T-Mobile launches three new colors for Pearl 8120...

Wireless carrier T-Mobile on Wednesday announced it is now offering the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone in three new colors, as reported last month. The newly available colors are called frost, emerald and indigo, and complement the existing Wi-Fi-capable handset that was available in titanium. Pricing for the three new colors and the existing handset in titanium is set at nearly $150 with a two-year contract.

Sharp shows 9225H handset with PC keyboard...

Sharp unveiled the Softbank 9225H handset at the CEATEC 2008 convention that ended last week in Japan, which most notably features a QWERTY keyboard behind the front panel that is hinged like a notebook. On the inside of the lid, the device has a 3.5-inch display that makes it well-equipped to display streaming video from the 1Seg TV tuner in supported markets. The handset can store videos and photos taken by its integrated 2-megapixel camera on a microSDHC card slot.

OWC offering 4GB DDR3 memory kit for new MacBooks...

OWC has released a memory kit upgrade for the new Apple MacBooks announced this week. The company is offering a 4GB DDR3 kit, as a matched pair of 2GB modules, for the MacBook 13 inch and MacBook Pro 15 inch models. The components are RoHS compliant, and compatible with the the 1066MHz bus speed of the notebooks. The memory is available for $140, or for $125 if the customer trades in their 1GB Apple memory modules.

KDDI shows wireless color e-paper display...

KDDI has shown a prototype of its Portable Viewing System that can display images wirelessly transferred from cellphones on a 13.1-inch electronic paper display in color. What KDDI claims is the first electronic paper display capable of showing images stored in cellphones, the system uses infrared waves to transfer the image from the phone to the display. The display uses Bridgestone's Electronic Liquid Powder technology capable of reproducing 4,096 colors. To redraw the near A4-paper size image, the display needs 12 seconds.

NEC intros 12.1-inch 3D display ...

NEC Display on Wednesday announced it will demonstrate a stereoscopic display that produces high-definition 3D images without requiring viewers to wear special 3D glasses at the FPD International 2008 show due to kick off on October 23rd. The 12.1-inch display has a resolution of 800x600 pixels and is meant for commercial use. NEC has developed a Horizontally Double-Density Pixels LCD module to achieve the feat, which uses horizontally arranged RGB pixels in addition to the vertical arrangement of a typical LCD display.

Samsung to add DivX support to top-end HDTVs...

DivX and Samsung on Wednesday announced high-end Samsung HDTVs will support high-quality DivX video files under a multiyear agreement. The DivX Certified HDTVs should be available worldwide at the beginning of 2009, and will be able to playback DivX media files stored on USB devices or a DLNA-certified Ethernet connection. Samsung already offers DivX-certified products that range from cellphones to DVD players.

Samsung Gravity T459 at T-Mobile on Nov. 17th...

A leaked document reveals a new Samsung handset, the Gravity T459 slider, will be made available via the T-Mobile provider on November 17th. Previously known as the Holic, the handset sports a design similar to the Samsung Messager horizontal slider that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard, and should appeal to users who text heavily. Apart from the design, the phone features video and picture messaging capabilities thanks to its 1.3-megapixel camera.

Apple slowed growth of Dell, HP in summer...

Apple has likely been softening the computer market share growth of its top rivals during the summer, according to early IDC estimates. The company's portion of the market is estimated to have shot up from 7.3 percent in summer 2007 to 9.1 percent just a year later, giving it the single largest growth by an individual computer builder of the top five with just over 1.65 million Macs shipped and a 32 percent total boost. By comparison, top-ranked Dell has moved just a tenth of a percent upwards to 29.2 percent (5.3 million PCs) while second place HP actually declined by a similar amount to 25.1 percent (4.55 million) in the summer.

Intel ships enterprise SSDs, claims 100X faster...

Intel has begun shipping the first of its high-performance SATA solid state drives, claiming a 100 percent boost in read/write performance and substantial energy savings over conventional hard drives. Aimed at the server and workstation market, the 32GB X-25E drops into the hard drive bay in a notebook or some desktops and servers and is designed for both performance users and intense work tasks such as medical imaging and digital simulation. A 64GB model is expected to be available early next year.

T-Mobile G1 coming to the UK by month's end...

While some US customers are expected to get their T-Mobile G1 handsets as soon as this Friday, the UK's population has now been told it will have to wait for the Android smartphone until the end of October, according to a T-Mobile UK announcement. The device us now due October 30th and will cost nothing if users sign up for a £40 (nearly $70) per month Combi or Flext voice and data plan, though the length of the term hasn't been specified.

PSP 5.0, PS3 2.5 firmware goes live...

Sony today rolled out planned firmware updates for its PlayStation lineup that add a pair of essential features. The PSP 5.0 update adds PlayStation Store access and represents the first time that users can buy and download games and content directly from the handheld itself; the account is also unified with that of the PS3. The revision further adds support for TV output for PlayStation games, a QWERTY keyboard for entering text, and a sleep timer for those using the PSP as a makeshift bedside radio.

Sherwood intros $300 Blu-ray Disc player...

Sherwood announced the introduction of its first Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-5003, on Wednesday. The player supports BD Bonus View Profile 1.1 for picture-in-picture but not the newer 2.0 that brings with it BD-Live support by connecting to the Internet. It will play 1080p Blu-ray content at 24Hz or 60Hz, and its HDMI 1.3 outputs and onboard processing deliver lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio HD sound formats. As expected, the BDP-5003 will upscale standard DVDs and supports all popular disc formats.

$300 ASUS Eee PC spotted?...

ASUS' promised $300 Eee PC may already have spotted in a leak to Eee PC News today. A system known as the 701SDX has tipped up that reveals a slightly modified version of the original 7-inch design and will trim prices mainly by reducing features as with earlier incarnations: the webcam will be absent, while just 4GB to 8GB of flash memory is anticipated for storage. Linux isn't known but is likely given ASUS' pricing system.

T-Mobile G1 pre-orders coming as early as Friday...

A Wednesday report reveals T-Mobile customers who pre-ordered the T-Mobile G1 may get their Android-based smartphone as early as Friday, October 17th. The report cites two customers who have checked their UPS tracking number online and have been told T-Mobile is shipping the G1 on a 3-day service, pegging the arrival date at this Friday, ahead of the in-store release date of October 21st.

Samsung Omnia due in US before mid-November?...

Samsung's Omnia smartphone, considered to be one of many rivals to the Apple iPhone, may arrive in the United States by mid-November, a leak suggests. A purported rebate document shows a $70 discount applying between October 14th and November 15th, even though no formal release date has been announced. Although the entry could be outdated or otherwise inaccurate, it does hint that the phone might be available next month at the latest.

HP clearing out Mini-Notes?...

HP is aggressively discounting its Mini-Note PCs in what may be an attempt to clear stock for upgrades, a new promo would suggest. The VIA-based netbook, which officially launched at $499, is now selling for as little as $399 in its basic configuration of a 1GHz C7-M, 512MB of memory, and a 4GB flash drive pre-loaded with SuSE Linux; other discounts are more dramatic and range up to a $779 model (normally $1,064) with a 1.6GHz chip, 2GB of memory, a 120GB hard drive and Windows Vista Business.

Iomega reveals StorCenter ix2 NAS for home ...

Iomega on Wednesday announced the worldwide availability of its StorCenter ix2 network attached storage device, available in 1TB and 2TB capacities. Apart from being able to serve as a backup device for network in the home and small offices, the StorCenter ix2 can act as a media server thanks to its support of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and DLNA devices connected to the network. An iTunes server is integrated in the ix2 as well, which runs on EMC LifeLine software with a Linux-based kernel.

Appeal overturns ban on Qualcomm 3G chips...

A ban on Qualcomm chipsets has been partly overturned today by a US appeals court. A federal judge has ruled that the International Trade Commission's halt on imports of cellphones with certain Qualcomm 3G cellular chips overstepped the organization's authority by banning parts that weren't directly named in Broadcom's patent violation lawsuit against Qualcomm. Broadcom hasn't responded to the decision.

Pioneer bows XMp3 handheld satellite radio...

