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europe posts

Palm Pre cameo on Dutch carrier Hi's website much ado about nothing, says spokesman

by Ross Miller, posted Jul 5th 2009 at 2:01PM

Alright, move along folks, nothing to see here. Remember that Palm Pre support page that showed up on Dutch provider Hi's website? Seems like that'd indicative a possible future collaboration, but according to a spokesman for KPN (of which Hi is a part), it's all a misunderstanding. While not meant for public viewing at this time, the page in question was apparently intended to explain what settings you'd need for using a Hi SIM card, whether you got the device from them or via another provider. Still seems fishy, if you ask us. Of course, he added the company is very interested in the Pre (as if we thought otherwise), but that nothing's been announced at this time anywhere in Europe. Let's just hope that rumored UK announcement pans out this week, and maybe the rest of the continent will follow suit.

[Thanks, Wesley]

Video: Palm Pre caught playing with GSM SIM in Vietnam

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 7:12AM

Having the Palm Pre on Sprint might be good for Americans driving their pick 'em up trucks down the CDMA data highway, but it doesn't do Europeans (or Palm's bottom line) any good over in the Old World. Now we've got video and images of a GSM-loving Palm Pre on the loose in Vietnam. Why 'Nam? Easy, as workers gain more rights and higher wages in China, manufacturers of all our fancy consumer electronics are heading further south in search of cheap labor. While this doesn't mean a damn thing regarding launch, it's still good to see a functioning GSM Pre in the wild on the way to launch sometime before the end of the year, possibly sooner. Video after the break, as the saying goes.

[Thanks, Enzo]

Continue reading Video: Palm Pre caught playing with GSM SIM in Vietnam

Nokia, Apple, RIM and others agree on micro-USB phone charger standard for Europe

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 29th 2009 at 8:15AM

While the free-market works pretty well when, uh, left alone to be free, sometimes it needs a push from a visible hand. Case in point, phone chargers; at the moment some 30 different types of chargers are used with handsets throughout Europe. Today, the European Commission received industry backing of its phone charger standard that relies on a micro-USB socket. The standard is now backed by all the majors (representing 90% of the European mobile market) including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments with compatible devices starting to appear in Europe next year. Or course, the micro-USB charger standard already has the blessings of CTIA, OMTP, and GSM Association which implies a broader adoption beyond Europe, someday. One charger for any mobile phone... where's the catch?

Cello Electronics intros HDTV that records to SD cards

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 24th 2009 at 8:59AM

We'll go ahead and hurt the feelings of those in Asia, North America and the Cook Islands: this here set is bound for the European market only (for now, anyway), but hey, at least we know the technology is here. Over in the UK, one Cello Electronics has issued the first HDTV that records OTA (Freeview) content directly to an SD card, giving users an easy option for shuffling recorded content to portable players. The set itself boasts twin TV tuners, a built-in EPG, split-screen functionality and an integrated DVD player; as for sizes, you'll find it in 22-, 26- and 32-inch flavors. Sadly, you'll be stuck with "just" 1,440 x 900 pixels and no HDMI socket, but those who couldn't care less can take ownership starting next month for TBD, £399.99 ($661) or £469.99 ($777) in order of mention.

Update: Cello pinged us to say that all three models do indeed have HDMI sockets. The larger two have a pair, while the 22-incher has one.

Windows 7 E coming to Europe without Internet Explorer

by Ross Miller, posted Jun 11th 2009 at 10:11PM

Likely being mindful of the ever-watchful eye of the European Union, Microsoft's announced its Euro version of Windows 7, affectionately and officially dubbed Windows 7 E, will not come packaged with Internet Explorer, or any other browser for that matter. Of course that's not the whole story, as OEMs will be provided free copies of IE8 to bundle themselves alongside / instead of other browser options, and consumers can pick up their own copies via CD, FTP, or retail channels. This is undoubtedly in response to the antitrust cases the EU keeps throwing Microsoft's way, and while we wouldn't be surprised to see it end up on almost every European computer sold, we do wonder if this will at all speed up IE's already rapidly diminishing share in the war of web browsers.

New Toshiba Satellite laptops land in Europe

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 9th 2009 at 2:54PM

Toshiba's added a couple new Satellite laptops into the mix, with options for both the road warrior and the stay-at-home multimedia user. First, the A500: this guy sports a 16-inch, 16:9 format display (1366 x 768), a TV-tuner for both analog and digital DVB-T programming, Harman Kardon speakers and HDMI ports with REGZA LINK technology. Under the hood, this guy packs an Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB memory, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD GPU (up to 1GB DDR3 VRAM), and either a 500GB HDD or 64GB SSD. For those of you on the ultra-portable tip, the U500 is a 13.3-inch (16:10 format, 1280 x 800) ultraportable that weighs in at just under 4.5 pounds. With an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8 GB memory, a hard disk capacity of up to 500GB, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 GPU, this bad boy is available in Brown Luxe, with either chrome or silver accents. Claimed battery life is over 3.5 hours. Both lappies feature a DVD Super Multi drive, wide format HD webcam, multi-touch trackpad, and the usual host of connectivity options (WLAN, Bluetooth 2.1, 5-in-1 media card slot). Both will be available in Europe sometime this July for €699 (approx. $975).

Read - Toshiba Satellite U500 with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
Read - Toshiba Satellite A500 by 16 inches

BMW's Emergency Stop Assistant halts your vehicle if you can't

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 8th 2009 at 9:58AM

While it may seem as if BMW and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany just hate seniors, we kind of doubt that's the prevailing mentality behind the admittedly brilliant Emergency Stop Assistant. Said technology is being testing as part of the Smart Senior project, and in theory, it will be able to detect medical emergencies, activate hazard lights and autonomously pull the car over safely if the driver cannot. Of course, we're still anxiously awaiting details on how the system plans on detecting said calamities and figuring out how to pull over without crashing, but one thing's for sure: OnStar just got a lot more outdated.

Sony Cyber-shot W180 and W190 cameras feature awesome digital zooms

by Thomas Ricker, posted May 28th 2009 at 3:41AM

Sony just announced a pair of Cyber-shot cameras in Europe. Both offer Sony's smile shutter technology, 3x zoom stabilized with SteadyShot, 2.7-inch LCD, a claimed ISO 3200 sensitivity, and 7 automatic scene selection modes. The W180, though, has a 10.1 megapixel sensor to the 12.1 megapixels of the W190 (pictured). Oddly, Sony's pushing the 17x/18x digital zoom capabilities on these -- something we haven't seen hyped for a few years:

Pristine picture quality is further enhanced by the high-quality 3x optical zoom lens. Smart zoom boosts maximum magnification to a frame-filling 18x for W190 and 17x for W180 for even more dramatic close-ups.

In other words, these cams are targeting entry-level consumers prone to enjoying a Big Mac and tattle-rag while shopping instead of doing any real pre-purchase research. Available starting July in silver, black, and red for "an outstanding value." Backside front, after the break.

Continue reading Sony Cyber-shot W180 and W190 cameras feature awesome digital zooms

Investigators demonstrate Nokia 1100's criminal potential

by Ross Miller, posted May 22nd 2009 at 3:01AM

In case you weren't already convinced of a certain model of Nokia 1100's hackability by the exponential surge in its aftermarket value, fraud investigation firm Ultrascan has successfully recreated a virtual bank heist by reprogramming one of the devices to receive another phone number's text messages. Using this trick, shady characters in fancy suits can get your mobile transaction authentication number -- provided you live in a country like Germany or Holland that use mTANs -- and use it to get into your bank account and transfer funds. They'd also need your account name and password, mind you, but obtaining that data isn't nearly as complex when there's plenty of people clicking on the wrong emails and signing into fake website with all those deets and the associated digits. It all sounds a bit like the stuff of crime novels, doesn't it? And before you go running to eBay with that 1100 you stashed away in a drawer years ago, please note that it only works if the candybar was produced at a very specific plant in Bochum, Germany.

Panasonic's Class 10 SDHC cards make the wait for SDXC easier

by Darren Murph, posted May 21st 2009 at 7:02AM

A full 15 months after Panasonic dropped jaws with its 32GB Class 6 SDHC card, the company is hitting us up with another world's first. Announced today over in Europe, the outfit has revealed a new line of SDHC memory cards that boast a Class 10 speed rating. Said spec was recently given the green light as part of the SD Card Specification v3.0, and as you could likely surmise, the increase in transfer rates should enable the cards to better handle all that HD video your DSLR seems to be capturing these days. Still, the boost is relatively minimal (particularly compared to the forthcoming SDXC format), with Class 10 promising maximum speeds of 22MB/sec and Class 6 cards already offering top-end rates of 20MB/sec. Mum's the word on price, but Panny expects these to ship next month in the UK before heading to other markets sometime later.

Asus Eee PC T91 reviewed in the UK: "genuinely moves things forwards" for netbook market

by Ross Miller, posted May 18th 2009 at 10:34PM

Asus' Eee PC T91 has gotten its first review ahead of the reported late May / early June UK launch, and those cats at TechRadar seem quite smitten with the swivel-proficient touchscreen netbook. Battery life is said to be solid, though points are deducted for not being replaceable. Some issues with the resistive touchscreen also plagued the pre-production model, and while the company assures those kinks are being worked out, we can't help but worry they'll invariably still find their way into the finished product, and that glossy display will no doubt keep the memories of fingerprints long after you want it to. Despite these concerns, the review gives much love for the overall performance, video playback, build quality, and keyboard. At £449 ($688), it ain't the cheapest option on the market, but we do appreciate Asus straying a bit from its tried and true netbook formula. Now how about news on a stateside release, eh?

METROBuddy electric car debuts, kind of resembles a mail van

by Darren Murph, posted May 14th 2009 at 8:52PM

Looking from behind, one might assume that the METROBuddy is an electric car with style. Unfortunately, those hopes are dashed when peeking the whole whip from the side, as you suddenly become overwhelmed with hints of USPS mail van, garbage truck and a rather large protractor. Design gripes aside, our good pals over at AutoblogGreen were able to sneak a peek at the bantam automobile, which supposedly packs a range of around 50 to 75 miles on a full charge. There's been no mention yet of a price or global release (don't get your hopes up on the latter), but feel free to have a better look around in the vid just past the break.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

Continue reading METROBuddy electric car debuts, kind of resembles a mail van

Intel fined record $1.45 billion in AMD antitrust case

by Thomas Ricker, posted May 13th 2009 at 5:32AM

The verdict is in and it's huge. As expected, the EU is fining Intel a record €1.06 billion or $1.45 billion (Billion!) dollars due to violations of antitrust rules in Europe. The record fine surpasses that of the €497 million fine originally levied against Microsoft. The EU ruled that Intel illegally used hidden rebates to squeeze rivals out of the marketplace for CPUs. In a statement issued by European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, the EC said,

Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years.

Intel was ordered to cease the illegal practices immediately and has three months from the notification of the decision to pay up. Of course, Intel will appeal and this will drag the litigation on for years as did Microsoft. Regardless, we'll bet that AMD, who raised the complaint against Intel back in 2000, will be celebrating come dawn in Sunnyvale.

Update: Intel has issued a formal response to the ruling saying that the commission "is wrong and ignores the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor marketplace," and that its practices have caused, "absolutely zero harm to consumers." Oh, and it will <gasp> appeal the decision. Hurrah for corporate lawyers!

[Via Canada.com]

EU expected to rule against Intel in AMD antitrust case: Microsoft points, afraid to laugh

by Thomas Ricker, posted May 11th 2009 at 3:57AM

There are many tried and true methods for beating your competition in the free-market. Product innovation seems to work as does a proprietary ecosystem of peripherals, media, and services that keep customers locked-in for life. Or you can take Intel's approach: pay computer makers and retailers "to postpone or cancel" products containing CPUs from AMD, Intel's chief rival. That's the allegation it faces in the EU which, according to Reuters, has completed its antitrust investigation and is preparing to announce its decision on Wednesday. According to Reuters' sources, the European Commission will fine Intel for the violations discovered over the last eight years and order changes to Intel's business practices. It remains to be seen if the related fine exceeds the $655 million levied against Microsoft in 2004. But given the EU's distaste for anti-competitive practices, we're not expecting Intel to get off easy -- self-proclaimed "rock star" status or not.

Sony debuts connected BRAVIA Z5500 LCD HDTV line

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 30th 2009 at 8:39AM

And the hits just keep on comin'. Shortly after Sony introduced its connected BRAVIA W-Series to the world, in flies yet another trio: the Z5500 line. Arriving in 40-inch, 46-inch and 52-inch models, the set boasts Motionflow 200Hz technology, DLNA certification, the outfit's BRAVIA Engine 3, its own 'draw the LINE' design concept, a 1080p panel and a CI Plus interface, which only those parked overseas will truly understand. Furthermore, there's an integrated MPEG-4/AVC HD tuner, BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC), an auto shut-off function, a dedicated 'Energy Saving Switch' and -- for the first time -- AppliCast. If you're curious, the latter feature enables users to access a range of online services (RSS feeds and all sorts of other widgets) via the built-in Ethernet jack. Sony didn't bother to share a price, release date or any hope of a US debut, but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled.

[Via TrustedReviews]