Archive for August, 2010

PayPal in talks with Google about Android payments

Posted in Paypal by Conner Flynn on August 14th, 2010

PayPal is in talks with Google to add PayPal as a payment method for the Android Market. Apparently Google wants to make paying for apps as easy as possible for Android users so they can start shifting apps. As it stands, you can buy apps through Google Checkout and sometimes using carrier billing.

Both options are fine, but not popular. Using PayPal as a payment option would likely open the flood gates and move a ton of apps. On the other hand, PayPal currently powers Blackberry App World, illustrating the point that no matter how easy it is to buy apps, people still need good apps to buy.

Axon Haptic Tablet designed for OS X

Posted in Tablet PC by Conner Flynn on August 13th, 2010

Apple might not be offering an OS X tablet, but Axon Logic is now taking pre-orders for its Haptic tablet, which is apparently suitable for hackintosh Mac OS X installations. The company does officially warn against installing OS X, due to licensing restrictions, but the tablet is said to be specifically designed for compatibility with any Darwin-based operating system, like Apple’s Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X.

It’ll cost you $750, and you’ll need to purchase your own operating system like Windows or OS X, and the company also offers accessories like a CDMA 3G card, USB Bluetooth dongle, Bluetooth GPS receiver and some others.

ASUS 10-inch Android Eee Pad priced under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300

Posted in Tablet PC by Conner Flynn on August 13th, 2010

ASUS’s 10-inch Eee Pad EP101TC, due to ship in March, will cost under $399. Then there’s the EP121, a 12-inch tablet running Windows 7 at the high end of the market for a $1,000 price tag. This one ships around December or January.

There’s also another Eee Pad cominaround January, that will run Windows Embedded Compact 7 on a 10-inch screen and at a price under $499. Lastly, there’s the grayscale Eee Tablet e-reader priced at $300 and shipping in October.

Delta to begin booking flights on Facebook

Posted in Facebook by Conner Flynn on August 13th, 2010

Check this out Facebook fans. Delta has just announced that it’s going to allow the booking of flights on Facebook, and it’s launched a “Ticket Window” to allow users to do it. Looks like this is the first of many Ticket Windows. The company also plans on installing them in banner ads, making it the first airline to do so.

The goal is to streamline the booking process for the customer. Delta is the largest commercial airline in the world and it is facing more and more competition from smaller, more web-friendly airlines like Virgin and Jet Blue.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige collector’s edition is the best special edition ever

Posted in Activision by Shane McGlaun on August 13th, 2010

It seems like just about every game that comes out gets a special edition of some sort. Often those special editions aren’t that special with the only additions being some free DLC or maybe a book of artwork you will never look at.

Activision has announced an awesome special edition for Call of Duty: Black Ops called Prestige. The Prestige collector’s edition gets the game and some free DLC along with a medal. The awesome bit is that the edition comes with a badass remote control surveillance vehicle.

Boost Mobile gets touchscreen and QWERTY packing Samsung Seek

Posted in Samsung by Shane McGlaun on August 13th, 2010

Boost Mobile is the pre-paid division of Sprint and the company offers several handsets all sans contract. Boost has announced that it is getting its first touchscreen phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard in a few weeks.

The device is set to hit Boost online on August 25 for $149.99. The handset will also be in retail stores then as well and in other locations by October. The Seek has that slide out QWERTY keyboard we already mentioned and is packed with messaging options.

iBand Aid fixes iPhone 4 antenna booboo

Posted in Apple by Shane McGlaun on August 13th, 2010

These slick little stickers to stop your skin from killing your signal strength on the iPhone 4 surfaced a while back. If you like, the idea of fixing your iPhone 4 antenna woes without a case these may be for you.

The little stickers look a lot like Band Aids that my daughter wears every time she gets a scratch. You can get a package of seven iBand Aids for right under $5. That much green gets you beige, gray, black, blue, green, and white versions of the thing.

Samsung Galaxy S heads to RadioShack on three carriers

Posted in Samsung by Shane McGlaun on August 13th, 2010

I usually venture into a RadioShack store once a year or so when I am in the mall around Christmas just to see all the sweet remote control toys they carry. The Shack has been working hard to get people to come in more and one of the ways that it has pulled that off is by turning itself into a seller of all wireless phones.

The Shack is offering the sweet new Galaxy S smartphone on three different carriers all in one place. You can get the Galaxy S as the Epic for Sprint, Vibrant for T-Mobile, or the Captivate for AT&T. The AT&T device sells for $199, while the other two are apparently going for $149.99.

Star Wars Mimobots Series 6

Posted in Star Wars by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

The Star Wars Mimobots are always awesome and now Mimoco has announced the sixth generation of their Star Wars line. The new sixth generation features Empire Strikes Back designs, which include Yoda, Luke Hoth, Wampa, and a Snowtrooper. The Wampa is the neatest.

Interestingly the Yoda version even has pointy ears. They all have digital files pre-installed and come in 4GB to 16GB capacities at a cost of up to $85.

Patriot 60GB, 120GB and 240GB Inferno SSDs now available in Europe

Posted in Storage by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

Only a few weeks after their announcement, three of Patriot’s newest Inferno series SSDs(The 60GB, 120GB and 240GB models) are now available for purchase across the pond. These 2.5-inch SSDs feature the latest SandForce SF-1222 controller, MLC NAND Flash memory chips, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface and will give you read and write speeds of up to 285MB/s and 275MB/s.

The 60GB, 120GB and 240GB models are priced at 165 Euro (That’s about $210 to you and I), 289 Euro ($370) and 589 Euro ($760).

Acer S222HQL Super-Slim LED-backlit Monitor

Posted in Acer by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

Acer is ready to launch a new monitor at IFA Berlin 2010. The company has announced plans to present its S222HQL Super-Slim LCD monitor. The S222HQL sports a sexy and slim design and features a LED-back lite for power-saving, which is good for the Earth and your wallet.

The upcoming Acer S222HQL Super-Slim LED-backlit Monitor is also equipped with a 21.5-inch display that delivers 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, a 12,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a response time of 2ms, and 250 cd/m2 of brightness.

Samsung releases four new 3D LED HDTVs

Posted in 3D by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

Samsung is all set to release four new 3D HDTVs. The 65-inch UN65C8000 is an LED-backlit unit that supports Samsung’s Real 240Hz panel and Wi-Fi connectivity with an 8,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The 50-inch PN50C680 and 58-inch PN58C680 feature a 1080p display resolution on 600Hz panels. Both 3D HDTVs have the AllShare feature, allowing them to access media on other PCs or other DLNA-compatible devices.

Lastly, the 50-inch PN50C490 supports a lower 720p resolution display. The 65-inch Samsung UN65C8000, 50-inch PN50C680, 58-inch PN58C680 and 50-inch PN50C490 are all priced at $6,000, $2,300, $1,600 and $1,100.

Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot phone

Posted in Mobile Phones by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

You will never ever own this one. And neither will I. That’s because this phone is for the filthy rich. It comes from luxury handset maker Gresso, and is called Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot. The price? Oh, just $1 million. I’m sure you have that just lying around.

The phone case is made of 180 grams of pure gold, encrusted with 45.5K black diamonds and an African Blackwood back panel. The keypad keys are made from a single manually polished and laser engraved crystal sapphire. Gresso is only making 3 of them.

Samsung WMG160 Wi-Fi streaming device

Posted in Samsung by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

Samsung has announced a bunch of new accessories for the Galaxy S smartphone recently and here is another. The WMG160 Wi-Fi streaming device. It’s capable of enabling a Galaxy S smartphone to stream multimedia content to the HDTV in resolutions of up to 720p without wires.

It will also play nice with a wide range of other Wi-Fi equipped gadgets that support DLNA. The WMG160 will retail for around 84GBP, no idea about a price stateside if it ever comes here.

Notion Ink Adam tablet to cost $399 and up

Posted in Tablet PC by Conner Flynn on August 12th, 2010

After months of waiting we finally have some pricing information for the Notion Ink Adam tablet. It could be one of the first tablets to ship with a Pixel Qi display which is as easy to read outdoors as indoors and uses 80% less power when in outdoor/black and white mode. It could also be one of the first tablets to ship with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset.

This Android 2.2 powered device will still need to get FCC certification before it hits the US, but it will be priced between $399 and $498.