With the release of Windows 7 and programs such as Boxee, having a computer as part of a home-theater set-up is becoming more and more reasonable. The issue has been that outside of nettops and the Mac mini, there haven’t been many options for what that computer should be. Sure, anything would work, but it’s always much preferred if the device looks nice up there next to an HDTV. Finally Dell has come through with a computer that can fit that need.
The new computer is called the Dell Zino HD. The Zino HD actually looks a bit like a Mac mini, if only a bit bigger, measuring 8 inches on each side, all black aside from the top which comes in Dell’s typical myriad colors. It can come with a variety of AMD Athlon processors (both Dual Core and single core), up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 1 TB of storage, and either a DVD or Blu-ray drive. It runs on Windows Vista, 7 or Ubuntu for those who want the options, and can output to an HDTV via the HDMI port (something the Mac mini is sorely lacking). The Zino HD starts at $229, much lower than the Mac mini’s $599, and tops out at $808, also cheaper than the top Mac mini with an HDD that’s half the size with no HDMI.
The Zino HD looks like it could be the computer of choice for any home theater setup for easy access to all those videos on your computer. Pair it with Boxee, Hulu, Netflix and iTunes, and you have almost everything you could want viewable on your HDTV. Sure, there is the upcoming Boxee box, but that doesn’t mean having an actual PC hooked up to your TV isn’t a good idea. There are other uses, of course, like a cheap, easily portable PC for say a college student who doesn’t do a whole lot of PC gaming. Or, it could be useful for using the Internet on your TV without having to use the clunky Wii or PS3 interfaces.
Walmart's Black Friday deals on BlackBerry smartphones have been leaked. The big box retailer plans to offer the AT&T Curve 8310 for free and the Bold 9000 for $78.88. Sprint's Curve 8330 will also be offered for free while T-Mobile's Curve 8520 and its Pearl 8120 Black Emerald have a price tag of $28.88.
Walmart's Verizon offerings include the Blackberry Storm for $48.88 and the Blackberry Tour for $148.88. The latter isn't much of a savings considering Verizon offers it for $149.99 with a BOGO promo.
While some of these deals offer substantial savings, be sure to read the fine print. A two year agreement is required on all phones and Walmart may charge an activation fee. Also be aware that in some cases, if you need repair service you may need to go through Walmart rather than your carrier.
Other retailers like Amazon have already matched some of these deals, but Walmart plans to start offering them beginning next Saturday.
Anyone thinking about picking up the soon-to-be-released Palm Pixi may want to head on over to the land of interesting things people, otherwise know as Walmart. Thanks to a recent addition on the Walmart Wireless website we now know that the Pixi will be just $29.99 for new customers.
And the nice part here is that price comes after a $170 instant discount. In other words, nothing to fill out and nothing to send in and then wait 8-10 weeks to get back.
Of course, that $29.99 price tag does require you to sign up with Sprint, and that means a two year agreement. But hey, its a $30 smartphone, I guess you cannot really complain.
Now I am going to go out on a ledge here, but maybe the Pixi or future similar models will end up being the savior of Palm. Maybe Palm is going to take up the role of the low priced smartphone company. And if that is that case, I guess being available for a bargain price through Walmart makes sense.
Innovation is not dead as is oft reported in tech. Fujitsu is working on a this break-apart phone that allows the screen to detach from the base revealing a keyboard and making way for add-ons. The idea is clever but trouble for those of us with a knack for losing things.
The Fujitsu F-04B is no longer just the prototype that was shown at last years CEATECH. The device was announced by Fujitsu during a press conference. Clearly the device is super thin and has a slide down numberpad, but it has more surprises than just that.
The device can be used in conjunction with a projector (6 lumens) to show movies, pictures or games. Users can create their own impromptu theater or even, as suggested by the site, watch movies on the ceiling in bed. We presume that is all the rage in Japan right now.
We expect this phone to be one of those interesting phones for Japan only. Sorry US readers.
FROM APPLETELL - Uniea has a lot of iPhone case options, just like always. From minimalistic cases to hip holsters to an exercise armband, they have your iPhone covered, quite literally. MORE »
The Chumby One has officially been released, and for those not following the Chumby related news, the One is the updated model, you know the one that takes the Chumby from a plush little bean bag looking device into a slightly more grown up looking model. In other words, the Chumby One is now sporting a hard exterior casing.
Of course, in addition to the exterior there were also some improvements under the hood. The Chumby One has an updated processor and more internal storage. And for a limited time, it can be purchased for $99.99, which is a nice discount considering it will eventually be priced at $119.95. Additionally, the Chumby One features an internal FM tuner and ships with a 2GB microSD card for additional storage.
As of now, the Chumby One is still noted as being “on backorder” but the estimated shipping date is not that far off—November 25. If nothing else, this could make a nice holiday gift for the geek on your list.
It is no secret that Bill and Melinda Gates are generous in terms of charity work, and it also seems that they are willing to open up their home to one lucky bidder. In the name of charity of course.
Each year they participate in a charity auction, at which one of the items that those with more money than they know what to do with, can bid on a tour of Bill Gates’ Lake Washington home (as seen above).
Anyway, last year this tour fetched a top bid of $8,600, but more importantly, this year it topped $35,000. With a number like that, all you can really say is “wow” and be thankful that at least someone has money to spend.
According to TechFlash, the tour covers the “winner and a small group of friends.” It was also mentioned that the tour is done by Bill Gates himself and appetizers are offered at the end. Heck for that kind of money, they should be getting a sit down meal, and maybe a sleepover.
While there is no scan of the ad posted yet, bfads.net believes these prices will be the real deal on Black Friday. This year, it looks like the bulk store took a beating as these deals look pretty good. The site is confident the prices are correct.
With the release of the Palm Pixi getting closer and closer we are now beginning to see it surface in the real world. Just yesterday the Pixi was spotted in both Walmart as well as a newly released television commercial. Of course, that release day is not until Sunday, which means that despite seeing the handset around it cannot yet be purchased.
As far as Walmart, the Pixi was spotted by one eagle-eyed PreCentral reader who was kind enough to not only snap a picture, but also dig a little deeper—he actually spoke to the employees. Shocking, but that aside, it seems that Walmart is listing the Palm Pixi at $400 but do not fully have it in the system. In other words, despite it being out in the open and looking available, it cannot yet be purchased. But with that your mileage could vary, so hit up your local Walmart if you are in desperate need of being one of the first to purchase and own a Pixi. Just remember sometimes being nice will help when dealing with big-box employees.
In addition to the Walmart sighting, the Pixi also made its commercial debut, which you can check out in YouTube format below. The commercial is interesting to say the least, and on a nice note it is entirely less creepy as compared to the Pre commercials.
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If there’s one rule when it comes to computer storage, it’s that eventually everything gets a lot cheaper. A 1 TB HDD can be bought for about $80, while a few years ago it was simply unheard of to even have 1 TB on one drive. It stands to reason, then, that eventually online storage costs would decrease as well. For a while that was simply not true, until Google stepped in today.
Google has announced that it will now start selling online storage for Gmail and Picasa at $5 a year for 20 GB. The move puts twice as much storage for a quarter of what Google was offering previously. The $20 a year plan now gives users 80 GB rather than 10 GB (users who previously purchased 10 GB should now have 80 GB). The plans don’t stop at 80 GB. Google is also offering 200 GB for $50 a year, and up to 16 TB for $4096 a year.
Keep in mind that for now this storage applies only to Gmail and Picasa. Google has yet to announce the fabled “GDrive” that would act like Dropbox or Ubuntu One, though now at a much lower cost (Dropbox charges $240 a year for 100 GB, while Ubuntu One charges $120 for 50 GB). There is the possibility, as Webmonkey points out that this could somehow impact Chrome OS by offering online storage to offset the relatively small amount of storage available on netbooks. If Google could somehow get the storage to work with both Chrome OS and Android, it would be even better. Sure, it’s probably a longshot, but being able to store music on Google’s servers and have it available to an Android phone, or to a Chrome OS netbook would be a great feature. It could lead to even more people claiming Google is evil and wants to control all your data, but at least the data will be secure at Google.
Walmart's Black Friday deals on BlackBerry smartphones have been leaked. The big box retailer plans to offer the AT&T Curve 8310 for free and the Bold 9000 for $78.88. Sprint's Curve 8330 will also be offered for free while T-Mobile's Curve 8520 and its Pearl 8120 Black Emerald have a price tag of $28.88. 
Anyone thinking about picking up the soon-to-be-released Palm Pixi may want to head on over to the land of interesting 
The Chumby One has officially been released, and for those not following the Chumby related news, the One is the updated model, you know the one that takes the Chumby from a plush little bean bag looking device into a slightly more grown up looking model. In other words, the Chumby One is now sporting a hard exterior casing.
With the release of the Palm Pixi getting closer and closer we are now beginning to see it surface in the real world. Just yesterday the Pixi was spotted in both Walmart as well as a newly released television commercial. Of course, that release day is not until Sunday, which means that despite seeing the handset around it cannot yet be purchased.
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