Hasta La Gadget!

In the market for a Samsung Galaxy S III, but you despise dropping over two figures on electronics? First and foremost, we might suggest another hobby to you. We’d also suggest snapping up a half price $99 Galaxy S III from Amazon today, where it’s on sale “for a very limited time only.” Yes, you have to sign up for a new individual or family activation, but at least you can choose between Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T for that new contract. It’ll even arrive in two days, per Amazon’s free two-day shipping, and there are three different colors of the 16GB version to choose from. Hot dog!

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Samsung Galaxy S III drops to $99 on Amazon for a ‘very limited time only’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola’s war with Apple has certainly been overshadowed by the showdown with Samsung. But, with the latter melodrama shifting into quiet mode, focus is coming back to the battle with Moto. That ongoing story has taken a rather unexpected turn, however. A filing on Monday revealed that the Google subsidiary has agreed to license some (if not all) of its standards-essential patents to Cupertino… in Germany, at least. When exactly the deal was struck isn’t clear, and neither side has announced a royalty rate as of yet. It could be that the German courts will decide what is appropriate according to FRAND rules, but the agreement also includes an admission by Apple that it is liable for past damages relating to these patents. The terms seem to include only “cellular standard-essential” patents, which means the company’s claims regarding WiFi and video codecs could still be used as an avenue of attack. But, with at least one set of FRAND patents set aside, we wouldn’t be surprised if the rest followed. It may be that Moto has simply decided to pick its fights more carefully, in light Apple’s recent legal victory and growing pressure from the European Commission surrounding potential abuse of standards-essential patents. Or, it could be an olive branch and a sign that the patent wars are winding down — a possibility we’d joyously embrace.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Apple strikes licensing deal with Motorola in Germany, heralds more peaceful times? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PayPal already has a partnership with MasterCard in place that lets you use its debit cards in stores, but the company has now expanded that retail presence even further with a new deal it’s struck with Discover. Starting sometime next year, that arrangement will let PayPal customers use their charge cards at any of the 7 million retail locations that accept Discover cards, with funds drawn directly from their PayPal account. What’s more, PayPal says that retailers won’t have to make any hardware or software upgrades to accept the PayPal payments, noting that they’ll simply have to let customers know of the new option with in-store signage. Of course, the deal also likely has implications beyond traditional plastic cards, as PayPal is now also pushing its mobile payments more than ever, not to mention its own triangular Square competitor. You can find the official announcement below.

Continue reading PayPal expands presence in US retail stores with new Discover partnership

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

PayPal expands presence in US retail stores with new Discover partnership originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IBM is becoming serious about enterprise-grade computing in more ways than one. It just struck a deal to acquire Texas Memory Systems, best known these days for its extra-quick RamSan SSD cards. As you’d anticipate, that fast yet lean storage is the focus — IBM wants servers that aren’t limited by their drives, or which just use less power than old-fashioned spinning hard disks and tape machines. Neither side is talking about how much the deal is worth, but TMS’ product roster should stay on the market even as it’s folded into IBM’s Smarter Storage initiative. Expect that database at work to suddenly get faster sometime after the acquisition closes later this year.

Continue reading IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage

Filed under: Desktops, Storage

IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a leaked screengrab hosted up at MacRumors, Apple retail shops now have the authority to price match carrier and rival retail discounts on iPhone. Specifically, the note informs employees that prices from Best Buy, “carriers,” Radio Shack and Target can be matched, with $49.01 seeming to be the savings across the board. Curiously, places like Wirefly, Amazon, Negri Electronics and even Walmart aren’t mentioned, so we wouldn’t recommend trying to work the price down based on ads seen from any of those. The note also mentions the iPhone 4 and 4S exclusively, and we’re fairly sure this sort of goodwill won’t ever been applied to iPad, Mac hardware or pretty much any other Apple kit. Of course, crazier things have happened. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and will update this article should it choose to reply.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple reportedly price matching iPhone discounts from carriers and other retailers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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