Pioneer today officially took the wraps from the XMp3, the company's first portable satellite radio since the long out-of-sale Inno. The new handheld is unique in its ability to record five separate XM stations at once, guaranteeing that listeners can preserve more than one show at the same time. It also takes a cue from Slacker in an automatic buffering mode that holds as much as 30 hours of programming at any given time to keep radio going when a subway tunnel or other interference cuts out the satellite signal.

New-look 17in MacBook Pro due early 2009?...

The 17-inch model conspicuously absent from Apple's MacBook Pro redesign has only been delayed, AppleInsider claims. Referring to sources it says have now been proven accurate by Apple's announcements on Tuesday, the rumor site now believes a larger pro system virtually identical in style to the unibody 15-inch model is due in "several months." The report corroborates MacNN's own sources which have indicated an unexpected delay preventing a simultaneous launch and are believed to include display and DVD drive problems.

NVIDIA makes GeForce 9400M official for all...

Following an introduction along with Apple's new MacBook range, NVIDIA this morning formally announced the GeForce 9400M for all notebook manufacturers. The chipset is one of the first to merge both a full mainboard chipset, including memory and bus controllers, with a truly modern graphics core: it includes 16 graphics processors, or twice that of the GeForce 9300M and other dedicated mobile GPUs that also consume double the space on size-sensitive notebook mainboards.

MS developing instant-on for Windows?...

Microsoft could be hoping to preempt the further spread of Linux into its territory by developing its own pre-boot interface, a survey sent by a reader to Engadget shows. Tentatively called just Instant On, the proposed feature would mimic the approach taken with Dell's Latitude Instant On or the Splashtop interface on some ASUS mainboards and notebooks by giving users basic web browsing, media playback, and messaging in a special interface that would start in less than eight seconds.

HP hushing rivals by bullying contractors?...

HP could be trying to cement its position in notebooks by shutting at least one competitor out of supply deals, according to a controversial claim by southeast Asian industry sources. The American PC maker is allegedly demanding that its contract manufacturers refuse orders from ASUS and is said to be punishing those that take the latter's orders by reducing its own orders at these companies, hurting their overall business. The threat is supposedly prompted by ASUS' goal of becoming the fourth-largest notebook builder worldwide, which may eat into HP's estimated lead in worldwide PC sales.

Sharp outs HDTVs with built-in Blu-ray recorders...

Sharp on Wednesday claimed a first by launching the AQUOS DX series of HDTVs. The line is the only to date to carry a Blu-ray burner and uses the slot-loading, side-mounted drive along with a dual digital tuner to record HD broadcasts even while the viewer is watching another channel. By using H.264 encoding and optimizing the bitrate, Sharp estimates as much as 21 hours of TV can be stored on a dual-layer 50GB disc. An electronic programming guide helps for scheduling recording in advance.

SanDisk debuts Sansa slotMusic Player...

SanDisk on Wednesday unveiled the Sansa slotMusic Player, its new MP3 player for listening to music on the go. According to the company, the plug & play, portable music player was specially designed for use with the new slotMusic cards available today in the United States. The company rolled out both a Sansa-branded player and new personalized, branded slotMusic players for popular artists such as Robin Thicke and ABBA -- both of which are shipping to U.S. stores today, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart and are expected to be available from retailers in Europe and other regions of the world in 2009.

Intel 3Q profits up 12% despite level sales...

Intel's profits gained 12 percent for the third quarter, exceeding Wall Street estimates, despite lackluster sales numbers. The company reported profits of $2 billion compared to $1.79 billion from last year, which increased the earnings per share to 35 cents from 30 cents. The chip manufacturer expects healthy profit margins for the fourth quarter ending in December, however the current economic uncertainty makes for difficult performance forecasting.

Nikon MX format to be unveiled October 22nd?...

The ongoing and recent rumors regarding a new format from Nikon are about to come to an end, according to a Monday report from a Dutch website that says an announcement is due for October 22nd. The new product will be revealed at renowned Danish photographer Steen Evald's studio in Copenhagen, and members of the press will be invited.

Toshiba makes detail updates to Satellite laptops...

