Ootri

T-Mobile's oddball 3G network makes creating a device that simply supports all forms of North American HSPA a challenge for a very simple reason: even triband HSPA radios are still a bit of a novelty, and to support everything we've got going on over here, you effectively need to go quadband since AWS splits its duties between 1700 and 2100MHz. Happily, Motorola is coming to bat here, not with an actual phone but with an 850 / 1900 / AWS radio module that's intended for integration by other OEMs. We're not sure what kinds of devices this particular unit might find duty in, but if nothing else, it gives us confidence that Moto's now able to create phones that effectively straddle the T-Mobile / AT&T fence -- assuming it's got a business case to do so.

Motorola prepping 3G module with support for AT&T and T-Mobile USA alike originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: China, Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Saab

Here's a little bit more on the salvation/debacle of Saab. First of all, it should be pointed out that after our last report about Holland's Spyker trying to buy Saab, the freaks lovely people over at Saabs United pointed out some gaping holes in our reporting an inconsistency or two with the Reuters/our version of the facts. As such, we've gone ahead and vetted the information we're using for this post with the brain trust over at Saabs United. Hey, they really like Saabs, what can we say? And now, on to the story.

Automotive News is reporting that China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) has reached a deal with General Motors to acquire the tooling for both the Saab 9-3 and 9-5. Not so fast, says Saab's United! What they actually acquired is the tooling for the old 9-5, as well as the stuff for the pre-2006 9-3. Sort of a big difference, as obviously Saab's just getting geared up to roll out the all new 9-5 - and whomever winds up buying Saab will most likely want to offer both it and the existing 9-3 and its derivatives. Spyker's CEO Victor Muller confirms the BAIC deal is for "old equipment" and goes on to characterize the BAIC deal as, "Good news."

Then there's a bunch of no commenting. Obviously, General Motors has no comment on anything, though they do say that once a deal is reached they will say something. As far as we can tell, the pending Spyker deal is still a definite maybe. BAIC could not be reached to make a "no comment," and Saab's Eric Geer's stated, "We can't comment on anything about the sales process." Though our Saabs United source does provide us with a juicy tidbit, "[Geer's] wife is Saab's head legal counsel so he's like the canary in the coal mine. If he ever resigns suddenly..."

So there you have it - Saab's future is still totally up in the air. Though our source says that in addition to the 9-5 sedan, there's a 9-5 wagon (SportCombi) that's "pretty much ready to go" as well as the 9-4x which has, "been ready for about a year but Caddy had to get the SRX out first." Plus, a new 9-3 is being worked on. And one more thing - Saabs United is reporting that a Swedish group (not Renco) is also in talks with GM, in addition to the Spyker deal. We'll keep you posted.

Gallery: Frankfurt 2009: 2010 Saab 9-5

[Source: Automotive News - subs req. | Saabs United]

REPORT: Despite selling off old bits to BAIC, Saab brand still in search of buyer originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After hitting CES with a bang, it's been a quiet year for the TV widgets movement, but Rallycast isn't giving up, going from app developer to announcing its own TV App Store for 2010. The company's CEO Jeff Allen calls its plans to allows multiple programs running at once similar to tabbed browsing on the PC. Not having to pick and choose what's running is great, but while we love our Firefox, its never ending performance issues and the already poor reputation of speed on widget televisions could be a slow, scary mix. Hopefully a year of development (and maybe some newer HDTVs at CES?) can improve performance, because the last thing we want is lag when it comes to updating fantasy football rosters, deleting that note Mom left on our Facebook page, or both. Samsung's LED TVs will support the new store, as well as "several other models" check the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Rallycast promises "the equivalent to tabbed browsing" on HDTVs, hopefully doesn't mean memory leaks and crashes

Rallycast promises "the equivalent to tabbed browsing" on HDTVs, hopefully doesn't mean memory leaks and crashes originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Qik. Last week, the company launched its first official app for the iPhone 3GS, letting users finally livestream from their phones without having to resort to jailbreaking.

Today, Qik is rolling out its invitation-only beta for Qik-in-Touch, a service that brings the Qik experience to your desktop and makes it easy to share videos and interact with your friends and family. Qik-in-Touch is an Adobe Air app, so it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If your mom is like my mom, she probably really wants to be able to watch your live broadcasts, but has a hard time figuring out what time to tune in, where to go, etc.

This is where Qik-in-Touch comes in. The Air app runs in the background and when you go live, your friends and family can watch you instantly and interact with you through chat.

