Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The Apple / Microsoft ad war keeps escalating — while Apple continues to insist that John Hodgman is the human representation of all PCs, Microsoft is taking its populist approach to the streets. Very specific streets, actually — it’s placing “I’m a PC” recording booths outside of Apple stores, like the one pictured here in Birmingham, England. The booth is staffed with three ‘Softies who’ll try to sell you on the latest in Windows tech while making nyah-nyah faces at Apple store patrons, and guests are invited to make a short video explaining why they, too, are PCs. Not to be outdone, Apple has pledged to send Justin Long to your house to charmingly condescend to you about his various abilities while still pretending to be your best friend.

Microsoft placing “I’m a PC” recording booths outside Apple stores originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Verizon Wireless

It’s not going all-out with a nasty public smear campaign, but Verizon wants its sales reps fully prepared for the occasional customer (or would-be customer) asking why they shouldn’t head across the street to T-Mobile and pick up a G1 instead. To that end, they’ve prepared a nicely pre-packaged list of reasons that can be rattled off on command, ranging from the totally legitimate (super limited 3G coverage) to the dubious (no audible navigation instructions) to the outright silly (music downloads via Amazon MP3 limited to WiFi). It’s a good effort, Verizon — but with the Storm around the corner for y’all, we don’t think you’ve got to try too hard to hang onto customers and nab a few conquests of your own. Follow the break for page two of this rather… educational document.

[Thanks, Carter]

Continue reading Verizon wants you to know why you shouldn’t buy the G1

Verizon wants you to know why you shouldn’t buy the G1 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

It’s no world-beater or anything, but the dual-display LG VX5500 is finally on sale at Verizon Wireless. Just as a refresher, this one’s bringing Bluetooth, a VGA camera, speakerphone, VZ Navigator support, voice activated dialing and Mobile Web 2.0. If you’re cool with being just a few miles behind the curve, you can dig in now for $49.99 on a 2-year contract, $119.99 on a 1-year deal or $219.99 outright.

[Via phonescoop]

LG’s VX5500 clamshell goes on sale at Verizon Wireless originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Handhelds

You know those complaints about the ugly, old-school looking interlacing lines that many (ourselves included) have reported seeing on the new PSP-3000? The specific issue has been uncovered — but not by Sony. A group of concerned French gamers with a 40x microscope think it all comes down to that most mellow of colors: blue. LCDs are comprised of RGB pixels that, combined, form all the rainbow of hues in between. As you can see in the picture above, the PSP-2000′s LCD (left) used pixels in a vertical orientation, and the blue pixels were fairly light in color. On the PSP-3000 (right), the pixels are now arranged horizontally, and the blue ones are far darker than before. The dark horizontal lines result in the heinous interlacing, an effect that any Command & Conquer player will tell you wasn’t even cool in the 90′s. Sony’s already called this a “feature” and not a flaw, so if you absolutely must buy a PSP this holiday season the folks at Logic-Sunrise who took the above pics recommend you buy an older 2000-series — while you still can.

[Thanks Pierce]

PSP-3000 put under microscope, interlacing issue exposed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

In the grand tradition of TMI, the G1‘s gone through a teardown for your voyeuristic pleasure. Underneath that chubby matte shell there are all sorts of build-related details that you probably didn’t need to know, like the fact that Panasonic built the main board, the compass was built by Asahi Kasei (exciting, we know) and the keyboard element is thin. Some might say too thin. Perhaps of most note is the trackball, which is basically identical to what RIM uses — minus the fancy glowing effect. All riveting factoids, we assure you. One item of worry is that the engineers doing the teardown noted the particular thinness of the plastic bar connecting the sliding display to the phone, and raised the troubling possibility of breaking the display off from he handset. We certainly won’t be stress testing that element, we can assure you.

T-Mobile G1 ripped to shreds, uses same trackball as RIM’s — maybe they can be friends originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sure, downloading songs and movies is easy these days (even when done legally), but what if you don’t have a computer or internet connection? “How would I be reading this post, then?” you might ask. Fair point, but there must be dozens of other people out there with portable media players yet no way to fill them, and for this market Sony and Universal have partnered to create POP, the “instant entertainment 24/7″ vending machine hitting the UK this holiday season. Unlike other boxes that sell media players, this one sells content to fill them, downloaded straight to a memory card, flash drive, PMP, or other (USB-supporting) portable device. You can also purchase media-based content on DVD and Blu-ray if you like, games too, all of which “pop” out shrink wrapped and in full retail garb. Being able to buy a Blu-ray disc at midnight on a dark corner sounds mildly interesting, but with no mention of file formats or DRM or anything else, you won’t find us sticking our memory cards into this thing’s slots anytime soon.

Sony and Universal launching POP “instant entertainment” vending machines in UK originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Cellphones

Not that we ever (okay, maybe there was a moment of weakness in there somewhere) doubted that Nokia’s N85 was North America-bound, but the handset dubbed superior to the flagship N96 by one Italian reviewer is indeed coming to US soil. And we’ve found the FCC documentation to prove it. At this point though, there’s little the User Guide, external / internal photos and SAR report can tell us that we don’t already know, so again, the takeaway here is that we’re one (huge) step closer to having an N85 to call our own. Now that’s what’s up.

Nokia’s N85 drops by the FCC, dips head, inquires about what’s good originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA, Misc

We’ve seen some pretty wild on-again / off-again relationships in the scandalous world of gadget affairs, but this one has been swinging from one extreme to the other at breakneck pace. Let’s recap: after proclaiming that it was absolutely committed to iDEN in February of 2008, rumors then started flying that Sprint was looking to offload the whole thing and move on with life. A month later, the carrier’s CEO practically confirmed that an iDEN network sale was still an option. Now, the seemingly bipolar company has issued a press release reaffirming its adoration for the chirping-est network this side of Oz, stating that “after careful review of the iDEN business, Sprint intends to retain and rejuvenate this important asset.” Which could be PR speak for “nobody wanted this thing, so what other option did we really have?” Regardless of the truth, it seems the push-to-talk network that just won’t die will live to see another day, but as history has shown, all that could change in a split second (or at Sprint Speed, whichever you prefer).

[Via phonescoop]

Sprint won’t let Nextel iDEN network chirp its last chirp, plans rejuvenation effort originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph