Let's face it: despite the being joyously quieter and more efficient, the previous model still manages to seduce some of us with its sexy curves. Speaking of which -- according to Joystiq's source, going to kick off August by lowering the prices for the Splinter Cell: Conviction and previous-gen Xbox 360 bundles. For just $299 -- $50 off the current price point (and $100 off the launch price) -- you still get a copy of the corresponding game title, a 250GB HDD, and two wireless controllers. So that's gaming sorted for the summer; now put that $50 towards some and you're good to go.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

In 2009, Chris Paget showed the world the vulnerabilities of RFID by from the safety of his automobile. This year, he's doing the same for mobile phones. Demonstrating at DefCon 2010, the white hat hacker fooled 17 nearby GSM phones into believing his $1,500 kit (including a laptop and two RF antennas) was a legitimate cell phone base station, and proceeded to intercept and record audience calls. "As far as your cell phones are concerned, I'm now indistinguishable from AT&T," he told the crowd. The purpose of the demonstration was highlight a major flaw in the 2G GSM system, which directs phones to connect to the tower with the strongest signal regardless of origin -- in this case, Paget's phony tower.

The hacker did caveat that his system could only intercept outbound calls, and that caller ID could tip off the owner of a handset to what's what, but he says used by law enforcement don't suffer from such flaws and amateur parity would only be a matter of time. "GSM is broken," Paget said, "The primary solution is to turn it off altogether." That's a tall order for a world still very dependent on the technology for mobile connectivity, but we suppose AT&T and T-Mobile could show the way. Then again, we imagine much of that same world is still using and to "secure" their WiFi.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:28:00 EDT. Please see our .

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Most high-profile smartphones launch exclusively on one of the major carriers in the U.S. The , though, will come to market via all of them under different names, different industrial designs, and, in one case, with different input options. And yet, its screen's quality and size - big but not too big - will certainly make it a contender at all of them.

But the handset will encounter anything but a level playing field in its respective portfolios. The Galaxy S will provide a good lab in which to study how much motivation to push a high-end portfolio device counts versus the muscle of having the largest subscriber bases but stronger handset competition. With the Galaxy S's lack of exclusivity already dampening some carrier enthusiasm for promoting it heavily, it appears as though the handset's impact goes down as the number of carrier subscribers goes up. Let's look at the universe of Galaxy S distribution.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

in the high-end Dell desktop spotlight, but it's time for another Intel beast, as the company's quietly upgraded its tower lineup to support Intel's consumer-grade champion chip, the 3.33GHz . While the new Studio XPS 9100 looks just the same on the outside and sports the same basic options and ports, internally there's a 525W power supply with enough juice for a Radeon HD 5970 2GB graphics card (a $580 option) and slots for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory. You won't be getting any of this pixel-pushing goodness on the $950 base model, of course, which has only a (respectable) quad-core 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and an Nvidia GeForce G310 512MB, but the machine looks like it could hold its own with low-end cousins if you get into $2,000+ territory. Call us crazy, but we think there's a configurator session with your name on it.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

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originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

is at it again, expanding your perceptions of the place that once actually sold radio components. A year after that ill-received 'The Shack' the company is now making a rather more substantial move, securing an arrangement with Target stores to see the creation of so-called Bullseye Mobile kiosks. This has started with a 100-store pilot program but, throughout this year and into summer next, the expectation is to prop them up in 1,750 big box locations. Something tells us they won't all be , but we can hope.

[Thanks, Breon]

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

Once upon a time, Dell's Zino HD promised and didn't quite deliver the goods, but it was still cute and powerful enough a mini-desktop to earn a spot on our . This time round, it looks like Dell might actually fulfill that original pledge, as support documents leaked at the company's website show the box sporting an AMD RS880M chipset capable of socketing Phenom II quad-core processors. While it only comes with onboard Radeon HD 4250 graphics by default, a Mobility Radeon 5450 GPU is listed as a potential option at launch, and the box can now hold up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory alongside 802.11n WiFi and Blu-ray drive options. On the front and back of the small box, you'll find practically exactly the same ports, but there is a new optical S/PDIF socket capable of piping 7.1 surround sound. While there's no guarantee all these options are slated for a stateside launch, we imagine Dell will either deliver or keep a tighter lid on .

Gallery:

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

To win at on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you've snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents' cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we're wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn't help address that shortcoming.

[Thanks, Jarom]

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

After being announced in , Anandtech recently put the Western Digital WD TV Live Plus through its paces and discovered the enhancement works as advertised. Like many Netflix-enabled devices though, the TV Live comes up short compared to the full PC experience since access is limited to only the Instant Queue. Its presence also sacrifices firmware hackability -- a quality which previously made up for the lack of versatility as an HTPC. The ability to move, copy, and manage locally stored media files via the interface, on the other hand, was praised as a unique advantage over competing models -- exciting, we know. Sadly, video quality was docked as being "significantly less than the HTPC counterparts they've seen so far." However, it's possible this could be improved in the future via firmware updates, since its Sigma Designs processor features noise reduction and deinterlacing algorithms that strangely aren't currently enabled. File format-wise, DVD ISOs worked flawlessly, while Blu-ray ISO and some WMV video formats experienced issues that users may want to read up on before buying. Gripes aside though, Anandtech was still willing to place it "around the top of the list" for media player devices, thanks to its wide file compatibility and robust features. For more details, hit the review source link.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

Oh, Enso -- must you really give us a reason to hope? After dealing with what felt like a case of the , and then being epically with the (which is now out of stock, curiously) that you finally shipped, we just can't muster up the courage to look fondly upon the five new products that are gracing your webstore. That said, those that don't mind risk taking and actually enjoy the thought of fighting for a refund have three new MIDs / slates to ponder along with a pair of Android-based smartphones to consider. Let's break 'em down real quick, shall we?

