Hasta La Gadget!

Up until now, Bell’s been coy about an exact availability date for the Palm Pre — a tactic borrowed from Sprint prior to its release — so we’re happy to hear that they’ve finally decided on August 27 to get it out of the door. It’ll run CAD $199.95 (about $187) on a three-year deal, ramping all the way up to $599.95 contract-free with a minimum 500MB / month data plan (trust us, you’ll want every megabyte of it). Preorders are now being accepted online and in Bell stores, so if you want it on day one, you might want to get moving on that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm Pre comes to Bell on August 27 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoa, Nelly! No sooner than we hear that Sony is informing Japanese retailers that the 80GB PS3 model won’t be shipping any longer after August 8th, along comes this to stoke the raging rumor fires once more. In a one-two punch that just can’t be coincidental, Sony has also hacked $50 off of its 160GB PlayStation 3 bundle from Amazon. But really, it’s the report from RTLinfo that has us most excited. According to it, the Sony elite are informing European retailers of an impending €100 price slashing on the 80GB console, which will dovetail nicely into the sudden and not-at-all unexpected debut of the PS3 Slim at the gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany. Reportedly, the willowy unit — which shouldn’t differ much in terms of specifications and features — will be properly introduced to the world during Sony’s pre-event press conference on August 18th. Obviously we’ve no way to confirm or deny just yet, but given everything else that has transpired over the past few months, we’d say an official reveal is definitely due. What say you, rumormongers?

Read – Sony PS3 Slim to be revealed at gamescom [Thanks, Dominic]
Read – 160GB PS3 price cut [Via GamesIndustry]

Filed under: Gaming

Sony’s PlayStation 3 Slim to debut August 18th at Cologne gamescom? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man, the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj has gone from crazy rumor to seemingly-real to whoa-here’s-the-press-release in record time — the compact cam with the integrated projector was just officially announced, along with the three other cams we saw leaked earlier today. Leaked specs for the S1000pj were dead-on: a 12.1 megapixel sensor with ISO 6400 sensitivity mounted behind a 5x wide-angle zoom lens with five-way VR stabilization, and that LED-powered projector that’ll put up a 40-inch image for slideshows complete with music, effects and transitions. We’re a little less excited about the $430 list price this thing will carry when it hits in September, but on the whole it’s a pretty terrific idea and we’re completely intrigued — looks like we’ll be saving our pennies this month. Pictures of everything in the gallery, deets on the other cams and a video of the S1000pj after the break.

Continue reading Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector-cam beams into reality along with friends

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector-cam beams into reality along with friends originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Should have seen this one coming, right? Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple’s board today citing a conflict of interest. Apple (Steve Jobs, in fact) says that “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest.” Android and Chrome OS — something had to give, but the timing sure does make it seem like that Google Voice app rejection might have really hurt someone’s feelings.

The truth is, it’s been a tangled web for some time as far as the relationship between Apple and Google goes. Sure, Schmidt sat on the board, the companies claim to be working on new projects, and Google Maps comes preloaded onto the iPhone, but over the past year, Google’s increasing move into Apple’s space, and Apple’s increasing desire to control every inch of that space have not been good bedfellows. It’s hard to imagine that Apple could maintain a completely healthy relationship with a direct competitor in both the phone and OS space for very long, and that’s to say nothing of Cupertino’s latest push into online document editing and management, which couldn’t have seemed very awesome to Schmidt and company. Oh, and there’s that matter of the antitrust case which is currently ongoing. Still, it’s a bit sad to see this power couple going their separate ways, though it does give us some hope that Google will begin a full assault with Android in earnest, because only sweet stuff could come from those efforts. If you’re interested, the full PR is after the break.

Update: The FTC says it’s going to continue investigating the two companies for “remaining interlocking directorates,” so Apple and Google aren’t totally out of the woods, but we don’t think anything else major is in store here.

Continue reading Google’s Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board over “conflict of interest”

Google’s Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board over “conflict of interest” originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a report in Barron’s, a phantom “veteran analyst” has actually handled Apple’s heavily rumored tablet-device-thing. If you believe what the report is laying down (and honestly, that’s a big if — analysts have a funny habit of making things up) the tablet is still on for a September unveiling, with a shelf life beginning somewhere in November. What’s also interesting about the report is that the analyst claims the device will be marketed somewhere in the $699-$799 range — as was previously rumored — and will be aimed at uses as a media player (with some kind of potential Apple TV tie-in) and gaming device. The analyst, who obviously declined to be named, said that the tablet is simply awaiting Steve Jobs’ final blessing, and claimed that other ODMs have paused new products until they see the finished version of what Apple has in store. That last bit is potentially the most interesting of all, as we’ve recently heard reports of device-makers freezing new production until 2010, which definitely raises the possibility that the industry is holding its breath to see what kind of new trick Apple has up its sleeve. Yeah — things are about to get fun. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Via 9to5mac]

Filed under: Handhelds

Barron’s: Analyst handled Apple tablet, says competitors have paused production lines until launch originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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