Power Qik users can also use Qik-in-Touch to access their own video collections or to watch what is going on on QikTV.

Qik-in-Touch is in private beta, but you can request an invite by going to http://qik.com/qntbeta.

How do you share live video with your friends and family?

Reviews: adobe AIR, linux

Tags: live video, qik, qik-in-touch

Read More... [Source: Mashable!]

The last time we bumped into MSI's 15.6-inch X-Slim X600 we were unimpressed with the build quality -- it just seemed like too much plastic in too thin of a form factor to be trusted. Well, the X-Slim X600 Pro seems to have addressed some of the perceived quality issues, with a new scratch-resistant surface and silver inlays, but we'll have to play with one before we really know if these refinements are merely skin deep. The largest hardware tweak is the new chiclet keyboard, while inside the laptop has scored "the latest" Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor, matched with the same ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics from last time. There's no word on price or availability, but we're sure we'll be seeing and hearing more at CES.

MSI X-Slim X600 Pro tweaks the 15.6-inch thinsanity formula originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Debt, Personal loans

If you're a parent and have grown kids, have you ever paid off a debt of theirs?

That's a question that GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media recently posed to 1,004 adults in a survey for CreditCards.com. Two out of five adults, or 42%, said that they had paid off a debt for a grown child at some point.

Auto loans topped out the most likely to be paid (40%), with medical debt close behind (37%) and utilities (31%) following. Credit cards were next (30%), followed by student loans (29%) and the mortgage (11%). The entire story can be found here.

Continue reading 42% of parents have paid off an adult child's debt

42% of parents have paid off an adult child's debt originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Bargains, Shopping, Economizer

Friends and Family sales are typically one of the biggest savings days you can get in on outside of Black Friday and thankfully they are less crowded. You used to need to know a worker at your local store to get in on these additional discounts, but these days you don't need to be on a first name basis with every cashier in the mall to save big. GSI Commerce has worked with 30 of its retail partners to bring you friends and family savings online for two days only.

From Sunday December 13 through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday December 15, you can take advantage of friends and family discounts at the following stores, and best of all you can do it from the comfort of your couch.

Continue reading Friends and Family savings at 30 top retailers through Monday

Friends and Family savings at 30 top retailers through Monday originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Todd Rome co-founded Blue Star Jets in 2001 (with CEO Ricky Sitomer) in response to the inefficiencies in the private jet marketplace. It is now one of the world's largest private aircraft charter brokers, offering an unparalleled level of personalized service; their motto is "Any Jet, Any Time, Any Place." Blue Star Jets grants clients freedom from the financial constraints of fractional jet ownership; the savings of paying only for trips taken; and the flexibility to choose the best aircraft according to a trip's specific budget requirement. With its ShareAJet Exchange, Blue Star Jets has lowered the barrier of entry for the private aviation industry for commercial fliers.

By creating a network of charter companies, Blue Star Jets now has access to over 4,000 aircraft worldwide, ranging from helicopters to Boeing business jets. Prior to Blue Star Jets, Mr. Rome ran a successful broker-dealer firm on Wall Street. He is also Co-Chair of the Diabetes Research Institute, and has made numerous appearances on CNN, CNBC and FOX, among others. When not traveling or working at his office in New York, Mr. Rome enjoys spending time with his family at home in the Hamptons, where Blue Star Jets was one of the key sponsors of the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge. In the gallery, Rome reveals his 10 essential luxuries and explains what makes them a must.

Filed under: Journeys, Wings, 10 Luxuries

EXCLUSIVE: Blue Star Jets President Todd Rome's Ten Essential Luxuries originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan

Nissan is steaming ahead at full speed on its electric car plans but it's not ignoring the infrastructure elements required to make those vehicles a viable proposition. This week, the automaker announced a partnership with the city of San Francisco to help create the elements needed for success. The city is a part of the Bay Area EV corridor that covers the entire region from the Golden Gate bridge down to Silicon Valley and up through Oakland and Berkley on the east side.

The governments in the region will work to streamline the approval process for installing charging stations both in residences and public places. In order for electrics to appeal to the mainstream, a region like the Bay Area will need thousands of publicly-accessible charge points to help ensure that drivers of the early-generation, shorter-range EVs don't suffer range anxiety. This will be less of an issue in the future if battery capacities and costs improve, but that time has yet to arrive.


[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan and San Francisco team up on EV charging in Bay Area

Nissan and San Francisco team up on EV charging in Bay Area originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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