Seriously, blink and you might’ve missed it. ASUS had its own Intel CE4100-powered companion box on display running what our memory recalls was Windows Media Center Embedded. We’d love to confirm for the 5 percent of our brain that’s uncertain, but by the time we went back for pickup shots of the adjacent (and awesome) Acer box, it was already gone. (Did the RevoPad scare it of that badly?) At any rate, this ASUS device has no drives, but it does boast an ATSC antenna, component and composite video. It’s slated for the first half of next year, though representatives weren’t willing to talk price just yet. Some more pics in the gallery below.
Mmm, delicious. That’s the feeling we’re left with after being inundated with yet another round of AT&T leaks, this time giving us insight at a few flagship devices on tap for the carrier’s holiday push. First up is the Galaxy Tab — an Android 2.2-based tablet that we had previously heard rumored for AT&T’s airwaves. Thanks to a branded snapshot from the carrier’s internals, we can confirm that the Tab will indeed be sold on Ma Bell, and it (along with three other new Android devices) will ship “prior to December.” Moving on, we’ve got even more confirmation that the Samsung Cetus (i917) will be one of the operator’s first Windows Phone 7 devices, and it looks as if a heretofore unheard of Samsung Focus and HTC Surround will be joining it. Better still, we’ve got it on good authority that three other WP7 handsets will be splashing down alongside those others in time for the holidays. As for the remaining BlackBerry loyalists, AT&T will be tempting you with a trio of limited run Torch motifs coming in “mid to late November,” with an all-white version, red / black model and olive colored edition on tap. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, naturally.
Wal-Mart is getting into the wireless game, kind of sort of. The retail goliath announced this week that it will be offering phones that run on its own branded network. The new Wal-Mart Family Mobile network will piggyback on T-Mobile USA.
The network is set to launch next week. The store is selling five Wal-Mart Family Mobile handsets, including the Motorola Cliq XT (which runs $329 sans contract through T-Mobile) and a $35 Nokia handset.
The contract-based plans run $45 a month for the first line and $25 for additional lines. Wal-Mart also has the exclusive rights to Straight Talk and Common Cents, which run on Verizon and Sprint, respectively.
“What we saw was an opening in the marketplace for really bringing family savings and a family plan and T-Mobile was a great partner there,” Wal-Mart VP Greg Hall told the Associated Press.
Guess what humans? The Engadget Show is back in a big way tomorrow, September 14th at 8pm! We’re celebrating our first birthday and lucky 13th episode with an incredible show for you… first up, Josh is sitting down with NASA’s new Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, the man tasked with recharging NASA technology! Next, Engadget investigative correspondent Rick Karr is back for a deep look at wireless net neutrality with Columbia law professor and author Tim Wu. Then, Nilay and Josh sit down with interface designers TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, to check out some never-before-seen prototype UIs and demonstrations. Oh, and did we mention that one lucky audience member will be walking away with a Parrot AR Drone remote quadricopter? We’re rounding the night out with live chiptunes music from Starscream and some more special giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you’re coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you’re geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream at right here on Engadget.
The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are — as always — free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served… so get there early! Here’s the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know:
There is no admission fee — tickets are completely free
The event is all ages
Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM on Tuesday, September 14th, doors will open for seating at 7:15PM, and the show begins at 8PM
We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets — and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) — will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed — you won’t have to get back in line to get a good seat.
Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away.
You cannot collect tickets for friends or family — anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket
Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we’re full, we’re full
If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.
Subscribe to the Show:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
We’re honestly not certain what it has to do with Intel, but here’s some welcome news for the gaming and home exercise fronts — Razer told the IDF 2010 crowd that the Sixense motion-sensing sticks it showed off at CES will finally arrive sometime “early next year.” What’s more, the company’s been hard at work miniaturizing the one-to-one motion control tech into an exercise band, and while we’ve no word on when that’s due or how much a “personal doctor” might cost, you can find a close-up (of a render, natch) after the break to see what it might look like (and video of the handheld sticks, if you’re game).
