Hasta La Gadget!

While Phil hasn’t mentioned it in the keynote just yet, it looks like iTunes might be getting a big catalog overhaul, with most major labels finally offering up DRM free tunes. Our tipster mentioned DRM free goodies from Virgin, Sony BMG, American Recording and more (iTunes Plus has mainly been limited to EMI and some independents so far), and that most previously purchased songs are now upgradable for the same old price of $0.30 a song. We’re still digging around on the iTunes Store trying to figure this out — it’s offering to upgrade our library, but the transaction won’t go through yet — and we’ll obviously know more if it gets a keynote mention. Let us know if you have any luck picking up those non-EMI MP3s on your end.

[Thanks, Greg]

Update: As you’ve you probably noticed in the liveblog, Apple just made this very much official, and announced that some 8 million songs from all the major labels will indeed be DRM free, with a full ten million planned by the end of the quarter. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also announced a new pricing structure for tracks, including a new $0.69 tier and a $1.29 one, which music companies will apparently be able to use at their own discretion. And, to keep things really spicy, the company has also announced that music store downloads are now finally available over 3G, and at the same price and the same quality.

Filed under: Portable Audio

iTunes going primarily DRM free? (Update: yes, it is! 3G downloads, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Were you hoping to spend the day glued to your iPhone or BlackBerry, keeping an eye on our live Macworld coverage while in the office? If you’ve got AT&T on the East Coast, you’d better make sure your wireless data connection is operational. Just like in September we’re getting a number of tips from people on the right side reporting outages and error messages when attempting to connect. Meanwhile we’re not finding any issues out here in SF or Vegas, and the Midwest appears to be going strong after last week’s shenanigans. We’ve pinged AT&T for deets, but let us know — what’re you seeing on your end?

Update: We still haven’t received official word either way, but by the sounds of it data is back up for at least most of you. We’ll keep after AT&T for some sort of confirmation.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones

Say it ain’t so, AT&T: reports of another East Coast data network outage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

If these fine specimens look familiar, well, they should — one’s already been announced (albeit on a different carrier) and the other two have been thoroughly scooped. Motorola’s CES haul includes the eco-tastic Renew W233, a simple candybar destined for T-Mobile that features a neutral carbon footprint and components made of recycled water bottles; the Tundra VA76r, a rugged 3G flip with push-to-talk that previously launched on Rogers and has its sights set on AT&T this time around for a January 13 release; and the headliner of the bunch, the SURF A3100. The WinMo 6.1-based SURF — alias A3000, alias Atila — features a full 2.8-inches of touchscreen adorned with a custom skin designed by Moto, 7.2Mbps triband HSDPA, a 3-megapixel autofocus cam, AGPS, and support for microSD cards up to a purely theoretical 32GB in size. Though the radio is fully equipped for North American action, no stateside launch is in the cards just yet; for now, you’ll find the SURF in Asian markets before the quarter’s out.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Motorola’s SURF A3100 headlines three-pack of new phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We figured it was destined for a CES release, and HP has confirmed that today’s the day. The hotly anticipated Firebird with Voodoo DNA has been properly introduced to the world, and within it will come an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, twin NVIDIA GeForce 9800S graphics cards in an SLI configuration, hot-swappable 320GB hard drives (two of ’em) and an advanced thermal management system to keep things cool, calm, collected and quiet. As we’d heard, the rig will be available starting on January 9th for as little as $1,799 directly from Voodoo, while those too frightened to hand over their credit card information online can hold tight ’til it hits select retailers (read: Best Buy, most likely) on February 1st. Have a look at Rahul Sood and team gloating ad nauseum over this thing just after the break.

[Via DesktopReview]

Continue reading HP officially launches Firebird with Voodoo DNA

Filed under: CES, Desktops

HP officially launches Firebird with Voodoo DNA originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

That’s right — it’s CES time again at Engadget! It goes without saying that this is one of the most exciting events of the year for us, as CES presents an almost unyielding vista of new gadgetry to play with. We’ll be covering all the news you could possibly hope for (and then some), including press conferences, keynote addresses, and lots and lots (and lots!) of hands-on encounters with every piece of new tech we can find. You can be sure we’ll be updating the site minute-to-minute as the news flows in.

You can view the news in the regular format that you’re used to here on the front page, or you can head over to ces.engadget.com, where the stories are presented in shortened versions so you can see more of what’s breaking. We’ve also reorganized the sidebar to the right to keep you informed on all the biggest stories, and there’s a ticker on top of it that’ll let you see what event is up next.

So sit back, relax, and get ready for the craziest few days in consumer electronics you’ll ever see. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget is live from CES 2009! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments