Gadgets

Apple’s Inevitable September Keynote…The Tragic Death of a Sprint Marketing VP…TV-B-Gone Goes Global…

OK, so last week, one guy at AllThingsD says that a music-oriented (non-tablet) Apple keynote will take place the week of September 7. Since the 7th happens to be Labour Day, there’s one day eliminated off the bat. Today, another guy at AllThingsD cites different but still unnamed sources “insisting” that the day is Wednesday, September 9, and that there will be no tablet. It’s believable, so why isn’t it “news”? Because it’s just slightly more firm than what (we) already ran, and it’s not firm enough to put on toast and call a sandwich.

Stay tuned for actual news on this, because when it breaks — when the date is firm and we know who’s MCing this thing — you know where to be. [AllThingsD]

For all of the things that Sprint tends to get wrong, marketing isn’t one of them. They have always had great commercials, were quick to figure out how to reach audiences on the web and yes — I’ll fully admit—cite some damn good-looking 3G testers, from time to time. It was therefore especially sad to hear today that Sprint’s corporate brand marketing VP, Thomas Murphy — the man behind the NASCAR sponsorship and the charitable Sprint Foundation — was killed in a nasty automobile accident. He was driving his family through Snowmass Canyon near Aspen when a rock “the size of a briefcase” fell off of a cliff ledge and smashed into the windshield of his Chevy Tahoe. It’s a horrible tragedy, and we offer our condolences to his family. [KC Star via BoingBoing]

People who appreciate Gizmodo’s darker side will rejoice that the DIY TV-B-Gone kit can now knock out any TV made for the North America/Asia and European/UK markets. Nobody is safe from your temporary extermination of their viewing pleasure! Since it’s already been available in US form — and since as a stunt it might be past its prime — we didn’t rush to post it, but if you want one, go ahead. You know they work. [Adafruit]