Well, they probably had a pre-release version of one of these Aptus-II 12s from Leaf.

ENGADGET: Leaf Aptus-II 12 snaps 80 megapixels of awesome on the back of your pro shooter

For the past week, I've been testing a pre-release version of Flipboard for iPhone.

WSJ: The Digital Solution: In Your Hands, Just What You Want to Read

The pre-release version will be playable for the duration of the event.

ENGADGET: Snakebyte gamepad evolves into Unu Android tablet, promises to replace your Smart TV

We won't lie, we were a little bitter when TiVo snubbed us and didn't offer us a pre-release version of the Series3 for review, we mean even our brothers at Engadget got one to play with.

ENGADGET: Review: Series3 TiVo HD

Performance-wise, the winner is a pre-release version of Tower Technology's TowerJ compiler, which generates a native executable from pure Java code that runs almost 25 percent faster than the fastest Java interpreter, even when the interpreter has a just-in-time compiler.

CNN: New benchmark results show Java ready for prime time on servers

The folks there got their hands on a pre-release version of the system, loaded with a Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor factory overclocked to 3.67GHz, 4GB of Corsair dual channel DDR2-8500 RAM, and two GeForce 8800 Ultra cards running in SLI mode, among other desirable specs.

ENGADGET: HP Blackbird 002 gaming rig reviewed

So, the other day, as a remarkably distinguished member of the international media, I had the opportunity to play a pre-release trial version of the new "SimCity, " thus making it a five-star weekend.

CNN: Apparently This Matters: The new 'SimCity'