Ugobe Delays Pleo, Cuts Production in Half
I’m a big fan of the Pleo. I think it’s designed well and that it will sell well (especially around holidays such as Christmas). If I had more money, I’d probably even buy myself one. So it saddens me greatly to hear that Ugobe is experiencing even more delays. This time, the delays are due to battery life. Apparently, the battery life was rather low because of overheating, which prevents the battery from fully charging. The overheating, in turn, was caused by the location of the battery inside the Pleo. Now, manufacturers are redesigning the Pleo so that it has an external battery. This redesign will cause the Pleo to be delayed until anywhere from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and the number of Pleos produced will also be cut in half. Looks like the Pleo will be that hard to find gift of the Holiday season.
Optimistically, the CEO Bob Christopher states that “[We] wanted to get it right the first time,” he said. “You can’t relaunch a product. You only get one chance…The good news is Pleo is going to be a great product and with this battery change it will be better.”
Sony Ericsson W910 Gets FCC’s Nod of Approval
The FCC recently approved the Sony Ericsson W910, which is packed full of features. Features include HSDPA, quad-band GSM, up to 4 GB of Memory Stick Micro, 3D Gaming, 35 mb of internal memory, 240 X 320, and SensMe music moon analysis. The W910 is scheduled to drop during the 4th Quarter of 2007.
You can see a preview of the Sony Ericsson W910 here.
BlackBerry 8820 Launches
It’s a sad day for BlackBerry 8800 users world-wide when the Blackberry 8820 launches. You can now buy this upgrade to the 8800 (basically, it has WiFi) for $299 from AT&T with a two year contract. Yes, that’s right: GPS, push-to-talk support, EDGE, a microSD slot, and a svelte design all in one package! Click here for more information.
The New SanDisk Sansa View
So, SanDisk has returned with the Sansa View- a widescreen, flash based media player that is the successor to the Sansa e200. The Sansa View has storage up to 16 GB, is thinner than the e200 (8.8mm thin), supports MPEG4/WMV/h.264), has better resolution (320 x 240 pixels), has a bigger screen size (2.4 inches), and also sports a new clickwheel. If that’s not enough for you, the Sansa View also has a built in FM tuner, a microSD card slot (up to 8 GB), MP3/WMA/WAV audio support, and 30 hour audio/ 6 hour video battery life. The 8 GB Sansa View will set you back $149, and the 16 GB Sansa View will cost $199 when they launch early next month.
Sony Playstation Phone to Launch in February?
Mobile Entertainment estimates that the Sony Playstation Phone will launch mid-February, during the Mobility World Congress. The handset will be designed to incorporate heavy gaming and is expected to be motion sensitive. Read more here.