Netherlands -- Engadget

netherlands posts

777 copies of Windows 7 for Seven Houses, Netherlands, says Microsoft seven times fast

by Ross Miller posted Oct 16th 2009 at 1:32AM

Not content with letting a good numeric opportunity pass it by, Microsoft Netherlands has announced that it'll be handing out up to 777 copies of Windows 7 to residents of the small town of Zevenhuizen, the name of which translates to "seven houses." The installation requirements are a bit peculiar, however, as Microsoft won't actually give you a disc, instead opting to either make you ship it to them or actually bring a technician to your house to do the dirty work. The offer isn't valid to Windows employees, those younger than 18 years, or people who use Macs or Linux machines as their primary computer -- however they prove that. Zevenhuizen residents who read Engadget (hallo!) can point their browsers to the read link for all the relevant details -- signups end tomorrow, and installations will occur from October 17th through October 23rd.

[Via Ars Technica]

Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 15th 2009 at 4:34AM

And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas.

Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm.

Gallery: Vodafone and RIM introduce the BlackBerry Storm2 Smartphone

[Thanks, James]

Read -- Press Release
Read -- Pre-order

PSP Go refused by game retailer as Blockbuster fiddles

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 16th 2009 at 8:21AM

Do you run a brick-and-mortar store that primarily sells media? Yeah? Then lean in real close, we've got a little trend that you may have overlooked. The physical media you carry -- be it films, music, or games -- is going digital and moving on-line for direct-to-consumer downloads. Still, Dutch gaming-house Nedgame has a statement on its website saying it will not be selling the UMD-less PSP Go. It lists six reasons framed in a way that makes them sound like they're fighting for the rights of the consumer. However, as a seller of gaming media that boasts two new store openings on its home page, the primary beef likely stems from the shop's inability to sell physical media to the download-only PSP Go. Maybe a search on the tag Blockbuster could help with expansion planning?

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

US, Canada, and Spain 'win' the battle for most expensive cellphone bills

by Laura June posted Aug 12th 2009 at 11:21AM

It's not the kind of thing you'll probably want to brag about winning, of course, but, according to new research conducted by the OECD, people in the US, Canada and Spain come out on the top of the heap when it comes to high cellphone bills. The research was conducted by categorizing bills into three usage categories, with the mid-range being 780 minutes per year of voice calls, and 600 SMS per year. For that amount, people in the US of A pay about $635 (the highest rate), while runners-up Spain pay just over $500. The countries with the lowest phone bills include the Netherlands and Sweden, where that same usage runs about $130. Yes, that's a huge discrepancy, alright, meaning that in the Netherlands you'd pay around $11 a month with that level of usage, while in the US the same amount will run around $53 a month. Then again, they don't get to watch "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" in the Netherlands, do they?

Update: The CTIA has issued a statement in response to the OECD's study, stating that it is, essentially, inaccurate by way or its choice of unrepresentative calling packages. The CTIA's full statement is after the break.

[Via IntoMobile]

Continue reading US, Canada, and Spain 'win' the battle for most expensive cellphone bills

Court gives Pirate Bay ten days to scuttle connection to Netherlands

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jul 30th 2009 at 3:03PM

Poor Pirate Bay, all it ever wanted to do was thumb its nose at the music and movie industries, enable software piracy for people all over the world, play cat-and-mouse games with the Swedish authorities, and maybe make a little money along the way. Now, hot on the heels of a verdict that sees four of its founders headed to prison (that is, if they don't win their appeals) three of the group have been ordered by a court in the Netherlands to block all traffic between the site and its country. If this doesn't happen in the next ten days, each of the defendants faces a charge of €30,000 ($42,000) for each day they don't comply. According to the AP, it's "not clear how the court expected the site's operators to block traffic to the site, or whether it can enforce its order if they decline," but soon it looks like the Dutch just might have to learn to buy their Rave Or Die! Mix Series CDs at the Record Exchange like the rest of us. Good luck going legit, guys!

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]

Palm Pre in cahoots with Dutch provider Hi?

by Thomas Ricker posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 4:56AM

The GSM version of Palm's Pre looks all set for a UK announcement next week on O2. Now we get this, a Pre spotted on the support site for Dutch carrier Hi in The Netherlands. Fine, but what you may not know is that O2 and Hi (part of KPN) are also deeply intertwined with Telefonica -- O2 being owned by Telefonica and KPN being an "integrated carrier" with a long history of Telefonica courtship rumors. So, putting two and two together might equal a September launch if that previous Telefonica rumor was true.

[Via Tweakers, thanks Harm H.]

E-Traction's in-wheel motor sportin' hybrid electric bus

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Mar 23rd 2009 at 12:23PM

We've seen in-wheel motors in the past, but implementing the technology is not without its share of challenges. On one hand, it's difficult to coordinate motors that have no mechanical connection to each other, while on the other hand electric motors are designed to spin much faster than the wheels, in order to generate the desired power -- adding complexity while decreasing efficiency. A company in the Netherlands called e-Traction may have those problems licked, and now they've developed a diesel-electric hybrid bus that they say offers fifty percent better fuel economy over existing diesel buses. The vehicle also employs a GPS-based system that switches off the diesel engine entirely while operating in areas with dense traffic, reducing emissions. The company has been awarded contracts to retrofit seven commercial buses with the technology, and hopes to branch out soon into garbage trucks -- because nothing says 'green' like hauling junk off to a landfill.

