Wii U won’t support DVD or Blu-ray movie playback

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Wii U,

Nintendo's hot Wii U console is set to ship next year, but one thing that won't be a part of the package is DVD or Blu-ray movie playback. According to Nintendo, customers already have DVD and Blu-ray players, and they are so cheap that you can get one easily without them bundling that into the Wii U software.

Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities. The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn't warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies.

So yeah, Wii U will purely be a gaming console, just like Wii, as opposed to a whole-home entertainment strategies that you see with the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Six reasons why Apple is selling unlocked iPhones in the US

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Handhelds,

Yesterday we told you that Apple started selling unlocked iPhone 4s here in the U.S. We do have to admit that the move leaves us scratching our heads a bit. The iPhone 4 is a year-old device at this point. That leaves the question: why?

The GSM iPhone 4 only works well on AT&T. Sure, you can run it on 2G EDGE with T-Mobile, but that's a lousy user experience, and Apple is all about providing smooth user experiences. I just can't accept that T-Mobile users want the iPhone so desperately that they're willing to give up 3G for it, although I may be wrong about that, too.

Boy Genius Report's Jon Geller is right when he says that Apple sells unlocked iPhones in 85 other countries. But those countries all have more than one GSM iPhone-compatible 3G carrier. Canada has three. Dave Zatz points out this morning that for Americans, the "unlocked" iPhone will cost $450 more over two years than the locked model, because AT&T doesn't give any discounts for bringing your own phone. That's "an extra $450 mostly for the privilege of feeling more liberated and fancy free," he concludes.

Click to continue reading Six reasons why Apple is selling unlocked iPhones in the US

Comcast to bring Skype video calls to Xfinity

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet,

Today, Comcast and Skype announced a partnership that will let Comcast customers make and accept wide-screen, high-definition video calls (as well as communicate via instant messages) through their television sets.

Skype on Comcast will let users identify incoming Skype calls via caller ID, accept incoming calls while watching TV, and import friends and colleagues' contacts from Facebook, Outlook, Gmail, and smartphone address books.

The Skype service will be delivered to Comcast customers via a combination of an adapter box, video camera, and a special remote that will let them input text as well as control their televisions. The other party does not need any special equipment beyond what is normally needed to use Skype.

Click to continue reading Comcast to bring Skype video calls to Xfinity

Pop-up alerts still available as an option in iOS 5

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds,

Apple spent a portion of its WWDC 2011 keynote going over the new notifications system in iOS 5, where they replaced pop-up alerts with subtle banners that would appear at the top of the screen. Many were very happy to see the change (us included,) but we did hear from some that they actually enjoyed the pop-ups. Well, while I was snooping around in iOS notification settings this morning, I found that pop-ups aren't totally gone. Now they're an option. On a per-app basis, you can go in and choose if you'd like that specific apps notifications to come through the new banner system, or the old-school pop-up alert. It's nice to see Apple left that choice in there for all the crazies that can't let go of the past.

Apple now selling unlocked iPhone 4 starting at $649

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds,

Apple is finally selling unlocked GSM iPhone 4 models in the US, although you'll have to pony up a pretty penny to get it. You can get an unlocked black or white iPhone 4 directly from Apple for $649 for the 16 GB model, and $749 for the 32 GB model, making these the most expensive iOS devices in the Apple portfolio, save for the 64 GB iPad. Why would you want an unlocked iPhone 4 in the US? Well, if you frequently travel abroad, this would allow you to easily swap SIM cards to take advantage of local calling rates. You can also use the unlocked model with T-Mobile without risking the loss of your jailbroken unlock due to a software update, however, the iPhone 4 won't take advantage of T-Mobile's 3G speeds, so you'd be stuck with EDGE. At this point, with the iPhone 5 set for a September release, we aren't really sure who'd wanna rush out and pick up an unlocked iPhone 4 at these prices. That said, here's hoping that the next iPhone launches with an unlocked option right off the bat.

