pre

The 404 760: Where we haven't seen your pretty face in so long (podcast)

It's been so long since Natali has been on The 404 Podcast that we almost forget to call her NM instead of NDC! Fresh from her honeymoon vacation, she stays with us for the entire episode and denounces all those anti-lactivists out there! If we can eat ourselves into a studio infestation, babies should certainly have the right to do so as well.

Moving on, the city of Detroit is finally getting the RoboCop statue it deserves! The idea was spawned after residents felt they needed better representation than rapper Eminem and his ridiculous Chrysler 200 commercial.

So the city started a crowdsourced Kickstarter funding project and reached the $50,000 goal with 37 days left in the contribution window! Everyone that contributes to the fund will receive a personalized digital badge and a name placard on detroitneedsrobocop.com. "I'd fund that for a dollar!" It's the best idea we've heard in a while.

The iTunes Music Store dominates digital music sales, but Sony is taking aim at Apple with its new distribution service called Music Unlimited by Qriocity. Qriocity will feature music from all four major labels, with over 6 million tracks available to stream off Sony's music servers.… Read more

Verizon to start selling Pre 2 on Thursday

Hewlett-Packard's Pre 2 is finally making its way to Verizon Wireless.

The carrier announced today that the WebOS-based smartphone will be available in its stores and online starting Thursday.

The Pre 2 is the first device available to consumers that runs WebOS 2.0, Verizon noted. The device comes with a 3.1-inch display, a slide-out keyboard, and a 5-megapixel camera. It supports Wi-Fi and can share its 3G connection with up to five other devices, thanks to its Mobile Hotspot capability. The smartphone's WebOS 2.0 integration means people will also be able to place Skype-to-Skype calls … Read more

The 404 755: Where the Verizon iPhone is too damn cold (podcast)

Hundreds of Appleheads lined up last summer for the release of the Apple iPhone 4, but the turnout for today's Verizon iPhone 4 offering is significantly more dismal thanks to the frigid temperatures. Nevertheless, our CNET TV team braved the weather to bring you coverage, so check it out!

HP announced three new WebOS devices yesterday, and shoppers can now pick between small, medium, and large: the HP TouchPad, HP Pre 3, and HP Veer.

The Veer is essentially a microscopic version of the Palm Pre, with a QWERTY keyboard, and we like its 3.6-inch capacitive screen, but we're mostly excited about the latest version of WebOS.

Unfortunately, former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein announced yesterday that due to hardware constraints, HP had to break its promise that the first-generation Palm smartphones (Pre, Pre Plus, Pre Pixi) would get the 3.0 update. They won't.

So, basically, you'll need to buy into the new HP ecosystem if you want to benefit from new features like instant sync and the ability to receive and answer texts and calls on your HP TouchPad.

HP's newest tablet PC sounds good (for now) with a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 9.7-inch touch display with the same resolution as the current iPad, and a single 1.2MP front-facing camera, but we're wondering if it's too little, too late for HP to enter the market, especially since there's already chatter about an Apple iPad 3 coming this fall.

We hate to spend so much show time speculating, but the Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday that confirms the next iPad 2 will not feature the the iPhone 4's retina display, which could mean that the iPad 2 upgrades will be to the original as the iPhone 3GS was to the 3G. It's all speculation at this point, but we're excited to see how app developers will respond to WebOS diving back into the mobile market.

Much thanks to Sean from Vancouver for saving us from a video voice mail drought! He left us this message that features impressive production value and a live guitar. Thanks, Sean!

We were also flooded with voice mails responding to yesterday's discussion about how much detail to include with the ESRB rating on the back of video game boxes, so thanks for your input!

More importantly, the Internet is not without vigilante justice, as the good folks at Reddit and Rock, Paper, Shotgun have already taken up arms against John Brandon, the original Fox News "reporter."

Episode 755 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Verizon iPhone 4 goes on sale, HP's WebOS event

It's iPhone 4 day for Verizon customers, and CNET TV was there to capture the somewhat underwhelming turnout. Apparently there's one thing that will keep die-hard Apple fanboys at bay, and that's subfreezing winter temperatures.

On today's episode of Loaded, we'll also give a rundown on HP's WebOS event from yesterday, which debuted the company's iPad competitor, the HP TouchPad. WebOS will also make its way to two new mobile devices, all of which we'll detail on today's show.

Dialed In 161: Barcelona bound

It's one of the craziest weeks ever in cell phone land. Not only are Kent and Bonnie packing for Mobile World Congress, but we also had two big-time press events from Sprint and HP. Sprint's new device is the dual-screen Kyocera Echo. We admit it doesn't look like much right now, but that didn't stop magician David Blaine from showing up at the unveiling. HP gave us a better show with its new Pre 3 and Veer and the company made every effort to remind us that the Palm name no longer exists.

Also in the … Read more

A closer look at the HP Pre 3 and Veer

HP wasn't kidding when it said, "Think big. Think small. Think ahead. Think beyond."

As you've probably heard by now, the company unveiled three new WebOS products today in San Francisco: the HP TouchPad, HP Pre 3, and HP Veer--or, as HP called them, large, medium, and small.

Though we have more hands-on coverage coming soon, I thought now would be a good time to take a closer look at the WebOS smartphones and what they have to offer.

HP Pre 3 We'll start with the Pre 3. Though the Verizon Palm Pre 2 is … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1404: HP For the Win! (podcast)

The HP Veer, Pre3 and TouchPad showcase WebOS in all threes sizes and we like! Smartphones pass PCs in sales, and while smartphones take over the world, OnLive is going to be streaming games to you on your phone. Kent German and Antuan Goodwin guest host and we talk monkey feet.

HP unveils TouchPad tablet, WebOS headed to PCs

Hewlett-Packard today took the wraps off its long-anticipated tablet, a 9.7-inch device it's calling the TouchPad, along with the bombshell that its WebOS is headed to PCs.

The TouchPad will run the company's WebOS, which it acquired along with Palm as part of a $1.2 billion deal in April. Among its list of features are: a 1024x768 pixel display, a weight of 1.5 pounds, 13mm thickness, front-facing cameras for video chat, 16GB or 32GB of built-in memory, support for Adobe's Flash, Beats by Dre speakers, and a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor.

Initially the … Read more

HP shows off TouchPad tablet, WebOS for PCs (live blog)

Editor's note: This live event has concluded. You can replay our full coverage of the announcement in the Cover It Live module at the bottom of this post. To get the key details on what was announced--including the long-awaited TouchPad tablet, an upcoming version of WebOS for desktop and laptop PCs, a new version of the Pre phone, and the new Veer smartphone--read our summary post here.

What follows here is a collection of excerpts from the live blog with some of the newsier and more interesting entries. To get all the nitty-gritty details, reader comments, and our … Read more

Verizon iPhone preorders are smooth sailing for most

Verizon Wireless got off to a relatively smooth start today as it began the preorder process for the long-awaited Verizon iPhone.

The company started taking preorders from existing Verizon Wireless customers for the device at 3 a.m. EST. It will be begin selling the device to all consumers online and in retail locations starting next Thursday, February 10.

As many iPhone fans will recall, in June of last year AT&T's Web site was overwhelmed by customers trying to preorder the iPhone 4. Orders couldn't be processed through AT&T, and many customers simply gave … Read more