Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
[Thanks, hofo_mofo]
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Technorati Tags: cellphone news, cellphone reviews, mobile phones, mobile phone news, mobile phone reviews
Archive for August, 2006
Maybe we’re a little dense, but we’re having a bit of a time trying to figure out why someone would plunk down $2,200 for a 160GB PlaysForSure enabled audio streaming device — even one so sexy as NuVo’s (no, not that Nuvo) new NV-M3, above. Granted, NuVo seems pretty proud about implementing PlaysForSure in a multi-zone system, something Sonos users have been waiting a while to get going, but for a substantially smaller price you could go with something a little more versatile, like a Media Center PC or an Xbox 360 or a long list of other devices that wouldn’t only limit you to playing music, either. Still, now apparently the onus is no longer on the PlaysForSure team to create a multizone standard for streaming DRMed audio since it can obviously be done without Microsoft’s backing, so expect to hear more about this little number when CEDIA rolls around.
[Via eHomeUpgrade and Talk About CEDIA]
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Technorati Tags: gadgets news, digital gadgets news, gadgets, digital gadgets
[Thanks, zo]
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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Folks, whip out your credit cards, because if you haven’t already downloaded the Vista beta or a leaked copy from the internets, it looks like we may actually have a product for you to buy. Amazon shows that Windows Albatross um, Vista will be released on January 30, 2007, and they’ve been taking preorders for the last two weeks. Depending on which package or upgrade you decide to get, Vista will cost you at least a cool $159 and up to $399 for the full “Ultimate DVD-ROM.” Keep in mind that these preorder prices may be subject to change and may not reflect the actual final retail price, and may require the full written consent of Major League Baseball.
[Via I4U]
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Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Media PCs, Peripherals, Podcasts, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wireless
Just what happens when some dude on the internet cracks Microsoft’s PlaysForSure DRM scheme and sets a few major online media companies reeling, the Zune gets outed on the FCC, Apple settles, kisses, and makes up with Creative, then recalls 1.8 million Sony-built batteries, Dell axes the DJ Ditty, and the TiVo Series3 gets leaked on the internets? One bizarre week for news, and Engadget Podcast 86. Enjoy!
Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS] Add the Engadget Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3).
[MP3] Download the show (MP3).
[AAC] Download the enhanced show (AAC).
[OGG] Download the show (OGG).
Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Solvent – Instructograph (Ghostly International)
Format: 50:01, 22.9 MB, MP3
Program:
00:58 – FairUse4WM strips Windows Media DRM!
10:52 – Zune revealed by FCC as “Toshiba 1089″
15:43 – Apple and Creative settle, Apple forks out $100m
22:00 – Apple to recall 1.8 million Sony-made batteries
25:25 – TiVo Series 3 beta box snapped in the wild!
27:15 – TiVo Series 3 coming September 17th for $799?
32:28 – Dell finishes off its MP3 offerings, axes the Ditty
36:30 – Hands-on with the Optimus mini three
40:25 – Hands on with the Logitech VX and MX Revolution
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
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Technorati Tags: notebook reviews, computer reviews, laptop reviews
Filed under: Cellphones
Their EV-DO Revision A network might not be ready for prime time until Q4 at the earliest, but no one can fault Sprint for not having modems in the pipeline when they do eventually flip the switch. The just-launched S720 from Novatel Wireless offers glorious downstream speeds of up to 850Kbps in a PC Card form factor — sad news for MacBook Pro users needing an ExpressCard, but we have to believe Sprint will have you guys covered before too terribly long. Look for the S720 at your friendly local Sprint retailer for $99.99 on a 2-year contract, though without much live Rev A infrastructure, there’s no rush to upgrade from your trusty Rev 0 equipment just yet.
[Via phoneArena]
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Technorati Tags: cellphone news, cellphone reviews, mobile phones, mobile phone news, mobile phone reviews
, Wearables.jpg)
If you happen to bump into us on the street in the next few days and we can’t make out a word you’re saying, well, here’s why — we recently had the opportunity to spend plenty of quality time with Shure’s latest pride and joy, their flagship E500PTH earphones. Shure’s been talking up the E500 for the better part of this year as a “new paradigm” in personal sound, but audioheads (with the prerequisite $500 to burn, that is) have only been able to find ‘em in the retail channel for a few weeks now. Much like the E5c before it, Shure bills the E500 as the be-all, end-all solution to portable reference-quality sound reproduction, thanks in no small part to the three — count ‘em, three drivers in each bud. But unlike the E5c, the E500 has an arguably more compelling trick up its sleeve: its unique push-to-hear (PTH) module, which allows the wearer to switch between audio input and ambient sound at the flick of a switch. While our poor, buzzing ears are recovering from the constant barrage of sweet sounds they received in the name of conducting a proper writeup, we figure we’d hunker down and actually get this thing written, so read on for our full pictorial review.
