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Michael Bay responds to Paramount's abandonment of Blu-ray: "No Transformers 2 for me!"
So by now you've heard that Paramount has dropped support for Blu-ray right? Good, so has a notable Hollywood director. Michael Bay -- the man behind "Transformers," "Bad Boys," "Pear Harbor," etc. -- just threw down with Paramount in his personal blog. In a forum post titled "Paramount pisses me off!", he states, "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!" That's right Mike, aim your PS3 right at their coffers!Update: Ha, so much for standing up to the boss-man. Michael's latest post now says that, "I drank the Kool Aid" blah blah blah "so I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!" Whatever, wuss.[Thanks, Pilam69 and Carl G.]
Sony's Bravia VPL-VW60: the SXRD black pearl with 35,000:1 contrast
September 20th: know it home cinema buffs. That's the date Sony releases their SXRD followup to the VPL-VW50 "Pearl" projector in Japan. The new Bravia VPL-VW60 projects a 1,920 x 1,080 image with a 35,000:1 contrast ratio and 1,000 lumens courtesy of its (¥42,000 / $367) 200W high pressure mercury lamp and trio of 0.61-inch SXRD chips. It's also quieter than its predecessor at 22dB while packing a pair of HDMI-CEC class HDMI jacks supporting 1080/60p, 50p, and 24p. Best of all though, Sony managed to seriously up the specs while cutting the introductory list price nearly in half to "just" ¥441,000 (about $3,858).%Gallery-6177%[Via Impress]
Toshiba's 320GB 2.5-inch hard drive: a world's best for laptops
Step aside Fujitsu, there's a new 2.5-inch hard disk champ on the block by way of Toshiba. A world's first 320GB 2.5-inch drive, in fact. The MK3252GSX drive spins a pair of 160GB platters at 5,400rpm with an 8MB buffer and 12ms average seek time over a 3Gbps SATA interface. So yeah, it's just 20GB more data that the Fujitsu 300GB disk but that HDD spins at just 4,200rpm. Better yet, The Tosh drive stands just 9.5-mm tall -- a full 3-mm less than Fujitsu's 300 gigger; that's about as thin as it gets in these 2.5-inch laptop drives. Look for the 320GB disk as a factory shipped option around November when Toshiba starts turning 'em out for mass production.
LG's KU990 touchscreen "Viewty" is a 5 megapixel, HSDPA beauty
It's out. LG's newest heartthrob -- the KU990 -- is official and on the way to the UK (likely with Vodafone) this fall. The German IFA show at the end of the month will mark its coming out party seeing the KU990 dressed up in a 5.1 megapixel shooter with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, image stabilization (likely digital), auto focus, 120fps video, and ISO 800 sensitivity. Sure, the camera is nice and all, but this pup is packing a 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen riding on 3G HSDPA data. Hoozah! With a European launch imminent (sorry, no Stateside details), the wait for the iPhone is suddenly less of a burden, eh? %Gallery-6163%[Via Akihabara News]
Nokia N95 with American 3G gets FCC'd!
We're speechless. In fact, we think we might cry -- but rest assured, they're tears of joy. Rumors of a Nokia N95 packing American HSDPA have been spreading like wildfire as of late, and we're ecstatic to see that they were totally true. Though this sucker gets down with the 850 and 1900MHz bands, it doesn't get in on the 1700MHz action, suggesting that if the T-Mobile rumor is still true, this ain't it. Though arguably not quite as attractive as the decidedly non-US 8GB N95 in black that we saw this morning, this phone's innards are pretty much the most beautiful thing we've seen all day. Nokia, we turn the floor over to you to answer questions about pricing and availability.[Via Wirelessinfo.com]
It's on: FCC sets 700MHz spectrum auction for January 16, 2008
It's still not entirely clear how it'll be used, but there's one thing about the FCC's upcoming 700MHz auction that we now know for sure: it'll go down on January 16 of next year. The feds look to sell off a grand total of 1,099 licenses freed by the approaching end of analog television broadcasting divided into five distinct blocks. So-called Blocks A and E cover the FCC's Economic Areas, 176 distinct subdivisions of the US and its territories. Block B is divided into the smaller Cellular Market Areas category, 734 in total. Block D -- intended for use by public safety workers -- is nationwide, meaning just one license will be offered spanning the nation. Finally, the controversial Block C -- the public access spectrum everyone's been in a tizzy over -- is being offered as 12 regional covering the entire country. As with any huge FCC spectrum offage, this sale promises to generate some corporate fireworks, public discussion, and mudslinging, so we're marking our calendars and crossing our fingers that CSPAN will cover all the wild action live. [Warning: PDF link][Via Phone Scoop]Update: It turns out that the 12-region Block C is destined for open access, not the single-license Block D. Block D is intended for public safety use. We've corrected the text of the post above. Our apologies!
Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
Affiliations in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war have been pretty clearly defined for nearly two years now -- despite a hybrid player here and some international releases there, most of the players involved have not switched support since the early days. Well that's all about to change, as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation -- which started off HD DVD only before deciding to go both ways -- have officially announced plans to release movies exclusively on HD DVD, dropping Blu-ray support entirely. This means that hits like Transformers, Shrek the Third and Blades of Glory won't follow Mission: Impossible III as cross-format releases when they debut this holiday season. Paramount has released about 30 movies on Blu-ray so far, but those days have come to an end: apparently cheaper HD players trump a 2:1 sales advantage. We can't wait to see how the Blu-ray camp responds to this.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Toshiba's REGZA Z3500 series of 120Hz LCDs: 57-inches of love for your home network
Like TVs do ya? Then go ahead and block off the next few hours to decipher the machine translated Japanese surrounding Toshiba's 11 new HDTVs. Of these, the new top of the line REGZA Z3500 series of 37-, 42-, 46-, 52- and 57-inch LCDs are by far the more interesting. Each offers a 120Hz / 10-bit IPS panel with 3x HDMI (1080/60p and 24p) supporting x.v.Color / DeepColor, 2x Firewire, and a whopping 3x Ethernet jacks for surfing the internet (browser built-in) or streaming DLNA and DTCP-IP media from Tosh's own VARDIA recorders, Qosmio PCs, your local NAS server, and plenty more. Better yet, sling a few disks off the included 2x USB jacks and you've got an instant DVR -- suuuweet. Prices start at ¥360,000 ($3,123) and run up to ¥950,000 ($8,242) for the biggie 57-incher. We'll bring you the rest of the new sets a bit later, mkay?[Via Impress]
Canon's PowerShot G9: the DSLR wannabe
More from Canon, this time it's their top-o-the-line G-series, PowerShot G9 compact shooter. Think 12.1 megapixels (1/1.7-inch CCD), 6x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, a DIGIC III image processor, optical viewfinder and 3-inch LCD, Canon's Advanced Face Detection wares, ISO 1600 max sensitivity, 23 shooting modes (including manual), SD/SDHC media support, and even a RAW image mode to pretend you're a pro. Hell, it's even compatible with optional wide-angle, telephoto, and macro supplementary lenses, EOS Speedlite flashes, and Canon's waterproof cases. In stores starting in October for a cool $500 making this one helluvan interesting new shooter.%Gallery-6114%
Sony launches Rolly teaser campaign -- makes girls chicken dance
Remember Sony's rumored Rolly something-or-other? Well, it's official with a full-blown Rolly teaser campaign launched by Sony in Japan. No details other than confirmation of its audio entertainment roots. By the looks of things, we'll be getting the full poop around September 10th when the "Rolly Special Party" kicks off. Gotta say, it's been awhile since we've seen Sony market a new product so heavily. And with keywords such as "communication," "small," "share," "free," "shuffle," and "kurukuru" (translated: go round and round) splattered around the page, color us intrigued -- although barely after being subjected to a gaggle of giggling chicks in the throes of the chicken dance. See what we mean after the break, if you dare.[Via Engadget Japanese] Read -- Rolly special party registration Read -- Rolly-show Blog Read -- Rolly
Canon's EOS 40D and EOS 1Ds Mark III get official
Well, well, hello there Canons. After Amazon's little slip ups, Canon has finally come clean with their much anticipated EOS 40D and new EOS 1Ds Mark III DSLRs. Nothing new to tell, but it's always good to get the official word, ya know? The 10.1 megapixel EOS 40D should be on shelves in early September for $1,299 while the 21.1 megapixel 1Ds Mark III should begin shipping in November for $7,999. Plenty of shots of both DSLRs in the gallery below. %Gallery-6108%[Thanks, everyone who sent this in] Read -- EOS 40D Read -- EOS 1Ds Mark III
Amazon leaks specs, delivery, and price for Canon's EOS 40D
Hot damn kiddies. Amazon just posted the specs and delivery for Canon's EOS 40D. Of course, it's not official 'til it's official but Amazon lists a September 20th availability for the true 30D successor. The specs? They're all there: new 10.1 megapixel, APS-C sized, self-cleaning CMOS sensor; 30% faster, 9 point AF; DIGIC III image processing; ISO 3200 max sensitivity; improved 3.0-inch LCD with Enhanced Live View; 6.5fps continuous shooting (bursting 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images); 35-zone metering system; and CF card storage, natch. All in a body just slightly larger than the EOS 30D while tipping the scale with 1.4-ounces (40-grams) more beef. It also supports an "sRAW' mode which trims the number of pixels to one-fourth that of a standard RAW image (cutting file size in half) while retaining all of the flexibility of full-sized RAW images. A definite 30D upgrade for those of you who've been holding out. Sorry, no new pictures, the shot above was from that earlier leak. Now best get outta here and start shaking down the kids for the $1,299.99 required to take the body-only home. Update: Amazon pulled the price and delivery date. No worries, original screengrab after the break.Update 2: Oh my, now the whole page is gone! Tsk, tsk Amazon, jump the gun did we? We anticipated this: peep the gallery for a walk down memory lane.%Gallery-6099%[Via dpreview forums, thanks Manhog and Robby B.]
Canon's 21.1 megapixel EOS 1Ds Mark III: thanks, Amazon
Not only did Amazon loose the goods on Canon's EOS 40D, they've also activated the page for Canon's 21.1 megapixel EOS 1Ds Mark III for the pros. That's an 11 megapixel jump from their EOS 1D Mark III (pictured) announced in February... Shazam! Canon's hope is to supplant the medium-format cameras dominating fashion and commercial photo studios with this relatively light-weight, full-frame DSLR. We're talking a 36 x 24-mm self-cleaning CMOS sensor; a pair of DIGIC III image processers operating in parallel; improved 45-point advanced autofocus; 5fps continuous shooting (for bursts of up to 45 Large/Fine JPEGs or 15 RAW images); sRAW image support; 3-inch Live View LCD with 5x or 10x magnification; and CF, SD/SDHC storage options. Of course, it won't come cheap when (and if) it ships on December 10th. In fact, you'll be looking at $8,000 for the body (only) according to Amazon's site. While it's not an official announcement, it's close. Besides, we've been waiting for this thing to get official since we first heard about it in February. So expect one of two things to happen next: either Canon will officially announce in the next few days or Amazon will pull their pages. Update: Amazon pulled the price and delivery date. No worries, we've got the screengrab after the break.Update 2: Oops, the whole page is gone now. No probs, we've captured the specs to the gallery below.%Gallery-6101%[Thanks, Robby B and Manhog]
Samsung to deliver only 85% of promised NAND flash to "its major customers"
Remember that Seoul power outage which took down six chip production lines for the world's largest flash memory producer, Samsung? Well, those predictions of NAND flash memory shortages appear to be ringing true. If statements from PQI's general manager, Jance Lu are to be believed, then Samsung will be fulfilling only 85% of their promised NAND flash deliveries to "its major customers" in the second half of August -- i.e., now. It goes without saying then that the estimated 3% shortage in global NAND supply will be followed by a sharp increase in NAND prices due to the unquenchable demand. With modern manufacturers relying on "just in time" inventory fulfillment to keep storage and holding costs to a minimum, you'd better hold tight for possible flash-heavy, product shortages-to-come this holiday season. Egads, if true, we're looking at possible shortages in cellphones, GPS devices, handhelds, DAPs and PMPs including, of course, iPods and iPhones which source much of their memory from Samsung.
Dell admits to 4 years of financial malfeasance -- up to $150 million to be scrubbed
It's already been a rough year for Dell's dwindling market share much to the delight of HP and Apple. Now, as followup to the evidence of accounting errors and misconduct announced back in March, Dell has admitted that their senior / executive management regularly falsified quarterly financial returns from 2003 to 2006. In a filing with the SEC, Dell admits that "account balances were reviewed, sometimes at the request of senior executives, with the goal of seeking adjustments so that quarterly objectives could be met." In only one case did Dell actually invent sales numbers, usually, the shifty accounting involved the recognition of revenue earlier than appropriate. Dell must now reduce its reported net income for the period by as much as $150 million with the biggest downward restatements hitting Q1 2003 and Q2 2004 by 10 to 13 percent -- other quarters are expected to be 5 percent or less. It's unclear whether any of the management responsible for, or engaged in this malfeasance are still employed by Dell. Dell's CFO only said that "disciplinary action had been taken" and that current management and the board are "comfortable we have taken steps necessary to make sure this never happens at Dell again." Dell's stock is actually up a few points in pre-market trading which could be a sign that investors aren't too concerned by the piddley restatement (Dell posted $12 billion in net income during the period in question) and are stoked to see Dell finally move forward, undistracted. That is, if the SEC agrees. We'll see how the stock does once investors wake to the latest fetor to seep outta Austin this side of SXSW.
