Hasta La Gadget!

Oh, sure — SanDisk‘s 32GB microSDHC card has been “shipping” since late March, but have you actually tried to find one? It’s been a lesson in frustration for many, and while a few e-tailers have shown stock off and on, the card has generally evaded archivists who simply need an insane amount of available storage on their handset. Starting tomorrow, however, that should change. Verizon Wireless — of all companies — has somehow managed to become the “only retailer that offers customers the 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card.” We’re assuming it’s referring to brick and mortar retailers, but at any rate, the gem will be on sale tomorrow at VZW outlets for $149.99, or just $99.99 if you purchase one alongside Motorola’s Droid X. The only trouble with that? You’re stuck figuring out what to do with the 16GB microSDHC card that ships inside of the phone. Thank heavens for the Bay, right?

Continue reading SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without

SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There you have it. 600,000 pre-orders have turned into 1.7 million iPhone 4 sales through this Saturday. The Sunday transactions haven’t even been tallied up yet, but Steve and company already have another reason to look smug. That total eclipses the 3GS’ already phenomenal 1 million units sold over a weekend, and stands pretty much head and shoulders above any other launch the mobile world has yet seen.

Continue reading Apple sells 1.7 million iPhone 4s through Saturday, June 26

Apple sells 1.7 million iPhone 4s through Saturday, June 26 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nikkei Marketing Journal had a feature recently on the bestselling products for the first half of 2010. Let’s take a look at just a few…

The continued popularity of nineteenth century reforming samurai Ryoma Sakamoto — in particular, galvanized by the current NHK taiga drama about his life — has manifested itself as a bundle of tie-in products. We reported on the Sakamoto-themed golf clubs (and others) a few weeks ago but the NMJ reports that Ryoma fever has led specifically to an estimated economic boost of 400 billion yen (c.$4.4 billion) in the warrior’s home province of Kochi, Shikoku.

The publishing trend for re-working theoretical books into easy-to-understand bestsellers has turned Drucker and Nietzsche into commuter must-reads. Moshi dora, ostensibly applying Drucker’s ideas of management to a high school baseball team, has sold more than half a million copies.

Deflation was also a hot topic earlier this year, gaining quite a bit of coverage in foreign press too. This led to the 250 yen ($2.75) gyudon beef rice bowl (boosting custom at Sukiya and Matsuya et al by 10% in a month) and a price war between convenience stores over roll cakes. Apparently one in three people in Japan has now enjoyed one of the competing 150 yen ($1.65) cakes!

Fashion trends also went through some rural hoops. The Yama Sukaato (山スカート, Mountain Skirt) has led to the birth of a new subculture, the “stylish outdoor girl” (おしゃれなアウトドア派女性), and more hikers in their twenties and thirties. For the men, elegant Kamakura Shirt (Maker’s Shirt Kamakura) items only go for a modest 5,000 yen (c.$55) on average and have been a word-of-mouth hit, with sales for the last three months being 50% more than the same period last year.

[Yama Skirt girls pic via Elle]

Lastly, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of otaku consumers and the things they like! Akihabara faves AKB48 have seen scarily fanatical crowds at their meet-and-greet sessions, and their CDs and photo books are selling by the hundreds of thousands.

Oh San Francisco, you and your progressive ways. The city just passed a law — a first in the US — requiring retailers to post the Specific Absorption Rates (aka SAR, the rate at which at which energy is absorbed by the body) in no less than 11-point font right next to any cellphone being sold. Sounds good as far as consumer education goes, right? And a functioning democracy demands an educated and informed elecorate. But here’s the thing: the jury’s still out (just pick your favorite dangerous / not dangerous study to fit your belief) on the effect of radiation at levels less than the 1.6 watts per kilogram threshold set by the FCC. As such, CTIA spokesman John Walls has a point when he says that highlighting the SAR levels might confuse consumers into thinking that some cellphones are safer than others. In other words, consumer education needs to go much further than any retail-shelf placard could possibly communicate. Well, at least the law will keep us safe long enough to walk out the door and trip over a hippie.

P.S. The image above is from the “Get a Safer Phone” (note the wording) rankings provided by the Environmental Working Group.

Cellphone radiation law to help, confuse San Francisco consumers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know the backstory by now: Sprint boasted that the EVO 4G was its fastest selling phone ever a couple of days after hitting the American market, before abruptly correcting itself and admitting that the EVO’s sales were in fact in line with those achieved by the Pre last summer. What you, and we, didn’t know till now, however, is that Sprint’s self-correction was sparked off by an employee with a curious mind and posting privileges over on the xda-developers forum. On June 6, according to MobileCrunch, this unnamed hero of truthiness browsed Sprint’s internal inventory system and nailed down a figure of 65,500 sold units from Sprint’s own stores — a stat far south from what Sprint would announce a day later. That number ultimately found its way onto the message board, and though it obviously shouldn’t be taken as authoritative (or exhaustive), it was enough to get Sprint to hit the auto-correct button and part ways with the activist member of staff. Harsh.

[Thanks, Carol]

Sprint fires employee who leaked weak EVO 4G sales numbers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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