Lenovo’s issued a recall for the batteries on six of its ThinkPad models. The batteries are apparently causing a range of problems, including bringing up the error messages “irreparable damage” and “battery cannot be charged,” and causing overall short capacity batteries, or those than cannot be charged or experience massive drops on the fuel gauge quickly. The recalled models are the R60, R61, T60, T61, X60, and the X61, and Lenovo’s got a free diagnostic tool on its website that you can use to check and see if your model is one of those affected. While there’s no word on how many users have been affected, If you are one of the unlucky, the company is offering free replacements.

Lenovo issues battery recall for six ThinkPad models originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:32:00 EST..

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Lenovo issues battery recall for six ThinkPad models

If you know anything about European retailer Fnac, you know it’s not the go-to place for bargains. However, it’s this very outlet that’s now selling an 80GB PlayStation 3 bundle (which includes the console, a single controller and inFamous) for €100 less than its “everyday low price” as of yesterday. Of course, one major French retailer slashing the price on a system that’s long overdue for a break isn’t reason in and of itself reason to believe anything’s on the horizon, but pair this up with everything else we’ve heard over the past few weeks, and we’d say all the vague omens are pointing to a leaner, cheaper and altogether more dashing PS3 on August 18th. In our magical fantasy land, anyway.

Update: Our friends at Engadget Spanish just let us know that there’s been a price drop in Spain as well. Getting warmer…

[Thanks, Nelson]

European retailer hacks €100 from PlayStation 3 in run-up to gamescom originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:44:00 EST..

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European retailer hacks €100 from PlayStation 3 in run-up to gamescom

Two weeks into the campaign, David Pogue has an update about Take Back the Beep. So far we’d say the winner by far is Sprint, who lets you remove the pre-voicemail instructions with a relatively small amount of hassle (we’re upgrading to green because Pogue has taken the carrier off his hit list). The other carriers have yet to get on board, however. T-Mobile says that “these comments are being taken into consideration in our planning,” but hasn’t promised any specific action — sort of promising, but hardly a win. Meanwhile, Verizon was quoted by ABC News as saying that you could already turn off the message, but apparently what the rep meant to say is that if you don’t like the message you can turn off voicemail altogether. Great. So far no hints of real action have come from big red, but the company is responding to complaints with a canned, “The voice mail instructions are there to assist the many callers who may be unfamiliar with the correct prompts.” so at least we know they’re getting the emails. AT&T is perhaps the most promising of the remaining carriers, saying that while Visual Voicemail (which doesn’t suffer in this way) is the true hotness, and it hopes to get that to other devices soon, “In the meantime, we are actively exploring how to shorten the voicemail message on our other handsets.” That sounds promising. In the mean time, we literally have no idea why these carriers haven’t gotten together over coffee and at least figured out a unified button for skipping over the messages. It’s true madness.

Take Back the Beep: AT&T promises to make some changes, T-Mobile and Verizon slow on the uptake originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:24:00 EST..

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Take Back the Beep: AT&T promises to make some changes, T-Mobile and Verizon slow on the uptake

Well, clandestinely is perhaps too strong — and long — a word for it, but the fact is that Intel’s thoroughly roadmapped and unnecessarily delayed desktop refresh has already happened for folks in Taiwan. Our buddies at TweakTown even went to the trouble of putting together a video of Taipei’s computer market, which didn’t seem to suffer any shortages of Lynnfield parts. In US currency, the prices above are $204 for the Core i5-750, $296 for the i7-860 and $593 for the i7-870, which at least confirm earlier indications on the matter, but come on Intel, if you’re not going to announce these things, at least start selling them on the sly over here too.

Continue reading Video: Intel is clandestinely selling Core i5 and new i7 chips in Taiwan

Video: Intel is clandestinely selling Core i5 and new i7 chips in Taiwan originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:07:00 EST..

