Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Belkin pleads for mercy over paid Amazon reviews deception

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/belkin-pleas-for-mercy-over-paid-amazon-reviews-deception/


Remember how Michael Bayard, a Belkin Business Development representative, was apparently hiring people from Mechanical Turk to post glowing reviews of Belkin products on Amazon and elsewhere? Well, we just received an apologetic letter tucked firmly between the quaking legs of Mark Reynoso, President of Belkin -- a man clearly fearful of a consumer backlash. Reynoso expressed "surprise and dismay" that one of his employees "may have" (er hem, may have?) invited positive reviews for payment. While Belkin isn't admitting fault, it's at least taking responsibility to "re-instill trust" through the following actions:
"We've acted swiftly to remove all associated postings from the Mechanical Turk system. We're working closely with our online channel partners to ensure that any reviews that may have been placed due to these postings have been removed."
Hit the read link for the full, ethical grovel.

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Belkin pleads for mercy over paid Amazon reviews deception originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:15 AM

Acer intros Aspire X1700 SFF PC, 23-inch H233H 1080p LCD monitor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/acer-intros-aspire-x1700-sff-pc-23-inch-h233h-1080p-lcd-monitor/


Looks like Acer's expanding its small form factor PC family once more, and this time it's the Aspire X1700 slotting itself in between the X3200 and X1200. Measuring in at 10.4- x 4- x 14.4-inches, the mini PC includes a 2.4GHz Intel dual-core E2200 CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7100 graphics, nine (yes, as in the number prior to ten) USB 2.0 sockets, a multi-card reader, 640GB SATA II hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer, an HDMI socket, eSATA port and a USB keyboard / mouse combo to boot. In somewhat related news, Acer is also choosing today to introduce the H233H 23-inch display, which touts a 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution, 5-millisecond response time, 300 nits of brightness, 160-degree viewing angles, twin 1.5-watt speakers and a maximum contrast ratio of 40,000:1. Both products should be available as we speak for $479.99 and $229.99 in order of mention, but it's on you to hunt down a reseller. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Acer intros Aspire X1700 SFF PC, 23-inch H233H 1080p LCD monitor

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Acer intros Aspire X1700 SFF PC, 23-inch H233H 1080p LCD monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:14 AM

Sony boosts capacity of its mountable, high-def, BRX-series DVRs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/sony-boosts-capacity-of-its-mountable-high-def-brx-series-dvrs/

Sony boosts capacity of its mountable, high-def, BRX-series DVRs
Those used to recording dozens of hours worth of SD video on DVRs with just a few gigs of storage often have a bit of a surprise when they move into the HD realm; a couple episodes of Pushing Daisies and Lost leave no room for any other prime-time drama. While not matching TiVo's capacious 1TB HD XL, Sony is doing its part with a larger, 320GB version of its BRAVIA BRX-series DVR, the BRX-320. It can tackle about 90 hours of HD content yet is small and light enough to be mountable directly on the back of many Sony displays. No word on what price tag will be affixed when this releases in about a month, but the 250GB model is going for about $300, so you can make your own guesses. Oh, and since that earlier version hasn't made it to US shores yet, don't hold your breath on this one.

[Via AV Watch]

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Sony boosts capacity of its mountable, high-def, BRX-series DVRs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:13 AM

Intel's CULV platform guns for AMD's Neo: Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/intels-culv-platform-guns-for-amds-neo-danger-will-robinson/

Poor, poor AMD. Just when it found a niche above Atom and below the Core 2 Duo with its Athlon Neo, back comes Intel with its new "Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage" platform -- something we started to hear about a few weeks ago. This from DigiTimes' "sources at notebook makers." New CULV-based ultra-portables from the "top-three notebook vendors" (that'd be HP, Dell, and Acer by most accounts) should be hitting shelves in the second quarter of 2009 carrying prices between $699 and $899. DigiTimes claims that the new platform will allow Intel to divide the laptop market up into four segments for 2009: 1) Traditional 12.1-inch laptops and above, 2) Atom or Pineview-based netbooks, 3) Menlow-based MIDs, 4) Ultra-portables with displays between 11.x and 13.3-inches. It's also interesting to hear that the rumored 13.3-inch HP Mini-note coming in June will carry the CULV instead of the Atom Zxx on "Intel's insistence." Well, well, being pushy again are we Intel?

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Intel's CULV platform guns for AMD's Neo: Danger Will Robinson, Danger! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:13 AM

Engadget's Netflix HD streaming shootout

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/do-not-time-netflix-hd-streaming-shootout/


Netflix seems to be doing things right when it comes to the streaming game, partnering with several hardware companies in an attempt to make its service more or less ubiquitous -- a pretty sharp break from the proprietary hardware approach taken by most of its competitors. That means Netflix subscribers have quite a few choices when it comes to streaming, and we thought we'd put the ones available now head-to-head and try to crown a winner. The good news? There isn't a mediocre choice out there. The bad? Well, read on.

Update: We shot another video to answer some lingering questions about the Roku player, check it below.

Continue reading Engadget's Netflix HD streaming shootout

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Engadget's Netflix HD streaming shootout originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 2:12 AM

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