The gloves are off: Verizon iPhone attack commercials go full swing

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Corporate News, Videos

Oh man, you’ve got to love how Verizon Wireless has gotten so bold now that they’ve finally got a killer device in the Motorola DROID to brag about. You’ve also got to love how Apple is getting a taste of their own medicine, after running the “I’m a Mac” ads for years now. Verizon is aiming to highlight their phone offerings, as well as their huge 3G network, in their holiday commercials that dump on the iPhone and AT&T. There are three so far, and we must admit, they’re pretty clever. You can watch all three commercials, one of which sees the iPhone banished to the Land of Misfit Toys, after the break.

Click to continue reading The gloves are off: Verizon iPhone attack commercials go full swing

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Nook e-reader shipments pushed back to December

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds

The nook e-reader, Barnes and Noble’s supposed Kindle killer, just hit it’s first speed bump with the delay of the ship date. Originally, the nook was set to ship to customers on November 30th. However, B&N says that because sales were higher than expected, they are pushing the ship date to December 11th—a full 11 days later. Luckily, if you got your pre-order in early, yours should still ship on November 30th. However, if you are placing a pre-order at this point, don’t expect to see your device until mid-December. If you were thinking about picking up a nook for someone for the holidays, your best bet might be to buy one sight unseen.

Read More | Brighthand

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Palm Pixi launches on Sprint on November 15 for $99

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Corporate News, Handhelds

Right on time, Palm and Sprint have finally made their plans for the Palm Pixi public. In case you didn’t know the Pixi is just the second device from Palm that runs their webOS operating system (the first being the Palm Pre.) On November 15th, you’ll be able to pick up a Pixi from Sprint stores, RadioShack, Best Buy, and Walmart for a cool $99.99 after $50 instant rebate, and $100 mail-in rebate. So, really, you’ll need $200 in the back if you want to cop one of these on day one. Yeah, we agree with what we know you’re thinking - what is Palm smoking that gives them the confidence that they can sell this phone for $100, when the much more powerful Pre can be had for $150? We’d love to find out, because we expected to see this one launch at $49-79, but hey, we aren’t Palm.

Anyone gonna pick this one up?

Read More | Palm Pixi

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Sony celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month with pink products

Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Corporate News, Design, Handhelds, PC / Laptop

If you didn’t know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  SonyStyle is supporting Breast Cancer Awareness with the purchase of the Pink W Series Mini notebook PCBundle or Rose Reader Pocket Edition.  They plan on donating $110,000 in conjunction with the October sales of these two products. 

They are also planning on donating all profits earned at SonyStyle stores from 6PM to 8PM on October 20th to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and that applies to all purchases, pink or not.

Read More | Sony Press Release

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Microsoft’s take on today’s Apple announcements

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Microsoft, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Software

One things we’ve been wondering today, admidst all of the Apple It’s Only Rock and Roll event news, is how Microsoft was feeling, especially as it pertains to their Zune business, which is set for a major overhaul in six days. We got in contact with a Microsoft spokesperson, and asked them about what they thought of the new iPod and iTunes announcements. Here’s what they had to say:

Since our debut, Zune has offered a different kind of end-to-end digital entertainment experience that includes wireless MP3 players, a robust online store, music community and innovative software features that help users easily find the music and videos they love.

The entertainment experience for consumers hasn’t changed that much after Apple’s announcement today.  Our point of view has always been that people want to be entertained, and they want a better way to watch and listen to the digital entertainment they love.  We’re interested in getting you your content where you want it in rich, exciting ways.  We look forward to sharing more on September 15th.

Okay, so Zune is all about music and videos - not games, video recording, and all that other stuff. We get it, and we like the focus. What we don’t like, though, is how Microsoft allowed Apple to steal their thunder by announcing the new line-up way after Microsoft announced the Zune HD, followed up by Apple launching the new iPods a week before the Zune HD hits stores.

In the meantime, if you’re a music fan looking for a new music player, we say wait until the fifteenth. What you see come out of the Zune camp may surprise you. All of you. I’ve already said too much.

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Video clip of Steve Jobs hitting the stage, encourages organ donorship

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Videos

Steve Jobs returned to the stage at today’s Apple “It’s Only Rock and Roll” music event, and received a standing ovation. He took a moment to talk about the liver transplant that he had a few months ago, and encourages people to consider becoming an organ donor. Welcome back, Steve!

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Lamborghini Hybrid Gallardo coming in 2015

Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Corporate News, Design, Transportation

It would appear that I now have a good reason to want a Lamborghini with the announcement of a new version of the Gallardo.  This one is in hybrid form, and it is expected to roll out by 2015.  The Lamborghini hybrid won’t be an all out green road warrior, as it will instead use a small electric motor when doing urban street driving, but will then bump up to using a 10 or 12 cylinder engine when going full speed. Don’t count on Lambo going completely electric anytime soon, but the Gallardo will certainly be a testing bed to see how these super luxury vehicles sell. Coincidentally, Ferrari is set to release a hybrid vehicle in 2015 as well.

Read More | Car Advice

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Microsoft scores Netflix streaming console exclusive

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies, Video Games

Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard rumblings that Netflix streaming would be coming to both the PS3 and Wii, but apparently, all that is now out the window, because Microsoft has been able to score an exclusive console partnership with Netflix. Read on:

Netflix Partnership

This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers**, at no additional cost.

From the Netflix Web site, simply add movies and TV episodes to your instant Queue, which will appear automatically on the TV screen via Xbox 360. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming Netflix movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can browse and rate movies, fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Universal remote.

Now, of course, we assume this just means that the Xbox 360 gets an exclusive on full console integration. But hey, you can just go download PlayOn if you really want to access Netflix from your Playstation 3 or Wii. Problem solved.

Read More | Xbox

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A glimpse at a soon-to-come Microsoft Store

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Microsoft, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Software

Hey, remember when we told you that Microsoft Stores were on their way, and that we’d see them cropping up starting in June? Well it looks like we just got an image of the first store that is currently under construction. As you can see, it’s in a mall, and has one of those fancy mall covering that tell you that it’s coming soon. In particular, you can see that all the expected Microsoft brands are represented, including Windows, Xbox 360, Bing, Microsoft Office, and Zune.

We’ve gotta admit, we’re a little amped to set foot into one of these retail locations. You?

Read More | Microsoft Twitter Account

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Official Alert: Radio Shack changes name to The Shack

Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Corporate News, Rumors

There has been many a rumor floating around the old intertubes that Radio Shack, long time electronics goods retail shop, would be changing its name to “The Shack” - not to be confused with Pizza Hut’s rebranding to “The Hut.” Well, as we thought, the rumors were certainly true. This attempt to be hip is going to be kicked off by The Shack Summer Netogether, an event running August 6th through the 8th, featuring two 17-foot laptops placed in New York’s Times Square and San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza. I don’t know if this new marketing strategy will work, but if it keeps The Shack from becoming like Circuit City, then it is worth a try.

Read More | The Shack

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