With all the planning and rushing around, we thought we wouldn't get a chance to get a podcast out this week. Luckily, we had an amazing and candid time with readers during our Q&A at the reader meetup / holiday party -- and we recorded it! Check out the gang getting loose and nimble with our totally bodacious readership. We promise you'll be in serious like with it.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel, and Josh Fruhlinger
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Guests: Ryan Block, David Kim, ant man, CJ, Andy, Ryan, Tim, Freddy, Fernando, Sia, Dingo, Verse, William, Victorious, Faye.

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Well that was nuts! The Engadget NYC reader meetup has come and gone, and it was a blast. Diehard readers braved seriously nasty weather and long lines to get inside, but we still managed to reach capacity at Hiro Ballroom. We're really, truly blown away by the excitement and enthusiasm we saw from the folks that were there, and we hear you loud and clear -- there's more of these in store, with bigger venues and lots more to see / do. We gave away a ton of gear, met some amazing people, and had an absolute blast hanging out with everyone. Thanks so much for coming out guys -- you rule.

And to all the vendors / sponsors / friends that were showing off their stuff, and all the companies who offered giveaways: thank you from the bottom of our mechanical hearts. We couldn't have done it without you!

You can see some Ovi-streamed pics of the event right here and read the lineblog here. If you have pictures you took and want to share, add them to our Flickr pool here, and if you've got video, post a link in the comments below!

Alright, it's that moment you may or may have not been waiting for! The Engadget Holiday Party / Reader meetup / NY snow-in is officially underway, with folks streaming in as we speak. We'll do our best to give you live updates from the show, with an Ovi slideshow, live fed by a few lucky ninjas equipped with some Nokia-provided N96, N85 and N79 handsets, and a no-guarantees Ustream.TV feed fed lovingly to the internet by an Engadget editor's very own harried laptop -- all after the break.

Okay, we had no idea we'd have to liveblog this, but we're setting up for the meetup tonight and there are already six people in line. Four hours early. In the rain and snow. In other words -- yeah, this sucker is still on, and we're going to rock it. We'll be updating as company reps get here and start setting up, check it out after the break, along with all the info you need to brave the elements and party with us tonight.

Update: We're working on setting up the Ovi slideshow, peep the last set of line pics after the break and check back in a few for the live streaming action!

• We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
  
• SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
• Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
• Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
• Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
• The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
• The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.



For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

• We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
  
• SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
• Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
• Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
• Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
• The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
• The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.



For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

Ah yes -- another refreshing installment of the Engadget Podcast! This week the boys get in touch with their deep feelings on Palm's potential New-ness, Nokia's mystery touchscreen phone, fresh additions to the Open Handset Alliance, and news on the forthcoming reader meetup. You also get to hear Josh, Paul, and Nilay mix it up about their hopes for the future, next jewelry purchases, and Gmail contact syncing nightmares. Sounds badical, right?

01:20 - Palm's New-ness, coming to CES
13:38 - Mysterious T-swivel handset appears on Korean site, keeps us guessing
15:43 - Mysterious new Nokia touchscreen interface and handset unveiled (sort of)
26:39 - Open Handset Alliance signs up 14 more Android-lovers, including Sony Ericsson, ASUS and Garmin
51:00 - Reader meetup update: 'Fallout 3' bundles, Nokia N-Gage / Ovi, Make, and more!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Doctor Octoroc - Carol of the Belmonts

Subscribe to the podcast

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Say there, perhaps you've heard about that little Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party happening on December 19th? Well we've got a little more info for you (and some important details) that might be of note. First we wanted to show off some of the stuff we're going to be giving away, and we thought there would be no better illustration than these amazing Fallout 3 "Nuclear Winter Survival Kit" bundles from Microsoft (pictured above). Some details:

PC bundle

• Alienware Area 51 m15x laptop
  
• Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (PC)
• Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
• SideWinder mouse
• Wenger Impulse Notebook Case by SwissGear
• Emergency blanket

Xbox 360 bundle

• Xbox 360 Elite console
• Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (Xbox 360)
• Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
• 1-yr Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription
• Emergency blanket

These are just two of many, many succulent giveaways you could walk away with if you attend. Nokia has also graciously offered up some free N-Gage content. If you're an N-Gage user, you can bring your device to the meetup and they'll hook you up with a free game! The company is also outfitting a handful of readers with Ovi-equipped devices during the event so they can stream live content. Five (5) readers will be selected -- if you'd like to be one of the chosen few, leave a comment on this post, and we'll contact you with more info!

Additionally, our main homeboys from Make are going to be in attendance with some projects and magazines, as well as a pretty cool surprise to show off that we're awfully excited about.

Just added: LIvescribe will be giving away a Pulse (courtesy of Target), Palm is handing out a Treo Pro, and Neat Receipts has graciously offered up 3 Neat Desks!

Read on after the break for more details about the meetup!

