Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
What Is New on Thursday July 19,2007
Some truth behind persistent iPhone "nano" rumors?
These rumors just keep popping up from all over the interwebs, and with Apple, persistent rumors often lead to real product. As we've mentioned time and again, all signs point to a new iPhone revision later this year, either in the US, Europe, or both. To add fuel to the fire, AppleInsider has posted that an extremely reputable source reports that the Apple roadmap for 2007 does indeed show two distinct handsets. Touted as a scaled back version of the iPod, the "nano" would focus on music and offer basic cellular features -- so you can likely kiss web surfing and mail goodbye. All this makes sense if you look back on the iPod's original launch: the 5 and 10 GB models were out within 4 months of each other, with a hardware refresh 4 months after that. If they stick to a comparable timeline, perhaps the 3G -- if there will be a 3G -- will land in early '08. We're hoping that the nano name doesn't stick, though; how about the Apple iBashful?
Gadget of the day- Sandisk Ducati 4gb usb drive
If you're the type who prefers your vehicles to come with only two wheels, and you also don't mind paying entirely too much for a USB flash drive so long as its branded right, SanDisk's latest could be right up your alley. Amongst a number of Ducati-badged flash memory (shown after the jump), SanDisk has also unveiled the Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash Drive, which doesn't do much to avoid looking like your average Liquid Paper Dryline Grip. Aside from the awkward resemblance, this glossy red device sports the same color effects as those found on the Ducati Corse team motorcycles, includes 4GB of internal storage, and touts write speeds of up to 20 megabytes-per-second. 'Course, that staggering $124.99 you'll lay down for this piece also includes a "custom lanyard" and SanDisk's RescuePRO Deluxe software, but we imagine the pricetag won't matter much for true aficionados.
Enjoy your day and Tech Radio Live will be postponed to Friday July 20, 2007
cuthin(see you then)
Monday, July 9, 2007
Tech Radio Episode 14 Show Notes
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Sony slashes PS3 price tag by $100
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Sony drops price of current 60GB PlayStation 3 console by $100 in U.S.
PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo's best-selling Wii console, which is $250
Some expect Microsoft to respond with its first price cuts on the Xbox 360
Sony to revise PS3 console with bigger 80GB hard drive
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GPNC's 70-inch all-in-one touch-screen PC
Posted Jul 9th 2007 4:29AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets
We've seen plenty of all-in-one PCs in our time but this 70-inch model from Korea's GPNC is certainly the biggest. Meant for commercial use, it will be produced in both touch-screen and standard LCD models featuring a 1080p capable, 70-inch Samsung LCD with an 8,000:1 contrast, 8-ms response, and 700cd/m2 brightness. No details on trivialities such as PC specs, price or availability unfortunately, so we're bound to hear more on this in the weeks ahead. Hey GPNC, here's s a tip: we recommend taking future product shots without XP error messages if you hope to instill a sense of confidence in your target buying audience.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Sony has cut the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100, or 17 percent, in the United States, a move that should boost the video game console's lackluster sales.
Starting Monday, the current PS3 60 gigabyte model will cost $499 -- a $100 price drop.
The PlayStation 3, which includes a 60-gigabyte hard drive and a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player, will now cost $500, or $20 more than the most expensive version of Microsoft's Xbox 360.
The PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo's Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics and hard disk.
"Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum," Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said in an interview.
"We've gotten our production issues behind us on the PlayStation 3, reaching a position to pass on the savings to consumers, and our attitude is the sooner the better."
The price drop Monday was widely anticipated by industry analysts despite Sony President Ryoji Chubachi telling Reuters last week that the company had no immediate plans for one.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said Sony's price reduction would not double sales but may boost them by 50 percent to about 120,000 units a month.
"The greater significance is that Sony is signaling to the market that we're coming down the cost curve pretty fast in making this thing. It's a pretty consumer-friendly move," Pachter said.
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Xbox 360 glitch may cost Microsoft $1 billion
Sony's move comes two days before the start of the video game industry's annual E3 trade show in Santa Monica, California, where some expect Microsoft to respond with its first price cuts on the Xbox 360.
Nintendo, whose Wii is selling so well that it is still hard to find in stores eight months after its launch, is not expected to budge on pricing.
The Xbox 360 and Wii have outsold the PS3 by several times in the crucial U.S. market, leaving Sony, whose PlayStation 2 dominated the last console generation, in the unfamiliar position of playing catch up.
