Saturday, September 1, 2007

_

First LG VX1000 Shot Shows New enV

7:10AM Gizmodo US Edition | A shot of the new LG VX1000 was recently posted in the forums, revealing what could be the successor to Verizon’s enV branded phone. Other than a slightly sleeker design and what appears to be a larger screen, not much information is known. Obviously, there is no word yet on pricing or availably. [The Boy Genius Report via Howard Forums] More »
_

Magellan Announces Seven New GPS Units

6:37AM Gizmodo US Edition | Like some sort of GPS-delivering Santa, Magellan has announced the upcoming release of seven new GPS units—all set to be available between September and October. In the 4200 series, the Maestro 4250—retailing for $500—offers integrated live traffic updates, a shiny, widescreen 4.3-inch display and Bluetooth capability, while the 4220 and 4200 models will cost slightly less but will lack features like the live traffic updates and voice control. In the 3200 series, the Maestro 3250 is almost identical to the 4250, except it’s $100 cheaper and has a smaller, non-widescreen 3.5-inch display. The other models—the 3200, 3210 and 3220—are off-shoots of the 3250, with the same screen and less features, depending on price. The only real change with the newly-released GPS units, aside from some minor added features, is their size, which, dropping down to .7 inches in thickness, is a direct result of vomiting profusely after every left turn. [GPS Review] More »
_

New Bose SoundDock Portable vs. Original SoundDock (Verdict: New One Bigger, Rocks Harder)

6:20AM Wilson Rothman | The most startling thing about the new Bose SoundDock Portable is that it’s bigger than its forebear (though thankfully not heavier). The least startling thing about it is that it sounds better than the original. More »
_

Moto Rokr E8 Has Backlit Nubs For Keys

6:15AM Jason Chen | These first shots of the Motorola Rokr E8 from zol.com.cn shows the unique keypad that Moto went with. Instead of regular keys, they’ve got little nubs that need to be back-illuminated. When you’re dialing, all the keys are lit; but when you’re playing music, the numbers are dimmed and only the music controls are bright. This could be even greater if the keys’ backlit images could change in the background, but it doesn’t seem like the E8 is advanced enough to do that. [Zol.com via IDNES via Phonearena] More »
_

Sharp’s Multitouch New LCD Panel Can Go Up to 12 Inches (I Smell an Apple Multitouch Tablet)

5:43AM Brian Lam | Those manufacturers of multitouch devices of the high visual quality and resilience of the iPhone’s might have another option from Sharp. According to Impress, the LCD veterans have made a 3.5 inch, 480 x 320 screen, capable of multitouch. These can be made up to 12 inches in diagonal size. Perfect for a portable. More »
_

Shure Busts Out $99 SE110 Earphones But iPhone Support Still Costs Extra

5:30AM Wilson Rothman | On the web page for Shure’s newly announced SE110 earphones, the new lowest rung of the successful SE line, the price is listed as $119. But according to a press release that came out today at IFA, these babies will cost $99 when they appear. It’s a very low stoop indeed for the makers of ridiculously expensive—but oh-so-sweet sounding—earbuds. Shure has assured us that the SE110 are indeed iPhone friendly, and that the $40 Shure iPhone earphone adapter is not needed. I have used the SE210 for a few months now, and they are great, but at $149, probably still too pricey. I will be a fan of the SE110 only if it comes with the squishy noise-isolating memory foam that makes its predecessors so damn comfortable and peaceful. It is hard to tell looking at the specs what they stripped out going down from the SE210. The only way to really find out is to have a listen, so stay tuned. [Product Page, Press Release] More »
_

HD DVD Press Conference, In Fast Forward

5:20AM Mark Wilson | After yesterday’s Blu-ray press conference, Toshiba fired back…over the course of two very, very long hours. And by “fired back,” we really mean gave a bunch of presentations that were too long. So we’re giving you a fast forward version of the conference…that still feels a bit like slow-mo, but here is the meat of it: Running through Toshiba’s game plan, Fujii went through the 3-pronged strategy of HDD, HD DVD and SD in Toshiba’s multimedia approach. He also mentioned, “I’m sure withing three years the price of 32GB of flash memory will be the range of $100 dollars,” and that optical discs would be around in, “30, 40, even 100 years.” More »
_

Hardware Unlock Explodes iPhone

5:15AM Jason Chen | Here’s a tip. If you’re not really skilled at hardware hacks, don’t try to hardware unlock your iPhone. If you accidentally touch the wrong thing or screw up, this will happen. The user says: More »
_

Apple Balks at $5-Per-Show Demand, Gives NBC the Boot From iTunes

4:50AM Adam Frucci | We reported earlier that NBC had decided not to renew its contract with Apple to sell their shows online. We thought that they might do something similar to Universal and do a short-term contract to keep their content up. No dice. Apparently, NBC wanted Apple to start charging a whopping $4.99 per episode for their shows, causing Apple to give them an early booting from iTunes. Look, 30 Rock is hilarious and everything, but if you think a season of it in DRM’d digital form at a mediocre resolution is worth $100 you’ve got another thing coming. More »
_

Apple to Sell Ringtones Bundled With Regular Songs?

4:50AM Jason Chen | The Post says they’ve got confirmation that Apple will start selling ringtones to iPhone users using iTunes. Although they couldn’t confirm pricing, they could say that you will probably be able to make any song you buy from iTunes into a ringtone. This means you can set each contact’s ringtone to a separate track from Linkin’ Park’s discography—that is, if you really want everyone to know that you’re an asshole. One possible scenario is to sell ringtones bundled with songs for an “enhanced” price, like how EMI’s DRM-less tracks come at $1.29 vs. $0.99. Of course, you can add your own ringtones already with iFuntastic for the Mac and iBrickr for Windows. [NYPost] More »