posted Jan 13th 2012 2:50AM 
Dish Network's curious Blockbuster project appears to be sputtering a bit, now that the company has confirmed that it will shutter more stores than originally anticipated. Speaking to Reuters at CES today, Dish Network CEO Joe Clayton confirmed that his company plans to close all Blockbuster shops that aren't turning a profit, and that some of the remaining stores will be converted into Dish customer service outlets. Back in July, the company announced plans to keep about 1,500 stores open, along with about 90 percent of Blockbuster employees, but those aspirations have since been derailed. "We are committed to keeping the profitable stores open that are generating positive cash flow, but there are ones that aren't going to make it," Clayton explained. "We will close unprofitable stores. We will close additional stores." The exec did not specify how many stores would be closed, nor did he offer any sort of timeline, but spokesman Marc Lumpkin said that the decisions would be made on a "case by case" basis.View the original article here
D'ya know what'd make up for a nineteen-year wait? Well, Project Sora thinks the answer is a plastic peripheral. Yes the long, long awaited Kid Icarus: Uprising looks like it'll be bundled with an official "Nintendo 3DS Stand," according to a tweet by the game's maker. It's no doubt a practical addition, as those analog-plus-touchscreen controls look like they'd make your arms tired -- which is probably what got Icarus in trouble in the first place. No word on price for the goods at this time or even if it'll travel across the pacific, but we're keeping our primary feathers crossed. 
Not satisfied with iOS? No problem, OnLive has a hefty helping of Windows waiting for you in the iTunes app store. Palo Alto announced the streaming Office app earlier this week, touting it as a no-compromise enterprise experience. The free app is fairly basic, giving iPad users hungry for a dose of Microsoft Office limited access to Windows' premiere word processing, presentation and spreadsheet software -- though the outfit has said that it will intro "pro" and "enterprise" versions of the service with more features in the future. Go ahead, now you can be a Mac and a PC. We won't tell. 
Telus does a me too and follows Bell to market with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Starting tomorrow, January 13th, Telusites can grab Google's newest pure Android dev. set for a cool $99.99 on a 3-year contract, $549.99 for 2-years, $599.99 for one and $649.99 off-contract. In case you've been away from civilization for the last little while and missed what this set is all about, feel free to check the facts and figures followed by our review. 
Though we didn't have the Archos 35 home connect to wake us up personally during CES, we had a chance to get hands-on with the Android-based alarm clock on the floor and it did not disappoint. The Archos 35 home connect is the company's entrance into the world of feature-filled alarm clocks, joining the already established Sony Dash and Chumby. In terms of functionality, it's a morning talk show all rolled up into one, providing weather, real time traffic, news, sports, movies, music, TuneIn radio, social networking and much more through the built-in WiFi. You'll also find a webcam on the front, supporting apps like Tango for video calling, a rechargeable battery to take the party with you, and a 3.5 headphone jack for more personal use. 
It's been quite a while since we've seen a new Classmate PC from the folks at CTL, but the company's now back at CES with a pair of new models. Those include the 2go Classmate PC NL3 convertible tablet (above), and the 2go Classmate PC E12, which takes on a more traditional laptop form-factor. Both models pack a 10.1-inch screen (with the NL3 employing a resistive touchscreen to accommodate a stylus), and each boast some relatively similar specs across the board, including a 1.6GHz Atom N2600 processor, 1GB of RAM, and your choice of either a standard hard drive or SSD for storage -- plus the same ruggedness found on the company's earlier Classmate PCs. Look for both to be available early next month, with the NL3 starting at $499 and the E12 coming in at $349. Videos of each are after the break. 
Gigabyte's CES suite is something of an alternate universe. It's a place where Ultrabooks and ICS tablets don't exist, and Windows 7 slates, netvertibles and dockable systems are the norm. On display, of course, you'll find the S1081 Windows 7 tablet ($649), a refresh of the S1080 that steps up to a Cedar Trail CPU and adds an HDMI port in the process, but otherwise has the same specs and design. That'll land sometime this quarter. That netvertible of the nostalgic '90s variety would be the 10-inch T1006M ($559), which has Cedar Trail innards, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB or 500GB HDD and is "3.5G-ready." Availability details are hazy, as Gigabyte can't specify timing until Intel reveals when Cedar Trail will ship. Suffice to say, Gigabyte expects it to hit the US this quarter. 
