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The Daily Grind: These are a few of my favorite things
You can tell you're in the den of a gamer when you walk into the computer room/area and the glow from all the extras blinds you. With all the great toys out now for computers, who can resist making their rig even more powerful than before? From the basic extras like headsets for Ventrilo/TeamSpeak, to fancy keyboards/keysets, all the way up to overclocking your entire system, case-modding, or tossing in a water-cooling rig, computers are win for customizable high-powered gaming fun. Since this is the season for giving and receiving goodies, this morning we thought we'd ask what some of your favorite gaming peripherals are. Personally, my old keyboard is getting toasty, so while I know I'm not getting one under the tree this morning (whenever folks wake up) I plan to pick up a Logitech G15 for my system. How about you? Are there any peripherals out there that you've come to rely on for your gaming experience? Are there any toys on the horizon that you're hoping landed under your tree, or that you're earmarking some of those gift cards for? (And we'd add if you're interested in scoring some free gaming equipment, be sure to check out our Holiday Postcard Contest!)
Samsung's S60-based SGH-i550 launched, admired
Samsung shows another trackball-enabled device but this one packs the S60, 3.1 UI, and not Windows Mobile under the hood. While we first saw this way back in July, the i550 is only now getting its release party -- and we say, about time. Featuring triple-band GSM, HSDPA, GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, 4 GB of memory expandability via microSD, and that lovely little trackball we're just itching to get our thumbs on. No word on pricing details, but launch is apparently slated for November so here's to the dream that we're only days away from it's Windows Mobile-enabled sibling's launch.
Get your mobile phone game on -- with pop-out joysticks
Talk about a concept whose time has come -- the pop-out joystick for mobile phones. From initial research, this design gets pressed in and turned to allow the 'enter' button in the middle of the d-pad to actually protrude from the handset for all those times when, you know, you need more tactile control of those J2ME or Mophun games -- hey, you might even feel like you're on a PS3 (not). Regardless, this is an extra-cool development for the mobile space. For anything more than phone menu navigation (ahem, mobile gaming), we for one hope this concept comes to light in future mobiles, because you haven't lived unless you've fragged some folks on that 2 inch screen.
BlackBerry Pearl won't ring in your pocket
Anyone who's had the good fortune of seeing a Pearl in the flesh knows that it's one extraordinarily good looking phone, particularly by BlackBerry standards. Unfortunately, where we come from, phones that don't ring are called "paperweights" -- which is exactly what the Pearl becomes when the trackball gets nudged. You know, like if it's in your pocket, or your purse, or pretty much anywhere besides a stationary counter top. As it turns out, when the phone rings, the handset immediately silences the ringer with even the slightest movement of the trackball, regardless of whether keylock is enabled. While we do appreciate the Pearl taking the initiative for us and ignoring phone calls so we don't have to, there is an occasional situation where we like to make the decision ourselves, and until RIM issues a fix users simply don't have that option. Strangely, two Engadget editors patiently attempted to explain the issue to a RIM representative this week at CTIA for several minutes without success; we think the first step to RIM issuing a fix would be for the company to understand the problem, so we could be in for a bit of a wait. Maybe the words we were using were too big?
The Boy Genius Report: BlackBerry 8100 user guide and trackball video!
Today's Boy Genius BlackBerry Pearl (8100) leak: the User Guide and a good long look at the trackball that gives the Pearl its name. From the guide it looks like it has built-in support for Push-to-Talk, which Cingular will most likely take advantage of when it releases the Pearl later on the year. The Boy Genius also confirmed to us that the Cingular version will have cosmetically differences from the T-Mobile release. Boy Genius also sent us a video of the Pearl's trackball -- a setting in the phone app enables the trackball to changes colors to a ringtone set and during a phonecall.[Thanks to Jibi for deconstructing the Pearl .xml files]Download - User GuideWatch - Trackball video [MOV]