Toshiba on Tuesday announced some detail hardware and software changes to its Satellite range of laptops, including the 13.3-inch U405, 14.1-inch M305 and M305D, 15.4-inch A355 and A305. The Satellites get quicker Intel and AMD processors, ranging from 2.0GHz to 2.26GHz processors from the former and 2.0GHz and 2.1GHz CPUs from the latter. A few new features are also added to some of the Satellites, including Toshiba's face recognition software for access to the computer via the webcam and USB Sleep-and-Charge ports that will charge the batteries of compatible devices even when the laptop is in standby mode.

Panasonic to bring Blu-ray recorder to the US in 2009...

Panasonic will bring a Blu-ray recorder and player combo to the US market in the first half of 2009, according to a Tuesday report from HD Guru based on a trip to the CEATEC convention in Japan. While no other details are known about the recorder itself, prices in Japan for the recorders that use Blu-ray laser technology have dropped significantly, with the report having a Sharp Blu-ray burner priced at the equivalent of about $800.

Toshiba intros dual-lamp large venue projector...

Toshiba on Tuesday announced the release of its TDP-WX5400U large venue projector, which features dual 280W lamps for a higher maximum brightness when used together. With both shining, the new projector sports a resolution of 5,400 lumens, and exactly half that, 2,700 lumens, when one is on. An added benefit of the dual-lamp set-up is the ability to continue a presentation on one lamp if the other burns out. To give users the flexibility of optimizing color and brightness settings, the TDP-WX5400U can be outfitted with one of two color wheels; a six-segment RGBCMY wheel and a standard four-segment RGBW wheel.

Moto Android device a social network smartphone?...

Motorola's first Android phone will be considered a high-end device but will have a unique angle, a Coroflot job posting found by AndroidGuys shows. While Android is said to be useful for both high- and low-end phones, Motorola's first device will be regarded as a smartphone. In a unique twist, however, the company says it will focus on "social networking" with the handset. The effort positions the phone as a device for mainstream users rather than the business audience Motorola has normally courted with its Windows Mobile-based Q series.

Quantenna vows long-reach, cheap 802.11n...

California electronics newcomer Quantenna today said it has developed chipsets that it believes should end the problem of adequate Wi-Fi coverage in most homes. The QHS450, QHS600 and QHS1000 all use a unique four-by-four MIMO (Multiple In, Multiple Out) antenna setup that not only reduces the amount of interference that often crops up in walls and other wireless devices but theoretically allows much more bandwidth than regular Wi-Fi. Where current technology hits 300Mbps in peak conditions, a network blanketed with the QHS1000 chip could top out at 600Mbps in data transfers, Quantenna claims.

Flip Video and CafePress offer custom designs...

Flip Video on Tuesday announced a partnership with CafePress to offer customers a no-cost option of creating their own exterior color designs for Flip's Flip Mino camcorder. CafePress, which specializes in selling custom designs on products ranging from to coffee mugs to t-shirts, will allow users to create, share and sell designs for the camera. Users who upload their designs can then earn commissions for themselves based on sales, or donate them to non-profit causes.

Quanta exclusive MacBook builder?...

Apple's supplier has not only been named for its new MacBooks but considers the American company a significant client, industry contacts claim today. Well-known southeast Asian supplier Quanta is said to be Apple's sole supplier in 2009 and already considers the Mac producer a crucial component of its sales, with a full fifth of its 2008 shipments alone going to MacBooks. The exact number of shipments to Apple specifically hasn't been set, though its portables are said to be ensuring "strong" shipments of between 38 to 40 million portables to all vendors.

Apple launches new 24" LED Cinema Display...

During Apple's notebook event today, the company launched a new 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, arriving in November and featuring a new mini-DisplayPort connection to attach to the latest MacBooks. The new display, rated at 1920x1200 pixels with 16.7 million colors, is styled in a similar fashion to the current line of iMacs, with a black border and minimal metallic edging around a glass-fronted glossy screen. It features an iSight camera and microphone built in with stereo speakers, all of which are fed through a single cable.

Lenovo intros easy to use desktop PC, the H210...

