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Engadget’s top posts, 2008

December 31st 2008 Posted in Gadgets

Well, the year has come and gone, and with it, our 365 — or in this case, 366 — days of posting. We’ve seen some pretty amazing stuff, gotten to play with a stack of awesome gear, and watched the site grow by leaps and bounds (we just had our biggest day ever in October). We thought we’d cap the year off with a look back at the posts that got the most heat. One thing that’s clear? People really love (or hate) Apple. Check out the top 20 of the year below, and be sure to truck over to Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD for their year-end round-ups!

Top 20 most trafficked posts of 2008 (in order)

Top 20 most trafficked posts during 2008 (in order; non-2008 posts in bold)

Top 15 most trafficked posts of the year, sans Apple-only posts (in order)

A few other interesting numbers for you:

Total posts on Engadget in 2008: 11,878
Total number of comments: 697,672 (and counting)
Average comments per post: 58.7

Combined Engadget classic, HD, and Mobile stats:

Posts: 21,880
Comments: 853,044
Average comments per post: 39.0

Filed under: Meta

Engadget’s top posts, 2008 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dev-Team teases v2.2-compatible iPhone 3G unlock for the New Year

December 31st 2008 Posted in Gadgets

Ever since the Dev-Team kinda sorta promised that they would have a neatly packaged iPhone 3G unlock ready for release by the year’s end, we’ve all been waiting on pins and needles, counting down the moments until freedom was in hand yet again. Now, a cryptic message on the crew’s blog has been followed up with a not-at-all secretive image (shown above), which shows that whatever magic they’ve got going on will work with the latest (v2.2) iPhone 3G firmware. According to a related writeup at yellowsn0w, we’re clearly told that the unlock tool will be made available by midnight PST at the latest, though we’re hoping those guys have their AM / PM mixed up — otherwise, you might be waiting until noontime tomorrow. At any rate, now you’ve more than a day off and black eyed peas to look forward to tomorrow, right?

Via yellowsn0w and MobileCrunch]

Filed under: Cellphones

Dev-Team teases v2.2-compatible iPhone 3G unlock for the New Year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Georgia Sex Offenders Have to Give Internet Passwords to Authorities [To Catch A Predator]

December 31st 2008 Posted in gadgets

A Georgia law going into effect tomorrow will require that all sex offenders not simply turn over their email addresses and screen names to authorities—which goes back to 2006—but all their passwords as well.

Georgia is one of 15 states requiring sex offenders to give their email addresses, screen names and “other internet handles” to authorities, and now the second (after Utah) to force them to give up their passwords as well, giving authorities unlimited, unfettered access to monitor their email and other internet activities.

State Senator Cecil Staton told MSNBC, “We limit where they can live, we make their information available on the Internet. To some degree, we do invade their privacy…But the feeling is, they have forfeited, to some degree, some privacy rights.”

Obviously, privacy groups, like the Southern Center for Human Rights are concerned by the law, though there haven’t been any legal challenges to it yet. So, what do you guys think? One step too far, or totally legit? [MSNBC via Techdirt]

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New Mac Mini at Macworld, Will Look Like iMac + Time Capsule [Rumor]

December 31st 2008 Posted in gadgets

TUAW has the most complete description yet of the new Mac mini widely rumored/expected to launch at Macworld. It’ll be topped with iMac-esque black plastic instead of white, and have a lip like Time Capsule.

The lip conceals the Mac mini’s optical drive slot, which is useful now since TUAW says that the new drive will be SATA, meaning it can be swapped out for a second hard drive, probably as a custom build option. The second drive is boon to the business crowd that uses Mac minis in server farms (like this one), since it not only adds more storage, but makes RAID1 mirroring easy.

No other details on specs—we’re pretty interested in what processor these things will be packing—though it’s looking fairly certain (as certain as these things ever look, anyway) that they’ll have Nvidia’s GeForce 9400m chipset from the new MacBooks in tow.

We’ll know in about a week, along with whatever other surprises Macworld has in store. What would you like to see in the new Mac mini, besides a Blu-ray drive? (Cause that’s what everyone wants.) [TUAW]

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Microsoft preparing for new layoffs?

December 31st 2008 Posted in Gadgets

A new report from Fudzilla claims that Microsoft is getting ready to lay off 15,000 employees, or about 17% of its worldwide staff. The axe will apparently fall on January 15th, exactly one week before its second quarter earnings report, and they expect MSN division to be hit hardest, while the successful Xbox crew will probably make it out relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, an anonymous blogger who goes by the name Mini-Microsoft and claims to be an employee well-versed in the goings-on inside the company has been fielding questions from other purported Microsoft workers on recent cutback concerns. This past Monday he posted a handful of anonymous comments saying that the rumored layoffs aren’t happening — at least not in January — although a re-organization might be in the cards. Both reports should be taken with a grain of salt, but one thing’s for certain — Windows 7 is gonna rule.

[Via Joystiq]

Read - Fudzilla report
Read - Mini-Microsoft

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Microsoft preparing for new layoffs? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FIC Netbook Pushes Boundaries

December 31st 2008 Posted in creativity

Before you get too excited about First International Computer (FIC) and it pushing boundaries with its netbook, let me be a wet blanket and let you know the innards are pretty much standard as the only line they’re about to cross is the size department. After all, most netbooks won’t pass the 10″ display size mark, but FIC’s upcoming offering will feature 10.4″ of viewing real estate at 1,024 x 600 resolution, apart from the usual including :-

Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor
2.5″ SATA II hard drive
Wi-Fi connectivity
Bluetooth support
Up to 2GB RAM
ExpressCard slot
VGA output

No idea when FIC’s netbook will hit the market and under which brand, and neither do we have an inkling about the price. What do you think?

Permalink: FIC Netbook Pushes Boundaries from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11

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Fuji EnviroMAX Digital Alkaline Battery

December 31st 2008 Posted in creativity

Guess battery companies are finally waking up to the fact that disposables of yore aren’t the way of the future, especially where the environment is concerned. Since that realization, rechargeable batteries have been released but those have not really caught on with the masses since disposable batteries are much more convenient, and you don’t need to bother with charging them to maximum power once they’re exhausted. Well, the Fuji EnviroMAX digital alkaline battery might not be rechargeable, but this is a disposable battery with a green conscience. After all, it does not contain any cadmium, mercury and PVC, and is packaged with recycled materials to minimize its carbon footprint. Not only that, Fuji claims the EnviroMAX digital alkaline battery is on par or exceeds most competitive alkaline batteries in its class - hopefully what they claim is true. This could be huge, assuming the price and battery performance lives up to the public’s expectations. I’m currently running on Sanyo Eneloops for my devices - how about you?

Permalink: Fuji EnviroMAX Digital Alkaline Battery from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11

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DIY External iPhone Keyboard

December 31st 2008 Posted in creativity

Hate the virtual keyboard on your iPhone? Well, if you’re the type who loves the actual presence of real keys along with the tactile feedback it offers, then this DIY project ought to be your cup of tea. The setup will rely on a Robotech Bluetooth module that has been placed in a modified battery sleeve and subsequently hooked to an unlocked iPhone (or iPod Touch) which will, in turn, talk to the keyboard courtesy of its Bluetooth SPP profile. Of course, it isn’t as simple and clear cut like that since a VNC server and other tricks are required, but all that is in the tutorial. Definitely not the cleanest solution out there, but at least it works.

Permalink: DIY External iPhone Keyboard from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11

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More Versatile Mac mini Tipped

December 31st 2008 Posted in creativity

Word has it that next week’s Macworld Expo will be the launchpad to a much more versatile Mac mini, but we will take that piece of news with a grain of salt since Apple is traditionally very good at keeping their cards close to their chest, rarely revealing anything before major announcements are made officially. It seems that these new models will feature a revised enclosure that can be found in the higher end products from Apple, including aluminum and black plastic. Some have also speculated that SATA optical drives and hard drives will have a role to play in the new Mac minis, while others think it will also involve a move towards NVIDIA chipsets, throwing in a Mini DisplayPort and being able to address up to 4GB of RAM. What do you think?

Permalink: More Versatile Mac mini Tipped from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11

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Eazo Z70 Wooden Exterior PC

December 31st 2008 Posted in creativity

Eazo aims to bring a little bit of luxury to your everyday computing with its Z70 computer. The exterior, as you can see by the image above, exudes a manly appeal with its rosewood that is amalgamated into the aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis, where the former has been painted with natural Chinese lacquer without any chemical additives for that all natural look. Inside the Z70, you will find a beefy Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processor that ought to offer decent performance no matter the task you throw at it. A water-cooled has been implemented so that you won’t accidentally burn the wood while the QX9775 is being pushed to its limits during your intensive working sessions.

Permalink: Eazo Z70 Wooden Exterior PC from Ubergizmo (US, FR) | Good deals | Hot: CES 2009, Jan 6-11