Our Favorite Laptops, Phones, Gadgets, Gear, and More

It’s been another month, and an amazing batch of gadgets has once again piled up on our doorstep. If we were being honest about which we’ve loved the most the past few weeks, this list would be nothing but air conditioners. But apparently we’re not allowed to do that. So here are the other gadgets that captured our hearts and minds in July. More »

Sprint posts Q2 2011 earnings: net subs up, contract subs down, net loss of $847 million

It’s another mixed bag worth of earnings for the folks in Overland Park. Sprint just announced its Q2 2011 earnings prior to the market’s open today, and while it’s obviously doing its darnedest to paint a rosy picture, the raw numbers show a somewhat different backdrop. Despite having its third consecutive quarter of adding more than one million total net new wireless subscribers, the vast majority of those are coming from the (admittedly less lucrative) prepaid side. In fact, the company lost 101,000 postpaid subscribers in the period, and we’re guessing that the one-two punch of WiMAX hitting the expansion skids while VZW built out LTE at a breakneck pace didn’t help matters. 674,000 prepaid subs were added to the mix (through Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, etc. arms), and despite seeing quarterly sequential and year-over-year growth in wireless service revenue, the carrier still reported a net loss of $847 million. In a way, it’s the same story on a different day for The Now Network, and while the just-announced LightSquared partnership may end up bolstering things in time, it’ll take something a bit more jarring to turn things around by Q3. Or Q4… right, Dan?

Sprint posts Q2 2011 earnings: net subs up, contract subs down, net loss of $847 million originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSprint  | Email this | Comments

IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011

IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011

Whether you believe we’re living in a post-PC world or not, there’s no denying the overwhelming growth of tablets in the past few years. Just this March, IDC put out figures saying 2010 saw the sale of 18 million tablets, but despite the recent boom, the outfit’s now reporting a 28 percent drop in tablet shipments in Q1 2011, bringing first quarter worldwide shipments to 7.2 million. IDC’s latest report points to “slower consumer demand, overall economic conditions, and supply-chain constraint,” but nonetheless estimates that total tablet sales will reach 53.5 million by year’s end, up from IDC’s original estimate of 50.4 million. Once again, Apple’s come out on top of the slate game, with the iPad 2 leading the market, despite its own dip in shipments. E-readers have apparently also seen a decline in the first quarter, with shipments dipping to 3.3 million units. Despite a slow start to the year, however, IDC’s optimistic about future sales, but you don’t have to take our word for it — full PR awaits you after the break.

Continue reading IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011

IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Tech Digest  |  sourceIDC  | Email this | Comments

Leaf sales outpacing the Volt, winning the fight for American garage space

Leaf Vs. Volt

According to Automobile, Nissan is winning the race to put the most electric cars in American driveways, selling 3,875 Leafs in the first six months of 2011, while Chevy only managed to put 2,754 Volt keys in the hands of consumers. This is despite Nissan suffering a month long manufacturing setback following the tsunami that struck in March. Chevy has had its own delays, having closed the Volt plant five weeks ago for upgrades that will allow it to pump out more vehicles. Lets not forget though, the Leaf starts at about $8,000 less than its American made competitor and, when it comes to weaning us off gas and putting us behind the wheel of tech-packed cars — there’s no shame in being number two. Perhaps GM will have better luck with that cheaper, shorter range version it’s been contemplating.

Leaf sales outpacing the Volt, winning the fight for American garage space originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAutomobile  | Email this | Comments

HTC does the whole record profit thing again for Q2

Another day, another record profit from the folks at HTC. Surely even the Taiwanese handset manufacturer must be bored of reporting this endless stream of good news, right? Yeah, probably not. The company happily announced this week an impressive second quarter net income of NT$17.5 billion ($608 million), more than double what it reported for the same time period the year prior. Overall revenue for the quarter hit NT$124.4 billion, thanks to the ever-present demand for Android handsets. And revenue from the company is expected to keep on growing in Q3 — maybe boredom isn’t so bad after all.

