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Conklin-Intracom orders $1.6 million in IPTV set-top-boxes
Here's an interesting one. Conklin-Intracom -- known for its ability to deliver "next-generation content" via IPTV -- has apparently ordered up $1.6 million in IPTV set-top-boxes from Wegener. The order consists of a mixture of "Wegener's SMD-515 set tops and remote controls for IPTV services, including video-on-demand and integrated digital video recording." The aforementioned boxes support both MPEG-4 (H.264) and MPEG-2 decoding along with standard- and high-definition formats. The curious part, however, is the note that the STBs will be deployed "by several unnamed telco operators." Heck, we're not even told if said carriers are domestic or international. Still, we reckon secretive IPTV expansion is better than none at all.
Nokia inks $2 billion phone deal in China, shareholders unimpressed
As awesome of a win for Nokia as it sounds, it turns out that Espoo does a regular business with wholesale distributor China Postel, and this year's order of $2 billion falls short of the $2.5 billion ordered in 2007, leaving shares in Nokia to fall about 1.8 percent on the news. Analysts think that lower average handset prices account for at least a part of the lower order value, along with speculation that China Postel might roll deep with some additional orders later in the year. Here's the interesting part, though: the orders are apparently "framework agreements" which are totally commitment-free on both Nokia's and China Postel's parts, meaning that the $2 billion could vanish into thin air with no warning or explanation whatsoever. In fact, analysts can't even confirm whether last year's $2.5 billion worth of handsets was ever fulfilled. Wait, what's the point of these so-called framework agreements in the first place, then?[Via mocoNews]
TN Games' impact-generating FPS Vest goes on sale
Are you a hardcore gamer? No, seriously -- a hardcore gamer. If so, you should have no qualms throwing down $169 for TN Games' FPS Vest now that it's available for order. The entire bundle includes an "impact-generating" wearable, an air compressor, USB cable, power supply and copies of 3rd Space Incursion and Call of Duty 2 for PC. Just don't wander too far outside of your house with this thing on, alright?[Via CNET]
Warhammer Online's January video of the month contains RvR greatness
The new Warhammer Online video of the month for January is out (introduced by the lovable Paul Barnett) and it's chocked-full of great RvR footage. Not only do we get to see all the races battling it out in the video, but if you watch closely you'll see your first glimpses of the Chaos Marauder class (limb mutations, woo!). You'll also be treated to giant axe-wielding Dwarves and plenty of spellcasting. That's not to mention that there is one very big squig in the video, too. We also really have got to give it up for the High Elf Swordmasters -- they just look cool looking with their big swords swinging around. Warhammer Online looks like it should deliver some really fun PvP and RvR battles in all sorts of different locales. When some of the battles in the video looked like they were taking place in capital cities, a certain anxious-yet-excited feeling definitely overcame us. Now, hopefully -- and according to EA Mythic -- the PvE game will be just as strong as the RvR/PvP side.
Archos 705 WiFi media player up for pre-ordering
Those who've yet to jump on the Archos bandwagon -- but have been yearning to do so ever since taking a glance at that all-too-positive 705 review -- need wait no longer. Effective immediately, interested consumers can snag their own 705 WiFi courtesy of Amazon. The 80GB and 160GB versions are both available for $399.99 and $499.99, respectively, but the current ship date is pegged at November 27th. Whatcha waiting for? Hit one of the read links below to claim your spot in line, and don't be scared to let us know if yours ships early.[Via PlayerBites]Read - Archos 705 WiFi (80GB)Read - Archos 705 WiFi (160GB)
Harry Potter and the Gallery of Screenshots
We were taken aback by these screens of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They look fantastic. It could be using prerendered backgrounds to display these artistic views of Hogwarts, but whatever it is, it's working. Whenever Harry is walking around the (strangely empty) building, it's breathtaking, and one of the nicest-looking adventure games we've seen on any platform.And then we see the other screenshots. The combat-- for which you apparently rotate the DS Brain Age style, and the magical minigames. They might be fun, but they don't quite evoke ICO in the same way as the environments do. Oh, well, this is still amazing for an EA licensed game.
Haier's shiny Sterling handset gets official
Way back in January we were able to get our comparatively large palms around Haier's minuscule Elegance, and now the company's latest mirrored handset has gotten official with a pre-order price and release date. The oh-so-shiny Sterling brings back the bling factor in a serious way, and while it may look like there's no external display on this bad boy, we promise it's just an illusion. Underneath the facade resides a 1.8-inch color LCD, 1.3-megapixel camera, a pair of "music puzzle games," support for MP3, WMA, MP4, and AAC files, USB 2.0 connectivity, Bluetooth, 128MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, and a battery capable of staying alive through three solid hours of yapping. Interestingly, you can plunk down a "non-refundable" deposit of $199 now in order to secure a position in line when it launches worldwide in July, but considering that there's no word on how much extra you will be billed upon shipment, we'd be mighty hesitant to pull the trigger just yet.[Via I4U, thanks Luigi]
Rumor: Wii mic to increase wizardly immersion
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rumor_Wii_mic_to_increase_wizardly_immersion_get_more_into_the_game'; It's all a bit hushed and secretive, but reports out of GDC say that the new Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix game will use the upcoming Wii microphone attachment in some fashion-- the most obvious use we've heard is incanting spells. People are under non-disclosure agreements about some aspect of this game, but not the microphone. People are getting really excited about the Wii mic, it seems. Excited enough to forget that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban covered the mic thing back on the PS2. This one will just be better anyway.We're just glad the Wii mic is getting use outside of licensed Disney karaoke games. It's covering the whole range of licensed games![Via digg]
Foxconn to build more Apple Notebooks
MacNN reports that Hon Hai Precision Industry (aka "Foxconn Electronics") has won a new contract with Apple to produce a line of Mac notebooks. The actual notebook line in question is still unclear. MacNN notes that the company will ship about 3.2 million notebooks in 2007, of which the Apple order only makes up a part. If the name of this manufacturing company sounds familiar, it's probably because of our recent story about Foxconn reportedly winning the iPhone handset contact. Foxconn has also built has had contracts to build has had TUAW stories about having possibly having had contracts to possibly build in a theoretical way only Mac Minis, Powerbooks and iBook G4s for Apple in the past.
Cingular Premier customers can pre-order BlackBerry Pearl
Apparently today was the agreed upon date to launch (or "prelaunch," anyway) svelte new mobiles that we'd been waiting ever so patiently on, as this discovery comes just hours after Motorola officially released its MOTOFONE F3. While we've known the BlackBerry Pearl was coming, sneaked a few peeks of it in action, heard all about the pre-release reviews, and had strong suspicions (twice) that it was headed to Cingular, today we can finally say it's here -- well, almost. Accessible through Cingular's Premier web portal, the Pearl is available for pre-order as an interestingly-labeled prelaunch affair. While the design nor the specs have changed up on us, we're finally getting some concrete info on the price; it'll run you $579.99 straight up, or around $179.99 after corporate and web discounts, and while we're sure plain ole consumer pricing will be similar, you'll (probably) only snag this jewel for under $200 if you sign away your cellular soul for a couple years.[Thanks, Scott V.]