Read More | Unlocked iPhone 4

Deal of the Day: 25% off Samsung PN43D490 43-Inch 3D HDTV

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Hot Deals,

Our Deal of the Day today brings you 25% off the Samsung PN43D490 43-Inch 3D plasma HDTV. This is a new 2011 model, featuring 3D support with 720p playback. You end up saving $200 on the price, and they'll even ship it to you for free. This is the lowest price we've seen for the PN43D490:

Samsung PN43D490 43-Inch 3D 720p 600hz Plasma HDTV for $596

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

Tip: Use Dropbox to replace discontinued iDisk

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, PC / Laptop, Software,

We've been hearing from quite a few disgruntled MobileMe subscribers who are wondering what the heck they're supposed to do now that Apple will seemingly be discontinuing the iDisk service with the launch of iCloud. As awesome as iCloud is, we do agree that iDisk is definitely a nice feature, and it's a shame to see it go away. However, Dropbox is a great alternative, and we've actually found that it often works better than iDisk does. You can sign up for free and you'll get 2 GB of space right off the bat. If you want more, you can upgrade...but it certainly doesn't hurt to try it out. Dropbox integrates right into your Finder, similar to iDisk, and gives you updates on syncing across all your devices, plus you can access your files from through the Dropbox mobile apps as well.

Read More | Dropbox

TiVo announces Premiere Q and Preview boxes, but won’t sell them to you

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment,

This morning TiVo has announced their new TiVo Premiere Q and TiVo Preview boxes, alongside an update for the TiVo iPad app. Unfortunately for TiVo fanatics, the new hardware won't be available for direct sale, which is a shame. The Premiere Q is a four-tuner device that can also stream video to up to three other TiVo boxes on the same network, including the new TiVo Preview, which lacks a built-in hard drive and only functions as a TV viewing box and streaming client. The new TiVo app will hook in to your cable providers video on demand services, and will let you flick that over to your TiVo for viewing. This is all well and good, but the fact that the Premiere Q and Preview will be relegated only to cable company rollouts, coupled with the fact that there will be only two of those partnerships at first (RCN and Suddenlink,) mean that this is more of a non-announcement from where we sit than anything else. It's like they're teasing us!

OS X Lion will allow you to boot right into Safari

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, PC / Laptop, Software,

Borrowing a tiny page from Google's Chrome OS, Apple has snuck a feature into its upcoming OS X Lion release that allows users to reboot their systems into Safari.

Why would you bother doing that? In a word, security. When you elect to restart your system into Safari, you're effectively placing the Web browser into a sandbox. When it boots, your system will give any users with physical access to your machine the ability to surf the Web. But that's it. Users won't be able to access the system's files or applications.

And thanks to Lion's new auto-save and application restoration capabilities, users that slap their systems in Safari-only mode will be able to restore back to their full desktop exactly as they left it. Since Safari mode runs off of a system's recovery partition, you'll still be able to access the Web and research new methods for fixing your system should your primary partition suffer some catastrophic upset.

The comparison to Chrome OS stems from the fact that Google's operating system runs entirely Web-based: The browser is the primary method for interacting with the system. There's no underlying desktop layer to speak of.

Click to continue reading OS X Lion will allow you to boot right into Safari

New MacBook Air now in production

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Rumors,

If you're thinking about buying an Apple MacBook Air, you may wanna wait, as an updated model will likely be released shortly.

Apple has reportedly placed an order with its Asian manufacturers for 380,000 next-generation MacBook Airs, equipped with Intel's newest Sandy Bridge processors, Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a note obtained by AppleInsider.

Kuo said 55 percent of these new models will be 11.6-inch versions, and the rest will be 13.3-inch models. In addition, Kuo said Apple has scaled back production of current models, announced back in October 2010, to 80,000.

Kuo has been saying since April that Apple will launch its next MacBook Air in June or July. At the same time, he said he expected the popular notebook would be equipped with Sandy Bridge processors and high-speed Thunderbolt transfer technology. In early May, Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes cited sources who said the same thing. By late May, a Japanese blog reported that Apple was testing MacBook Airs with an A5 chip inside, the same chip used in the iPad 2 (though Steve Jobs has said once that Apple has no interest in building a netbook).

Click to continue reading New MacBook Air now in production