It's been a while since Sonos last had a significant hardware announcement, so welcome into the world their new ZP120 ($500) and Z90 ($350), as well as the $1,000 BU150 bundle (which includes both the new devices and the same original controller). The main difference, which we'd already heard: they now both support SonosNet 2.0, which uses MIMO to double the wireless distance between nodes. Also clear to those paying close attention, the amp-enabled aluminum-clad flagship model (ZP120) has undergone an intense weight loss treatment, leaving it significantly smaller than its predecessor (but still capable of driving 55W of sound).

Sonos is also launching the 2.6 version of its desktop software, which indexes more music than before (65k tracks total) and, surprisingly enough, gives new AND existing users $200 in free music from sites like eMusic and Livedownloads. Of course, the one piece of Sonos gear we've been most longing to see updated -- the $400 controller -- has gone totally untouched, and won't even be getting SonosNet 2.0. Maybe they'll throw us a bone and hook us up with an iPod touch / iPhone controller app in the mean time, but we're not holding our breath. Photos and unboxing / hands-on shots below.

Not that anyone could really dance around the facts of the matter at this point, but in an email to Apple employees sent today, apparently Steve said, "It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence." Apple exec Eddie Cue appears to taking the much maligned service under his wing (as well as the App Store, adding to his original gig as VP of iTunes), hopefully making good on the other bit in El Jobso's email where he resets Apple's call to action on .Mac's replacement: "The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year." We'll see about that!

Update: You can check out the actual here email here, if you're looking to see how Jobs uses em-dashes as bullets.

We can appreciate the fact that BeRobot is supposedly going to be the smallest functional commercially available humanoid robot when it's released this September. Really, we can, even despite the fact that each successive machine brings us one step closer to the day the robots have mastered humanity, and our lowly race of meatbags lives on only as the amusing anachronisms kept alive to opulently feed them oil-covered grapes at laser-gunpoint. But BeRobot's creator GeStream -- and the rest of Japan, for that matter -- really have to really put the pedal to the metal if we're going to miniaturize these suckers small enough for gray goo in this lifetime. We're waiting!

[Thanks, Frankie, via Hobby Media]

Tired of the fuzz body-checking you right off your bike during Critical Mass rides? Well lucky you, New York Police Commish Ray Kelly is responding by flipping the switch on user-generated crime reports, enabling ordinary citizens to submit photos and video as evidence of criminal activity. Granted, we think it's always been the case that people could dial-a-detective if they've got a hot lead on a crime, but here Kelly specifically referred to the "fact of life" that nowadays "everybody has a camera in their telephones. When people can record an event taking place that helps us during an investigation, it's helpful." Details are not yet clear, like how much manpower it's going to take to weed through the billions of tattle-tale clips that will inevitably be sent in of Sbux line-cutters, or what codecs the NYPD will support (fingers crossed for motion-JPEG and 3GPP).

[Via The Raw Feed]

Your morning iPhone news fix: looks like Apple's seeded a beta of firmware 2.1 (not to be confused with the supposed 2.0.1 that will fix the myriad bugs and issues with 2.0), which may have some new GPS features that would imply turn-by-turn directions. No argument from us if Apple really is including new Core Location hooks for tracking your direction and speed, which would both be needed for doing proper GPS navigation.

Another bit which may or may not make it into 2.1 is copy/paste. We're still both hopeful and skeptical, but supposedly in the new version of the WebKit framework exists commands for "plugins," "copy," "paste," "cut," and some others. We can't confirm if these really exist (and if they do, we don't know how they've actually been there, or if they're simply holdovers from the desktop WebKit frameworks), so don't hold your breath. Also supposedly making its first appearance in the 2.1 beta code: Apple's push notification service.

Oh, and by the way, if all this has whet your appetite for the device, sounds like today will be a bad day to try and snag one. Apple's retail site shows absolutely zero iPhone availability in the US, so if you're jonesing then check out eBay or the seedy looking dude on the corner with the overstuffed trenchcoat.

Update: Looks like the stores have been updated in the last hour, many have stock. Game on!

[Thanks to Cameron and everyone who sent these in]

Read - Apple all out of stock
Read - New GPS features seeded?
Read - 2.1 getting background push?

Creative's got yet another on the way: the Zen Mosaic, which will have a 1.8-inch display, 2, 4, or 8GB capacities, FM tuner, speakers, MP3 / WMA / WAV / Audible codec support, and 32 hours of battery life. They're apparently starting in Singapore and working their way over, but they shouldn't top $200 when they're eventually announced for the US.

[Thanks, Rube]

Read - Announced details on the player [Via EpiZenter]
Read - First hands-on

For most of us here, at some point the sensation of breaking the news takes hold and turns into something else, something much more like an addiction. It really gets into you, keeps you up at night, makes you stay in on weekends. It's in Engadget's DNA, and it's what's kept me glued to the site most waking hours of most days for over four years now.

But fresh challenges can also be addictive, which is why I've decided to step down as editor of this publication in late August so as to start a new company. I'm extremely excited -- but there's also simply no way I can give up working with Engadget that easily, so I'll remain on as editor-at-large, where I'll have a longer-term advisory role to the site (and do some writing from time to time, as well).

I'll be leaving Engadget in the immensely talented hands of Josh Topolsky, whose vision and voice will ensure the site lives up to its legacy as gadget publication nonpareil. Also, Engadget's current Managing Editor Joshua Fruhlinger will soon begin to formally oversee the AOL Tech network, including Switched, TUAW, Download Squad, and the Engadget network. With Josh Topolsky at the helm and Joshua Fruhlinger's stewardship, I have no doubt that Engadget won't just carry on, but will become even better than ever. Read on.

