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Pure's Evoke Flow, Oasis Flow and Siesta Flow internet radios finally on sale in America
Um, misfire? That's exactly what has happened with Pure's lineup of internet radios, which were supposed to ship to the US of A way back in July. Turns out, the crew hit a few snags along the way, but it looks as if the Evoke Flow, Oasis Flow and Siesta Flow will still be making it in time for the holidays. The company just announced that the aforesaid trio really, truly is on sale now in America, with all three shipping to eager radio zealots right now. Better still (and possibly to make up for lost time), the outfit is offering a 15 percent discount and free shipping for all orders placed before next Monday. Candidly speaking, we'd expect to see a cadre of successors in just a few weeks as CES kicks off, but if you've got an empty box that needs filled and wrapped...
Panasonic debuts new line of Viera Pure TVs with color-changing finish
We can't say that a luminescent color-changing finish is among our top concerns when shopping for a new TV, but if it's high on your list (or is now), you might want to consider one of Panasonic's new Viera Pure LCDs, which promise to change color slightly depending on the lighting the room. In addition to that standout feature, you'll also get side LED backlighting on all four models (19, 22, 32, and 37-inch), plus an a built-in iPod dock on the two smaller TVs, and Panasonic's own Viera Cast service (complete with Skype) on the two larger models. Unfortunately, there's no word on a release over here just yet, but all four are apparently available in Europe immediately, and start at £400 (or just over $600). Head on past the break for the full press release.
Pure's FlowSongs to rival iTunes tagging, won't be limited to select stations
For whatever reason, iTunes tagging never really has taken off. One could chalk it up to soft marketing or just a limited number of supported devices and stations, but either way, it seems that consumers have far more efficient ways to find music they like than to hear 'em on the radio, tag 'em, and download 'em later. Over in the UK, though, Pure is going ahead with a full-on competitor, as FlowSongs offers select Pure Digital radios (Avanti Flow, the Evoke Flow, the Oasis Flow, the Siesta Flow and the Sensia) to connect with the 7digital network in order to mark songs, purchase them for around £1 each and then have them streamed via one's Lounge account and to as many compatible Pure radios as you'd like. Songs that are found via DAB, FM or internet stations can be tagged, and all downloads are completely free of DRM. Better still, the "vast majority" of tracks will be encoded at 320kbps, though you will have to stomach a minor £2.99 yearly fee in order to pay for the Shazam portion of the service. It's all slated to go live on Monday across the pond, and you can give those links below a visit if you're thirsty for more.
Pure's stylish internet radio lineup ships to America on July 1st
Pure has long since been a stranger to the US market, despite shipping some of the sexiest internet radios this planet has ever seen. The company announced back at CES that all of that would be changing in the near future, but it wasn't until now that we had specifics surrounding the whos, whats, wheres and whens. The Evoke Flow, Oasis Flow and Seista Flow will all be available for purchase in the United States of America on the first of July, with MSRPs set for $229, $249 and $139 in order of mention. Initially, they'll be available only through Pure's website, though we get the impression that brick-and-mortar distribution is only a moment or two away. Check the full press release after the break, and be sure to jot down this here date in your handy dandy date book, cool?
Microsoft One and Two Project Pink phones appear in Verizon database? (updated)
What's this? Two devices apparently of Microsoft origin in Verizon's database prefixed by MSONE and MSTWO on the eve of Microsoft's big presser -- an event widely thought (and even announced) to be the unveiling of Project Pink. We're also seeing Sharp, the Sidekick manufacturer named on the Turtle and Pure looking handsets that passed through the FCC. Really though, "One" and "Two?" Surely those words are just placeholders awaiting today's event before getting properly named, right? Who knows... when you're believed to be launching a competing platform against your own Windows Phone 7 OS while simultaneously keeping the WinMo 6.x dreams alive for businesses, hell, anything goes. Update: 9 to 5 Mac is suggesting that the actual retail names of the devices will be Kin. As in next of, as in family. Since the company has an event in just a few hours, we'll obviously know for certain very soon, but it does look likely given the use of Kin in the listing above.
Microsoft Pink livestream page offers glimpse of Turtle, Pink name changing at launch
Man, Microsoft is not even trying to be coy with its Pink launch tomorrow -- these happy and attractive young people pictured on the livestream page are clearly being delighted by the "Turtle" portrait slider that keeps leaking all over the place. Or maybe they're just stoked they can use SanDisk microSD cards with it -- that's how the kids react to removable storage nowadays, right? In other news, Reuters says the phones won't actually be called Pink, and that they're likely scheduled to ship this summer, so that's something, we suppose. Honestly, we just don't know what Microsoft is going to offer here that'll be more attractive to teens than Windows Phone 7 -- we're still hoping to be wowed tomorrow, but we've got a suspicion we'll just be confused and sad. Which isn't a bad way to market something to teens, we suppose. Microsoft Pink: it's like having bad feelings. P.S.- If you squint just right, that dude totally looks like a young Bill Gates. He also loves cuddles.
