Intel 80GB SSD price cut by one-third, still very expensive

Looks like Intelis giving some of its SSDs a more reasonable -- yet still very exorbitant -- price tag. The company has slashed the 2.5-inch 80GB X25-M from $595 in September to now $390. While a 34 percent cut is nothing to scoff at, that's still $90 more expensive than Western Digital's 2TB spinner, which offers 25 times the capacity. The company also recently discounted its 160GB variant 19 percent, from $945 to $765. No reason was given for the markdown, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the economy isn't looking too kindly on solid state's dollar-to-data ratio.

LG Arena KM900 press photo leaked... by LG

Guess LG UK apparently can't wait to show the world the new Arena KM900 -- it's published a high-quality press photo on its corporate blog ten days before the official reveal at MWC. This is also our first glimpse of that "S-Class 3D interface," and it's... definitely a spinning 3D cube with some icons on it. No further confirmation on those details we'd heard, but we'll see if this thing is more than just another touchscreen dumbphone wannabe when we get our hands on it.

Leaked Samsung M7600 phone sports Bang & Olufsen sound, Helio looks

We don't know exactly where this one came from... but these leaked photos appear to be of an Ocean-esque Samsung M7600. Here's what we know about it, spec-wise: it's an HSDPA phone which will have a 3 megapixel camera, GPS, a 2.8-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, and yes, a Bang & Olufsen amplifier. We understand that it'll also sport some kind of of DJ scratching app -- which should make your nightlife way more interesting -- and that it's supposedly set to appear sometime in May of this year (though we'd be surprised if we don't see more of it at MWC)

Official-looking Kindle 2 pictures and pricing leak out

We're not going to call it official yet, but a bunch of very real-looking Kindle 2 press images just hit the tubes, and we've got to say we're pretty convinced. Although the device itself looks basically the same as in those previously-leaked shots we saw back in October, there are some surprises in store: it's way thinner, the back is apparently made of metal and there are stereo speakers at the bottom. We'll admit to missing the polarizing ultra-80s look of the original, but this thing looks pretty sweet -- too bad it's still going to set you back $359 when it arrives on February 24. We'll find out what's what for sure on Monday.

BLACKBERRY 8820

The powerful and stylish BlackBerry 8820 for AT&T Wireless offers Integrated WiFi for increased in-building coverage and fast Data connections. The BlackBerry 8820 has a feature-rich array of global phone and email, incorporates a rich media player & global navigation, and easy-to-use trackball navigation. The 8820 supports AT&T Mobile Music, XM radio, and Stereo Bluetooth Headset capabilities. Store more with the microSD Memory slot and add up to 2GB of memory. Go mobile with the latest email, attachment and viewing options that you have come to expect from BlackBerry.It also continues to offer Bluetooth and GPS support like its older sibling, the RIM BlackBerry 8800, as well as push e-mail and multimedia. It's a device built with the business user in mind and definitely won't have the mass appeal of a BlackBerry Pearl or BlackBerry Curve. That said, for the intended audience the 8820 will certainly deliver the goods and performance.

Specifications:

Form Factor	Bar
Size	114 x 66 x 14 mm
Weight	134 g
Display Size	320 x 240 Pixels
Display Colors	65k Colour Light Sensing Screen
Ring tones	Polyphonic Ringtones-Yes, 32 Chords,Dnldble
Media Player	Yes
Games	Yes
Ports	Yes,Mini-USB Port
Total Memory	64 Mbytes
Talk Time	Up to 300 Minutes
Standby Time	Up to 576 Hours
Operating Frequency	Quad Band Technology(GSM 850/900/1800/1900

BLACKBERRY CURVE 8300

The BlackBerry Curve features a liquid silver finish, chrome highlights, smooth edges and soft curves. It is a full-featured smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard and large display and yet it boasts an impressively small and lightweight design at 4.2" x 2.4" x 0.6" and approximately 111g. The ultra-bright 320x240 display brings images and video to life and includes RIM¡¦s light sensing technology that automatically adjusts backlighting levels for indoor, outdoor and dark environments. The handset also features RIM¡¦s innovative trackball navigation system that makes scrolling and selecting fast and easy.

Specifications:

Form Factor	Bar
Size	107 x 60 x 15.5 mm
Weight	111 gm
Display Size	320 x 240 pixels
Display Colors	65K colors
Ring tones	Polyphonic (32 channels), MP3
Media Player	Yes
Games	Yes + downloadable
Ports	Yes
Total Memory	64 MB phone memory
Talk Time	Up to 4 h
Standby Time	Up to 408 h
Operating Frequency	GSM 850 /900 / 1800 / 1900

BLACKBERRY PEARL 8100

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 smartphone is one of the world’s smallest smartphones and packs all of the power of BlackBerry. It comes complete with digital camera, multimedia capabilities and expandable memory. And it offers customers everything else they’d expect from a BlackBerry smartphone – including phone, email, web browser, text messaging (SMS and MMS), instant messaging, organizer applications and more.

Specifications:

Form Factor	Bar
Size	107 x 50 x 14.5 mm
Weight	89.5 g
Display Size	240 x 260 pixels
Display Colors	65K colors
Ring tones	Polyphonic (32 channels), MP3
Media Player	Yes
Games	Yes + downloadable
Ports	Yes
Total Memory	64 MB flash memory
Talk Time	Up to 3 h 30 min
Standby Time	Up to 360 h
Operating Frequency	GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

BLACKBERRY 8800

The BlackBerry 8800 is the thinnest BlackBerry handset yet and is designed to satisfy the most demanding mobile professionals. Equipped with a full, highly tactile QWERTY* keyboard and RIM's user-friendly trackball navigation system, it also includes built-in GPS (Global Positioning System), multimedia features and a microSD expandable memory slot. The quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE-enabled BlackBerry 8800 offers best-in-class performance with smoothly integrated support for voice and data applications, including phone, email, text messaging, web browser, organizer, multimedia and more. Powering its robust performance is an ultra-thin, high-capacity battery that further extends the uncompromising battery life for which BlackBerry handsets are renowned.

Specifications:

Form Factor	Bar
Size	114 x 66 x 14 mm
Weight	134 g
Display Size	320 x 240 pixels
Display Colors	65K colors
Ring tones	Polyphonic, MP3
Media Player	Yes
Games	Yes
Ports	Yes, miniUSB
Total Memory	64 MB flash memory,16 MB SRAM
Talk Time	Up to 5 h
Standby Time	Up to 530 h
Operating Frequency	GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900

10-inch Aspire One does a little government work at the FCC

It looks like Acer's 10-inch Aspire One D150 is getting set for a US debut, as it just popped up in the FCC's all-knowing database. Nothing here we didn't know or couldn't guess -- Acer's own list of changes from the 8.9-inch Aspire One consists of the screen size and a new Bluetooth module -- but it's nice to see Uncle Sam giving this bad boy the once over before it starts beaming its WiFi terror rays into our homes. Or, you know, running XP to browse Facebook, whatever.

Mission One electric motorcycle boasts 150 MPH top speed, extreme price tag

The Mission One EV electric sports bike got a proper unveiling at this week's Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference, and boy does this baby exude power. Mission Motors says the motorcycle's got an 150 MPH top speed and 100 foot-pounds of torque at any point between 0 and 6,500 RPM. That's a good deal faster than theElectric Motorsport GPR-S, which tops out at a now-paltry 100 MPH. The lithium-ion battery keeps it running for 150 miles, and charge time is targeted for under 2 Hours at 240V (8 Hours at 120V). Its stylish form factor comes from famed industrial designer Yves Behar. Yeah, we're excited, too, but here's the part where you flinch: the deathly silent super-scooter will first show up in 2010 with a 50-unit limited edition run costing $68,995 apiece. A more affordable model will be announced sometime this summer. If you've got a need for this much muted speed, be prepared to mortgage a house or two.

17-inch MacBook Pro delayed two weeks

Bad news for those of you waiting on pins and needles for the 17-inch MacBook Pro -- it's been delayed to at least February 19th. According to an email Apple's sending to pre-order customers, "wrapping up the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is taking a few days longer than we projected," and orders won't ship for another two weeks. Guess cramming all that fancy new sealed battery tech in that new unibody enclosure wasn't so easy, now was it? Full text of the email after the break.

V-Books: the future

You know, once in a while you hear such a logical, well-thought-out idea that you start to wonder, even fear, that society will end up heading down some sort of interesting and completely boring path to productivity and peace. This is not that idea. HarperCollins has restored our faith in the wonderful futility of humanity with "Video Books." The publishing house is on the hook for six v-book versions of real books, which involve an ultra-abridged version of the title being spoken directly to the camera by the author. The first of these is Jeff Jarvis' book What Would Google Do?, which is 23 minutes of the man speaking to your face in front of a white backdrop, and retails for $10. We were hoping for something a bit more like Reading Rainbow, but we must admit the two minute preview we saw was strangely compelling. Authors receive 25 percent of the sales, on par with e-book rates, but can you really put a royalty rate on the future?

GM to mold San Fran and D.C. into early adopter markets for Chevy Volt

If General Motors has anything to say about it, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. will be the first early adopter markets for its plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. The company is currently working with the local municipalities to flesh out the details. The goal is to make tax incentives for purchasing electric cars and build an infrastructure that'll support them. San Francisco is already part of the way there since they, along with San Jose and Oakland, have already endorsed Better Place's $1 billion plan to put electric grids in the Bay Area. Of course, GM's deeds aren't exactly selfless -- after all, more markets mean more potential Volt customers -- but if this is what it takes to foster an eerily silent rush hour, we're all for it.

Google's Internet-equipped magic bus lights across India

When you spend all of your workday bloggin' it's easy to lose sight of the fact that some folks don't have access to basic utilities, or HDTV, or -- the horror! -- the Internet itself. In the time-honored tradition of Hippies and earnest seekers alike, Google will be heading to rural India, where they will be focusing their philanthropic endeavors (or perhaps their shrewd marketing endeavors) for the next month and a half. The company's Internet bus will roll through towns in the state of Tamil Nadu, providing connectivity via satellite, and content and instruction in both English and Tamil to people whose only previous exposure to the online world (if any) has been via cell phone or cyber cafe. This is all part of a broader scheme to expand into the Indian countryside, and if the trip is a success more are sure to follow. The company's services already include transliteration, news, bidirectional machine translation, and soft keyboards for a number of Indian languages, and a host of kick-ass Ravi Shankar songs now available on Google Video.

BlackBerry Pearl 8230 caught in Verizon garb

We've been hearing some idle chatter that RIM intends to redo its Pearl 8220 flip in a CDMA flavor any minute now -- and RIM's one of the best manufacturers in the game at spreading its wealth equally between the GSM and CDMA sides of the fence, so an 8230 model seemed like a foregone conclusion from the moment the 8220 was announced. Sure enough, we now have a shot of a Verizon-branded 8230 doing its thing -- not really what Bold hopefuls on Verizon were hoping for, we'd imagine, but a solid consumer-grade offering nonetheless. The fella who posted the shot over on CrackBerry's forums doesn't know what colors will be available at launch, but mentions that he expects it'll be "coming soon." CTIA in April, perhaps?