unboxing
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HTC Aria slipping out early into AT&T stores
Good news, Android fans! HTC's Aria -- arguably the first Google-fied phone on AT&T worth caring about -- is seemingly slipping onto carrier floors a few days early. As the story goes, the Sense-equipped, Android 2.1-powered handset was supposed to go on sale this Sunday, but based on these unboxing shots from a giddy tipster, it's clearly ready to be procured early in some locations. Still unsure if it's worth your $129.99 on contract? Have a peek at our review right here. Update: We're also hearing through the grapevine that these are in stock in certain Best Buy Mobile locations. [Thanks, Travis] %Gallery-95644%
New Xbox 360 shows up in the wild, gets unboxed, torn asunder and modded
Hey, look at what we have here -- it's the new Xbox 360 that was just debuted a few days back -- and there's a lot going down with this one which has somehow made its way into the wild. We get the full unboxing treatment, a detailed teardown, and finish up with some delicious, light-paneled modding. While we can't really gather much beyond what we already know, the drive appears to be a Philips Lite-On DG-16D4S -- just in case you were wondering about that one. There's a video below showing off this one's new, modded exterior. [Thanks, Thomas C]
Mac mini (unibody) unboxing and hands-on
Well you've seen the press photos, but now you can focus on something a little more personal. Yep, we've got the new Mac mini over at Engadget HQ all primed and ready for a full review, but first we thought we'd give you a little taste of what the box actually looks like. We'll admit, while we like the unibody construction of other Apple products, there's something especially serious about this design that speaks to us. We've been expecting the company would move the mini line to the machined aluminum housing, and it's a welcome change for sure. The new iteration also does away with that bulky power supply (it's now built in), and surprisingly allows easy access to the memory via a crazy new twist off rubber base. Like we said, we'll see if this thing is really worth the extra $100 in our review, but for now, feast your eyes on the images below. %Gallery-95254%
Xbox 360 slim, unwrapped and unboxed
Microsoft surprised all of us today -- not by announcing a redesigned Xbox 360 system -- but by giving them away to everyone attending their E3 press conference. While we promise to give these new systems away to you soon, we wanted to give you a closer look at the new hardware (shipping to retailers today!).
Xbox 360 250GB first unboxing!
We've unboxed our first 250GB Xbox 360 (the Xbox 360 'Slim' to the layman) and we've gotta tell you: it felt good. Stand by for more shots. Update: Here they are, we've got video on the way as well. Here are some initial thoughts: The touch sensitive buttons quickly asserted themselves as not-the-best-thing-ever when we were unable to tell if we'd turned the Xbox on under the bright lights of Microsoft's setup. We're sure we'd see the green glow easily in our dark entertainment center at home, but it's a small little inconvenience -- one that PS3 owners are well aware of. The touch sensitive eject button isn't so bad, because the tray seems uber fast -- we didn't clock it, but we'd say it pops out faster than our existing Xbox. The Xbox feels just about as heavy as the existing Xbox, although the power adapter is smaller and much lighter. We booted up Alan Wake and while we were in a relatively loud room, we didn't find the Xbox to be loud at all. We'll have to get it in the labs to see how it stacks up with the original, but Microsoft obviously had noise pollution in its sights here. They worked directly with the drive manufacturer to reduce every source of noise (including air turbulence!), and dub their accomplishment "whisper quiet." This is a personal opinion, but we think it looks pretty badass in person, though not at all a wild shift from the existing look. Update 2: We've got video after the break! It's very exciting, we assure you. %Gallery-95146%
Chocolate covered iPad looks tasty
Your wife loves chocolate, and you know she's been eying that 1.5+ lb. bar at the local Trader Joe's like a lion does a gazelle. She's also a massive Apple fan who's been dying for a shiny new iPad for months. Birthday time: the bar, or the iPad? If you're a cheap SOB, you get the bar and call it a day. If you're looking for an excuse to have an iPad in the house, you get the iPad. Or, you can do what this chap did and not only give her both, but fuse them together. Not only did this guy encase the iPad gift in chocolate (after having carefully wrapped it in plastic first, thankfully), he had to have it shipped from London, England because they're not sold yet in South Africa, where she lives. I don't know about you, but I was cringing as I watched her slice away the chocolate with a knife from the precious prize within. The sad part of this story, for me, is that my wife would be severely disappointed that she was shorted 1.5+ lbs. of chocolate for a piece of gadgetry goodness. [via Engadget]
iPad frozen into slab of chocolate, delivered to unsuspecting wife
So this fellow Stefan wasn't content with just getting his wife an iPad. No sir, he thought he'd put all the rest of us to shame by ensconcing the Apple tablet inside some fine chocolate from London and then transporting the frozen concoction nearly six thousand miles to Cape Town, South Africa. There's really not much more science to it than that, the chap wanted to surprise his better half and judging by the pictures on his blog, he succeeded spectacularly. Hit the source link to see for yourself.
Sharp Netwalker PC-T1 unboxed, now available
There can be only one. Wait, wrong franchise -- this here is a Netwalker showdown. In the left corner, we have the Sharp Netwalker PC-Z1, a 5-inch Ubuntu smartbook powered by the 800MHz Freescale i.MX515 CPU, and at right, we have the Sharp Netwalker PC-T1, a 5-inch Ubuntu tablet with the exact same specs. Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? We won't find out today -- but Pocketables invite you to check out a bevy of fresh-squeezed T1 unboxing pics and comparison shots while they work on a review. See an EVO 4G make this tablet squirm at our source link, or check out our more coverage section if the juxtaposition of the words "Ubuntu" and "tablet" had you scrambling for your pocketbook three sentences ago.
Cowon J3 ships to America, we go hands-on
Nary two full months after we first caught wind of Cowon's dainty (albeit super sexy) J3 portable media player, the award-winning device has both gone on sale and arrived on our doorstep (along with a few others, according to a few jovial tipsters). As of today, prospective consumers in the US can order one for $199.99 (8GB) or $239.99 (16GB), both of which have microSD slots for capacity expansion. Per usual, Cowon's packaging here was nothing short of delightful, and the 3.3-inch AMOLED display struck us just as the S9 did oh-so-many months ago. Unlike the larger V5 we reviewed back in March, we greatly appreciated the capacitive nature of this touch panel, and finger presses were accurately and immediately recognized. The user interface was also far more streamlined, and whizzing about from area to area was no issue. As with every other Cowon player we've ever laid ears on, the audio quality out of this one was second to none; if you're a self-proclaimed audiophile, yet can't exactly accommodate your Marantz KI Pearl on the subway, this is about as good as it gets. The video player was similarly impressive, loading up clips with minimal fuss, and showing no lag whatsoever during playback. Unfortunately, for all the things this gorgeous unit does right, the only spec that matters to some is wrong: pricing. We hate to point out the obvious, but an 8GB iPod touch is also just $199, and unlike the J3, Apple's alternative can surf the web over WiFi and bring you face to face with 100,000 (or so) apps. From a value proposition standpoint, there's simply no comparison. 'Course, the J3 may still stand out if you're all about audio quality (and nothing else), but we've yet to actually meet someone who didn't care at least a smidgen about the extras. Vote with your wallet, as they say. %Gallery-92787%
Archos 7 Home Tablet ships to Android lovers in June
So you go and pre-order the Archos 7 Home Tablet, thinking it would ship by the end of April. Our deepest apologizes, but according to the official press release below, the 7-inch, Android 1.6 tablet won't be shipping in the US until early June -- though an Archos spokesperson told us that those who pre-ordered may get units before the end of May if they count their lucky stars. The rest of the release doesn't reveal much, but does confirms that the resistive touchscreen device won't have access to the Android Marketplace. Instead -- and as you can see in the unboxing pictures below -- it comes with Archos' AppsLib store and is preloaded with a few apps, including eBuddy and Aldiko's e-reader software. Still, we know the $199.99 tablet sounds tempting, but our review should be up in the next few days. In other words, you should probably hold off on sliding that credit card out -- after all, she ain't shipping 'til June. %Gallery-92466%
Droid Incredible torn down to its constituent elements, reassembled in a flash (video)
Now here's an innovative concept -- instead of doing separate videos for an unboxing and a disassembly of the Droid Incredible, why not combine them into one? And while you're at it, turn that into a stop-motion animation and include well timed sound effects for comedic relief. Make sure to include intimate closeups of the Incredible's spectacularly red innards, then finish off with a sped-up reconstruction and reboot of the handsome Nexus One killer. Got all that? Good, now drop the video after the break and let the people enjoy it.
