certified spot

T-Mobile rolls out HTC Athena as "Ameo"

2007-01-23T16:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.engadget.com/
Move over, Universal, there's a new sheriff in town. The Athena from HTC is finally starting to make some public appearances in carrier livery, and we've gotta say, T-Mobile Pink is suiting this thing just fine. Specs for the new reigning king of HTC's expansive Windows Mobile lineup include a 5-inch VGA display, an 8GB hard drive to supplement any Flash you might have stowed in the miniSD slot, on-board GPS, quadband GSM plus HSDPA (sorry, yanks -- 2100MHz only), 3 megapixel camera, an XScale core clipping right along at 624MHz, and -- get this -- three styli in the box, two traditional and one multi-function pen. T-Mobile's European division will get this as an exclusive for a few weeks as the "Ameo," at which point we'd imagine a wider European release is in order. American availability, as always, is an open question.

Nintendo shipping ghettostrap replacements to Wii latecomers?

2007-01-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

http://www.engadget.com/
Looks like Nintendo got tired of slapping its own branding onto every one of the bazillions of beefed-up replacement straps it's been sending out to butter-fingered Wii owners the world over. Reports are coming in of some sort of ghettostrap, possibly built by a third party, being sent out instead of the fancy Nintendo version, leaving fanboys crestfallen at their newfound lack of total Wii branding. Not exactly the conspiracy of the century, but we want answers, and we want them now!

Kobe Drops 81, Makes History

2007-01-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

http://www.nba.com/
Where were you on Jan. 22, 2006? It's a night that will live in basketball lore for quite some time. Kobe Bryant tallied 81 points against the Raptors in a 122-104 Lakers win. The 81 is the second highest single-game point total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100 over 40 years ago.

With no footage of Wilt's perfomance around, Kobe's night becomes something that the NBA has never seen before. People across the league are buzzing about the historic night.

"I've seen some remarkable games but I've never seen anything like that before," added Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who played against Chamberlain and coached Jordan.

Grin And Bear It

2007-01-21T20:50:00.000-05:00

http://espn.go.com/
Fans of Cinderella stories may not like it, but Chicago doesn't care. For the first time since 1985's Super Bowl Shuffle group, the Bears -- who ended the Saints' dream -- are going to the Super Bowl.

playlinc by aim

2006-10-13T19:17:00.000-04:00

http://www.aim.com

G.F.C's peewee freestyling

2006-10-10T17:38:00.000-04:00

IF theirs any video or pictures you wish for me to post send them to certifiedspot@hotmail.com

my cousin dancing

2006-08-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

Motorola Capri, a.k.a. the RAZR slider, previewed

2006-06-22T13:57:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/

The guys over at PhoneScoop have sure made the site live up to its name today: not only did they get some serious hands-on time with Motorola's upcoming RAZR slider -- codenamed Capri -- they also got to preview the next version of Moto's much-maligned Synergy UI that will show up in such models as the Canary and the SCPL. At least on paper, the Capri seems to offer a very compelling feature set that will probably attract anyone into the RAZR lifestyle- you're getting a model only slightly thicker and heavier than its clamshell counterpart, but which sports a 2.0 megapixel camera, A2DP-capable Bluetooth, and what sounds like a greatly improved user interface. Especially noteworthy in the overhauled Synergy is an address book that seems to work much more intuitively than past iterations (remember the one on the StarTAC?), allowing you to organize entries by name and search for contacts using multiple letters. Although Phone Scoop was only testing a pre-production model, they have identified some potential problems to watch out for on the final version, such as the unusually crappy quality of what should be a decent camera, and most importantly, a spring-assisted slider that's difficult to activate due to the raised antenna bulge so familiar to RAZR owners. Click on if you want to peep a few more snaps, but you're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't head over to PhoneScoop for the full gallery and a very thorough write-up...
Continue reading Motorola Capri, a.k.a. the RAZR slider, previewed

Sidekick 3 review roundup

2006-06-21T23:51:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/

By the time the Bluetoothin', memory expandin' Sidekick 3 drops on T-Mobile come next month, it's our duty here at Engadget to make sure our readers practically know more about the phone than your average Danger employee. The next phase in that plan involves a barrage of reviews, presented here for your perusal. Complaints centered around the device's weak-but-common 1.3 megapixel camera, while the redesigned glossy keyboard earned mixed ratings. The critical reaction has been generally positive, with some reviewers suggesting that the third iteration of the Hiptop is the first one strong enough to serve as a dedicated phone.

