to Africa to be used for transportation by local people and health workers fighting the AIDS epidemic.

David Roberts, deputy chief executive of igloo, the developers who commissioned the recycled tree said: “The Bermondsey Square tree not only looks great; it can be used year after year.

Recycled Christmas Tree Made of Bike Wheels! [Inhabitat]

The Year In … Telestrator Dong

Just like last year, we’re counting showcasing the people, ideas and memes that made Deadspin 2009 shine. Today: Telestrator dong

Artist unknown, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader Ryan F.

Randy Cross, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Artist unknown, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader Brian R.

Jon Gruden, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy @tcq20

Jon Gruden, “Telestrator Dong II” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader David S.

Kirk Herbstreit, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader Jon H.

Artist unknown, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader Brian L.

Cris Collinsworth, “Telestrator Dong” (telestrator, 2009)

Courtesy reader Michael B.

Samsung’s Pine Trail-boasting N220 netbook spied in France

We’ve been seeing a fair amount of netbooks equipped with Intel’s Pine Trail platform since they were announced early last week, and it looks like we’re going to be seeing at least one from Samsung in the very near future. This one — the N220 — was just spotted in France. The 10.1-incher packs (as you’d expect) an Atom N450 CPU, GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth, plus a webcam and a 6 cell battery which should supposedly get around eleven and a half hours of battery life. It comes with Windows 7 installed, and as you can see from the photo, one of the available colors will be glossy green. It’s going for 350 euros in France, so, if the price stays comparable when (and if it) hits North American soil, we can expect it to cost somewhere in the realm of $500.

Samsung’s Pine Trail-boasting N220 netbook spied in France originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink I4U  |  sourceNetbooked  | Email this | Comments

Real-time tracking of those who wander

Medical Mobile Monitoring develops a medical-alert tracking system that lets users track someone via GPS satellite online, but its funny-looking pendant misses the mark.

DisplaySearch says netbook sales will slow as ULV laptops get cheaper

Netbook sales have been on a solid upward tick for about as long as the product category has existed, so it shouldn’t come as much surprise that research firm DisplaySearch is now forecasting that shipments will exceed a hefty 33.3 million units by year’s end, which translates to a full 103% jump in growth over the previous year. What is somewhat surprising, however, is that the firm is also predicting that growth will slow considerably in 2010 (down to “just” 20%) as more and more laptops with ultra-low voltage processors dip under the $500 mark. Of course, 20% growth still means that netbook shipments should be in the neighborhood of 40 million for 2010, and DisplaySearch even estimates that growth will hold steady at about 20% for 2011, so we wouldn’t be so quick to put them on deathwatch just yet.

DisplaySearch says netbook sales will slow as ULV laptops get cheaper originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Linux for Devices  |  sourceDisplaySearch  | Email this | Comments

Hummingbird bot could track crooks, explore Mars

Researchers at Japan’s Chiba University have unveiled an MAV modeled on a hummingbird. Designed for rescue, it flaps its wings 30 times per second.

Ex-Seagate employee claims the company stole MIT research, tried to cover up its tracks

Sure, this ain’t the first time that Seagate’s allegedly run afoul of the law, but this tale will definitely have you breathlessly demanding more (you know, if patent infringement is exciting to you — which would actually be pretty weird). Way back in July 2000, Convolve (an M.I.T. spin-off formed to market the school’s hard drive noise reduction research) sued Seagate for using patented tech in its Sound Barrier Technology — with the end result being that Seagate drives no longer support automatic acoustic management. But that isn’t the exciting part. In a dramatic turn reported by The New York Times, a former Seagate employee named Paul A. Galloway has apparently provided “an eyewitness account” of what went down, including the theft of info obtained in a meeting between the two companies held in 1998 and 1999 and the destruction of blueprints relating to Convolve’s technology. As for the whistleblower, he claims that he was kept in the dark about the nature of the research he was working on, with Seagate even going so far as to take his computer with notes pertinent to the trial. All of this (and more) are detailed in an affidavit that is available (in PDF form) by hitting that source link — and, man, is it a page-turner!

Ex-Seagate employee claims the company stole MIT research, tried to cover up its tracks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New York Times  |  sourceU.S. District Court Affidavit  | Email this | Comments