Archive for 2012

Grand Theft Auto 5 release date and trailers

Now I know what you guys are thinking..’wow this is new a gaming post!’ Well you would be forgiven for thinking you we’re dreaming but seeing as gaming is such a huge deal we couldn’t resist to add gaming news to tracyandmatt.co.uk.

What better way to start the proceedings with one of the biggest game franchises of all time…Grand Theft Auto! There is such a buzz around the gaming community at the moment because as you will soon see there are two brand new trailers for Rockstars newest addition to the series, GTA 5.

First of all, Rockstar have officially announced that the game will be released in ‘spring 2013’ which isn’t that far away! And gamers eagerly awaiting the game are able to pre order it right now on Xbox 360 and PS3 as unfortunately no information on the PC version has been released yet. If you are anything like me, you will be pressing the pre order button faster than you can say the words once you’ve seen the trailers.

There are 2 trailers in total showing varied aspects of the new game, one of the most exciting aspects of the trailers are that the game seems to be based around 3 separate characters which should make for a huge game I’m sure. I will now shush and let you watch the trailers below.

One day sale on the Samsung Galaxy Beam from Expansysn- Just £249.99

For one day only Expansys have a special deal on the Samsung Galaxy Beam. With £50 of the device it will today cost just £249.99. If an Android smartphone with a built in projector will come in handy for you then this offer is pretty sweet.

If you missed our unboxing and demo video you can catch it here.

Get your orders in here quick!

Samsung Galaxy Beam Specification:

• 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
• Dimensions: 124 x 64.2 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 145.3 g
• Built-in nHD projector
• Touch-sensitive controls
• Display: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233 ppi pixel density)
• TouchWiz UI v4.0

Nokia to offer location services on other platforms

The word on the street is that Nokia are re-branding their location and mapping services, called HERE, and will offer them up to other mobile platforms. According to mobilenewscwp they already are launching a free application for the iPhone within weeks and an Android version is set for release early next year.

Talks are also under way with Nokia possibly buying the 3D mapping firm Earthmine which should bring us a whole new Nokia mapping experience.

Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop said: “With HERE we can extend our 20 years of location expertise to new devices and operating systems that reach beyond Nokia.”

Although I have not been a big Nokia user over the years they have certainly have some advantages over the other Windows Phone manufactures due to their unique applications such as Nokia Drive. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. With Nokia’s market share falling they really need to pull something out of the bag.

Posted by: James

Windows Phone 8S from HTC – Video

Posted by: James

BBM Voice coming soon to your BlackBerry

Fresh from the announcement from RIM regarding the launch of BlackBerry 10 we now get notified of another new super feature for all BlackBerry users – BBM Voice.

For the times when you want to hear a friend’s laughter instead of reading LOL, BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM) is taking the social networking experience to a whole new level with an exciting new feature called BBM Voice. Research In Motion (RIM) today announced BBM version 7, a free update for the globally popular mobile social network, which will allow customers to make free voice calls to other BBM customers in the world over a Wi-Fi® connection*.

BBM is a fast, convenient and inexpensive service for BlackBerry® customers that gives them the ability to instantly chat with a friend, family member or colleague, and know when their message has been delivered, and read. With the new version of BBM, customers have a new option – they can talk with their BBM contact across the globe for free over a Wi-Fi connection. In an instant, customers can switch between texting and talking, or talk and text at the same time. For consumers, especially in developing markets, the BBM Voice feature offers an attractive way to talk with friends and family near and far, and staying in contact will be easier than ever as the holiday season approaches. For business customers, BBM Voice allows for enriched collaboration.

“BBM is the quick, easy way to stay connected to the people that matter to you, and with today’s announcement we’re expanding the capabilities of the service for deeper social engagement and even greater collaboration, beginning with voice functionality,” said T.A. McCann, Vice President of BBM and Social Communities at RIM. “The new BBM Voice feature is for when you’re travelling and you want to call home without worrying about phone charges. It’s for when you have news you can’t wait to share, for quickly explaining complicated details, and collaborating with colleagues. Whenever your ideas are too big for text, there’s BBM Voice.”

BBM Voice includes a number of convenient features.

• Customers can initiate a BBM Voice call directly, or instantly switch from a BBM text chat to talk, and back again.
• The split-screen feature allows customers to talk and text at the same time, so for example, they can send a picture to their contact while talking with them. They can also check other BBM text chats, check email, or navigate to other apps while engaged on a BBM Voice call.
• BBM provides a visual indicator that shows when contacts are available for a voice call.
• BBM Voice is compatible with any accessories a customer has now for making voice calls on their BlackBerry smartphone, such as a Bluetooth® or wired headset. Customers can also use BBM Voice over their BlackBerry smartphone’s speakerphone.
• If it’s not an ideal time to talk, customers can simply choose to respond by texting back.

Acer Chromebook selling now

A rather unexpected addition to Google’s device list on Play was the announcement there would be an all new Chromebook for sale. Whilst we don’t have the $249 Samsung Chromebook for sale to the mass market yet we do have this Acer sitting in the Play store at £199.

Much is being made of the Acer selling for $199 Stateside and the exchange rate being left out of the mix. By comparison to Samsung’s Chromebook that is likely to sell for about £50 more there are a few big differences to justify the pricing. Firstly we have a Intel Celeron processor running at 1.1ghz, whereas the Samsung has a slower atom processor. Battery apparently lasts an alarmingly short 3.5 hours. A standard hard drive that will no doubt run slower than the included 16gb flash drive on the Samsung however it packs 320gbs. The Acer is also larger and heavier.

Could this be a flooding of the market with ultra cheap laptop’s running Chrome like we saw several years ago when Android was taking a tight robotic grasp of the mobile market. Only time will tell and it’s going to jolly exciting finding out, Chromebooks will be the way forward in this writer’s opinion.

Here is the press release from Acer: