Section: Communications, Computers, Mobile Computers, Gadgets / Other, ebooks It’s amazing how the Amazon Kindle e-reader still manage to get consumer interests as it continues to get distribution deals from other retailers internationally. Well, it only goes to show that the market for e-reader is still going strong, or perhaps even just for the Amazon Kindle. Anyway, for our friends in the UK who are planning to skip on getting the iPad 2 and prefer to buy the Amazon Kindle instead - well, you can now score one of this device from Best Buy UK or Carphone Warehouse. Reports said that the both the Amazon Kindle Wi-Fi and 3G versions has just appeared on both stores warehouses last Friday. The Wi-FI version is currently being offered for £111, while the 3G goes out for £152. These are both the latest generation of the Amazon Kindle. Amazon’s European Director of Kindle, Gordon Willoughby was more than please to be working with both Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy in distributing the Kindle - “The reach and appeal of both these first in class retailers combined with the excellent level of personalised service provided by its people gives customers a great new place to discover Kindle and Kindle 3G,” he said. As a reminder, you can only get the Amazon Kindle through in-store purchase. It is not available on both companies’ online site yet. Via [TechRadar] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other To say the Zune was never really a success would seem to be an understatement. Despite Microsoft’s best effort, the Zune never really took off. Not even the fantastic Zune HD sold very well. It seems that Microsoft may have finally given up on the Zune hardware. According to Business Insider Microsoft is done with making Zune hardware to focus on the Zune software instead. The software has always been the strong point of the Zune experience. It’s reached out to the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7, integrating the Zune Pass and store into both products. The software on the Zune HD was also the first time we saw the Metro design seen in WP7. If the news is true, we can only hope that Microsoft puts a bigger push behind Zune. It’d be nice to see the software on other devices. Perhaps Microsoft can incorporate the software into whatever it ends up doing with tablets that don’t run Windows 7. Or maybe we’ll be able to get Zune on the Mac for those Mac users who might use Windows Phone 7, or who just want an alternative to the bloated beast that is iTunes. Read [Business Insider] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Transportation 
In preparation for the return of sailing’s America’s Cup to the United States, Oracle Racing is the first competitor to take delivery of their practice boat: a 45 foot carbon catamaran. The twin hulled wonder of engineering complete with a hard wing sail (think airplane wing instead of cloth) made a test run last week in New Zealand where the practice boats are being built. So far, only Oracle Racing can claim their own boats and get a jump on the competition in fine-tuning both the boat and it’s crew. The decision to use twin-hulled boats in America’s Cup is a departure from the events vaulted history. While still the playground of insanely well-to-do business tycoons, such as Oracle’s Larry Ellis, the event is moving away from mono-hulled boats in favor of boats similar to catamarans Hobie made famous, found on almost every ocean, lake and pond across the world. The catamarans are faster and more dangerous to sail than they’re often sleepy mono-hulled breatheren. The technical advancement of these boats is just amazing. Take, for example, the hard wing that will be mandated in the 34th America’s Cup. Aeronautics combined with marine engineering developed a hard wing sail that is capable of driving the boat faster than a traditional cloth sail and doing at speeds that exceed the speed of the wind. The result is a boat that flies past all others and all this fun is headed to San Fransico bay in 2013 for the finale. The practice boats (the actual America’s Cup will use 72 foot catamarans based on the practice boats) will travel the globe in a world cup qualifying circuit, bringing the excitement of fast boats with the potential for catastrophic failure to the masses.  Read: [America’s Cup] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile Following the disasters in Japan another major carrier has made it easier on the wallet to communicate with friends and family in the country. Verizon is offering not just mobile calls and texts to Japan for free, but a few others services to help those who might need them. Until April 10 it will be free to send of receive calls or SMS messages to those in Japan. That goes not just for Verizon Wireless customers, those who use Verizon for a landline will also be able to call without paying and without using minutes in company’s world calling plan. The free phone calls also extend to prepaid phone cards so you don’t have to worry about using minutes on your prepaid phone either. Even if you don’t need to call someone in Japan, Verizon is offering TV Japan to all FiOS users for free until April 10. The channel usually comes with an an additional fee, but for the next few weeks you’ll be able to get the latest news from Japan without having to wait for one of the other news networks to cover it. Don’t worry if you don’t understand Japanese, because from what I can tell on the station’s website, shows are available in both Japanese and English. Read [Verizon] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Web, Google  On Friday, in its regulatory filing, Google made public as much as $22 million was awarded to one employee of the company. These bonuses were rewards for Google’s financial performance over the last year. For Google, profits rose 30% to $8.5 billion as revenue climbed to $29.3 billion.
