Engadget

Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we'll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You'll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won't stick around long.

If the mid-week blues have you down, perhaps a new batch of discounted tech will be just the thing to cheer you up. This time around, solid state drives from both Samsung and Intel make the cut alongside a pair of in-ears from Sennheiser that will allow you to use that Yacht Rock playlist to drown out your coworkers. Jump past the break to view the whole group, but remember to be mindful of those coupon codes and rebate forms.

After the hammering Huawei received from the US Congress, it was probably hoping to catch a break north of the border. Unfortunately for Huawei, Canada's government has obtusely hinted that it, too, would block the company from bidding to build its new secure network. Andrew MacDougall said that it would use national security provisions to avoid international trade laws, and when asked directly about the Chinese company, was quoted as saying "I'll leave it to you if you think... Huawei should be a part of a Canadian government security system." However, the telecoms business thinks it can get around the rule, because it has a locally incorporated subsidiary -- but given that even the house committee chairman is lobbying against it, we wouldn't be getting our hopes up.

[Original image credit: The Canadian Press / Sean Kilpatrick]

The story of Office for the iPad has been something of a rollercoaster. Depending on who you've talked to this year, the mobile app has been on, then off, then on again... if it was ever real to start with. Imagine our surprise, then, when IHNED says Microsoft Czech Republic product manager Petr Bobek "confirmed" native Android and iOS ports of Office 2013 during a press conference. The Office division higher-up reportedly outlined a strategy where the productivity suite would reach Windows for large businesses and individuals in December and February respectively, but would reach "other platforms" later on through more than just mobile-optimized web versions. It sounds promising, but we have reason for skepticism -- assuming the testimony is accurate, there's still a history of employees at Microsoft and other companies overstepping their boundaries without direct guidance from the corporate mothership. We reached out to Microsoft ourselves, and a spokesperson gave us a relatively conservative answer. While the company reiterated statements that "Office Mobile will work across Windows Phones, Android phones and iOS," it added that there was "nothing additional to announce" regarding Office's retail availability. As much of a glimmer of hope that might represent for some Android and iOS fans, it doesn't equate to a direct Office 2013 port with a release schedule.

[Image credit: The Daily]

Here's the thing with Windows 8: staring at those live tiles feels kinda weird if you can't reach out and touch them. That's why Sony has upgraded its Vaio T13 Ultrabook with a touch panel (making it technically the T13-2), allowing you to reach out across the keyboard and swipe away to your heart's content. We've just left some fingerprints on a high-spec model with a Core i7 processor, 1366 x 768 resolution, 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, which will sell in the UK from October 26th priced somewhere north of £1,000 (or $1,600, though Sony doesn't set exact prices). A more modestly equipped i7, with 4GB and a 500GB hybrid drive should be somewhere around £900 ($1,400), while an entry-level i3 will start at £700 ($1,100), give or take. Bear mind that the dollar prices will be much lower than these currency conversions suggest -- for reference, the original T13 starts at just $770.

Our first impression was that enabling touch on this traditional form factor was slightly awkward, especially if the purpose of touching the screen was to achieve something that would have been more readily accomplished with a tap on the keyboard -- such as adjusting brightness, scrolling or returning to the home screen. On the other hand, the UI was incredibly responsive on the Core i7 processor and over time the touchscreen may well come to feel more natural than the touchpad within Microsoft's new OS. Just bear in mind that enabling touch comes with a couple of sacrifices, aside from any price premium: it adds 100 grams and 1mm in thickness to an Ultrabook that was already on the chunky side, due to the addition of tougher hinges as well as the extra layer in the display. Check out our hands-on video after the break and make up your own mind.

Sony Vaio T13 with touchscreen hands-on

Pioneer has enjoyed a fairly tight grip on the upper-end of the DJ market, but if you step out of the professional DJ booth, and into the bars and bedrooms, the competition starts to heat up. So when we heard about the XDJ-Aero and its curious new WiFi functionality, we were interested to see how this $1,399 controller would be received. That's not to say the DJ mainstay doesn't hold its ground in this busier market -- it does -- but as the far more frequent product release schedule will attest, the industry standard crown is still up for grabs. There's the other issue of software to consider, also. Pioneer has remained fairly neutral so far, releasing controllers for the big two platforms already, with the paint barely dry on its latest addition.

