Microsoft Cans HD DVD Drives – Prices Slashed February 25, 2008

Read more Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , Xbox

It was on the cards but now it’s official: Microsoft has halted production of the add-on HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360.

It’s also slashed the price to around $50 in some territories and a quick check on Amazon UK just now revealed that you can – if you really want to – snap one up for £65, down from £115. This is a long way from the UK launch price of £130 – which was still cheap for a HD DVD player back in November 2006.

iPhone To Get BBC iPlayer February 25, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile phones , Online , TV , iPhone

There’s far too many ‘i’-prefixed words knocking about as it is these days but you can blame the BBC for the next sentence.

Just days after announcing plans to offer Beeb programmes as £1.89 downloads on iTunes [which not everyone is best pleased about] it’s bringing its online catch-up TV service, iPlayer, to the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

Onyx Launches First Style Phone February 25, 2008

Read more Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile Devices , Mobile phones , Smartphones

UK newcomer Onyx is hoping to get in on the craze for style-conscious phones with its new Liscio device.

The lozenge-shaped GSM phone is certainly sleekly designed and shiny and, as the company claims, would be ideal for those that want some ‘Wow!’ attention and to stand out from the crowd. That’s the pitch anyhow.

It measures 90 x 35 x 17.8mm and weighs in at 60g. It comes with MP3 playback and an FM radio but don’t be expect to watch any movies on its 1.1in OLED colour display. Talk time is rated at 3 hours, playback at 11 hours and standby at 200 hours. It has 128MB of internal memory, a Micro SD card slot for taking cards up to 1GB and it supports Bluetooth v1.2.

The Liscio comes in black and is being sold without a Sim card for £130. Onyx guarantees it will work with any UK Sim.-Martin Lynch

[Onyx]

phone mobile phone style

Xbox 360 Sells 18 Million Units February 25, 2008

Read more Consoles , Entertainment , Gadgets , Games , Gizmodo UK , PS3 , Xbox

Microsoft has sold 18m units of its Xbox 360 console worldwide, compared to sales of 10.5 million for the PS3.

Although it should be noted that the PS3 has been around for a year less than the 360 and is showing signs of catching up faster than expected.

The figures came from John Schappert, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of LIVE software and services, speaking at last week’s Games Developer Conference. Here’s what he had to say to Eurogamer about Xbox 360 sales, Xbox LIVE and the possibility of a Blu-ray add-on drive, now that HD DVD is dead.

SpaceStation Zaps That Cable Madness February 25, 2008

Read more Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Peripherals , Portable Media

Cable spaghetti getting you down? Then you might want to take a peek at the latest offering from Bluelounge, the creators of the cool Cableyoyo.

This is the minimalist-styled SpaceStation, an all-in-one USB hub and desktop cable management system. Ideally, you’d use this with a laptop. It sits 5mm above the desk level and cables can be fed in through any side, and hooked around pins before closing the lid.