First off, we’d like to give Shure props for presenting the E500s in packaging materials worthy of their lofty sticker price; you’ll find none of that ridiculous, seemingly bullet-proof plastic here. Open the outer cardboard shell and you’re greeted by an attractive brushed natural metal box sporting a black metal lid. Of course, this box is not your carrying case, and after you open the packaging for the first time you may never see it again, but it’s always nice to get immediate positive reinforcement of your pricey investment.
Before we go into the finer details of the E500’s sound reproduction, let’s get the push-to-hear module out of the way. The bottom line: it works as advertised. The module, which Shure sells independently of the buds for $60, consists of a Swiss Army Knife-sized pod with a switch, a green LED to indicate PTH is active, and accepts a single AAA battery (included) for operation. PTH volume is controlled via a wheel on the module’s side, inset sufficiently to prevent accidental changes.
When enabled, audio input (your music, that is) remains barely audible in the background, but the mic input takes over the lion’s share of what you hear. The effect is a bit weird and requires some getting used to, because it seems as though you’re listening to a low-fidelity recording of everything around you — but hearing what folks nearby are saying is easy enough. The mic itself is located in the female jack, the end you’ll plug your earphones into; the location’s good because it’s positioned far enough away from your mouth to reproduce your own voice at an excessive volume, though we found it had a tendency to flop around a bit against our clothing, leading to some static sounds.
We’ve got four niggles with the PTH unit, none of which are sufficient to deny it our undying affection. First, the switch is a bit difficult to operate, and feels like it could realistically wear out before terribly long with heavy use. We would’ve much preferred a toggle button with PTH on when pressed in, off when out; something to that effect. Second, we thought the unit felt just a little cheap. The wiring is definitely of sufficient gauge for a product of this caliber, but the switch module itself feels like lightweight, flimsy plastic, and the battery door popped open of its own accord on a couple occasions. Third, all told, it’s pretty flippin’ big. It more than doubles the traveling size of your earphones and is somewhat inconvenient to wear on your clothing, meaning it’s best left behind unless you know you’ll be in a situation where it’s helpful. Fourth, having PTH gave us a problem we’d never had with in-ear buds before; interruptions don’t mean removing the buds. You have the luxury of leaving them in for many hours at a time if you so choose, and in the process, they can become extremely uncomfortable. Also, did we mention people seem to think you’re kind of a jerk when you don’t take out your earphones when talking to them?
Now on to the buds themselves. They’re attractive, feel exceptionally well built, and for their bulk they’re surprisingly comfortable in the ear. The quality and depth of sound reproduction is frankly mind-blowing, and seems to almost taunt the user to kick the volume up a few notches. For comparison, we pitted the E500 against Sony’s venerable $50 MDR-EX71SL and to Shure’s own $200 E3c.
The Sony EX17SL is a popular, serviceable headset that we use ourselves for regular duty in situations where neither sound isolation nor reproduction are of the utmost importance (say, jogging). When put up against the E500 there’s simply no contest, but this is a situation where “ignorance is bliss” definitely applies. We had no idea just how bad the Sonys were until we plugged in the E500s, and since, using the Sonys has actually become an unpleasant experience. In other words, if you own EX71SLs, don’t try the E500 unless you plan on buying it.
The distinction between the E3c and the E500 is much finer, and definitely open to some amount of argument and interpretation. The E3c is an excellent headset by all standards, but it has been occasionally faulted for lacking low-end punch — this has lead some to bill it as being well suited primarily for classical music. That being said, it’s still a far better set of phones than the average iPod user will experience (for any kind of music) and features superb sound isolation, particularly when paired with the optional triple-flange buds. Needless to say, with three individual drivers, the E500 delivers all the low (and medium and high) end you could possibly want. We also perceived sound isolation to be slightly better, though we didn’t conduct a blind test and it could’ve just been the price difference talking to us. So do the E500s sound better? Yes, absolutely. We even found them to fit our ears better. But are they worth the extra $300 over the also very good E3cs? That’s very hard to say, and depends on the listener’s ears, intended use, and budget. We strongly recommend you track down a brick-and-mortar retailer and try them all for yourself before committing the cash.
The E500 comes with an strong bundle of accessories, including an inline volume limiter, an extension cable (great for use when you’re not toting the PTH module), a variety of foam, triple-flange, soft and hard buds, a 3.5mm to 1/4-inch adapter, and a hard carrying case. The case is oblong and lacks Shure’s typical center spool in order to accommodate the PTH module, which is a shame — the spool is the best feature of the cases included with their lesser models. Without it, expect the occasional tangle. For $500, we’d have liked Shure to include both case types for the times the PTH stays at home.