Viliv's S10 Blade starts shipping out, gets its first customer unboxing
Aw, Suki Suki now! Nearly a fortnight after heard that Viliv's S10 Blade had been delayed by the factory, in flies this. Tipster Anthony seems to be on Lady Luck's good side, as his unit not only shipped, but fell into his lap today. He ordered up the 1.6GHz version with a 64GB SSD and integrated 3G, and just to prove that he wasn't yanking our chain, he offered up a gallery's worth of unboxing shots. We can't say for sure that the backlog has cleared, but it's pretty evident that the earliest of pre-orderers are seeing their units trickle out. With that said, we'd encourage you to refresh that inbox once more and make sure a package isn't headed your way -- and when it does, let us know how you like it in comments below. [Thanks, Anthony] %Gallery-92001%
Friday Flickr Find: Unboxing an iPad, LEGO style
For many of us Apple geeks, unboxing your new product is *almost* as much fun as actually using it. And while there are several ways to show off the event, having the box opened entirely by LEGO minifigures photography is probably one of the most creative and interesting ones I've seen. Enter the world of "ntr23", a TUAW reader and Apple fan who has an apparent affinity for taking pictures of minifigures performing various tasks, the most recent of which was unboxing his new iPad. At 1.5 inches tall, the iPad reminds me more of an iFloor, but that doesn't stop the figures from putting on a good show. From receiving the package to syncing with iTunes, the minifigure team has you covered. If you're thinking this looks familiar, you're probably right. This same team of LEGOs used ladders to scale the box of the original iPhone a couple of years ago, and one of the minifigures was recently spotted attempting to load OS 4 on the original iPhone. I'm thinking someone might want to let him know that's not how it's done :-) If you like what you see, be sure to check out ntr23's Flickr page for more.
AT&T Palm Pre Plus unboxed in glorious, orange detail
We still don't have a firm date for when Palm's current wunderphone will be hitting AT&T's soothingly-colored retail establishments (the site still says "coming soon"), but we do now have confirmation that at least one handset has reached its destination. A tipster was kind enough to send us these photos of an AT&T Pre Plus escaping its creamsicle confines and powering on for the first time. This doesn't look like a retail unit, likely one of AT&T's "practice" Pre Plus models that were supposed to ship earlier this month or some other promo phone, but regardless we're guessing that we're not far from yet another group of subscribers being able to massage the keys on this slider. %Gallery-91529% [Thanks, gueriLLaPunK]
ASUS' Eee Keyboard gets unboxed
It's been quite a haul since ASUS debuted its Eee Keyboard two CESes ago, but the device is now finally nearing a release, and the folks at Netbook News have now come through with one of the first unboxings of the final retail packaging. There's not many surprises left at this point, of course, but the packaging itself is at least suitably minimal, and also contains the Eee Keyboard's UWB receiver and antenna, along with a slew of different cables. Head on past the break for the video and, if you missed it, be sure to check out our own most recent hands-on with the device right here.
