i Phone BUY

T-Mobile G1

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in the cell phone industry this year was the final release of the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream), and with it, the first commercial version of the Android operating system.

Even though we thought …

On this week’s installment of the Digital City, we discuss the Facebook koobface virus, PlayStation Home’s launch, sleazy old ’80s urban video game arcades, tech blog Gizmodo’s cool NYC retro gadget gallery, our New Year’s resolutions, and (seriously) Dance Dance Revolution: The Musical.

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Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

Owing to as Tom Lehrer would say, nepotism and intrigue, I found myself in the small town of Brenham, Texas this Sunday on the very day Apple’s iPhone was to go on sale at the Walmart mega-chain (an outfit I, as a native New Yorker, have had very little experience with).

Popping in to check out the action and snag some photos, I found a single iPhone display — it would be generous to call it a kiosk — with an activated iPhone and a handful of brochures. The price tags on display gave both the new customer/upgrade price, as well as the full retail price. A small paper sign taped to the wall announced that iPhone sales would commence at 9:00am, and that customers should line up for access to limited stock.

I asked a sales clerk about first-day sales, and she said as far as she knew they hadn’t sold a single unit so far, “but maybe if they had started selling it before Christmas…” There was, however, a steady stream of gawkers checking out the display unit in the ten or so minutes I spent in the electronics department.

Click through for photos of the in-store Walmart display:
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Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

Speculation that Wal-Mart would sell a $99 iPhone was put to rest on Friday when the official announcement came out sans the double digits.

However, all hope is not lost.

AT&T is selling a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G in black for $99 with a two-year service contract through …

Originally posted at News - Wireless

This post was updated at 9:41 a.m. PST with more details from Wal-Mart.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)

Wal-Mart on Friday confirmed that it will be selling Apple’s iPhone 3G beginning Sunday at about 2,500 stores. The price, with a new two-year service agreement with AT&#…

Originally posted at News - Apple

(Credit: Foxit Software)

You can’t always judge an e-book reader by its cover–or at least its model name. If you’ve been perusing gadget blogs in recent days you may have noticed that another e-book reader, the eSlick, from Foxit Software, has entered the digital reader fray.

The eSlick’

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(Credit: Whiskeygonebad's Flickr stream)

Hi all,

Quick programming note: posting is going to be rather light on Crave starting Tuesday.

Many of us will be on vacation for the holidays for the next week and a half, so the normal font of gadgety goodness will at times seem …

(Credit: iBreviary)

Doing any last-minute holiday shopping for that religious yet tech-savvy someone in your life?

On Monday, the Vatican formally endorsed an iPhone application that allows users to load the Breviary prayer book, prayers for saying a Catholic Mass, and other prayers.

The application, called iBreviary, was created by …

With Macworld coming up in just two weeks, the parade of Apple-flavored rumors, wishes, and murmurings continues.

Guess which one is the rumored iPhone Nano?

(Credit: MacRumors.com)

The latest to surface–or resurface–involves a purported concept photo of what’s said to be an “iPhone Nano,” a more or less …

Ding dong, the VCR is dead

I’ve never been very good at giving up on old technology. I held on to my audio cassettes well into the compact disc era; my old Handspring Visor is still sitting in my desk drawer; and I admit that I still have an …

On this week’s installment of the Digital City, we discuss faster Internet access coming to several major cities, where to find a Nintendo Wii, and how to safely buy (or sell) a US Senate seat.

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Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

Roku's Netflix Player: Getting more channels in 2009

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

The Netflix Player by Roku is the latest Netflix-compatible device to offer HD video support. The free firmware upgrade (version 1.5) adds the ability to access the approximately 300 or so titles in Netflix’s streaming library that are currently available in high-definition. The upgrade brings the Roku box up to speed with the Xbox 360, TiVo HD DVRs, and Samsung BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray players, all of which have been upgraded to support Netflix HD streams over the past few weeks. (The remaining device, the LG BD300 Blu-ray player, should be getting its own HD firmware upgrade soon.)

In addition to the HD upgrade, the Roku box is also teasing the eventual availability of new non-Netflix programming. Clicking the “what’s new” button on the updated home screen reveals a message that says:

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I Love Katamari is the iPhone/iPod Touch version of the popular Katamari Damacy game.

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

Last Monday, I Love Katamari for the iPhone and iPod Touch was released, and iPhone/iPod Touch owners everywhere rejoiced. OK, only Katamari Damacy fans would rejoice, but c’mon, who isn’t a fan of a game where you can roll up pretty much anything and everything into a giant ball?

When I heard the news, I immediately went to the App Store and plunked down $7.99 of my own money for the game. I absolutely loved playing Katamari Damacy as well as its sequel, We Love Katamari on the PlayStation 2, and looked forward to see how the iPhone/iPod Touch version would fare.

As I expected, it’s absolutely stunning, and the music is as addictive as ever (”NA-NAAAAAA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NAAAAA The Katamari Damacy” is stuck in my head at the moment). The story part of Katamari is usually a fun little quirk of the game, and it’s no different here. It starts out with the King of All Cosmos losing his memory of Earthly objects, and wants the Prince to roll them up so he can remember them. And as always, you’re asked to roll the katamari ball over all sorts of objects of varying sizes, and as you roll up more things, your ball grows in size, making it possible to roll up larger objects–even animals and people.

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Verizon Wireless has offered prepaid plans for a long time, but last week the carrier announced that it was expanding its services. Maybe it’s the economy, or maybe Verizon is just getting in the holiday spirit.

Customers can choose from three plans, each with a different daily access fee …