ASUS has been riding the Eee wave pretty high lately, and although things seem going pretty well for the powerhouse company, there might be some storm clouds in the distance — Tweaktown’s got a long piece translated from the Taiwan-only Business Today which hints at some exec-level infighting going on at the top. It’s pretty in-depth stuff, but the main takeaway seems to be that ASUS’s spinoff of its OEM manufacturing business as Pegatron ruffled a few feathers, leading Pegatron chairman Tung Tsu Hsien to apparently start thinking about launching his own consumer brand called PEGA Design to take on ASUS — especially interesting since we just saw some Pegatron-branded netbooks and nettops. We’ll see if any of this comes to pass — we’d be pretty into another huge company cranking out wild ideas like the Eee keyboard.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

ASUS execs said to be infighting, potentially launching competing brand originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Check it, Pacific Northwest — Seattle, Washington was just named Forbes‘ most wired city for 2009, followed closely by Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Orlando and Boston. Of course, having Amazon and Microsoft within spitting distance probably didn’t hurt matters, and the eleventy billion Starbucks WiFi hotspots likely pushed it over the edge. There are 25 other locales in the top 30 that we’ve yet to mention here, so head on down to the read link to see if your hometown made the cut. Oh, and way to represent, Raleigh — numero fifteen ain’t too shabby.

[Via cnmoody]

Filed under: Networking

Seattle crowned most wired city in America: where’s your town? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Culture

As you’ve probably already heard, a plethora of changes will be hitting the site sometime next week in order to bring some much-desired streamlining to the ‘Stiq. Following in the spirit of self-improvement, the WeeWebWrap has finally settled on a logo from the brilliant submissions we received more than two months ago — based on our own adjudication and reader reaction, we picked the honorable Number 10. Believe it or not, this bit of misspelled branding comes to us from El Verde, the mind behind frequent contender SideScroller. Thanks, El — and thanks to everyone who so kindly answered our request!

Now, to brass tacks — there are seven comics below. You will like one better than the rest. Located after the jump is an “internet poll”, where buttons are located next to the names of these comics. Clicking one of these buttons, and then clicking the button labeled “Vote!” will increase a number assigned to the comic you’ve chosen by a factor of one. In the middle of the week, we’ll inform you of the three comics which received the most of these “votes”. Ingenious, no?

God of Warrrrgh! (Hsu & Chan)
Belong (Digital Unrest)
Lost in Translation (2P Start)
Mario Party (Brawl in the Family)
The Time Has Come (Castle Vidcons)
Nerd is the New Black (SideScroller)
Internal Motivations (Dipswitch)

Continue reading Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is finally picking a logo

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is finally picking a logo originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Sports/GTs, Euro, Porsche

Brit buff mag Autocar says that Porsche is readying a lightweight version of the new Cayman, with plans to create a single-make racing series for it as it already does with the 911. The Porsche Cayman Clubsport, as it’ll reportedly be called, will weigh 220 pounds (100 kg) less than the standard-issue car. The weight savings will come via a stripped interior, lighter bodywork and wheels, and a “simplified” lighting system. Engine/transmission changes aren’t expected to be part of the go-fast recipe, but the 314-horsepower six that’s fitted to new Cayman S ought to deliver more than ample punch in the lighter Clubsport. Autocar says that a price premium of £4K is expected over the regular Cayman S, and that the car should arrive in the UK market in October. Porsche finally gives the Cayman S an engine that makes it a legit alternative consideration to the 911, and now it seems ready to turn up the heat even further with a lightweight version. Man, where do we sign up?

[Source: Autocar]

REPORT: Porsche Cayman Clubsport coming in October originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Action

When recently posited with a query as to whether or not Michael Hollick, the voice actor who provided the pipes for GTA IV’s Niko Bellic, would make a reprise appearance in the title’s upcoming DLC expansion, The Lost and Damned, a Rockstar exec responded rather emphatically — “Hell no!” This could be because Bellic, while making a few cameos in the expansion, isn’t a huge focus in the storyline. Unlike the other major characters of The Lost, Bellic’s dialogue can easily be recreated from the original game.

However, the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks portion of the response could possibly be due to comments Hollick made in a New York Times article in May of last year. In said article, Hollick expressed disappoinment that his union failed to negotiate anything more than a $100,000 contract for his voice work — a paltry sum when compared to the game’s total sales figures. Then again, that’s just speculation. It could just be that the queried party was all hopped up on caffeine when he answered the question, or possibly that he possesses a low-grade case of tourette’s.

Rockstar says ‘hell no’ to Niko voice actor in Lost and Damned originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Can you say “oops?” That so-called Mini 10, which curiously emerged at Tesco before anywhere else, is actually not a Mini 10. As the story goes, folks across the pond who plunked down £349 for their very own 10-inch Dell netbook have started receiving shipments only to find a perfectly average Mini 9 within. Furthermore, Tesco’s Mini 10 order page is now completely nonexistent, further signaling that a serious mishap occurred somewhere along the line. Hate to burst your bubble, but if you ordered one of these pups from this vendor, you should probably expect to hit the return to sender option and eagerly await a refund.

[Via PortableMonkey, thanks Peter]

Filed under: Laptops

Tesco’s £349 Mini 10 actually a £349 Mini 9 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Toyota

Toyota has a reputation around the Formula One paddock for having the biggest budget with the least results. But that’s all going to change, and change drastically, if the team doesn’t start winning races, according to some new reports.

Although outgoing Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe was reported to have rubber-stamped the company’s continued participation in F1 following a recent review, his successor and founding family scion, Akio Toyoda, may feel otherwise. Toyoda will be taking the reigns at the company following the first year of decline in its history, and will likely be looking to curb expenditures. In good times, some companies can justify the enormous financial cost of competing in F1 for the positive image it attaches to their company. But that’s only if they’re out there winning races, or at least coming close. If Toyota can’t score its first race win this year, the bean counters might have no choice but to follow fellow Japanese automaker Honda and pull out of the sport altogether. Click below for an updated gallery of the Toyota TF109, and follow the jump for a video.

[Source: F1-Live]

Continue reading Sink or Swim: Toyota could follow Honda out of F1 if the wins don’t come

Sink or Swim: Toyota could follow Honda out of F1 if the wins don’t come originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, LLC., Celebrities

If a company is going to stay in business, there’s no question that it must continue to market itself. Yet Chrysler’s choice to pay to do so via this summer’s Terminator: Salvation is a head-scratcher. Some folks have made an issue — a valid one — of public funds being used to secure the sponsorship. Regardless of who’s paying, we don’t get this at all.

Chrysler’s director of media, Susan Thomson, said “We have a following with the Terminator movies and we are going to continue with that.” We have no idea what following she’s speaking of, unless she means the ancient Dodge police car or equally ancient Jeep from the first film, neither of which made us think, “Chrysler rocks!” A modern, beat-up Wrangler makes a cameo in the latest trailer, but again, it doesn’t leave us jonesing for a Jeep.

When all anyone wants from Chrysler is good looking, ably performing cars, we don’t know what kind of mojo they expect to garner by showing up in the post-apocalypse. However, we also don’t know what Chrysler’s sponsorship entails. It could merely be a “Brought to you by” tag. Or maybe Chrysler just likes the word “Salvation.” Or there could be a shiny red-eyed Terminator sub-frame hauling ass in a 2009 Dodge Ram with lasers and miniguns. Now that would rock. Hat tip to RDS

[Source: Reuters via World Car Fans]

Chrysler sponsors Terminator: Salvation, we see hope, irony originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Rhythm

Up until now, we’ve been uncertain about what tracks would be appearing on Guitar Hero: Metallica – though the educated guessers among us presumed that it would have quite a few tracks by its titular band. They were correct — the news section on Metallica’s official site recently revealed the 28 tracks the rock outfit would be contributing to the game (PS2 and Wii versions will include three extra songs in lieu of access to the band’s Death Magnetic DLC pack), as well as the extra tracks from “some of the bands we admire and even call friends.”

The full list is posted after the jump, and features our patented new Bold-O-Vision technology to point out the particular song we can’t wait to croon without shame or self restraint in whatever social setting we happen to find ourselves in.

Continue reading Metallica reveals full setlist for Guitar Hero: Metallica

Metallica reveals full setlist for Guitar Hero: Metallica originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: OS Updates, Microsoft, Beta

It looks like we may have been a bit hasty in announcing the end of the Windows 7 public beta downloads. Although Microsoft had originally pegged today as the finale, they’ve decided to extend the deadline until February 10th, 2009.

Users with slow connections will be glad to know that there’s a two day period. As long as your download starts on the 10th, you’ll have until the 12th to finish it. Product keys will “continue to be available after February 12th,” though the announcement doesn’t say what the final date will be.

On January 27th a countdown will be added to the Windows 7 page to let visitors know that time is running out. Technet and MSDN subscribers don’t need to worry - you’ll continue to have download access through the remainder of the beta period.

The move seems like a no-brainer for Microsoft. Response to Vista’s successor has been overwhelmingly positive, and there’s no doubt the gang in Redmond wants to capitalize on the momentum.

Sure, you’ll probably be able to find the ISO files on any half-decent torrent site, but there’s a little added safety in downloading unmodified files right from the source.

You can read the full announcement on the Windows Team blog.

For the direct download links, check my previous post.

Windows 7 beta download deadline extended originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments