Hardware Laptop

Intel’s never made a secret of the fact that it developed the now-ubiquitous Atom chipset primarily for mobile devices and low-powered netbooks for at emerging markets, so it’s not totally surprising to hear Intel sales VP Stu Pann say the company doesn’t see netbooks as potentially cannibalizing sales of its existing processors — but we are a bit intrigued by his seeming dismissal of netbooks as everyday machines. According to Stu, a netbook with a 10-inch screen is “fine for an hour. It’s not something you’re going to use day in and day out.” That’s probably true, of course, but it’s harsher language than we’ve heard from Intel in the past — and it’s more or less in line with AMD’s recent decision to ignore netbooks entirely in favor of more capable machines “above that form factor.” Of course, Intel execs can pretty much say whatever they want as long as the company is basically the only player in the netbook game, but we think a lot of people actually are willing to use a netbook as their primary machine, especially in this economy. Could you handle a netbook as your daily driver? The comment box awaits.
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Need to do some serious stereo Blutoothing? Here’s your answer: Nokia’s BH-601 headset. Want to win these without doing anything at all (well, almost anything)? Just enter a comment over at Engadget Mobile. What are you waiting for? Get to it!

Black Friday Giveaways (part 7): Nokia BH-601 stereo Bluetooth headset at Engadget Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For now, Android’s got about as much enterprise support as a Sidekick (well okay, a little more, but not much) — so that’s got to be keeping G1s out of the hands of throngs who are too tied-down to Exchange, Notes, or some equally stuffy piece of server-side software to be able to make the switch. China’s QiJi feels your pain, which is where the company’s surprisingly okay-looking i6 comes into play: the handset supports both Android and Windows Mobile, although you can’t dual-boot — you’ve got to choose one and run with it until you decide to install the other. It packs a 624MHz processor, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, a trackball, and — in lieu of a QWERTY slide — an on-screen Chinese keyboard with stylus support that we haven’t seen before. Android, we love ya and all, but until you go through puberty, this multi-platform support is just about the best thing we’ve ever heard.
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Here on Thanksgiving Eve, we’ve got two juicy Storm tidbits sure to make your Turkey Day that much more interesting. For starters, one fellow over on HoFo has purportedly unlocked his touchscreen BlackBerry for use on T-Mobile’s GSM network. Hot, right? The process involved sourcing a SIM unlock code from VZW, then updating the phone with software intended for the Bold. If you’re not confused yet, you’ll also need a dash of Elvish magic and a bit of luck, but you should know that you can’t tap into T-Mob’s 2G voice network and Verizon’s 3G data network at the same time. Next up, the Boy Genius has it on authority that two firmware updates are but weeks away, both of which will target some of the many issues that early adopters have been harping on since launch day. Hit the links below for more details on everything.
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Those crazy zzzPhone kids are at it again, and this time they’re jumping on the open handset bandwagon. Sure, the whole thing has always seemed excessively shady, and as far as we can tell no one has ever received a one of these devices, but apparently the made-to-order cellphone is now “shipping” with Android. If the optional TV tuner, 100,000 candlepower flashlight, or solid gold case (decked out with one karat diamonds) wasn’t enough to lure you in, maybe this new development will seal the deal for you. Of course we’re dying to put the modular mobile boom box attachment through its paces, but not so much that we’ll be sending our hard earned cash over to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone any time soon.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops, Wearables

We’ve seen Mobile Edge’s ScanFast line of TSA-approved laptop bags before, so it was only a matter of time, we suppose, until there was a spate of the cases specifically for women. What does it mean, then, to be a laptop bag that is “designed for women by women?” Well, it helps to be pink or have faux alligator skin (or is that croc?) detailing, we can tell you that much. Regardless, the company is announcing three “fabulous” products: the Onyx Briefcase, the Onyx Backpack and the Element Briefcase, each coming in the three different color / style schemes. They’re going to be available later this month, and sell for $99.99 each — Chihuahua named Princess Sparklepants wearing a ballerina costume not included.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

What if you took the REDFLY — you know, that Foleo-like thing for Windows Mobile phones — and cheapened it up a bit? Maybe knock the luxurious 8.3-inch display down to a more reasonable 7 inches, lose three hours of battery life, and add $30 to the asking price, for starters? That’s the indecent proposal Celio has put together with its new C7 model, trading endurance and screen size for an eight-ounce drop in the original’s two-pound frame. Not what you had in mind, you say? Okay, okay, try this, then: the C8N carries over the 8.3-inch display and adds a “REDFLY Media Port” for connecting an iPod, iPhone, Zune, digicam, or pretty much anything else with a composite TV-out for viewing on the 800 x 480 screen — but the catch is that you’ll also need the $20 “REDFLY Media Cable” (sorry, but that really does belong in quotes) to complete the package on top of the cost of the C8N itself. Either way, the new models are still dumb terminals that need juice from a WinMo-based device to function — so yeah, if your Treo 750’s looking a little lonely over there in the corner, the C7 and C8N should fill the bill nicely when they hit in the first week of December for $229 and $299, respectively.
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

Let’s get one thing straight right from the get-go: the e-Volve Gadget Shoulder Holster could definitely be considered the ultimate woman purse too, but that would first require you to actually find a female who would agree to said statement with a straight face. Following in the oh-so-daring footsteps of the nearly legendary Remote Wrangler is this piece: a mishmash that’s half C.O.P.S., half Brenthaven and 100% gnarly. Aside from providing the perfect cover for carrying your essentials underneath a suit, it offers up plenty of space for a smartphone, a backup mobile, a writing utensil, a few earbuds and, if positioned correctly, a Chrome 45. That’s a lot of badassery for just $69.95.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Intel’s Atom is enjoying some pretty lonely dominance in the netbook market, with nary a spot of competition from VIA’s ephemeral Nano or whatever AMD has in store for us — a void ARM has just announced it plans to fill with ARMv7 chips. The mobile device chipmaker has partnered with Canonical to develop a version of Ubuntu specifically tailored to run on netbooks and MIDs with ARM Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processors, a platform ARM says will offer all-day battery life as well as advanced video functionality. That sounds pretty good to us (and Intel, actually) — too bad we won’t see any of these mythical machines until at least Ubuntu’s April 2009 steet date for the ARM port. Good thing Intel will be lying around counting cash and not developing anything until then, right guys? Sigh.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

With the 8900 having just launched on T-Mobile Germany, it only stands to reason that T-Mobile’s US subsidiary would be a logical next step; after all, it’s already brought in the WiFi-equipped 8320, and the 8900 is the next progression in that bloodline. It also makes a ripe competitor for the Bold, which just saw the light of day on T-Mobile’s much-larger rival — and seeing how RIM has now mentioned that the 8900 will be coming stateside in the first quarter of 2009, we’re feeling like a T-Mob launch is about as close to a sure thing as you can find these days. The only question is, why wait so long? When you consider that the darned thing just passed the FCC, we’re not seeing a compelling reason to hold it until after the crucial holiday season unless they’re looking to give the 8220 some breathing room — and hey, sorry, 8220, but in a battle against the 8900, you’re going to go down every time.
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