Palm Centro: Palm's next Treo, er, smartphone
You didn't really think it was going to be called the Gandalf, did you? Palm's next smartphone is the, wait for it, "Centro"; Palm's apparently not calling it a Treo (it was presented to us as the Palm Centro, not the Palm Treo Centro, or the Treo 800), and isn't yet showing off any images of it (for those you've got Engadget Mobile). But we did learn Palm showed it off at a Sprint media summit, and they outlined these features: "Smallest Palm OS smartphone to date Targeting a younger demographic, new to the smartphone space Runs on EVDO network New design features a full keyboard and touch screen" Wow, a phone with a keyboard and a touchscreen! What will they think of next? Oh, it sounds like GearLog was there to check it out: no surprise, they mentioned the keyboard is "infinitesimal... impossible to type on this thing with two thumbs". Score. It'll also supposedly go for $99, and Sprint will have 90 days exclusivity. However! It does look like the version they played with (probably the one above) isn't the "adult-sized" model we've also seen online, which shares many of the same design cues but appears to be slightly wider, has a horizontally oriented display, and runs Windows Mobile.
Samsung gets official with YP-P2, YP-S5, YP-T10 DAPs
We already caught sight of Samsung's new touchscreen-equipped Yepp YP-P2 DAP, but it looks like the company has a bit more in store for its Yepp line that just that, with it today officially introducing it along with two other new models. While there's little about the YP-P2 that we didn't already know, Samsung has revealed that it'll also be available in white, although it looks like it and black will be your only two options. As for the two other new players, the YP-S5 and YP-T10 each boast integrated Bluetooth, with the former sporting a built-in speaker and a 1.8-inch 222 x 176 display and the latter boasting a slightly larger 2-inch screen and a promised 30 hours of battery life. Each of those will apparently be available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB varieties, with the YP-T10 also set to be available in purple, red, and lime in addition to the standard black and white options. No word on price, but it looks like the whole lot is headed for Europe first.%Gallery-5996%Read - Samsung Press ReleaseRead- Pocket-lint, "Samsung YP-S5 and YP-T10 announced"
We think you shouldn't buy an iPod right now
We've gotten a deluge of emails over the last week from readers and insiders speculating about the next iPod release; after all, it's been a couple months since Apple loosed the iPhone, the new iMac is official and living large, and current iPods have seen a price drop -- something that only comes strictly mandated by Apple HQ. What's more, sources at retailers are continuing to tell us that Apple is slowing down iPod shipments, strongly suggesting the company is running out its current stock to make room on shelves for new product.We can't speak to what specific technology Cupertino's got brewing behind the scenes (we know it's OS X-based, and hear it'll use more flash), but whatever it is, we'd wager it'll be released in September or October. And not just because Apple's has taken to launching at least some new iPods every year since 2003, or admitted that it considers its iPhone business its "third", separate from its dedicated music player business (and thus wouldn't consider the iPhone its big iPod launch for 2007), or has just generally been mum about the iPod all year. It's more to do with the fact that since 2004 the company has statistically fallen into the groove of using those two months to launch new flagship iPods (probably thanks to their close-but-not-too-close proximity to the holidays).Do we have inside dope from Apple on this one? No, none at all. Just a lot of retail reports and mounting evidence that suggests a pretty obvious conclusion. Yeah, we expect new iPods this year (seriously, why wouldn't there be?), and if we were gamblin' men we'd put our money on the September - October. Of course, we know Steve will totally read this and launch in November or December just to mess with us, but hey, as long as the masses get their music players before our annual present-opening ceremonies, everybody's happy.
Sprint to preserve Nextel Direct Connect branding for PTT
Though Nextel may be long since assimilated as a company, parts of its branding look to live on thanks to an official announcement from Sprint today. As prior reports suggested, the carrier is reporting that push-to-talk services will continue to carry the treasured "Nextel Direct Connect" branding that has largely represented enterprise PTT service in the US for ages (14 years, to be exact). Furthermore, Nextel Direct Connect will be used "regardless of network platform," indicating that the name will be used even as Sprint works to transition the bulk of its PTT services from iDEN to CDMA. Speaking of CDMA, Sprint is using the same press release to tout a plethora of new Direct Connect devices in the pipe for 2008, spanning the range from "rugged phones that meet the rigors of military specifications to sleek new flip phones" -- and get this, they'll come from "Sprint's leading manufacturers," suggesting that Motorola is going to lose its stranglehold on the service. The more, the merrier, we say!
Sprint's XOHM WiMAX service gets official
The Xohm website is now hot, making yesterday's rumor pretty incontestable at this point. Although seeing a press release would really seal the deal. The teaser site simply states that Xohm is coming in the Spring of 2008 and promises to "expand the internet experience" to a new class of internet enabled devices. Right, a bit later than "by year-end 2007" which Sprint was originally touting. We'll update you with the press release which we expect to pop any minute now. With any luck, we'll also learn how to pronounce their new mobile WiMAX brand.Update: Ah ha! As reader Deluxe points out, it's pronounced "Zome" as in Rome. Had to bust out Firefox since the audio won't play in Safari.Update 2: The Press release is out. The "end of 2007" soft launch is still expected for Chicago and Baltimore / D.C. markets. Lucky you, John Waters.
