Archive for 2011

LG Optimus 3D now available at The Carphone Warehouse

Screen shot 2011-07-05 at 08.26.17

Hopefully you saw our Optimus 3D hands on video last week with LG’s latest and greatest, the Optimus 3D. If the device is what you have been waiting for you can now get one at the Carphone Warehouse. The LG Optimus 3D is available both on contract and sim free for £499.99 plus a £10 top up.

With the recent announcement of the HTC Evo 3D heading our way soon the Optimus 3D will soon get some competition. But if you want a 3D phone at the moment here in the UK then the LG is currently your only choice.

Watch out for our full review in the coming weeks and you can see a reminder of the devices full specs below:

Posted in: News

Samsung Smart TV’s 3D Video-On-Demand service hits 1 million content views worldwide

Samsung TV Samsung Electronics Co. UK Ltd, the UK’s number one TV brand with the most awarded TV range, has announced that its 3D Video-on-Demand (VOD) service has passed the 1 million content views mark in just three months.

The number of 3D VOD content views passed the millionth milestone within 100 days since it was officially launched in March. This means that Samsung Smart TV users worldwide have played back 3D VOD content on average 10,000 times per day – an increase from 5,000 views per day in April.

The 3D VOD service, the only such service in the UK, allows consumers to access 3D content free and on-demand from Samsung Smart TVs. Samsung’s 3D VOD service currently has 28 types of free 3D content including films, music videos, children’s classics, documentaries and trailers from partner DreamWorks and by the end of 2011, 70 free 3D videos will be available through the ‘Explore 3D’ App.

Posted in: Press Releases

Roaming Data Costs in EU to be Slashed

EUUN0001

The average cost of using smartphones and tablets in the EU is to be more than halved under plans from Brussels to introduce price caps.

The EU wants to abolish premium charges for roaming data services – and is set to extend caps on mobile phone call roaming charges for a further four years to 2016.

It will be announced that from next year new price caps will be imposed on data downloads.

Surfing the internet or receiving emails while abroad will cost no more than 81p per megabyte from July 2012, falling to around 40p by 2014, compared with a current average of around £1.80.

It comes after an EU directive was introduced to force down the cost of making and receiving mobile phone calls while in Europe.

The proposals are part of a series of measures by Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner responsible for telecommunications, to cut down on roaming charges by 2015.

Operators had hoped that special offers on roaming tariffs, including day passes and passport deals for offers while in other countries, would be enough to convince Brussels to drop price controls.

They were originally due to expire next July, five years after they were imposed despite industry objections.

Source: Sky News

 

Posted by: James

Posted in: News

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo in Red – available now exclusively on Vodafone

Neo Red

Exclusively available to Vodafone in red, the brand new Sony Ericsson Xperia neo is powered by the latest version of Android, Gingerbread (2.3). With refined technology for easy use and a 3.7 inch touchscreen -  the quality is top notch.

The neo combines Sony BRAVIA image quality technology with HD video capabilities and an 8.1 megapixel camera. In addition, the device boasts a 2-megapixel front facing camera with face recognition, making it great for video calling.

Plus, with access to the thousands of apps available on the Android Market, you can improve everything on your handset from how you text and email through to how you like to receive the latest news and views.

The neo is available now, free on £26, 24 month price plans including 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. For more information, visit the Vodafone online shop.

If you missed our unboxing video you can see it here.

 

Posted by: James

Posted in: News

Samsung scoops three awards at the Independent Business Awards

samsung-logo

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, won three awards at this year’s Independent Business Awards, which recently took place at the Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club in Birmingham.

The Independent Business Awards are hosted by Independent Electrical Retailer magazine, who convey that the awards are the highest acclaimed celebration of excellence in the electrical industry, with the ceremony paying tribute to the people and companies operating within this marketplace.

Samsung scooped the Technical Innovation Award – Consumer Electronics for its Smart TV offering. The accolade recognises Samsung’s Smart TVs as the most innovative products with effectiveness being demonstrated via operational features and consumer benefits.

Posted in: Press Releases

BlackBerry stands at UK rail stations

BBIM

The UK BlackBerry team will be hanging out at a selection of major railway stations over the next week or so. If you fancy a free coffee on them as well as a chat about your BlackBerry device, or if you are thinking of switching over to BlackBerry then why not pop along and have a chin-wag. You will also get a chance to win tickets to see Tinie Tempah as well as pick up a goodie bag!

