Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category

By now, plenty of educated guesses have been offered about what the next-generation Kindle e-reader will look like and do, and fans expect to find out for sure when Amazon.com holds a news conference in New York on Feb. 9.

But even if Kindle’s design changes are dramatic, some handheld analysts question how much the e-reader market can grow — especially when it and other e-reader handhelds can cost more than $359.

If these rumors are true, I know what I am adding to my wishlist in addition to the TW Steel watches I have been wishing for.

World-leading mobile phone maker Nokia Corp. on Thursday said profits plunged 69 percent in the fourth quarter and warned the economic downturn would batter the handset industry harder than previously thought.

As it released quarterly results below expectations, Nokia said it was losing market share, but promised sharp cost cuts and insisted it was still best equipped to ride out the recession.

“A market leader like Nokia has a better opportunity to face the challenging conditions than weaker competitors,” Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told reporters in Helsinki.

Net profit was euro576 million ($743.62 million), down from euro1.84 billion in the same period in 2007.

They still made a profit. $743 million in fact. A profit people. How bad is the economy if your company is still making a profit?

On the heels of the MacWorld announcement of the 6.6 pound 1-inch thick 17-inch MacBook Pro, we have this from the PC side of the aisle.

Japan’s Sony Corp (6758.T) plans to launch the world’s lightest 8-inch notebook PC, taking aim squarely at a rapidly growing market for ultra-portalbe personal computers.

The new Sony Vaio PC will come with Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Windows Vista operating system, supporting all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks, and sell for about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.

This new computer will weigh 1.4 pounds and be as thin as a mobile phone yet just as capable of producing a blue screen of death as any other PC running Windows.

My youngest son got some money and a gift card for Christmas, and together with the money he has been saving, he used it to get himself a new Microsoft Zune. I tried to talk him into getting an iPod, but he didn’t like it. Hmmf.

Anyway, he ended up doing okay, because he didn’t get the huge honkin’ Zune. Thank goodness.

Happy New Year from Microsoft Corp.: Your Zune is dead.

Thousands of Microsoft’s Zune media players — the software company’s answer to Apple Inc.’s iPod — unexpectedly conked out Wednesday and showed users an error message, prompting references to “Y2K for Zunes.” The problems appeared when people tried to start up their devices.

Frustrated users lit up Microsoft’s online support forum for Zunes with more than 2,500 messages by Wednesday afternoon.

Late Wednesday, the Redmond, Wash.-based company said the outage affected only the 30-gigabyte Zune models and was caused by a problem with their internal clock.

Yes, you can get an iPhone for $99, but not at Wal-Mart.

Walmart began selling Apple’s iPhone 3G at nearly 2,500 of its stores on Sunday. The news came just before AT&T announced Monday that it will sell refurbished iPhone 3Gs for just $99.

Walmart is offering the black 8GB iPhone 3G for $197 and the 16GB black or white model for $297. Those prices are contingent on a new two-year service agreement — or a qualified upgrade — from AT&T.

Will there be lines out the door of Wal-Mart tomorrow morning?

Wal-Mart will start selling Apple’s popular iPhone on Sunday, the chain said, confirming earlier reports by employees.

Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will become the second independent retail chain after Best Buy Inc. to sell the phone. It is also sold at Apple Inc. and AT&T Inc. stores.

I don’t get this. If you want a mobile phone, wouldn’t you buy a mobile phone? Would you buy an mp3 player that could be “transformed” into a mobile phone?

Apple may have a new mobile phone to compete with–one that runs on its iPod Touch.

Truphone’s app turns the iPod Touch into a mobile phone.

The MP3 player can be transformed into a mobile phone with the help of a free app from Internet telephone company Truphone. The new app allows users with a Wi-Fi connection to make and receive phone calls via voice over IP with other iPod Touch owners, users of the Google Talk’s messaging service, and customers of Truphone’s Internet telephone service. The company said it expects to add the ability to handle landline calls.

Would you buy a washing machine that could be transformed into a microwave?

Heads up Wii fans.

Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii has emerged as one of the few hot products this holiday season, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc will offer “tens of thousands” of the hard-to-get video game consoles on its website starting on Monday.

Walmart.com said it will offer the Nintendo Wii console for $249.24, and a “value bundle,” which includes the console and other items like an extra set of controllers, for $329, while supplies last.

Yeah, you know you’ll be sitting on the Wal-Mart website first thing Monday morning, unless of course you are busy getting the best acne treatment you can find.

I highly doubt this is true.

Save money, live better and get an Apple iPhone for the low, low price of $99? Whether that’s fact or wishful thinking, news that Wal-Mart will sell the 4-GB Apple iPhone at the rock-bottom price is causing a buzz.

While it can’t confirm the story, Boy Genius Report broke the news Thursday after it said it got a tip about the deal, and said that the deeply discounted 4-GB iPhone will require a two-year agreement. The Web site warned that readers should take the rumors with a grain of salt.

I think I have a better shot getting some of the best diet pill long before I find an iPhone for $99 on the shelf.

If it does turn out to be true, will we see iPhone lines at Wal-Mart?

Investors knew that Apple was going to offer the iPhones at cost. Investors knew the plan. Why are they upset now?

Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone is giving its sole U.S. carrier AT&T Inc (T.N) a big boost in subscribers and buffering the impact of slower landline sales, but the success is coming at a cost that many AT&T investors do not like.

Because AT&T offers subsidies to make the iPhone more affordable in exchange for a commitment to monthly payments, strong sales lift its revenue but hurt profit margins. That weighed on the company’s third-quarter results and drove its shares down 4 percent by midday on Wednesday.

Everyone involved with the AT&T deal knew that they were not going to recoup the money they were subsidizing for a few years. I don’t understand why they are unhappy about that now, except the fact that the economy has tanked and they want to make as much off their money as they can before things get real bad.

What else is it?