Archive for September, 2010

Windows Phone 7 launch event?

We have been summoned by Microsoft to attend an event in central London on October the 11th at 9am. We of course will be there and this can really mean only one thing – an official  Windows Phone 7 event.

Rumors have been circulating the interwebs over the past week or so saying that the 21st of October will be launch day in Europe.

Coincidently I am off to have a play with the new operating system tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled for some video footage on the site over the next couple of days.

I am quite excited! Bring it on Microsoft.

Posted by: James

BlackBerry PlayBook – Official Press Release

Following on from last nights BlackBerry PlayBook announcement here is the official word from Research in Motion:

Research In Motion (RIM) today redefined the possibilities for mobile computing with the unveiling of its new professional-grade BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry Tablet OS.

RIM announce the BlackBerry PlayBook – Tablet

A short while ago at RIM’s DevCon event in the USA they unveiled the PlayBook tablet that has been rumored for some time now.

We will bring you more on the tablet over the next day or so but in the meantime here are some juicy bits including a video. I am sure our friends over the pond will get some hands on time later.

Specifications:

• 7-inch hi-res widescreen display, is 9.7 mm thick.
• Flash 10.1 with hardware accelerated video, HTML 5
• Supports 1080p video
• Connects direct to BlackBerry Enterprise Server
• Non-proprietary HDMI and USB connections
• Full-HD front and rear-facing camera
• 1 GHz dual-core (with symmetrical multiprocessing capabilities) processor
• 1 GB RAM

See the PlayBook preview video here!

Posted by: James

3 Named Best UK Carrier

Broadband Expert took a survey of over 11,000 people from January to August 2010 of the UK carriers. It turns out that Vodafone has the fastest network with an average download speed of 1.78 Mbps. 3 comes in next with 1.76 Mbps then Orange with 1.46 Mbps, O2 with 1.42 Mbps, and T-Mobile bringing up the rear with 1.07 Mbps. However, when it comes to customer satisfaction, T-Mobile comes in first with a rating of 71%. Then 3 with 69%, Vodafone with 68%, O2 with 65% and in last place Orange with 64%. T-Mobile also gets the fairest pricing award because they don’t charge extra if you go over the download limit, while O2 has the best pay as you go prices. But where it gets good is with coverage. Usually the winner is Vodafone, yet the it turns out it is actually 3.

Which means that because 3 also won the mobile dongle category, 3 has been named as the best overall mobile broadband provider in the by Broadband Expert in the 2010 Mobile Broadband Awards.

Posted by Patrick

[ Post Tags: Carriers, Three, O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, Broadband Expert, tracyandmatt.co.uk, 3G ]

BlackBerry DEVCON 2010

Today sees the start of BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 taking place is San Francisco. The BlackBerry Developer Conference is the developer community event that everyone talks about. It’s a premier showcase for what can be done with BlackBerry apps, attended by thousands of the world’s most enthusiastic developers, BlackBerry experts, and Research In Motion (RIM) partners.

A little too technical for me but if you are a BlackBerry developer the Conference is the place to learn about creating the most compelling applications for the avid consumer audience. The conference gives developers a look into what the future holds for the BlackBerry development platform, and what the new BlackBerry 6 and all of it features and APIs mean for the mobile community and for you as a consumer application developer.

What I want to know is will we get any new device news. It is rumored that the forthcoming BlackBerry tablet may be showcased at the event. I will be keeping an eye on the conference news so if RIM give us anything good I will be sure to share with you.

Posted by: James

HTC Desire HD ROM ported to numerous other HTC devices

The Desire HD was only announced not long ago (it’s not even been released yet!) but over at xda, they have not only got their hands on the rom, but have managed to port it already to a multitude of other devices, including the HD2, original Desire, Evo 4G, and the Droid Incredible. Yes, we may not have the Evo 4G or the Incredible, but for frustrated WinMo users and their love-hate relationship with HD2, this could be a godsend!

As with all rom flashing, they’re not without risk, and expectedly there are features (like the camera) that aren’t working yet. Given a bit of time though and maybe the release of the Desire HD, we should see the new Sense and the full hardware feature set implemented – for now, consider it just a taster of what’s to come.

For the already excellent HTC Desire, there is more good news – the ridiculously fast boot up time as seen at the launch event in London is now possible on the Desire. Click through for the video.