Lenovo on Tuesday introduced a new PC to its desktop offerings, with the H210. The PC will include a choice of Intel dual-core CPUs, as much as 4GB of system memory and hard disks as large as 640GB. Meant as an all-around PC for the entire family, the H210 sports facial recognition software for secure logging in, as well as a new technology it call Bright Vision that automatically adjusts the monitor's screen brightness based on the user's proximity and ambient lighting. The system will also warn users they are sitting too close to the screen to reduce eye strain. Both systems require an optional computer camera, however.

Apple ships new metal, glass MacBooks...

Apple is shipping a slate of new basic MacBooks, complementing its new MacBook Pros. The lowest-cost model has slid in price from $1,099 to $999, and retains a plastic casing, with no specially-backlit keyboard or display. More significant may be the company's new sub-range of MacBooks, which are being built in a similar fashion to the new MacBook Pros, and likewise use metal bodies, backlit keyboards, glass trackpads and LED screen backlighting.

Apple updates MacBook Air...

Apple has formally announced the redesigned MacBook Air at its special press conference today. The company has confirmed the new "brick" construction, with a case milled from a solid aluminum block, instead of a combination of aluminum and plastic pieces. The processors come from Intel's "Montevina" generation and are offered in 1.6GHz or 1.86GHz variants. Like the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, they also carry NVIDIA's new GeForce 9400M mainboard and graphics chipset and are said to perform 5X faster in video tasks than the GMA X3100 video in the previous model.

Live from the Apple Event: new notebooks...

Check the extended section of this story for as-it-happens updates on Apple's new MacBook event.

Union prods Apple workers to help in NVIDIA action...

A labor union intends to use today's Apple notebook announcement to gain support in a move against NVIDIA, according to a statement. Unite Here says it will use the event to persuade Apple workers to cooperate in any Securities and Exchange Commission investigations of NVIDIA, from which it is pushing for a chip recall. Apple is among many companies that build NVIDIA hardware into their computers, and the union says it has already provided fliers on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to employees of HP and Dell.

AT&T outs Matrix, Propel, Quickfire, Slate phones...

AT&T today delved into messaging-focused feature phones with four new devices. The Pantech Matrix (pictured) is the spiritual descendant of the Duo and carries the same dual slider that switches either to a full QWERTY keyboard or a number pad. It also carries a similar 1.3-megapixel camera and supports 3G audio and video streaming plus the carrier's music store downloads. It comes in blue, green and red trim and is priced at $80 on a two-year plan or $280 while contract-free.

Pioneer burners make DVDs with Qflix video content...

Pioneer has teamed up with Qflix to allow users to create DVDs from downloaded content from the video download site, the electronics company announced on Tuesday. The two Pioneer drives, the internal DVR-2920Q and external DVR-X162Q, feature Qflix DVD Download & Burn technology that allow users to save the downloaded movies and TV show collections from CinemaNow on a format that is easy to store, find and play. Like the Dell drives with Qflix technology introduced last month, the Pioneer burners will require special blank discs in order to create movies.

Sony debuts movie rental first on HDTVs...

Sony today made good on a summer promise by becoming one of the first to premiere a major movie rental on a networked video hub rather than releasing it simultaneously with or after its physical release. Owners of the company's Internet Video Link for its BRAVIA HDTV sets will have the option of downloading a rental version of Hancock from October 28th, or nearly a month before the November 25th street date. This will include both a 720p HD stream as well as both high- and low-bitrate 480p versions for those with slower connections.

Sprint's Palm Centros get new colors, double memory...

Smartphone maker Palm on Tuesday announced it will soon release special edition Centro handsets for the Sprint network in Olive green and Vibrant rose in time for the holiday season. Apart from the new colors, the handsets also get a doubling of their built-in memory to 128MB, along with a few new applications. These include Facebook for Palm and Google Maps with My Location features. The former will allow users to quickly respond to messages, upload photos and videos and otherwise interact with the popular social network, while the latter will allows them to pinpoint their location and show nearby points of interest, as well as offer directions and updated traffic reports.

USBConnect Quicksilver 3G modem hits AT&T...

