Filed under: Laptops

Yeah, the "corporate elite." Or, so says ASUS, anyway. Just months after the business-minded B50A hit the scene, along comes a slightly more portable iteration to tickle the fancy of the fanciest suits. The B80A comes rockin' an all black motif, 14.1-inch WXGA (or WXGA+) display, your choice of Intel's Core 2 Duo T9400, T5850, P8600 or P7350, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a SATA hard drive ranging from 160GB to 250GB, dual-layer DVD writer, 1.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi and a 6-cell battery to boot. You'll also find a very consumer-friendly HDMI output, a backlit, spill-proof keyboard and a fingerprint reader. 'Tis a shame ASUS never feels like fessing up to a price or release date, but at least you now know whether it's worth your while to hunt one down.

ASUS 14.1-inch B80A business laptop: it's for the corporate elite originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We heard last week when Sprint launched the HTC Touch Pro at "select national retailers" that the device would be available online on November 2nd. Well, it's November 2nd, and they've kept their promise. The base retail price of the QWERTY smartphone is $579.99, but an "instant savings" of $180 combined with a $100 mail-in-rebate brings the price down to palatable $299.99 (with a 2-year agreement, needless to say). Of course, if you're really starved for human contact, you could always head over to a Sprint store and buy one in person, too.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC Touch Pro now available for purchase online, as promised originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Can't get enough info on the BlackBerry Storm? No detail too granular? Well, then you'll surely be interested in the fact that the user manual has appeared -- and from the looks of it, it's a serious page-turner. It's not quite as long as War & Peace, clocking in at 249 pages, but just as action-packed, so cozying up with it might fill the void until the actual device appears.

BlackBerry Storm 9530 user manual leaked, totally not boring originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

According to a slew of tips we've received, Circuit City will be closing down 155 of its retail locations, possibly even before Black Friday. Right now details are sketchy, but it seems that the company's traditional "holiday kickoff" meeting was actually a "holiday layoff" discussion instead. Apparently, a full list of store locations getting the axe will be revealed. In the words of a current employee:

"I'm an employee @ Circuit City and today there was a mandatory store meeting for the holiday season and to welcome all the seasonal employees. There was also some tension as rumors were rampant the days before that we were all going to find out we were out of a job today. Luckily, but still somehow unfortunately, I'm still an employee of Circuit City. The same can't be said for the employees of the 155 stores that are closing, possibly even before black Friday. The list of stores that are shutting down will be made public tomorrow. The idea behind closing the stores before Black Friday is to transfer product from the failing stores to the stronger ones to save some money."

This makes sense given the rumors we heard in October and the fact that the company's stock has been been essentially put on death watch by the NYSE -- but that surely won't soften the blow to everyone whose job will be affected by this. If you have more detail on the situation, feel free to drop us a line.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Circuit City to shutter 155 stores, locations to go public tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Mac owners who have been waiting for Netflix to open up the 'Watch Instantly' option just got a little something to light up their day -- the service is now available to the public; or at least members of the public who opt in via a web form. It's all based on Microsoft's Silverlight, so you'll need to download and install the plugin for your web browser, but please mind the six device limit if you've got a small cadre of 'Watch Instantly' devices in use. So if you can live with the fact that Microsoft tech is the lynchpin to your Mac streaming enjoyment, hustle on over and sign yourselves up for that non-HD, but ample selection of streaming content.

Netflix opens 'Watch Instantly' to Mac owners who opt-in originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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