Hasta La Gadget!

We do hate to play into wily PR folks’ attention-grabbing campaigns, but when they’re quite so nutty, we can’t help but admire them. UK network Three is trying to promote its hotspots (we think) by having dudes wearing full-body underwear running around with “Human Hotspot” signs and what looks like part of the Engadget logo throughout London. We don’t get it, but we do love it.

Thomas: “I can look up your WEP.”
Vlad: “Please note, dressing up as a Trojan won’t protect you from actual trojans.”
Nilay: “Touch my junk and I’ll have you arrested.”
Darren: “I’m probably working… even if the tube drivers aren’t.”
Richard Lai: “My SSID is quite well hidden, if I may say so.”
Carlos: “I’m hot… or not?”
Tim: “I knew that Fantastic Four movie was a bad career move. Time for a new agent.”
Ross: “Ask about where I keep my SIM card.”
Myriam: “Spot the hotness.”
Sam: “The Blue Man Group member that never was.”
Josh T.: “Due to his drug habit and carousing, the Invisible Man had been forced into a number of demeaning jobs.”

Continue reading Caption contest: publicity stunt generating publicity

Caption contest: publicity stunt generating publicity originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netbooks might no longer be the sexy must-have accessory they once were, but maybe having Jolicloud’s custom Linux-based OS on board will sway people to give this one a second look. Yes, the Jolibook that we so recently saw for the first time is about to make its retail debut, with the UK getting the first opportunity to spill some cash on it. Netbook News reports the precise levy will be £279 ($443), while the Wall Street Journal has word that the whole shebang could start as early as tomorrow. That price is, as promised, competitive, but it’s not quite cheap enough to attract buyers all by itself — Jolicloud will have to hope its OS is as good in long-term use as it’s looked in brief glimpses so far, in which case this 10.1-incher shouldn’t have much trouble justifying its cost.

Jolibook to cost £279 in the UK, could be with us tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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£999.99 ($1,612) for a Toshiba Folio 100?! That’s a fair bit more expensive than its original $560 price point — either its Tegra 2 chip’s made out of gold (which would explain its rarity) or someone got super bored at that PC World store in the British Midlands. Soon after receiving this photo, we put on our detective hat and headed over to our local branch in London, only to find that it had already stopped selling the offending Android tablet merely ten days after its European launch. We quizzed the staff about the aforementioned £999.99 pricing and then all was clear: apparently this is a standard internal convention to stop its folks from selling certain products, so the price tag and display unit you see above weren’t supposed to be there at all. Oopsie!

So why is PC World (and the whole DSG International chain) pulling the Folio 100? Turns out this has nothing to do with Toshiba; but it’s simply because of a high return rate from disappointed customers. In fact, head over to MoDaCo and you’ll see a screenshot of PC World’s internal memo that confirms this sad news. We had already given the tablet some decent (and disheartening) hands-on time back at IFA, but since our new friends at the store kindly offered to let us unbox a Folio 100 for a giggle, we decided to give it another go. And boy, it sure was a letdown: you’ll see in our hands-on video after the break that the 10.1-inch LCD is haunted by an inferior pixel density plus narrow viewing angles; and the cheap plastic casing doesn’t help, either. Most importantly, the official Android Market app was still MIA, which is no doubt the biggest turn-off for the buyers. Too bad, Toshiba, but do come back next year when you have Honeycomb and some decent screens.

[Thanks, John L. and Adam C.]

Update: Some commenters are pointing out that many software bugs — especially in the Toshiba Market Place app — and the lack of pinch-to-zoom in the browser are to be blamed as well. Yikes.

Continue reading PC World stops selling the Toshiba Folio 100, we go hands-on to find out why (video)

PC World stops selling the Toshiba Folio 100, we go hands-on to find out why (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Japan’s not the only one that’ll have Froyo on a five-inch tabletphone this year — Dell’s official Facebook account confirms that Android 2.2 will be rolling out to the Dell Streak starting this very month. That date’s just for the UK, mind you, as Dell plans to stagger the release from country to country for that winsome Stage UI. That said, if you’re a particularly astute diner you may be able to get your sweet spoonful sooner than some, as just last evening Dell directed a number of Streak owners to the website pictured above. While that “Continue with Update” button reportedly didn’t work and the website has since been pulled, it seems that Dell’s considering the idea of letting users directly download Android 2.2 themselves. See what that update might include (spoiler: mobile hotspot!) over at StreakSmart.

[Thanks, Naz]

Dell Streak Android 2.2 update imminent in UK, other territories on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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French citizens have been enjoying webOS 2.0 with their morning baguette for over two weeks, but it’s one step closer to home today — Pocket-lint reports that the Palm Pre 2 will launch in the United Kingdom this Friday. What’s more, the 1GHz handset won’t be chained to a British carrier, but rather released into the wild completely SIM-free, which probably means future Just Typists will need to buy it direct from HP. As for the promised pre-orders for US students, we’re sorry to say they’ve failed to materialize; the Facebook page that once clearly stated “preorders begin 11/8” now simply reads “Palm Pre 2 coming soon.” Soon enough for you?

Palm Pre 2 swims across the English Channel in three days, launches November 12th in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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