Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It’s like Christmas in October. Hanukkah on Halloween. Festivus on Friday. You get the idea — we just unwrapped one of the fall season’s most-anticipated AT&T handsets, the BlackBerry Bold from RIM, and we’d just love to show you. Follow us over to Engadget Mobile, if you will; right this way, folks. Watch your step.

AT&T BlackBerry Bold gets unboxed on Engadget Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Handsets, Features, RIM

Yeah, the Bold’s out in pretty much every country recognized by the United Nations at this point, but to attention-starved Americans, we can only say this: it’s new to you. Unlike the Epix, AT&T has spared RIM’s latest and greatest full QWERTY handset from any over-the-top carrier branding, opting for a tiny logo at the bottom of the shell and letting the gorgeous industrial design speak for itself. We’re not typically BlackBerry people, but we’ve got to admit — this thing feels solid, substantial, and generally just great in the hand, and we can see how you’d feel lost without it in no time. Oh, and yes, everything you’ve heard about the display is true — it’s insanely crisp, bright, and easy on the eyes. We’ll have a more thorough look at the AT&T version of the Bold in the not-too-distant future, but in the meantime, enjoy some photography, won’t you?

AT&T BlackBerry Bold unboxing originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

If you managed to pull in the reigns and hold off on Fanatec’s wireless Porsche 911 Turbo Racing Wheel back in April, you can get a beautiful alternative right about now with even more utility. Today, the outfit has introduced the limited edition Porsche 911 Turbo S Racing Wheel for Xbox 360 — which, contrary to its name, actually plays nice with the PlayStation 3 and PC. Of note, there are three variants from which to choose: a 911 Turbo S Edition, Clubsport Edition, and Pure Edition, all of which are licensed by Porsche Lizenz- und Handelsgesellschaft mbH and feature a 900° steering angle. You’ll also find a 6+1 shifter, and if you opt for the Clubsport Edition, you’ll get high-end pedals that are actually crafted from aluminum and feature a load cell pressure sensor for the brake. The pain? $250, $400 and $150 in order of mention, 90% of which is totally paying for that logo in the middle.

Fanatec’s Porsche 911 Turbo S racing wheel plays on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

The Wii Fit might have some competition brewing, if Men’s Fitness magazine is a publication worthy of the public’s trust, that is. The details are vague, to say the very least but, here’s what we “know”: Dave Kushner, executive producer at EA Sports, told the magazine that the company is planning an ‘unnamed fitness game’ with a ‘new peripheral’ which will connect the Wiimote to the player’s body, enabling all sorts of newfangled measurements, movements, and exercises barely dreamed of before. Sounds totally awesome, right? Well, if and when it materializes, we’ll be sure to rush to the store, buy one, then sadly rue its unused, guilt-inducing existence every day thereafter.

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

EA plans a Wii Fit-slaying exercise game? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Laura June

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

We heard some pretty far-fetched stuff back in June to the tune of a break-apart DualShock 3, and lo and behold, it seems that someone at Sony Computer Entertainment America is taking the idea quite seriously. A recent patent application was filed by the company, and it fairly clearly lays out the very kind of design we’d (not really) been expecting. In essence, the gamepad would consist of two pieces, each of which would utilize an “ultrasonic tracking system” for some type of game console / peripheral to recognize 3D inputs. Best of all, the approach here sounds significantly different enough from what’s used in the Wiimote that Sony could avoid months upon months of litigation — imagine that, right? It’s hard to say whether this stroke of genius will ever amount to anything, but at least there’s a chance, however minuscule.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sony patent app details motion sensing break-apart controller originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Handsets, Rogers Wireless, Misc

If you’re tired of paying for random snacks and such the old fashioned way (you know, swiping your credit card and handing over your John Henry), Rogers Wireless feels your pain. While not the first mobile payment initiative to hit the Great North, this one has some pretty notable backers. Starting in mid-2009, Rogers, RBC and Visa will join together to allow customers “to pay for small purchases” so long as they’re holding one of the “specially-equipped mobile phones that can be waved at Visa payWave-enabled checkout readers at select retail stores and quick-service restaurants in Toronto’s downtown core.” The pilot will utilize Motorola handsets outfitted with Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless chips, while Gemalto will be managing the transfer of credit card information from RBC to the secure SIM card. There’s no word on plans beyond the trial, but here’s hoping it does something more than just fizzle out.

[Via mobilesyrup]

Rogers holds hands with RBC / Visa for mobile phone payment pilot originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, GSM, EDGE

Yeah, you’ve seen the pre-production units, but that whole “Your Name – S/N xxxx” kind of tarnished the whole experience a bit. After all, when you’re looking at images of a $2,000 phone, you expect flawlessness. Boy Genius himself has managed to procure a real deal production AURA, and rather than just sitting around gawking at the gorgeous circular LCD for hours on end, he had the heart to snap a few photos so we could all live a little vicariously. Hit the read link to have a look at what you’re probably definitely missing out on.

Motorola’s production AURA gets delicate hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

The PSP has proven to be quite the popular system among hackers and modders of all sorts, but it looks like Sony has turned the tables a bit with its latest PSP-3000 model (otherwise known as the PSP Brite), which has so far put up a stiff resistance against folks’ attempts to put it to some decidedly unofficial uses. Among other things, the PSP-3000 has apparently completely shut shutting down the popular Pandora battery hack, and it’s even managed to stifle new attempts by heavyweight modders like Dark Alex to crack it open. One modder, known only as Royginald, even went so far as to swap the PSP-3000′s CPU out in favor of one from a PSP-2000, only to discover far too late that the 3000′s new interlaced video made the entire setup quite useless. Maybe that’s one of the “features” Sony was talking about?

[Via PSP Fanboy]

PSP-3000 proving to be difficult for hackers to crack originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson