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Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide 2009

The team at Engadget is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. See the guides below!
Accessories

Nov 25th 2009

Cellphones

Nov 20th 2009

Desktops

Coming Soon

Digital cameras

Coming Soon

Docks / Alarms

Coming Soon

e-book readers

Nov 16th 2009

Fun stuff

Coming Soon

GPS

Nov 18th 2009

Home theater set ups

Coming Soon

Laptops

Coming Soon

MIDs / Handhelds

Coming Soon

Netbooks

Nov 24th 2009

PMP

Coming Soon

Smartphones

Coming Soon

Television / displays

Coming Soon

Toys

Nov 27th 2009

Video cameras

Coming Soon

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Zii Trinity mobile platform packs 1080p punch, looking for OEM love

Ready to start lusting after a new smartphone? If Creative has its way, you'll soon be enjoying Full HD video on a 3.5 / 4G device, with built-in WiFi, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, accelerated 3D graphics, and mini-HDMI and Composite video outputs. The newly announced 3.1-inch, multitouch-capable Zii Trinity has been designed by Creative subsidiary Ziilabs, and will be licensed out to clients who'll be able to customize a Zii-optimized Android install and Plaszma interface. As if we haven't got enough smartphone ecosystems knocking about already, this also marks the introduction of ZiiLife, which aims to be both a content delivery and productivity suite. Powered by the ARM-based ZMS-05 or ZMS-08, the new handset actually seems destined to perform plenty of KIRF and grey market duties, judging by Creative's "strategic partnerships" with Chinese manufacturers, but that might be no bad thing as, according to Gartner, the grey market is booming right now.

Nokia sues LCD manufacturers for alleged price fixing

Price fixing is nothing new in the LCD panel business. Hell, collusion is pretty common across the entire consumer electronics industry though it's difficult (and costly) to prove. Now Nokia, the world's largest maker of cellphones, is suing a who's who of Asian LCD manufacturers alleging a ploy to fix prices on handset LCDs. The November 25th filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco division, names Samsung Electronics, LG Display, Sharp, Hitachi, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes as co-conspirators. Nokia, of course, is seeking cash and injunctive relief to remedy damages incurred and has the dubious honor of following another high-profile move launched against Apple just last month. With Nokia's high-margin smartphone sales waning against stiff competition, it's easy to understand why its execs would be miffed if they paid artificially high prices for panels considering the sheer volume of lower-priced handsets Nokia sells at razor thin margins.

Samsung's 'glamorous' Diva Collection 2010 officially announced

There's nothing like a faux quilted battery cover to get the blood pumping, so if you've been unable to sleep since laying eyes on those magnificent Diva phones from Samsung last week as you've desperately sought high and low for more information, trust us, we feel you. Fortunately, Sammy's now seen fit to drop some knowledge on the pair of handsets targeted squarely at the fairer sex; first up, the S5150 clamshell features a "glittering LED" (their verbiage, not ours) on the outer cover that lights up in interesting ways when calls and other events occur. Meanwhile, the S7070 goes full-touch with Samsung's usual TouchWiz UI but adds special features like "Beauty Effect" to make shots snapped with the 3.2 megapixel camera "flawlessly beautiful." Interestingly, Samsung says that it'll be re-upping the Diva Collection every year with new phones aimed squarely at girly buyers, but don't rush down to the shady wireless shop yet -- these first Divas won't be hitting until January when they launch in Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and other parts of Europe with Asian availability coming at a later date.

[Image via GSM Arena]

Nissan introducing low-cost navigation systems this January

Now here's a good idea: a built-in GPS navigation system that's actually priced to move. Co-developed with Bosch, Nissan has put together a $400 option with a 5-inch touhcscreen, Bluetooth support for phones, USB connectivity for media players, iPod integration, XM Satellite and NavTraffic. The Detroit News was certainly impressed, testing it on a new Sentra and calling it a moment where the benefits of the built-in nav systems outweigh the costs -- although the display was maybe a bit too small for its liking. Look for it to these to hit in some of its lower-priced models starting this January. Hit up the source link for the full impressions.

RED Scarlet 2/3 priced, detailed, and wanted

If you've been waiting for RED to release a product within reach of the prosumer class of shooters then this is it: the Scarlet 2/3. While the price is up from the original $3,750 lens and brain kit announced back in December 2008, an additional ASIC and four additional boards brings plenty of new features to help justify the price bump on this professional-grade camera. Scarlet starts with a 2/3-inch sensor in the $4,750 Scarlet 8X Fixed package (including "brain" and fixed 8x zoom lens, side CF module, REDmote, 2.8-inch touchscreen with "touch focus tracking," REDVOLT battery, and travel charger) or $2,750 for the Scarlet Interchangeable which includes the brain-only with adapters available for electronic RED, Canon, and Nikon glass. The resulting cam shoots 3k REDCODE RAW video at 120fps (150fps burst mode) and scaled 720p or 1080p recording at 60fps. Expect both models to ship in May or June assuming nothing goes wrong with the ASIC or firmware. Until then you can check the gallery for plenty of shots includes a glimpse of RED's mini primes and the 8x side-by-side with the 2/3 interchangeable.

Cambridge Consultants Suma sensor is designed to add '3D' input to traditional control schemes

They're short on details, but the folks at Cambridge Consultants might just be onto something with this new "Suma sensor system" of theirs. Basically it translates the deformation of its soft material into 3D data that can be used in a video game to "unleash the full capabilities of both the human hand and the user's imagination." Sounds a tad far fetched, but the exciting part is that this "Suma skin" control material can replace the traditional casing of a regular gaming controller for less than a buck in parts, meaning that with (relatively) little effort we could see tactile squeezing, gripping and other sorts of finger-friendly input worked into console gaming without having to bid farewell to the form factors we know and love. Cambridge Consultants doesn't mention robotics, but we could also see this sort of material being quite the cost-effective, sensor-laden skin replacement. Just as long as nobody tries to get us to control Ezio with that little stress-ball pictured above.
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DIY cat feeder now enabled by a Cisco switch, streams food and video

You know, there are times when you have to part ways with your adorable kitties at home, and you might not be so keen on getting a cat sitter in case he or she touches your precious game consoles (even if it's an old granny). We've seen the lazy man's solution before, but Britain's Mathew Newton has brought us a new DIY internet-enabled cat feeder just in time for a new decade. Rather than using a CD-ROM tray to push-release unknown quantities of cat food, Mathew's version has a motor-driven cereal dispenser controlled by signal from port status LEDs on a Cisco switch -- an ingenious way to avoid expensive Ethernet relay units. When it's feeding time the user logs onto a web interface to choose the dispensing quantity, or you can also have an automatic feed schedule set up if you trust the system -- Mathew said he "can rely on it 100%," and his cats do appear to be healthy. Fortunately, you can always check the live video stream just in case you have doubts. All is explained in the video after the break.
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Dell, HP, and Lenovo bringing SDXC to laptops alongside 32nm Intel chipsets?

Those incredibly sexy (as far as portable storage capacities are concerned) 64GB SDXC cards coming on the horizon? You're gonna want some hardware to work with it, and according to DailyTech, three of the largest computer manufacturers are looking to bring the upgrade with Intel's forthcoming Arrandale CPUs. Lenovo, HP, and Dell are reportedly working on new designs that'll contain both the new 32nm chipsets and SDXC readers. Not that we're surprised to see new SDHC's time running out, but it does give you something to look forward to.

Inside Sharp's new LCD factory, we can see our next HDTV from here

The path back to LCD leadership for Sharp begins at its just opened Sakai City manufacturing facility. Being a 10th generation facility means it can roll out more and bigger displays, producing six 60-inch LCDs from each glass substrate, 60% more than older 8g facilities. Check out the pics for a peek at where 72,000 substrates per month will be made, delivering those slim LED backlit televisions getting so much love, along with solar panels (also being installed on the roofs for that extra green vibe that's in vogue these days) and a few of the more than 100,000 energy efficient LEDs lighting the factory itself. Whether your closest HDTV purchase is a turkey fueled memory from last weekend or yet to come, bargain hunters and AV fans alike can appreciate an eyeful of the robots and testing equipment slicing, dicing and stamping screens headed for shelves nearby, whether bearing an Aquos brand or any number of other nameplates.

Google Maps Navigation makes trip across the pond, thanks to some hackery

Apparently us Yanks have been spoiled by the warm embrace of Google Maps Navigation, forgetting that our friends in the UK don't have the same luxury. Leave it to Electricpig to connect worlds, finding a somewhat hack-induced way to bring the app upgrade to British Android 1.6 devices. Instructions are pretty easy, so if you're game, don your DIY hat and click over.

Update: As indicated, the gang at xda-developers forum have been doing this for some time now. Consider the tutorial provided here as very straightforward and easy to follow -- anyone with an Android 1.6 device would be remiss not to give Navigation a shot now.

