Good news all around for those of you considering a nook. An all-white, Wi-Fi only version, which leaked a bit early, goes on sale today for $150. That sounded pretty exciting…before the 3G version simultaneously dropped by $60. More »
Turns out all our snooping was spot on with this one. We first spotted a simpler, cheaper Nook making its way through the FCC late last month, and then only last night we got tipped off to a $150 price point for the e-reader sans cellular connection. Now Best Buy has confirmed the whole thing with its listing of the BNRV100 model, which comes in over $100 cheaper than Barnes and Noble’s original ($259), although Best Buy has seen fit to give that a price trim as well. We like where this is going, especially if it triggers B&N’s competitors to lower their own fees.
[Thanks, Paul]
Update: Barnes and Noble has now gone fully official with its new $149 Nook. The 3G version has taken a price drop to $199 as well, matching the pricing indicated by Best Buy. B&N is today also outing its firmware version 1.4, which allows the free use of AT&T wireless hotspots everywhere.
Continue reading $149 WiFi-only Nook confirmed, 3G price dropped to $199 (update: official)
$149 WiFi-only Nook confirmed, 3G price dropped to $199 (update: official) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Seriously, can’t we keep any mystery in our lives anymore? After we saw what’s purported to be Best Buy’s “playbook” for the iPhone 4 debut yesterday, today we’re being treated to an inventory list revealing the stock ordered up from Apple for the big retailer’s launch of the new handset. Black 16GB variants of the iPhone 4 dominate, with up to 70 per store, but the leak also includes smaller orders for the white 32GB units as well. None of these are in stock yet, mind you, and that playbook did serve up some confusing messages as to whether Best Buy will have any unreserved iPhones to sell at all on launch day. Still, at least you’ll now have a better idea of which locations stand the best chance of dishing out some of that Apple pie you crave so much.
Best Buy’s iPhone 4 inventory plans revealed by another purported leak originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Barnes and Noble has just taken the e-book market a notch further towards the mainstream with a new Wi-Fi-only Nook for $150: $50 less than Wi-Fi+3G model, and $110 less than you’d pay in a Barnes & Noble store for the original version [UPDATE: B&N will also drop the price of the 3G Nook to $200].
The new Nook is available from Best Buy right now, and apart from the lack of a 3G radio it is almost exactly the same as its big brother: 2GB on-board memory supplemented by a microSD slot, a 6-inch e-ink display along with the vestigial color touch-screen, a ten-day battery life and support for most popular picture and e-book file formats, including the EPUB format eschewed by Amazon for the rival Kindle. The only visual difference is the change of the back cover from gray to white.
This is great news, and a very sensible decision from B&N. Who, after all, needs to be able to buy a book at any time, in any place? Just stock up with a few titles and wait until you find the next Wi-Fi hotspot (or pop into Starbucks where the internet is now free). And if you really do need that 3G connection, well, you can just pay a little extra (and just $50 extra, too, not the $130 premium Apple loads onto the 3G iPad).
The trend is clear. Basic grayscale e-book readers are set to become a commodity device, probably occupying a large but cheap specialty niche between tablets and cellphones. We wouldn’t be too surprised if the Nook also lost that novelty touch-screen and dropped below $100.
Wi-Fi-only Nook eReader [Best Buy]
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While DigiTimes has been known to get a rumor correct now and again, its success rate falls off dramatically when dealing with companies HQ’d outside of its native Taiwan. Keep that in mind when you hear it discuss a Nokia tablet with either a 7- or 9-inch screen. DigiTimes, speaking with “upstream component makers,” claims that the Foxconn manufactured device — of which, about 100 engineering samples have already been produced — will be ARM-based with a Q4 launch targeted. If true (and that’s a big IF) then it would certainly be running the MeeGo OS (that’s a Quanta-built prototype above) when it ships. Of course, DigiTimes has been rumoring an ARM-based smartbook from Nokia due in mid 2010 for almost a year. And guess what? It’s mid 2010, with smartbooks/netbooks now out of style and tablets all the rage. Thing is, we’d have thought that Nokia would be more likely to opt for Intel’s Moorestown in support of their partnership given the Q4 timing. But hey, it’s just rumor, let’s not get too carried away.
Nokia 7- or 9-inch MeeGo tablet rumored to be running ARM (not Moorestown) in Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Upgrading to a new iPhone 4 this week? Here are tips on places to recoup at least some of what you paid for your earlier model iPhone. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20008110-260.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Circuit Breaker/a/p
Apple’s latest iPhone and iPad operating system, iOS 4, is available Monday. Before you download your own update, CNET tells you about all the new features to expect. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20008255-233.html” class=”origPostedBlog”iPhone Atlas/a/p
Steve Jobs enjoys a free FaceTime call over Wi-Fi at WWDC 2010
Lord knows why this was ever in question, but if you were wondering whether making video calls on the iPhone 4 with FaceTime would eat up your call-minutes, the answer is a non-surprising “no”.
The answer would seem obvious given that the most talked about “feature” of FaceTime is that it only works on Wi-Fi, and therefore cannot use up your carrier minutes. Silicon Alley Insider wasn’t so sure. After postulating that a FaceTime session initiated from a voice-call (“Hey, wanna get some FaceTime?”) could “keep the voice call running in the background”, the blog got in touch with Apple. The answer:
The voice call ends as soon as the FaceTime call connects. The FaceTime call is over Wi-Fi so does not use carrier minutes. [emphasis added]
So there you have it. Using Wi-Fi doesn’t get you billed for cellular minutes or data. Who knew?
Apple: FaceTime Video Calls Won’t Use Your Carrier Minutes [SAI]
Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com
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We told you Intel’s 32nm Clarkdales were power efficient, right? Well, Tranquil PC’s slapped one of those chips, a 2.93GHz Core i3-530 to be precise, into its all-new iXL Power PC and now boasts a total system juice consumption of a measly 30W at idle. That means this HTPC can get away with living the quiet, fanless life, while HDMI, a trio of eSATA ports, a multicard reader, and a Blu-ray option flesh out a comprehensive package. Naively, we thought we’d throw the Blu-ray drive in with a 500GB hard disk to see what this might cost us, and were stricken with grief at the sight of a £742 ($1,100) price tag. Should four-digit entry fees not scare you off, you’ll want to know that the iXL is shipping now. For everyone else, hit the source link for a bunch of glamor photos.
Tranquil PC iXL takes you up to 2.93GHz sans fans, has equally lofty price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Heard of PVI? What about E Ink? Well, PVI, the Taiwan-based owner of E Ink has renamed itself to E Ink Holdings Incorporated to better align itself with its popular electronic paper namesake. PVI’s LCD products using its fringe-field switching technology will be sold under the brand Hydis. We guess it makes sense given PVI’s dominance in the ePaper industry, but we can’t help but question the merits of such a move with the world lusting after multi-purpose, transflective or IPS LCD tablets capable of displaying both text or full-motion, color video… imagine if Sony had renamed itself to Betamax in the early 80s, for example.
PVI bets the farm, changes name to E Ink originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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