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Lenovo X200 128GB SSD order option gone, offers 64GB SSD for free

That wasn't fun at all, actually. Turns out the $-70 128GD SSD option for the ThinkPad X200 was not only a mistake, but the part isn't even available. Eager orderers received the following e-mail from Lenovo this morning:

Dear Valued Lenovo Customer,

We are contacting you with regard to your recent Lenovo X200 order.

Please note that we recently experienced a web error which caused the price of the 128GB Solid State Drive to be erroneously listed at $0.
Unfortunately, we are unable to honor this pricing; in addition, the part is currently not available.

As a token of appreciation for your patience and understanding, we are pleased to offer you a substitute of either a 64GB Solid State Drive
or a 200GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm) free of charge in place of the 128GB Drive.

To accept this offer, please reply to this email and fill out the below fields by Monday August 11th with your selection.

*** If we do not receive a reply by that date, your order will be cancelled at that time.

We can't exactly hate on Lenovo for not honoring the mistake, especially since they're offering a 64GB SSD in exchange for free.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

T-Mobile 3G is live in Vegas, baby

T-mobile Vegas
That's right, kids, T-Mobile launched 3G data in Vegas this morning. The 1700MHz AWS 3G network went live for phones that can hit the UMTS 3G data stream, and if your phone is one of those, you may want to look for the pretty little icon and start doing some Intertron browsing. T-Mobile still expects to hit another 20 markets this year (along with some new handsets), so if you're not in Sin City, be patient -- 3G is coming.

Logitech Squeezebox Boom pops up on Dutch site

Squeezebox Boom
Well, would ya look at what popped up at Dutch online shop wifimedia? The Logitech Squeezebox Boom looks to be a nice way to turn your Squeezebox network digital audio into soundwaves with 802.11g, a digital amplifier, SqueezeNetwork online music service access, and a 7-day alarm for those of you with techy bedrooms. As for the speakers, they are 3-inch woofers with 3/4-inch tweeters bi-amplified by the aforementioned digital amp. Other notable features include an IR remote, 6-button presets, high-contrast VFD display, 10/100Base-T ethernet port, and a 1/8-inch stereo input. The Euro price is €279, which currently nets out to $431.44 US. We'd venture to guess that will net out to a sub-$400 price, but only time -- and economies -- will tell.

Update:
Hey, would you look at that -- the manual for the Squeezebox Boom is now live on the Slim Devices site. Looks like we'll be seeing this bad boy soon.

[Thanks, Peter and LPD]

Delta to add WiFi to all domestic planes in 2009

Delta LogoIn a move that's making us re-think our frequent flyer habits, Delta has announced that it will install Wi-Fi on its entire domestic fleet of more than 330 mainline aircraft by the first half of 2009. The Aircell Gogo service will run $9.95 or $12.95 for trips under or over three hours, respectively, and will allow connection of any WiFi device, although we have to think it'll shutter certain open-port services like Skype. Delta will roll WiFi out initially on Delta's 133 MD88/90s next month and then hit its Boeing craft, saying it will be done in first half of 2009. Delta says it chose Aircell because it's lightweight and affordable. We're certainly willing to pony up 13 bucks for a little browsing love at 37,000 feet.

SpaceX conducts successful static launch of Falcon 9 rocket

SpaceX Falcon 9
Remember Space Exploration Technologies Corp, otherwise known as SpaceX? You know, the private space transport company started by PayPal founder Elon Musk that won the NASA Commercial Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition for its Falcon rocket? Last we heard from SpaceX it had lost Falcon 1 during a test launch, but this week its Falcon 9 launch vehicle was successfully fired up. While it didn't go anywhere, the successful static launch was good news for the company, and the test run was even two months ahead of schedule, which could mean good things for the rockets' ultimate place in runs to the International Space Station once the Space Shuttle goes out of service in 2010.

Killing your phone's GSM buzz with ferrite beads

Ferrite beads
Tired of all that GSM buzz coming from your cellphone when all you wan to do is listen to music? The guys at MacLife have re-uncovered a simple fix that involves parts that you probably have laying around in your spaghetti drawer. Just grab some ferrite beads -- the same ones that often ship with TVs and USB cables -- and attach them to your speaker cables near the speakers. This is probably not a shock to those of you who already know a thing or two about magnetic interference, but for the rest of you, get scouting and grab some tape.

[Via Make]

Gateway P-7811 FX gaming laptop coming August 14 for $1499

P-7811FX
If you've been waiting for Gateway's P-7811 FX gaming laptop, the wait is almost over: it will begin shipping August 14, that is, if an open-lipped Best Buy is to be believed. As for specifications, you're looking at an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 3MB L2 cache with 1066MHz FSB), PM45 Express chipset, 17-inch WUXGA display at 1920 x 1200, Nvidia GeForce 9800M-GTS with 512MB GDDR3, 200GB 7200RPM spinner, 8x DVD burner, HDMI 1.2, eSATA, a 5-in-1 media card reader, 1.3MP camera, and a 9-cell Li-ion battery. The $1,499 machine weighs in at 9.2-lbs and will be ready for your Crysis, Spore, etc. in a couple weeks.