Four Google executives qualified for the executive bonus plan. CFO Patrick Pichette received $2.7 million in cash and equity equal to $15 million. Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora went home with a $2.7 million check and equity grant of $20 million. Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Research received $1.8 million bonus and $10 million in equity while Johnathan Rosenberg ,Senior Vice President was on the low end with $1.7 million and $5 million in equity. Not a bad day at the office. All this makes one thing very clear: Google’s got lots of cash and I really need to do a better job negotiating my bonuses. Read: [Wall Street Journal] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Gaming, Games, Mobile Just like the first launch of Angry Birds on Android, the next version of Angry Birds will launch somewhere other than Google’s Android Market. Angry Birds Rio will instead be launching on the new Amazon Appstore. The game, a tie-in with the moie “Rio” will feature birds from the movie as well as the standard birds in the other games. Angry Birds Rio marks the first time Android users will be able to buy an ad-free version of the game. No price has been announced, though it’s hard to imagine an Angry Birds game costing more than $1 (iPad versions being the exception, of course). Amazon has a splash page up for the game right now. All it shows in an image of a bird from the movie and the red bird looking over an island. There’s also links to the Amazon Appstore pages on Facebook and Twitter so you can follow the launch of the store and the game. Read [Amazon] Via [Rovio] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile  AT&T has announced they will not bill for calls to Japan until the end of March, allowing family and friends to check in on those possibly affected by the recent adverse conditions. AT&T will not bill for call charges to Japan for their post-paid customers (those that are billed at the end of the cycle). Prepaid users will have continue to have to pay for these calls.
Additionally, residential landline customers can seek a credit for calling Japan as well. Here’s the details from an AT&T press release: Effective beginning last week, March 11, and continuing through March 31, AT&T wireless postpaid customers will not be charged for: - International long distance usage from the United States and Puerto Rico to Japan
- Text messages to Japan, originated from a U.S. wireless number
In addition, and also effective March 11 through March 31, residential wireline customers can seek credits for up to 60 minutes of direct dial calling to Japan:
Upon receiving their wireline bill, customers may call AT&T to receive adjusted calling for up to 60 minutes. In other words, no charges for up to 60 minutes of call time from the United States to Japan between March 11 and March 31.
We can debate the merits of a publicity stunt or geniune care for users another time. Read: [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Web On May 2 AT&T U-Verse and DSL customers will be given caps on their monthly bandwidth. Notices detailing the plans will be sent out between March 18 and 31 though we already know what the notices will be saying. Starting in May, AT&T DSL users will be given 150 GB bandwidth caps. U-Verse customers will be given caps of 250 GB per month. Going over those caps will result in overage fees, but there are some grace periods. After three months of going of the caps users will have to pay. When you ave to start paying fees it’ll be $10 per every 50 GB over the cap you go. AT&T will warn users when they hit 65, 90 and 100 percent of the cap, so at least you know when you might be close to paying extra, AT&T claims this will only effect 2 percent of users. According to the company, the average DSL user only uses 18 GB per month. There’s no number on the average usage for U-Verse subscribers, but it must be higher than 18 GB. With services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv, iTunes and OnLive (which AT&T invested in) U-Verse users have the potential to run up against that cap much more easily. Those who stream a lot of content or are big gamers should be the most concerned. Over time we’re only going to see more bandwidth-intensive services, which these caps pose a threat to. Hopefully AT&T doesn’t set the precedent for other ISPs. Although, the best thing would be if AT&T decided against the caps after enough people complain. Read [DSL Reports] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Accessories, Portable Audio, Speakers 
Meet the Tembo Trunks a new speaker idea being offered over at kickstarter.com. The idea is rather simple: magnify the sound coming from standard earbuds to allow hands free listening and perhaps enough volume to start a mini-party. Non-electric, virtually indestructible, and totally portable are a few of the reasons would-be buyers are plunking down $39 to get the built. Made from silicone (like a lot of iPhone cases - the soft, tacky stuff) these amplifiers turn your earbuds into something more. The idea came about while the designer was in Africa where the need for a non-powered, rugged way of sharing music was needed (or at least desired). So far, the idea seems to be catching on - the product has 303 backers coughing up at least $39 for one of the first Tembo Trunks. They’ve raised over $17,000 clearing their minimum of $10,000 to start the project. There are 52 days left to go in the design cycle before production. Tembo Trunks look just the thing for hikers, campers, boaters - really almost anyone willing to travel beyond an extension cords reach. Product page: [Kickstarter] via [Wired] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Broadband Cards, Mobile Even with most smartphones now offering mobile hotspot carriers continue to offer mobile broadband fo those who need it. Today T-Mobile unveiled it’s new offerings for mobile broadband, complete with a discount for existing T-Mobile customers. The new plans start out at a measly 200 MB for $29.99 per month. From there there’s a 5 GB plan which will run $49.99. If you need more, T-Mobile offers up to 10 GB for $85.99 per month, which isn’t exactly cheap at $5.99 per month more than Verizon’s 10 GB plan for the iPad 2. All of the plans also give you unlimited access to T-Mobile hotspots if you can find them. For T-Mobile voice customers the prices are cut by 20 percent. The two higher priced plans are “overage free,” which is nice. That means that T-Mobile won’t cut you off at 5 and 10 gigabytes. What it does mean is that after those caps T-Mobile can start throttling your data speeds. There’s no guarantee that you will be throttled, but it’s a possibility once you go over the cap. T-Mobile will likely only throttle your connection if you’re slowing down the network for others. So, try not to use you mobile broadband connection for torrents. Not only will you be more likely to be throttled, they also won’t download all that quickly. Read [T-Mobile] Via [Eletronista] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers  A nice BlackBerry PlayBook hands on video has recently been posted by the crew over at Tracy and Matt. The video comes in at nearly 12 minutes and give a solid overall, and what appears to be an honest look at the device from a (potential) user perspective. That said, if you have been wondering about the BlackBerry PlayBook and are not interested in seeing any of those fancy marketing style videos from RIM, then this is the one you want to watch. The one catch here, it was noted that the software in the video was “not final ROM so we can more than likely see some slight tweaks before the PlayBook goes on sale.” Otherwise what you get is a good solid look. Now if we could just get something in terms of a release date. Via [Tracy and Matt] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile It looks like the Android blog, AndroidSPIN has managed to find someone who has spent some hands-on time with the Droid Incredible 2 and in the process offered up some images and specs of what they describe as a “smoking hot phone.” That aside though, as you can see from the images, the handset bears resemblance to the Incredible S. Otherwise, the Droid Incredible 2 will arrive sporting a 4 inch WVGA Super LCD, 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8665 processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 8 megapixel (with flash) rear facing camera, 1450 mAh battery and Android 2.3 with HTC’s Sense user interface. Via [AndroidSpin] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile 
Word is coming out of the UK that Apple will be passing on adding NFC (near field communication) as a way to make purchases until at least iPhone 6. According to sources, NFC isn’t ready for a mass-adopted phone. Despite this assertion, Android is brewing in NFC compatibility so manufacturers and carriers can begin implementing the technology ASAP. NFC brings the simplicity of waving a device over a pad equipped to received the coded payment information. It is believed that Apple will infuse it’s NFC with the simplicity of iTunes payments, putting more market power in their hands. Market power and a small fee, we’re sure. These claims on Apple’s lack of NFC until 2012 are said to be from several mobile operators in the UK. Said one, “The new iPhone will not have NFC, Apple told the operators it was concerned by the lack of a clear standard across the industry.” If we’re to believe rumors, so far iPhone 5 is shaping up to be a sleeper: no 4G and now no NFC. Could Apple be making missteps as Android takes the mass-market lead? Read: [Independent] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile At this point I cannot really imagine that anyone is still holding out for the fabled white iPhone, but if you have or if you are getting the itch to ditch the black model you picked up to tide you over, we have what appears to be some good news. According to Phil Schiller, who recently took to Twitter to answer a question, the white iPhone will be available “this spring.” And of course, it is going to be “a beauty” or so says Phil. That aside though, while it is nice to learn that we will finally see the white iPhone again, we do have to wonder which white iPhone this will be. The iPhone 5? Via [Twitter @pschiller] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware 