Like everyone else, Velocity Micro’s about to cannonball into the tablet pool with the hope of making a big splash. Its first product, the $199 Cruz Reader is already boxed up and arriving on store shelves this week. The seven-inch tablet / e-reader runs Android 2.0 and comes preloaded with Borders’ e-book application. We got a chance to check out the device this morning, and while we’re impressed with the solid build and rubbery back, it’s fairly heavy at a pound and the glossy screen results in less-than-excellent viewing angles. Still, it shows a lot more promise than the Pandigital Novel and Augen GenTouch 78 — we’ll never like resistive screens on this sort of device, but we were able to turn pages by tapping as well as scroll relatively well by dragging a nail down the screen. There’s no access to the Android Market, but Velocity has its own Cruz Market and preloads some apps like Twidroid.
But the tablet buck doesn’t stop there for Velocity Micro. The Cruz Tablet that we’ve been hearing about since April will hit a “major electronics retailer” in October for $299. The Tablet we saw today wasn’t working, but we nabbed some shots of the hardware below. This one will have a capacitive screen; however, the company isn’t planning on rolling it out with Android 2.0 — it feels the 600MHz processor isn’t quite powerful enough to handle that Froyo and Flash goodness. Not to worry: its future eight- and 10-inch capacitive tablets, which will be announced at CES, are going to be powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU and run Android 3.0. Told you it’s aiming for a big splash! Hit the break for a short hands-on video of the Cruz Reader and stay tuned for a full review of that one soon.
Sure, Intel’s big push for its IDF 2010 keynote this morning was the new Sandy Bridge architecture, but within the confines of one awkwardly-presented tech demonstration, we got a glimpse at “Project X.” Which, as it turns out, is a pretty interesting Atom-powered development tablet with WiDi technology. From a video conference window projected against the wall, our man Shashi was pushing his slate’s screen wireless to the HD set in the background as he showed off some Starcraft II recap footage. We’re still on the lookout for the device somewhere on the show floor; if and when we find it, you’ll be first to know. One more shot after the break.
We’re glad to have Jeff back from his brief hiatus last week, although we soon find out that he spent a lot of the time playing NHL 2K11 for the Wii! To celebrate the release of the game, 2K Sports made Jeff’s dream a reality and invited a few journalists to play *actual* ice hockey with NHL Pros Travis Zajac and Ryan Kesler.
And in other Jeff-related news, today’s show title is in reference to a tattoo he has in the works courtesy of Miss D’Jo of Lark Tattoo, a friend and listener of The 404! We’re excited to see what she has in store for Jeff…we’re hoping it’s a 404 tattoo on his face.
While everyone else spent Saturday, September 11, in mourning and quiet reverence, Microsoft staged a mock funeral parade the day before to celebrate the passing of the BlackBerry and iPhone.
The low blow even featured mock pallbearers, a large iPhone casket, a hearse, and–for some reason–an impromptu group Thriller dance. We hate to even give Microsoft publicity for this poorly timed stunt, but it’s worth it to show how far a company will go to get exposure and shut down competitors.
Click thumbnail for full-size
(Credit: Alen Stojanac)
And as if Microsoft weren’t already in trouble, Xbox Live’s stringent censorship rules are under fire again, this time with regard to a person getting banned for listing “Fort Gay, WV” as his location in the player profile section. Microsoft’s automated censorship bots believed the name of the city to be an individual trying to degrade the sexuality of other players, but it turns out that Fort Gay is indeed a location in West Virginia. After some complaints, the player contacted the chief of Xbox Live police, and the ban was lifted.
After the break, we’re proposing some new transit rules of our own after we hear about the New Jersey Transit express trains testing a plan to silence talking altogether on the first and last trains. Granted, the plan doesn’t appoint a hall monitor to seek out rule-breakers, but this doesn’t seem like a half-bad idea. Tune in to hear our idea of a public transportation utopia!
We’re in desperate need of good call-backs, so leave a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET and give us a piece of your mind! Also, big thanks to Alen for the BTTF Photoshop job you see up there; great work!
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