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Apple iPhone hits the one million mark
It took a bit longer than a some analysts were expecting, but Apple announced today that it has finally broke the one million iPhone sales barrier, 74 days after the iPhone hit the scene on June 29th and right on target for Apple's own projections. "One million iPhones in 74 days -- it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod," said Steve Jobs. But of course, it's never enough: "We can't wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season." Only time will tell if those aggressive price cuts and international sales can help the iPhone hit the 10 million mark in 2008.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony's Rolly gets official, yet we still don't really get it
The Sony Rolly SEP-10BT "Sound Entertainment Player" is here, people, and yet we're still just as unclear as ever as to exactly what it's utility is. Not quite a domestic robot, not quite a portable audio player, not quite a boombox, the Rolly flutters about, dancing and playing MP3, ATRAC, or AAC tunes via either Bluetooth with A2DP / AVRCP or its 1GB of internal memory. In fact, not only does Rolly dance to your music, apparently you can also choreograph it and share your Rolly moves with pals over the internet. A full charge gets you five hours straight music, four hours of dance and music, or three and a half hours dancing, music, and Bluetooth use together -- fantastic news for people with a clean desk and tons of time to kill. It'll run you about ¥40,000 (about $350 US) when it lands in Japan September 29th. Video after the break.%Gallery-7181%[Via Engadget Japanese]
iPhoneSIMfree shows us demo of iPhone unlock app, back end -- now due Monday
So the iPhoneSIMfree guys have some news today. First up, they called to let us know they did in fact delay the launch of their iPhone SIM unlock software (which was clear by the fact that no one has it yet) -- but it's now due Monday.Today iPhoneSIMfree also sent a couple of publications (including this one) a demo version of their unlock app and trial access to their back end reseller tool. The demo software and reseller tool do not yet actually unlock phones since iPhoneSIMfree hasn't yet flipped the switch on the activation service end. But as proof that their end-user app does exist, the demo app shown here coursed through its normal routines (about 3-5 minutes start to finish) to show us what an unlock should be like.Their reseller backend tool, which we also have shots of, allows bulk purchasers of iPhoneSIMfree unlocks to add customers' IMEIs to the unlock whitelist. Once added, apparently resellers merely have to just provide their customers the unlock app, which initiates the remote unlock service -- the whole thing is a little like Windows Activation where only whitelisted IMEIs can proceed with unlocking. Naturally, we documented all this on an iPhone -- but again, to be clear, the iPhoneSIMfree app that was sent out won't unlock iPhones. That all supposedly goes down on Monday.%Gallery-7118%
iPod touch vs. HTC Touch: Apple trademark dispute, round 2?
Remember that ridiculously public to-and-fro'ing between Apple and Cisco over the "iPhone" trademark? Ding, ding, ding... welcome to round two ladies and gentlemen. In this corner, we have a feisty Taiwan-national with Microsoft in its pocket: HTC, and their HTC Touch. In the other, a venerable California hippie on the comeback trail: Apple, and their iPod touch. Fight! Peter Chou, CEO and president of HTC, was just reminding the press that HTC has registered "Touch" as a worldwide trademark and is "proud to share the same vision as Apple over touch screen functions." While he would not comment on whether HTC would take legal action against Apple, HTC's Marketing Manager Ching-hung Wang was happy to talk around the issue by noting Apple's and Cisco's ability to "reach a mutually satisfactory agreement" before, while footnoting the need for "further observation" around the "Touch" trademark rights question. Translated: Hey Apple, we think HTC is waiting for your call. Maybe you should make it a party line too so that Creative can bring their Zen Touch?
TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing coming to HD TiVos in November
It looks like it's finally going to happen, the Series3 and the TiVo HD are finally going to catch up to their SD siblings and get upgraded with the most highly anticipated TiVo features. We know all to well how complicated CableLabs can make it to bring 3rd party CableCARD products to market, and as a result we've been waiting over a year for the Series3 to get the ability to transfers shows to our PC and between TiVos. And while CableLabs has never specifically forbid these features, until recently they've made them impossible to implement. According to a post over at TiVoCommunity.com by Bob "TiVoPony" Poniatowski, a TiVo product marketing rep, both TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing are currently in beta and will be available to both Series3 and TiVo HD owners in November. Naturally, Bob reminds everybody about "the first rule of beta club", so we'll just have to take his word for it -- until it leaks, anyway.
Steve Jobs gives all iPhone owners $100 back
El Jobso is "confident" Apple's made the right decision to lower the price of the iPhone yesterday -- and really, we can't fault them for knocking some cash off the top to attract new buyers, why is cheaper gear a bad thing all of a sudden? But even given the outcry, we definitely didn't see this one coming. In another open letter to his people, Jobs states that he's giving all iPhone owners a $100 Apple gift certificate (details to follow in the next week -- it goes without saying this will only apply to people who bought before the price drop). Well, that's mighty kind of you Steve. And definitely unprecedented in the consumer electronics industry that a company would give cash back to early adopters -- those most accustomed to buying a gadget first, asking questions later, and bottling their complaints when said gadget later drops dramatically in price.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HP introduces iPAQ 600 and 900 series Windows Mobile 6 phones
In its fray of iPAQ introductions today come two new phones from HP -- the first since the rather bland 510 -- potentialy throwing the once-dominant Windows Mobile force back into the hunt. First up, the 600 series Business Navigator comes equipped with integrated GPS a generous 2.8-inch touchscreen, 128MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, 3 megapixel autofocus cam, WiFi, and Windows Mobile 6 Professional, all sitting atop a Marvell PXA270 putting along at 520MHz. The 600 rocks a numeric keypad; a dealbreaker for some, yes, but the nifty touch-sensitive scroll wheel integrated into the keys may be enough to sway a few back. The 900 series, meanwhile, swaps out the numeric pad for a standard QWERTY outfit and steps down to a 2.46-inch display, but the specs remain otherwise similar to its stablemate. Look for both to ship before the year's out.[Via Phone Scoop]
Does Apple's iPod touch have Bluetooth?
Yeah, you've seen it before, that's the iPod touch. But take a closer look at the upper-right corner of the display. See that little icon? Right, Bluetooth, as in the not announced Bluetooth radio in Apple's new iPod touch. Is this just a snafu from Apple's arts-and-charts team or something more say, AVRCP and stereo A2DP related? At this point, Apple's not saying and we don't know. But you'd better hurry up and click that Read link because that Apple-harvested picture won't be around for much longer.Update: It's still there, and spreading! Now discovered on Apple's US store and UK site.Update 2: Ah, sorry to bum y'all out, we just heard that Apple didn't actually include Bluetooth in the touch, meaning the screen shown above isn't entirely accurate. We'll let you know if we hear more.Update 3: Two more bits: we heard from a pretty decent source that the touch internals are very similar to the iPhone internals, and that there is a Bluetooth chip in there -- it's just not activated. We'll all find out as soon as someone dismantles one of these little buggers, but whether or not that's actually the case, we took a peek at the touch's FCC filing, which went live yesterday. It only contains tests for WiFi, meaning if there IS Bluetooth in there, at very least they're going to have to get it cleared again by the FCC before flipping the switch.[Via fscklog, thanks Tom, Mike, and Antihero]Read -- iPod touch (with Bluetooth icon) on Apple's German website
Sony's Alpha A700 DSLR now official, already previewed
Rather than scraping the details off their Romanian flash pages, you can now take a more mature approach to your A700 fawning by reviewing Sony's official press release. Better yet, dpreview has a hands-on preview of the latest Konica Minolta Sony Alpha now packing a 12.1 megapixel APS-C "Exmor" CMOS sensor and all-new version of its Bionz image processor which combine for up to 5fps bursting. $1,400 for that sweet body starting in October. Now go read the multi-page preview in full after peeping all that hot, hot DSLR action in the gallery below. %Gallery-6971%Read -- Press Release Read -- Hands-on preview
Microsoft debuts Extenders for Windows Media Center, adds DivX and XviD
