Technewsbuzz.com

Topics: Cult of Mac , iPad We’ve had more than a few inbound requests today, via email and Twitter, asking a slightly obsessive but completely understandable question: When can I pre-order my freakin’ iPad ? True to form, the simple answer of “March 12th” is not adequate for the real early adopters , and they ask again: Yes, I know that, but what time can I push the button? When does the pre-order page go live on store.apple.com ? Do I need to stay up all night, refreshing the page? We understand. We know where you’re coming from. We asked Apple PR to…

Got a hankering for Pine Trail? We attest to a certain weakness ourselves, and now MSI’s Wind U160 netbook is on sale for $380 to fulfill your Atom N450 snacking needs. We were intrigued by the little laptop when we played with it back at CES, particularly if its standard 6-cell battery hump can really produce the quoted 14 hours of life. For whatever reason Newegg and Buy.com are showing now-shipping right now, while Amazon’s lagging with pre-orders only at this point, but we’re sure you’ll make the right retail choice, whatever happens. MSI’s Wind U160 netbook up for grabs in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Macmillan’s US CEO, John Sargent just confirmed that Amazon pulled its inventory of Macmillan books in a powerful response to Macmillan’s new pricing demands. Macmillan offered the new pricing on Thursday, just a day after Apple announced Macmillan as a major publishing partner in its new iBookstore — a revelation that certainly factored into the discussions along with Skiff and other emerging e-book distribution and publishing models. During the meeting with Amazon in Seattle, Sargent outlined what he calls an “agency model” that will go into effect in early March. Under the terms offered, if Amazon chose to stay with its existing terms of sale, then it would suffer “extensive and deep windowing of titles.” Amazon’s hardball response was to…

We don’t know about you, but every time we hear of a Walkman, we think of the old school cassette players , and are left strangely disappointed by the slinky modern variants and their tons of storage. The 16GB S745, which has absolutely nothing to do with Mickey Mouse we assure you, has entered North American retail channels, only it seems to have skipped the US for its more peace-loving neighbor up north. Eagle-eyed Canadian shoppers have spotted the more advanced version of the S740 on sale in Sony Style stores (for 200 CAD or 188 in real American currency), replete with a 2-inch screen, noise-canceling earphones, and an unhealthily thin case. Still, suspicions abound that Sony is merely waiting for CES…

In a move that could help counter the instant gratification valley that currently separates online shopping from heading to the local retailer, Amazon is pushing a “limited time offer” called Disc+ On Demand that pairs 300 or so of its movies with a free Amazon VOD copy. That digital version pops into the buyer’s Video Library instantly after purchase and still has to play by all the usual video on-demand rules of 24 hr / 30 day windows, U.S. address, and is currently only available in standard-definition. Still, this combination of the digital and physical purchase worlds means the online giant has beaten …

Love to tinker and tweak your smartphone? Find running beta software a challenge, not a burden? Then you’ll be happy to hear that Nokia’s N900 running Maemo 5 is now shipping in the US, a week later than the press release suggested. This Cortex-A8 phone with 32GB of on-board storage is ripe with potential and the perfect holiday gift for grandma as long as she’s comfortable dropping into the X Terminal for the occasional “rm -R /home/user/.microfeed” command. It’s still listed for $649 unlocked from Nokia direct though that price will be dropping soon enough. [Thanks, Alex] Nokia N900 now shipping in the land of Ford freedom trucks originally appeared on…

So we know the iPhone has been slumming it and selling itself on Walmart shelves in the US for a while now, but it’s retained a somewhat more dignified cachet over here in Europe. Until today, that is. Just “in time for Christmas,” British retailer Tesco will make it possible for you to buy your socks, no-frills groceries, and shiny smartphone all in the same place. You’ll still be riding O2’s network, thanks to the Tesco Mobile service, but the department store chain is likely to price its contracts more aggressively, as it already has a

Virgin Mobile Canada has announced that it will begin to sell the iPhone 3G and 3GS in Virgin Mobile Retail Stores and online in Canada in the “coming months.” VMC joins fellow Canadian carriers Telus, Bell Canada, Fido, and Rogers in becoming an authorized iThing dealer. When we get more firm information regarding a firm launch date and pricing, we’ll obviously be sure to share with our favorite readers/neighbors to the north. But for now, we can all get back to watching Strange Brew and drinking Labatt’s. Crunch Network : CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

It wasn’t long ago that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was packing theaters, but given how quickly things hit DVD and Blu-ray these days we’re surprised to learn this one won’t be flinging vermicelli to disc until just after the holidays. Fear not carb-lovers: similar to the Hancock deal last year , new purchasers of internet-capable Sony TVs and Blu-ray players will be receiving one free stream of the film starting on December 8; that’s nearly a full month ahead of the retail release. The stream will be in 720p and will allow full control during 24 hours. What if you’ve already purchased your Sony setup? The company is happy…

So, Best Buy’s new store in NYC is going to be open 24 hours during the week. Apple also has a 24-hour store in NYC, but this could be way better. I have some pitches for you, Best Buy . 1. Capsule Hotel Say you’re in Union Square, it’s 4am, and you’re drunk. Far too drunk to figure out how to get back to Queens on the subway. Well, why not go and crash in the capsule hotel at Best Buy for $15? And when you get up, you can make a quick video game impulse purchase to help nurse your hangover with. 2. Pay by the …