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by Scott Merrill on November 5, 2009


Remember, remember, the 9th of November!
Gadgets, technology, and beer.
I see no reason why gadgets and tech
should ever bring little cheer.

Last year’s Columbus meetup was a huge success, and folks have been asking me when we’ll do it again. Well mark your calendars for Monday, November 9, and join us for a friendly evening of networking and libations at the Surly Girl Saloon, my favorite cowgirl/pirate themed bar!

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by Matt Burns on November 5, 2009

Look out, Walmart. Best Buy is going to sell Modern Warefare 2 at midnight too. But unlike Walmart, Best Buy’s average middle of the night clientele doesn’t look like this. or this. or this. The line will start at 10:30 p.m. and at 12:01 a.m., you and a few other socially-stunted gamers will get a chance to buy the game. How exciting. If you must be the first to own the game, there is a nice little advantage to buying the game at Best Buy instead of Walmart though.

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by Doug Aamoth on November 5, 2009

Remember when the first VAIO P came out and everyone was like, “I can’t believe it has Vista! That angers me! I am currently outraged!” – something along those lines? Well now it has Windows 7 and comes in four different models ranging in price from $850 to $1900.

by Doug Aamoth on November 5, 2009

The HTC-built DROID ERIS will go on sale tomorrow at Verizon stores for $99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year contract agreement. Equipped with HTC’s “Sense” user interface, the ERIS “offers customers the opportunity to customize a seven-panel wide home screen with a wide variety of widgets designed to bring the most important information to the surface.” On sale tomorrow at Verizon’s retail stores and website.

Myka ION brings Intel Atom and ION graphics into the living room
17 Comments
by Matt Burns on November 5, 2009

myka-ion

Think of the Myka ION as a nettop built for your HDTV. The little media streamer utilizes an 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 330 CPU and an NVIDIA ION GPU to provide your TV with quality high-definition content. Actually, the Myka ION is more computer than dedicated media playback device, which is good thing. Well, a Linux-powered computer with Boxee and XBMC installed, that is. Read More

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Launch Trailer (it’s epic)
18 Comments
by Matt Burns on November 5, 2009


Put all the Modern Warfare 2 controversy crap behind of you for just a minute and a half. Forget about the lack of PC dedicated server support and that you *might* kill civilians in the game. Just watch the official launch trailer and tell me you aren’t stoked about this game. Seriously.

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by Serkan Toto on November 5, 2009

Yamaha launched its so-called Tenori-on, an electronic musical instrument with a built-in sound module, in 2007 for a recommended retail price of $1,200. The device, which consists of a touch screen and lets you play music by running your fingers over a 256 LED grid, is being sold world-wide, but the price is obviously a problem for many potential customers. It took a while, but today Yamaha in Tokyo announced the Tenori-on Orange [JP], which will cost less than $780 (at least in Japan).

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by Serkan Toto on November 5, 2009

Just in September this year, Toshiba proudly announced a 1.8-inch HDD with 160GB capacity, which was pretty impressive already (their new SSDs aren’t too shabby either). But today, not even two months later, Toshiba unveiled another 1.8-inch HDD with 320GB capacity [press release in English].

by Bryce Durbin on November 5, 2009

Wherein we discuss Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
The Beatles remastered catalogue will be released on an apple-shaped USB drive
The Electrobite makes it fun and exciting to be handicapped

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by Devin Coldewey on November 5, 2009


Yeah, that leak did a number on the official “release moment” of Olympus’ new micro four-thirds camera. All the stats are there, but I forbore from weighing in on the thing. I’m cautious but bullish about the M4/3 phenomenon; they’re legit to be sure, but this first generation isn’t going to break any sales records. They’re too expensive and too limited at the moment — but that’s how DSLRs were back in the day, and now everyone wants one.

I suspect the non-SLR interchangeable-lens camera (AKA the EVIL system) will replace the point and shoot, and the phone or PMP will fill that snapshot role. But until they get that price down it’s not going to happen.

by Greg Kumparak on November 4, 2009

Needless to say, AT&T’s none too happy about Verizon’s “Theres a Map for That” campaign. AT&T first complained about the ads back in October, saying they were misleading. Verizon responded by adding a few extra words and an itsy bitsy disclaimer – but that wasn’t enough for AT&T. Early this morning, AT&T filed a false advertising suit against Big Red, presumably in an effort to get the ads off the air as soon as possible.

This afternoon, AT&T sent out an internal memo regarding the lawsuit, and we’ve obtained a copy.

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by Devin Coldewey on November 4, 2009

The Japanese, I am told, really love their stationery. Pens, pencils, erasers, special paper, cases for everything — one trip to Muji, my favorite store, will confirm this. Unfortunately, stationeriphilia in the US is more of a high-class “my pen is made out of solid gold” affair. So when JetPens, an etailer for Japanese pens and miscellany, offered to send a couple of their favorite things, I accepted gladly. There’s so much stuff there that I just had them select a few things at random — and this is what I got.

Beetle-tip highlighters? Auto-rotating mechanical pencils? It’s a whole other world over there.

by Dave Freeman on November 4, 2009

Well, it looks like Nintendo has done it to us again. Purchasers of the new game, The Legend of Zelda – Spirit Tracks in Japan will receive a special transparent quill stylus when they buy the game. It’s not even a pre-order bonus, it’s going to be given out on launch day, just not in the U.S.

bugbugbug