New Flip cams to launch in early April?
The details are slim to none on this one, but we're all about a good pocket cam rumor. According to the usually-reliable Business Insider Cisco will launch a new set of Flip camcorders around the NAB show which runs from April 12-15, but we don't have any specs yet. Come on Cisco, now you've got us guessing not only about the future of the Internet, but also if your newest Flip will support 1080p. Told you we didn't know much, but we'll obviously be keeping an eye out for more.
LG shows off Cookie Music, Viewty Smile, other goodies to Dutch press
Unwilling or unable to wait for the next major trade show (CTIA in two weeks), LG showed off a king's ransom worth of new devices to a bunch of journos in the Netherlands this week; most of it appears to be pretty low-end fare, but there were a few notables in the lot. First up, the Cookie Music extends the Cookie brand with Dolby Mobile tech on board (something LG's been doing pretty frequently lately), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a tweaked design that looks a little more futuristic than Cookies of old. Viewty was starting to feel like a forgotten marque, but not so -- we've now got a GT400 Viewty Smile here featuring a 5 megapixel cam and scratch-resistant display. As QWERTY dumbphones go, we'd thought that the GT350 was the KS360's true successor, but not so -- there's a new KS365 in the mix with revised styling but seemingly very little in the way of upgraded specs. The rest of the lot looks like pretty forgettable stuff -- and seeing how LG operates, they'll all be forgotten and replaced with revised models within a few months' time anyhow. You know, Circle of Life and all.
Leak: Microsoft Pink phones coming to Verizon, on shelves April 20th?
Details on Microsoft's Pink phones seem to be leaking all over the place this week, and we just got a huge piece of the puzzle: an extremely reliable source just told us the two Sharp-made devices will launch exclusively on Verizon, with a possible street date of April 20th. We've also got two more photos of the Pure and Turtle -- which are legit, as far as we can tell -- and some info on the Pink ad campaign, which will indeed be targeted at teens and twentysomethings and centered around that "truly madly deeply" line Microsoft employees have been tossing around lately. (Sort of explains that 4/20 launch date, right?) Whether any of this is good enough to overcome the fact that Pink seems to be a limited featurephone platform launching into a world of cheap smartphones remains to be seen, but this thing is definitely happening. New pic of the Turtle after the break. Update: We've just heard that Pink will be coming to Vodafone internationally as well -- which explains why we've heard of both CDMA and GSM variants of the two devices.
Project Pink QWERTY slider 'Pure' found in the wild, headed for Verizon?
There's a lot of rumbling in Project Pink land today, as Microsoft is seemingly nearing that magical time where its much-leaked Sidekick followup can finally see the light of day. First off, we're hearing from a tipster that the phones (we've seen 'Turtle' and 'Pure' so far) will be exclusive to Verizon, at least at the outset -- makes sense, given the CDMA radios we saw at the FCC. He calls the UI "hectic and colorful," and also says that there's still some serious cloud backup reliance, along with some desktop software to sync up with the cloud as well, and data plans that including a certain quantity of app downloads a month. This is all fine and exciting, but it's helped along by a couple of image leaks. Conflipper, well known among the xda-dev crowd, is teasing the Twitter world with some screenshots of the emergency dialer (which also mention Verizon Wireless), and a Facebook upload from the device, which can be found in the gallery below. The dialer is about as barebones as it gets right now, but there's a bit of a hint of Windows Phone 7 Series in there to be sure. Finally, Gizmodo hit upon the hardware jackpot with a Mr. Blurrycam capture of the bigscreen 'Pure' QWERTY slider (pictured up above). If you really squint your eyes you can make out some of that "hectic and colorful" UI we're hearing about. %Gallery-87393%
Pure flips onto Games on Demand
Black Rock's stuntastic, straight out the plastic (NSFW) ATV racer Pure has vaulted onto the Games on Demand service. The price of admission into Pure's amusement park of big ramps and bigger air will set you back $19.99. Not sure if that's worth it. Check out the demo through Xbox Live. And, now that we're on the subject, could someone undo the supposed cancellation of Pure 2? Thanks! Shortcut: Add Pure to your download queue [Xbox.com]
Microsoft's 'Turtle' and 'Pure' phones linked to Tegra chipset, expected in both GSM and CDMA varieties
They might not have been revealed at MWC, but that doesn't mean the news flow on Microsoft's long-rumored Pink phones needs to stop. Following the FCC entries that hinted at the future character of these devices, we now have word of an industrious hacker getting hold of the firmware for both the Turtle and Pure handsets. According to his data, the Turtle (believed to look like the square-ish creature on the left) will sport a 320 x 240 screen, while the Pure will have a more generous 480 x 320. Neither would encourage much hope for seeing these as the vanguard handsets of the Windows Phone 7 movement, but a litany of references to Premium Mobile Experiences would both confirm our earlier information and suggest that Microsoft is still going to hit us with something more than a simple feature phone. This is backed up by "a strong connection" to NVIDIA's Tegra chipset, which would be powerful enough to service the rumored video and media management capabilities. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, separate codenames of Lion and Pride have been uncovered, indicating CDMA versions of the Pure and Turtle, whose names are attached to the GSM variants of the two phones. Now if we can just get a release date, we'll be all set.
Microsoft's PB10ZU (turtle) and PB20ZU Project Pink phones outed by FCC?
Oops. Those two pics looks similar, eh? And if we're not mistaken, Microsoft's Pink phone is rumored to be made by Sharp. This wireframe for model PB10ZU just hit the FCC looking every bit the "Turtle" device that was leaked last year. Of course, seeing Sharp behind Pink is only natural since it was one of Danger's manufacturers of choice for the Sidekick -- a team wholly ingested by Microsoft a few years ago. Looking through the FCC docs we see that it's a slider with dual-band CDMA, EVDO Rev. A, Bluetooth, and 802.11b/g WiFi. We also see reference to a second model, the PB20ZU (aka, "pure"?), although that model is lacking any detail whatsoever. The tastiest of FCC docs are being withheld by request until March 29th -- right in line with a rumored spring launch. Hopefully Microsoft will have more to say about Project Pink and Windows 7 devices here in Barcelona so stay tuned. [Thanks, Jeremy F.]
Zune software references rumored Project Pink devices, a video upload service?
We weren't sure things could get any more interesting with Microsoft's mobile rumor mill, but along comes Zune Boards with some tantalizing findings in the latest Zune software update. First up is the eEndpointFamily files, which lists all the compatible hardware -- ZuneHD, for example. Also found, however, were entries for "PmxPure" and "PmxTurtle." PMX, if you recall, seems to be a reference to Microsoft's Premium Mobile eXperiences group, the remnants of the Danger acquisition who have been whispered to be working on Project Pink. As for Pure and Turtle, let's go back all the way to September 2009, when we first heard those names as the initial Pink duo -- there were some supposed renders, too. If that's not enough, two PMX table entries pointed to a snippet of text stating that "Studio members" can "View and manage pictures and videos taken with your phone at the Studio," followed by a link that for now redirects to Zune.net. Could the mysterious Project Pink and the oft-rumored "Zune phone" be one in the same, with some "Studio" service for uploading media to the cloud? Is this all some red herring perpetuated by some amused Microsoft staffers? We don't know, but it's mean to tug at our heart strings like that, Microsoft, and worse that it makes Mobile World Congress even more painful to wait for. #tmdp
Pure Oasis, Sensia and Sirocco 550 internet radios hands-on
Pure's WiFi-enabled radios are making their US debut here at CES, and we've gotten to grips with the top trio on offer. The Oasis (pictured above) is a weatherproofed, rubber-rich unit, which can resist splashes of water and go on for between 10 and 15 hours on a single charge. We agree it looks like a durable machine, but -- while it can reach some pretty high volumes -- the sound itself was predictably lacking at the furthest ends of bass and treble. Moving up in the world to the Sensia delivers a snazzier touchscreen interface with built-in Facebook and Twitter integration, but we clashed with some deal-breaking lag while using it. Finally, the top tier Sirocco 550 offers a more conventional styling to go along with a CD player (those still exist?) and an iPod / iPhone dock. Priced at $249, $349 and $449, respectively, these should all find American shelves to sing from by the middle of this year. %Gallery-82501%
Pure bursts onto US scene with five internet radios
Pure's always had a knack for crafting elegant, oftentimes unorthodox looking radios. Problem is (at least for you Yanks), they've been marketed and sold exclusively across the pond. In our humble opinion, there's no better time to change that than here at the International Consumer Electronics Show, and sure enough, Pure is making itself known on the US radar with five distinct WiFi radios. Up first is the flagship product shown above (dubbed the Sensia), which boasts a 5.7-inch touchscreen, an oval enclosure and access to the Pure Lounge -- a nifty little portal that taps into internet radio stations, Twitter and Facebook. You'll also find an auxiliary input jack and a $349 price tag, which is only topped in this lineup by the $449 Sirocco 550. Said system is much like a mini boombox, complete with the typical WiFi radio capabilities, a USB socket, iPhone / iPod compatibility, a CD player and an SD expansion slot. Moving on, there's the $139 Siesta Flow alarm clock radio, the $249 Oasis Flow -- which just so happens to be both rugged and waterproof -- and the $229 Evoke Flow that originally surfaced back in 2008. Details on actual US availability is expected to come later, though the full press releases can be found after the break right this very moment. %Gallery-81290%
