Samsung R480, R580, and R780 notebooks head to Best Buy

Samsung is one of the biggest names in electronics with offerings running the gamut from PMPs to big screen HDTVs. Samsung has announced that it will be offering some of its new notbooks at Best Buy, with one of the new models a BestBuy.com excusive.

The machines include the R480, R580, and R780 with the 780 only offered on Bestbuy.com. The R480 has an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, 14-inch LED backlit LCD, Intel GMA 4500MHD, and a Blue-ray drive. HDMI out and WiFi are included and the machine has 500GB of storage. The R580 has an Intel Core i5 processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB of RAM, 15.6-inch LED backlit HD screen, NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics, Blu-ray, WiFi, and 500GB of storage.

The Samsung R780 uses a Core i5 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB of RAM, a 17.3-inch LED backlit HD screen, GeForce GT 330M graphics, DVD drive, WiFi, Bluetooth and 500GB of storage. The R480 will sell for $729.99, the R580 for $829.99, and the R780 for $929.99. All three notebooks will be available starting on March 7.

Logitech Squeezebox Touch delayed “a couple of months” more

If you’ve been patiently waiting for your Logitech Squeezebox Touch preorder to ship, don’t get too excited; the FedEx man is still long from your door. According to a post by a Slim Devices developer in the official Logitech forums yesterday, “we’re looking at a couple of months until release” of the touchscreen media streamer.

The Squeezebox Touch was announced in September 2009, with a December 2009 launch window promised; that was later amended to February 2009. Logitech began taking preorders through their online store in October last year, and this new release information suggests that those customers could in fact end up waiting six months or more before their new toy arrives.

No official reason for the delay has been given, however there’s speculation by forum members that unforeseen software problems have scuppered the original timetable. According to one senior forum member, Logitech have experienced problems getting the latest version of their streaming software running on the relatively low-power hardware in the Touch.

Sling “didn’t change” SlingPlayer for iPhone for AT&T approval

Yesterday’s news that SlingPlayer for iPhone was final playing to use AT&T’s 3G network was widely accompanied by a quote from AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega claiming that Sling Media had modified the code to suit the carrier. Today, however, Sling Media themselves are clampping that they made no changes to the app; representative John Santoro says “we didn’t change anything … AT&T never discussed any specific requirements with us.”

“Sling Media was willing to work with us to revise the app to make it more bandwidth sensitive … They made important changes to more efficiently use 3G network bandwidth and conserve wireless spectrum so that we were able to support the app on our 3G mobile broadband network” Ralph de la Vega, CEO, AT&T; Thursday February 4th 2010

In fact, no changes have apparently been made to the SlingPlayer for iPhone app’s 3G functionality since it was first approved – for WiFi streaming only – last year. The optimization code which, AT&T yesterday suggested, “dynamically adjusts the bandwidth based on network conditions and picture quality” has been in place from the beginning.

It’s looking suspiciously like AT&T decided they had to cave to pressure and allow 3G streaming for SlingPlayer – especially since other 3G video streaming services are allowed on the network – and hoped to distract attention from the decision by suggesting Sling Media had needed to rework their app before it was feasible. If so, that could be another great example of a company reaching into a PR success and dragging out a failure.

HTC HD2 Windows Phone 7 update axed: buttons to blame?

Talk of a Windows Phone 7 update for the HTC HD2 has circulated pretty much since the phone was launched, but despite ostensibly positive hints from HTC themselves, it looks like Microsoft’s newly-rigid hardware guidelines have scuppered the Snapdragon smartphone’s chances. Speaking to APC Magazine, Natasha Kwan, General Manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region pointed out that the HD2 won’t qualify for an upgrade as “it doesn’t have the three buttons”.

The buttons Kwan refers to are the Home, Back and Search keys that are mandated for all Windows Phone 7 devices. Instead, the HD2 has Call, Home, Start, Back and End/Power controls. Microsoft have allowed handset OEMs some flexibility in adding in extra keys – such as volume rockers or camera shortcuts – but none when it comes to the basic three on the front panel.

It may not solely be buttons holding the HD2 back, however. ”There are some hardware components that the HD doesn’t have” Tony Wilkinson, Business Operations Director for Microsoft Australia, suggested to APC, though given we won’t find out the full hardware profile for WP7 devices until MIX 2010 later this month we’ll have to wait a while to see exactly what those shortcomings might be.

Viliv S10 Blade full pricing leaks: too expensive

While we got our first glimpse of Viliv S10 Blade pricing yesterday, when import specialist Dynamism confirmed the convertible touchscreen netbook would kick off from $699, we’ve still been waiting for full pricing across all seven models. A little Google Shopping magic later, however, and one UMPC Portal commenter has dug up all the pricing; as we feared, the S10 Blade isn’t going to be an especially affordable system. Full price/spec list after the cut.

All models come with 1GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch 3-point multitouch-capable display (though the entry-level model lacks OS support for multitouch) running at 1366 x 768, a webcam, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and WiFi b/g. The seven SKUs are as follows:

• Atom Z530 1.6GHz/60GB HDD/Win XP – $699
• Atom Z530 1.6GHz/32GB SSD/Win 7 – $797
• Atom Z530 1.6GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7 – $857
• Atom Z530 1.6GHz/32GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA modem – $889
• Atom Z530 1.6GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA modem – $949
• Atom Z550 2.0GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7 – $987
• Atom Z550 2.0GHz/64GB SSD/Win 7/HSPA modem – $1,079

Despite Viliv’s work to squeeze up to 10hrs runtime from the S10 Blade (or 7hrs solid video playback), we’re not convinced users will spend over $1k on a netbook. When you consider what other ultraportable machines you could get for that sort of money, sales success of the S10 seems far from guaranteed.

O2 HTC Smart hands-on

HTC’s second launch event of MWC 2010 may have been a little more subdued than the Desire/Legend/HD mini announcement, but the phone it detailed may reach a whole lot more users than that trio. Along with carrier O2, the company have announced availability of the HTC Smart, an entry-level device running Qualcomm’s Brew MP OS on a 300MHz processor. Check out our hands-on video demo after the cut.

Other specs include a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, 3-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 2.0 and a microSD card slot. There’s also HTC Sense, meaning that the Smart UI looks and feels a whole lot like the company’s Windows Mobile or Android devices. Despite the relatively slow processor, the Smart is a speedy little performer and we were surprised by just how capable it feels.

Interestingly, while talking to Enrico Salvatori, VP of Qualcomm Europe, he explained that Brew MP isn’t solely the entry-level, basic platform many have assumed to to be. Actually, it supports all the features on Qualcomm’s top-spec chipsets, as currently found in the Google Nexus One for instance; the company are basically offering it as an option to OEMs, rather than aggressively promoting it as their own entrant into the mobile platform segment.

The HTC Smart will be available on O2 in the UK, Germany and Ireland come April 2010, together with hitting Italy with Telecom Italia and Norway with Netcom. There’ll also be unlocked sales; no word on pricing as yet, though we’d imagine the Smart will be relatively cheap.

HP G62t: budget pricing, ENVY 15 styling

HP have outed their latest G-series laptop, and its had an injection of ENVY styling. The HP G62t packs a choice of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors, together with up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, up to 500GB storage and integrated Intel graphics, but it’s the pricing that’s most interesting: whereas an ENVY 15 will set you back $1,300 upwards, the G62t starts from

$599.99.

As standard you get a DVD burner, WiFi b/g/n, a webcam, 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit display and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Optionally, you can slap in Bluetooth, an HDMI port, a multiformat memory card reader and a Blu ray drive; standard connectivity includes three USB 2.0 ports, ethernet and audio in/out.

$600 gets you the Core i3-330M 2.13GHz CPU, with the Core i5 range starting off with the i5-430M for an extra $100, or $400 for the Core i7-620M 2.66GHz. Adding HDMI and the memory card reader is $25, meanwhile. The HP G62t is available to order now

Motorola DEVOUR coming to Verizon

Motorola has announced that the cool DEVOUR slider phone will be landing on the Verizon Wireless network. The handset is the first Motorola device for Verizon to feature MOTOBLUR, the company’s Android social networking aggregator service. Packing a slider form-factor similar to the DROID, the DEVOUR has a smaller 3.1-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen along with a hardware QWERTY keyboard, 3-megapixel autofocus camera and EVDO Rev.A.

The handset also has a touch sensitive navigation pad and is preloaded with Google applications like Gmail, Google Talk, and more. The phone will ship with an 8GB microSD card installed and supports Bluetooth a2DP, HID, HSP, HFP, AVRCP, and GAP profiles.

The DEVOUR will also ship with Google Maps Navigation installed and ready to use, rather than Google Maps Navigation. That’s because Motorola’s software engineers obviously haven’t got their act together quite yet, as the DEVOUR runs Android 1.6 rather than 2.1; we’re guessing it’s the fault of MOTOBLUR. Still, you do get AGPS, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headphone socket, DLNA support and a dual-microphone speakerphone with noise cancelation.

There’s also Exchange account support, a microUSB port and an aluminum casing. The Motorola DEVOUR will arrive on Verizon Wireless come March 2010; no word on handset pricing as yet, but Verizon voice and text plans for the smartphone will start at $39.99 and the data package is $29.99 a month for unlimited access.

Sanyo XACTI CG102, GH2 and CG20 confirmed for US

Sanyo’s recently announced Japanese XACTI camcorders, the DMX-CG110 NR and DMX-SH11, have been confirmed for a US launch. Now known as the XACTI CG102 and GH2 – along with another upright model, the CG20 – the specifications are unchanged with the former two models still grabbing 14.4-megapixel stills and all three managing 1080i 60fps HD video.

Meanwhile the XACTI CG20 drops the still resolution down to 10.7-megapixels. Sanyo have added SDXC memory card support, and the cameras have a 5x optical zoom that, with some lens trickery, can apparently be extended to 12x.

All three models will arrive in the US come March 2010. Pricing is expected to be $229 for both the XACTI CG102 and GH2, and $199 for the XACTI CG20.