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Video: Intel is clandestinely selling Core i5 and new i7 chips in Taiwan

We know, we know — we’re a little harsh on these so-called “personal media viewers,” but really, when’s the last time you saw someone you would actually speak to wearing these in public? Precisely. For the introverts and social outcasts who just couldn’t care less about public perception, Myvu is introducing its very latest in video eyewear: the Crystal EV. Sporting the same SolidOptix technology as the original Crystal, these buggers boast a 64-inch equivalent screen size, which amounts to a 30 percent uptick over the originals. Curiously enough, Myvu asserts that these are available to purchase right now, but it completely failed to dish out a price. Bollocks.

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

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Myvu’s Crystal EV is 30 percent more Crystal, 0 percent less ugly

How do you cook up the perfect KIRF product? Well, you take a well-loved device, say the Nokia N810, and start chopping off the things that made it a winner, like that oh-so-bulky QWERTY keyboard, until you get a device cheap enough to be sold as “the world’s first MID under $300.” The painfully unoriginal Inkia 500 — which isn’t even the first to rip off Nokia’s internet tablet — isn’t entirely without merit, as it comes with a 5-inch touchscreen plus a ULV Atom processor, and once you pony up for 3G and GPS options it might even be useful. All that’s holding it back now is the tiny issue that you can get a real N810 for the same price.

Filed under: Handhelds

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXXX: Inkia 500 is a mutated, hamstrung N810

Joey Roth blew our collective minds way back in 2007 with his conceptual Felt Mouse, but now the designer is taking his creations to the next level by actually shipping a few. The simply named Ceramic Speakers boast only 10 watts of output per channel, though each 4-inch full-range driver is housed in an acoustically dead porcelain and cork chamber that should do quite a lot with quite a little. We can’t say we’re totally fond of the expected $400 to $500 price tag when these go on sale in October, but toss in a similarly designed subwoofer and we just might bite.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Handcrafted Ceramic Speakers are almost too pretty to blast

Okay, so maybe “new” is being a bit generous here, but whatever the case, MSI has a fresh five piece of C Series laptops ready and willing to be purchased, opened and openly abused. The C Series never has been much to look at nor swoon over, with the whole lineup packing only decent specifications and a rather unexciting motif. Not that there’s anything wrong with the all-business approach, but nothing here is going to set the world ablaze like, say, Toshiba’s inglorious X305. The CX600, CX700, CR600-013, CR600-017 and CR700 are all either being introduced or mildly tweaked, with the 600 models packing a 16-inch display and the 700 flavors getting things done on a 17.3-inch panel. The CR600 and CR700 offer up a discrete GeForce 8200M GPU and optional Blu-ray drive, while the other guys get by with a Mobility Radeon HD 4330 and DVD burner. Hit the read link for the full specs list, and feel free to select one to call your own starting at $549.99.

Filed under: Laptops

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MSI dishes five new C Series laptops, all of which are perfectly average

Oh sure, Joby may have reinvented the camera mount with its now-iconic Gorillapod lineup, but we’re giving DigiDude the edge on personality and pizazz. From the same Quirky Community that brought us the delightful Split Stick comes this, a zany new camera mount that’s easily portable (via keyring, y’all) and even easier to love. Users simply yank their Dude’s head off, tug on the retractable legs and find something of a surface to sit him on. At least initially, a fivesome of guys will be available, all of which pack more character that you’re used to dealing with when it comes to camera accessories. Feel free to select from Pinky Scorsese, Snot Buster, iChomp, G-bling-Money-Son, and BoltBot, all of whom are available right now for $19.99 apiece. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading DigiDude camera mount shows Joby what style’s all about

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Peripherals

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DigiDude camera mount shows Joby what style’s all about

After the lustrous ManMan and retro Cool Man, Newsmy has now surprised us with a straight-laced number in the form of the 8GB 4.3-inch A8HD. Packing a pair of serious-looking speakers and a “high definition” microphone, this has all the intent in the world to break away from the cheap knockoff label, but you already know what you’re gonna get: a shiny pretty paintjob outside and someone’s leftover parts on the inside. Common audio and video formats are supported, and there’s even a rather dubious claim of 720p playback. Maybe once the price and release date are cleared up, we’ll saunter over to China and check it out for ourselves. Or not.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

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Newsmy A8HD probably looks better than it really is