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Archive for 2010
In their never ending quest for total world information domination (or something like that), Google have now added calls to regular telephones from your Gmail account. For some time you’ve been able to have voice chat and video chat through Google Talk but this is the first time the Googleplexers have stepped their Google communications suite out of the G-bubble and into the real world of telephone calls with Google Voice. Presently you can call for free only in the US and Canada (and only until the end of the year), while in the UK, Germany, France and interestingly China will have to pay 2 cents a minute (pre.) Clearly this is a big stab at the heart of Skype but it’s yet to be seen whether Google can topple the world’s best known VoIP provider with some 550 million or more users. Google Voice does have some interesting features though, including allocation of a Google Voice number which you can set to ring any or all of your contact numbers. Smart. Currently this is all still through a desktop browser but it’s not a great leap of imagination to think that Google will filter their new technology to their own Android mobile operating system. It does however remain to be seen how this will work in China – will the communist government allow encoded communications or has a deal with the big red and the big G already been struck?
Google Voice is currently only in the US but will be rolling out to the other test nations in the near future. Watch Google’s video here for an animated overview.
Posted by: Ian
If you saw our unboxing video of the Nokia C6 and were thinking about getting one you now can. The device has today gone live on the Vodafone site.
Available from free with contracts starting at £20 per month the C6 will offer you a pretty decent specced phone with the bonus of having the OVI Store at hand. Free Sat Nav anyone!
Want a reminder of the Nokia C6 Specification?
In this review I will be talking about the newest addition of Samsung’s Corby range of mobile phones which is the S3370 or Corby 3G as it is also named. We have seen a lot of these types of handsets here at tracyandmatt.co.uk now so how does this one compare to previous ones?
The Corby 3G is not the best specced phone but it does come with an attractive price tag both on PAYG and on contract. This could well be the deciding factor.
Want to find out more about this handset? And to find out where I think it sits in the market?
Then please do read on.
It has been a wee while since we have had a new Android device from Acer but the Stream is here and its specs are on par with many of the top end handsets from other manufactures. Sporting a 3.7 inch screen and powered by a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor the Stream with Android 2.1 on board certainly has what it takes to be a flagship device but looks wise it is defiantly unique. I don’t think we have seen media controls on the front of another Android phone before and it looks a bit odd to be honest.
If media is a big part of your mobile life then maybe this is the perfect device for you.
Let’s unbox the Stream and see what it’s all about.
One of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 trump cards – Phone to Console – will be standard with WP7 handsets BUT not at launch. Coming across a little like the combination play between the Gamecube and the Gameboy Advance, it heavily integrates your Xbox Live account into your mobile gaming including your avatar (editable on the phone), messages and achievements. Additionally, if you have a game on the phone that integrates with a sister title on the 360 (Assassin’s Creed for example), it’ll add achievement points to your Live score and, game dependant, open up parts of the main title. There’s also phone-to-phone for free (Silver Live) on turn-based games (chalk one up for Tower Defence games). Clearly MS playing this card for all it’s worth and could prove interesting with Apple and Android having no comparable technology.
Check out RGBFilter’s comprehensive video interview with Greg Milligan of MS Canada here, with plenty of WP7 and Live action. You also get a good look at an LG WP7 handset that’s not the E900.
Posted by: Ian
We all know that “up to 20 meg broadband” is rarely that, unless you live in your local exchange and have a one meter phone line. So someone had to get into trouble for promising the on-line earth and not living up to it, and first for the slapdown is everyone’s favourite telephone infrastructure monopolist, British Telecom.
Amazingly their Adam and Jane advert has not been banned for being teeth-grinding tat, but for saying that even at peak time you’ll still be able to browse the web at full speed. Of the 17 complaints (including rivals Talk Talk, Virgin and Sky Broadband), some complained that ‘Jane’ was browsing at near LAN speeds, and this sort of speed was certainly not available to them. Indeed, the Advertising Standards Agency pointed out “because we had not seen sufficient evidence to support the claim that BT’s new broadband service was consistently faster than its existing 8Mb service even at peak times, we concluded that the ad was likely to mislead”. Ouch. Next up – ‘Unlimited’ mobile broadband promises and why the purveyors should be beaten with large fishes.
Posted by: Ian
If you are a Palm Pre or Pixi user you may have been jealous when you have heard all the iOS users talking about Angry Birds. Good news as now you can pick up this addictive game on WebOS.
I know on the iPhone there is a free lite version but not sure about on WebOS. However for $1.99 the game is more than worth it and I can pretty much guarantee that your Palm Pre or Pixi will be getting some extra attention.
I give Angry Birds a 9/10 rating on the tracyandmatt games score rating. ( I just invented that!)
Posted by: James
Accompanied by a moody soundtrack, Samsung have made the much-rumoured Galaxy Tab official with a teaser video you can see here. While the video offers few surprises beyond conformation of Froyo from the get go and a big iPad-style keyboard, it certainly gets the juices flowing ready for the September 2nd date in Berlin.
The Galaxy Tab (or GT-P1000) has been the subject of some speculation recently, with the recent video of the Tab being used on a Sydney train making its way onto YouTube yesterday. Giving no further clues beyond conformation of the now-obvious capacitive screen, the user claimed it was ‘different’ to an iPad. Chinese site ifanr.com however does give further details with an anonymous tipster having enough hands on time to even take a few cheeky snaps. Describing it as ‘"thicker than the Streak" and armed with a 1024 x 600 screen and 3.2mp camera, it’s also described as "plasticky". How well Android translates to a proper, mobile data enabled device is yet to be seen, and will it still feel like a big Galaxy S in the same vein of the iPad/iPhone. Not long to wait now.
More pics Sir?
Check out this super sleek dude. Engadget have reported that this HTC bad boy is coming to AT&T and it is currently going under the name of the HTC T8788 although it will obviously get a proper flashy name.
And yes it is a landscape slider but that isn’t a keyboard you can see poking out, but instead a great big speaker!
If you are into your media then this could well be the Windows Phone for you?
No official word from HTC on this one but it looks really nice. Well i think so. I like shiny!
Posted by: James
The Nokia 5250 is very much a low end device and to match its specs it will come with an affordable price tag of around 115 Euros.
Running Symbian S60 the 5250 has a 2.8 inch screen and relies on GSM/GPRS/EDGE.
No 3G, no Wi-Fi and no GPS but its battery will play music for 24 hours!
This one is very much NOT a Smartphone but it is clearly not meant to be. If this is going to sell here in the UK for a little under £100 I am rather concerned that this is not very good value for money. You can get a much better specced phone for that price.
Anyway, I am sure we will put this one to the test at some point in the future.
Posted by: James
In their never ending quest for total world information domination (or something like that), Google have now added calls to regular telephones from your Gmail account. For some time you’ve been able to have voice chat and video chat through Google Talk but this is the first time the Googleplexers have stepped their Google communications suite out of the G-bubble and into the real world of telephone calls with Google Voice. Presently you can call for free only in the US and Canada (and only until the end of the year), while in the UK, Germany, France and interestingly China will have to pay 2 cents a minute (pre.) Clearly this is a big stab at the heart of Skype but it’s yet to be seen whether Google can topple the world’s best known VoIP provider with some 550 million or more users. Google Voice does have some interesting features though, including allocation of a Google Voice number which you can set to ring any or all of your contact numbers. Smart. Currently this is all still through a desktop browser but it’s not a great leap of imagination to think that Google will filter their new technology to their own Android mobile operating system. It does however remain to be seen how this will work in China – will the communist government allow encoded communications or has a deal with the big red and the big G already been struck? 
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