2011 Chevrolet Volt gets taken for a test drive

The Chevy Volt is one vehicle we can really get behind. It's hard not to be a little excited over it -- we have, after all, been watching its development for quite a long time now. The electric car gets an impressive 230 miles per gallon in the city (and, all shaky rating practices aside, that's nothing to scoff at). Autoblog Green's just taken one of Chevy's 80 IVER pre-production prototypes for a little spin, and they seem to have come away pretty impressed with the car. They report that the brakes are better than most hybrid vehicles, and said that when the engine does kick in after the battery's depleted, they didn't even notice it until they stopped and heard it running quietly. It was a short spin, so they weren't able to gauge, for instance, whether the car can actually pull the full 40 miles per battery charge that Chevrolet claims it gets, but check out their full, detailed observations at the Source link.

Praktica unleashes a slew of 10 and 12-megapixel shooters

Dresden's Praktica brand has a long, distinguished history -- but like many such brands with long, distinguished histories, stateside readers usually encounter this name attached to some pretty average consumer electronics. In this case, we have a smattering of nondescript digicams that feature the usual compliment of face detection, SD/SDHC card support, and a torrent of scene modes: In the realm of 10 megapixel cameras with 2.7-inch displays you can take your choice of either the Praktica Luxmedia 10-03 (available in black or silver, features 32 MB on board memory, voice recording, 720 x 400 video recording) or the Praktica Luxmedia 10-23 (available in blue or red, features 16 MB built-in memory, panorama mode, red eye removal in playback mode, and intelligent scene selection). Moving up to 12 megapixels, the Praktica Luxmedia 12-03 (silver) rocks a 3.0-inch display and panorama mode, while the Praktica Luxmedia 12-Z5 (black) features a 2.7-inch display, 32 MB storage and intelligent scene mode selection. Is your mind blown yet? Didn't think so.

Flexio solar powered FM radio doubles as bookmark

We don't really have much use for radio over the airwaves -- hell, the closest we ever get to the halcyon days of rock'n'roll radio is the Flaming Groovies station on Pandora. But something as convenient (and as cute) as this next item just might get us back in the habit. A proof-of-concept by a small handful of designers (Wu Kun-chia, Wang Shih-ju, Chen Ming-daw & Liou Chang-ho), Flexio is a portable, printed, solar powered, paper-thin FM receiver that fits in a book -- or a pocketbook. Each radio is tuned to a specific frequency, so the design calls for boxed sets for different cities (for example, Taipei, Berlin, or Paris). Sure, it's probably not convenient to carry the whole box around with you, but you might want to hang onto KROQ in case you should ever find yourself wandering around LA late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Get a closer look after the break.
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Xbox 360 controller ingeniously hacked for NES use

Hey, it's just what you've always wanted: to use your Xbox 360 controller on your old NES. Using a Cortex M3 processor left over from a school robotics project, Francois Gervais managed to rig his wireless pad to control something decidedly less advanced than a game of Modern Warfare 2. There's a video of the controller in action after the break, and you can grab some of the code being used in the Google link below -- perhaps one of you brainiacs will finally hack the Wiimote to control a Jaguar. A tech writer can dream...
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Nook ship date slips to January 11th, supply chain managers weep

Hardware construction is a funny thing. Sometimes, regardless of the money you throw at something, you just can't get products to come together any quicker. Evidently that's the case with Barnes & Noble's Nook, which has seen its estimated ship date slip from today to sometime after the holidays, and now to January 11th. There's still a sliver of hope that you'll be able to snag one from a high-traffic retail location on December 7th, but unless you're planning on abandoning ship and helping the Kindle have its new best month ever, the realistic choices are pretty clear: a) pay Tickle Me Elmo-like prices on eBay or b) drop an IOU in a nicely wrapped box, preferably with a cute puppy. We suggest the latter.

[Thanks, Dave and Wes]

P.S. - We're also hearing that pre-orders (even those placed moments after it was announced) are also being pushed back, though hopefully they'll still be received before December 25th.
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“We're grateful that RIM has finally decided to pay some attention to the sizable number of non-PC users that have been stuck with poor alternatives for way too long.”
264%

Growth of netbook sales in 2009 over 2008

Netbook revenue is up 264 percent from last year, and has contributed to an overall lowering of the average PC cost by 19 percent. The average netbook costs about $300.

 

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