Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks Another day, and yet another e-book reader or two. The newest announcement comes from a company that doesn’t actually manufacture anything, but rather is rebranding other devices. Today we have two new readers from Dulin’s Books. The devices are the PocketBook 301 and PocketBook 360. Both come equipped with 400 MHz Samsung processors, 512MB flash storage (expandable via microSD), support for six languages and a myriad games selection including Sudoku, chess and solitaire. The 360 features a 5-inch display, an accelerometer for changing orientation of the page, and an included cover. The 301 has a 6-inch screen, and has MP3 support with a built-in speaker. The each support EPUB, PDF, DOC and TXT files among others, so compatibility won’t be too much of an issue with most stores. Having a large selection of e-book readers is certainly a great idea. However, with the 301 and 360 coming in at $275 and $240, respectively, there doesn’t seem any reason to get these over say, a Nook. There will always be those who want lesser-known products and not be stuck with one particular store (or any store for those pirates out there), but we’re seeing the Nook experiencing delays in the second round of pre-orders. There’s no sign that the juggernauts, Amazon and Barnes & Noble (and arguably Sony) are slowing down, so it’ll be tough for these smaller companies to get noticed. Plus, who really wants to be the person stuck with a rebranded device that you need to side-load books onto when everyone else is busy playing with their 3G-enabled Nooks and Kindles? Read [Electronista] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, VoIP, Mobile, Web, Google  In an announcement that came earlier this morning, Google has purchased Gizmo5. Now for those unfamiliar, Gizmo5 is a VoIP provider similar to Skype. Of course, you may be thinking, Google already has Google Voice, and that is a good point. However, that may only be one piece of the puzzle because while Google Voice allows you to make calls, even calls that can be initiated from your computer—you cannot make computer-to-computer calls. A combination of Google Voice and Gizmo5 could make for a nice all around calling solution, and one that could potentially rival Skype, which is something that Gizmo5 was never really able to accomplish on its own thus far.
With that though, it is important to point out that this is just speculation because while Google has confirmed the purchase of Gizmo5 they have yet to clue anyone else into what their plans for the service are. But when you think about it, that is par for the course. I also would not expect anything to happen quick. After all, look how long it took from the time Google purchased GrandCentral until they rolled out Google Voice. Just as a refresher, Google purchased GrandCentral in July of 2007 and did not roll out Google Voice (in limited beta form) until March of 2009. Bottom line, while this Gizmo5 purchase is indeed interesting, it is important to keep the past in mind. It likely will be a long time before we see anything come from this purchase. Read [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
FROM GAMERTELL - Kohl’s 2009 Black Friday ad has been leaked onto the internet. All DS and Wii games will be 20-30% off and all video game accessories will be 20-50% off during the sale period. Also, for every $50 you spend, you’ll get $10 in Kohl’s Cash.
MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Accessories, Cellphones  Nokia has announced a recall of up to 14 million phone chargers after a routine inspection revealed a design flaw. The plastic casing surrounding the charger could separate, posing an electrical shock hazard. The recall involves three separate chargers with model numbers AC-3E, AC-3U and AC-4U. Model numbers AC-3E and AC-3U were manufactured between June 15 and August 9th of this year and model number AC-4U was manufactured between April 13th and October 25th of this year.
To check your charger, look at the label where the voltage is printed. If you have one of the affected chargers, record the manufacturer's name and the long string of numbers at the bottom of the label and visit Nokia's recall site here. Enter the information and you will be walked through the steps to exchange it. Affected consumers can also call 1-888-Nokia2U. This is the second time in recent years Nokia has discovered quality issues with its phones. In 2007 the company issued an advisory about faulty batteries made by one of its suppliers. The batteries had the potential to overheat and the company offered to replace up to 46 million although they never issued a formal recall. So far no injuries or incidents have been reported as a result of the faulty chargers. Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  AT&T has just announced a few more available calling plans, or more specifically two more calling plans—each of which will be beneficial to those who are calling Canada on a regular basis.
