Sure, you might've seen the purported Xbox 360 Valhalla motherboard leaked yesterday... but have you ever really seen it? There's a subtle difference, one that requires you gaze through the ocular receptors of our dearest old friend (he hates when we call him that) Ben Heck. Joystiq sat down with him to deconstruct the pictures and get his take on all the hardware nuances. First and foremost, there appears to be no connectors that "look remotely like a Xbox 360 memory card reader," which lends credence to the thought process they might be going the way of the dinosaur. WiFi is still missing in action, and as for Project Natal integration, Heck's highly doubtful that's in the cards, though he shares our mindset that a bundle would make sense. The big question is size reduction, and to that our game console laptop guru suggests that, given the constraints due to a DVD drive, the best we can expect is a one-inch drop in height (standing console), 0.5 inches in depth, and just "slightly thinner." Sorry folks, looks like even in your wildest dreams, it'll still tower over the Nintendo Wii. A great read, don your thinking cap, give yourself 15 minutes, and hit up the source.

Leaked Xbox 360 'Valhalla' motherboard analyzed by Ben Heck originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft's a pretty big company, and while we've been focused on its Windows Phone 7 Series and Pink mobile projects over here in the Land of the Free, its Live Messenger arm has apparently teamed up with French mobile carrier SFR for a branded phone. The Messenger Edition 251 handset looks to be based on Windows Mobile 6.5 (or something older), with no word on who the hardware partner is, and is taking on the youth market just like Pink will presumably be doing Stateside sometime this year. Of course, Messenger is much more popular in Europe than it is in the States, so it makes sense to brand a phone around it, but underneath that candy QWERTY shell we're sure those hapless Europeans can find plenty of legacy Windows Mobile to be desperately disappointed in.

[Thanks, Bibo]

Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger phone for France is hardly Pink originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's community blog has opened up the crowdsourcing floodgates, at least in theory. For "Design by Community," users will be able to vote on smartphone features via a series of sliders, although within an arbitrary point allotment system. A new poll opens next week for size and shape, followed by materials, operating system (Symbian or MeeGo being the only choices, unsurprisingly), and so on in the weeks that follow, with the last poll starting April 26th. After that, a concept sketch will be voted on and later rendered -- but no plans to ever have it made into an actual retail product (boo). We can't exactly say we understand all the selections here: why is a touchscreen keyboard less ambitious than T9 text entry? Does saying capacitive is more ambitious than resistive serve as a subtle hint of trends to come? What in the world is the difference between hot key and one touch? It's interesting to see how X6, N900, N97 all come out as a Perfect Mixes, while last year's E75 and the more recent C5 all straddle the "less than ambitious" line. Oh, and just so we're clear... a 5-inch, 21:9 ratio display without touchscreen but with a touchscreen keyboard is a perfect mix. Go figure.

[Thanks, Pratik V]

Nokia's Design by Community makes smartphone concepting a multiplayer game, with limits originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I'd paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke's famous quote for the CE market by saying that any sufficiently advanced new product needs to look like it just came off the Starship Enterprise. I'd say Microsoft Surface was a product that met my definition as well as Clarke's when it launched a few years back -- and it should have changed computing quite a bit. Sadly, I haven't spoken to the Surface team in a long time and it looks like it may never go anywhere in the end.

The Surface concept was great. It was a Windows PC inside a table with a 30" touchscreen on top, and cameras that could sense what's happening on screen. The result is you could use a Surface device just by touching the screen with your finger -- but unlike other large touch screens at the time, Surface was multitouch, so you could use all your fingers at the same time. More importantly, multiple users could engage with each other. It was a PC but didn't look or run like a PC, which was genius -- you'd never know it was running Windows, but there was no development learning curve. It was totally optimized for that big honking touch surface area, and applications that worked with it -- I'm sure it could run Office, but that's not something it's was ever likely to do. Surface was PC evolution happening in real time. It's really something you needed to see up close and in thirty seconds before the light bulb went on. Sadly, most people have never seen or worked with a Surface unit. Beyond a small retail rollout at AT&T stores in NY that seems to have ended, the last time I saw one was the Edelman PR offices, where it sat like a large coffee table and did pretty much nothing.

Continue reading Entelligence: Will Surface ever surface?

