Hasta La Gadget!

According to BGR, we’re apparently looking at the first shots of a phone numbered 9670 in RIM’s BlackBerry parlance, a true QWERTY flip running BlackBerry OS 6.0 on a 480 x 360 display with WiFi, a 5 megapixel camera, optical pad (as is the case with every new BlackBerry these days), microSD expansion, and a huge external display that’s eerily reminiscent of Moto’s RAZR 2. The device is said to be running CDMA, which almost certainly means it’s being shopped around to Sprint and Verizon exclusively among major carriers — the only other big potential takers would be Bell and Telus, and they’re in the midst of migrating to HSPA — so we’ll just sit back, relax, and see if this thing materializes at WES next week. Granted, we’ve got to see it in person and gaze at a few non-blurrycam shots before passing final judgment, but we’re admittedly a little worried about the merciless beating the ugly stick may have delivered up in Waterloo this time around.

BlackBerry 9670 flip spotted running OS 6.0, causes eyes to bleed, children to cry originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flip’s new pocket-camcorder is the Slide HD. It takes the familiar simple-to-use video-camera and combines it with a big screen for playing back your masterpieces to a (small) audience. Where does the “slide” part come from? The body splits in the middle and slides open to prop the screen at a laptop-like angle for viewing. It’s pretty neat.

First, the camera. As you may have guessed from the name, it is a hi-def model, shooting 720p at 30fps in the the H.264 codec which is fast becoming the MP3 of video. 16GB of internal memory gives you four hours of shooting time, and you transfer to a Mac or PC for editing via the trademark flip-out USB plug. A lithium-ion rechargeable battery provides the juice, but only for two hours, so you needn’t worry about filling the camera in one go.

The screen measures three-inches, has 400 x 240 pixels and takes up most of the back of the unit when shooting. When flipped (or slid, we guess) up into playback position the “slide-strip” is revealed, a touch-sensitive bar for scrubbing through your clips. Sound comes through a pair of stereo speakers.

If you have shot some footage so amazing you must share it with more people than can crowd around the small screen, an HDMI-out will hook up to a TV. Should you choose to carry video specifically for watching, you can crunch the files down with included software and squeeze 12-hours worth onto the camera. If it wasn’t for the battery, this would be a great travel media-player.

The Slide HD is available now and costs $280.

Slide HD [Flip. Thanks, Jamie!]

See Also:

• Hands On With the New Flip Mino
• Flip, The Little Camcorder With Big Market Share
• Flip Mino Camcorder Shoots for High-Def

At this point it would have been more surprising if Best Buy hadn’t just gone ahead and sold the Flip Slide HD before its official launch — we’ve been getting leaked info and product shots from the retailer for a week now, and it was really only a matter of time before someone went home with one. That someone is our new favorite reader Scott Peterson, who nabbed one at the Roseville, California store for $279 and was kind enough to send in this photo and a quick video of the pocket cam in action. It looks like… a pretty chunky Flip with a slideout touchscreen instead of real buttons. We’re also seeing a headphone jack in addition to HDMI out, which no other Flip has had, so we’re guessing this thing is geared towards on-the-go playback as well as recording. Cute. Unfortunately we won’t know what’s what for sure until Cisco actually confirms that this thing is real — and at this point it might as well just get it over with, as we’re sure Best Buy is busy leaking the next model already. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Scott]

Continue reading Flip Slide HD inevitably sold early by Best Buy

Flip Slide HD inevitably sold early by Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our army of Best Buy informants has struck again, this time delivering an internal systems entry that references an S1240W model from Cisco’s consumer division, described as a digital camcorder. Aside from the obvious appearance of the Flip name in the top right corner, the retail box dimensions listed herein — 7.7 by 1.5 by 3.6 inches — seem an almost perfect match for the recently spied Flip Slide HD product box. At that time, we were furnished with supplemental pics pointing out 16GB of built-in storage for up to four hours of video, and today we can add a price and potential release date to the dossier. April 18 is the reputed “in stock” date for this Flip shooter, with a $280 “regular retail” price shown on the other snapshot we’ve come across (see it after the break). That means we’ve only got a few days of mystery left before Cisco flips the covers away.

[Thanks, Jae]

Continue reading Flip S1240W priced at $280 in Best Buy’s systems, reads an awful lot like ‘Slide HD’ to us

Flip S1240W priced at $280 in Best Buy’s systems, reads an awful lot like ‘Slide HD’ to us originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Admittedly, we were a bit hesitant when Cisco contacted us with jubilation over a router, but now we can kind of see why. The company has pulled in design experts from its recently-acquired Flip for what it’s banking on is a much simpler and friendlier user experience, from the packaging to the set up and maintenance menus, with a new lineup of routers it’s calling Valet. The hardware itself is not too shabby — it’d probably be quite inconspicuous in a Tomorrowland exhibit — but the internals are nothing mind-blowing. Both the Valet and Valet Plus offer 2.4GHz Wireless N, while the latter model boasts a longer range and a quartet of Gigabit ports (the standard only uses 10/100).

Eschewing the usual CD installation key is what Cisco’s calling the USB Easy Setup Key. Similar idea to the other routers, just plug in and install the software. After two clicks of the menu, it auto-located our Valet and connected to a newly-minted, protected wireless service (in this case “BusyFish”) with the password saved in our keychain. Adjusting guest access and parental controls are easy enough, and nice part of the USB key is that you can write the settings onto it, letting you simply plug it into another computer and auto-load the settings. Manual controls are still available and should be fine for most readers. Nothing mind-blowing, but for the audience Cisco’s targeting, it’s definitely a step in the right direction. According to Cisco, availability is “immediately” and prices are $100 for Valet and $150 for Valet Plus. Press release and oodles (yes, oodles) more pictures after the break.

Continue reading Cisco’s Valet routers take a cue from Flip’s design department

Cisco’s Valet routers take a cue from Flip’s design department originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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