Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Laptops

The rumor was spot-on: Gateway has delivered a binding offer to acquire all shares of PB Holding Company S.à.r.l. from Lap Shun (John) Hui and Clifford Holdings Limited. If approved, then Acer would nab themselves a nice foothold in Europe as part of their acquisition of Gateway announced back in August. Final regulatory approvals for the three-way love-in are expected before the end of the year or Q1 at the latest.
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
It looks like Vista isn’t the only OS Microsoft is working to improve, with the folks at Neosmart now reporting that a beta of Windows XP SP3 Build 3205 has been sent out to a select group of testers. Apparently, it includes more than a thousand patches and hotfixes, some of which have actually been backported from Windows Vista. Those include a new Windows Product Activation mode, which doesn’t require you to enter a product key during setup, as well as new a network access protection module that replicates many of the features found in Vista. Other notable additions (to some) include a new Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module and so-called “Black Hole Router” detection, which protects against “rogue routers” attempting to discard data. All this, of course, follows the recent extension of XP sales until June of 2008, so it certainly seems that there’s quite a bit […]

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Really though, who isn’t supporting Rhapsody these days? Real’s hardware integration list, which includes iRiver, Nokia, SanDisk, Sonos, etc., now gets another notch in the bedpost with TiVo’s newfound Rhapsody playback support. While you can thumbs up and down your selection (thanks, TiVo peanut), it doesn’t sound like you can do much more than stream tracks and Rhapsody radio from the cloud, so if you’re expecting some crazy TiVo-centered device syncing or portable media integration, think again. Unfortunately, the Rhapsody update launch date wasn’t provided, so unless TiVo is going to flip a bit and turn it on today you may wind up wait a short while to get this going. And while we’re on the topic of TiVo updates, not that we want to look a service-supporting gift horse in the mouth or anything, but we’re still waiting for TiVoToGo and TiVoToComeBack for our Series3s […]

Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Yeah, we’ve seen a Skype phone and a PMP awkwardly merged into one before, but this unit adds its own layer of sketchiness for good measure. The V688, supposedly offered up by Shenzhen Went Wide Shine Electron Company, claims to boast a 1.8-inch display, MP3 / video playback, USB connectivity, an FM radio, rechargeable Li-ion and an integrated Skype phone. Per usual, we wouldn’t expect this piece to posses any signs of expert craftsmanship, but you can toss over an inquiry if you’re really curious as to what it will run you.
[Via PMPToday]
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

It’s been muttered about since the first of the year, but now it’s official and in full effect: TiVo gets the Rhapsody Music Service, and users get a month-long free trial without providing a credit card, or even signing up. It’s just one click. (Okay, like two.)
It’s a match-up of make-life-easier products, albeit two of the more famous underdogs in the whole digital-home arena. I had the chance to play around with the software and shoot a gallery of screens to give you an idea of how TiVolicious the Rhapsody experience just got.
You pop through menus with the familiar TiVo feedback sound effects, spelling out song and artist searches exactly as you would for TV shows or actors. You can drill deep with a progressive search (names appear as you type) or stay at high level, looking at Rhapsody’s new releases and suggestions. You can add songs to a queue, […]

Original post by Wilson Rothman

Filed under: Cellphones

Well lookey see here, sounds like v1.1.1 isn’t all doom and gloom after all. The iPhone dev community’s apparently not only moved past accessing the nigh-unbreakable file system protections Apple implemented in the latest iPhone and iPod touch firmwares, they’ve also managed to hack the SpringBoard app into shape enough to properly launch 3rd party apps (which were, as expected, recompiled to function with the new iPhone frameworks). The iPod touch, too, has apparently been hacked for root access, although no word yet on whether those freshly recompiled apps are functioning on that device, too. But it’s still not without some bad news: unfortunately, it sounds like most (if not all) of these new hacks rely solely on that single TIFF exploit in Mobile Safari, meaning that everyone’s back to square one the moment Apple beams v1.1.2 to the public at large.
Read - Hacker toc2rta confirms the exploit […]

Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Laptops

Sure, for $300 you could get your order in for a minuscule Eee PC or cross your fingers while calling dibs on a Medison Celebrity, or you could just stroll into your nearest Best Buy and hope for the best. According to a recent circular, the big box retailer is offering up a 15.4-inch Gateway ML6230 for just $299.99 sans rebates, but it has been noted that not every Best Buy location is apt to honor the price. Nevertheless, stores that are participating will be giving the first ten buyers to dash in for one a Vista-equipped lappie with a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron M 520 processor, 512MB of RAM, 80GB of HDD space, a DVD burner, multicard reader, 802.11b/g, and a basic array of ports that includes S-Video, FireWire, four USB 2.0 jacks, audio in / out and Ethernet. Hurry up, stocks are likely dwindling.
[Via CNET]
 
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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

Go on and file this one away in the rumor drawer, but on the same token, don’t be utterly shocked if Sony looses its 40GB PlayStation 3 on American soil next month. According to The Hollywood Reporter, SCEA “will unveil a $399 40GB PlayStation 3 on US shores,” and moreover, sources were quoting November 2nd as a likely launch date. Currently, we’ve no reason to believe that we Americans would receive anything other than the pared down machine that the Europeans were introduced to last week, but we’ll be sure and keep you posted on any further developments.
[Via PS3Fanboy]
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Apple was named defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed by Timothy Smith over bricked iPhone matters. Specifically, he asks that Apple be forbidden from selling locked iPhones and that it provide warranty assistance for owners of unlocked iPhones, unable to hit the more modern 1.1.1 firmware without bricking.
I’d agree with the second point, and I’d dare say that if Apple sold the iPhone unlocked but without visual voicemail support on TMO, others might actually choose AT&T instead of feeling jailed by them. These are the same lawyers, M. Van Smith and Damian R. Fernandez, who opened up the site appleiphonelawsuit.com, so this is part of that same fishing trip, which seems more justified than past class-action frivolity. I don’t agree with Apple on their recent iPhone policies, and think it’s a dicey time to buy the phone, but I’m also not a fan of overly litigious conversations between […]

Original post by Brian Lam

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

While we recently heard that the new Zunes would boast DVD quality video outputs, that will apparently not include the Zune 4 and Zune 8. Zune Insider now has it that only the flagship Zune 80 will boast outputs of 720×480 at 30fps or 720×576 at 25fps without transcoding, and the two flash-based siblings will be going sans TV out altogether. Tough break, but at least you’ve got one more tidbit to base your purchasing decision on, eh?
[Via Zune Online]
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph