Hasta La Gadget!

Now that the Xbox 360 Elite has officially dropped in price and killed off the Pro, it was only a matter of time before there’d be a new rumor to pin on Microsoft’s console. Amazon Germany, who previously listed the PlayStation 3 Slim a good 20 days before the official debut (it still has the same Amazon Stock Identification Number as it did when leaked), has gone ahead and posted a new Xbox 360 model, ASIN in tow, with a 250GB HDD, two wireless controllers, and Forza Motorsport 3. Price is listed at 279 euros ($397), a good 30 euros over the current Elite price. No release date, but Forza 3 isn’t due out until at least October 23rd so we’d say you got awhile to wait and see if this pans out. Any chance we can get a built-in WiFi adapter along with that extra storage space?

[Thanks, skipper]

Filed under: Gaming

Xbox 360 with 250GB HDD and Forza 3 spotted on Amazon Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony just announced a bunch of tweaks and additions to the PS3, PSP, and PlayStation Network at GamesCom, chief among them the new PS3 firmware 3.0. The new code features animated themes with avatars, a new status indicator, a modified friends list, assorted interface changes, tweaks to trophies, and a What’s New section that replaces the Information Board. Sony’s also bringing the PlayStation Video store to the UK, France, Germany and Spain in November, with more planned expansion in 2010 — customers will be able to rent and buy films in SD and HD, and while it’ll open with just movies, other content will be added as time goes on. The PSP is also getting a Digital Reader comics viewer, with lots of heavy hitters like Marvel on board to provide content — Marvel says the PSP could become their biggest distribution outlet. We’ll see about that — for now, check a video of firmware 3.0 after the break.

Update: Digital Reader press release after the break.

Continue reading Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer

Filed under: Gaming

Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it’s ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure, for example car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.

Filed under: Science

Fraunhofer Institute’s fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, that was snappy. Just days after O2 Germany abruptly halted the sales of Toshiba’s 1GHz TG01 smartphone due to an unexplained virus outbreak among new units, it seems as if things are back in gear. Online, anyway. As of this moment, web shoppers can order the Snapdragon / WinMo-powered from the carrier once more, though there’s no word on if retail shops are still keeping their stock in quarantine. Either way, we’d don a mask before waltzing in to inquire.

[Thanks, Fab]

Filed under: Cellphones

Toshiba’s potent TG01 back on sale through O2 Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s the same HTC Hero you already crave only now with a touch of colorful Hypo-magenta-semia that always results in a name change. The result? T-Mobile G2 Touch now scheduled for an August launch date, not July as originally announced. We imagine this will push the UK launch back as well what with T-Mobile HQ’d in Germany. Missed launch date or not, we’ve been ready to take on extra debt, sell the ferrets, whatever it takes just to take home that Sense UI and excellent on-screen keyboard riding Android 1.5 since like, yesterday.

[Thanks, Vaios]

Update: T-Mobile UK has stated via Twitter that the G2 Touch ship date will be released “ASAP.” Thanks, Chris!

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile’s G2 Touch (HTC Hero) hitting Germany in August, not July originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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