Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So this weird Motorola Q9 that Boy Genius Report came across is turning into quite a gold mine. First it revealed AT&T’s apparent intention to let its guard down just a tad and start bringing more devices into the WiFi fold — despite the obvious risk to data revenue — and now it turns out that she’s dressed to the nines with none other than Windows Mobile 6.1. A fleeting glance at most of the screens doesn’t indicate any obvious changes from 6 (it is a .1 release, after all), but the devil’s in the details: goodies like threaded SMS (Yahtzee!) and cut-and-freaking-paste on Standard (double Yahtzee!) alone should make it a worthwhile upgrade. ‘Course, it’s up to the carriers and manufacturers as usual to ultimately decide whether to push updates to existing devices, but it would be pure, unadulterated torture if the lion’s share of devices didn’t see official releases. Seriously, we’d cry.

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

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

Because all of the posters plastered on every single surface on the inside of the cars is clearly not enough advertising for your average subway passenger, London is poised to light up a half-kilometer-long LED display in the tunnel between Heathrow and Paddington Station. Manufactured by Canadian firm SideTrack, the simulated video system — which is composed of 360 individual LED bars synchronized to train speeds — will replace a static version already installed along the same Heathrow Express route, thus allowing officials to change the message without swapping out physical signage. No word yet on who the premiere advertiser will be, but this medium would seem like a good way for rental car companies to make a compelling point: “Avoid these crappy ads, rent from Avis next time.”

[Thanks, Jamie D.]

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

With the stage primed for a heavyweight fight between Verizon and Google in January’s 700MHz wireless auction, there’s some chatter today that Google might actually be bluffing. Bloomberg is reporting that some analysts think that Google has been simply making a lot of noise so that the FCC would enact those controversial open-access rules, but that it doesn’t intend to place bids beyond the $4.6B minimum. That strategy would mean that El Goog would get an open network upon which to play, but not have to pony up for the actual towers and infrastructure. Of course, this flies in the face of nearly everything else we’ve heard to date, like Google pronouncing that it’s putting “money where our principles are,” and possibly even building a secret test network on its campus, but it’s not necessarily unthinkable — with carrier partners in the OHA and Verizon’s surprising decision to open its cell network, it certainly seems like Google’s getting pretty good at manipulating airwave politics.

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

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It looks like APC is trying to make its uninterruptible power supplies a little less power-hungry, with its new Back-UPS ES 750 model promising both a boost in efficiency and a savings, however small, on your power bill. Among other things, the ES 750 (which apparently replaces the previous model of the same name) can automatically cut off power to unused peripherals when your computer’s in sleep mode, which APC says should save you on average $40 a year on your power bill compared to competing models. Otherwise, you’ll get all the features you’d expect in a model of its class, including ten power outlets (five of which have battery backup), and 450 watts of power which, depending on what you have plugged in, can give you up to 70 minutes of run time. Look for this one to set you back an even $100 when its released sometime in January.

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

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

There are quite a few HDMI switches out there for the input-challenged, but this latest box from Belkin is by far the least-expensive we’ve seen at $49.99 list — which means street prices might be even lower. Nothing too special apart from that: 1080p compatibility, HDMI powered, IR remote for switching, and Belkin’s classy-but-anonymous case design. Shipping now in the US and Canada, March 2008 in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

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