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Zune HD International launch hopes crushed by Microsoft, others raised

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 11th 2009 at 3:08AM

Don't be sad. We know it hurts but that's what happens when your emotions exceed reason. The Zune HD will be a US exclusive when it goes on sale September 15th just as it was when the original Zune brownie went on sale back in November 2006. Here's what Microsoft told Ars:

"For the time being the Zune HD device will remain US only. Right now we are focused on deploying an exciting service in the form of Zune Video to 18 markets. We are looking at potential future hardware experiences for these markets, but do not have anything to announce right now."

Plenty of fodder for conspiracy types here. First, that means Canada is out, even though older Zune models are already on sale there. But the words "for the time being" leave plenty of wiggle room for an international launch window. And what does Microsoft mean by the generically phrased, "future hardware experiences?" Are they referring to a Zune service destined to "transcend Zune the device" later this year? Perhaps. One thing is clear: consumers are far more excited about the Zune HD than the original -- especially now that Apple's cat is out of the bag. Microsoft could be leaving a ton of money on the table if they don't go global, quick.

[Thanks, Safir]

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 spills loads of Linux-laced screenshots

by Darren Murph posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 5:51PM

Yeah, we've seen our fair share of glimpses at Garmin-ASUS' nüvifone G60, but with the Linux-based phone just weeks away from shipping over in the Far East, these last minute looks are becoming all the more tantalizing. A reviewer over in Malaysia managed to spend a bit of quality time with the handset, and while he's still waiting for his official review unit, he managed to snag a litany of screenshots that gives us a fantastic idea of what to expect from a user interface perspective. We have to say -- we kind of dig the whimsical look at a glance, but it makes us wonder just how serious of a smartphone this thing really is. With Android already out, does this UI look like it has the chops to compete? Hit the read link and let us know.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

Universal mirrors: more useful, less fun than carnival mirrors

by Darren Murph posted Jul 20th 2009 at 6:33AM

You know those invisibility cloaks scientists have been struggling to master for decades? This here is said cloak's perfect opposite, and it's bending our minds in ways you can hardly fathom. Ulf Leonhardt, a professor at the University of St. Andrews, has worked with a brilliant team of scientists in order to construct what he calls a universal mirror, or if we're being proper, an omnidirectional retroreflector. Unlike conventional mirrors which simply reflect objects at 90 degrees, this concoction reflects objects back at any angle. In other words, a device such as this would make aircraft, boats and satellites entirely easier to track with radar, but it'll have to mature quite a bit before it's ready for that kind of action. The current build is just a single centimeter high and ten centimeters in diameter, and as with invisibility cloaks, the main ingredient here is metamaterials that we won't pretend to fully understand. Just one word of caution, boffins -- don't let Geek Squad get ahold of this stuff.

[Image courtesy of Barbara Rich, thanks JR]

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 and G60 shipping to Singapore in August

by Darren Murph posted Jul 17th 2009 at 9:33PM

After a patently absurd amount of delays, it actually feels like the Garmin-ASUS nüvifone tandem is approaching a proper launch. Whether or not anyone actually cares anymore, however, remains to be seen. Across the sea over in Malaysia, one particularly lucky soul seems to have stumbled upon both the Linux-based nüvifone G60 and the WinMo-powered nüvifone M20, and he claims that both handsets will be shipping en masse to the region "within 30 days." Best of all, that totally jibes with what we've heard directly from Garmin today, which has informed us that the smartphone will be in Singaporean stores in August, with a few other Asian nations seeing it in late July. Now, if only North Americans could look forward to the same...

Video: RB2000 featured in new, improved Robo Catcher

by Darren Murph posted May 22nd 2009 at 8:33AM

Ah, a childhood favorite revisited. Years back, our hearts were taken by the one and only Robo Catcher, and now it seems the famed toy snatching game has seen a revamping that features JR Robotics' RB2000 as the main grabber. The entire unit has also been freshened up in the design department, and the addition of a joystick control system brings it up to speed with all of its "just a claw game" rivals. Hop on past the break for a look at what you're missing out on here in the states.