The XDJ-Aero, however, hints at a new approach. One where you don't need to choose your software gang colors to be involved. This isn't the first bit of kit that lets you play direct from USB drives or skip the laptop, but it's the first from Pioneer that clearly heads out in its own direction. Ditch the Traktor, wean yourself of Serato, even forget CDs and just get on with the mixing. That seems to be what the XDJ-Aero is about, but does it hold its own? We popped a few of our favorite ditties on to find out.

Pioneer XDJ-Aero review

There are plenty of gaming headsets, but only so many specifically tuned to the PlayStation audience that aren't made by Sony itself. Mad Catz' Tritton label has just shipped a version of its Kunai wired headset optimized for both the PS3 and the PS Vita that might redress that (admittedly minor) deficit. About the only real customization for Vita owners is the option for a shorter 3-foot cord, but PS3 owners can plug in through USB and adjust voice volume independently from the gunshots and explosions. Regardless of which game console the Kunai links to, there's a modest 25Hz to 20KHz headphone frequency range and few frills aside from a detachable boom microphone. Tritton is mostly counting on the price to lure us in, which just might work -- at $60, berating players in-game with a Kunai will cost as much as one of the games themselves.

Canadian-born, Japanese-owned e-reader maker Kobo announced its intentions to acquire digital publishing company Aquafadas today, an agreement that'll bring rich content like magazines, academic texts, comics and children's books, amongst others, to Kobo users. The deal also builds out Kobo's self-publishing offering, bringing more tools to the table, along with additional languages like German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. Kobo's also taking the opportunity to announce exapanded offerings in New Zealand, thanks to partnerships with Booksellers NZ and The Paper Plus Group. Back in September, the company announced a trio of new devices set for release this month and next in the States.

We already know from our own experience that the Tesla Model S is a driver's car, with acceleration and handling you wouldn't expect from a big and quiet luxury sedan. There's still nothing like a drag race to help settle the matter. Automobile has pitted the upscale EV against one of its more conspicuous rivals, BMW's M5, with performance results that might surprise those who would expect a 500HP, twin-turbo V8 to regularly come out on top. While we won't spoil the full results of the showdown video after the break, let's just say that even the M5's relatively wide torque band can only do so much when the Model S' electric motor is always at its peak. BMW's car may be better overall for those who want to travel long distances outside of certain routes, or to enjoy a burly exhaust note -- but there has to be a certain thrill for Tesla drivers who know they can hang with the speed kings while helping the environment.

Twitter has pretty much nailed text-based interaction, so it looks like it's time to diversify into video. According to AllThingsD, the blue birdie has snapped up a three-man outfit called Vine, a video-sharing startup intended specifically for bite-sized clips. You'd be forgiven for not knowing it -- the service hasn't actually launched yet -- and there's no word on whether it'll operate independently or be assimilated by the social network. There are bound to be more details revealed soon, and it might not be too long before you're sharing less in 140 characters and more in five-second clips.

German site MobileGeeks has leaked further details about the new Mini version of the Galaxy S III -- a device that Samsung only just confirmed this morning. As expected, we're looking at a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and Jelly Bean-flavored TouchWiz, but if the source is accurate then most of the other specs are surprisingly budget: the screen resolution is a mere 800 x 480, the big bro's quad-core Exynos processor has been replaced by a dual-core STE U8420 chip running at 1GHz, there's 1GB of RAM, and the rear shooter maxes out at 5-megapixels. According to the leaked info, this all-round downgrade could lead to an expected price tag of 399 Euros ($510). No doubt we'll have more clarity after tomorrow's launch event.

SpaceX's Dragon left the planet on October 7th in a blaze of glory, and should be docking with the International Space Station imminently. If you'd like to start your morning with some vertigo-inducing spectacle, head on past the break to watch the action live.