Ok, we're gonna break this down, Microsoft really didn't do us any favors of simplicity this time. As you may remember, back in late 2004 Microsoft's hardware partners announced Windows Media Center Extenders, which were basically STBs that could replicate a cheesy version of Media Center's interface on your TV over your home network. Not surprisingly, people didn't want another box (let alone a box with a crappy UI that wasn't as good as a real Media Center) so those boxes never took off. But the best (and most frequently used) implementation came way later on with the Xbox 360, which was able to far better replicate the XP and Vista Media Center experience.So today Microsoft is announcing a reinvigorated Media Center Extender effort called... wait for it... Extenders for Windows Media Center. Ok, the name totally sucks, but the important part is Microsoft upgraded its wayward Extender system with a new version that takes full advantage of Vista (including live HDTV streaming), supports 802.11n, and adds something that really blew our mind: codecs we actually care about, namely XviD and DivX. Niveus, Linksys, and D-Link will all be launching new devices based on this software platform, so watch out for those -- as well as DVD players, TVs, and all manner of other home theater devices Microsoft is apparently trying to get this new system built right into. Unfortunately this new Extender rev isn't being announced for the Xbox 360 (yet), so we'll all have to wait a while longer before playing XviD and DivX movies on that thing -- without transcoding, anyway.%Gallery-6954%
Apple killing 4GB iPhone, $299 while supplies last
It's true, Apple has no more use for the puny capacity of its 4GB iPhone, and is selling off the remaining stock at $299. Get 'em while the getting's good! Oh, and yeah, that means the Apple Store is finally back up, after an extended hiatus, so feel free to plunder your checking account with all of Apple's new wares.
Apple cuts 8GB iPhone price to $399
With the new heat the iPhone will be getting from the iPod Touch, Apple decided to lower the barrier of entry to a much more palatable $399, and that's for the 8GB model, which just yesterday was rocking at $599 pricepoint. It also looks like Apple is doing away with the 4GB version, which was seriously lagging behind its big brother in sales, but there's no official word yet.
Apple's iPod touch gets official
Well, what do you know. Turns out the iPod touch is a reality after all. While we initially assumed that Mr. Jobs wouldn't be so kind as to bless us all with two new full-fledged iPods in a single day, we're elated that he had other ideas. The new flagship iPod has "the same size screen as the iPhone, but it's even thinner" (eight-millimeters, for those taking notes), and it also touts the "same multi-touch interface" found on the firm's handset. Additionally, it boasts a 3.5-inch widescreen display, the ability to "flick through your photos," and you even get the "slide to unlock" feature, too. And yes, this thing actually has WiFi. Of note, the built-in wireless antenna isn't exactly attractive, but if it means that we can surf the web (YouTube included) and buy tunes on our iPod, we suppose it may be an acceptable flaw. As for battery life, the touch is said to last 22-hours when playing back audio and 5-hours when watching video, but only time will tell how draining web surfing will be. The iPod touch will be arriving in 8GB and 16GB flavors and will be priced at $299 and $399, respectively, when they ship "worldwide in a few weeks."%Gallery-6916%
Apple's new iPod classic
Apple today announced the latest in its kind-of-sort-of successful iPod line, the sixth generation iPod "classic." Like the brand new iPod nano, the flagship iPod is also sporting an all-new interface, headlined by Cover Flow. The iPod comes in 80GB and 160GB capacities, with 30 hours of battery for audio playback, 6 hours of video on the 80GB version, and 40 hours / 7 hours for the 160GB unit. In addition to the new interface, the iPod classic is getting a new all-metal shell, and is selling at $249 for the 80 gigger, $349 for 160. You can order one today, and they should be hitting stores by the weekend.%Gallery-6918%
Apple announces new 3rd gen iPod nano
