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It seems like just yesterday this thing went for $199 and you could easily justify that cost.  But at $49.99, it is a whopper of steal.  Today, at woot.com, they are selling it like hotcakes, or so I imagine.

This player is unique in that it saves Slacker’s Internet radio stations (up to 15 stations on this model) for playback when you are even out of range.  Come back within range and the device updates itself with new music.  The software allows you to customize the experience by banning songs you hate and letting it know the songs you love.

There is no monthly fees unless you don’t want to hear the commercials, which are minimal (two or so an hour).  The premium service is $7.50 per month.

Our resident Slacker expert, Robert Nelson, had this to say about getting some hands on time with this model:

“Slacker was set up at CES and we were able to get a little hands on time, which just made us want one a little more.“

Check it out now before this one disappears : [woot]

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Sections: Audio, Portable Audio, Web, Websites

The XPERIA X1, another long awaited handset, will be available here in the US very shortly.  That’s right, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 will make a US debut on Black Friday (November 28), but sadly it will not be coming with any of the typical Black Friday savings that we have come to expect.  Instead it will be retailing for $799.99, that is, of course, as an unlocked handset.

As for features, the XPERIA X1 has a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard along with a 3-inch display, a 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, a microSD card slot, A2DP, Wi-Fi and GPS.  Additionally the X1 will come loaded with Microsoft Office Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, Opera 9.5, Windows Media Player Mobile and will be running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

So, if you are looking to make a purchase, November 28 will be the day, it can be found directly through Sony Electronics.

Via [unwired view]

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Starbucks has just announced yet another option that will let you have two free hours of Wi-Fi each day.  So assuming that you love Starbucks and still have not come up with any other way to get them to give you free Wi-Fi, now you can sign up for their Starbucks Gold Card program.

The gold card, which will set you back just $25 per year will give you two hours of Wi-Fi every day.  Of course, aside from the wireless, the card does have some other coffee related benefits such as 10% off all purchases and a free drink on your birthday.  But knowing our readers it is safe to think that most will be happiest by the Wi-Fi.

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Yesterday, we learned that T-Mobile Germany customers would soon be getting the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for that nice low price of just 4.95 euros.  Now in some good news for those based here in the US, that same Curve 8900 has just made its FCC appearance.  While I would not expect such low pricing here, we can still hold out some hope.

As of now, this is nothing more than an FCC listing, which means RIM is simply playing the approval game.  We are still awaiting information regarding a release date as well as carrier information.  Although it is not expected to make a debut until sometime in Q1 of 2009, we have heard a rumor that it could be available with T-Mobile as early as Black Friday.  Of course, that is not to leave those with AT&T handing, because it is expected to be available there as well.  The Blackberry 8900 Curve will feature quad-band GSM/EDGE, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g , Bluetooth and GPS.

While initially I am a little disappointed by the lack of 3G support, perhaps it is important to point out that 3G may not be as necessary for everyone.  I have plenty of friends that are using a non-3G BlackBerry and are very happy with the speed, mainly because they use it for calendar and email and rarely go online.  Of course, I suppose if you are looking for that extra surfing speed, then the Bold would be the way to go, either way it looks like the Curve 8900 is going to make a welcomed addition.

Read [FCC]  Via [cellphonesignal]

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HTC, along with Russian carrier Scartel have just unveiled the world’s first integrated GSM/WiMAX handset—the HTC Max 4G.  The new handset has taken plenty of design cues from the HTC Touch HD and has a solid feature set.  To begin with, the Max 4G has built-in support for WiMax, and it takes advantage of that support.  When calls are made in-network, they are automatically switched over to the WiMax network and handled as a VoIP call.

Other features of the Max 4G include a 3.8-inch touchscreen display with an 800 x 480 resolution, GPS, WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, 8GB of built-in flash memory, an accelerometer, a 5-megapixel camera with a second VGA quality camera on the front, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an FM radio.  Additionally it will be running Windows Mobile 6.1 and powered by a 528 MHz Qualcomm ESM7206A processor.

As of now a release date has not been announced, of course, this one is not destined for the US market anytime soon, so no sense in holding your breath.

Keep reading to check out the full press release…

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RIM, along with T-Mobile Germany have just announced the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8900.  The new Curve 8900 features a 480 x 360 resolution display, a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, Wi-Fi, integrated GPS and a microSD card slot with support up to 16GB.

As for pricing, this is where the news becomes even better, the 8900 can be purchased for just EUR 4.95 (around $6.30 US) with a two-year agreement and EUR 359.90 (around $459 US) contract free.  As for a release, it is expected to begin shipping in mid-November.

The Curve 8900 offers a similar look as the BlackBerry Bold, but unlike the Bold it does not have any 3G support.  As of now, nothing has been stated as to when or if the Curve 8900 will be heading to the US market.  Of course, if it does get announced, the question becomes whether it will be available with T-Mobile or AT&T.  Personally I am hoping for AT&T, but either way it should make a welcomed addition, of course I am not sure we will see that low pricing from either carrier here in the US.

Read [MarketWire]

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Crutchfield is currently offering the Sony Mylo COM-2 for just $199, which comes along with free shipping.  Although the Mylo COM-2 is typically available in either white or black, this deal applies only to the black model.

The Mylo COM-2 is branded as an “Internet Device” and offers a nice way to get online, that is assuming you have a Wi-Fi connection available.  Bottom line, $199 is not a bad price for a device that was introduced less than a year ago and originally sold for $299.  Of course, with Wi-Fi being included into more and more devices these days, the small form factor of the Mylo COM-2 is making it much less desirable than it was just a year ago.

The Mylo COM-2 features a 3.5-inch display with an 800 x 480 resolution, a back-lit slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1.3-megapixel camera and 1GB of internal memory with support for additional storage via Memory Stick Duo media.  This now lowered price is coming after a $100 instant rebate, and at least at the time of this posting makes no mention of any expiration.

Read [Deal News]

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PMP (personal media players) are becoming increasingly popular for their versatility and array of features, but less so for their often over exuberant price tag.  So when the new Mintpad from mintpass was unveiled (after a long enough delay for us to wonder where it had gone) for a reported price of around $160 people were instantly interested.

Not only does the price tag attract attention, but the interesting shape and design also draws eyes. Looking like a modern electronic version of a Post-it, it it operated by stylus which instantly creates attractions and problems.  But beside that, on the physical side it is incredibly competitive, with a small sleek design that looks suspiciously like a blend between the Nintendo DS and a square Apple iPod Touch.

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Is your G1’s 3G connection just a bit too slow for you?  7.2 Mbps moving at seemingly dial-up speeds?  T-Mobile has you covered—in at least 2 years, maybe more.  T-Mobile has announced that it will be skipping HSPA+ to go straight to 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE).  In the meantime, T-Mobile will upgrade the software to go up to 14.4 Mbps.

Okay, 4G LTE sounds impressive.  That’s 1 more G than the iPhone has, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you know what it can do.  According to a Sepember article from Reuters, when T-Mobile tested the network in a moving car on a German highway, it was able to get 170 Mbps for downloads and 50 Mbps for uploads.  To put that into perspective, the fastest I can get out of my FiOS line is 20 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload.  Needless to say, that’s quite an upgrade.  Continued after the break.

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Samsung is treating our friends from Korea with the release of a new version of the Samsung OMNIA called the Samsung T*OMNIA.  But aside from modifying the name of the phone, Samsung is also introducing three new features which we didn’t see with the internationally released Samsung OMNIA.

These new features include a larger 3.3-inch screen, a higher screen resolution up from 240x400 of the OMNIA to 480x800 and a DMB TV Tuner or what is more commonly known as a digital TV Tuner.  The last feature will allow our Korean friends to have mobile TV and quick Internet access on the T*OMNIA phone.  More details after the break.

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