• zenPad 2 ($219; shipping now): Here you have a 5-inch, Android 1.5-based MID with an 800 x 480 resolution resistive touchscreen, a bundled stylus, inbuilt 3G, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, microSD slot (8GB included), 128MB of RAM, 256MB NAND Flash, a 624MHz Marvell PXA303 Xscale CPU, integrated accelerometer, onboard GPS, micro-USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack and a battery good for 4.5 hours of use. We're told that an Android 2.1 update is "imminent," but we believe that about as much as we believe BP's promise to "make it right."
• zenPad 3 ($249; pre-order): This here tablet boasts the exact same specifications as the zenPad 2 (right down to the battery life and resolution), but it rocks a 7-inch design that'll aid those who can't squint hard enough to see fonts on the 5-inch sibling.
• zenPad 4 ($199; shipping now): We hate to state the obvious, but this is quite obviously an iPad KIRF -- right down to the Home button. You'll find a 10.2-inch resistive touchpanel with a 1,024 x 600 resolution (one that Enso swears up and down "has a fast response and works very well"), along with Android 2.1, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 256MB of RAM, 2GB of storage, a microSD slot (8GB included), a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, built-in accelerometer and a 2,400mAh battery that's good for 5 to 7 hours of life.
• zenPhone ($349; shipping now): So... it looks like a Nexus One KIRF, it's called a zenPhone, yet it says it's a MID. Oh, and it's . Whatever the case, it's got a 4.3-inch resistive touchscreen (800 x 480), 3G HSDPA radio, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 256MB of NAND Flash, a microSD slot (8GB included), a 3.2 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a 2,600mAh battery, onboard GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and -- wait for it -- 5 running the show. Yeah, seriously.
• zenDroid ($319; pre-order): In the market for a Droid , are you? You've come to the right place, with this one offering a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen (800 x 480), 3G HSDPA, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, an FM radio tuner, Android 2.1 ("upgradable to 2.2," we're told), a microSD slot (8GB bundled in), 512MB of NAND Flash, a 624MHz Marvell PXA935 processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a 1,500mAh battery, onboard GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB connector.

[Thanks, Neil]

Gallery:

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our .

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The recently released PS3 3.41 seemed to just be a minor update that added a new "You May Like" section to the PlayStation Store, but it looks like it's been causing nothing but headaches for anyone trying to upgrade the hard drive in their console. As a 30-page strong thread on the official PlayStation forums reveals, folks upgrading their hard drive have been getting a "no applicable data" error after trying to install the update, which has left them with a non-working PS3 and, in some cases, a corrupted original drive. According to CVG, the issue may have something to do with a newly discovered feature of the 3.41 update that allows for more incremental patches, which might also explain why the problem only seems to be affecting PS3s where the firmware is stored in on the hard drive instead of the system's memory. As for Sony, it hasn't offered an official explanation just yet, but all indications are that it's a bug and not an intentional blocking of hard drive upgrades -- at least we hope it is. Head on past the break for a video of the problem.

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

After years of pleading, the fine folks over at finally gifted you with a Drobo NAS. They called it the , but we all know what the real skinny is. But is the five-bay, Ethernet-friendly storage robot really a dream come true? We've had nothing but success with it in our , but as with pretty much any networked drive, we've heard reports here and there of frustrations and complications. For those who have sprung for the FS, we're curious to hear what you'd change about the setup. Need more drive bays? Would you prefer a few extra interface options? Would you make the box a little less noisy? Go ahead and get honest down in comments below -- we know you need an avenue to vent after the week you just survived, right?

originally appeared on on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

The pool of choices for WiMAX hotspots continues to expand, and thanks to the , we now know of another up-and-comer. The Rover Puck -- trademarked by and previously unheard of -- joins the ranks Sprint's and its by providing pocketable 4G WiFi service. Unlike its predecessors, however, we finally have a new, more aerodynamic form factor. There isn't much to the glean from the user manual at this point, and the oft-referenced Rover website still isn't live -- a WHOIS lookup reveals it was last updated via GoDaddy on July 2008 with no other details disclosed. , until we get some word from the official news pipelines, a plethora of external / internal photos and user manual screenshots are only a mouseclick away.

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originally appeared on on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

It's taken quite a bit of chasing (and Kmart stalking) this week to score Augen's $150 , but lo' and behold, the gadget is now in its rightful home... our home! We don't need to tell you that we ferociously ripped open the box to finally see how the Android 2.1 tablet performs, test out its touchscreen and see if it actually has access to app stores (unlike Augen's which we toyed with earlier this week). We're assuming you're just as eager to find out the answers to those questions, so hit that read more button for some early impressions as well as a hands-on video.

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originally appeared on on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our .

         

Those on the original Motorola Droid will not have much longer to wait as the nation's largest carrier has sent a note to media stating that an Android 2.2 Froyo update will get pushed out to that device beginning next week. Updates can be performed over the air and comes hot on the heels of Sprint's announcement that the will get its Froyo update starting on August 3.

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