Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Many of us know The Sharper Image best as a purveyor of massaging lounge chairs (which makes their stores a must-stop location in the mall), a chronic pusher of ozone generators, and as a perennial favorite in SkyMall catalogs as we bide our time on the redeye. What we don’t know The Sharper Image for, though, is its broad selection of no-name phones procured from Chinese manufacturers. We just happened to be flipping through TSI’s latest catalog today and came across these four little gems, three with “The Sharper Image” proudly emblazoned across their faces. The pack includes a touchscreen equipped Chocolate knockoff (very 2006, but still quite strapping), a branded version of the AMOI N810 Windows Mobile 6 Professional device, a black slider that looks like death incarnated, and an ultra-generic silver clamshell that looks straight out of the early part of this decade. The good news is that they’re all unlocked and range from a very reasonable $169.95 to $499.95; the bad news, however, is that you may have to keep your thumb over the TSI logo to keep the public mockery to a minimum.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Not to say it’s actually easy to get your hands on the rumored 1.1.3 firmware at this point, but in the event that you do, proceed with caution. Nate True, the guy that brought us a video walkthrough of the supposedly leaked goods, is reporting that he can’t seem to downgrade to 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 after performing the install. Locked phones show an “Incorrect SIM” error — a problem unlockers of yore are all too familiar with — while previously unlocked phones can’t be upgraded to 1.1.3 at all. Let’s be honest, though: if you somehow managed to score a copy of 1.1.3, is that really going to stop you from going for it?

[Thanks, cingular#1]

Update: We’re hearing that the phenomenon observed by Mr. True has existed since the very first firmware release; it’s a state the phone enters whenever it finds a baseband version different than the one it’s expecting to find, and it’s apparently been bypassable via a modified “lockdownd” binary for some time. Thanks, Alex!

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Cellphones

Just yesterday we saw some pics of what was being touted as an iPhone running the as-yet-unannounced 1.1.3 firmware version, and now we’ve got word of some video proof from a pretty reliable source. Nate True, all-around modder and creator of the Walluminate light-up wallet, has a short vid up on his cre.ations.net site that claims to depict that handy home page icon rearrangement feature — you know, the one that suggests an SDK to make use of all the new slots. Go on, check out the short clip after the break.

[Thanks, Marcus S.]

Continue reading iPhone firmware 1.1.3 icon rearrangement on video?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’re nearly nauseous from all the spinning on the Xbox Live carousel. One minute we’re in, the next we’re out. Now, Microsoft is confirming that the issues are back via Xbox.com, and as if that weren’t enough in and of itself, the outfit is also informing Zune owners that they “may experience intermittent issues logging onto Zune Marketplace.” From what we can tell, there’s no definitive ETA on a resolution that will actually stick for more than ten minutes, but if we were you, we’d lock down that Hotmail account, pronto.

[Thanks, Robert S. and everyone who sent this in]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

After treading deeply into some crazy Orwellian statusbox doublespeak, it looks like Xbox Live is finally up and running with no lingering issues or caveats. According to Major Nelson, the entire Live team has been working “day and night” to get things sorted, and while we appreciate their efforts over the holidays, we’re still of the opinion that Live members should be getting a free week or month — you gotta deliver when you run a paid service.

Update: Now it’s down again! Status message gives the old line about intermittent issues and engineers working on fixes. Ugh, could the timing on these outages be any worse?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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That’s right, the Gen-X Dual Station works with both SEGA Genesis and NES games, sporting two dedicated cartridge slots. Best of all, it’s priced at just $44.99 on eBay. Click here for first picture in gallery. Auction page.

Word on the street is that it’s compatible with pretty much any Genesis or NES game you can throw at it, including Japanese titles. The system comes with everything you need, including a pair of controllers and A/V cables. While you can’t connect an original NES controller, the ports are compatible with SEGA’s original controllers

[via Technabob]

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If you’re a musician on-the-go, then check out PCRocks. This portable computer lets you record/produce music and features an “integrated webcam that can be used to do live jamming with band mates elsewhere over the internet.” Click here for first picture in gallery.

Graphic table that helps make most music related operations such as selection of pieces on a recorded track, make fine selections or quickly scribble the songs. High Definition Recording microphone with in-built ‘popper-stopper’ which facilitates quality recordings. DVD/CD writer to produce high quality music album copies

[via YankoDesign]

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Virtua Cop 2 is basically “a light gun arcade game, released in 1995 and developed internally at Sega by their AM2 studio — ported to home systems on the Sega Saturn in 1996.” ScrewAttack takes a look back at this title after the break.

The game features three levels through which the player’s movement is automated on a predetermined path. It is the player’s job to shoot the criminals that appear before time runs out and they shoot back

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This Gemei PMP, with the oddly patriotic name of United States X900, thinks big. There is a 4.3-inch TFT screen (480 x 272), but by far the most interesting hardware feature is the full sized, detachable gaming pad.

The controller has two joysticks, which could make retro game playing great fun. However, the weighting may be an issue. If the controller is really light, expect wrist ache to ensue, which will not be a new phenomenon for you, but still would detract from the gaming enjoyment. The device utilizes an ADI chip, which should allow NES and SFC gaming. An additional GPS receiver can also be added on for directional goodness, and the SD slot, with support for up to 4GB cards, provides enough storage capacity for a movie and some games.

If all that was not enough to get your multi function senses tingling, support for AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, FLAC, an integrated ebook reader and an FM tuner should have you in multi functioning convulsions. Ironically, the United States X900 may never hit the United States, as shipping details are non-existent. Dammit. [PMP Today]

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Over the 52 festive days that this Canadian house stays eye-blindingly lit, the owner pays about $100 a day, or about $5,000. An in addition to his large donation to the power company, the owner also pulls in over $30,000 in gifts for charity.

Hit the very end of the video for a neat comparison block shot—his poor neighbor’s house, shrouded in shadow, adorns a few, pitiful icicle lights. The only thing we’d recommend for the wonderland of bulbs is a little glowing reindeer mutilation. [iflim via digg]

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