Hasta La Gadget!

We didn’t think the previous generation of SSDs, topping out at around 280MBps read speeds, were in any way hampered by their celerity, but Intel’s bringing the future to us whether we like it or not with its new 510 Series SSDs. These Marvell-controlled flash storage drives will zip data to your processing unit at a rate of 500MB per second and write anything you send back at a clip of 315MBps. That’s mostly thanks to the 510 being one of a new breed of consumer SSDs with a 6Gbps SATA interface, which has effectively removed a bottleneck from the performance equation and uncorked the extra vroom now contained within. When bought in bulk, a 250GB SSD 510 will cost you $584, while the slightly slower (450MBps read, 210MBps write) 120GB model will set you back $284. Full press release after the break.

Continue reading Intel outs SSD 510 Series with 6Gbps SATA interface, 500MBps transfer speeds

Intel outs SSD 510 Series with 6Gbps SATA interface, 500MBps transfer speeds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

You won’t be able to snap one up at your local GameStop for a full month, but the Nintendo 3DS had a solid launch in Japan today, reportedly liquidating nearly its entire initial shipment of 400,000 spiffy stereoscopic gaming handhelds by the end of the day. Some of those sales were to customers waiting in a few lines up to 2,000 persons long, but those lines were exceptions to the norm — several publications note that very few stores actually had any lines to speak of, as most Japanese electronics retailers sold out when the 3DS went on pre-order over a month ago. Get a refresher on what to expect from the system here (and here) or read all about the surprisingly orderly Japanese launch at our source links.

Update: Our friends at Engadget Japanese were on hand for the 3DS launch, and picked up a pair of systems themselves — get a closer look at one of the first retail 3DS units in the gallery below!

Nintendo 3DS launches in Japan, populace tears through initial 400,000 unit shipment originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NeoGAF, PC World  |  Nikkei Shimbun, Andriasang  | Email this | Comments

Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G might not have the very latest version of Android or too much hardware differentiation from the original T-Mobile Vibrant, but hey, it brings a front-facing camera and HSPA+ connectivity, so of course it costs $200. T-Mobile will have disappointed many with its clarification that the Galaxy S 4G will cost a pair of Benjamins on contract, exactly as much as its Samsung-built predecessor did seven months ago, and not as the carrier had originally indicated, $150. Also similar is the fact that T-Mo is launching this phone with an Android build that’s one iteration behind the cutting edge, meaning the Froyo update headaches of last autumn may return in the form of Gingerbread jitters this spring. All the same, if the Magenta team sees fit to chop the Galaxy S 4G’s price the same way it’s been doing with its other Android handsets, we could be in for a fine bargain in the near future.

[Thanks, Matt]

Samsung Galaxy S 4G now available from T-Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  T-Mobile  | Email this | Comments

Excuse us for a moment while we ponder Sony’s product naming scheme. The company’s VAIO S thin-and-light laptop range got upgraded specs at CES this January, which also happened to be the place and time that we first laid eyes on a set of “prototype” machines that seemed to target the same market segment. Lo and behold, after making some cameos at European online listings, the newly redesigned Sony 13-inchers are here, only they’re still called… the VAIO S Series. For the trouble of figuring out which is which, you’ll be rewarded with a 3.9-pound mobile computer with a 1366 x 768 screen, a 500GB hard drive, 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, 802.11n WiFi, optional VAIO “everywair” 3G, a Radeon HD 6470M GPU with up to 1GB of dedicated memory, and what will presumably be a selection of Core i5 CPUs from Intel (at present we’re only seeing the i5-2410M listed). Windows 7 is the inevitable OS on board, though Sony’s enhanced it with a Fast Boot sequence that’s said to halve the usual bootup time. Launch is scheduled for the end of March and you’ll find a full spec sheet and release after the break.

Continue reading Sony VAIO S Series get an updated design, Core i5-2410M CPU and Radeon HD 6470M graphics

Sony VAIO S Series get an updated design, Core i5-2410M CPU and Radeon HD 6470M graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Spanish  |   | Email this | Comments

No more stunt prices, no more premature web appearances, this (we hope) is finally Best Buy’s fully official listing for the Motorola Xoom. It brings no great surprises to those who’ve been tracking the tablet’s progress to retail shelves, offering first dibs to buyers willing to make the effort and pre-order one in store today, with full availability coming on Thursday, February 24th. The $800 3G-equipped model is accompanied on Best Buy’s site by a $40 portfolio case, a $50 basic charging dock, a $130 stereo speaker dock, and a $70 Bluetooth keyboard, but there’s no sighting of the cheaper WiFi-only Xoom. There was some suspicion that the $600 SKU would launch a little later on and that is indeed what appears to be happening. One final note of caution: even if you’re intending to use the Xoom as a pure WiFi-only device, remember that you’ll be required to activate data with Verizon for at least a month first — don’t ask us why.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Motorola Xoom up for in-store pre-order at Best Buy, $800 for Thursday availability originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Best Buy  | Email this | Comments