Droid Incredible arrives early for a few lucky, smug pre-orderers
While the new Verizon Droid Incredible isn't supposed to arrive until April 29th, a few blessed pre-orderers are getting their units early. From the sound of it, there was a glitch in Verizon's system that was allowing some phone orders to be shipped right away -- sadly, that apparently has since been plugged. Interestingly, the boxes these are being shipped in so far just say "HTC Incredible," not that it's any surprise that the Droid Incredible moniker was a late-in-game addition. Of course, cries of "fake!" rang out in the forums, so one of the recipients (appropriately self-dubbed "SoSmarmy") posted a video of the phone booting up for all to see. Check it out after the break. Not seething with envy yet? Perhaps you should re-read our review of the new flagship Android handset. [Thanks, Aaron]
Acer Aspire 1825PTZ convertible tablet unboxed for your pleasure (video)
Another tablet has entered the fray, the Acer Aspire 1825PTZ convertible -- a little sub-notebook that sits just above a netbook in terms of specs, but isn't much larger than your average Eee. NewGadgets.de has managed to get its hands on one and was kind enough to hit the record button for that special moment of unboxing, sharing the joy as this 11.6-inch capacitive touchscreen'd model entered the world. Inside, the machine sports a 1.3GHz SU4100 Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB disk drive, 802.11b/g/n wireless along with Bluetooth, and a six-cell battery. Sadly the video after the break doesn't actually entail turning the thing on, but hopefully that'll be part of a big-budget sequel. We hear Michael Bay has signed on to direct.
Microsoft's Zune HD 64 starts sliding out, unboxing proves the bump in capacity
Microsoft's extra capacious Zune HD just went on sale last week, and already orders are hitting the doorsteps of eager music lovers. A tipster with a commendable level of kindness dropped us a gallery's worth of unboxing photos, and as you'd expect, nary a thing has changed on the outside. On the inside, however, things are downright zany. Zany, we say! Have a look below if you're curious, and be sure to let us know in comments if / when your own Zune HD 64 arrives. [Thanks, Jp3009] %Gallery-90988%
MacBook Pro Core i7 unboxing and preview
So we've just gotten our cold, live hands on the new MacBook Pro -- you know, the one with the Core i7 CPU? We're obviously going to be taking this puppy for a spin around the block (a 15-inch version with a 2.66GHz CPU), but we wanted to show you what it looks like (exactly the same as always), and mention a few takeaways from our conversation with Apple about the product. As you already know, the 15- and 17-inch models have a new GPU configuration, utilizing Intel's integrated HD graphics alongside NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M. What you might not know is that the new laptops have done away with the previous method of switching from integrated to discrete graphics, that is, forcing you to select one or the other and then logging you out and back in for the switch. This process is hugely streamlined in the new versions, providing switching on the fly from integrated to discrete, and requiring zero input from the user (similar to NVIDIA's Optimus). The switches take place on an app-by-app basis judged on what kind of resources that particular application you're opening requires -- so this should be interesting to see when it comes to third-party titles. Apple is also only providing two options here; keep the automatic GPU switching on, or switch to only discrete graphics. So if you're planning on running these babies just in integrated mode, you're out of luck. Other additions to the laptops include "inertial scrolling" (a la iPhone), which feels like a software change to us, but is apparently related to new trackpads on these models, and new configuration options when buying, such as getting yourself a 1680 x 1050 high res display (yes, please) or opting for a 512GB SSD (clocking in, weirdly, at $1,400 for the 2.4GHz models, but $1,300 for the 2.53GHz and 2.66GHz versions). Speaking of money, you may have noticed that Apple bumped the cost of the base 15-inch MacBook Pro from $1,699 to $1,799 -- not a welcome change in today's bummer of an economy, though they've brought down the entry to the 17-inch to $2,299. At any rate, you can check out some snaps of the new system below, and hang tight for a full review coming soon. %Gallery-90403%
The TurboExpress, lovingly unboxed
You might think gadget unboxing videos are unnecessary. A quick look after the break is all you need to realize that you are wrong. Aaron Nanto of pcenginefx.com has filmed a beautiful unboxing video notable not only for its subject (an NEC TurboExpress, the handheld version of the Turbografx-16 console) but for its beautiful cinematography. For us, this video lies somewhere between "love story" and "pornography," though we wouldn't dare suggest it's indecent to watch. We've never been so thrilled to see five seconds of Keith Courage in Alpha Zones.
