All 4 Toys

It’s here Sonos fans, finally. The new touch-screen CR200 controller is announced and ready for purchase. After making an appearance at the FCC on its way to being leaked in full, the new CR200 controller for Sonos’ multi-room wireless music system is everything we heard including a 3.5-inch, 640 x 480 pixel (VGA) capacitive touchscreen with on-screen keyboard, beefier processor, and relatively tiny 2.9 x 4.5 x 0.7-inch / 6 ounce footprint with scaled-down charger to match. Those changes make the new CR200 pocketable, faster, and far more useful than the CR100 ever was. Not that the CR100 was a bad device, it wasn’t, but the $399 controller (plus $40 for the charging cradle) was definitely beginning to show its age as the only dedicated handheld controller available since Sonos launched back in January 2005. What really made the CR100 archaic though, was the 2008 release of the free iTunes App Store controller for the iPod touch and iPhone. It was faster, more graphically rich, and offered an on-screen keyboard unlike the CR100.

Read more »

Samsung Electronics has a plan to release its new SNE-50K e-book reader from next year, that it aims to overtake Amazon as the top seller of electronic books. Measure a mere 9mm thick and weighing at only 200 gram, the SNE-50K features a 5-inch screen at 600×800-pixel resolution, a 512MB storage capacity, and the battery offers up to 4320 continuous page views. In addition, the SNE-50K also could be used as a note-pad tool but it lack the WiFi connectivity.

Read more »

After being snubbed by Hitachi in the race to push out the industry’s first 1TB desktop hard drive, Western Digital made darn sure it was first to ship a 2TB version. Now, the company is raising its fists in celebration once more with the introduction of the sector’s first 2.5-inch 1TB mobile hard drive. ‘Course, this isn’t the first 1TB drive of any kind in this size, as that honor goes to none other than pureSilicon. Still, we recall thinking that a drive of this capacity wouldn’t hit until 2010 at best, so we’re steadfastly elated to hear that the Scorpio Blue 1TB (and Scorpio Blue 750GB) are now shipping out to retailers. Of course, we can’t help but gripe that both of these boast unorthodox 12.5mm form factors, which dwarfs the standard 9.5mm-height slot found in most laptops, but hey, progress is progress — right? With that in mind, it’s easy to see why both of these are being marketed hard in the external HDD market, with each unit slated to ship within a My Passport SE for $189.99 (750GB) or $249.99 (1TB). The full release is after the break. Read more »

Interesting — just a couple days after Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told a conference that “it’s too early to tell” if the Pre’s a hit while talking about Android, the latest Best Buy ad shows Palm’s baby on sale for just $99 on a two-year contract. That ought to spike some sales, but we’ll see if its just a one-week special or a permanent drop before we start trying to read any tea leaves here — anyone running out to grab one?

Read more »

The new Philips Xenium X830 might be not the best mobile phone in today’s world, but the battery offers for about a month of standby time. This slider handset also packs a 2.4-inch 240320 LCD screen, a 3.2MP auto focus camera, Bluetooth, FM radio tuner, a 30MB internal memory, including microSD memory card slot for expansion. The Xenium X830 is runs on quad-band GSM/GPRS networks, but it doesn’t support 3G connectivity. No idea on pricing, but we have an idea that the Xenium X830 will be available in China soon.

Read more »

$15 for a hunk of metal and plastic that makes noise and looks pretty cool? Sure, it’s not quite that pink cube that OMM told you pick up on the way home from your occupation, but FiiO’s PS1110 Walkbox portable speaker is just that right blend of retro and modern that makes us all weak in the knees. Let us be thankful we have commerce.

Read more »

Google on Thursday has launched the Google Latitude for the iPhone and iPod touch. Google Latitude is an application that allows you to share your location with your friends, kind of an extension to a social network. As a web application that running in Safari, with the Google Latitude for iPhone you no need to go the App Store to get this app, however you’ll still get all functionality, including adjusting your privacy settings for each friend, basic Search and Directions functionality to help you get around the world just like Google Maps for mobile client apps. Currently the Google Latitude web app is available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and you need to visit google.com/latitude to start using the application. It is works with iPhone /iPod touch OS 3.0 or above.

Read more »

It looks like Redmond is backing slowly away from its previous IE-or-else stance on Windows 7 for European markets. According to an article just published, the OS giant has apparently caved to pressure from the European Commission over “monopoly abuse” (practices which essentially force users into Internet Explorer as their main browser). The last we’d heard on this story, the company was considering shipping the new operating system without a browser altogether, but it looks like those plans have changed. Microsoft has relented and will now offer consumers a “ballot screen” on first boot, allowing purchasers to make their own (we’re hoping informed) decision about which window into the web they’ll be looking through. Additionally, while Windows 7 will still include an install of IE, users will have the option to disable it, and computer-makers will also be allowed to pre-load any browser they see fit for their systems. We’re glad that Microsoft is taking the inclusive approach here, though there are lots of good arguments against the EC’s actions. We don’t see Apple getting the same heat for Safari, though Apple doesn’t currently hold the lion’s share of the market. At the end of the day, we’re personally just happy to not be using IE — no matter how you slice it. Read more »

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wants you to know he’s really, really sorry for pulling Nineteen Eighty-four off of our Kindles. In fact, the guilt expressed in this public apology is comparable to a modern day Dimmesdale — he may have even seared a mark into his flesh for all we know. The short message calls the company’s “solution” to what happened “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles,” adding that he and the company “deserve the criticism we’ve received.” Look Jeff, we’re still gonna be appalled by these beyond the pale actions even if you do promise they’ll never happen again… but if you really need a hug, we’ll be here.

Read more »