Archive for April, 2011

3DS gets outsold by PSP in Japan

Posted in PSP by Reuben Drake on April 8th, 2011

Nintendo’s 3DS was released in Japan on February 26th and it has been selling great hitting the top of the sales charts. How could it’s sales possibly be surpassed? By the PSP, that’s how. According to Media Create the PSP sold 58,075 units in the week of March 28th to April 3rd, while the 3DS sold 42,979.

So what’s going on? It’s due in large part to the PSP dating sim Amagami, which is an old PS2 game that’s just been re-released for the handheld. Turns out they really love that old game more than 3D.

Verizon 3G iPad 2 owners report reboot problem

Posted in iPad by Conner Flynn on April 8th, 2011

Looks like Verizon-based Apple gadgets have a recurring reboot problem. Owners of Verizon’s native iPad 2 with both Wi-Fi and 3G (in 16, 32 and 64GB memory configurations) are complaining that they have to reboot their devices if they want to connect to 3G after previously switching that feature off.

Wi-Fi works just fine apparently, but 3G connections can take several minutes or just never happen. It doesn’t seem like all Verizon iPad 2 users are having this problem, but the complaints from those who are affected are very similar. It just goes to show that Verizon has it’s own set of problems with iDevices, much like At&t

Asus Lamborghini VX7 notebook

Posted in ASUS by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

You want your sports car in sports car colors. Asus knows this and so their Asus Lamborghini VX7 notebook comes in orange and black color options. It is a sleek beast that features a second generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M graphics card with 3GB of video memory.

For the OS you can choose from Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Basic. The display is 15.6″ 16:9 Full HD (1920×1080) LED backlit. There’s also an 8-cell battery. No word on price, but you can expect it to be expensive.

Toshiba Camileo P100 and B10 pocket camcorders

Posted in Camcorders by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

Toshiba is getting ready to ship two new models in their line of Camileo pocket camcorders in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The B10 camcorder has a candy bar shape and a front-facing lens. It shoots at Full HD resolution, takes 16 megapixel stills, has a 16X digital zoom, and handles SDXC cards as large as 64GB.

The P100 has the same specs and adds 8X optical zoom. We don’t have any pricing info yet, but we can tell you that this pair will go on sale sometime in the second quarter.

HTC Droid Incredible 2 leaked press shots

Posted in HTC by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

What’s this? If our eyes don’t deceive us this is the HTC Droid Incredible 2. These images come from PocketNow without even a named or anonymous source. We don’t care, we just enjoy spying new gear.

To refresh your memory, the Incredible 2 is little more than a rebranded Incredible S. According to a purported leaked roadmap from last month, the best guess we have for a launch date is April 28th. We will let you know more when we know.

Microsoft releases Bing iPad App

Posted in iPad accessories by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

Microsoft has released a new version of their Bing app. This time it’s for their rival’s device, the Apple iPad. It comes with many cool new features that will allow you to view news articles, search for photos, check out movie listings and everything else.

Some of the new features you can expect in the Bing for iPad app include weather, stock quotes, Bing Maps, and voice search, and you can also view websites that you are searching for inside the Bing app. Sounds like some good improvements.

AVG Launches LiveKive Online Cloud Storage

Posted in Storage by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

AVG’s LiveKive service has gone through it’s beta release and has now officially been launched by AVG. LiveKive is a safe and reliable cloud-based storage, sync and share solution from the company. LiveKive offers consumers three levels of secure encrypted storage options.

There’s a free 5GB level and two paid versions with either 25GB or unlimited storage. But there are usage limits. iOS applications are also available to manage your files, and there is a 30 day trial of its the new service. If you haven’t tried out cloud storage yet, this may be a good opportunity.

Vulkano Flow now available

Posted in Media Streamers by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

If you spend a lot of time traveling, this device could be your new best friend. It will help you keep up with your favorite shows while you are away. The Vulkano Flow is a set-top box that will let you beam your own personal TV programs from home anywhere in the world.