Continue reading Video: RB2000 featured in new, improved Robo Catcher

MSI readying 14-inch X-Slim X400 laptop

by Darren Murph posted May 4th 2009 at 2:02AM

Ruh roh -- looks like MSI's about to pull an ASUS. While the introduction of a few good X-Slim laptops is find and dandy, we're already starting to lose count of 'em. Aside from the X320, X340 and X600, the outfit is apparently readying a 14-inch variant that will be tagged X400. The news was outed at a company event over in Japan this weekend, and while details outside of the diagonal screen size were short, we can probably expect it to hum along on a CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) chipset and be just as sexy as its more diminutive counterparts. If we were betting folks, we'd probably expect an official specifications sheet to hit just in time for Computex. Right, MSI?

Asus' EeePC 1003HAG equips WWAN, ventures forth on NTT DoCoMo's FOMA network

by Ross Miller posted Apr 28th 2009 at 2:44AM

Following in the footsteps of past Eee PC's like the 901, ASUS' Japanese-bound 1003HAG boasts an internal wireless WAN module and supports NTT DoCoMo's FOMA network with 7.2Mbps on the downlink. For a more local connection, there's 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. As for the rest of the hardware, it's pretty much netbook status quo: a 1-inch WSVGA screen, Intel Atom N280, 1GB RAM, integrated graphics, 160GB HDD, and an apparent 4.3-hour battery life. Price is 69,800 yen (US $722) and launch date is May 16th -- that should give you plenty of time to figure out if you want the black, white, or pink version.

[Via Engadget Japan]

Nokia's Comes With Music service plans world tour

by Darren Murph posted Jan 20th 2009 at 3:01AM

Nokia's all-you-can-eat Comes With Music service has been humming along quite nicely across the pond, but until now, we've been left in the dark about its plans for world domination. No more, as a recent Reuters report has it that the unlimited music service should be headed to Australia, Asia and Singapore later this quarter and Latin America / USA sometime this year. We're also told that more corners of Europe should get served in the future, though no window of time was handed out there. It should be interesting to see if any carriers jump in to subsidize these, but our gut feeling says they'll be sold for a premium unlocked at your nearest Nokia flagship.

[Via UnwiredView]

iPhone nano now rumored for June, Unicorn delayed again until September

by Joshua Topolsky posted Jan 13th 2009 at 12:57PM

Ready for more iPhone nano rumors? Good, because apparently the Chinese trade paper Economic Daily News is now reporting that Taiwan Semiconductor Company (TSMC) will be handling chip manufacturing for a low-cost device being referred to as... you guessed it: the iPhone nano. While the paper has a fairly good reputation, it is filtered through the lens of DigiTimes on our end, so as usual, take it with the required grain of salt. Still, the source is calling a June launch of the handset on the heels of an order for the components in March. The time frame is reasonable enough, and if history is any lesson here, Apple loves to intro iPhones in the Summer. Given that China has yet to see a deal for the iPhone proper, and a lower-cost entry may be perfectly tuned for vast Asian markets, the nano could gather in a whole new fold of users (and the smaller screen would be less of an issue given the need for character recognition). That theory falls in line with statements from analysts, though as always, putting too much stock in any of this speculation could be hazardous to your health. Just ask Steve Jobs.

[Via AppleInsider]

Three of four undersea internet cables get cut, hasn't affected you yet

by Darren Murph posted Dec 19th 2008 at 3:30PM

So, there's good news and bad news, and per tradition, we'll be starting with the latter. Three of four undersea cables that route internet traffic from Asia to North America have inexplicably been cut, meaning that your international Quake III server may be a bit slow this evening. The good news is that this fiasco clearly hasn't affected you yet. The AP has confirmed via Egypt's communications ministry that the cables have indeed been severed, causing massive outages in select portions of the world. Oddly, no suspicions of subterfuge have been mentioned, but we have all ideas rumors will start to swirl if another gets snipped. So, tell us readers -- are you still online? Wait, don't answer that.

[Via ZDNet]

Chinese pirates offering cheap AVCHD Blu-ray rips on disguised DVD-Rs

by Darren Murph posted Nov 17th 2008 at 6:26AM

Just last week we heard that Warner Bros. was ending its home video / DVD business in South Korea due to rampant piracy, and now we've got a report from China suggesting that sophisticated pirates are duping buyers with faux Blu-ray Discs that are actually DVDs. As the story goes, movie pirates in select parts of Asia are ripping bona fide BDs and then burning them in AVCHD format (which uses 720 horizontal lines of resolution compared to Blu-ray's 1,080) on writable DVDs. Word on the street has it that these discs are being offered for around $7 each, and they even boast the BD hologram and the iconic blue hues on the packaging. Reportedly, none of the discs have made it outside of Asia just yet, but stay sharp should you ever get the urge to snag a discounted BD title while traveling abroad.

[Image courtesy of UberGizmo]

Ask Engadget: What gadget(s) to get on my one trip to Asia?

by Darren Murph posted Sep 25th 2008 at 9:29PM

We'll be honest -- Dave has run into a magnificent problem to have, but it's still an issue in need of an answer. And before you get too engrossed, may we remind you that you can send in questions of your own to ask at engadget dawt com.

"I live in Canada and have relatives visiting Taiwan in the near future. What hawt Asia-only, non-igloo-related gadget should I ask them to grip for me? Thanks!"

We're going to take the liberty of expanding this question to involve all of Asia, given that quite a few others are probably headed to Akihabara in the foreseeable future. So, what's the best gizmos(s) to pick up if heading over to the other side for what may be the first and last time ever?

Fujitsu Asia Pacific intros the L1010

by Joshua Topolsky posted Sep 7th 2008 at 3:25PM

Like your laptops available in soft, colorful tones? Looking for something a bit entry level? Fujitsu may have just the thing for you. The company has just introduced its L1010 mid-priced laptop (in Asia, at least), and it looks like just the right thing if you're not trying to break the bank or win friends and influence others. The L1010 packs a Core 2 Duo CPU atop the PM45/GM45 Express Chipset, a 1280 x 800, 14.1-inch LCD display, an NVIDIA 9300M GS graphics card with 256MB of RAM, WiFi, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, and HDMI outs. The laptops come in white and pink gold, black, turquoise blue, pink and purple color configurations, though the press release somehow fails to make mention of RAM or hard drive options. Fujitsu is mum on price and release date, but we'd say not too expensive, and fairly soon.

[Via iTech News Net]

Samsung's U4 pocket DAP launching in Asia-Pacific next month

by Darren Murph posted Jul 15th 2008 at 11:19PM

If you've been resisting the urge to believe that Samsung's U4 was more than just a figment of someone's untamed imagination, we've got just one question for you: why? The inevitable has finally happened, with the pocket-friendly DAP getting official half a world away. The unit will boast an OLED display, touch-sensitive buttons and 2GB or 4GB of internal storage. Reportedly, these critters will be available on August 7th in the Asia-Pacific region for S$89 ($66) / S$129 ($96) depending on capacity, though we aren't sure yet what they'll sell for when they (hopefully) make the trip Stateside.

Sony unveils four E-Series 3LCD projectors in Asia-Pacific

by Darren Murph posted Mar 13th 2008 at 4:34PM

If you reckoned that Sony's VPL-EX4 and VPL-ES4 were getting a bit long in the tooth, we suppose Sony agrees. Across the way (in Asia-Pacific, to be precise), Sony has launched four new PJs on us: the VPL-EW5, VPL-EX50, VPL-EX5 and VPL-ES5. According to the company, the whole lot is aimed at boardroom masters, but these 3LCD units and their 2,500 ANSI lumens would certainly hold their own after hours. Additionally, the first three incorporate Sony's BrightEra imaging technology, and you'll find resolutions as high as WXGA (1,280 x 800) and contrast ratios up to 900:1. For more specifics on each, check out the nitty-gritty in the read link below.

[Via AboutProjectors]