Virgin Mobile today finished its acquisition of nerd fave Helio. The deal was finished today with US$38 stock transaction to EarthLink and SK Telecom. This means that Virgin is hands down the largest MVNO in America, and it also means it could expand even more sing it can now offer both pre-paid and post-paid plans as well as the high-end devices from Helio. But the question remains: Will it be able to make money? [Press Release]
It’s part bike and part skateboard and it looks all fun. It’s the Freestyle Dirtsurfer and it’s a new hybrid like toy for all of you X Games types who can’t wait for winter to get here soon enough. One neat touch is a Razor-scooter-like brake on the back wheel so you don’t end up in the ER the first time you try it on a downhill. And for US$450, you really don’t want to crash it too much. [ExExEq via Like Cool]
Albatron has launched a new UMPC-like devices called the Tee PC that could be an interesting media tablet. It has a touchscreen and stylus for input, runs Windows CE 6, and comes with all kinds of connectivity including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and has a built-in swiveling webcam for on-the-go conferencing. It’s not beefy specs-wise, running on a 400MHz ARM processor, but it should handle most Internet tasks just fine. [Hot Hardware]
Perhaps in an attempt to shrug off its stodgy, all-business image, Dell has launched a handful of “Special Art Edition” Studio-series laptops with graphics by artist Mike Ming. Ming has worked with Dell on laptops before, notably with the Inspirion 1525 a few months ago. This is the first time Ming’s urban art has been brought to the consumer-focused Studio line, but we’re guessing it won’t be the last. [Dell]
It’s one thing to tinker in your garage to restore that old gas-guzzling muscle car that you think will get you some action. It’s something entirely different to invent an electricity-generating wind turbine out of scrap parts that could revolutionise personal power in developing nations, especially if you’re in college. Max Robinson has done just that, designing a turbine out of spare parts that costs less than US$40 to build out of readily available parts and can power a home’s lighting for up to two and a half days or a radio for over a day. No word on how long an OLPC would last. [Daily Mail]
Exit Games has a multiplayer gaming platform, called Neutron, on PCs, mobile devices, game consoles, and BREW phones. It works across devices and hardware, so you can play someone on their PC via your handset. And now it’s ready for the iPhone. Today it was announced that the Neutron system of social network-like gaming now has iPhone support, or will as soon as developers code for it. The iPhone, with its svelte shape and always-on connectivity, makes for a lust-worthy multiplayer gaming device, so this is really just the next logical step in being able to play games with your friend on the train from across the world. [Exit Games via Kotaku via BBG]
We just got word from Microsoft that the Xbox 360 is totally sold out in Japan, and that’s just how they like it. Microsoft’s console has been outselling Sony’s Playstation 3 lately at a rate of almost 3 to 1, with the Xbox selling 28,116 last at the start of August while Sony sold only 10,705 PS3s. Nintendo beat both with over 41,000 Wiis, yet still has stock available. So we have to question, did Microsoft short Japanese stock on purpose just to claim “sold out” status? [Translation at Kotaku]
The Motorola Q is finally getting the Windows Mobile 6.1 treatment through AT&T, who’s stores are said to be taking in shipments of a new silver version of the handset. This is good news for enterprise customers who are tied into the WinMo world. No word yet on when these will hit the shelves, or if there will be an upgrade available for current AT&T Q9h owners, but it’s likely we’ll hear something soon. [BGR]
Canon has teamed with Amosu to blingify a limited edition series of Powershot cameras with 2.22 carats of diamonds to be pitched by the the lovely Maria Sharapova. They’re not for sale, but you’ll have a chance to win one of the five—which are valued at between US$10,000 and US$12,000 each—at an event Canon is calling “Canon Centre Court” in October. We’re hoping we win and that the tennis champ personally delivers our prize. [Marketing Daily via Born Rich]
The lilliputian IdeaPads from Lenovo are coming, as we know, and now they’re a little closer, having passed through the FCC’s certification process. This is the final regulatory hurdle the IdeaPad S9 and S10 faced before going on sale in the US and comes just in time, as the duo of subnotebooks are expected to hit shelves next month. [Engadget via SlashGear]
