Archive for February, 2011

BBC iPlayer coming to iPad and Android this week!

How exciting! iPlayer in the palm of your hands. You might never have to enter the living room again or book a time to watch the last episode of Eastenders or Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Looking more tablet friendly than the last iPad version which was essentially a squished version of the big screen version the Beeb have promised these key features on Android and iPad:

• Watch live TV and listen to radio (not previously widely available on mobile devices)
• Access the BBC’s full catalogue of catch-up programmes; seven-days’ TV and radio on demand as well as series stacking (as you get on the web)
• A simple and intuitive design with high picture quality and personalised favourites (making the most of the touch-screen UI, and a popular feature on the website)

For those with Android don’t get too excited right away as it will only run on the Flash friendly 2.2 version, Froyo. Another reason for those without to rally the manufacturers, set up picket lines and burn brassieres to get your phone up to 2.2.

Sprint announce the Kyocera Echo – with dual screens!

The Kyocera Echo is possibly the weirdest phone I have ever seen. And why do I say such things? Well the Kyocera Echo is a dual screen Smartphone. It is a weird concept but it is happening. Over in the States (Where else would such a device be born) Sprint has just announced this dual screen handset. Think of a Nintendo DS form factor that is a phone, that doesn’t have game cartridges and runs Android.

Now why would you need two screens? That was my first question when I saw the first pics go up on the internet but the manufacturer Kyocera is saying that the point of these two screens is for “Simultasking.” Not multitasking, “Simultasking.” Apparently you can use two different apps on each of the screens or you can use both screens for the same app which could be useful when using Maps or something similar.

The two 3.5″ capacitive screens seem the only outlandish thing on the handset. As the Echo has the now standard 1Ghz Snapdragon Processor, 720p video recording and 5 MP. There is no dual core processor, no 4G radio and no point in being in my opinion. Granted it is an industry first which was advertised by Sprint and two screens could be seen as innovative in some peoples eye’s but not in mine.

Well, even if this handset is appealing to you, you can’t have it because it is on the Sprint network which is CDMA and won’t be coming to the UK as far as we know. My honest reaction, thank god!

Posted by: Patrick

Toshiba Tablet gets its own site

Having made a real hash of the Toshiba Folio, Tosh have are stepping up to plate again in true do or die fashion. Toshiba Tablet is the cunningly titled tablet from Toshiba. This Honeycomb experience will feature a 10.1″ capacitive multi-touch screen running at 1280×800,16:10, 720p. the innards boast Tegra 2 from Nvidia, two cameras (2mp front facing and 5mp rear,) Wi-fi, USB, mini-USB, HDMI, full-SD card support, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

One of the big differences here is the ability to change the battery. You might need a screwdriver but having that option will shoot this straight to the top of many folks lists out there. Nice one Toshiba.

You can check out all the details on the rich website www.thetoshibatablet.com.

Huawei S7 Slim appears

Huawei’s made a good impression on the tablet market with the S7. What appeared to be lacklustre on paper turned out to be worth much more than the sum of it’s parts in reality. At the time it was mentioned that a capacitive version was on the drawing board and on Twitter today the unveiled, the Huawei Ideos S7 Slim.

Rest assure, if this is at Mobile World Congress, I’ll fine it and provide more info on it.

White Nexus S Coming Soon to Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK customers will soon be able to pick up an exclusive white version of the Nexus S, as well as the original black handset.

Vodafone will be the first UK operator to sell the Nexus S, the first Smartphone to be powered by Gingerbread the latest version of the Google’s Android operating system. 

The device has not yet appeared on the Vodafone ‘coming soon’ page but should be soon. Watch this space.

Posted by: James

Nokia E7 coming soon the Vodafone

Nokia’s E7 has appeared on the Vodafone ‘coming soon’ page. The device was announced back in September but has been delayed due to various reasons. I first got hands on with the E7 last year and although Symbian may not be my OS of choice the device seemed very sturdy and a bit of a power horse with its slide out full QWERTY keyboard. You can see the video here.

We will of course let you know when the handset becomes available via Vodafone.

Posted by: James