Update: Dragon has successfully completed its coupling with the ISS. The task was completed at 9:03AM, Eastern Time, and the capsule will remain in space until October 28th, when it's scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing bevy of used equipment and scientific samples back to earth.

GoPro owners have had a long wait, but the company's iOS remote app (Android "coming soon") is finally available and ready to work for those possessing both an HD Hero2 camera and WiFi BacPac accessory. While the hardware will cost you the app itself is free, and adds capabilities including remote control of all of the camera's settings, monitoring of battery life and storage space, date / time sync with your mobile device, live remote preview so you can see what you're shooting in real time and also access to GoPro's Photo of the Day / Video of the Day channels. Along with the app, GoPro is releasing the Protune firmware update that will let cameras record at a higher 35Mbps bitrate, 24fps and adjust the video for a different cinematic look.

Still, it is a v1 release and while our reader Khena reports it's stable, it does have some rough edges. Currently you can't access or view any recordings already stored on the camera or control more than one camera, although GoPro says those features are coming, while other gripes include delay between the camera and the app's "live" viewfinder that can be as much as five seconds and the inability to preview the ProTune settings while recording. That's a bit frustrating after the wait for the app to arrive, but in an action camera market suddenly teeming with competition, they may be enough to keep GoPro fans from switching to another any time soon. Check out a quick tutorial video and press release after the break, or hit the link below to grab the app from iTunes (make sure your camera and BacPac are updated to the latest software first.)

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

As we get closer to Windows 8's October 25th launch date, expect the floodgates to open on a barrage of tidbits, insider peeks and revelations. One such early arrival is these four clips, lasting just under a minute, that demonstrate some of the new features that'll soon arrive on your computer, tablet or hybrid. We've included them for you after the break, but be warned -- there's no Alex Clare blasting in the background like those catchy Internet Explorer ads, so we'll just have to sing it ourselves. On three... "and it feels. like. I. am. just. too. close. to. love. you..."

It'll be another two weeks before Windows 8 PCs go on sale, but if you like, you can pick out your gesture-enabled peripherals now. Logitech just announced two wireless mice and an external trackpad, all optimized to support gestures in Windows 8. Starting with the mice, the Touch Mouse T620 has the same design as the M600 announced earlier this year, except it supports Win 8 gestures out of the box. (The M600 will get a software update allowing it to work the same way.) Similar to its predecessor, the T620's entire top surface is touch-enabled, which means you can do things like swipe the right side for the Charm Bar, or swipe from the left to rotate through open programs. You can also double tap with one finger to return to the Start Screen, and double tap with two fingers to show the desktop.

Moving on, the Zone Touch Mouse T400 has a touch strip that you can use to move up and down through pages, as well as scroll through the live tiles on the Start Screen. In a brilliant twist, though, the touch strip itself is comprised of two buttons, which you can use to toggle open apps or bring up the Start Screen, depending on which end you press. Finally, the Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650 is a Magic Trackpad-style touchpad with a spacious glass surface, which seemed impeccably responsive during our brief hands-on with it. Unlike the two mice, which run on AAs, the T650 has a rechargeable battery, which you can re-juice over USB.

All of these accessories use proprietary 2.4GHz wireless technology instead of Bluetooth, which means you'll need a free USB port to accommodate the accompanying transceiver. The dongle can pair with up to six Logitech peripherals at once, but that's a bummer if you also happen to own gear made by a Microsoft or HP. As you might have guessed, these are compatible with Windows PCs only, though you could use them with Win 7 if you so chose. Look for all three this month, with the Touchpad T650 priced $80, the Touch Mouse at $70 and the T400 at $50.

We wondered why Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith was slated as a keynote presenter at CTIA's MobileCon -- after all, what does renting cars have to do with mobile? Apparently, quite a lot. Griffith stated in his keynote that Zipcar's app and mobile services have taken a much more central role in the organization. The company is developing its own in-car device holder so that customers can hook up their phones for hands-free functions, and more importantly, the Zipcar smartphone app is due for a major update. The current version can be used to schedule rentals and remote unlock vehicles, but future iterations will transform it into more of an "in-car assistant." It'll let you know more information about the car, help you around town with a personal recommendation service, stream your iTunes playlist, and detailed trip feedback like fuel-levels and car conditions will be far easier to report. Zipcar hopes to add new members through the app as well -- just take a photo of your driver's license and get an approval "in minutes." According to Griffith, the connected car will change our urban landscape, especially with the combination of services like Lyft, Uber, bike sharing, and public transit. It's not quite the flying car, but the nerd in us is sufficiently pleased.

