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ASUS at it again, calling out Gigabyte's excessive copper usage


Oh ASUS, you bring us such joy. When this company isn't busy diluting its Eee brand, it loves to pick fights with noted rivals, and this latest spat with Gigabyte (who isn't at all innocent in this war) is wonderfully trivial. Apparently ASRock, ASUS's budget motherboard wing, has taken it upon itself to inform hardware review websites like HEXUS of Gigabyte's wasteful implementation of copper. The email ponders: "While the demand for copper keeps increasing and with that the price of this natural resource, why would manufacturers choose to use more copper without any valid reason?" And it gets better: "I [unidentified] am not talking about unnecessary heatpipes that most people do not need, but about Gigabyte's '2 oz Copper PCB'. Gigabyte is adding more copper to the PCB to reduce the heat that is produced by their motherboard, and to spread it across the motherboard so that the heat will dissipate more quickly." Naturally ASRock's own P45 motherboard falls into none such pitfalls, offering better cooling with less copper, and they even provided a handy chart up above in case you don't believe them, you idiot. Say no to waste!

[Thanks, Jordan]

Metal Gear Solid 4 Bluetooth headset now shipping to ears everywhere

This is it, soldiers. The day you've been anticipating has finally arrived. Okay, so maybe that's a build up not deserved by the lowly Metal Gear Solid 4 Bluetooth headset, but seriously, we've been waiting ages for this thing to ship. Like, so long that the whole MGS4 aura has already come and gone. Those still firmly planted in Snake's posse can choose to prove their fanhood by snagging this thing now for $39.98; if all goes well, it should be headed your way in a matter of business days. Over and out.

[Via LogicBuy]

Raon Digital prepping SSD-based Everun Note UMPCs


We're glad to see that Raon Digital isn't just ditching its Everun Note entirely after having to recall the thing, and better still, we're stoked to hear that it'll soon be doling out speedier iterations with built-in SSDs. UMPC Portal has it that two new Everun Notes will be landing shortly, both of which will boast SSDs within. The first newcomer (S16S) will come loaded with Ubuntu Mobile, a 1.2GHz Sempron CPU and a 12GB MLC SSD; the higher-end sibling (D24S) will offer up Windows XP, a dual-core Turion processor and 24GB worth of delicious solid state storage. Look for both to land by mid-November for $659 / $950, respectively.

[Via Pocketables]

1.5 million T-Mobile G1s already pre-ordered


T-Mobile sold right out of its original allotment of G1 pre-orders quick, fast and in a hurry, and even the second round has been claimed in a flash. What's it all mean? It means that someone at T-Mobile and Google are sitting in a fancy restaurant in France sipping on the good stuff, and it also means that 1.5 million G1s have already been reserved for eager early adopters. In addition to that, another couple of million are all set to take the retail scene by storm later this month. In other words, folks are genuinely stoked about the possibilities of Android, and scads of 'em have already committed to the OS (and HTC's design, by extension) before even having a chance to toy around with it in person. No pressure at all, Google.

[Via Pulse2]

Nokia shocks no one, confirms N-Series touchscreen handset


Hey, it's not like you really expected Nokia to ride the coattails of its N95 / N96 forever without adding in a dash of innovation, right? At a recent Nokia event held in New Delhi, Devinder Kishore (the director of marketing for Nokia India) was quoted as saying that "We will have lots of touchscreen phones coming up, including an N-series device very soon." Granted, it's not at all shocking to hear that the engineers in Espoo are already conjuring up touch-friendly N-series handsets, but at least you know there's a fingertip-lovin' Nokia coming for you if the XpressMusic 5800 just ain't rubbing you the right way.

Sony Ericsson's 8.1MP C905 Cyber-shot cellphone gets unboxed on video


Oh sure, you've seen the 8.1-megapixel C905 Cyber-shot in the wild and in our very own hands, but have you seen it unboxed entirely on video? No? Well, today's your lucky day. Sony Ericsson's shutterbug-of-a-cellphone is a touch on the thick side and doesn't come with too many extras (you know, like a detachable zoom lens), but as SE always manages to do, it has delivered a pretty enviable beast all things considered. Have a look at the video after the break.

[Thanks, Gregg]

Cowon's O2 PMP ships in Korea October 13, starts at $224


Goodie! The long, excruciating wait for more information on Cowon's exceptionally sleek O2 PMP is finally over, and two of the more important tidbits you could ever want to know have been revealed. The PMP, which supports a gaggle of file types including MP3, OGG FLAC, AAC, WMA, DivX, MPEG4 and WMV (just to fire off a few), will arrive with a 4.3-inch touchscreen, SDHC card slot, 8GB / 16GB / 32GB of internal capacity, an internal speaker, TV output (up to 720p), 10-band custom equalizer, 18-hours of battery life for audio playback (8-hours for video), optional T-DMB TV tuner / e-dictionary functionality and your choice of pink, black or white motifs. The real news? An October 13th ship date in South Korea along with prices ranging from ₩294,000 ($224) for the stripped-down 8GB edition to ₩399,000 ($305) for the 32GB edition with a DMB tuner. Yanks, sadly, will have to wait.

[Via iAudiophile, thanks Ang]

La Fonera 2.0 emerges for developers, encourages USB-related shenanigans


La Fonera fans, it's finally time to celebrate. Iteration 2.0, which is fittingly dubbed the Liberator, is at long last ready for shipment... to developers, at least. The La Fonera 2.0 box will certainly look familiar to owners of the first, with just 1,000 of these being prepped for consumers in France, Germany and Spain. The intention here is for devs to start toying around and "programming their own applications for other Foneros out there." More specifically, the creators are hoping that more USB functionality will be worked in so we'll eventually have Fonera WiFi boxes that play nice with USB hard drives, printers, scanners, webcams and all manners of cooling devices. It's available now (for a limited time, obviously) for €39.95 ($53) if you're up to the challenge. Oh, and if you design an application sweet enough for the Fonera 2.0, you'll be reimbursed the purchase price -- not bad, eh?

[Via WiFi Romania]

Samsung's NC10 netbook benchmarked and in the wild


Ah, how convenient! Just hours after finding out that Samsung's NC10 netbook would one day be at home here in the United States of America, along comes a host of unboxing / in the wild photos and even a few benchmarks to get you ready for its arrival. Granted, the writeup is in translated German, but fortunately for us the photographs do most of the talking. For what it's worth, the 10-inch NC10 seemed to edge out the Eee PC 901 in most tests, but not by any wide margin. Also of note, the keyboard was praised for having keys that weren't bite-sized, though the trackpad beneath it was a touch on the small side. For a few more impressions and JPEGs penned in the universal language, give that read link a visit.

Latest spy shots show AT&T Fuze defaced with carrier's logo


We'd been encouraged in previous spy shots that AT&T was intending to keep a clean, brand-free look on the front of the Fuze, but what were we thinking? That'd never sit well with the suits up on the 49th floor of AT&T's headquarters (we just made that up, by the way -- we have no idea how many floors AT&T's headquarters has), and sure enough, the latest batch of shots is showing a big ol' logo slapped on the upper right of the face. The poster says release is currently planned for early November, but we'd say that target is about as solid as one of those Jello rings you make in a bundt mold. We'll believe it when it's on the shelf, as they say.

[Via wmpoweruser]

PSP-3000 sneaks out a bit early, suffers an unboxing


Due to be launched next Tuesday, the PSP-3000 Ratchet & Clank Entertainment Pack has managed to slip into at least one Best Buy a few days early, where it was quickly snatched up by friendly tipster Aaron G. He sent us a few unboxing shots out of the kindness of his heart, and now he's undoubtedly too engrossed in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets and that ultra-bright screen to pay us much heed. Oh Nicolas Cage, what a charmer you are.

Microsoft sues DHL over Xbox train derailment


You know who Microsoft hates? No, not Apple. It really hates DHL. Apparently, the delivery service has hit the folks in Redmond where it hurts: in the Xbox. It seems that 21,600 consoles were totally messed over by "impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage" when one of the company's freight trains derailed en route to Long Beach, California. The big M claims that DHL refuses to compensate for the lost goods, and has filed a complaint at a US District Court in Seattle, calling for $2 million in damages and stating that the shipper "negligently breached its duties as a common carrier, handler, bailee, warehouseman, agent, or in other capabilities." Harsh words, but really, who's to blame for this mess? Next time we suggest going with G.O.D.

[Thanks, Andrew S.]

Screen Grabs: Nokia 5800-branding womanizer snaps pics of Britney Spears

Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.


We're not quite sure what Britney is trying to say here. It would help if she could be more specific about what she thinks of this guy. If only there was a word she could use to describe him, over and over and over. Regardless, she absolutely doesn't want any pictures snapped of her on Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic. Who knows where those might end up? Full video after the break.

[Thanks, Sam]

Samsung's NC10 netbook on sale in US for $480


Generally speaking, Americans can count on the US price of any particular piece of kit being a fair bit less than the straight pound-to-dollar conversion. Unfortunately, the exchange rate here is nearly on point, with the £299 NC10 10-inch netbook on sale for $480 (give or take a few nickles) in the US of A. Granted, it looks as if it'll be a fortnight or so at the very least before any Yanks can wrap their grimy paws around the germ-shunning PC, but we've already got the e-tailers lining up to hold your place in line. Who knows -- maybe our version will come with built-in WiMAX and 12-hours of battery life to really sweeten the deal.

[Via Liliputing, thanks Michael]

Read - Pre-order NC10, option 1
Read - Pre-order NC10, option 2

GE builds an OLED printer, hopes to challenge light bulbs in 2010

Maybe the incandescent light bulb has been sitting in its socket-shaped throne for too many years -- GE thinks so, anyway. GE R&D guys have produced a machine that prints OLED materials newspaper-style onto 8-inch sheets of metal foil in hopes that the sheets -- which can be pinned to just about any surface -- will start the process of home lighting biz regime change in 2010. Picture, if you will, wallpaper or window blinds that provide soft, diffused lighting for the living room after dark -- no need for special fixtures, just a wall plug. OLED lighting isn't yet cost-efficient for the average consumer, but GE hopes that will change soon. In the meantime, expect to see these sheets in a trip-out Flaming Lips concert in the somewhat-near future.



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