HTC does the whole record profit thing again for Q2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments

The Best Gadgets (So Far)

The year’s half over and summer is upon us. That can only mean one thing: it’s time for the young among us to sit in a dark room and stare at a backlit screen for 18-20 hours a day (and for the rest of us to be jealous of them). Here’s the newest batch of Bestmodo gadgets to keep you an unhealthy shade of alabaster and carrion all summer long. More »

MacBook in short supply, stirs rumors of imminent refresh, rebirth of white plastic?

MacBook in short supply, stirs rumors of imminent refresh, rebirth of white plastic?

We’ve already seen the MacBook Pro sporting new specs, and heard rumblings of a MacBook Air refresh coming soon, and now reports of dwindling supplies of Apple’s great white hope have the internets abuzz over a possible MacBook upgrade. AppleInsider did a little digging earlier today, and found that major online retailers, including Amazon, and at least one brick and mortar store were either running low or completely out of the last of the MacBooks. A similar fate has befallen stock of the Mac mini, inviting speculation that both machines will likely pop up post-Lion. We suppose there’s also a possibility that Apple’s ready to send the old workhorse to the glue factory, but we’d prefer a happy ending.

MacBook in short supply, stirs rumors of imminent refresh, rebirth of white plastic? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceAppleInsider, Electronista (mini)  | Email this | Comments

Fisker Karma delayed again, but only by a tiny little bit

Yes, that’s a Fisker Karma at the Monaco Grand Prix starting line, but no, it won’t be taking off just yet, at least not this month. Last we heard from Roger Ormisher, Fisker Automotive’s Communications chief, the electric supercar was set to debut in the US during the June / July timeframe, but that’s now been nudged that extra bit later, with “the first” dealer demonstration vehicles and customer orders landing firmly in July. So, you’ll have to keep stashing that $95,900 under your mattress for a little while longer, but look on the bright side: Fisker’s delays are getting shorter all the time!

Fisker Karma delayed again, but only by a tiny little bit originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog  |  sourceGreen Car Reports  | Email this | Comments

Sony estimates $3.2b loss this year, $171 million cost for PSN breach

Sony estimates $3.2b loss this year, $171 million cost for PSN breach

It has not been a good year for Sony, which was affected both by the massive earthquake in March and the PSN outage that spanned from April into May. There couldn’t be any doubt that those things would have a drastic impact on the company’s bottom-line, and it’s now taking the time to give investors an idea of just how big an impact that could be — even though the financial issues lie largely elsewhere. Sony is set to announce its full financial report for its fiscal year this Thursday and, to soften the blow, estimates have been revised steeply downward. Previously Sony predicted a ¥70 billion ($855 million) profit, but now thinks a ¥260 billion ($3.14 billion) loss is rather more accurate — a ¥360 billion non-cash charge taking the wind out of ¥200 billion in operating income.

The earthquake was directly blamed for a loss of ¥22 billion, but that figure could certainly grow as this estimate is only through the end of March. Additionally, Sony has provided a early guess of a ¥14 billion (about $172 million) total cost for the PSN breach. That’s less than two bucks per exposed account, but again we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a figure that increases through the year. You know, once the lawyers start having their fun.

Sony estimates $3.2b loss this year, $171 million cost for PSN breach originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Wall Street Journal, gamesindustry.biz  |  sourceSony [PDF]  | Email this | Comments

ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us ‘pad or phone?’

Oh ASUS, what are you up to now? The company that brought us the wildly popular Eee Pad Transformer has another new tablet brewing in its design labs, which we’re promised we’ll get to witness for the first time at Computex 2011. Until then, we’ve been provided with a trio of images to pore over and get the guessing games going. The slate device, whose size and software remain unspecified, is said to feature a bump (above left) and a clip (above right), though there are no explanations given about the function of either. You may see both images in their full size after the break, along with a teaser image from ASUS’ Facebook page with the slogan “break the rules: pad or phone?” stood in front of a tablet silhouette. That provides plenty of clues for aspiring Sherlocks out there, but little concrete knowledge. Ah well, Computex is just a week away.

Continue reading ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us ‘pad or phone?’

ASUS gets Computex 2011 started early with a tablet teaser, asks us ‘pad or phone?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 04:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Notebook Italia  |  sourceTechinStyle.tv  | Email this | Comments