Isaiah's Tech

Remember that mysterious Samsung handset that we saw two weeks ago running Linux? Well, Samsung has just officially announced two new touchscreen handsets that are headed to Vodafone, the Samsung M1 and the H1, which is exactly what we were looking at.

First up is the Samsung M1 which has: a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, 1GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, GPS / Bluetooth support, HSDPA connectivity, and a 3MP camera with digital zoom.

The more exciting Samsung H1 is definitely something to look forward to. This handset has: a 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen WVGA display, a 5MP AF camera with an LED flash, a TI OMAP 600MHz CPU, GPS / WiFi / Bluetooth 2.0 support, quad-band EDGE/GPRS / dual-band HSDPA connectivity, 16GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, an FM radio with RDS, and runs a Linux OS.

Both of these handsets will be utilizing a new service called Vodafone 360, which is shown off in the video below. You can check out the Samsung M1 here and the Samsung H1 here.



[Engadget Mobile, Samsung Hub (1), Samsung Hub (2), Phone Arena]

Sony is just pouring in the news with their gaming consoles and handhelds. They have just announced that PlayStation Home will be headed to the PSP in one way or another. "The portable version of Home will allow you [to] have blogs, photo albums, chat, mini-games, and real-time connection." They haven't announced exactly when this will be available, but I know that you're looking forward to it.

[vg247]

Sony UK has just confirmed that 250GB PS3 Slim bundles are on their way to Europe. The first confirmed bundle seems to be with Uncharted 2. This first bundle will cost £284.99 ($458 USD) and is expected to launch on October 16th. On October 19th, you can expect a 250GB PS3 Slim bundled with Wolverine (I'm guessing X-Men Origins), The Dark Knight, and a Blu-ray remote. Can you wait that long to get your hands on the 250GB PS3 Slim?

Update: According to Joystiq, Sony Australia has just mentioned that a couple of 250GB PS3 Slim bundles will be headed their way as well. Game bundles include: Uncharted 2, Ratchet and Clank, Singstar Motown, and EyePet. These will be launching on October 15th for $599.95RRP.

[Tech Radar]

At TGS, Sony Japan has just announced that they will be dropping the price of the PSP-3000 on October 1st. In Japan it'll drop to ¥16,800 ($185 USD) which is down from ¥19,800 ($219 USD). This is clearly to make way for the PSP Go, which is going to launch next month (October). There has been no word on if Sony will drop the price of the PSP-3000 in North America yet.

[Kotaku]

According to the latest rumour, the Microsoft "Courier" (above) is not the only tablet prototype that Microsoft is testing right now. Hopefully these will be better than the allegedly "leaked" Microsoft "Pink" smartphones...

[Gizmodo]

Could what you see above really be what Microsoft is codenaming "Pink" more specifically the "Turtle" (above) and the "Pure" (below)? I really, really, really hope not. This handsets are, apparently, made by Sharp and will have a "youth focus" and will have their own little app store. "Unlike the Sidekick however it will have a music focus, with some kind of Zune integration." I really hope this is a really bad joke. Microsoft, please don't do this!

[9 to 5 Mac, Engadget, Gizmodo, Maximum PC, WMPowerUser]

A new video of the Android-based gaming device, ODROID, has just found its way online. This photo is less appealing than the first one we saw last week, since the other one showed off the exciting HDMI out capabilities. This gaming device is said to still be in prototype form, but it's still looking really ugly.



[Slash Gear]

What you see above is a photo of the upcoming Jabra Stone. Believe it or not, but this toilet-looking device is actually a headset. Right now I don't understand how this will work, but we'll see more of it in the future.

[Gizmodo]

HP finally decided to wake up and upgrade the resolution of their Mini 110 netbook to 1,024 x 600. Before today, the standard resolution of this netbook was an awkward 1,024 x 576. Thankfully, there's also an anti-glare option that will give you a 1,366 x 768 resolution - it costs an extra $35 USD though. Check it out on their website here.

[Netbooked]

Can Square Enix really pull this off. They have just shown off a nice new trailer of their upcoming MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. I disliked Final Fantasy XI - their first MMO in the Final Fantasy series - so I'm hoping this time around it'll be much better. Check out the trailer below. Don't forget that this will be launched next year (2010).



[vg247, Joystiq]

Finally! They have finally announced that the GSM Palm Pre is coming to Germany on October 13 and it will also be hitting the UK and Ireland on October 16th. You'll be able to purchase this smartphone from Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U, and even online on O2's website. Yes, the Palm Pre will be free on a 2-year contract in which you'll have to fork over £34.26 ($55 USD) a month for "unlimited" data and free access to BT OpenZone WiFi service.

If you want it contract-free it will be available for around £483 ($776 USD). Check out the chart below to see all of the price listings - the top one is UK and the bottom one is Ireland's.

[Slash Gear, Engadget Mobile]

Sprint has finally announced exactly when and for how much they will be launching the Samsung Instinct HD. Well, the good news is that this handset will be available on Sprint in just 3 days - on September 27th; the bad news is that it will be retailing for a whopping $249.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate on a 2-year contract. Talk about a rip-off. The only thing that's "HD" about this handset is that it can, apparently, record HD video with its 5MP sensor. We'll see it when we believe it.

[Engadget, Slash Gear]

LG has officially announced the GW300 smartphone. The LG GW300 will feature: a 2.4-inch display, a QWERTY keypad, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1 support, a 2MP camera, and expandable memory (via microSD, I believe) up to 4GB. "There's [also] a designated Facebook app and "LiveSquare", which shows favourite contacts on the homescreen as avatars." This handset will be available on O2 in electric blue and on Orange in vibrant red soon; it'll likely launch for free on both European carriers.

[Pocket-Lint]

At IDF, Archos has officially announced that their Archos 9 tablet will be available starting on October 22nd with Windows 7 pre-installed. The Archos 9 has: a 9-inch resistive touchscreen display with a 1,024 x 600 resolution, an Intel Atom Z510 1.1GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB HDD, and should last around 4 hours on one charge. Interested in a resistive touchscreen device? Then you'll have to wait about a month longer.

[Slash Gear, Electronista]

We heard about this Bluetooth headset back in August and it looks like RIM will be releasing it soon. If you live in Canada you should know that you're not allowed to use your mobile phones while you drive anymore - unless you use a Bluetooth headset or, I guess, put it on speakerphone since it won't be glued to your face. The BlackBerry HS-500 Bluetooth headset will be launching for $89.99 USD and seems to be "coming soon." Features are below. On a side note, whatever happened to that BlackBerry watch?

Some of the features include:
- Call control button – control calling features like, answer, end, mute and voice activateddialing
- Automatic volume control and noise cancellation – hear and be heard loud and clear in noisy environments
- Works with selected third-party GPS mapping applications – listen to turn-by-turn directions

[Mobile Syrup]

News from TGS is just leaking out everywhere. The latest leak consists of LittleBigPlanet PSP for, of course, the PSP. "SCE confirmed the PSP version of LittleBigPlanet for a December launch in Japan today." As you can see in the above document, it lists the game coming out in December of this year - just in time for Christmas.

[vg247]

Earlier this month, we heard that we could be seeing smartbook / netbooks running Google's Chrome OS by the end of this month, but since the month is almost over I doubt that'll happen. The good news here is that Nvidia has just confirmed that they are actually testing smartbooks with their Tegra chipset and Google's Chrome OS. This is definitely great news for those consumers. Unfortunately, they likely will not be hitting the shelves until later this year / early next year. Google is going to work right now.

[Netbooked, Liliputing]

Update: This notebook actually has a 16-inch display.

[Gizmodo]

Even though we heard rumours that it would launch this year those turned out to be false. At TGS, they announced that Gran Turismo 5 will be available in Japan starting in March 2010. It'll likely launch after March in other parts of the world, so it sucks that we always have to be the ones waiting for everything.

[Joystiq]

It's finally official! Sony Japan has just announced a 250GB PS3 Slim bundle will launch over there with Final Fantasy XIII for 41,600 yen ($456 USD). This will be launching on December 17th, so look out for it!

[Engadget]

According to the latest unconfirmed news, T-Mobile will be launching another flip phone, the Sony Ericsson Equinox on October 28th. This handset appears to have: a 1.1-inch OLED external display with a 36 x 128 resolution, a 2.2-inch internal display with a 240 x 320 resolution, a 3.2MP camera, an FM radio with RDS, expandable memory, and 3G / Bluetooth support. Even though we've heard of a rumoured release date, there have been no word on any pricing rumours.

[Phone Arena]
Spec Sheet: Phone Arena

At IDF yesterday, Dell showed off their Inspiron Mini 10v netbook running Moblin. The good news is that it will be available sometime today - so I'll update this post with a direct Dell link when I get the chance to. We're also hearing that it'll be available for $299 - for the base model of course - so if you're really interested then just wait for it. Keep in mind that this will be running the first Moblin and not Moblin v2.

[Engadget]

SmartDevices has just unveiled their latest MID, the SmartV 5. This MID truly shines with its ability to spew out 1080p video via its HDMI output. Other specs include: a 5-inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 600MHz CPU, 2GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, WiFi / Bluetooth support, 256MB of RAM, a USB 2.0 and your choice of Android / Windows CE / Ubuntu as an OS. We don't know when it will be available, but JTShop now has a product listing for this MID - it's going for $260 USD. Check it out here.

[Slash Gear, JTShop]

Asus has just revealed new monitors as a part of their Designo MS Series. These 5 new monitors - the MS246, MS236, MS226, MS227, and MS202 - are measuring in at just 16.5mm thick and range from 20 to 23.6 inches. Most of these models have: a 2ms response time, 250 nits of brightness, and a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The lone model - the MS202 - has a 5ms response time and a 1,600 x 900 resolution. However, the top three models also have a Full HD resolution and an HDMI input. The MS227 monitors has a 22-inch display with a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution. The price hasn't been mentioned yet, but you can check out what Asus had to say here.

Update on September 24th: According to Slash Gear, these monitors will be available starting next week in the UK - however there is still no word on a US release date, if there is one. The largest model, the MS246, will be available for around 244 pounds ($400 USD).

[Engadget]