If your’re looking for proof that Apple has created a new market, look no further than the iPad 2. According to Fortune, Gene Muster sent his team to interview line-waiters in New York City and came back with some interesting results. The most of which: 70% didn’t buy the first generation iPad; it sold to mostly new customers. By Sunday (two days after the iPad 2 went on sale) Musters team was unable to find any retailer with stock left of the iPad 2. Be it an Apple store, Target, Walmart or carrier store. Muster predicts Apple will have moved half a million iPad 2s this weekend, besting the original iPad by about 200,000 units. Lines on Friday at the 5pm retail launch time were described as “crazy ass”, “ridiculous” and “stupid”. Interestingly, of those buyers surveyed, half of them sought the WiFi only version while the other half aimed at buying one equipped with a 3G radio. Early predictions were the WiFi would rampantly outsell the more expensive 3G equipped models. Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore performed a similar check this morning with 100 retail outlets and found identical results to Munster. No Apple Store, Walmart, Target or carrier store had the tablet, in any configuration, left in stock. Whitmore said: “Our checks pointed to a shocking 100% stock out rate across Apple/authorized retail stores just a few hours into the official launch Friday evening, contributing to what we believe was one of the company’s most successful product launches to date.”
Munster has other interesting data points on those in line to buy the iPad 2. Follow the link to check them out. Read: [Fortune] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, Content, Video Providers, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video  If the news of a Hulu Plus app coming to Android sounds familiar, that is because it is. It was back in early-January when the Hulu team announced on their blog that an app was coming to “select” Android 2.2 devices “soon.” And well, in a little bit of not so exciting news, we have learned that “select” Android 2.2 devices will have a Hulu Plus app “soon.” Yup, coming in the form of a graphic on the Hulu website, the same news that we learned in January has been re-confirmed in March. In other words, move along as there is nothing new in terms of Hulu Plus on Android. But that being said, I guess we can at least take this little bit as now we know that they have not forgotten or abandoned the plans.
Via [Hulu] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile The Sidekick 4G was confirmed by T-Mobile back in late January and later followed up in February with a coming soon style teaser page. Flash forward till today and it now looks like we are one step closer to seeing a release—the Sidekick 4G has appeared with the FCC. The handset in the filing is sporting the SGH-T839 model number, which follows the pattern for both a Samsung device (SGH) and a T-Mobile device T-xx9. And you cannot overlook the 1700MHz AWS support, which is what we need for a T-Mobile device here in the US. Otherwise, the Sidekick 4G has slipped though sporting the codename of “Nightwing” and has revealed a few specs to include having an ARM 11 processor and a display with a resolution of 480 x 800. Via [FCC] and [TmoNews] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Computers, Mobile Computers It seems that Apple has once again underestimated the initial demand for iPad 2. Two days after online orders were opened up via the Apple Online Store, Apple has changed shipping duration to 3-4 weeks. This comes after we reported that shipping time was pushed from the initial 3-5 days, 5-7 days, and 2-3 weeks. But now if you try to order any of the models of the iPad 2, you won’t be receiving your unit until 3-4 weeks. That is of course if you’ll take the online route rather than looking for retail stores that still have units left of the iPad 2. Meanwhile, for those lucky enough to have ordered the iPad on March 11, check out the email confirmation sent by Apple after you placed your order. You might receive your iPad 2 one day earlier than the initial target delivery date of Marc 18-25. If you check the tracking number, you’ll noticed that your unit had been shipped and delivery date is stated to be fulfilled on the 17th. So there hopefully, Apple fulfills its promise and delivers the first batch of iPad 2 orders on the 17th. Anybody else who ordered the iPad 2 online got the same message from Apple? Product [iPad 2 on Apple Store] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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