Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve never truly been at ease with that Geek Squad crowd. Something about “the people” they hang with and “the places” they hang at just worries us, so we’re pretty thrilled to see another mega-corp stepping in to take the place of the now-deceased Circuit City FireDog crew. Starting sometime before the holiday season, Wally World will be partnering with N.E.W. Customer Service Companies in order to offer in-home installation to customers buying anything from a wireless router to a HTIB. The service plans will be sold on prepaid cards ranging from $99 to $399 in value, and each install includes a “preliminary consultation and a tutorial after installation is completed.” Granted, it may be a bit tough to get the dude looking to spend $5 on a new plasma to spring for such a service, but hey, it’s not like competition is a bad thing.

[Via Hot Hardware]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

Walmart to rival Best Buy’s Geek Squad with own in-home install crew originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yanko Design is well known for digging up some of the most amazing, most commercializable concepts on the world wide web, and today the site has finally taken the next logical step. With every awesome mockup comes the inevitable question: “Yo, holmes — where can I buy this?” With the grand opening of the YD Store, you can now exchange your currency for such luxuries as the d°light Huggable Pillow, Magnetic Spice Stand, Sorapot and Cloud Chair. We couldn’t be happier to see some of these incredible designs ushered into the market place, and if you’re feeling the same, you can give that read link a tap to enter a deep, dark world that’s bound to drain your wallet dry. Have fun!

Update: Seems the site is getting battered at the moment, though we’re sure they’re buying more bandwidth as we speak. Right?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Yanko Design opens store, oodles of concepts now on the market originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bad news, good news, and potentially great news time, folks. First with the bad: Sony Ericsson posted another loss for its fiscal third quarter, to the tune of 164 million euro (about $244 million US), blaming a large chunk of that on a drop in sales. Sales dropped year-over-year 40 percent to 1.6 billion euro, and unit shipments comparably down 45 percent. That’s the bad, now what’s good for SE is that its secured more financial backing to reshape its future into something more profitable. External financing totals a reported 455 million euro ($676 million US), 255 million of which is already in the company’s position and 200 million as a two-year backup. SE also managed to beat analyst estimates, losing less than anticipated, and that’s gotta induce some bittersweet smiles in the corporate boardrooms… oh, the potentially great news? Well, SEMC blog has boldly announced that the Android-imbued Rachael (a.k.a. XPERIA X3) is due out this November, same specs as we heard before and two color options, Sensuous Black and Luster White. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing exactly where this news is coming for, so until SE speaks the magic words, we’re considering it a rumor for now — but we’re hopeful.

[Via GSM Arena; thanks, Gillz and Christo]

Read – Rachael in November?
Read – Sony Ericsson 3Q loss widens
Read – XPERIA X3 in the wild

Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson Q3 slump buoyed by new financing, a rumored November launch for XPERIA X3 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not sure how a story like this snuck under the radar on Friday, but the WSJ reports that Comcast and NBC are in the early stages of a buyout offer — Comcast’s plan is to control 51 percent of a new joint venture with current NBC owner GE. Needless to say, that would be a massive content industry shakeup, and it would bring over two dozen networks and stations under Comcast’s control, from E! to NBC itself, as well as the Universal movie studio. Sure brings that whole TV Everywhere plan into sharp relief, doesn’t it? Talks are said to be far apart and contigent on Comcast maintaining its credit rating by putting as little cash upfront as possible, but big companies like this don’t poke around lightly — we’ll see how this one turns out.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Comcast looking to buy NBC? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aside from pushing out around one phone per year (at best), Iridium Satellite really hasn’t had a major impact on the market over the past ten years. ‘Course, that’s probably because it’s hard to have much impact after seeking bankruptcy protection in 1999, but we digress. Starting tomorrow, new life will be breathed into Iridium thanks to a merger with publicly traded GHL Acquisition. If all goes to plan, the merger will add over $200 million to the company’s bank account, enabling it to pay down debt and develop a next-generation network of satellites to be launched in 2014. Furthermore, $160 million will be raised by issuing another 16 million shares at $10 a pop, and a new label (Iridium Communications) will be thrown on for good measure. Only time will tell if the world really is ready to adopt satellite phones en masse, but if TerraStar’s latest deal is any indication, we’d say chances are good halfway decent.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Iridium to merge with GHL, get back into sat phone game originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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