Hasta La Gadget!

Overwhelmed with nostalgia for a childish pseudo-creature with a glaringly absent off switch? Sounds like you’re looking for a Furby. No, not the old, mangy monster whose batteries died in your toy cabinet all those years ago, we’re talking about a new animatronic animal — one kitted out with capacitive touch sensors, glowing LCD eyeballs and even a companion iOS app. Six colorful variations of the chatty creature are now available for pre-order at Walmart, each commanding a $54 price tag. Not sure if this is the simulated pet you’re looking for? Check out our hands-on and see just how much Furbish you can take.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots

Furby pre-orders start at Walmart, threaten your wallet with nostalgia originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week, the Galaxy Nexus for Sprint and Verizon Wireless each became available for free, while in the MVNO world, Simple Mobile dropped the price of its high-speed unlimited smartphone plan to $50. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of July 30th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of July 30th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Mobile Miscellany: week of July 30th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube is plenty busy with a livestream of the Olympics in HD for Asian and African audiences, but it’s keeping tabs on the scene in the states, too. The service is running a free, two-channel webcast of Chicago’s Lollapalooza music festival this weekend, which features big-name acts such as Jack White, The Black Keys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As you may recall, YouTube also offered a live broadcast of the event last year. Click through to the source link to see who’s on stage. Hey, it’s not the same as being at Grant Park, but it’s probably a lot less sweaty.

Filed under: Internet

YouTube streaming Lollapalooza festival for those of us who can’t be in Chicago originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bell’s version of the Motorola RAZR V might not be the media darling that is the Atrix HD, but that shouldn’t dampen the interest for Canadians that can at last buy what’s potentially a slick deal for an Android 4.0 phone. For $30 on a 3-year contract, or $400 contract-free, the carrier is offering an arguably improved version of the late 2011 RAZR (Droid RAZR for Yankees). Although it bulks up slightly to a third of an inch thick, it’s still a skinny, Kevlar-clad wedge. The primary upgrade outside of the OS is a swap-out of that frankly mediocre Super AMOLED screen of the original RAZR smartphone for a much nicer ColorBoost LCD — sorry, ColourBoost. Otherwise, you’re getting the familiar 1.2GHz processor, 14.4Mbps HSPA+ data and 8-megapixel rear camera, although Motorola has shaved the built-in storage to 4GB to keep the costs down. We’d still be tempted to snag the Galaxy Nexus across the aisle to get us a taste of Jelly Bean for the same money, but Canucks with a penchant for Smart Actions now have an option outside of Rogers to get their fix.

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola RAZR V goes on sale at Bell, gives Canadians a thin slice of Ice Cream Sandwich originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 22:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tweetbot‘s been offering a rough-around-the-edges alpha version on its upcoming refresh for a few weeks now, but it’s the latest update that’s caught our attention — again. There’s several substantial changes that could tempt you away from other desktop Twitter clients. These include a new multiple account view, with separate columns that can either be docked to your main feed or left in their own window. You can spin out mentions and search results into their own space, and even adjust each column’s height and width — if you’re looking to squeeze even more Twitter content into a single screen. A new menu bar icon offers access to your multiple accounts, new tweets, direct messages and mentions, while the latest build also improves support for media upload and Mountain Lion‘s notification bar. Tweetbot’s alpha is still free to try for now, but once the kinks are eventually worked out, expect to pay for the finished article.

Filed under: Internet

Tweetbot for Mac’s latest alpha adds experimental ‘snap-together’ column layout originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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