In the end, yes: the E500s are simply the best earphones we’ve ever tried, and one of the best experiences we’ve had listening to music, period. Alas, the price tag will keep ‘em firmly planted in the niche market. At the PTH module’s more palatable $60 cost of entry, though, it’s a worthy upgrade for owners of any buds tired of undoing their setup every time they get a tap on the shoulder. Just be warned, if it’s a good friend or your significant other, do yourself a favor and pull out those buds anyway.
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Technorati Tags: gadgets news, digital gadgets news, gadgets, digital gadgets
The folks at Alienware haven’t really made their trade on budget price-points, but their new line of Core 2 Duo laptops has some of the best pricing we’ve seen for the new processor. Of course, to score the 17-inch m5750 for it’s base price of $1,399 you’ll have to settle for the 1.66GHz T5500 Core 2 Duo, a 60GB HDD, 512MB of RAM and a CD-RW / DVD ROM combo drive, but the specs only go up from there, and all m5750 configurations include an ATI Radeon Mobility X1800 card with 256MB of memory. The other laptops feature similarly weak base configurations, but even better prices. The 15.4-inch Area-51 m5550 starts at $899, while the 14.1-inch Sentia m3450 hits $849. All three models have the full range of Core 2 Duo chips available to them, from the T5500 to the 2.33GHz T7600, other than the Sentia which omits the middling T5600. The laptops are due to ship in the first half of September.
Read – Area-51 m5750
Read – Area-51 m5550
Read – Sentia m3450
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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Now that the commercial release of Microsoft’s Vista operating system is just around the corner (well, probably), the question on most people’s minds is, “how much is it gonna cost me?” Fortunately, the titular Ed Bott of “Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report” over at ZDNet blogs came across some rather interesting information on that very topic this morning; it appears that Microsoft Canada’s website accidentally posted the SKUs and matching prices (in Canadian dollars, of course) for all of the forthcoming flavors of Vista. Although the items have since been removed, Bott managed to copy down the prices, and they read as follows: $499 for Ultimate, $379 for Business, $299 for Home Premium, and $259 for Home Basic, with the corresponding upgrades listed at $299, $249, $199, and $129, respectively. Now keep in mind that these are Canadian prices for the Canadian market, so simply doing the currency conversions won’t give us an accurate idea of what these packages will cost in the US. In order to put things in perspective, Bott compared the relative prices of future Vista versions with current XP versions in both markets, and extrapolated likely US pricing from that data. Based on his calculations, retail pricing for the full / upgraded flavors of Vista in America should look something like this: Ultimate going for $349 / $199, Business at $269 / $179, Home Premium for $239 / $139, and Home Basic priced around $199 / $99 — in other words, not much more than you’d be paying for XP today, and nowhere near the high of $450 that’d we’d previously heard.
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Filed under: Laptops
These are pretty much exclusively for the Japanese market, but it somehow feels wrong not to at least mention that ten other new Core 2 Duo lappies were announced today from Tsukomo, PC-Koubou (and its sub-brand, Faith), and Mouse Computer. Click on for all the gory details.
From eX. comes four versions of the NC170J (pictured above is the N170J-702E/802E, N170J-301E/401E is pictured at the top of this post):
- The N170J-301E comes with a 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, a paltry 256M of RAM (expandable to 2GB), a 40GB hard drive, Intel 945GM Express chipset, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a 17-inch, 1,440 x 900 pixel LCD.
- The N170J-401E is basically the same, just with a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600 processor, a slightly more acceptable 512MB of RAM (also expandable to 2GB), and an 80GB hard drive.
- The N170J-702E sports a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), 80GB hard drive, optional GeForce Go 7900 GTX video card (at least we think it’s optional), a dual-layer DVD+-R drive, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a 17-inch, 1,920 x 1200 pixel LCD.
- THe N170J-802E is their highest-end model, this bad boy comes with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, a Quadro FX 2500M video card, an 80GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a 17-inch, 1,920 x 1200 pixel LCD.
PC-Koubou intro’d a couple today, the unforgettably-named Lesance QU209IW-C2D (pictured above) and Lesance CL518IN-C2D-GT:
- The Lesance QU209IW-C2D has a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, 512MB of RAM (expandable up to 2GB), a 60GB hard drive, a 12-inch, 1,280 x 800 pixel LCD, an ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a DVD+-R/RW drive.
- The Lesance CL518IN-C2D-GT has a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, a 15-inch, 1,400 x 1050 display, 1GB of RAM (expandable up to 2GB), an 80GB hard drive, an ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a DVD+-R/RW drive.
