@(Unverified)

No, google did not say it would be $199, that was just another unverified blog post that had "sources."

Google has said nothing about the thing other than it exists and is being used by their employees to test 2.1. That's it.

The only way this changes anything is if Google sells it at a subsidized price without a contract. Since there's zero evidence to support that outside of some blog fantasy postings, it's simply another unbranded HTC device that you can buy from Google unlocked for full MSRP which has already happened with ADP1 and ADP2.

The only reason why anyone cares this time is there are decent specs behind the phone.

Also, a phone that's really only usable on T-Mobile isn't exactly going to take a huge chunk of market from Android phone makers.

I'm pretty sure that's it. Their licensing terms to use that data for google maps in the other countries probably demand that they protect the data from being used for things outside the license. So, they probably are required to make an effort to block this or risk losing all mapping data for those countries.

Regardless about how you feel about the ETF, let's get real. It has nothing to do with a "hell-bent effort to keep subscribers locked." If you haven't figured out after 30 days that the service doesn't work for you, it's on your head (barring the rare case of moving to an area of poor coverage after the inital period). Verizon has the lowest churn rate in the industry so to think that they need to go to such measures to keep customers is silly.

The ETFs purpose is to cut down on the number of people gaming the system and flipping expensive phones for less than MSRP since it's easy to do that and make a profit with a $175 ETF.

In the end though, I do agree that ETFs and the proration should be variable across all devices and based on the subsidy but I have trouble faulting the carriers for general idea of upping the ETF when we are continually demanding lower prices on these pocket computers. If you want to go back to the days of $400 smartphones, be my guest. But I'll take Verizon's $400 discount on a Droid for a $350 ETF.

It only has an ARM11 processor. Microsoft has required OMAP3, Snapdragon, or Tegra as platforms for WM7 and none of those use ARM11 as their core processor.

I can't help but think they've missed the boat on this one. Sure, the processor is clocked at 800mhz, but it's still an ARM 11 core. It's also still a resistive touchscreen. I would have trouble signing up for a 2 year contract for such ancient hardware, no matter how they tried to polish it by hiding the WM interface and giving it such a gorgeous looking screen.

As far as I can tell, the ASRock doesn't come with an operating system. That's what makes this a compelling package, it comes with Windows 7 home premium. So, it's an ATOM/ION nettop with a $110 OS for $329 so it's a media center right out of the box. With the upcoming flash update to allow acceleration on ION chipsets, this becomes a perfect media center.

Hell, you could add a USB TV tuner and get an instant DVR without subscription fees. Once someone releases an updated USB cablecard tuner, this becomes a very compelling alternative to Tivo.

Whenever I decide to use a cloud service, I ask the following questions before I begin:

1) Can I access the data offline
2) Can I archive that online data so it can be used if the could goes poof
3) Can that data archive be used by another piece of software not made by the cloud service in question.

If I don't get all yeses, I don't use that service for anything I would be upset about losing.

"Of course price and HDMI auto capabilities"

I think you mean audio unless there's some new car extension of HDMI that I'm not aware of.

I think the the fact that there isn't that much 3rd party hardware out there also makes such a thing not so compelling to people.

I really want a Tivo, I do, but they really need to update their hardware.

$299 for a 160gb DVR or $599 for a 1tb DVR? Give me a break, most people don't even spend $500 on a TV nowadays.

160gb is a joke now. I have a 133 HD stations. 20hours of HD capacity just isn't enough anymore. Sure you can install your own drive (and void the warranty on your brand new device) or pay yet another $140 to expand the storage externally but the base storage is 2 years out of date. Why would I care at all about the more advanced program management features of Tivo if all I can do is record 5 movies and 10 tv episodes?

Then there's the Tivo XL where they somehow think a THX label and a 1tb hard drive is worth a $300 premium over the base model (despite the fact that the price difference between a 160gb drive and a 1tb drive is under $100 now).

And this is the LEADER in the marketplace who just happens to be sue happy to anyone else who even thinks about making a DVR. Is it any wonder why cablecard hasn't caught on? The hardware market is stagnant and it's not going to get any better.