[Via NotebookReview]

FujiFilm FinePix Z200fd gets stateside release and price, couples beware

FujiFilm Finepic Z200
The 10-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch CCD, 5x image stabilized optical-zoom lensed FinePix Z200fd is finally coming to the states in September for a price of $299.95. Fuji has kept all the consumer-friendly features like dual image stabilization, dual shot mode, and a novel group timer mode that only takes the picture once it sees four faces in the frame. For you budding journos, a potentially handy blog mode automatically resizes images to 640x480 for all your important updates. And let's not forget about the couple timer, which waits to take a shot until the lovebirds are deemed close enough.

Dell Vostro 2510 laptop pops up in flier, $899 for Core 2 Duo and 256MB GPU

Dell Vostro 2510
The Inspiron-like Dell Vostro laptops have been haunting us for weeks now, but the mystery deepens with this Vostro 2510 that was spotted in a flier. The August 2008 Dell Business flier reads as such: "Coming this month: New! Dell Vostro 2510. Style meets performance." As far as listed specs, we've got an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB hdd, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GPU, and integrated webcam. Pretty decent specs for the $899 price tag, we gotta say. The URL listed in the photo is indeed for the Vostro lappies, but the 2510 is, as of right now, mysteriously absent.

UPDATE: The Canadian Dell site has some official Vostro 2510 information and specs. [Thanks, jorvay!]

[Thanks, Dirk]

Sega adds Dream Hamster to its Dream Pets collection, girls say "kawaiiii!"

Sega Dream Hamster
Sega Toys has been up to all sorts of shenanigans lately, what with its rolling speaker robots, kissing bots, and workout headsets. Now the Japanese toy maker has drummed up a new addition to its Dream Pets collection. The Dream Hamster, a tiny furry thing that moves when you hold it, will be available in Japan on August 8th for around $11, and Sega fully expects to win the hearts of lonely women everywhere with these balls of puffy love. We mean, c'mon: it's a furry cute thing that wiggles. What's not to like? [Warning: read link is a PDF]

[Via Akihabara News]

Yahoo! offers up coupons and refunds to DRM server-shutdown victims

Yahoo MusicIf you woke up this morning worried about what Yahoo! is planning to do for its Music Store customers who are about to be left in the lurch with its DRM server shut-down, have no fear. Yahoo! has announced that it will offer customers coupons or refunds for those songs you bought. Basically, you'll get a coupon that you can use at RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody download service. Their songs, of course, are DRM-free. For those of you who have "serious problems with this arrangement" (their words, not ours), refunds will be available. The servers go down on September 30, so start combing your collections, kids.

[Thanks, JC]

Lenovo's X200 pictured, compared, measured, feels inadequately small

X200
If you've been looking for more information about -- and pictures of -- Lenovo's diminutive X200, you've come to the right place. Crave got their hands on the laptop, compared it with its bigger brothers, and even supplied some measuring tape for the size-conscious like some poor, chopping-block-destined farm animal. For review, the 3.5-pound machine sports the Centrino 2 platform, measures just 0.8-inches thick, runs around $1,200, and early reviews are positive.

TARDIS MAME cabinet makes even Daleks swoon

TARDIS MAME cabinet
There are all sorts of things into which one can stuff a MAME machine, but why not build one into a TARDIS? The Dr. Who blue police box is surely the stuff of TV nerds, but when one combines that with emulated arcade games, well, geekvana surely swirls and creates a vortex of pure bliss for all to enjoy. Or maybe it creates uncomfortable silences. Or whatever. What's really important is that the machine's construction is detailed step-by-step in what is easily one of the most impressive cabinets we've seen since that one with the keg. Or that one build into an oscilloscope. Wait... was is the one in the dinner table? Ah, we give up.

[Via Joystiq]

NASA to hold Phoenix press conference tomorrow, water on the brain?

Phoenix finds water
It's been a while since we've reported about the doings of our robotic friend on Mars, but a press conference tomorrow (Thursday) could uncover Phoenix's first positive report of water on the red planet. NASA's conference will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern Thursday and we're hearing that Phoenix Mission is ready to report that water ice is not only confirmed, but the research robot has dug some ice out of a trench, heated it, and confirmed that it is, in fact water. If this all holds true, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be able to determine whether or not the atmosphere could sustain life and lead to manned missions to Mars. We call shotgun.

T-Mobile 3G service coming October 1 to 27 markets

T-Mobile 3G
We were already pretty sure this would be happening, but it's looking real now, if 8.5 x 11-inch pieces of paper taped to a window is any indication: T-Mobile is rolling out its 3G service on October 1 to 27 select cities. The above poster was spotted by TmoNews "outside a meeting" and, as you can see, it says, "10.1.08 3G is Coming." As far as those launch cities, we have a handy little list for you after the break. By the way, it's entirely possible T-Mobile 3G is already live in your market, though, so don't let this confuse you too much. It could just mean you're next, or, at least by October 1.



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