Not a ton's changed with Creative's ZEN X-Fi -- which we all well know at this point -- so for right now we're just paying closer attention to its innards all broken out like a science fair project. Careful, the teardown link below contains graphic representations of disrobed consumer electronics.

[Thanks, Josh and Mindy]

Read - Zen X-Fi teardown
Read - Anything But iPod's review
Read - Pocketables review

Microsoft's been touting its "fastest annual revenue growth since 1999," which resulted in a princely $60.42 billion dollars in its last fiscal year, but the number that has us rapt? Vista licenses sold since launch about 18 months ago: 180m. Damn, not too shabby a clip -- especially considering that they moved 20m licenses moved in month one, 40m licenses moved after the first 100 days, and 140m licenses by last April. But at roughly 10m licenses per month, that means Vista's still a couple years out before it surpasses XP, and with a bit of luck, by then we'll have already moved on to Windows 7.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Launching 6 and 12GB SDHC cards seems a little boring at this point, especially when your company has already gone way, way larger. Which is why Panasonic's got the 6 and 12GB RP-SDM06G and RP-SDM12G class 4 (10MBps) SDHC cards which are apparently "designed for HD recording." Love when they do that.

Say, is this a Microsoft SideWinder-branded keyboard? Looks like it might just be. It looks like it'll go by the name of SideWinder X6, and feature a detachable numeric keypad, programmable keys, and "cruise control" (don't quote us, this is from a translation) which emulates a steady keypress. It'll run $80 in September -- that is, if this doesn't just turn out to be pure rumor.

[Thanks, Husar]

Update: Reader RainMotorsports points out that the side profile looks, well, unconvincing. Certainly right, especially when you ask yourself where those giant knobs went. Hey, we never said this was a sure thing!

Just in case you weren't already watching enough YouTube at work and on your home computer, on your iPhone, Ocean, etc., or on your Apple TV, now TiVo's getting in on the action as well. Originally announced earlier this year, TiVo users can finally expect the update to pop over your TiVo's regularly scheduled updates over the next couple of weeks. Oh, and our man Dave Zatz shot some video of the new feature and put it up on (where else?) YouTube -- check it out after the break.

So yeah, we got a chance to check out Nintendo's new MotionPlus accessory. Wii Sports Resort is the only title announced right now that requires (or supports) MotionPlus, and we gave a couple of the games a run (like sword fighting and jet-skiing). Basically we're a little at a loss as to how this does anything truly differently or more effectively than current controllers. We get that it's got additional MEMS accelerometers that supposedly bring the relationship of motion and gameplay to a more 1:1 ratio, and for the motion types we tested, it did seem to work -- but the experience and level of immersion felt basically the same. So what's the deal? More after the break.

We got a chance to sit down with Sony Computer Entertainment of America's CEO Jack Tretton, who gave us the lowdown about a few things we've had on our minds.

PS3
On backwards compatibility: Jack explained that Sony looked at how to "not take a greater hit on production cost, without losing PlayStation's heritage ... Hardware / software for backwards compat wasn't all that expensive. ... but we're selling PS2 software to PS2 customers, and selling PS3 software to PS3 consumers." Still, Jack seems to feel like it may have been the wrong move. "I would like to have had it in there, but Sony's collective strategy determined we could afford to lose it. We've now gone down that road, and we're not going back."

On DRM and the video store: As of right now, Tretton is a firm supporter of the need to DRM content on the PlayStation platforms, and Sony believes that "the drm for a song maybe isn't as important for a movie and a game... this is way too hard a business to make money in to allow people to own multiple copies for the price of one." (That's what they all say!) "I'm all for allowing an individual consumer having the freedom to do with their content what they want," but Sony has no intention of opening its video up any more than it has to.

PSP
On drive or flash storage: Sony has "definitely thought about storage on the PSP," and understands the inevitable "march towards digital content delivery device." But in terms of a drive-based PSP, they have "nothing that's imminent." (Read: don't hold your breath.)

On how downloadable video affects the already sad state of UMD: UMD "has struggled, and it wasn't handled effectively from the beginning. ... I firmly believe in a digital model" as they're rolling out, but Sony is "still going to support UMD" as a device for movies.

What's preventing PSP software sales: Three things. Title ports from PS2 games (people don't want to buy the same title twice), and the PSP's media functions. But Jack put the most emphasis on "piracy in the hundreds of thousands of units are preventing software sales. it's a problem that affects our software sales right now."

We spent most of the weekend putting the iPhone 3G's battery life (and to a lesser extent, MobileMe implementation) to the test, and we've got far more encouraging results to report back than we had on day one. Pretty much everything we've found thus far jibes with Apple's claims, if not exceeds them. (Our video results early on skewed low because we had mistakenly left on push and fetch data, which dropped the battery life by almost 25%. After re-testing, they're back up to spec.)

All tested with 3G on, WiFi on (not connected), Bluetooth off, no data fetching enabled (unless specified otherwise). Media tested with stock headphones, medium volume, and medium screen brightness, auto-brightness disabled.

• Music (continuous playback, large library, occasionally turning on screen): 31h 23m
• Video (continuous playback, no push/fetch data): 7h 5m
• Video (continuous playback, with push and 15 minute fetch data): 5h 24m
• Daily data use (browsing, email, and GPS / maps): ~6h 30m

Those numbers definitely are not bad, but if you're anything like us and you kill time on your phone reading feeds and checking email like a fiend, by 3 or 4pm you'll likely be wondering if you'll even make it home with any power left -- especially if you leave on the 3G. Just be warned, the kind of prolonged usage on the original iPhone you used to get away with probably isn't possible with the iPhone 3G. For some, this may be an issue, while others may never notice. Click on for more on our MobileMe testing and enterprise stuff, and, of course, check out the full iPhone 3G review.