Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: PMPs
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 8:11 p.m.
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season.


So your music-loving grandma wants a PMP, huh? Fair enough -- we've put our heads together to come up with a list of the best we could find in several price ranges -- and we tried to come up with a few that are off the beaten (iPod) path, too. The choices out there sure are varied, but we've culled out the boring and the poorly designed to come up with what we think is the... most melody-friendly group on the planet. Read on for our full recommendations!

Continue reading Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: PMPs

Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: PMPs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

 
Sharkoon USB LANPort gets your isolated USB drives on the world wide web
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 7:49 p.m.
Pogoplug may have been the first to make this type of contraption popular, but now it's time for the no-names to sneak in and offer up comparable devices for a bit less cheddar. Sharkoon has evidently taken a break from punching out SATA HDD Docks in order to develop its USB LANPort, which effectively connects any piece of USB storage (flash drive, external hard drive, etc.) to the web. The USB LANPort 100 converts a single drive into a NAS device, while the USB LANPort 400 puts up to four USB devices on the information superhighway. Both boxes support automatic and manual IP address contacts, and they're both available now across the pond for €22.99 ($34) / €36.99 ($56) in order of mention. As for a US release? Your guess is as good as ours.

Gallery: Sharkoon USB LANPort gets your isolated USB drives on the world wide web

Sharkoon USB LANPort gets your isolated USB drives on the world wide web originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHot Hardware  | Email this | Comments

 
Universal's BD-59 Blu-ray / DVD flip discs to debut on Bourne trilogy releases
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 7:22 p.m.
Once upon a time Universal was the hybrid disc king, with plans to release up to 90% of its 2007 HD DVD titles on the dual sided discs, but we know how that ended. Now the company is back to its old tricks, ready to ship the first BD-59 discs with a 50GB Blu-ray / 9GB DVD configuration promising movie and all available special features in whichever format is desired. The expensive answer to a question no one was asking or the perfect way to add future proofing and extended compatibility to new movie purchases? We'll know more once a price is announced for the Jason Bourne trilogy of movies -- seeing their first individual Blu-ray releases -- due on January 19.

Universal's BD-59 Blu-ray / DVD flip discs to debut on Bourne trilogy releases originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Blu-ray.com, TheHDRoom  |  sourceUniversal  | Email this | Comments

 
Comcast inches closer to buying NBC
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 6:51 p.m.
It's been over a month since we last heard anything about the rumored Comcast takeover of NBC, but things are slowly starting to move forward: Bloomberg says that NBC parent company GE has bought out Vivendi's 20 percent stake in the broadcaster for $5.8b, with up to a $2b refund due back if the Comcast deal isn't done by the end of 2010. That's no small gamble -- Comcast will have to clear a "gauntlet" of federal regulators from the FCC and FTC, who will scrutinize everything from the transfer of TV broadcast licenses in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to the effects on competitors like Dish Network and Verizon, who will still want access to NBC's huge stable of content and programming. Big challenges, to be sure, but we get the feeling this deal is going down one way or another -- get ready for a rocky 2010.

Comcast inches closer to buying NBC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Consumerist  |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments

 
Fring brings one-way video calling to the iPhone
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 6:18 p.m.
Fring was the first to bring VoIP calls to the iPhone, and it looks like it's now finally done the same for video calling -- sort of. While it obviously can't do much to change the camera placement on the iPhone, the latest version of the app will at least let iPhone users (and iPod touch users, for that matter) see the person on the other end, and Fring says it'll add two-way video calling whenever "a front camera is placed on these." As with the company's app for Nokia devices, you'll also be able to make video calls to Skype users, but you'll have to make sure you're in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot, as this one doesn't support calls on 3G. Head on past the break for a video.

Continue reading Fring brings one-way video calling to the iPhone

Fring brings one-way video calling to the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  sourceFring  | Email this | Comments

 
T-Mobile pushing CLIQ firmware update today? (update: yes!)
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 5:52 p.m.
TmoNews seems to have it on good authority that T-Mobile will be rolling out a firmware update over the air to the Motorola CLIQ today -- the device's first since launch -- and we've got good news and bad news. First, the bad: by all accounts, it appears that this'll still be an Android 1.5-based firmware, adding fuel to the fire suggesting that UI skins like BLUR are a huge barrier to keeping devices up to speed with Google's breakneck release pace. The good news, though, is that the update seems to be lined up to fix a plethora of issues involving Bluetooth, touchscreen accuracy (we can attest to this one), connectivity, accelerometer functionality, and -- wait for it -- battery life! Looks like the build number is 1.1.31, so let us know if and when you get hooked up, owners.

