Filed under: Gaming

Wii came, Wii saw, Wii conquered. After hours in line getting worked into a frenzy, the unwashed masses were finally admitted into Toys “R” Us to pillage the store and escape with their Wii. Triforce, who we spotted earlier, was of course the first to get his Wii on, and therefore he and Reggie chatted it up through the purchase, after which he was mobbed by an adoring press. Things really didn’t get much more exciting than that. Most people in line seemed quite cheery throughout the evening, the temperature was quite bearable, and perks like the Segwiis, free hats, free t-shirts and other such frivolities kept everybody entertained. We found the exact number of consoles available and the exact number of people lined up to be a bit elusive, but the best numbers we heard were about 4,000 consoles on hand, for around 2,500-3,000 customers. Peep the in-store pictures after the break.

Continue reading Wii launch wrap-up

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

We’re hanging out at Toys “R” Us Times Square this evening, getting all ready for a bazillion people to get their respective Wii on. As of 9PM the line is already mind boggling, but the word is Toys “R” Us is stocked with 5,000 7,000 of the dang things for the launch, so there are going to be a lot of people going home happy this evening. Keep watching this space for more of the action as it unfolds, and make sure to peep the pics after the break.

UPDATE 1: New pics aplenty. Also, the scuttlebut on the street is that there are actually 7,000 of the little machines stashed away in Toys R Us, and from the looks of white wristband ubiquity (the wristband guarantees you a console tonight), nearly reaching all the way around a city block now, that could very well be correct.

UPDATE 2: Tons more pics. Here’s a map of the Wii line. That may not mean much to you non-New Yorkers, so let’s put it in perspective. A short block is 1/8th a mile, while a long block is about 1/3rd a mile. So this line is the better part of 4/5ths a mile long. A little arithmetic… we’d estimate that’s about 2,500 – 2,600 people or more. Good news for New Yorkers looking to buy a Wii tomorrow morning.

UPDATE 3: Attention, folks, Reggie has been spotted. We love the big guy, and the very privilege of watching him play a bit of Wii Sports baseball has us shaking in our little blogger boots. He was upstairs at the Toys “R” Us Wii display, so we got some pics of that too, all of which can be spied after the break. One hour to go!

Continue reading Live from Nintendo’s Wii launch in New York

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming

This whole PS3 delay game has really become something of an amusing sideshow at this point: after so much bad press concerning nearly every single aspect of the console, you’d think that Sony would do everything possible to ensure that things run smoothly from here until launch, and yet word on the street is that Europe may be victim to still another postponement. It should be noted we have no independent confirmation of the following information, but Spanish gaming site MeriStation is reporting that Ken Kutaragi recently admitted that supply problems for Japan and North America could force the European PS3 launch to be delayed until May — which would mean that Japanese and American consumers might have their systems nearly six months before the eager gamers in the rest of the world. Now keep in mind that Kutaragi also supposedly said that Sony has not modified its European launch plans at this time, so right now we’re only looking at a “what if” scenario. Still, this rollout has been plagued with nothing but problems since day one, and as much as we’d like to see Sony pull this one off considering the shaky condition it’s currently in, we’re starting to think that these little issues and public gaffes may add up to big problems.

[Thanks, Mercenary]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Gaming

So if you think that you’re going to pop down to your local store and play the Wii on a big kiosk when it comes out on November 19, think again. According to The Dallas Morning News, the only retailer to have authorized playable Wii kiosks will be GameStop, much to Wal-Mart and surely every other big box retailer’s chagrin. That said, as our brethren at Joystiq point out, many shops may open up their own Wiis and set up a playable demo unit or three, but official blessed-by-Nintendo kiosks apparently won’t be widespread for some time.

[Via Joystiq]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

Now that we know the Treo 750 is poised for a Cingular release here in the US, we’re kind of over Vodafone’s version of this Windows Mobile 5 smartphone, but because we’ve got mad love for our European audience, we’ll keep covering it until they pry us kicking and screaming from our keyboards. Following numerous spy shots, reviews, and announcements regarding this device, there’s pretty much nothing that we don’t know about its feature set — quad-band GSM with UMTS, 300MHz CPU, 240 x 240 pixel screen, Bluetooth 1.2, miniSD expansion, 1.3 megapixel camera, and of course, still no WiFi — but despite all the interest, a solid release date has yet to be announced. Well, until now that is, as Vodafone has finally updated its UK site to list an October 2nd launch (why do we feel like this thing has been “launched” like ten times already?), with that same vague pricing window of “free to £127.66 ($242.90).” So, congratulations dear friends across the pond, you’ll have your gadget-loving hands all over the 750v in a few short days; us Americans, meanwhile, are just preparing ourselves to go through the whole dog-and-pony show of leaks, rumors, and false starts all over again.

[Thanks, Nirav M.]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Laptops

Well, it’s officially late August, meaning that the bit of buffer between Intel’s Core 2 Duo desktop and mobile launches should be over any day now. Word on the street is Monday’s locked and loaded for a barrage laptop releases with their latest powerhouse dual core mobile processor — the one some may still know as Merom — on board. (And thus, we ask for your forgiveness in advance when we have a slew of laptop write ups early next week.) In other words, if you were considering snatching up a laptop this weekend — PC or Mac — you’d probably be best off waiting until at least next weekend to do it; who knows what kinds of goodies we’ll see in a couple days, right?

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Filed under: Cellphones

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

It’s laid so bare at this point it’s almost kind of an open secret, but contrary to what we’d heard earlier (which was a week off), we’ve got launch dates and prices for Verizon’s LG VX8500 Chocolate phone. Starting July 31st you’ll be able to snag the phone online, and come August 7th you can get it in stores. The price? Not too terrible: $359 without contract, $249 with 1 year, and $199 for two years committed to the carrier. Might be a little more than we’d originally expected, but outside the Q you’re not likely to see a sexier EV-DO device on Verizon for a little while yet.

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Filed under: Games

Just when we were getting used to the idea that there would only be one PS3 available in the UK at launch — which is, admittedly, relatively easy for us to get used to being that we’ll see both versions — Sony UK’s David Wilson goes and tells GamesIndustry.biz that the UK will most likely (also) get both PS3 SKUs. He’s just not sure when. We would love to be able to tell you that you will have a choice in the UK come launch day, but, you know, we can’t. According to Wilson, Sony is in “a period of open consultation with retail and consumers to decide on the best way to approach the impending launches of both SKUs.” Still confused? So are we, but apparently this move is meant to reduce confusion. Right.

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Filed under: Gaming

We’re not sure this’ll manage to get all the rumor mongers to pack up their bags and go home for a couple of months, but Nintendo responded to the rampant speculation on Wii price and launch date by stating today that they’ll announce both of those little details in September. This makes a September launch increasingly unlikely, but doesn’t say much more than that. After the announcement a McNealy analyst stated: “Our position remains that the Wii could retail as low as $199 instead of $249, and October is a reasonable timeframe.” So, really, we’re still stuck with a fairly large launch window within which we’re sure to hear a few more “sure thing” dates rumored, but really, would we have it any other way?

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Filed under: Gaming

Our money -- since we so regularly put down heavy cash on the intricacies of console launches -- is still on that November 6th date that's been going around, but we're always willing to entertain a bit more tasteful rumoring. This one's from CNNMoney.com's Chris Morris, who cites P.J. McNealy and other unnamed "industry insiders" that the Nintendo Wii is due for October, with a slight chance of late September if the cards are right. This would contrast it to the November 17 PS3 launch, and Microsoft's November 22 last year, and give Nintendo a bit of a head start in the holiday rush. Apparently Nintendo is in pretty good shape to do so, since they've already started manufacturing the Wii, and they so far have only launched one home system in November, the GameCube. It'll probably come down to manufacturing successes and title readiness, and Nintendo might want to give 3rd party titles a bit more time in the oven with the new control schemes that need to be perfected, but a least the anonymous and unverifiable signs are looking good for an early launch, and we're not complaining.

[Via Gotakon]

Filed under: Cingular, HSDPA, UMTS

Cingular Video, anyone? Just a few weeks after having Samsung ZX10s unceremoniously removed from stores, New Yorkers are getting some HSDPA love now that Cingular’s network has officially gone live. Yes, that means you can once again get your hands on the UMTS-only ZX10 — whether you’d want to is another story — but more importantly, Cingular’s 3G PC cards will keep your notebook clipping along at some reasonably healthy speeds, especially if you’re used to dealing with EDGE. Coverage is mainly limited to Manhattan and JFK right now, but a rapid expansion is promised through September of this year.

[Via The Wireless Report]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

In news sure to delight space geeks around the world (ourselves included), 14 CubeSats from ten universities and one private company are set to launch June 28th aboard a Russian DNEPR-1LV rocket from the Kazakstan Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was just announced today. CubeSats are essentially DIY kits that can be built for about $40,000 and launched for another $40,000 more, opening up space research to students and other amateurs. (We’re still saving up for the Engadget sat that will datacast our site on all kinds of crazy pirate frequencies.) The mission had been set with a number of a delays, but it looks like this one is definitely a go — or at least as sure a thing as you can get when it comes to space exploration. A second launch is already in the planning stages, tentatively set for September of this year.

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Filed under: Laptops

See that pic up there? Word around the Internet is that it shows an ad for the upcoming MacBook laptop that Apple “accidentally” posted to its website before quickly taking it down. Nothing in this supposed screencap — which shows a starting price of only $999 and black or white case options — immediately screams fake to us (they gotta release the darn thing sometime), but then again, it wouldn’t be very difficult to mock up something like this in Photoshop, either. Real, fake, we surely can’t tell — but if Apple doesn’t show us the goods sometime this week, they’re gonna have some serious ‘splaining to do to their legions of anxious fans and weary tech bloggers.

[Thanks, Phlash65]

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, 1xRTT, EV-DO

Purportedly originating from a Verizon Wireless site, full details on Motorola Q specs and launch price have been posted to a Phone Scoop forum, and things are looking up for the much-delayed device. No mention of the A2DP support listed in the manual on the FCC, and most of the other specs we already knew, but we were interested to see the listed battery life at only about 4 hours of usage time. Luckily there’s nearly 9 days of standby time, and everything else seems pretty solid. However, we were most interested to see the prices, at a rumored $349 with a 1 year contract, $299 with a 2 year, and $419 with no contract at all. If all of this holds true, that’s not too bad for a QWERTY Smartphone, and hopefully a trend we’ll be seeing more of in the future. Now just release the dang thing!

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, 1xRTT, EV-DO

Purportedly originating from a Verizon Wireless site, full details on Motorola Q specs and launch price have been posted to a Phone Scoop forum, and things are looking up for the much-delayed device. No mention of the A2DP support listed in the manual on the FCC, and most of the other specs we already knew, but we were interested to see the listed battery life at only about 4 hours of usage time. Luckily there's nearly 9 days of standby time, and everything else seems pretty solid. However, we were most interested to see the prices, at a rumored $349 with a 1 year contract, $299 with a 2 year, and $419 with no contract at all. If all of this holds true, that's not too bad for a QWERTY Smartphone, and hopefully a trend we'll be seeing more of in the future. Now just release the dang thing!

Filed under: Gaming

We were really hoping for an official announcement of the Wii's launch date and price, but the company is continuing to withhold those key details. As Reggie Fils-Aime put it today, "we think it's best to keep those details quiet a little longer." The only hint of a launch date and pricing: Reggie's declaration that "Wii will give you more fun for less money and you will be playing Wii in the fourth quarter of 2006." By that, we can assume the Wii will certainly be less than the $500 price tag Sony's dangling for the Playstation 3. But that $250 price point we've been seeing lately will just have to remain in the rumor mill for now.

Filed under: Laptops

So at the time of this writing, if you were to visit http://www.apple.com/ipod/, you'd be greeted not with the iPod page, but the page shown above with the conspicuous MacBook hardware breadcrumb -- not MacBook Pro. Eh, these things happen, but compound that with the fact that MacRumors is reporting that stores are supposedly receiving new window displays marked "do not open until Tuesday, May 9th" means we could be perilously close to a new product launch -- care to guess which? We'll keep you posted.

[Via MacRumors, thanks Luis]

Filed under: Cellphones

Alright kids, it's the moment we've all been waiting for (and by we, we mean the MVNO nerds). SK Telecom's and Earthlink's joint-venture Helio is officially lighting up today with their first two devices -- the Hero and Kickflip. We're all pretty well briefed to date on the capabilities and general offerings the service was supposed to have, so let's get to the plans and pricing, of which there are two types: the All-In Membership, which includes unlimited data, video, MMS, texting, nights and weekends, roaming, and long distance with the plan; and the A La Carte plan which is as the name implies. The All-In buys you 1,000 anytime minutes for $85, 1,500 for $100, or 2,500 minutes for $135 (which we think is a pretty good value, considering what some are charging for that many minutes and unlimited phone data); the A La Carte gets you a 500 minute $40 monthly plan straight up. Oh, and the devices now have prices, too: the Hero will set you back $275, and the Kickflip will ding you for $250. We have a sneaking feeling we know which will outsell the other. So if you're not ready to wait until the end of the month for their retail rollout to switch carriers (or join Helio as your first), fortunately you can just order direct and cut the middle man.

P.S. -More info on the media services Helio's offering over at Engadget Mobile.

Filed under: Handsets, Pantech, Helio, EV-DO, MVNOs, CDMA

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/05/helio_launch.jpg" />

Alright kids, it’s the moment we’ve all been
waiting for (and by we, we mean the MVNO nerds). href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/26/helio-the-mvno-formerly-known-as-sk-earthlink/">SK Telecom’s and Earthlink’s
joint-venture Helio is officially lighting up today with
their first two devices — the Hero and
Kickflip. We’re all pretty well briefed to date
on the capabilities and general offerings the service was supposed to have, so let’s get to the plans and pricing, of
which there are two types: the All-In Membership, which includes unlimited data, video, MMS, texting, nights and
weekends, roaming, and long distance with the plan; and the A La Carte plan which is as the name implies. The All-In
buys you 1,000 anytime minutes for $85, 1,500 for $100, or 2,500 minutes for $135 (which we think is a pretty good
value, considering what some are charging for that many minutes and unlimited phone data); the A La Carte gets you a
500 minute $40 monthly plan straight up. Oh, and the devices now have prices, too: the Hero will set you back $275, and
the Kickflip will ding you for $250. We have a sneaking feeling we know which will outsell the other. So if you’re not
ready to wait until the end of the month for their retail rollout to switch carriers (or join Helio as your first),
fortunately you can just order direct and cut the middle man.

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

So we don't actually have any new information on the U.S. pricing and release date of Nintendo's DS Lite; rather we're simply here to pass on the fact that these important details will supposedly be available on Thursday. Our hot sister blog Joystiq is reporting that a recent 1UP podcast revealed both the May 4th announcement as well as the actual pricing/launch info, but the latter deets were bleeped out in order to conform with pesky embargoes and non-disclosure agreements. You can be sure that we'll be on high alert later this week to bring you all the info as soon as it's available, and remember, the sooner you start standing in line for your new DS, the sooner we can post amusing pics of people suffering for their hobby.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/04/motorola_q_verizon.jpg" />

Alright Q fans, we’ve got some good news
for you. We’ve received word that Verizon and href="http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=motorola">Motorola are holding a joint news conference in New York this May
22nd — no, not May 22nd 2007, though we should qualify that — to announce the Q. We know, wipe the look of shock off
your face; we don’t really have much more info to give you than that, but really, what more do you need? By this point
you’re either completely sick of hearing about this thing, or have some insane pent up urge to get one, so for the
latter crowd: keep your eyes and ears tuned to May 22nd.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Alright Q fans, we've got some good news for you. We've received word that Verizon and Motorola are holding a joint news conference in New York this May 22nd -- no, not May 22nd 2007, though we should qualify that -- to announce the Q. We know, wipe the look of shock off your face; we don't really have much more info to give you than that, but really, what more do you need? By this point you're either completely sick of hearing about this thing, or have some insane pent up urge to get one, so for the latter crowd: keep your eyes and ears tuned to May 22nd.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Samsung is set to officially launch its Q1 UMPC in the US on May 1, with an event in San Francisco. We're assuming (or at least hoping) that this will be a real launch, with an announcement of pricing and availability (Samsung has already launched the Q1 in Korea, with a price of  about $1,200). Of course, if Samsung decides to hold the event in the Moscone Center and starts sending out cryptic invitations, all bets are off.

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, T-Mobile, GSM

GigaOM, citing unnamed sources, is suggesting that T-Mobile’s well-documented UMA plans will come to fruition in Seattle and possibly another yet-to-be-named city (Chicago and the Bay Area are mentioned as strong candidates) on September 12 with other markets lighting up shortly thereafter. Given everything we’ve seen, we don’t have a compelling reason to doubt a limited launch on 9/14 is possible — though if our sources’ accounts of battery life, voice quality, and GSM / WiFi handoff buffoonery on the Samsung T709 launch handset are close to accurate, we might have to take a pass on version one.

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