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Nexus S 4G on sale today: $200 at Sprint, $150 at Best Buy
It looks the same, it works the same, and though it's three-tenths of a millimeter thicker than the original, Sprint's Nexus S 4G has one major difference: it sports a WiMAX radio. Today, the freshest Gingerbread smartphone goes on sale, just as planned, bringing the same 4-inch curved Super AMOLED screen, 1GHz Hummingbird chip and NFC capabilities your T-Mobile counterparts have enjoyed for months plus the promise of Google Talk video chat. Find it for $200 on-contract directly at Sprint, or shave $50 off the sticker price if you're a brand-new customer by trying Best Buy instead. [Thanks, Robert and Nick]
Nike+ SportWatch GPS now on sale, $199 adds geek cred to your workout routine
Wrist-mounted iPod nano not quite the running companion of which you'd originally dreamed? This Nike+ SportsWatch GPS will be happy to take its place. We spotted the TomTom-branded fitness watch at CES this year, and now it's formally on sale -- though unfortunately for a price far steeper than those of its immediate ancestors. Of course, the $199 band isn't just a replacement for the Nike+ iPod system, it also uses that onboard GPS to keep track of where you run, much like the Nike+ GPS app but without the necessity for an iPhone 4 bouncing around your person. Did we mention it's also a watch? [Thanks, John S.]
ASUS to debut Eee Pad Transformer in Taiwan this Friday, Honeycomb confirmed (updated: coming to US in early April)
While we've yet to see other Honeycomb tablets materialize in the shops after the Xoom, news has it that ASUS is about to debut its Eee Pad Transformer back in its home country this Friday. There's still no final pricing to be seen for this Tegra 2 device, but some of our watchful readers have already spotted the stricken-through $799 label -- in US dollars, oddly enough -- on ASUS' Transformer countdown page on Facebook, and hopefully this price tag will cover the docking kit as well. Anyhow, anxious Android fans will be able to order this peculiar 10.1-inch slate -- in 16GB or 32GB flavor -- later this week, so that Taiwanese pen pal of yours will finally come in handy. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: We just heard from our ASUS rep here in the US and it looks like the Transformer will be hitting the US market in early April. No word on pricing yet, but we will keep you updated.
BYD Motors sneaks on to American market, could make US debut official by year's end
We've heard rumblings of BYD coming to America before, but it seems it won't be making a big deal of its Stateside entrée -- at least not yet. According to the Los Angeles Times, China's sixth-largest car maker is quietly making its presence known in the US, occupying the offices of Cars 911 -- a dealership in Glendale, CA -- and solidifying plans to open 10 American dealerships by the end of 2011. BYD is also in the process of building its US headquarters in downtown LA, and has been servicing a fleet of its F3DM hybrids, leased to the city's housing authority, from the Cars 911 lot. BYD's e6, which is slated as a Leaf competitor, is suspected to appear on the American market, alongside the F3DM, by year's end. Considering the Leaf's recent woes, this might be just the right time for BYD to strike.
Gaikai beta goes live, brings Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Sims 3 and Second Life demos to your browser window
Remember Gaikai, the cloud computing service that lets you demo video games in your browser window without downloading a thing? It's live, meaning it's no longer just us tech journalists that get to give it a thorough try. Provided you have a blazing fast internet connection and both Flash and Java installed, four streaming game demos are a just a click (and possibly a survey, or a short wait) away, including three EA titles (Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, The Sims 3) and Second Life. As we discovered in our initial hands-on, it's not a flawless experience even with a fantastic internet connection, but it's not meant to be -- the entire point is to allow you to adequately sample a game right before making a purchase decision. It's also a free taste of the future, and you don't see those every day.
Nintendo 3DS launches in Japan, populace tears through initial 400,000 unit shipment
You won't be able to snap one up at your local GameStop for a full month, but the Nintendo 3DS had a solid launch in Japan today, reportedly liquidating nearly its entire initial shipment of 400,000 spiffy stereoscopic gaming handhelds by the end of the day. Some of those sales were to customers waiting in a few lines up to 2,000 persons long, but those lines were exceptions to the norm -- several publications note that very few stores actually had any lines to speak of, as most Japanese electronics retailers sold out when the 3DS went on pre-order over a month ago. Get a refresher on what to expect from the system here (and here) or read all about the surprisingly orderly Japanese launch at our source links. Update: Our friends at Engadget Japanese were on hand for the 3DS launch, and picked up a pair of systems themselves -- get a closer look at one of the first retail 3DS units in the gallery below! %Gallery-117673%
It's official: Motorola pushes up Atrix 4G launch to Feb. 22
And there you have it, kids: the rumored in-store date for the Atrix 4G has become a reality, with pre-orders shipping on February 21 and handsets finding their giddy new owners as soon as February 22.