GameStop employees allegedly fake PS3 theft
We're not ones to judge individuals who get carried away during the launch of a new console, be they politicians, hopeful campers, or even newbie eBayers. However, we draw the line at the law being broken in order to bag what is essentially a plastic box stuffed full of more plastic. In the latest of a rash of PS3-related crimes, two 19-year old GameStop employees have been accused of stealing four PlayStation 3s and then telling police that armed gunmen had robbed the store and taken the consoles instead. The charges include suspected embezzlement, burglary, and conspiracy, all of which carry hefty jail sentences if the suspects are proven guilty. Still, we all know what the ultimate sentence-based deterrent to this sort of crime is: a lifetime of living under the label of being the bad kind of PS3 fanboy.[Via Joystiq]
Amazon angers Wii waiters
Amazon.com pulled some shenanigans with the Wii on Sunday, angering a lot of gamers who had camped out on Amazon's Wii order page from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, hitting refresh every couple of seconds. Amazon had previously touted (via the order page) that the Wii would be available for purchase on the site, sometime on Sunday, and that news spread like wildfire, especially amongst those who wanted to wait in the comfort of their own home, not on a curb somewhere. However, by failing to provide a time they left a lot of buyers in the lurch, strike one. If you had previously registered on the page, you were told that you would receive an email as soon as they had more information about when the Wii would go on sale. Did anyone ever get that email? We sure didn't. Strike two. They eventually put up a notice that states, "We are currently out of stock: We sold out of our initial supply of the Wii on Sunday morning, November 19, in less than one minute." Yer out.First came the debacle over "accidental" pre-orders in October, and now this. While folks were waiting on Sunday, the "user reviews" section became a forum of sorts, with people swapping alternatives for scoring a Wii, like brick and mortar stores and other websites. It grew to over 700 comments before Amazon finally shut it down and scaled it back to just reviews about the system.Anyone actually able to score one during the one minute sale? We hope that with lightning fast gamer reflexes, you'd have the drop on regular Amazon shoppers.
Reports of four million OLPCs greatly exaggerated
Ah-ha, so it turns out those four million OLPCs may not actually be bagged after all -- big surprise. Apparently the mixup began when OLPC program director for Middle East and Africa Khaled Hassounah supposedly told DesktopLinux that Nigeria had committed to an order of a million units, and Argentina, Brazil, and Thailand were right behind them with "similar" orders of their own. Except not really. According to ZDNet UK, that information is flat-out "incorrect," according to OLPC, and that despite Hassounah's statements they're not yet prepared to distribute commercialized versions of the device. Taking pre-commercial device orders for something like the OLPC is absolutely nothing out of the realm of the ordinary in our opinion, but it seems like a little PR-spurned informational infighting has turned the project from "pedagogically suspect" to factually suspect overnight. Perhaps we should leave them to their device-making for now, and worry later about who is and isn't placing orders for quantities of computers large enough to make even the thinnest-margin manufacturers sweat and drool. [Thanks, Cyrus and Alexandre]
Four million OLPCs ordered, NickNeg sez boo-ya
Argentina, Brazil, Nigera, Thailand, you've made Negroponte proud. In fact, the man who is right now lined up to supply your respective nations with a million OLPCs a piece (give or take a few thou), is, as we understand it, at this very moment spiking OLPCs like he's in the end zone. According to OLPC program director Khaled Hassounah, Nigeria ordered of a million units, and spoke of "similar commitments" by the other three nations, so take that, India. Unlike the educational puppetmasters in Africa and South America, you apparently must not know a good thing when you see one. That or maybe you're investing those millions into bettering social welfare programs and upgrading other, more life-essential facilities before outfitting kids with lappies. Whatever you're doing with those millions, though, you're not putting a smile on NickNeg's face, mkay?[Thanks, David]
Sell your soul to pre-order a British PS3
U.K. online retailer Play.com has made the PS3 available for pre-order in a bundle with three games, pushing the price up to £549.99 which, for a game console, is very near the "I'd have to sell my soul to get one" boundary. The real cheek is that the company doesn't guarantee that they'll be able to ship the console to you before Christmas "due to an expected European shortage of the PS3." On top of that, the three game bundle of Formula One '06, Warhawk and Singstar "may be changed, subject to availability." We realize that these kind of bundles and disclaimers are the norm with console pre-orders, but if you convert this figure to dollars ($1,019.73) and compare it to similar deals for the Xbox 360 that we previously considered outrageous ($1,200 got you an Xbox 360 with 11 games and several accessories not too long ago), you get a good perspective on the difficult situation that Sony has put itself into by setting such a high sticker price. If the first pre-order bundle in the UK comes in at over half a grand, what can we expect from retailers in the weeks before the launch? I really don't want to be forced to sell my little sister's soul too.[Via T3]