El-Jobso just dropped news that the whole iPod lineup is getting a refresh or replace -- including the nano. Apparently those "spy photos" weren't too far off, as the new nanos look almost identical to the stout, squat player we've come to know and love. The new units will include 2-inch, QVGA, 320 x 240 screens that are 65-percent brighter than previous models and have the highest pixel density the company has ever shipped (204 pixels per inch). In addition to the new screens, the extra-wide player will sport an "enhanced" UI (which looks a lot like the video we saw recently) and its own version of Cover Flow. The nano will come bundled with three games, including a circular-Arkanoid rip-off called Vortex, and apparently you'll be able to purchase more from the iTunes store. The player's battery life has also been extended, with Apple touting 24 hours of playback for audio, and 5 hours for video. The 4GB model will be selling for $149, though it's only available in silver, while the rainbow-colored 8GB will leave you $199 lighter in the wallet. Both models will be in stores "by this weekend."%Gallery-6919%
Apple announces (PRODUCT) RED iPod shuffle, new colors
Here it is, just like we expected: the 1GB (PRODUCT) RED shuffle. Same $79, available today. Buy it and make little Oprabono cry. Put on your Easter Bunny suit and check all the pastel action in the gallery below. Red, Ah... Lavender, Ew.%Gallery-6922%
Apple adds iPhone ringtones to iTunes
A new version of iTunes supporting custom ringtones for the iPhone ships this evening. They'll run 99 cents on top of the cost of the song, but in trade, you'll be able to make your own custom ringtone from the song. They can run up to 30 seconds in length, denoted by bells that appear next to "ringtoneable" songs -- which'll be 500,000 of 'em at launch. Apple flips the switch to enable the feature "next week."
NYC cabbies strike over GPS units
As we reported back in July, and then in August, a large number of taxi drivers in New York City have been planning a strike over GPS systems which the city wants installed in yellow cabs. Well, the strike is officially on, with the New York Times reporting that nearly 90-percent of cabs are off the road today (at least according to a cabbie representative). If you'll recall, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a quasi-union, has been threatening the strike over GPS / entertainment units the city demands be put into taxis. The new units have a number of functions -- not the least of which is tracking the cab's pickup and drop-off points -- and the drivers aren't having it. Currently, reports have come in concerning extended waits on airport pickups, and a new pricing scheme for cabs that are working, though from what we can tell, the strike hasn't put the hurt on commuters too badly. Of course, the litmus-test of a New York evening rush hour has yet to happen, so don't get too excited.
Sony (briefly) reveals all about Alpha a700 DSLR
Yup, Sony's Advanced Amateur DSLR is definitely called the a700, and we've definitely got all the specs for you, courtesy of a just-posted Sony UK flash mini-site -- which suddenly went down, so these details are all from memory. We're talking about a 12.4 megapixel CMOS sensor backed by a BIONZ image processor, 3-inch, 921,000 pixel LCD, 3200 maximum ISO (with a ridiculous ISO 6400 "expanded mode"), 11 point autofocus, and wireless flash support. Furthermore, the Super SteadyShot and anti-dust features seem to have been given a boost over those found in the a100, MemorySticks now have their own dedicated slot next to their CF brethren, portrait grip is now possible, and while other metrics have also improved, you'll be paying for it in the form of almost 100 fewer shots on a full battery. No price or release date have been given, of course, but maybe we can get a little more info from Sony now that the cat's out of the bag. Check out the gallery below for a few more screen grabs...Update: Looks like the UK mini-site is back up; hit the Read link for the full show. %Gallery-6907%
LG's VX10000 and VX8800 touchscreen spyshots?
Here you go spyshot fans: purported pics of LG's new VX10000 and VX8800 handsets which recently cleared FCC approval. They're definitely grainy pics of something with all the naughty bits blocked to protect the innocent. Of course, the VX10000 is fascinating as the supposed successor to LG's VX9900 QWERTY beast. Perhaps more interesting to the masses, however, is that VX8800 slider up there which by all accounts would be the successor to LG's (and Verizon's) VX8550. Just look at that display: big (and thick), and presumably touch-sensitive all baked onto a slider. Shazam!%Gallery-6888%[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