Sony is counting on the price cut to help it significantly grow sales of the PS3 ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season that accounts for most of the annual sales of highly profitable gaming software.
Sony is also introducing a new version of the PS3 featuring an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a copy of "Motorstorm," an off-road racing game that has already sold a million copies.
The new model will sell for $600 and is aimed at gamers who expect to download a lot of games and other content from Sony's burgeoning online network.
Sony also hopes the PS3 will win some converts following Microsoft's admission last week that the failure rate of its Xbox 360 console had been unacceptably high, forcing it to book $1 billion in repair costs.
"We're especially proud of the fact that the PlayStation 3 has the lowest failure rate of any PlayStation product. It's absolutely the gold standard," Tretton said.
"The quality of the product and long-term viability is what ultimately wins.
Friday, July 6, 2007
New Videos ON Tech Radio
Show Notes Tech Radio Podcast July 6, 2007
and Engadget
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Xbox360 Glitch may cost Microsoft $1 billion Dollars.
SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- In another setback for Microsoft Corp.'s unprofitable entertainment and devices division, the company says it is planning to spend at least $1 billion to repair serious problems with its Xbox 360 video game console.
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The Xbox 360 has seen slow sales in Japan.
Microsoft declined to detail the problems that have caused an onslaught of "general hardware failures" in recent months but said Thursday it will extend the warranty on the consoles to three years.
The glitches, and the bad publicity, could weigh the company down as it claws for market share in the highly competitive console market. In May, the Xbox 360 ranked No. 2 in unit sales behind Nintendo's Wii, but still beat out Sony's Playstation 3, according to data from NPD Group.
"We don't think we've been getting the job done," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which also makes the Zune digital music player, a distant competitor to Apple Inc.'s powerhouse iPod. "In the past few months, we have been having to make Xbox 360 console repairs at a rate too high for our liking."
Bach said the company made some manufacturing and production changes that he expects will reduce Xbox 360 hardware lockups, but he declined to identify the problems or say which others might remain. Microsoft said it will record a charge of up to $1.15 billion for its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended June 30, to cover the additional costs associated with the warranty extension.
The news comes just days before the video game industry descends on Santa Monica, California, for its annual E3 conference, and it could overshadow Microsoft's plans to build buzz for holiday season video game releases and "Halo 3," a much-anticipated shoot-'em-up for the Xbox 360 set to launch in September.
The software maker also said Thursday that sales of the game console fell short of expectations for the fiscal year that just ended.
Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, estimates that Microsoft's entertainment and devices division has lost more than $6 billion since 2002.
Microsoft has written down larger amounts in the past -- more than $10 billion in the late 1990s related to investments in telecommunications companies, and more than $5 billion related to antitrust issues -- but a $1 billion write-down for one division in one quarter is significant.
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"It suggests the problem is pretty widespread," Rosoff said.
Microsoft will pay for shipping and repairs for three years, worldwide, for consoles that experience hardware failure, which is usually indicated by three flashing red lights on the front of the console, something gamers sometimes refer to as "the red ring of death."
This isn't the first time Microsoft has made changes to the Xbox 360 repair plan. Last December, the company extended the warranty from 90 days to one year for U.S. customers. In Europe, the warranty previously expired after two years.
Microsoft also will reimburse the "small number" of Xbox 360 owners who have paid for shipping and repairs on out-of-warranty consoles, Bach said.
In June, bloggers speculated that the Xbox 360 return problem was getting so severe that the company was running out of "coffins," or special return-shipping boxes Microsoft provides to gamers with dead consoles. "We'll make sure we have plenty of boxes to go back and forth," Bach said in an interview.
Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said in a conference call that the company sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles since the product's November 2005 launch, missing a target for 12 million units by the end of the fiscal year.
Xbox 360 prices range from $299 to $479, depending on their configuration.
Microsoft's entertainment and devices division reported an operating loss of $315 million on $929 million in sales for the three-month period that ended in March. Microsoft has said it expects the division to post a profit in fiscal 2008.
Microsoft announced the warranty extension after markets closed Thursday. Microsoft shares fell 11 cents to $29.88 in extended trading after falling 3 cents to $29.99 in the regular session.Ps3 Price Slash
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Happy July 4,2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Tech Tv On Tivo
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