It looks like the rumored Samsung Galaxy S III mini is real, and it will make its debut at an event in Frankfurt, Germany tomorrow. Mobile chief JK Shin said that the company believed there was demand "in Europe" for a cut down 4-inch version of the popular smartphone, which would otherwise carry the same specs of the original. That would give the company a high-end smartphone with an iPhone 5-esque form factor for folks who don't want to wedge the original 4.8-inch model into their pockets. Pricing and stateside availability wasn't mentioned, but Shin did say that launching the product in Korea was also "under consideration." Naturally, we'll have a lot more to report about it on October 11th, so stay tuned.

Update: We've reached out to Samsung's PR folks and they've doubly confirmed the story: "we'll unveil the 4 inch Galaxy S III Mini in Germany on October 11th."

Motorola had said its dearest RAZR HD LTE would be coming "later this fall" as an exclusive to Rogers, and today's the day that relatively thin and powerful Android handset hits shelves across the border. Available now for $100 (with the obligatory three-year commitment, of course), the RAZR HD LTE will hand interested Canadians a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich (sorry, no Jelly Bean for now), a 4.7-inch Super AMOLED HD, 720p display and a 1.5GHz, dual-core S4 CPU -- not to mention the ability to surf on Rogers' LTE waves in areas where the network's live. Meanwhile, those who would like to go the "outright" way will have to spend a cool $600 on Moto's Kevlar-sporting slab, but, needless to say, that's the price folks have to pay for walking out the door with a bit of leeway. Usually we'd say you should check out Rogers' website to snag one for yourself, however the site appears to be experiencing some technical difficulties right now -- but, hey, there's always the good ol' brick-and-mortar store.

Gmail has had an automatic message translation feature for awhile, but now it's really stepping up its game for multilingual users. The popular email service has added more than 100 virtual keyboards, transliteration and IMEs to help you communicate in as many as 75 languages, which is a quite the improvement over the five languages it supported before. Simply enable "input tools" in Language under Settings, and you'll see an Input Tools drop down in your toolbar. Select the language you want, and away you go. You can also add the Input Tools function elsewhere via a Chrome extension, a Windows desktop client, or an Android app. Now, if only Google would sort out your upcoming exams in Chinese 201...

T-Mobile's not being shy in its selection of Windows Phone 8 offerings, so far announcing plans to release the HTC Windows Phone 8X, 8S and Nokia Lumia 810, but unfortunately it does have to be shy in actually showing them off. The carrier's booth at tonight's MobileCon 2012-related event had the latter device, but wasn't able to turn it on for us (a situation that we've sadly come to expect with virtually every public appearance by a WP8 device). Technically, the 810 is being dubbed a T-Mobile "exclusive" in the US, but that takes on very little meaning when given its use of a AWS-friendly HSPA+ 42Mbps radio. It bears some family resemblance in specs and looks to its cousin, the Lumia 820, but it still keeps to a distinct design; the 8MP rear camera panel is laid out vertically (see also: Lumia 800) rather than horizontally, the LED flash is off to its side, and the 1.2MP front-facing camera is on the opposite side of the earpiece. It's still a little thicker and heavier than we'd like to see on a midrange device, which is mainly a result of the 810's exchangeable wireless charging shells (it's available in cyan and black). The Lumia 810 also features a 4.3-inch OLED WVGA (800 x 480) ClearBlack display offering a pixel density of 217ppi. Naturally we'll need to put this to the test once we're allowed to turn it on, but we expect this to be roughly the same quality as the Lumia 900. We'll let you know when more specs come our way, but in the meantime take a look at our hands-on images below.

Nokia Lumia 810 for T-Mobile hands-on

Myriam Joire contributed to this post.