It’s as if Scotty from Star Trek is running your very own TV station and beaming stuff your way. The device is now available to purchase online and in some retail stores. The device can place shift TV shows to your smartphone, Android tablet, iPad, or PC and you can pause, fast forward, and rewind live TV. You can also mark some channels as favorites so you can find them quicker.

Mitsubishi REAL BHR500 HDTVs

Posted in Mitsubishi by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

Mitsubishi has announced the new REAL BHR500 entry-level HDTVs, which come equipped with a built in Blu-ray disc player and recorder, as well as a 500GB hard disk drive. They also support digital TV tuners, a USB slot, an SD card slot and an Ethernet port.

The REAL BHR500 series will come in 4 different sizes, with four different prices. The 40-inch and 46-inch models feature a full HD (1080p) resolution Diamond 120Hz Panel, while the smaller 26-inch and 32-inch models only support 1366 x 728 LCD 120Hz panels. The Mitsubishi REAL BHR500 HDTVs cost between $1,643 and $3,286.

Toys R Us to sell iPad 2?

Posted in iPad by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

iPad 2s may be in short suppky right now, but despite this, some training material for Toys ‘R’ Us staff has revealed that the toy store could offer the device. Why not? Get kids thinking about Apple early from childhood and they will grow up to spend their money on Apple products.

The question on the training material reads: “The iPad 2 features a what size LED screen?” Together with the branded product sheet, these photographs seem to show that a Toys ‘R’ Us launch of the device could be happening soon.

Google pulls GrooveShark music streaming service from Android Market

Posted in Android by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

The already controversial GrooveShark music streaming service is not finding it easy with mobile platform vendors. GrooveShark’s mobile music streaming application was already booted out of Apple’s App Store last year, and now they have been booted from Google.

GrooveShark for Android was removed from the Android Market this week. But don’t worry, the GrooveShark for Android application is still available from the company’s website and can be installed on any Android device that allows sideloading. The iPhone version is also available, though only installable on jailbroken devices. It ain’t easy getting your mobile Grooveshark on. It seems there are too many sharks in the water and not enough chum.

Commodore USA C64 up for pre-sale

Posted in Computers by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

I remember typing away on the Commodore 64 all those years ago. If you have fond memories as well, Commodore USA has a new Commodore 64 prototype. The basic version is $595 with an 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom D525 chip, NVIDIA ION 2 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.

Delivery is scheduled for “early June” and you can add features like an additional 2GB of memory, a Blu-Ray drive, up to 1TB of storage, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth. Who would have thought that we would be using a C64 in 2011?

HTC Merge official press shots

Posted in HTC by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

By now we’ve all seen the HTC Merge, so these press shots don’t show us anything we don’t already know, it just confirms that this Android-powered QWERTY slider is bound for Verizon any time now. And that is welcome news.

In fact, the CDMA Desire Z will likely hit shelves before the end of the week, because regional carrier Alltel has already begun taking pre-orders on its own version of this 800MHz, 3.8-inch handset. We know you’ve been waiting for this one.

Acer Aspire Z5761 all-in-one coming in May

Posted in Acer by Conner Flynn on April 7th, 2011

Acer has a sleek new all-in-one called the Aspire Z5761. It features a 23-inch Full HD display, your choice of Sandy Bridge Core i5-2400s, Core i5-2500s, or Core i7-2600s CPUs, up to a 1.5TB SATA II HDD, a Blu-ray or SuperMulti drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT440, GT435M, or GT420 graphics, and a hybrid TV-tuner card.

Other features include 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and eight USB 2.0 ports. It also comes preloaded with Clear.fi tech, so you can have access to multimedia content on other Acer devices. Prices start at £799 ($1305), and it arrives in May.

T-Mobile G2X priced at $200, arriving April 15th

Posted in T-Mobile by Reuben Drake on April 7th, 2011

It’s now official. The T-Mobile G2X. LG’s dual-core, Android handset will be available on T-Mobile’s online store on April 15th for $200, coinciding with tax time. The handset will be the same price in stores when it arrives on April 20th.

There’s a $50 mail-in rebate to deal with, but aside from that you will finally be able to enjoy this smooth Android experience. We know that you’ve been waiting for it. There are worse things to spend your tax check on.