The new plans are denoted as “with Canada” and include the Nation with Canada and FamilyTalk with Canada plans. In short, either of these plans will allow the user to call Canada and not have to worry about paying high fees. The plans include; - No international long distance charges on wireless calls between the United States and Canada
- Anytime and 1,000 Nights and Weekend Minutes for use in the United States and Canada
- Ability to save unused Anytime Minutes with Rollover
As far as pricing, that depends on the number of anytime minutes you choose. The Nation wide Canada plans range from as low as 450 minutes and go up to 6000 minutes ranging in price from $59.99 up to $219.99 a month. The FamilyTalk with Canada plans range from 500 minutes up to 6000 minutes and begin at $89.99 a month. Read [AT&T] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile An interesting new bit of info popped up courtesy of a listing filed by a Senior Compliance Engineer for Palm on the Bluetooth SIG site. The listing identifies a “Ring-P” device coming this January. Could this be a new device or a new carrier? The Pixi is set to launch November 15 at $100, roughly the same price as the Palm Pre at this point, so we can rule out this is for the Pixi. The Pixi is a smaller, thinner candy-bar styled webOS phone. The phones matches up to a smarter Centro replacement; the Centro was a hit for Palm (big unit seller). That leaves either a new device or a new carrier. My money is on new carrier. January marks the expiration of six months from the date of Pre’s launch on Sprint. Many of us believe the exclusive agreement with Sprint was 6 months. Verizon has said time and time again that the Pre will be on it’s network and after the positive attention of the Motorola Droid launching on the Verizon network, this would continue the intro of some decent smartphones. Finally. A new device seems a bit wishful to me. Certainly the Palm team is working on something, but it is a relatively small group and brewing an OS coupled with two phone launches has probably sucked up most available resources at this point. I just don’t see it. Read: [PalmwebOS] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications  Windows 7 saw a pretty good amount of coverage coming from the tech blogs, after all I would say that a fair amount of tech bloggers were using it on a regular, if not daily basis since the public beta was released back in January of 2009. That said, I often wonder just how much of the tech crowd excitement makes it out into the world of the regular users.
Well in the case of Windows 7 it seems to have been well received. According to Microsoft, the first week sales of Windows 7 have topped the first week Windows Vista sales by 234%. And in addition to that, Windows 7 has also topped Windows Vista in terms of revenue, in this instance the revenue was up 83%. Personally, I really like Windows 7, but at the same time also believe that Vista grew into its own with time. And with that I did make my contribution to those above stats by purchasing my own copy of Windows 7. But have also talked a few people, all Vista users out of upgrading for the simple fact that they have not had any trouble with Vista. Read [HotHardware] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Car Audio, Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones  Integrating your phone into your car isn’t clean. For most of us, power cords, FM transmitters and dashboard holders are all involved to get the job done, only to have to futz with the FM station during lengthy drives. Thankfully, a new stereo is on the market that is smart enough for us to take notice: the Parrot RKi8400.
This Parrot stereo looks brilliant and a smart match to the iPhone. Packed with smart features like, upon first-time connection, the stereo copies your contacts to memory allowing users to add a feature that Apple left off the 3G iPhone: voice dialing. Simply by speaking to the included microphone, users can dial from their iPhone contacts without fumbling. The unit will store up to 8,000 contacts and pair with up to 10 phones. Created for specific integration with the iPhone, the stereo displays cover art accessed through the phone for a nice touch. Controls look to be a simple tuner and one handed operation looks to be a design hallmark. The Parrot connects to the iPhone’s dock allowing the phone to be charged or the phone can connect via Bluetooth for A2DP streaming. The faceplate of the stereo removes to reveal a storage spot for your phone or player. The stereo also accepts SD cards, USB flash drives or other MP3 players. The unit is available now and sells for $399 on the company’s site. Product page: [Parrot] via [Slashphone] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks  We saw the report about the Nook gaining some popularity in terms of pre-orders, well Barnes & Noble has taken that one step further and confirmed that any newly placed pre-orders will be getting a later shipping date.
According to a spokesperson from Barnes & Noble that new shipping date is December 11. Basically, this is about a two week jump from the previous shipping date of November 30. All things considered that is not all that bad, especially considering those who ordered will still have a before holiday delivery, just in case the Nook was purchased as a gift. That said, that same spokesperson also went on to state that they (Barnes & Noble) “are working hard to meet demand for the holidays.” Still, one more delay of about two weeks could jeopardize a holiday delivery. In other words, I would suggest that if you are looking to give the Nook as a gift this holiday season you may want to think about getting an order in. The one piece of information that I am curious to read are some stats in terms of units sold. But as you would expect, there was not any comment given there, other than saying that Barnes & Noble “had high expectations for the Nook and couldn’t be happier.” Read [CNET] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
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