Motorola pushes up Atrix 4G launch to Feb. 22, shoves Xoom pre-sales back to Feb. 20th?
The best laid plans of Motorola may be in disarray, as we hear the device manufacturer is shuffling release dates for its hottest new Android devices. Supposedly, AT&T customer service reps are getting the above message in their inbox, which suggests the modular Atrix 4G smartphone may arrive more than a week earlier than planned, while a Best Buy memo (image after the break) pegs Xoom tablet pre-sales for February 20th, three days after the date originally communicated. Still, we haven't heard anything to suggest that the Xoom won't be 100 percent ready for purchase on February 24th, so you should be just fine saving your eight Benjamins for then. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPad gets the Opera Mini treatment, we wonder what took so long
Opera's been working its Norwegian charms on the iPhone since last Spring, and it's been flirting with tablets since CES, but up until now the browsers yet to put the moves on the iPad. Considering how much it gets around, we're surprised it didn't happen sooner, but Opera announced yesterday that it would show off a new version of Opera Mini on a number of platforms at MWC this year, including Android, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian, and yes -- the iPad. There's no word on what the iPad version will bring -- or when, for that matter -- but we're guessing it will probably sport the same smooth zoom and multiple-page grid we saw previewed on Opera for tablets. For more on the world's most promiscuous browser, check out the full PR after the jump.
Verizon iPhone hits the streets, fails to gather crowds (video)
Verizon may have had its best sales day ever with the launch of the CDMA iPhone 4, but you wouldn't be able to tell if you parked outside a retail store this morning. Reuters reports that the usual hordes didn't show up for the Verizon iPhone launch -- San Francisco and New York flagship Apple Store locations boasted as few as forty individuals in line -- and that by afternoon today, the initial shipment of devices were still in stock. Of course, the device had already been on sale for several days -- and face it, it's just a CDMA iPhone 4 -- but it's not often we get to see spectacles like the one on video above, shot at the Mall of America store.
Apple 'experts' coming to a store near you
Along with the "Geniuses" and "Creatives" currently available at the Apple Store, there's a new type of employee that'll be wandering the store floors. Apple "Experts" are set to debut in about two weeks at retail locations around the country. The men and women selected as Experts will move up into what seems like a more elite sales position, with their jobs being not only to educate the incoming public about everything Macs can do for them, but to "create the next generation of Apple fans" -- in other words, sell as many computers as they can. 2010 should be an interesting year for Apple retail -- not only do they have that prototype store planned in Palo Alto, but they're working on growing some of their locations as well and trying to build up more "flagship" stores like New York's Fifth Avenue store and Chicago's Michigan Avenue location. Sounds good to us; visiting the Apple Store is always interesting, and if they're planning to mix it up even more, we look forward to the surprises. [via AppleInsider]
Motorola i856 Debut now available on Nextel
Perhaps recognizing that the average Boost customer is more interested in the latest, greatest trendy handsets than the average Nextel customer (read: construction worker with a penchant for putting mil-spec certifications to the test), Sprint has launched a couple recent groundbreaking models -- the Clutch, Moto's first QWERTY iDEN device and the Debut, its first slider -- on Boost first before bringing them over to the big daddy. Don't fret, though, Nextel subscribers, because the i856 Debut is now available to you, bringing that crazy red / black color combo, integrated music player, and network-first slider form factor to a more grown-up audience. It's available now in all sales channels for $99.99 with a $50 rebate on contract.
EA finds a publishing partner in Outspark
If you think you stepped into bizarro world there for a moment, chances are you might be right. Electronic Arts, one of the leading publishers in the gaming industry, has partnered with Outspark, the MMO publisher/games portal company that holds Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice, to bring a brand new rhythm game to the US. Yes, that's right, EA is the developer while Outspark is the publisher. Freaky, we know.The game, dubbed Debut, is coming out of EA's Korean studio J2M. Debut will feature a "casual MMO atmosphere," which will undoubtedly be something like the other rhythm games on the market and not an MMO as we see it.So how does this affect us beyond the fact that this story includes Outspark? The reason EA has come on board with the company is due to their attraction to Outspark's business platform, which we discussed in an earlier article. The platform allows any developer to use Outspark's registration, billing, and community functionality, as well as list the game on Outspark's portal. They like to call it "marketing-in-a-virtual-box," and if that approach is enough to attract EA, then it most certainly will be drawing the eye of many other, perhaps more mainstream, MMO developers.