This is the one you've been waiting for, Engadget fans. We've decided to end the year on a high note with a big reader meetup and holiday bash for our faithful readers! On December 19th, we're blowing it out at the completely amazing Hiro Ballroom in Manhattan. We'll have a big selection of gear and giveaways on hand, including products (both to play with and to win) from: Nokia, Microsoft, T-Mobile, HP, SanDisk, Peek, Sling, Rhapsody, and more! And believe us, there really is more to come. Here are a few details:

• We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
  
• SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
• Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people, totally awesome music all night
  
• Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
  
• The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
• The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there and get in line early!
  

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM

We're still working out details as well as adding to our roster of giveaways and companies which will be in attendance, so expect updates as we move towards the event. If you're planning on coming, shout it out in the comments!

Update: Super exciting news! Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen -- who you just may know from his bands !!! (chk chk chk) and Outhud!

We're floored! Over a thousand people braved lines to join us at tonight's Engadget reader meetup in San Francisco, our biggest ever event by far! We're completely humbled, but you're not out of the woods yet. Do us a favor and share your photos and video from tonight, would you? We'll post 'em up tomorrow for everyone to check out. Thanks again, SF!

Please add your pictures to the Engadget Flickr pool here.
And please add your videos to YouTube with the tag engadget2007sf.

We'd also like to thank the premium event sponsor of our San Francisco event, the Bluetooth SIG, who really helped us make this whole thing happen!

Tonight's the big night, SF bay area! Our FREE and ALL AGES reader meetup goes off at 7PM at UCSF Mission Bay, where we'll have:

• Free food and drinks
• Product demos
• Audience Q&A with execs and Engadget editors
  
• ... and will be giving away literally hundreds of devices -- tens of thousands of dollars of gadgets.

Hit the read link for details -- hope to see you there!

We'd also like to thank the premium event sponsor of our San Francisco event, the Bluetooth SIG, who've been instrumental in getting this thing off the ground!

Just a reminder to everyone in or visiting the SF bay area about our reader meetup that's going on tomorrow night, 7PM at UCSF Mission Bay! We'll have product demos, audience Q&A, free food and drinks, and will be giving away literally hundreds of devices -- tens of thousands of dollars of gadgets -- on the spot. Hit the read link for details -- hope to see you there!

P.S. -Also, a note to the local hackers in the audience! We'd like to try out the "lightning talks" round here in the US -- let us know if you have something interesting and electronic that you might want to show off! (Email us at event att engadget dawt com.)

Last week in Tokyo was pretty amazing, but this Wednesday's reader event in San Francisco promises to be possibly our most amazing yet. Here's a bit about what you can expect:

• We're giving away literally tens of thousands of dollars in gear, including...
• A free Sandisk Sansa Connect (4GB with WiFi) to the first 200 people! (And free Flickr Pro accounts for the next 250 people.)
• We'll also have free food and drinks!
  
• Live Q&A session with Engadget
• The event is ALL AGES and FREE ADMISSION
• As well as giveaways from: Drobo, Motorola, Nokia, OQO, Plantronics, Samsung, SanDisk, Sling, and others!

When: Wednesday, October 10th, 7:00PM - 10:00PM [Listing on Upcoming]
Please note, however, that we have changed our event location! We are no longer holding the event at Mighty, the event is now at the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF.

Also, a note to the local hackers in the audience! We'd like to try out the "lightning talks" round here in the US -- let us know if you have something interesting and electronic that you might want to show off!

We'd also like to thank the premium event sponsor of our San Francisco event, the Bluetooth SIG, who've been instrumental in getting this thing off the ground!

Oh, and please leave us a comment if you're thinking of attending so we can at least try to estimate how many to expect. See you there! (Map, directions, and full list of companies at the event after the break.)

Listen, we've just got to say thanks. We got shown some serious love at our Tokyo reader meetup this week, and we're not only really grateful for the 200+ readers who came out to hang out with Engadget (and who took a ton of photos and almost 100 videos), but for the variety of guests we had, including Mr. Yamamitsu (CEO of Thanko), who participated in a live interview, as well as the "lightning talks" round of hackers, homebrewers, modders, researchers, and all around Japanese über-geeks. So, much love to everyone who came out and helped make our Tokyo event pop off!

P.S. -Oh, and check out some videos after the break. And stay tuned for further details on the SF Engadget reader meetup this week.

Tokyo: thanks for coming out! Over 200 people came to hang out Engadget style tonight -- so it's probably not too much to expect you'd have documented something, eh? Send in your pictures and video, we'll throw it up on the site tomorrow in our aftermath post.

Please add your pictures to the Engadget Flickr pool here.
And please add your videos to YouTube as a response to our meetup video (which is posted after the break), or with the tag engadget2007tokyo.

Once again, big ups to our hosts and sponsor Google Japan!

P.S. -Our apologies to those that didn't make it in. We had limited space, but we're extremely grateful you made the trip out to see us, even knowing you might not make it through the door. Let us know who you are next time, we'll hook you up with the VIP treatment.