Hasta La Gadget!

The price of the Nintendo 3DS in the US is dropping precipitously August 12th from $249 to $169, with other regions getting a similar price break in their respective currency. If you’re one of the 830,000~ US gamers that have already shelled out, don’t be too disappointed as your early adopting ways will be rewarded with free games. The thank you gift for gamers that have logged into the eShop at least once before the price cut will be 10 free NES virtual console games before they’re widely available, plus 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games — that Nintendo is apparently not planning on releasing to the general public — before the end of the year. Think someone is feeling pressure from the oncoming PlayStation Vita?

..developing

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS price drops from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games

Nintendo 3DS price drops from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, you can’t say you didn’t see this one coming. Fujitsu Toshiba mobile communications — now there’s a mouthful — just unveiled the IS12T: Japan’s first Windows Phone 7 device, and according to Microsoft prez Yasuyuki Higuchi, the world’s first Mango one. The sexy and waterproof (!) 3.7-inch WVGA slate is powered by a MSM8655 CPU of undisclosed clock speed, and goes on sale in “September or beyond” on KDDI’s au network. The pink gizmo packs a 13.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and has a plentiful 32GB of flash storage to keep all those snaps. The usual Bluetooth (2.1 + EDR) and WiFi (802.11b/g/n) are also on board. Interest piqued? Peruse the gallery our Engadget Japanese brethren have handily tossed our way.

Fujitsu Toshiba announces au IS12T, the world’s first Mango phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That most heavenly hunk of MeeGo, the Nokia N9, has passed through our government’s most holy of hallways, delivering full external and internal photos to show us what’s happening at every level. If you had any doubt this will be a world phone, tests confirming quadband 2G and pentaband 3G (2100/1900/1700/900/850 MHz) should put those to rest, while 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi spread over 2.4 and 5GHz means it’ll be quick to download the goods around the house. Models with 16 and 64GB are shown, though squint all we could we couldn’t count the difference on the teardown pics, which you can enjoy for yourself in the gallery below.

Look closely on the internal photos and you’ll note the petite SIM tray and a 1,450mAh battery that relies on a wired connector. It is, quite clearly, not meant for easy user accessibility. Appetite still not sated? The full user manual is also there, ready for your download. And just think, a few minutes ago you didn’t have any good reading material for this weekend.

Nokia N9 arrives at FCC, opened up to see where all the MeeGo comes from originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The news wasn’t so good for Nokia this morning, but its new bedmate is in much, much better shape. Microsoft’s Q4 earnings for the 2011 fiscal year have been posted, showing revenue of $17.37 billion — up eight percent over the same period last year, and besting the $16.43 billion record Q3. That drove $5.87 billion in net income, which is a whopping 30 percent climb over the year previous. Looking back over the full year, revenue broke another record, clocking in at $69.94 billion, 12 percent higher than the year before.

Why all the good news? Well, the Entertainment & Devices Division saw a 30 percent revenue jump in the quarter, 45 percent over the year, as the Xbox 360 and Kinect continue to sell like gangbusters. Bing and Online Services also had good news, 17 percent revenue growth in the quarter thanks to the plucky search engine gaining ever more ground against the competition. But, not everything is rosy, with the Windows-related revenue staying flat — down one percent this quarter, two percent over the year. Windows 8 will surely turn things around on that front, though, right?

Microsoft Q4 FY11: revenue, earnings, and profits all up, beating expectations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Nokia still yet to fully dive in to the Windows Phone swimming hole, you had to know it was going to be another ugly quarter’s worth of results. And it is. The company just posted its Q2 2011 numbers and there’s a definite downward trend. Operating profits declined 44 percent since Q1, 391 million Euro compared to 704, and net sales of mobile devices are down 23 percent over the same period — 20 percent compared to Q2 last year. CEO Stephen Elop quite naturally tried to spin this thing in the right direction:

The challenges we are facing during our strategic transformation manifested in a greater than expected way in Q2 2011. However, even within the quarter, I believe our actions to mitigate the impact of these challenges have started to have a positive impact on the underlying health of our business. Most importantly, we are making better-than expected progress toward our strategic goals.

But, he can’t deny the obvious, calling the results “clearly disappointing.” Looking forward, Elop expects “competitive pressures to continue,” but indicates the company has a “clear strategy” to improve things. He says those who have seen the company’s early Windows Phone devices (really, who hasn’t) are “very optimistic” about their potential and that they hope to launch this year with a “sequence of concentrated product launches. Very expensive launches, we hear.

Update: Elop just wrapped up his portion of the company’s earning call. A summary and a few choice quotes are available below.

Continue reading Nokia Q2 2011: ‘clearly disappointing’ results as challenges prove ‘greater than expected’

Nokia Q2 2011: ‘clearly disappointing’ results as challenges prove ‘greater than expected’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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