AT&T on Tuesday morning quietly picked up the USBConnect Quicksilver as its latest external modem. The adapter made by Option uses a new Icera 3G chipset that supports all three major HSPA frequencies while creating one of the smallest devices available; the new adapter is small enough to come with a swivel cover that protects the USB port when the modem isn't in use. AT&T estimates real-world download speeds as high as 1.7Mbps and uploads as quick as 1.2Mbps.

NVIDIA GPU failures hit Apple, HP desktops...

The increasingly widening scope of NVIDIA graphics failures now includes certain Apple and HP desktop systems, according to a pair of reports. Officially, HP now says that several variants of its Pavilion Slimline mini-tower using certain GeForce video chipsets have had their warranties partly extended to address the same symptoms suffered by notebooks with the defective parts, including a loss of video output and occasionally a refusal to start up altogether. The PC maker is extending the warranties on these problems for an extra year or up until December 31st, 2009 and will replace the mainboards for free under the plan.

InFocus intros budget HD home projector ...

InFocus Corporation on Tuesday announced the availability of its newest DLP projector, the X9, which is positioned in the company's offerings as a lower cost home theater projector, slotting in below the IN80-series. The X9 sports a native resolution of 720p and 16:9 aspect ratio, although it will support 1080i signals and 16:10, 4:3 and 5:4 ratios. Its brightness is rated at 1,800 lumens, while the contrast ratio is fixed at 2500:1. The 180W light bulb will last 3,500 hours, or 4,000 when in a 150W Eco Mode.

Toshiba brings new Portégés, Tecras to US...

Toshiba today quickly followed up its Canada-first notebook launches with their American equivalents. The Portégé lineup gets three updates that include the R600, its ultra-lightweight 12-inch portable that weighs 2.4 pounds while still carrying a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo, an internal DVD burner and up to a 128GB solid-state drive for storage; the upgrade further boasts a better LED-backlit, transflective display suitable for use outside. Prices start at $2,099.

Motorola Krave touch phone lands at Verizon...

Verizon today launched the Krave ZN4, Motorola's first touchscreen phone made solely for CDMA networks. The handset closely follows the design of the normally China- and GSM-oriented MING but is spun as a media-friendly device with a MediaFLO tuner for live digital TV, media player software, up to 8GB microSDHC storage, and a regular 3.5mm headphone jack. A two-megapixel camera and Bluetooth with stereo sound are also part of the core design.

Samsung enters US notebook market...

Samsung this morning stepped up competition by jumping into the American notebook market with several models, including some of its most recent systems previously reserved only for Europe and Korea. The 13.3-inch X360 and 14.1-inch X460 headline the launch as Samsung's thinnest and lightest systems. As with the original version, the X360 is positioned against the MacBook Air with a 13.3-inch display and a slightly thicker (0.6 to 1.2 inches) body in exchange for a lighter 2.8-pound weight; it carries either a 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo, either a 120GB hard drive or 128GB solid-state drive, and full expansion that includes three USB ports, Ethernet, as well as both HDMI and VGA out.

Toshiba Satellite Pro S300/S300M ships w/2yr warranty...

Toshiba’s on Monday announced two new Satellite Pro notebooks: both the Satellite Pro S300M and Satellite Pro S300 are value-/entry-level business laptops and now ship with a two-year warranty and port replicator support for (hot) docking. The 14.1-inch laptops include Fingerprint readers, business card reader software, and face recognition software for security by using the integrated webcam to grant/deny access to the laptop as well as fourth-generation EasyGuard Technology with PC Health Monitor, a preventative maintenance utility that continuously checks the performance and functionality of a laptop’s critical hardware components and will alert users when the system is in need of a tune up.

Microsoft still claims "Apple tax" when buying a Mac...

In advance of Apple's alleged sub-$1000 laptop announcement, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing Brad Brooks claims that potential users will still be subject to a hidden "Apple tax". According to an interview with CNET, Brooks cites the lack of Windows or the cost of adding it to the machine as a defining factor, or the availability of technology like Blu-ray or HDMI. It is interesting to note the presence of Entourage on the Mac, however, since Brooks says the lack of Outlook on the Mac is a setback.