We never really knew anyone intrigued by Pogo’s iPhone stylus, but the company’s newest writin’ stick puts that capacitive touch-compatible tech to a way more interesting use — turning touchpads into large digitizer tablets. That’d be particularly useful for new MacBook owners who’re rocking those gigantor buttonless trackpads, but we’ll have to see this $15 accessory in action before we say Wacom’s got anything to worry about.

Filed under: Peripherals

Pogo Sketch stylus turns your touchpad into a tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Downloads, Patches, RPG

This hotfix for CD Project‘s fantasy RPG fixes EAX technology problems and eliminates the blur remaining after cut scenes and dialogue sequences.

Download The Witcher v2.3 Hotfix (106 MB)
Check out all of The Witcher Downloads

Download: The Witcher v2.3 Hotfix originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Japan, Subaru, UK

In this installment of “As the Yen Skyrockets,” Autocar is reporting that the introduction of the long-awaited Subaru Impreza diesel has been delayed indefinitely due to unfavorable exchange rates. A source inside International Motors, the firm that imports Subarus into the UK, told Autocar, “At the current rate we would have to charge vastly more than we can justify for the diesel Impreza if we were to make a profit. As a result we can’t guarantee when the car will go on sale as we can’t predict when the economy will change.”

Both Toyota and Honda are facing the same problem, with Honda CEO Takeo Fukui going so far as to threaten moving Honda’s headquarters outside of Japan. Analysts predict that the yen could begin to sink in the coming weeks, but if the market doesn’t correct itself, the Japanese government might have to intervene and begin devaluing its currency.

[Source: Autocar]

Subaru Impreza diesel delayed for the UK originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Business

That “fat chance” of getting a Wii for the holidays? It’s now officially a very good chance. Gamasutra brings word – backed up by statistics from Video Game Price Charts – that the resale market has been so inundated with systems, those who invested in snapped up a Wii hoping to make a profit from it are lucky to get retail price.

This time last year, Wii systems for offer on resale sites such as eBay were fetching nearly $500; the site now lists hundreds, many of which are going unsold (especially those with starting bids above retail). It seems that Nintendo’s promise of increased production earlier in the year has been fulfilled, as retailers including Walmart.com and Amazon have had the console in stock during December – and for much longer than what had become a matter of seconds for most of this and last year.

[Via NWF]

Auction inaction: Wii resales no longer fetching above retail price originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: X3F Features

Ask X3F is back once again with loads of questions from you, our lovely, talented readers. This week, we cover questions about Lips (en Español), the hard drive data migration kit, license transferring and more. Sit back, get cozy, grab some cocoa, and enjoy. As always, we invite you to give us your feedback, and don’t forget to lend a hand in the comment if you have a better answer than we do (which you probably do, considering how lovely and talented you are).

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you’d like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Continue reading Ask X3F: Where have all the splitscreens gone edition

Ask X3F: Where have all the splitscreens gone edition originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Government/Legal

Automakers have been fleeing the Detroit Auto Show in droves over the last few months. Porsche, citing slow sales in metro Detroit, was the first to announce it was pulling out of the NAIAS, but Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Land Rover and Rolls-Royce all followed suit shortly thereafter. While much of the blame can be placed squarely on the broad shoulders of the global economic meltdown, organizers of the event also point to the quickly deteriorating conditions at Cobo Hall and the lack of available space when compared to such venues as the Chicago Auto Show.

Even if they can’t fix the economy, the U.S. Senate has stepped in to fix Cobo. A total of 166,000 square-feet of space will be added to the 700,000 that is already present. NAIAS officials are hopeful that this added room, along with a general tidying up of the joint, will bring those manufacturers back and keep any others from leaving after ’09. To reach a deal, a five-member board will oversee Cobo Hall, including the governor of Michigan and representatives from Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. We’re sure negotiations will go just swimmingly from here on forward.

[Source: Detroit News]

Cobo Hall expansion plan approved… will NAIAS recover to need the space? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a confusing timeline of events that only Charlton Heston could love, Dell confirmed today that it already has touted its soon-to-be-unveiled “Adamo” as a rival to the MacBook Air in a blogvertisement that posed itself as a rumor that Adamo would do just that:

“Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air. At press time, the company was keeping the product tightly under wraps, but PC users rejoice – word on the street is that something cool is coming your way.”

The adblog appeared on a “luxury internet magazine,” and was noticed by The New York Times Bits Blog, who bounced the copy off Dell, which confirmed it as an ad: “We did this to wake up the personal computing category and create some buzz.” This further confirms (or perhaps pre-confirms) what we’ve heard about Adamo, but we’re looking forward to the actual unveiling of this laptop and forming our own real, factual opinions on the thing.

Filed under: Laptops

Dell confirms shocking truth: Adamo to rival MacBook Air originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the gang at iSuppli first tore open a PlayStation 3 back in November 2006, they pegged the cost to build the $500 model was $805 in materials. Now they’re back and looking inside the $400 version, which they estimate is $448.73 in parts — still a loss leader for the company, but only by about one Ulysses S. Grant this time. The number of components has also dropped from 4,048 to just 2,820, and both the Cell processor and NVIDIA GPU have slimmed down from 90nm to 65nm. They suspect Sony might be able to lower costs and turn a profit sometime in 2009, but while you may be rooting for this generation’s underdog, don’t get your hopes up for a price drop any time soon.

Filed under: Gaming

PS3 teardown: 30% fewer parts, $300 cheaper originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Economy, Euro, FIAT

Fiat is rumored to be working on an all-new brand to launch small, inexpensive cars into the Western Europe, with two of the three proposed models being based on vehicles from emerging markets. The third is much more interesting. The new supermini, which could revive the Topolino moniker, is expected to get a new twin cylinder engine that could offer as much as 65 mpg when mated to a dual-clutch gearbox. Naturally, Fiat is targeting the smart fortwo, Toyota iQ and the upcoming up! minicar from Volkswagen, but the automaker is said to be working on a pricing model that more closely matches Renault’s low-cost Logan subsidiary. In other words, Europeans may get an efficient, stylish Italian city car that’s priced to compete with upper-end motorcycles as basic transportation. Electric versions are also a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, as is often the case, Americans are likely to miss out on this one.

[Source: Autocar]

REPORT: Fiat plans Smart, Toyota iQ competitor originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Culture, Action

There’s been a lot of games adapted into comic books lately and the latest such project that will get that treatment is the episodic PC game series American McGee’s Grimm. Over at the official IDW Publishing blog site it has been announced that the comic book publisher will launch a five issue monthly mini-series based on the game starting in April.

You can see the cover for the first issue over on the right. As you can tell the series won’t be adapting classic fairy tales but instead will give the American McGee-style riff on comic book genres such as superheroes. Other issues will spotlight funny animal comics, romance comics, western comics and even Archie-style teenage comics. The series will be written by Dwight MacPherson and illustrated by Grant Bond.

[Via Blue's News]

American McGee’s Grimm heads to comics in April originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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