T-Mobile schedules the G1's European tour

by Nilay Patel posted Jan 19th 2009 at 2:54PM

So far the G1 has only been available in the US and UK, but it looks like T-Mo's about to take Android international -- we're told the HTC-made handset will hit the Netherlands, Austria, and the Czech Republic on January 30, Germany on February 2, and Poland a bit later. No detailed pricing information, but it's confirmed that Germans will be able to score a G1 for just €1 ($1.33) with a two-year contract. Hopefully we'll see that pricing make its way Stateside soon -- although the G1 is currently doing quite well at $179, $1 sounds even better.

[Via TalkAndroid]

ExoFly: Mars' first tourguide

by Stephanie Patterson posted Oct 3rd 2008 at 10:46AM

You know those insect-like micro air vehicles (MAV) we've been seeing? Well, the ExoFly aerobot is based on that camera-equipped DelFly design, only this time it's gearing up for a trip to Mars -- maybe even Titan or Venus. Turns out flapping-wing flight is perfect for the low-density Martian atmosphere. The current prototype -- weighing 17g with a wingspan of 350mm and flight time of twelve minutes -- is being tweaked for use in future missions to Mars. The folks at Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University, who've teamed up with Ursa Minor Space & Navigation, plan on increasing the weight to 20g and adding an on-board solar cell, which they reckon should extend the flight distance to 15km. There's also talk of using the digital terrain and image data gathered to simulate a 3D immersive environment for detailed analysis of extraterrestrial destinations -- hopefully viewable by those of us who don't have the billions to drop on a flight to Mars.

[Via New Scientist Space]

Continue reading ExoFly: Mars' first tourguide

Forbes: iRex to introduce 10.2-inch E-Ink Reader 1000 on Monday

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 19th 2008 at 1:51AM

If you don't like spoilers then look away, now -- seems Forbes has all the details related to iRex's 22 September announcement. The Netherlands-based group is set to release an evolved iLiad e-reader called the iRex Reader 1000. Like Plastic Logic, iRex is targeting business users with its new 10.2-inch E-Ink e-reader able to display "any file format" including PDF, Word, and HTML-rendered documents -- sorry, no video, no color. The Reader 1000 brings a stylus with touch-screen for making notes and markups for up to 80 hours on a single charge. The base Reader 1000 is boldly expected to start at $650 (compared to the $359, 6-inch Kindle). It then ramps to $750 for the writable screen version before topping out at $850 to add WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G data connection. Now get to it CIOs, we suspect you'll need some time to argue the case why some personnel require a laptop, smartphone, and e-reader to get through the day.

[Via mobileread, Thanks Spencer H.]

TeliaSonera nabs iPhone rights for Nordic and Baltic markets

by Thomas Ricker posted May 27th 2008 at 3:25AM

Ok ok, we hear you tipsters, iPhone now official for Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia "later this year" thanks to a deal between Apple and TeliaSonera. At this point, only The Netherlands seems to be out of the loop in Europe.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Netherlands goes open-source in 2008

by Thomas Ricker posted Dec 14th 2007 at 5:30AM

April 2008. That's the date when the notoriously progressive Dutch government goes open source. The plan was approved unanimously yesterday in a meeting of two parliamentary commissions. The policy dictates that government organizations at the national level must be ready to save documents in the Open Document Format (ODF) by April, and the state and local level by 2009. Use of proprietary software and file formats from the likes of Microsoft will have to be justified under the new policy. The government expects to save $8.8 million a year on city housing registers alone by making the switch. Tough week, eh Microsoft? You'll have to get your OpenDocument plug-ins for MS Office ISO approved on the quick if you want to avoid further trouble.

Nokia's patent-licensing case against Qualcomm dropped by Dutch court

by Darren Murph posted Nov 14th 2007 at 12:59PM

Last we heard from the seemingly endless Nokia / Qualcomm kvetch-fest, the former company was soliciting the ITC's help in barring US Qualcomm chip imports, but for those wishing on their lucky stars that this spat would simply vanish into the night, we've got marginally good news. Apparently, a trio of judges in a Dutch court ruled that it didn't have jurisdiction to rule on the phone maker's claims outside of The Netherlands, thus, the patent-licensing case against Qualcomm was dismissed. Aside from claiming that its "jurisdiction was limited," the court also stated that Nokia's gripe was "too broad to give a reasoned decision." Of note, a German court also dismissed the case just last month on "similar grounds," but if you were counting on Nokia to just take the news in stride, we doubt you'll be pleased to hear that it's already "considering if it will appeal the decision."

TomTom's ONE XL HD Traffic GPS navigator with "world's most advanced traffic information"

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 12th 2007 at 7:16AM

TomTom just lit up its High Definition Traffic, premium traffic service in The Netherlands. Announced in parallel is the ONE XL HD Traffic navigator, for what's a traffic service without a GPS device to take advantage of it? The ONE XL HD Traffic shares the same 4.3-inch LCD of its ONE XL brethren only now with the addition of 1GB of built-in storage and a new SIM card (no activation or configuration required) for live traffic data feeds over Vodafone's GSM network. Traffic information collected anonymously from Dutch Vodafone mobile phones and third party traffic authorities is updated every 3 minutes -- that's 5x the traffic updates and 10x the road coverage of typical traffic systems according to TomTom. Available in TomTom's home country of The Netherlands this month (UK in first half of 2008) for €399 (about $581) including a one year HD Traffic subscription renewable for €9.95/month. An HD Traffic accessory for existing TomTom products will be available in early 2008.

[Via Pocket-lint]