Hasta La Gadget!

It’s less than 24 hours before the US Consumer Conglomerate commences its attack on the brick-and-mortar retail battlefield. We’ve already seen a number of outlets show their Black Friday cards, but now some of the bigger guns are revealing their specials. SonyStyle is taking a couple hundred dollars off of VAIO laptops, and offering some even deeper discounts on BRAVIA TVs. Sam’s Club? Sears? RadioShack? Yep, their fliers are now out in the open. Even Canada’s getting in on the fun, at least as far as NCIX is concerned. Stuff yourself full of turkey tonight, there’s a war coming — we suggest you prepare properly.

Bonus: Here’s a list of our most recent other Black Friday round-ups.

Black Friday deals roundup: Best Buy, Lenovo, Verizon and more
Black Friday deals roundup: Walmart, Target and NewEgg
Black Friday deals bonanza round up
Black Friday ads leaking all over town, we’ve rounded them up
Sears Black Friday ad revealed, we’ll be sleeping off our tryptophan hangovers

Black Friday deals roundup, starring SonyStyle, Sam’s Club, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know what’s worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple’s iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? Raising your early termination fee to stratospheric heights. Just over a year ago, we honestly though this whole ETF thing was headed in the right direction, as most of the major carriers (VZW included) sought to prorate contracts in order to lessen the charge as one’s contract drew closer to an end. Now, however, Big Red is evidently gearing up to pull a 180, with the slide above showing a $350 ETF for “advanced” devices (read: probably anything deemed a smartphone). The newly hiked rate will go into effect on November 15th, and while that $350 will decrease by $10 per month over the life of the agreement, this pretty much guarantees that you won’t be adding a line, disconnecting and then flipping that phone on eBay.

Filed under: Cellphones

Verizon looking to bump early termination fee to $350 on ‘advanced’ devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has its PowerMeter, Microsoft has its Hohm and Obama has his “smart meters.” Got it? Good. Around two years after UK taxpayers began footing the bill for in-home energy monitors, it seems as if America’s current administration is looking to follow suit. While visiting the now-open solar facility in Arcadia, Florida today, the Pres announced that $3.4 billion in cash that the US doesn’t actually have has just been set aside for a number of things, namely an intelligent power grid and a whole bundle of smart power meters. Aside from boring apparatuses like new digital transformers and grid sensors (both of which are designed to modernize the nation’s “dilapidated” electric network), 18 million smart meters and 1 million “other in-home devices” will be installed in select abodes. The idea here is to give individuals a better way to monitor their electricity usage, with the eventual goal set at 40 million installed meters over the next few years. Great idea, guys — or you know, you could just advise people to turn stuff off when they aren’t using it, or not use energy they can’t afford. Just sayin’.

Filed under: Household

US government lays out cash for wall-based, in-home ‘smart meters’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mmm, nothing like a pinch of predictability to wake us in the morning. Just days after the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finally announced that a North American mobile DTV standard was struck, Samsung has jumped in with what it’s calling the planet’s first single chip solution designed to handle those very transmissions. All we’re told is that the solution combines RF and “digital chip components” into one 65 nanometer chip, making it ideal for smaller devices such as smartphones, car-mounted televisions and portable media players. Of course, Sammy doesn’t even bother to mention a mass production date, so we’re guessing we all just rise awkwardly and start a roaring slow clap to celebrate the accomplishment.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video, Wireless

Samsung develops first chip for US mobile digital TV transmission, provides no release date originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Snap, looks like that painful feeling in our gut was just from that late-night Mickey’s sesh after all. HTC’s Peter Chou told SlashGear today that the monstrous, amazing HTC HD2 will be coming to the United States of America sometime in Q1 of 2010. That’s not too far off, but let’s be honest — it’s gonna be a long wait.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC HD2 to arrive Stateside in early 2010 — huzzah! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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