Section: Video, Content, DVD Players/DVRs, Video Providers

The new BD300 Blu-ray Player from LG is more than just a device to play Blu-ray format discs, as it can do a whole lot more.  The BD300 allows for the streaming of movies, and can support many audio formats and has refresh rates of both 24Hz and 60Hz.  Additionally, the BD300 does not have to be updated manually at any time, because an on-board Ethernet connection insures regular online updates. 

Finally, the streaming isn’t the only great feature as this can also be used to access Netflix’s online library.  I’m guessing from the visual that we’re seeing here is that the BD300 is similar to the functionality of the recently announced Roku Netflix Player.

All that, plus you got something else that you can play your disc based movies on, both in Blu-ray and standard DVD formats.  You should be able to purchase the LG BD300 for about $399 this October. 

Via [Gizmo Watch]

Full Story » | Written by Mark Rollins for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation

Garmin recently announced a few new GPS series, the Nuvi 7×5 series and the Nuvi 2×5 series. The interesting thing about these GPS’ is that they come with lifetime free traffic updates. This service is similar to Navigon’s, however, unlike the new service from Garmin, the Navigon service does not come with ads.

Recently, PC Mag got one of Garmins Nuvi 755T, which comes with free traffic updates, yet they were surprised to find that there were ads. The ads are from the companies such as BP, Walgreens and Wells Fargo. When accessing the traffic data, the ad will appear on the bottom. If you click it on purpose or by accident, it will perform a POI search of nearby stores. These ads can also pop up from time to time. Even if it is a very good GPS, this must get annoying sometimes and there is no way to disable the ads.

If they wish to compete with Navigon by providing free traffic updates, they should make the ads less intrusive or get rid of them altogether.

Via [GPS Tracklog]

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

FROM GAMERTELL - The Leapster 2 gaming unit for kid may have some small game lags and touchscreen issues but the system is a great buy and a durable unit for kids with educational games, PC (Mac and Windows) connectivity and backwards compatibility…

MORE »

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Section: Computers, Hardware, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Originals

Some of you may remember when we reported that select Sheraton hotels were getting a Microsoft Surface table in their lobby.  Well, I happened to be in Seattle for the Penny Arcade Expo last weekend, (you can read more about that at Gamertell.com, our sister site) and so I had a chance to sit down and try it out for myself. 

I took a video of my findings which you can check out after the jump, or you can read my quick summary of what I discovered with the three functions of CityTrips, Sheraton Snapshots, and Sounds of Sheraton.

The CityTrips function allows the user to find his or her way to various attractions through the city.  If you wanted to find a certain restaurant, for example, a user can choose from the list and it will give you directions.  In fact, it will even show you an aerial point-of-view, not that it will help. 

The Sheraton Snapshot allows the user to see pictures, but only of things Sheraton-related.  There didn’t seem to be a way to upload pictures onto this Surface, but I have heard that the Surface can rip photos from a cell phone just by putting it on the screen.  I wished I could have seen that.

The Sounds of Sheraton was an interesting audio-music playing feature that allows the user to simply drag their favorite songs onto a playlist.  From there, a user can go backward and forward through tracks like an iPod. 

Anyway, if you haven’t seen (or touched) the Surface yet, feel free to find the Sheraton in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco or Seattle and give it a try.  You’ll probably want one in your living room after you do. 

Full Story » | Written by Mark Rollins for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Yet another carrier that has added the BlackBerry Bold to its lineup. With their announcement comes immediate availability and also a pretty fair pricing structure. The Bold will be available for free when customers choose the Anytime 600 data plan for £35 (about $62 US), which also comes with a 24-month agreement. Certainly not a bad price for a handset like the Bold, the Anytime 600 plan includes 600 talk-time minutes and 500MB of data transfer. In addition to the regular consumer plans the BlackBerry Bold will also be available with the Vodafone Total Business price plans. Sadly the US is still waiting for AT&T to get their Bold on the market, which the latest rumored launch date is October 2, however with all the false dates in the past we are certainly not holding our breath.

Read [Vodafone]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops

Perhaps the once king of the netbook market, the Eee PC 701 seems to have been losing some popularity with all of the new introductions. However that may be coming with some good news because according to some reports that will be driving the price down even further. The Eee PC 701 from Asus may not be the most full featured netbook, but its certainly a good option for those looking to do some basic browsing and have something that is lightweight and easy to carry.

UK based online retailer Expansys has just lowered their pricing for the Eee PC 701, which now sits at £158.99 (around $280 US). Not bad for a model that first came to market less than a year ago and was retailing for $399. If you remember the lead up to the Eee PC 701 release, Asus was promising a sub-$200 model, and while we are not at that point yet this is one step closer to reaching that goal.

Of course on the flip side, these drastic price cuts are most likely hurting the resale value for those that were early adopters and since moved on to other netbook models, but I would imagine that is only a small group of people.

Via [Liliputing]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section:

Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• Leaked Images begin to surface; Zune 16GB, Zune 120GB
  “ Remember the good ol’ FCC leaking out the new Zune 120GB? Well, now there have been some pictures released by the Canadians that show off two new larger capacity Zune players. The image includes…” MORE »
• Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 netbook officially unveiled
  “ Dell’s long awaited entry into the netbook market has finally been made official, and based on the leaks it seems that it comes with little surprise, both in terms of pricing but also overall specs.…” MORE »
• Dell’s Inspiron 910 netbook coming this week, possibly Thursday
  “ A specific release date still has not been announced, but based on confirmation from none other than Dell and Box.net we should be seeing the Inspiron 910 within just a few…” MORE »
• MSI’s PR621 is a lightweight 15.4-inch business notebook
  “ Despite it’s not so catchy product name, MSI’s PR621 notebook more than makes up for it with its powerful features. This 15.4-inch notebook wallops some exciting features which will definitely be of use for business professionals who are…” MORE »
• Get your Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for as low as $99
  “ In addition to the rolling out of the Inspiron Mini 9, Dell has also announced a special deal that will allow users to get their new…” MORE »
• Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 release gets delayed
  “ With all of the excitement yesterday coming from the new Google Chrome browser its important to remember that we already have some good browsers on the market, namely Firefox.  With progress being made on version 3, Mozilla has…” MORE »
• Navigon intro’s the 2200T GPS, affordably priced with free traffic updates for life
  “ Navigon has added yet another GPS model to their current lineup, and this time its certainly one for everyone to consider. The new model is the Navigon 2200T and…” MORE »
• Gadgetell Contest Reminder: Axiom AudioByte computer speakers
  “ Just sending a quick reminder in case you missed the earlier announcement, our contest to giveaway a set of Axiom AudioByte computer speakers ends this Friday (September 5, 2008) at 11:59pm EST.  …” MORE »
• Google’s “Chrome” seeming very rusty
  “ So, we’ve all been seeing the hoopla the past few days surrounding Google’s Chrome browser. First it was how exciting! Google has a new browser! Then that excitement lessened somewhat as time went on. It went from performance benchmarks being less than…” MORE »
• Asus bamboo series laptop christened
  “ There has been talk and details about the newest laptop from Asus, mostly centered around the material it’s made from; bamboo. Admittedly this isn’t the first time that bamboo has been used as a computer…” MORE »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

Some further evidence that Palm is prepared to ride out the success of the Centro as far as it will take them, and the latest additions come in the form of a few new colors dubbed simply as “Green” and “Rose.” Both models were recently pictured (image above) over on the SprintUsers forum and offer nice clear images of what seems to be a slightly drab looking olive green along with a new shade of pink. The green, at least from the picture looks to be a nice shade, and the pink seems to be much darker than the current pink model on the market. Nothing has been stated officially, however these new shades are expected to be available late next month.

Read [SprintUsers Forum] Via [Palm InfoCenter]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile

The Sprint branded HTC Touch Diamond, yet another handset that seems like the release will never come with rumored date after rumored date. The latest was calling for the Touch Diamond to be released in August, but as we all know now that has already come and gone, of course a new date has come up and this time we are pretty sure its accurate.

PC Magazine is reporting that the Touch Diamond will be available on September 14 and that it will be retailing for $249.99, which comes along with a two-year agreement and after a $100 rebate, we can only hope that its an instant rebate. Either way, it sounds like a decent price, thankfully the pending release date is not that far into the future, lets just hope it sticks this time.

Read [Yahoo! News]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Laptops

Vodafone and Dell have announced a partnership that will make a special broadband ready version of the newly released Dell Inspiron Mini 9 available. The 3G-equipped Mini 9 will be sold in Vodafone retail stores, online and directly from Dell, and allow users to connect anywhere they may be.

Availability is expected to come in late September, however an exact release date has not yet been announced, but that along with pricing is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Sounds like Vodafone has a winner on its hands.

Its still early to tell, but so far it seems Dell is really pushing their Mini 9 in the right direction, they needed something to set them apart from the rest of the netbook crowd. I can only hope that a US carrier, possibly AT&T will pick up the netbook with a similar offering for those of us in the US.

Read [CNN Money]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »