Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t ever say Ma Bell lacks cahones. On the same day that existing Verizon customers began pre-ordering the CDMA’d iPhone 4, AT&T has come clean with what’s next on America’s largest GSM network. While announced at CES 2011, pricing and release information had eluded the luscious Atrix 4G… until now, that is. AT&T will begin pre-sales for the Froyo-powered Motorola Atrix 4G Android superphone on February 13th, with the standard $199.99 + two-year contract ($50 more than we were led to believe, mind you) getting one into your grubby mitts. We’re told to expect general availability on March 6th “or earlier,” putting it just about in line with the date we’d heard rumored. Moreover, those looking to buy will should have a difficult time laying off of the Laptop Dock bundle, which nets you an Atrix 4G as well as a $499.99 dock for the grand total of $499.99 on contract. You heard right — those who opt to buy the dock at a later time will be asked to shell out five Benjamins, whereas that same tally on day one will also include the phone. It should be noted, however, that the bundle only applies if you also sign your name to a Data Pro plan and tethering add-on, so be sure you’re down for that monthly hit before committing in haste. Oh, and just in case you simply can’t stop spending, the carrier is also offering an Entertainment Access Kit for Atrix 4G customers which includes the Motorola HD Multimedia Dock, a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a remote control for $189.99.

Continue reading Motorola’s Atrix 4G coming to AT&T on March 6th for $200, bundled with Laptop Dock for $500

Motorola’s Atrix 4G coming to AT&T on March 6th for $200, bundled with Laptop Dock for $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung has sought to take market share from all manner of iProducts over the years, and it seems the company is now shooting to steal Apple’s MacBook thunder in 2011. Sammy sold ten million laptops in 2010 — only 150,000 less than Jobs & Co. through the first nine months of the year — and purportedly plans to move between sixteen and seventeen million portable machines in 2011. That is a massive increase in sales, but if the Korean company’s 9 Series is an indication of what’s to come, we can’t say it’s a completely unrealistic goal. Whether they move more product than Apple is still to be determined, but given its record Q4 earnings, there’s no indication that the Cupertino crowd will be slowing down any time soon. Game on, fellas.

Samsung takes aim at Apple’s notebook crown, projects 60 percent increase in laptop sales in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ, a company that started life a decade ago by churning out DRAM modules for enthusiasts to throw into their towering rigs, has now announced it’s abandoning that market entirely. As PC Perspective points out, it’s grown increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate their products when it comes to memory — most of it just works and most of it is pretty fast — and continually declining prices have apparently forced OCZ’s hand. The San Jose-based company’s new primary breadwinner will be solid state drives, which already account for a substantial proportion of revenues and look set to grow exponentially as their own prices dip a little further into the range of the affordable. It’s a shame we’ll no longer have that bold Z to look at when picking out memory sticks for our next self-built machine, but maybe it’s all for the best. Check out an interview with an OCZ VP at the source link below.

Continue reading OCZ quits DRAM business to focus on super-speedy SSDs

OCZ quits DRAM business to focus on super-speedy SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s true. Audiovox, a relative no-name in terms of consumer end products in the music industry, has just signed a non-binding term sheet to purchase all of the shares of Klipsch Group and its worldwide subsidiaries. We’re told that the transaction is subject to a number of contingencies, “including satisfactory completion of due diligence, negotiation and signing of definitive agreements and requisite approvals,” but we can’t imagine anything popping up to stop the inevitable. No hard financial terms were revealed, and there’s no estimated closing date for the deal. Oddly enough, Klipsch was here at CES unveiling a smattering of new products, and Audiovox was also here showing off far, far less interesting gear. We’re hoping and praying that Audiovox allows Klipsch to continue working as its own entity rather than swallowing ’em whole and stifling innovation with corporate bureaucracy (similar to how Disney lets ESPN run its own show), but we’ll be honest — we’re feeling a little uneasy about it. Klipsch is definitely one of our favorite audio companies around, and the last thing we’d want is to see a good company get hit with an undue amount of heavy-handed corporate control. Here’s hoping for the best!

P.S. – If you missed our Klipsch headquarters walkthrough from a year ago, feel free to have a peek.

Continue reading Audiovox to buy Klipsch, we can’t help but worry

Audiovox to buy Klipsch, we can’t help but worry originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘Tis the season for manufacturing deals? Sure seems it. Merely hours after Sony announced its intentions to buy back Cell chip fabrication facilities from Toshiba, it looks as if Tosh is about to enter into yet another agreement. In this case, it’ll be outsourcing the unprofitable production of semiconductors to rival Samsung, which will be responsible for churning out the brains behind a number of smartphones, televisions and digital home appliances. Numerous sources have explained that Toshiba is interested in realigning its focus onto the blossoming memory chip business, and moreover, its hoping to evade costly facility upgrades that would be necessary to remain competitive in the system LSI business.

In other words, the company is dodging investment costs and placing a greater emphasis on a sector that’s already profitable (NAND flash production, for those curious), and after the Oita plant is handed off, it’ll be used to make image sensors in digital cameras. The Nagasaki plant, as we heard earlier, will be handed over to Sony. Toshiba’s stocks were sent northward after investors welcomed the news, but of course it remains to be seen what kind of consumer impact this will have. Whatever the case, we certainly hope Toshiba never runs into any trouble with Sammy — it’s not like its top brass can be touched, regardless of infraction.

Toshiba outsourcing semiconductor production to rival Samsung originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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