PC-Koubou’s Faith sub-brand knocked out two new Core 2 Duo models, the Progress MXT and the Progress NP (pictured above):
- The Progress MXT has a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, a GeForce Go 7900 GTX video card, a 1,680 x 1,050 pixel, 17-inch LCD, 2GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, an ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a DVD+-R/RW drive.
- The Progress NP has a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5600 processor, a GeForce Go 7300 GS video card, a 14-inch, 1,280 x 768 pixel LCD, 2GB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, an ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g, an SD/MMC/MemoryStick Pro card reader, and a DVD+-R/RW drive.
Mouse rolled out a couple today as well, the GW5500MD and the GW7200MD (pictured above):
- The GW5500MD comes with a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, 1GB of RAM (expandable to 2GB), an 80GB hard drive, a GeForce Go 7600 video card, a 17-inch, 1,680 x 1,050 pixel LCD, and an ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g, and a dual-layer DVD+-R/RW drive.
- The GW7200MD is about the same, just with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor and a 100GB hard drive.
Read – eX.
Read – PC-Koubou
Read – Faith
Read – Mouse
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Technorati Tags: notebook reviews, computer reviews, laptop reviews
By now we’re all pretty well versed in what we can expect from HTC’s Excalibur in the many incarnations it’s due to begin taking, but it looks like O2 Germany will be among the first to have the honor. Dubbed the Xda Cosmo, this slim if bulbous looking portable doesn’t yet appear to have a date affixed to O2’s intentions for release in Deutschland. It does look like the marketing materials are well underway though, so we hope it shouldn’t be too much longer before you’ll pull this sword from the stone.
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Mmmm, that tasty Samsung Q35 just went Core 2 Duo. And from the looks of things, that’s the only change you’re gonna see; same 12.1-inch widescreen display, 80GB SATA disk, up to 1GB memory, and integrated Intel graphics swaddled in a sleek, 4-pound ultra-porable. Still, while the new proc won’t be any more efficient with the juice than the Q35’s former Core Duo, that promised 20% boost in performance ain’t chicken feed. Most of all, kudos to you Sammy for not calling this the World’s Smallest Core 2 Duo laptop held by a prostrate, shoeless waif. Nice to see a bit of restraint on this one. Also announced is the less interesting 15.4-inch, R55 with that same 1.8GHz T5600 Core 2 Duo CPU, disk, and RAM but with GeForce Go 7600 graphics for that extra bit of oomph. Stay tuned for the deluge of Core 2 Duo lappies to come dear readers.
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Filed under: Announcements, Laptops
We don’t want to put the pressure on too much just yet, but we’ve already received some really sweet submissions for our commercial contest. Just look at that laptop right there — what are you doing watching football and cruising MySpace for, why don’t you get a move on with your masterpiece? Here’s the original contest post, hit it up for all the details you need to know on how to win this Blu-ray equipped beast. You’ve got until September 10th, good luck!
P.S. -And no, again, we aren’t actually intending to air this commercial anywhere but on our site.
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Technorati Tags: notebook reviews, computer reviews, laptop reviews
[Via Reg Hardware]
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Filed under: Laptops
Well, it’s officially late August, meaning that the bit of buffer between Intel’s Core 2 Duo desktop and mobile launches should be over any day now. Word on the street is Monday’s locked and loaded for a barrage laptop releases with their latest powerhouse dual core mobile processor — the one some may still know as Merom — on board. (And thus, we ask for your forgiveness in advance when we have a slew of laptop write ups early next week.) In other words, if you were considering snatching up a laptop this weekend — PC or Mac — you’d probably be best off waiting until at least next weekend to do it; who knows what kinds of goodies we’ll see in a couple days, right?
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, Storage
It looks like Plextor’s going in for a piece of that “world’s smallest” marketing action, with the launch of what it claims to be the most diminutive DVD writer currently on the market. Aimed at owners of ultraportable laptops that tend to feature bulky external drives (if they feature any at all), the latch-loading, 2/3-inch thick PX-608CU supports dual-layer DVD burning at up to 4x, single-layer DVD burning at up to 8x, and CD-R/RW burning at 24x speed only. The function that prospective light traveling, laptop-toting buyers will be most happy about is the USB 2.0-bus powered capabilities of the drive, which will save you from carrying around a bulky AC adapter. Apparently the drive will only consume 4.8 Watts of power when burning a DVD at 8x, which shouldn’t put too much of a strain on your battery. No word on pricing yet, although we will say that the “world’s smallest” tag generally doesn’t come with a pricetag to match.
[Via Reg Hardware]
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Technorati Tags: gadgets news, digital gadgets news, gadgets, digital gadgets