Microsoft reporter queen bee Mary Jo Foley has put together a few signs suggesting that Windows 7 may debut earlier than anyone imagined—in the first half of next year. While it's been expected that it'll be released to manufacturing by the end of the year, a few signs point to it being on track to RTM before mid-2009. In particular, Microsoft is now advertising that the Windows Hardware and Engineering Conference 2008 will be the only chance to engage with the team before Windows 7 is released. WinHEC 2009 starts on May 3.

Read More »

The highly-anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 smartphone has been approved by the FCC and helpfully posted on their website so I can spend my Saturday mornings combing through confusingly bureaucratic PDF files looking for announcements like this. The specific model vetted by the fatcats in Washington probably isn't the one we'll be seeing here in North America: it's referred to as the X1i, which in Sony terms means Europe, and it's not yet equipped with 3G. Still, this is a good indication that we will be getting the X1 before 2009, though it'll still be after those shifty Europeans. [Crave]

Read More »

Sony Style has posted a teaser on its front page promising that the company's going to drop some knowledge on Monday at 9PM. Chances are, it's about Sony's new Centrino 2-based VAIO line, which should offer better performance while consuming less power than its older models. Laptops rumoured to be featured include the company's first 16:9-ratio notebooks, including the 13.1-inch VAIO Z and the 16.4-inch VAIO FZ. [Electronista]

Read More »

Read More »

As a reward for putting up with Peter Jackson and his crew for years, New Zealand users are getting their iPhones at 00:01 July 11, which is earlier than everyone else on the planet. Three Vodafone stores will be open in Auckland City, Wellington and Christchurch and if you're close you should think about lining up. Any of our Giz readers going? [Vodafone]

Read More »

Next Tuesday, July 1st, poses something of a dilemma for me. You see, over the past six weeks, I have received four invites to press events on the same day. About six weeks ago, the guys from Philips asked me to save the date for an event of theirs. About four weeks ago, Canon sent around an invite for an event on the same day, with overlapping times and everything.  Two weeks ago, Nikon invited me out for lunch on the same day, and now, on top of all of that, TiVo are holding a press event as well.

Aside from the obvious clash from four different launches, I also have to take my wife to see her cardiologist that day.

Just like Michael Bluth, for me family comes first, so my afternoon is booked out. But which event should I choose from the other four that are on offer? Do I go to Philips, because they got in first (and I told them I would be there?) Or do I opt for the latest (and potentially most interesting) event from TiVo? Or do Canon or Nikon deserve my presence?

What do you guys think? Let me know in comments.

Read More »

Spanish site Apple Weblog has discovered a hidden iPhone page from Movistar—Telefónica's mobile arm. The page officially confirms what we already said two weeks ago: Telefónica will sell the new JesusPhone. The launch day was not mentioned in the site itself—which was supposed to be secret, and has been taken down already—but the date that we announced remains the same according to my friends in the company.

Read More »

We knew about the Golf Ball Launcher prototype, but now a company called Air Force Golf wants to actually sell a US$795 275m range model, starting next month. But really, why stop at 275 metres when you can do 460 metres using an AR-15 magazine-fed automatic rifle or an M-11 semi-automatic pistol?

Read More »