Hasta La Gadget!

Pay-TV operators have been tossing out “quadruple play” bundles for the better part of three years now, but we dare say that none of ’em have come close to nailing it like this. France’s own Free, a well-known ISP in the nation, has just introduced the Freebox v6 Revolution, a newfangled set-top box designed by Philippe Starck and engineered to handle just about all of your home entertainment needs. It’s stuffed with 250GB of hard drive space, an internal 802.11n WiFi module, Blu-ray drive, inbuilt web browser and Intel’s Atom CE4100 media processor. It also ships with a motion-sensing remote, and in short, it’s designed to provide live / streaming television options, internet (fiber or DSL is supported), gaming (via a streaming service similar to OnLive) and at-home calling to boot. Free’s also planning to dabble in mobile telephony starting in 2012, hence the plans for a quadruple play offering in the not-too-distant future. We’re told that a joystick (presumably for getting your game on) is thrown in, as are a pair of powerline adapters in order to easily network it through your abode’s power network. The Revolution is up for pre-order now, and depending on how long you’ve had your current Free STB, it could cost as little as €59.99 or as much as €119.99. The “basic” Freebox service will run €29.99, and once Free goes mobile in 2012, you can add a mobile line for another €29.99.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Freebox v6 Revolution set-top box brings calling, TV and gaming together originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In what very much appears to be a controlled leak from Microsoft, The New York Times has detailed “rumors” of upcoming Windows “slates” that will be shown off by Steve Ballmer at CES next month. Just like last year. And again like last year, it seems that Microsoft still hasn’t got a clue about tablets.

According to the Times, “Microsoft hopes these slates will offer an alternative to the iPad because they move beyond play, people familiar with the tablets said.” And how will Microsoft differentiate its brand-new slate offering from Apple’s hugely successful iPad? By using a tablet-optimized and touchscreen-centric version of Microsoft’s new, innovative and highly-regarded Windows Phone 7 mobile OS? Nope. By using a desktop OS, and slapping a skin on top. Again.

Microsoft is working with several hardware partners to make machines. One, from Samsung, runs regular Windows 7 in landscape mode and then, when turned upright, draws a finger-friendly skin over the top. It also has a keyboard that slides out in landscape mode, making this otherwise iPad-sized tablet quite a bit thicker.

So, instead of offering the intuitive experience of other tablets, you get a jarring two-mode machine that likely doesn’t do either job properly.

And then there are the apps. Of course there are apps. But there will be no app store. Microsoft is encouraging development of HTML5-based applications for the slates, but these will be scattered all over the web on the various developers’ sites. To find them, you will search, and they will be “highlighted in a search interface on the slate computer.”

The most telling quote from the NYT’s insider is this one:

The company believes there is a huge market for business people who want to enjoy a slate for reading newspapers and magazines and then work on Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint while doing work.

This may explain the company’s inability to make a “computer” that isn’t aimed at business. The iPad’s runaway success shows that there is a demand for an easy-to-use computer that doesn’t look or feel like a computer. Yet Microsoft just isn’t willing to — or just plain can’t — make a tablet that doesn’t look like a computer.

Microsoft’s future is looking a lot like IBM’s when Microsoft ate its lunch years ago: It’ll still be a big, big business company, but the general public will no longer be buying its wares (Xbox aside).

Microsoft to Announce New Slates Aimed at the iPad [NYT]

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Dell Names Secret 'Slate' After Non-Existent Apple Product …
• More Ballmer Madness: “There's No Chance that the iPhone is Going …
• Never Before Seen 'BSOD' Debuts at Microsoft CES Keynote
• Microsoft Unveils Touchscreen Tablet

When Panasonic announced it was including copies of Avatar in 3D with its 3DTVs and Blu-ray players, it simply seemed like a great marketing move. Now it’s looking like more of a coup, with Panasonic UK confirming that the company’s bundle deal runs until February of 2012. That deal is said to be exclusive, likely meaning that will be the only 3D version of Avatar pressed to disc until it runs out, leaving you with two somewhat less than desirable choices for getting a copy: spring for Panasonic hardware or pay a hefty premium on eBay. How hefty? Copies of the 3D Blu-ray version look to be going for $150 and up, and we’re guessing things won’t be getting much better in the near future.

Panasonic’s Avatar 3D monopoly runs into 2012, no 3D Blu-ray release until Mayan calendar ends? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh dear. Like the N8 before it, Nokia just confirmed to us that the Symbian-powered E7 slider will be delayed. The official word has it launching in early 2011, not December 2010. We’ve been told that Nokia’s holding up production due to a “minor durability issue” discovered in the E7 hardware. We can’t blame Nokia for wanting to ensure the best possible user experience — it’s just a shame that it will require the holiday shopping season to sort it out.

Nokia delays E7 slider into ‘early 2011’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve ever wondered what a map drawn entirely of Facebook relationships would look like, wonder no more. A Facebook intern by the name of Paul Butler has put together the above image by feeding in location data for pairs of friends, with the white lights representing cities, towns, and hamlets, and the blue streaks between them identifying relationships linking them. It’s fun to see large swathes of Australia and South America devoid of Facebook activity, but check out the bit on the map where Russia and China are supposed to be — is Facebook the most capitalist social network ever or what? Hit the source link for the full-scale image, it gets prettier the closer you get to it.

[Thanks, Ian]

Visualized: Facebook’s global reach originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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