Update: We've gotten tips from several users now that they've already been able to nab the update, so it looks like the CLIQ is definitely getting a little better today. Well, hopefully, anyhow.

T-Mobile pushing CLIQ firmware update today? (update: yes!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceTmoNews  | Email this | Comments

 
Sony Ericsson's Satio gets new firmware but not yet back on sale, Aino never affected
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 5:34 p.m.
We've got an old-fashioned Sony Ericsson-gate developing this winter with some clarification and new information on two of the company's highest-end phones of the season, the Aino and Symbian-powered Satio. First up, as we've updated in our original post, the Aino was never pulled from shelves -- we've been able to confirm this with Sony Ericsson spokespeople directly, which also satisfactorily explains why it was never pulled from the US SonyStyle site. Secondly, good news for Satio owners affected by the phone's issues: there's a new firmware out there for unbranded units, which suggests that units that are already in the field might not need to be recalled despite Sony Ericsson's admission that the power-down problem can't be fixed over the air. For what it's worth, we've been in touch with Carphone Warehouse today and they haven't yet put it back on sale -- so it's hard to say just how closely related the new build is to the most damning problems facing the phone right now. Owners who've upgraded: what have you noticed so far?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sony Ericsson's Satio gets new firmware but not yet back on sale, Aino never affected originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceJust Another Mobile Phone Blog  | Email this | Comments

 
HTC Hero gets a leaked Android 2.1 ROM with Sense
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 5:02 p.m.
We just saw some leaked shots of a Hero running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense a couple days ago, and now it looks like you can get in on the action yourself, thanks to a leaked ROM now up on XDA-developers and AllDroid. Installation appears to be pretty straightforward, but there are some steps involved, so make sure you backup and set aside some time to get things right -- and let us know how it all goes in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC Hero gets a leaked Android 2.1 ROM with Sense originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceXDA-developers, AllDroid  | Email this | Comments

 
Windows 7 Black Screen of Death? (It's not as bad as it sounds)
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 4:31 p.m.
Well, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, but it's still not so good. As you're probably aware, over the last week or so Windows users of all stripes (not just Windows 7 users, as it turns out) have been complaining of a plain black screen that appears upon login -- at which point the systems lock up, and... that's it. Aside from some users getting an additional My Computer window (lucky devils) the system grinds to a halt. According to a Microsoft email that's making the rounds, the company is "investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers." Until that time, what's a poor PC user to do? Prevx, a UK developer of anti-malware software, has surmised that a recent Windows security patch changed Access Control List (ACL) entries in the registry, preventing some software from running properly and prompting Engadget to whip up a Bergman-inspired graphic. If your machine should find itself afflicted, Prevx has put together a fix that it claims will do the trick. Keep in mind that we don't know these guys, so don't blame us if it blows up your computer -- or gives you the Bubonic plague. We'll let you know when we hear back from Microsoft on this one. Good luck!

Windows 7 Black Screen of Death? (It's not as bad as it sounds) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BBC  |  sourcePrevx  | Email this | Comments

 
Soundmatters' foxL v2 portable Bluetooth speaker rocks the suburbs
Engadget • Tuesday December 1 (2009) @ 4:08 p.m.
Soundmatters made a few (sine) waves last year with the introduction of its awfully cute foxL Bluetooth speaker, but for those preoccupied with other matters, there's nothing wrong with snagging v2 in order to catch up. The pocket-sized (5.6- x 2.2- x 1.4-inches) speaker sports new BT circuitry that allows for 3x better reception than the prior version, and it also automatically pairs and searches for Bluetooth devices. Users can now answer and terminate a call from the speaker itself, and as expected, you'll also get a bit more volume out of this one compared to the original. The rechargeable battery will keep the jams spinning for five hours on a full charge, and if the international charging prongs weren't enough, there's also the option to regenerate over USB. It's set to ship later this month to jet-setting music junkies for $199, while a wired (read: non-BT) variant will go for $30 less.

Soundmatters' foxL v2 portable Bluetooth speaker rocks the suburbs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHot Hardware  | Email this | Comments