Vodafone Portugal releases IPTV service for Xbox 360
Portuguese digital television service, Vodafone Casa TV, is now available to Gold members of Xbox Live. In fact, the company is even promoting a special IPTV Xbox 360 bundle there, which includes an Elite console, 12 months of subscription for Xbox Live Gold and four games -- Lego Batman, Pure, Fable 2 and Halo 3 -- all for €259 (about $375). The Vodafone Casa TV service not only lets you watch on-demand TV through your Xbox 360, but also grants Portuguese patrons the ability to access content from their set-top boxes and set times for their set-top box to record live television. While users won't be able to directly record content to their Xbox 360, they can still access certain functions of the console while streaming content, including private chat and accepting game invites. Existing Vodafone Casa TV subscribers with an Xbox 360 can snag the software for a mere €9.90. [Thanks, Assassin Monk]
GameStop's Black Friday bundles are delectable
First off, we just want to apologize in advance if this post is the catalyst that forces you to wake up at 3 a.m. on Friday morning. Sincerely, we're sorry. But we just thought you'd want to know that GameStop will be offering some mighty tasty console bundles from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving. For $300, you'll be able to pick up an Elite 360 with Pure, Lego Batman and your choice of Bakugan or Call of Duty 4, which is sort of like Sophie's Choice, if Sophie had to choose between eating delicious pie or a rusty folding chair. Those same three Benjamins will also net you a 120 GB PS3 Slim with LittleBigPlanet and the God of War collection. Now, keep in mind that our friend Cheapy D says you'll probably be just as well served getting Black Friday deals from an online retailer like Amazon. We know, we normally don't trust bald people either, but you don't have to wake up before the paperboy this way. We think the choice is pretty clear. .nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Check out Joystiq's Black Friday Game Deals Hub or jump to a retailer guide below: Best Buy | GameStop | Kmart & Sears | Target | Toys"R"Us | Walmart For more Black Friday coverage, check out Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Sales, And other Black Friday 2009 stories today from Walletpop.com
Ghostcrawler and the "hybrid tax"
Ghostcrawler has put a significant sticky up on the forums about what he calls the "hybrid tax" in terms of PvE play -- there's been some back and forth lately on the forums about hybrid classes and what they should and shouldn't be able to do, and GC wants to put any confusion about what Blizzard intends "hybrids" to be to rest. Very basically, he says that there are three roles in the game (tanking, healing, and DPS), and if a class can respec to perform a different role, it's considered a hybrid class. Otherwise, it's a "pure" class. This means a few things: pure classes, he says, should have slightly higher DPS ("all things being equal," and when does that ever happen?), because they don't have the option to switch out. There's no rule as to how much better that is, but as a tradeoff of rerolling being the only way for "pures" to switch, they get to be a little better. That's the "hybrid tax," and mages, hunters, rogues, and warlocks don't have to pay it. Hybrids, however, do, and that means that paladins, druids, priests, shamans, and to a certain extent, warriors and death knights, will in Blizzard's view never be able to equal "pure" classes in terms of DPS output, with everything else being equal. You may love your ret pally, and he may be in uber gear, but he should never be able to pour out as much damage as an equally specced and geared hunter, because you can switch to healing, and the hunter can't.
PURE's Elan II does DAB time-shifting on the go
Okay, yes, we know that domestic radio is a bit passe these days, but DAB is still kicking strong, and everybody likes portable tuners that can pause and rewind. Such is PURE's Elan II, which isn't quite as lovingly styled as the EVOKE-1S or as feature-packed as the Sensia, but it provides a cheeky '80s look and offers the company's ReVu technology, allowing 15 minutes of pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding of live radio. It'll do FM too, naturally has a line-in for your choice of PMP, and will rock out plug-free for an impressive 35 hours when you fit an optional battery pack, which looks to cost about £25. The radio itself is £99.99, and since we get no DAB love here in the States we won't bother converting those numbers into their dollar equivalents.
