Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been a long and twisted road for Acer’s 7-inch Honeycomb tablet, but after all the starts and stops, we’ve finally got an ETA for the Iconia Tab A100. According to an email sent out to Acer retail partners today, the slab should land in stores sometime in early August with a suggested price tag of $300. The Tegra 2-powered device was originally slated for a mid-May launch, but was reportedly held up by Honeycomb compatibility issues. Also arriving early August, is a pair of new Aspire notebooks: the 15.6-inch 5750Z and the 17.3-inch 7739Z, ringing in at $475 a piece. Both laptops rock 4GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradable to 8GB), 500GB of storage, and Intel Pentium processors. Given the extra three months Acer’s had to get the Iconia Tab A100 to market, that Honeycomb better taste extra sweet when it finally makes its debut.

[Thanks, Anon]

Acer Iconia Tab A100 finally available in August for $300 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The price of the Nintendo 3DS in the US is dropping precipitously August 12th from $249 to $169, with other regions getting a similar price break in their respective currency. If you’re one of the 830,000~ US gamers that have already shelled out, don’t be too disappointed as your early adopting ways will be rewarded with free games. The thank you gift for gamers that have logged into the eShop at least once before the price cut will be 10 free NES virtual console games before they’re widely available, plus 10 more Game Boy Advance virtual console games — that Nintendo is apparently not planning on releasing to the general public — before the end of the year. Think someone is feeling pressure from the oncoming PlayStation Vita?

..developing

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS price drops from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games

Nintendo 3DS price drops from $249 to $169 August 12th, current owners get 20 free games originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin Mobile, the contract-free subsidiary of Sprint, is giving its Beyond Talk plans a pricing overhaul — with its cheaper choices getting a bit of a bump in the wrong direction. Sprint spokesperson Jayne Wallace confirmed to FierceWireless that this week its $25 unlimited text and data plan that comes packaged with 300 minutes will move to $35, while its 1,200 minute $40 option will become a $45 one. It’s not all bad news though — the unlimited everything $60 service tier is being cut to just $55 and the company is doing away with the $10 add-on fee for BlackBerries. So, try not think about it as a price hike, think about it as saving you $15 a month when the blessedly Blur-free Triumph hits.

Update: And now it’s doubly official!

Virgin Mobile shuffles Beyond Talk pricing, saves BlackBerry owners duckets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix hadn’t hinted at any upcoming plans to change the services it offers, but NewTeeVee spotted an unadvertised DVD-only plan on its site a few days ago, and an anonymous tipster from within the company indicates that’s just the start. The DVD.Netflix.com page offers unlimited DVDs by mail, per month (one at a time) for $7.99, which slots it between the standard DVD & streaming combo plans and a $4.99 offering that gives just two DVDs per month. According to the tipster we spoke to, Netflix is planning to change its pricing entirely, by also implementing a streaming only plan with no discs for $7.99, and jacking up the minimum pricetag for combined services to $15.98 from the current $9.99 it has charged since November. They indicated the change would take place tomorrow night around 9 p.m., with customers notified by email and no plans to grandfather any of the old pricing setups along. With aggressive expansion plans pressing forward and its costs to acquire content rising sharply, hiking the price by 50 percent on many of its 20 million+ subscribers could be the easiest way to make the numbers add up, it could be just those subscribers who are left to determine exactly what Watch Instantly streaming (or DVD access) is worth to them.

Update: Just that fast, Netflix has officially announced these changes to its pricing plans. Just like our information indicated, DVD only or streaming only unlimited plans are available for $7.99 each per month, or $15.98 together. Existing members can float on their current plans until September 1st but new members will see these rates effective immediately. According to a post on the official blog, the change replaces the DVD plan’s existence as a $2 surcharge over streaming and from now on it will no longer unlimited discs and streaming as a single package. Two discs at a time will cost $11.99 by themselves now, but there’s no mention of higher plans just yet. Fans of the plastic platter should be at least a bit encouraged however, as there’s a new team devoted solely to that service — here’s hoping they can get the stagnant Blu-ray catalog refreshed.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Netflix officially separates DVD, streaming pricing; $15.98 and up for both

Netflix officially separates DVD, streaming pricing; $15.98 and up for both originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh Xoom, you’re but a few months old — still only a babe — and Motorola already has you on a diet. Sure, maybe it was a mistake to jump right into the deep end where big boys play, but you had to try right? Well, now that you’ve shed a $100 in weight, treading water alongside the rest of the WiFi tablets should be a little bit easier and, with 32GB of storage, you’re more well-endowed than your $499 brethren. Still, it might be too little too late with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 muscling in on your territory and “iPad” quickly becoming a generic word for slates. Maybe if you dropped another $100 you’d have better luck — and talk to your 3G-packing sibling, he’s looking a little plump around the price tag too, if you ask us.

WiFi Xoom sheds $100, could stand to lose a few more Benjamins originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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