Im back

2006-06-21T23:39:00.000-04:00

sorry i havent been posting anything up but im back . if you have anything you wish to have up on this site send it to me to certifiedspot@gmail.com

dominican superman/superman dominicano

2006-06-21T23:35:00.000-04:00

if you have any funny or weird pictures please send them to me at certifiedspot@gmail.com

Myspace im (instant messenger)

2006-06-10T00:05:00.000-04:00

this is kool but theirs no one on it so get it its kool and easier to send each other messages if u have mysapce you could download it from this website http://im.myspace.com/ and tell other people about it.If u get it add my myspace http://myspace.com/drzchulo9123

LG rolls out 8GB MFJM53 PMP

2006-05-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
LG has just launched one of the personal media players they announced at CES earlier this year. The MFJM53 has an 8GB HDD, a 1.77-inch touch-sensitive OLED screen, and measures a slight 10.1x4.8x1.4cm, weighing 88g. And while it certainly meets the definition of a PMP, LG seems to be downplaying that aspect of the device, referring to it simply as an MP3 player on their website. In addition to MP3s, it'll handle Windows Media files, WAV, Ogg, MPEG4 AVI, and JPEG files. The device also has an FM radio, built-in microphone, and line-in port for audio recording. The battery should give you about 30 hours of music playback or 4 hours of video, according to LG. They also list something called "Music Therapy" in the specs but don't give any details. Whatever it is, Mac users will have to get their therapy fix elsewhere -- this one's Windows only.

German army hosts military bot "competition"

2006-05-21T23:09:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
In an effort to remind other countries developing fully automated combat forces -- like the US, India, and South Korea -- that "ve Germans are not all smiles and sunshine," the European powerhouse held its first Grand Challenge-like competition this week, where autonomous robots brought in from around the continent showed off their driving, surveillance, and urban warfare skillz. It's actually a bit misleading to call the first European Land Robot Trial (ELROB) -- which was hosted by the German army, or Bundeswehr. in the town of Hammelburg -- a competition, as participants were not eligible for any prizes or supply contracts, and even had to pay their own expenses, all in the hope that the 1,000-or-so venture capitalists and foreign military attaches on hand would take notice of their technology. Both amateur and professional roboticists entered their creations (which curiously, were required to house a small animal -- don't ask us) in one of two obstacle courses designed to simulate either combat driving or building infiltration -- tasks which were made even more difficult due to the fact that mission specifics were not revealed prior to the event. Although Germany has yet to even appropriate a portion of its budget to research in this area, military officials are optimistic that robotic support vehicles will be deployed to the armed forces within five years.

Immersion ready to rumble with PS3 controller

2006-05-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
Why doesn't Sony's Playstation 3 controller give you the shakes? According to the company, the familiar DualShock-style force-feedback was dropped from the new controller in favor of motion-sensors. However, Immersion Technologies -- which sued Sony for using its haptic tech in earlier controllers -- believes that the controller could be made to rumble, and has some ideas for Sony about how to do it. The catch: Sony needs to drop its appeal of the verdict in Immersion's 2004 lawsuit, and pay Immersion the $90 million that the judge in that case awarded the company. And, of course, Sony would have to pay Immersion for whatever technology they use in the PS3 controller. Frankly, it doesn't sound like a bad deal. By continuing to appeal the lawsuit, Sony's risking another loss and piling up legal fees, and by dropping the shock, they're left with a controller that many have called a weak attempt to copy the Wii. Working with Immersion on a haptic solution could solve both problems.