You can find the BlackBerry stands at the following locations:

  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London St Pancras) – Monday 4th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Waterloo) – Tuesday 5th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Liverpool Street) – Wednesday 6th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Victoria) – Thursday 7th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Paddington) – Friday 8th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (Leeds Train Station)- Monday 11th July
  • Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (Manchester Piccadilly) – Tuesday 12th July 

 

Posted by: James

Posted in: News
By July 4, 2011 Read More →

Facebook to have Skype video chat

skypebook Facebook and Skype are working together to bring in-browser video chat to the Facebook site. That’s according to a story posted by TechCrunch.

The report suggests that there will be a web-based component that would presumably require you to download and install something but could also, conceivably, interface with the full desktop version of Skype to bring this functionality. Perhaps recent updates to the Skype app. may include something already lurking there?

TechCrunch have been following Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who apparently tipped off Seattle press that the company would be launching an “awesome” new product next week that has been built by Facebook’s Seattle team. The press invitations to that event went out today, saying nothing more than “Please join us for an event at Facebook” on July 6.

So lets see what Facebook come up with in a few days time. In any case I’m sure it’ll be interesting!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

HTC EVO 3D priced?

EVO_3D_FrontR A little over a week ago HTC officially announced that the HTC EVO 3D was coming to the UK in quarter 3 of this year. HTC were not specific about the exact release date nor could they give any indication of the price but we did expect that it would exceed the price of the HTC Sensation by a small amount.

Today I was perusing the pages of Amazon looking at how their prices on smartphones stack up against the specialists that we know. Turns out that Amazon are not too badly priced, but still a bit more expensive than the specialist stockists. As expected really.

However, while looking at the like of the HTC Sensation on there I discovered that the HTC EVO 3D is already listed in Amazon.co.uk and is being offered for pre-order. The price is an eye-watering £569.99 which is £120 more than the HTC Sensation. Seems quite a high price to pay for the 3D screen when you consider the other spec is much the same as the Sensation.

On top of the £569.99 price tag Amazon.co.uk also says that the estimated release date is September 12th 2011. Now this I suspect is just an estimate but if HTC leave it till September for the EVO to go on sale I think that will be giving the likes of the LG Optimus 3D too much ground and the price difference between the Sensation and the EVO 3D is just too high.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks and see what the final price becomes. Watch this space!

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

3 million Samsung Galaxy S2’s sold in 55 days!

galaxy_s2-sales As the title of the post says, Samsung have just issued a press release stating that their flagship Android Superphone has already seen it’s 3 millionth sale. What’s even more staggering is that it achieved that lofty milestone in just 55 days, that’s day quicker than its Galaxy S predecessor.

An impressive achievement that is for sure but it’s perhaps not that surprising being the first there with the Dual-core CPU it’s performance is certainly very impressive as we detailed in our Samsung Galaxy S2 review back in May of this year, it remains one of our top picks.

Excerpts from Samsung’s official press release follow:

 

Posted in: Press Releases
By July 3, 2011 Read More →

Neato XV-11 robotic vacuum unboxing video

neato-robotics-xv11 Ok, I know what many of you are thinking having looked at the title of the post but no I haven’t gone mad. As you know I love all things gadget but even I have to admit that when I got the email asking if I’d like to review a new vacuum cleaner I was a little hesitant but figured what the hell lets give it a whirl.

Now these robotic autonomous aren’t a new idea, they have been around for a while but this Neato XV-11 is one of the latest to appear. The XV-11 was previously only available in the USA but is about to go on sale here in the UK. I believe that it’s going to be the XV-15 in the UK though.

So what’s special about the XV-11 then? Well first of all it’s a very cool gadget. It has its own power dock that it returns to after cleaning your room/house and puts itself back in charge. Unlike other robotic cleaners the Neato has an array of laser sensors that it uses to create a map of walls, furniture and other obstacles once it knows the layout of the room it works out the most effective way to vac the whole of that area before moving on to another room.

I’ve tried the Neato XV-11 out a few times already and have to say I am impressed. I honestly thought it would get stuck in places or need help but it’s very effective in methodically cleaning the whole of the downstairs of our house, a process that takes it around an hour. As cleaning can be scheduled we’ve got it set up to make one pass every day. As a cleaner it’s very effective and does a great job and while it isn’t a complete replacement for a human driven vacuum cleaner it does help to keep human vac-ing to a minimum.

 

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
https://www.ukmeds.co.uk/surgical-face-masks