Hasta La Gadget!

Last.fm has decided to tweak its offering on the app front, where it is now introducing a new subscription requirement for most mobile and home entertainment devices. From here on out, you’ll have to pay for the privilege of streaming music through the company’s software on devices like the iPhone and Squeezebox, though the blow is nicely cushioned by the news that there won’t be any ads to dilute your aural pleasure. Windows Phone 7 won’t be subject to the new fee for the remainder of 2011 in the US and UK, while Sonos devices will continue to stream freely until this summer, but eventually it seems like all these apps will cost a little bit of cash to use. And “little” is the operative word here, as Last.fm is asking for only $3 / €3 / £3 per month. If you really can’t stomach the outlay, however, just stream via the web or desktop application… you tightwad.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Last.fm radio app goes ‘premium’ on home and mobile devices, web and desktop streaming remain free originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, ain’t that a shame. The XIM3 mega-adapter you’ve been waiting patiently for went on sale this week, and within 3.299 seconds, the company managed to blow through their entire stock. If you’ve been out of the loop, this here peripheral is designed to bring keyboards, mice and all sorts of other controlling devices to the average Xbox 360 owner, and it’s obviously far more sophisticated than its predecessor. The good news is that it’s only $149.99, but the bad news is that the source link currently directs you to a sign-up form to be notified of when stock is refreshed. It’s pretty clear that the company’s having trouble keeping ’em around, so we’d keep a pretty constant check on the site if you’d like to be a part of the first second wave. Oh, and don’t be shocked to see your online skills mysteriously decline over the weekend — something tells us a few folks will have an unfair advantage on the other side. Check out a Black: OPS example just after the break.

Update: Looks as if the store may be up and down (but mostly down) through Monday due to the crushing order load. A good problem to have, we suppose. Thanks, Tom!

[Thanks, Richard]

Continue reading XIM3 Xbox 360 keyboard / mouse / etc. adapter goes on sale… sort of

XIM3 Xbox 360 keyboard / mouse / etc. adapter goes on sale… sort of originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s 3:27am and something is wrong on the internet. You just have to rip that hipster blogger a new one but don’t want all the hateful responses from the Kool-Aid drinkers going to your precious Hotmail account that contains just your first name and year of birth — plus your zip and area codes too. What do you do? You try out Hotmail Aliases, which let you create multiple, “disposable” e-mail accounts that all filter back to your primary one. This is something that you can do on Yahoo, but there you have to pay extra for Plus service and, while Gmail will let you create unique addresses too, there you can only add an extension to your existing handle. Here you’re home free to create anything you want. Might we suggest GasPoweredLoverEVsSuck3915@hotmail.com?

Hotmail announces disposable e-mail addresses, those with disposable personas rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft announced months ago that the artist formerly known as Vail — now officially known as Windows Home Server 2011 — was dropping Drive Extender functionality. Though we were given hope that the feature might be reinstated, the release candidate of WHS2011 went out to testers today… sans Drive Extender’s ‘drive pooling for dummies’ capability. In its place, Microsoft has included a Move Folder Wizard that alerts you when a new hard drive has been added (for those who were visited by the HDD fairy without their knowledge, no doubt) and walks you through formatting and partitioning your new drive. However, partition size is limited to 2TB for it to work with the server backup feature, so your massive collection of ripped Blu-rays will require a veritable alphabet of drive letters. Not all the news is bad though, as the dev team has enabled Shadow Copy in the OS to allow data time traveling in case you accidentally delete something. If that sounds good to you, hit the source link below and get your download on.

Vail is now Windows Home Server 2011, Drive Extender’s officially dead originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The crazy kitties over at Mad Catz have signed yet another licensing agreement to further sink their claws into the world of gaming peripherals — they’ve just sealed a deal with Microsoft to be the exclusive supplier of Xbox 360 wireless headphones, as well as non-exclusive rights for wired 360 headphones. All products under the agreement will bear the Xbox logo, as well as the signature “T” from Mad Catz’s recently acquired Tritton series, but don’t go out looking for them anytime soon — these cats won’t mark their territory until Christmas 2011.

Continue reading Mad Catz snatches up exclusive rights to Xbox 360 wireless headphones

Mad Catz snatches up exclusive rights to Xbox 360 wireless headphones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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