2008 | December | Gadget & Technology News

Engadget’s top posts, 2008

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

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Well, the year has come and gone, and with it, our 365 — or in that 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? folks really love (or hate) Apple. Check out the top 20 of the year below, and be certain to truck by 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 arised on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

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

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

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 note 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 arised on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Microsoft preparing for new layoffs?

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

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, precisely one week before its second quarter earnings report, and they expect MSN division to be hit hardest, while the successful Xbox crew will probably build 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. that 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 convinced — Windows 7 is gonna rule.

[Via Joystiq]

Read - Fudzilla report
Read - Mini-Microsoft

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

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

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Original post by Ross Miller

Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

For all of you Zune 30 owners who woke up that to find your PMP frozen in despair at the thought of spending another year alone, Microsoft has finally acknowledged their boo-boo and explains it thusly: There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the device to choke on the last day of a leap year. Rest assured, however — although they may not be releasing an update for the device any day soon, the issue should resolve itself whenever January 1, 2009 rolls around. So have a safe and happy New Year, and let’s hope they do something about that by 2012.

[Thanks to everyone who sent that in]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out originally arised on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

Optoma’s DLP PK101 pico projector up for pre-order at $399.99

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

“Coming soon,” huh? Soon, indeed. Optoma’s DLP-based pico projector, which is formally known as the EP-PK-101 (or PK101 in some circles), is now up for pre-order at Amazon. So, just how much will you pay for a 4-ounce beamer that you can carry in your left front pocket? whether your reply is anything less than $399.99, you’re out of luck here.

[Via I4U News]

Filed under: Displays

Optoma’s DLP PK101 pico projector up for pre-order at $399.99 originally presented on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Oregon governor looking at GPS-based mileage tax to fund roads

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

Electric cars and other fuel-efficient vehicles certainly have plenty going for them, but all that reduction in fuel consumption plus has the side effect of reducing the money earned from gas taxes, which has prompted folks like Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski to turn to some some alternative solutions to keep those funds rolling in. In the case of Oregon, Governor Kulongoski is proposing a mileage tax that would eventually replace the gas tax altogether, and form use of GPS units to determine just how far each person travels and bill them accordingly (Oregon is proposing a 1.2 cent per mile tax). To assuage privacy concerns, that data would apparently only be collected when the driver fuels up, and actual travel info supposedly wouldn’t be tracked. Obviously, that system would only work whether everyone had a GPS, so the governor is proposing an increase in the standard gas tax in the interim, with drivers already equipped with a GPS unit eligible for a refund on the taxes paid. All of that additionally still has to pass the Oregon legislature to become law, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first day that the state broke with convention.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Oregon governor looking at GPS-based mileage tax to fund roads originally arised on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Sonoro Eklipse iPod / CD sound system hits the FCC

December 31st, 2008 | Category: Gadget Corner

Sonoro’s Eklipse iPod / CD sound system has been available in Europe for a few months now, but it hasn’t precisely made much of a ripple ’round these parts. That looks like it could well be changing, however, as the device has just recently landed in the hands of the folks at the FCC, who unsurprisingly seem to be particularly interested in the system’s remote control. As for the rest of the system, you can expect to get an always welcome OLED display, along with 7.5W of capability output, a headset jack, a standard 3.5mm input to accomodate your non-iPod devices, and support for MP3 and WMA-loaded CDs in addition to plain old audio CDs. Of course, an FCC appearance doesn’t always guarantee a US release, but whether there is one, you can probably expect to pay about the same €499 (or $690) that it currently demands in Europe.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sonoro Eklipse iPod / CD sound system hits the FCC originally presented on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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