Sony says base PS3 will be upgradeable

2006-05-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
With the recent rumors of the low-end PS3 sporting wired controllers and a non-upgradeable HDD, things weren't looking good for Sony fanboys without a whole $600 to blow on the next-gen console. Luckily, Sony has squashed those rumors, stating that both configurations will support Bluetooth controllers, and that the hard drive will be upgradeable just like a computer. A Sony representative went on to state that you'll also be able to purchase a WiFi adapter and a memory card reader for the console, leaving the HDMI port as the only feature you won't be able to match with ad hoc upgrades. Sure, it'd be nice to have it all in there in the first place, but we'll take what we can get.

if u blood throw it up

2006-05-16T22:53:00.000-04:00

Is this the Vaio from Sony's teaser campaign?

2006-05-14T20:28:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
Don't wanna wait for Sony to complete their teaser campaign to peep that Vaio they're trying to generate some buzz about? Don't worry, jkOnTheRun has got you covered (well, maybe). According to site founder James Kendrick, a "reader who wishes to remain anonymous" sent him a number of pictures of this supposed ultraportable Vaio, which do indeed feature all of the disparate components visible in Sony's brief Flash movies. Besides portraying the device as a UMPC-style tablet with sliding QWERTY keyboard, one of the pictures clearly shows the words "Bluetooth," "WLAN," and "WWAN" on the screen's bezel when viewed full-size. We can also make out that fingerprint scanner from the teaser campaign, as well as a MemoryStick Duo slot and a "capture" button, although if that Motion Eye doesn't swivel, it won't make much of a camera. Of course these pictures, even if genuine, reveal nothing about the actual guts of the machine, so Sony still has several important details such as processor types/speeds, operating system (a return to PalmOS, perhaps?) and storage system/capacities to hold over our heads.

2006-05-08T20:12:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
Here's a juicy morsel for you: in his new book, Xbox 360 Uncloaked, gaming industry author Dean Takahashi claims that half of Microsoft's original Xbox 360 development team began work on a portable console immediately after the home system launched, while the other half was tasked with driving down the 360's production costs. Takahashi goes on to say that the big M plans to follow Sony's lead and release the handheld Xbox halfway through the 360's life span, which would help offset hardware cycle costs and maintain buzz about the brand. The supposed Xbox2Go (that's what we'll call it for now, anyway) would likely be released into a competitive landscape filled with PSP2's and who knows what kind of crazy Nintendo portables, but Microsoft has certainly shown that it's in the videogame, uh, game, for the long haul, so we wouldn't be surprised to see them pump these kinds of resources into the project if it does in fact exist. Oh, and before you start commenting on the device's "design," please note that the above picture is simply an artist's conception created before any word of this got out.

Wrightspeed X1: electric now among world's fastest cars

2006-05-07T11:56:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
Which electric car has a quarter ton of batteries, a 100 mile range, recharges in 4.5 hours, and can best the nearly all the world's fastest cars in a 0 to 60 drag -- including the Ferrari 360 Spyder and Porsche Carrera GT? It's ex-Cisco and DEC engineer Ian Wright's Wrightspeed X1 electric racer, now second only to the 3-second Bugatti Veyron. Sound too good to be true? Well, it will set you back $100,000 and they're by no means commercial. But if for some reason you're looking for a better way to melt the skin off your face hitting 8Gs of blinding software-optimized electric horsepower, we've got the car for you.

Gigabeat S shipping May 15?

2006-05-05T19:44:00.000-04:00

http://engadget.com/
We've been waiting for a chance to pick up a Toshiba Gigabeat S media player since we first got a chance to check it out at CES in January. And now it looks like the wait may soon be over. While Toshiba has yet to officially announce a US rollout, Engadget reader One.Person pointed us to HIDEF Lifestyle, which has the model available for preorder, with a ship date of May 15th. Of course, it could just be a ploy to bring in pre-orders, and we should point out that Amazon -- which is usually a pretty accurate source -- has the Gigabeat S listed with a May 30th ship date. Hey, after waiting since January, either date is fine with us, though we wouldn't mind getting our hands on this before Memorial Day, so we can break it out as soon as we open the Engadget beach house.

PortalPlayer still an iPod playa?

2006-05-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

http://www.engadget.com/
Does PortalPlayer -- which lost to Samsung in the contest to provide chips for the next-gen iPod nano -- have a chance of winning back Apple's business as Cupertino gets ready to roll out the next video iPod? And what exactly does Apple have in store for that long-rumored product? Those were the big questions on the lips of analysts at PortalPlayer's first-quarter conference call this week, and CEO Gary Johnson did his best to answer the first question -- and not answer the second one. Any queries about Apple were met with McClellan-esque non-answers, as Johnson insisted that the company couldn't say anything that might reveal information about the plans of its "largest customer" (Johnson wouldn't even mention the company's name). Johnson did, however, tout his latest chip, which he said could do "full high-end video playback" -- something that's not possible with PortalPlayer's 5021 chip, used in the current video-capable iPod. So, is Apple, er, sorry, PortalPlayer's largest customer, going to buy the chip? "We're working to win back that business," Johnson said. Needless to say, Johnson refused to shed any light on Apple's plans, or lack thereof, for the next-gen video iPod, though he did say that his company's video-capable chip is "a product that's available." So, if PortalPlayer's largest customer is in the market for a solution for a new portable media player, now they know where they can find one.

WiFi umbrella lets you know when its needed

2006-05-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

http://www.engadget.com/
We're often at a loss as to why the citizens of earth deem it necessary to partake in these "outdoors" of which they speak, but if such an action must be done, might we recommend a WiFi umbrella to help combat the elements? The premise is pretty simple, the umbrella handle has an LED that glows based on the likelihood of precipitation, so instead of taking the 30 seconds necessary to look up the weather on the Internet, or sticking your head out of a window, you can just glance at your umbrella on the way out. Sounds a lot like Ambient's Weather Forecasting Umbrella, but beyond looking just plain snazzier, this version pulls all its information off of your Internet via WiFi. It really sounds like quite the functional use of usually superfluous technology, even if it is just a clever ploy to draw us outside for our demise. No word on price or availability.

hald human half dog

2006-05-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

Photo in the News: 400 Dead Dolphins Wash Up in Africa

2006-05-02T15:59:00.000-04:00

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/
May 1, 2006—Hundreds of dead dolphins mysteriously washed ashore Friday on a beach popular with tourists on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar (map).

As shown in this photograph taken Saturday, the water along a two-and-a-half-mile (four-kilometer) stretch of coast on the East African island turned reddish with the blood of the dead bottlenose dolphins.

Villagers and fishermen said they buried the remains of 400 animals.

Scientists don't know what killed the bottlenose dolphins, which usually live in deep offshore waters.

"It is quite strange for so many animals to strand," said Douglas Nowacek, an oceanographer at Florida State University in Tallahassee, who has studied dolphin deaths. "These animals are normally quite able to cope with stressors."

Local residents speculated that low tide combined with heavy rains and wind might have disoriented the marine mammals.

An early examination showed the animals' stomachs were empty. They either had not eaten for a long time or had recently vomited. Further tests will look for traces of poisonous substances, such as "red tide" algae.

Experts will also examine the dolphins' heads to assess whether the animals might have been affected by military sonar. A U.S. Navy task force routinely patrols along the East African coast as part of counterterrorism operations.

Loud blasts of sonar may disorient or scare marine mammals, many scientists believe, causing the animals to surface too quickly and suffer the equivalent of what divers call the bends, or decompression sickness.

"Naval sonar has been associated with toothed whale deaths, and the most well documented case was the mass stranding of beaked whales in the Bahamas in 2000," Nowacek said. "To my knowledge, though, sonar activity has not been associated with such a large number of deaths" as this one.

—Stefan Lovgren