Radio Shack stores getting WiMAX upgrades ahead of Evo launch?

While there’s certainly plenty to love about HTC’s EVO 4G, that 4G in the title is certainly one of the major draws. We’re guessing it’ll be a little easier to sell the things if customers can experience the wonders of WiMAX for themselves, so that’s probably why RadioShack is (according to our tipster) installing these Clearwire WiMAX repeaters in at least some of its stores ahead of the May 30 June 4 launch of the phone there. This will effectively turn The Shack into 4G hotspots and, while we’re not sure of the range of these bad boys, this is a good thing even if it extends the reach of WiMAX just a few feet further into our lives. Another picture after the break.

Update: Oops, the phone is of course launching on June 4. It’s 4G that’s going live in this tipster’s home city on May 30.

[Thanks, Markus]

Continue reading Radio Shack stores getting WiMAX upgrades ahead of Evo launch?

Radio Shack stores getting WiMAX upgrades ahead of Evo launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 May 2010 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The fate of a generation of workers: Foxconn undercover fully translated (update: videos added)

Machine translations are still years or even decades away from perfection, so rather than sending you to an auto-translated page, we now present — with exclusive permission from Southern Weekend — a human translation of this damning article on Foxconn by undercover reporter Liu Zhiyi.


(Photo: Southern Weekend)

I know of two groups of young people.

One group consists of university students like myself, who live in ivory towers and kept company by libraries and lake views. The other group works alongside steel machineries and large containers, all inside a factory of high-precision manufacturing environment. These guys always address their seniors as “laoban” (boss), and call their own colleagues — regardless of familiarity — the rude “diaomao” (pubic hair) in loud.

After going undercover in Foxconn for 28 days, I came back out. I’ve been trying to tie the two pictures together. But it’s very difficult. Even with people living in these two places sharing the same age, the same youth dream.

My undercover was part of Southern Weekend’s investigation on the then six Foxconn suicides. We soon found out that most of Southern Weekend’s reporters were rejected due to age — Foxconn only recruits people around the age of 20. In comparison, being just under 23 years old, I was quickly brought into Foxconn.

The 28-day undercover work made a strong impact on me. It wasn’t about finding out what they died for, but rather to learn how they lived.

Continue reading The fate of a generation of workers: Foxconn undercover fully translated (update: videos added)

The fate of a generation of workers: Foxconn undercover fully translated (update: videos added) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia E73 ‘Mode’ coming to T-Mobile next month?

This is totally out of the blue, but we were just hit up with a screen shot suggesting that T-Mobile USA will be launching a portrait QWERTY handset from Nokia on June 16 known as the E73 ‘Mode.’ As is evidenced with the Nuron, T-Mobile has a tendency to assign trademarkable names to Nokias in its lineup that are known elsewhere in the world by their model number only, so we imagine that this phone will end up launching globally simply as the E73 as it takes over the E72’s throne as Espoo’s top productivity beast. More on this as we get it, but in the meantime, check out a bigger shot of the phone after the break.

[Thanks, Spenny]

Continue reading Nokia E73 ‘Mode’ coming to T-Mobile next month?

Nokia E73 ‘Mode’ coming to T-Mobile next month? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 14:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Cellphone Exploded In My Face [Explosions]

Reader Corey relays his explosive tale, filled with luxury coupes, detonating phones and chemicals in the eye. More »

Confirmed: Apple and AT&T signed five-year iPhone exclusivity deal — but is it still valid?

The term of Apple and AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity deal has long been a mystery — although USA Today reported a five-year arrangement when the original iPhone came out in 2007, that number has never been independently confirmed, and it’s been looking suspect in recent weeks as Verizon iPhone chatter has gotten louder. But we’ve been doing some digging and we can now confirm that Apple and AT&T entered into a five-year iPhone exclusive in 2007, based on court documents filed by Apple in California. Read on!

Continue reading Confirmed: Apple and AT&T signed five-year iPhone exclusivity deal — but is it still valid?

Confirmed: Apple and AT&T signed five-year iPhone exclusivity deal — but is it still valid? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo’s black Wii console arrives early at Best Buy and Sam’s Club

Typical, isn’t it? A full four days before these things are supposed to go on sale to the North American masses, an image of Nintendo’s black Wii console has leaked from none other than Best Buy. This here shipment was actually received in the Great White North, but we’re more than confident that similar packages are hitting the shipping docks of Best Buy stores everywhere here in the US, too. You’ll notice that giant “Do Not Sell Before 05/09/2010” sticker there in the lower-right, but as we’ve seen in the past, all it takes is a pinch of airheadedness, a touch of charm and false sense of urgency to snag one early. Godspeed, Earthlings.

P.S. – The “old” Wii bundle is now on sale at Best Buy for $179.99 ($20 less than yesterday), and we suspect this will be a trend that continues to other retailers as the new packages roll out. Thanks, David!

Update: Seems these are arriving at Sam’s Club locations as well, though they aren’t to be sold until May 9th.

Nintendo’s black Wii console arrives early at Best Buy and Sam’s Club originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony EX3 prototype 3D camcorder spotted, destined for retail channels? (update: we’ve got specs)

Well what do we have here? We’ve just been handed a picture of what we’re told is Sony’s EX3 prototype 3D camera, with changeable lenses and a penchant for capturing life in the third dimension. That’s unfortunately all we really know at this point, but if this two-eyed beaut does go to market (and we hear that it most certainly will), it looks like Panasonic’s 3D camcorder will have some healthy competition. And hey, we’re all for having more options.

Update: A trusted source just chimed in with some specs, and it’s looking like Sony’s basically just crammed the guts of two PMW-EX3 studio cams into a single shell for this prototype. That’s not a bad thing: behind those proprietary hot-swappable lens cartridges are the same two three half-inch CMOS eyeballs that stream 4:2:0 MPEG-2 video at 1080p to SxS memory cards at 35Mbps per eye, or send uncompressed 4:4:4 footage over a new pair of HD-SDI outputs. Our source was pretty excited about how close together those eyes were, too — he whispered something about an industry-first 1.5-inch interocular distance, before vanishing into the darkness without a word on price or availability.

Update 2: The EX3 has three CMOS chips, not two. [Thanks, The Advanced Kind]

Sony EX3 prototype 3D camcorder spotted, destined for retail channels? (update: we’ve got specs) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Cancels Innovative Courier Tablet Project [Courier]

According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft has cancelled Courier, the folding, two-screen prototype tablet that was first uncovered by Gizmodo. More »

MSI Android, Windows 7 tablets launching in June, dualscreen delayed until Q4

It looks like ASUS won’t be the only Taiwanese manufacturer whipping out new tablets at Computex in early June, and MSI will be joining the party with its Android and Windows 7 touchscreen devices. According to the company, the tablets will come in 8.9- and 10-inch varieties, and will ship sometime in the third quarter. We can’t promise you big M’s Tegra 2 and Atom-powered slates will be all that different from what we’ve been seeing from the others out there, but we are told the pricing will be “extremely aggressive.” That’s intriguing, but unfortunately, that awesome dualscreen tablet we saw at CES is farther behind. According to MSI’s Andy Tung, the hardware implementation is the reason for the delay as the Atom-based tablet is not providing adequate endurance. “The two screens are a major drain on the battery, and even with a higher density battery and the Menlow CPU we are only getting three hours,” he said. It looks like we will be waiting until the fourth quarter to get some two screen action, though we guess we could always pick up an Android and Win 7 slate and tape ’em together.

MSI Android, Windows 7 tablets launching in June, dualscreen delayed until Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T’s micro SIM card is the matryoshka doll of micro SIM cards

Alright, well played, AT&T: you’ve sort of managed to undo Apple’s unfortunate move of eschewing nearly two decades’ worth of deeply-entrenched SIM card standards in favor of a new one that literally nobody in the consumer cellphone world is using — and for that, we thank you. We’re being told that these new SIMs are now being sold in AT&T stores for $15 and will work both with the iPad 3G and… well, literally every other GSM device you’ve ever owned, thanks to a couple of well-placed perforations that can turn the standard SIM into a micro SIM. This is presumably a preemptive strike to support the next-gen iPhone, too, but otherwise, you can go ahead and use the big card without busting out the little one. Trust us.

Update: Our tipster wrote back in to say that they’re actually not being sold in stores yet, so if you’ve formed a line outside your local brick-and-mortar, go ahead and turn in for the evening. Sorry, folks!

AT&T’s micro SIM card is the matryoshka doll of micro SIM cards originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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