SlashGear Week In Review - Week 49 2008
Nokia stole much of the limelight this week, with the announcement of the N97 touchscreen QWERTY smartphone. Set to take the crown as flagship N-series device when it hits the market next year, make sure to check out our video preview. Meanwhile, after a few relatively quiet weeks, netbooks and their desk-bound nettop cousins seized headlines, with the HP Mini 1000 getting integrated 3G, Sony's EVDO/HSPA-packing VAIO netbook peeking out courtesy of the FCC, and the first Qualcomm Snapdragon netbook showing its convertible tablet charms.
ASUS showed just how they expect the Eee Box to make more of a dent in rivals' sales, with the announcement of the B204 and B206, each with dedicated graphics and HDMI outputs. Also tipped is a new, super-bargain Eee Box, with Atom kicked out in favor of a Celeron processor. Trigem showed off their Lluon Mobbit MID, which is apparently coming in January 2009, and the AMtek T10L 10.2-inch touchscreen slate confused definitions with its UMPC form-factor but netbook-style Atom CPU.
It's not all good news in the segment, however. WiBrain's I1 UMPC is looking conspicuous by its absence, while the Fujitsu Amilo Mini Ui 3520 netbook failed to make a good impression in reviews.
Elsewhere, Sony's PS3 took the gong in a Blu-ray player shoot-out, while TiVo were forced to deny that an Amazon HD streaming media service was imminent. In fact its not been a great week for streaming content, with Blockbuster OnDemand being roundly rubbished for its glitchy performance and sluggish GUI.
If you're hoping for an iPod this holiday season, it might be an idea to buy one sooner rather than later: we're hearing that shortages may be on the horizon. Other fruit-themed rumors include a tipped $99 iPhone 3G, packing a mere 4GB, coming to Walmart. If you've already got a PMP, and you fancy some wireless headphones, make sure to check out our review of the Wi-Gear iMuffs.
Finally, SlashGear went to Italy this week, to check out Sony's latest jaw-dropping commercial. After exploding paint, bouncing balls and morphing bunny rabbits, the company decided to build a huge zoetrope called the BRAVIA Drome. Sadly there's little chance of a Christmas release.
