Sanyo’s Eneloop Stick and Mobile Boosters will juice your gadgets on the go

Make no mistake, we’re unabashed Eneloop rechargeable battery fanboys around here. How could we not be given our mobile lifestyle and obsessive need to keep all our toys juiced. As such, we’re stoked by the announcement of a pair of Sanyo power packs: the Eneloop Mobile Booster (model KBC-L2BS) and Eneloop Stick Booster (KBC-D1BS). The Mobile Booster is a rechargeable slab of lithium-ion with a pair of built-in USB terminals (and microUSB adapter) capable of pushing a relatively hefty 1 Amp charge for about 2 hours (or 500mA for 4 hours if charging two device) to gear that requires that kind of suck… like the iPad. The battery pack can then be recharged over AC or a USB connection on your PC. The highly portable Stick Booster, meanwhile, ships with a pair of AA Eneloops — so when the electrons cease to flow you can just swap out the dead batteries for a pair of fresh rechargeables. The Stick Booster is also an official Nintendo licensee so you can be sure that it’ll charge your DSLite, DSi, or DSi LL (no mention of the 3DS). Look for these to ship October 21st in Japan.

Sanyo’s Eneloop Stick and Mobile Boosters will juice your gadgets on the go originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo dropping DSi and DSI XL prices on September 12

Nintendo is slashing the DSi to $149.99 and the DSi XL to $169.99 (that’s down $20 apiece) on September 12 in North America, after dropping prices in the UK and Japan in June. We still don’t know what the 3DS will be going for or when it will land, that announcement is still slated for the end of this month, but we’re sure at this price (or any) Nintendo will manage to sell a good many million of the current crop between now and then. PR is after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo dropping DSi and DSI XL prices on September 12

Nintendo dropping DSi and DSI XL prices on September 12 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gorilla goes hands-on with Nintendo DSi XL at the San Francisco Zoo

Looks like Nintendo’s DSi XL has finally found its target audience. Video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Gorilla goes hands-on with Nintendo DSi XL at the San Francisco Zoo

Gorilla goes hands-on with Nintendo DSi XL at the San Francisco Zoo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo posts Q1 loss on strong Yen and lower DS prices

Although foreshadowed, it’s hard to believe that the once mighty Ninty, a company with unshakable profits even during last year’s global economic downturn, just recorded a Q1 net loss of ¥25.22 billion ($288 million) compared to a net profit of ¥42.32 billion during the same 3-month period a year earlier. Revenues dropped from ¥253.50 billion to ¥188.65 billion. Lower DS portable gaming machine prices coupled with a strong Yen (86.5 percent of its sales were outside of Japan) helped pull Nintendo into the red. Regardless, Nintendo continues to forecast a full year net profit of ¥200 billion on revenue of ¥1.4 trillion. We’ll see.

Nintendo posts Q1 loss on strong Yen and lower DS prices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink gi  |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

UK bans R4 cards, makes Nintendo DS pirating ‘double illegal’

While us Yankees are celebrating the one small victory for all that’s right and good represented by the recent DMCA jailbreak exception, things are looking a little bleaker for UK gadget-heads this afternoon. London’s High Court has ruled that R4 cards, which are used by homebrewers and the occasional no-goodnik game pirate to circumvent security on the Nintendo DS, cannot be sold, advertised, or imported into the UK. According to Joystiq, Nintendo claims they’ve seized over 100,000 R4 devices in the country since 2009. When asked for a comment, the Queen was all like, “What?”

UK bans R4 cards, makes Nintendo DS pirating ‘double illegal’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  sourceDevelop  | Email this | Comments

Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26

Look, it’s summer break. What better to do than learn a little piano in preparation for the upcoming release of Harmonix’s Rock Band 3? The next installment — which promises to bring all sorts of new kit to the market — was finally given a release date today, and not surprisingly, it’ll be quickly climbing the Santa Lists of rug-rats the world over. According to the company, the title will ship on October 26th in North America, with the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions priced at $59.99 sans hardware and the DS rendition at $29.99. Hop on past the break if you’re interested in learning about your wealth of pre-order options.

Continue reading Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26

Rock Band 3 crashing into living rooms on October 26 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox 360 sales increase 88 percent in June, give it US console crown for the month

Proving once again that in this world it’s more important what you look like than what you do, the Xbox 360 has cruised to the title of best-selling console in June on the back of a sexy physical redesign. The latest numbers from NPD show that Microsoft shifted 451,700 units in the US, which ousts the Wii’s tally of 422,500 and comfortably dwarfs the PS3’s 304,800. Still, if Sony wants any consolation it need only look back to the results of its own console Slimmification last year — US sales were said to have tripled in the immediate aftermath of the new SKU’s release. So Microsoft might have a little bit of catching up to do yet, and let’s not forget that the king of all hardware sales remains the DS, which somehow managed to sell more than half a million devices in June, in spite of the whole world and its dog already owning one.

Xbox 360 sales increase 88 percent in June, give it US console crown for the month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why It’s Sad Sony Lost the Videogame Hardware Race at E3 [Sony]

E3’s biggest loser? It’s Sony. They’ve been lagging behind for years overall, but to lose at hardware, their strongest suit? What a pity. More »

Nintendo trims DSi and DSi LL prices in Japan, adds new color options for bigger console (updated)

Good news for Nippon-based handheld lovers: from June 19, Nintendo will be selling the DSi at a new reduced price of ¥15,000 ($165), accompanied by a more affordable DSi LL, which lands at ¥18,000 ($198). That will make the jumbo portable console cheaper than the regular-sized one costs today, while the whole effort seems clearly aimed at maintaining the market for Nintendo’s classical wares after it blows all our minds with its 3DS debut at E3 in a couple of weeks. We look forward to it, we just wish this price cut would go global — Europeans need love too, you know.

Update: We’ve also just learnt Nintendo is bringing out a trifecta of new color options for the Japanese LL: blue, yellow and green jumbo DSis will be available on June 19, right alongside the price trim. Come past the break to see the other two hues.

Continue reading Nintendo trims DSi and DSi LL prices in Japan, adds new color options for bigger console (updated)

Nintendo trims DSi and DSi LL prices in Japan, adds new color options for bigger console (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  sourceYahoo! News, Nintendo Japan  | Email this | Comments

Nintendo: 3DS to Feature Switch for 2D Functionality

Nintendo hasn’t been especially chatty about its upcoming portable system. Word on the device–currently known as the “3DS”–got out right around the time that the company was pushing its larger DSi XL in the US.

The next generation Nintendo portable, which is said to be set for an official unveiling at this year’s E3 in June, will feature 3D functionality, without the aid of glasses. According to a new statement by the company’s CEO, Satoru Iwata, the device will also feature a switch that lets users play its games in 2D mode.

The functionality, according to Iwawta, was incorporated into the device over concerns of the 3D’s effect children’s eye site.