Tracking the iPhone hype generator
Fortune's Apple 2.0 got a nice little graph up of just where and when the iPhone's hype machine went into overdrive. There's no question it was a gigantic brand last year, but what's interesting is just how manufactured and "by design" each of those spikes are. B on the chart above is the actual iPhone launch, and E and F are the 3G debut and store launch. Fortune relates point A to the Cisco lawsuit against Apple over the "iPhone" name, but let's be real: that was just part of the story of the gigantic iPhone reveal (which took place one day before, not two). So the real story here isn't necessarily that Apple masterfully created a smartphone that revolutionized the industry and made tons of money doing it, but that they coordinated a hype machine that marched to their tune whenever they wanted. The red line above, as you can see, is Palm, and while there are a few spikes along that line (probably interest in various new products and releases), there's nothing like the excitement and hype that shoots up around a big Apple event. The iPhone is a feat of engineering in itself, but the hype machine behind it is pretty well-built, too.
WotLK cinematic rumored to debut at Leipzig's Games Convention
As reported by WoW Insider, the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic that was originally predicted for BlizzCon may surface during the Leipzig Games Convention instead. According to WI, multiple sources are reporting that this first look at the cinematic will be shown on August 21st at 1pm.If you're planning to attend, this is certainly an added bonus as one of the millions anticipating more on the World of Warcraft expansion. If you didn't already have tickets for the Games Convention though, this might be the motivation you've needed. Keep your eyes glued here and over at WoW Insider for more information on Leipzig as it develops. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Resistance 2 details, gameplay revealed on last night's GameTrailers TV
Don't get your hopes up -- the above video isn't particularly fresh or tantalizing, though watching Geoff Keighley get repeatedly shot down by Ted Price, president of Insomniac Games, is rather entertaining. If you're looking for new gameplay videos and information on the sequel to the PS3's well-received launch title, you'll have to watch the entirety of last night's episode of GameTrailers TV, as the individual nuggets of new information about the game have yet to be compartmentalized into easily digestible clips.There's some interesting gameplay footage spliced throughout the episode, but for those of you who don't have 22 minutes to kill, you can check out chapters one and two for details about the single player campaign, chapter three for new info about mutliplayer, and chapter four for new characters and weapons. We imagine there's enough footage of Keighley getting the silent treatment from Price to fill up at least seventeen additional chapters.
i-mate's JAQ3 heading stateside
Barely two weeks after i-mate's JAQ3 got previewed, and just a single day after some other firms caught the smartphone blues, the now-dull looking device is headed to American shores. Presumably hoping to grab the business of those who just can't wait for an iPhone, our textual begging was apparently heard, as now we US lads can get a little JAQ in us, too. As expected, this Window Mobile 5-powered device will sport a full QWERTY keyboard, massive D-pad for navigating those menus, 802.11b/g, two-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch touchscreen LCD, 128MB of onboard ROM, 64MB of RAM, a microSD slot, and four hours of reported talk time to boot. You'll also find quad-band GSM and Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP) connectivity, EDGE, and a side-mounted scroll wheel for one-handed navigatin'. So if the nicely-featured JAQ3 was everything (keyword: was) you wanted in a smartphone, you can rethink your decision to pick one up when they land here later this month.
PS3 could debut in Europe for 500 euros, says SCEE exec
La PlayStation Trois! French gamers must be familiar with that combination by now, and if a certain Sony executive gets his way, the PS3 could be appearing in Europe for as low as 500 euros this fall.Apparently George Fornay (president of Sony Computer Entertainment France and vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) confirmed to Generation Europe 1, in French, that the PS3 could be priced around the 500 euro mark, most likely between 499 euros and 599 euros. For the unfiltered French audio, try the Play button near the middle of Europe 1's podcast page here.Such an estimated figure may include Europe's Value Added Tax (VAT), so the final price range in the States might well be lower than the current U.S. currency equivalent of roughly $600-$725 for those many euros. Of course, who's to say whether Mr. Fornay was simply speculating on a local podcast or whether he actually exhibited loose lips before the French press?[Thanks, Fan; also via Joystiq]