Entelligence: Will Surface ever surface? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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They may not be quite as sleek as their latest laptop counterpart, but Dell's two new Vostro 230 desktops are both at least fairly compact and, most importantly, cheap. Available in both Slim Tower or Mini Tower form factors, the desktops start at just $389 or $299, respectively, but can of course be upgraded significantly from there, including processors up to a 3.0GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650, a maximum 4GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage (from two 1TB drives), and your choice of NVIDIA GeForce G310 or GeForce GT220 graphics (in addition to the standard integrated option). Hit up the link below to configure one for yourself.

Dell rolls out Vostro 230 Slim Tower, Mini Tower desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"[Viacom] deliberately "roughed up" the videos to make them look stolen or leaked. It opened YouTube accounts using phony email addresses. It even sent employees to Kinko's to upload clips from computers that couldn't be traced to Viacom."

Wait, it gets better. According to Levine, Viacom's tactics were so good that the company itself didn't even know which videos it had uploaded, prompting multiple occasions where it would demand a clip removed, only to later ask for its reinstatement. "In fact," he claims, "some of the very clips that Viacom is suing us over were actually uploaded by Viacom itself." Hit up the source link for all the details. Honestly, we can't wait to see what else is dug up in these proceedings.

YouTube: Viacom would demand removal of videos it covertly uploaded itself originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"[Viacom] deliberately "roughed up" the videos to make them look stolen or leaked. It opened YouTube accounts using phony email addresses. It even sent employees to Kinko's to upload clips from computers that couldn't be traced to Viacom."

Wait, it gets better. According to Levine, Viacom's tactics were so good that the company itself didn't even know which videos it had uploaded, prompting multiple occasions where it would demand a clip removed, only to later ask for its reinstatement. "In fact," she claims, "some of the very clips that Viacom is suing us over were actually uploaded by Viacom itself." Hit up the source link for all the details. Honestly, we can't wait to see what else is dug up in these proceedings.

YouTube: Viacom would demand removal of videos it covertly uploaded itself originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm gave us a heads-up back in late February that its upcoming earnings report wouldn't exactly be cause for celebration, and today the news has become official: the outfit recorded a net loss of $22 million during its fiscal Q3, which still looks rosy compared to the $98 million loss it suffered this quarter a year ago. All told, the firm shipped 960,000 smartphones in the period, which represents a 23 percent uptick from Q2 2010 and a nearly 300 percent increase compared to this quarter in 2009. Unfortunately, sell-through wasn't exactly stellar, with just 408,000 units changing hands -- that's a 29 percent decline from last quarter and a 15 percent drop year-over-year. We get the impression that it's waiting for carriers to get down to replenishment levels, but it's hard to say when that'll happen. Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and CEO, was obviously not thrilled about the news, but he's mirroring statements made to employees just over a fortnight ago with this quote:

"Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we're doing to improve sales is having an impact, we're making great progress on future products, and we're looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable - and growing - advantage as we move forward."

We're listening into the earnings call right now, and so far we've heard a few choice quotes. Jon mentioned that Palm has "aggressive roadmaps on the software front that we're working on," and that there were "no changes to our planned carrier launches." We'll let you know if he introduces the Pixi 2 or anything.

Palm posts $22m Q3 loss, 'making great progress on future products' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm gave us a heads-up back in late February that its upcoming earnings report wouldn't exactly be cause for celebration, and today the news has become official: the outfit recorded a net loss of $22 million during its fiscal Q3, which still looks rosy compared to the $98 million loss it suffered this quarter a year ago. All told, the firm shipped 960,000 smartphones in the period, which represents a 23 percent uptick from Q2 2010 and a nearly 300 percent increase compared to this quarter in 2009. Unfortunately, sell-through wasn't exactly stellar, with just 408,000 units changing hands -- that's a 29 percent decline from last quarter and a 15 percent drop year-over-year. We get the impression that it's waiting for carriers to get down to replenishment levels, but it's hard to say when that'll happen. Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and CEO, was obviously not thrilled about the news, but he's mirroring statements made to employees just over a fortnight ago with this quote:

"Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we're doing to improve sales is having an impact, we're making great progress on future products, and we're looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable - and growing - advantage as we move forward."

We're listening into the earnings call right now, and so far we've heard a few choice quotes. Jon mentioned that Palm has "aggressive roadmaps on the software front that we're working on," and that there were "no changes to our planned carrier launches." We'll let you know if he introduces the Pixi 2 or anything.

Update: The call's over. PreCentral points out a choice quote from Rubinstein:

We had an arrangement with Sprint that when we launched with Sprint that they would invest in marketing and carry the product and for that they would get an exclusive for a period of time. That really determined when we could do our launch at Verizon. I agree with your premise that if we could have launched at Verizon earlier, prior to Droid, that we would have gotten the attention that the Droid got and since I believe that we have a better product, I think we would have even done better.

In other words, Palm -- regardless of Verizon's positioning -- feels like the Pre Plus could've been a legitimate contender as a halo phone for the carrier had it been able to launch sooner, though that opportunity has obviously long since passed. We're not so sure we agree that the Droid and the Pre Plus play in quite the same space, but if nothing else, we like the chutzpah -- now it's time to deliver some new hardware.

Palm posts $22m Q3 loss, says it liked its chances against Droid had Verizon launch been sooner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We don't like to stir up the nearly constant barrage of "so-and-so is getting the iPhone" rumors unless we've got a great reason to do so -- and we'd argue that a Financial Times report involving statements from Deutsche Telekom's CEO qualifies. The British rag was chatting up DT's boss over the prospects of its American unit -- T-Mobile USA -- and stressed the company's long-term commitment to turning around T-Mobile's fortunes in the face of recent spinoff rumors, saying that it's all about rapidly building out a speedy 3G network as part of an effort this year "to lay the foundation for future growth."

Here's where it gets juicy: referring to the iPhone, the report goes on to say that "T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year" while focusing on Android in the meantime, as if Android is merely a stopgap measure to make it through to the singular device that can save America's number four carrier from going down the tubes. It's not clear whether FT got the chief exec making a statement to that effect on the record or it's merely gleaning this knowledge from other rumors, but the only way this would be able to happen is if the next iPhone were to come in an AWS-compatible version -- and that seems unlikely considering that AWS coverage represents a trivially small fraction of 3G subscribers around the world. Of course, wireless CEOs of all walks of life regularly make statements saying they'd be more than happy to carry the iPhone if the opportunity presented itself, so this could be little more than off-the-cuff blather anyway.

T-Mobile USA eyeing iPhone launch this year or next? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WSJ: Apple still 'racing' to complete iPad content deals before launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No need to spot clean your spectacles, and no need to brush the cobwebs out of your dome -- you really are seeing yet another IR dongle for Apple's dear iLineup. Hot on the heels of New Potato's FLPR, ThinkFlood's RedEye mini and Power A's solution comes this: an all-too-similar way to convert your iPod touch, iPhone or forthcoming iPad into a universal remote. Functionality wise, there's really nothing here that the other guys don't provide, though the beefed-up database of over 40,000 IR codes should make setting up your system a breeze. Users simply plug this into their dock connector, download the free application from the App Store and then dial up whatever components they have; once loaded, the IR beamer should do the rest, nixing the need to keep those 40 remotes around. It's expected to start shipping any day now for $69.95.

i-Got-Control IRB1 dongle gives your iPhone / iPod touch universal remote functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not déjà vu, it's just all happening again. Just over a year after Canon had to bow its head in shame due to a black dot / banding issue that plagued the EOS 5D Mark II, along comes yet another heartache surrounding one of the company's finest DSLRs. The v2.0.3 firmware update that was issued earlier in the week is apparently causing audio problems for some users, with the actual quirk going a little something like this:

"Recently we have discovered a malfunction that occurs with Firmware Version 2.0.3, in which the manual recording levels for C1/C2/C3 are changed and the camera becomes unable to record audio if the power is turned off (or if Auto power off takes effect) after registering "Sound Recording: Manual" in the camera user settings. We apologize very sincerely for the inconvenience, but we are going to stop making this firmware available for download. For customers who have already updated to the new firmware, when using the camera with the mode dial set to C1/C2/C3, please either set the sound recording settings to Auto."

In the meanwhile, Canon has pulled the update from its support site while it works on a new firmware version to patch things up, but aside from a promise of "soon," there's no way to tell when exactly the new file will hit the pipes.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Canon EOS 5D Mark II 2.0.3 firmware yanked due to audio issues, fix is on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading SlingPlayer for Android coming this summer, demoed on video

SlingPlayer for Android coming this summer, demoed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like Novatel isn't the only outfit that's figured out something useful to do with Qualcom's Wearable Mobile Device module designs. In advance of CTIA 2010 the kids at AnyDATA have announced the new DTW line of embedded 2G and 3G wireless modules. At 21 x 22 x 4.5mm they're smaller than a quarter, which means that your dream of having a wireless quarter might someday be realized! (But not a wireless Susan B. Anthony Dollar -- that would be crazy.) All modules in the line include GPSs and accelerometers, and at least two of 'em -- the DTW-200 (CDMA 1X) and DTW-500 (3G EVDO Rev A) modules -- feature A-GPS as well. Check out the PR after the break for all the details juicy details -- you know, except price and availability. Apparently those are still TBA.

Continue reading AnyDATA to preview new embedded 2G, 3G wireless modules at CTIA

AnyDATA to preview new embedded 2G, 3G wireless modules at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's anyone's guess whether we'll see this mythical Supersonic from HTC show up at CTIA next week (wouldn't that be awesome?), but a phone identified as the HTC A9292 has recently made an appearance in yet another internal system which can't be a bad sign. As a refresher, the A9292 is popularly believed to be the Supersonic, a 4.3-inch Android-powered beast for Sprint that could become one of the carrier's very first WiMAX-enabled phones. This time around, the phone's turned up in a warehouse portal used by indirect third-party dealers, which would seem like a sign that they're getting ready to distribute these bad boys; hopefully we'll know all in just a few days' time out in Vegas. Stay tuned.

[Thanks, Onyoursix]

HTC A9292 'Supersonic' shows up in another inventory listing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patent application offers more evidence of projector plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For awhile, we couldn't decide what we were more angry at: the fact that select devices wouldn't support Flash, or that Flash was simply too demanding on select devices. We still can't say with any degree of certainty which side of the fence we're on, but there's no question that Apple's refusal to play nice with Adobe on the iPhone, iPod touch and forthcoming iPad limits the abilities of those devices significantly. Curiously enough, it seems that Apple's importance in the mobile (and media delivery) realm is coercing select portals to develop Flash-free websites for those who drop by on an iDevice. Both the National Public Radio and the Wall Street Journal are furiously working on iPad-friendly websites, which will be devoid of Flash for at least the first few pages down. What's interesting is that we get the impression that this will soon become the rule rather than the exception, and it could be exactly what's needed to launch HTML5 into stardom and put these Flash or no Flash debates behind us.

In related news, we're also seeing that a couple of iPad accessories won't actually be ready to ship when the device itself cuts loose on April 3rd. Yesterday, the iPad Keyboard Dock was listed with a "May" ship date, though today it has moved up to a marginally more palatable "Late April." The iPad 10W USB Power Adapter also carries a "May" date, while the iPad Case is slated for "Mid April" and that elusive camera connection kit is still nowhere to be found. But hey, at least you'll get your (overpriced) iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter and iPad dock by the first weekend of next month, right?

NPR and WSJ building 'Flash-free' pages for iPad, Apple quietly delays select iPad accessories originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well hello again, Dell Adamo XPS. Though the incredibly thin and uniquely designed laptop disappeared from Dell.com last week and we received official comment that it was a "limited edition product with a finite number of systems available," the Adamo XPS has reappeared in its $2,000 glory on the company's site. According to Dell's blog, it was merely just a move to restock the inventory and direct customers to retailers that had fresh stock -- well why didn't you just say that Dell! And do not fear about the Adamo brand, Dell reports that all is well as it starts to apply the design to other lines, just as we saw yesterday with the Vostro V13. We're still a bit confused by the reappearance, but it sure is good to see you again, Adamo XPS. We wish you a long successful life with many many price drops.

Dell Adamo XPS alive and kicking, back for order on Dell.com originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, bollocks! After hearing for days that Verizon Wireless would be pushing out the highly anticipated Android 2.1 update to its stable of Droid users, along comes this. Internal company documentation clearly states that the aforementioned update won't be going down today, and there's no clear indication of when it will. To quote:

• "The OTA software update for the Droid by Motorola is TBD. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible.
  
• The 3/18 OTA software update will not happen as planned. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible."

We knew things were just too quiet after the noon hour, and now we know why. An impromptu support group meeting has been scheduled for 1:30PM ET, though we're hearing the location is still being decided...

Verizon delays Android 2.1 rollout to Motorola Droid, new date is TBD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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