Hasta La Gadget!

As one of the last two Vista holdouts on HP‘s online laptop store (the other being HDX16), we were wondering what was going on with the Pavilion dv3. Well, it’s still not stateside, but Germany and the UK can apparently pick up the Windows 7-equipped touchscreen dv3-2200 now for £799.99 / €899 (somewhere between $1,305 and $1,350, respectively, in comparable US currency), with difference of pricing based on the separate listings. Additionally, we spotted the 11.6-inch dm1-1000 — which was also leaked alongside the dv3 — with a 1.2GHz Celeron processor and that hot new OS from Redmond. We’re sure it’ll come to the US eventually, but for now we’re just gonna have to wait ever, ever so patiently.

[Thanks, Adam and everyone]

Read – Official HP dm1-1000 page
Read – Official HP dv3-2200 page
Read – PC World UK listing for dv3

Filed under: Laptops

HP’s Pavilion dv3 and dm1 wash ashore on European land originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Police men and women of Blighty are about to step into the 21st century, albeit a decade late, with a new weapon in the fight against boredom on the beat. The BBC reports that smartphones will become standard issue throughout the Queen’s realm by March 2010, as a result of successful trials carried out in 30 constabularies through this year. Improved “operational efficiency” and reduced bureaucracy are argued as the key benefits, with a solid 30 minutes less time being spent in police stations each day. And we’re absolutely positive that extra half hour will go toward increased “visibility in the community” and not checking out friends’ Facebook status updates. No, really!

Read — BBC report
Read — Bedfordshire case study

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerrys for coppers: UK law enforcement to smarten up in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve given HD DVD’s bastard child China Blue HD its due for a good start in its native land, but now that U.K. Importer GBAX has made a few units available it’s time for English language buyers to at least consider this Blu-ray alternative. Of course, with a £259.99 ($413.22 U.S.) pricetag for this plain TCL player, AV and HD cables, plus 14 CBHD movies (The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Invasion, The Island, Flood, Poseidon & 8 Chinese-only flicks) to get you started the barrier to entry is high, but as shown in the unboxing / preview video — embedded after the break, watch for ninjas — the experience is very familiar. As Format War Central points out, the 220/240Hz power cord makes things complicated for the U.S. and other places outside Europe, but hardcore HD DVD holdouts are used to a world filled with only Warner and Universal movies already, so why not give the other blue laser flavor a try?

[Via Format War Central]

Continue reading China Blue HD crosses over to the UK, third Opium War inevitable

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

China Blue HD crosses over to the UK, third Opium War inevitable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been furnished with the above page from an O2 in-store catalog detailing the HTC HD2 (aka Leo), which was set for a UK release on October 12 (though we’re hearing that may have slipped to the 26th). Interesting that it’s pictured with a stock Windows Mobile 6.5 UI instead of TouchFLO 3D. Is O2 rushing HTC’s new hotness out the door in response to losing its iPhone supremacy? Or did an absent-minded employee just slip out the catalogs ahead of time? We’re getting in touch with O2 to find out and will update with more details as we get them. For now, check out the full catalog page after the break.

[Thanks, Peter W.]

Update: After O2 stonewalled our phone enquiries, we decided to drop by our nearest (which was still annoyingly far away) store to have a look for ourselves. Alas, we only found September issues of the catalog, and the above snapshot is from the October iteration, which sports a big fat Pre promo on the front. So, anyone else seen an advance copy yet?

Continue reading HTC HD2 makes first official appearance in O2 UK catalog

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC HD2 makes first official appearance in O2 UK catalog originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the US release date is still in question, Motorola CLIQ‘s brother across the pond DEXT has gotten itself an official an early October window from UK’s exclusive carrier Orange. Best of all, it’s expected to be free for those who commit to a two-year, £34.26 per month ($56.43) contract. With any luck, Americans with a penchant for Android and physical keyboards will get their own “free on contract and launching in October” deal, but we’ve still got nothing confirmed.

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola DEXT promised to Orange UK in early October, free on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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