Archive for June, 2012

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast 171: Don’t hold your breath!

Gareth and James are joined by Vince, a review writer from Tracyandmatt to get his opinions on the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X.  The Nokia Lumia 710 and Motorola Motoluxe are both looked at with differing attitudes and James awaits a new service from Blackberry.

Direct Download
iTunes
Download the iPhone App
Download the Android App
RSS Feed

Regulars – Gareth, Matt, Tracy and James
Email us: [email protected]  Tel: 0208 123 3757

Save money with billmonitor.com

Fancy saving some money on your mobile bill? Well billmonitor may well just do that for you. Tracyandmatt readers can get free early-access to billmonitor’s unique mobile service, Bill Check-up, before it’s launched commercially to the general public. By analysing your bills every month, Bill Check-up helps you to save money and ensures you get the most from your existing mobile contract. Sounds alright doesn’t it?

Created by Oxford mathematicians and accredited by Ofcom since 2009, billmonitor.com started as a free to use mobile price comparison site.  It analyses your online bills to find out how you use your mobile phone, evaluates all the contract deals in the market and then matches you to exactly the right contract so you pay no more than you should. 76% of the UK is on the wrong contract and billmonitor has already helped thousands of customers switch to the right contract for them.

billmonitor.com have now extended the service to include ‘Bill Check-up’ to help people get the best value throughout the lifetime of their mobile contract, not just when they get a new contract.  Bill Check-up:

· Lets you know whether you’re under-using or over-using your mobile phone contract for minutes, text, and data. It gives advice on how to make the most of your allowances and optimise your current tariff so that you can save money

· Advises on roaming/international/other bundles as needed, based on usage data

· Provides a reminder of how long you have left on your current contract. When you reach 5 or less months to go, billmonitor will match you to alternative contracts suited to your individual usage pattern

billmonitor realises that many people are locked in to contracts and need to know how to use them most effectively. The new Bill Check-up service tells you what changes you can make to your usage and your current tariff to get the most from your existing contract without paying more

Head on over to billmonitor.com and check it out.

Posted by: James

Mock images of an Asus Google Nexus tablet appear

PhoneArena found something exciting for you guys this morning. The pics included are supposedly first draft (practice) press shots of Google’s new Asus-made Nexus Tablet. The "tipster" who shared these images claims that the tablet will still be a 7-inch Tegra 3 based device, and that it will be coming with Android 4.1, which will not be Jelly Bean, (which he claims will be Android 5.0). This is in contrast to earlier rumours that Jelly Bean would be just an updated & improved ICS version 4.1. Still, we aren’t even sure these pics are legit. The front pic certainly looks like a phone, because it has an earpiece slit. They do look pretty convincing other than that.

Posted by: Gareth

New Acer budget tabs look swish

Acer has just unveiled a couple of new entries into the tablet market during Computex. One of them could be a real breakthrough for Android tablets. First, we will share the less revolutionary product. This is one we have heard hyped in the past: the Iconia Tab A210. This one is designed to be a mid-range product, although details on pricing are scarce. Here are the specs on this one:

• Front camera
• Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
• 10.1" 1280×800 display
• USB 2.0 port
• microSD slot
• 3620mAh battery
• 8GB and 16GB versions

This next one is the more interesting of the two. It is the Iconia A110, and what makes it unique is its pricing. This one is definitely geared toward the budget-friendly crowd, but you wouldn’t think so by looking at the processor in it. This little 7-inch tablet also has the Tegra 3 quad-core chip in it, yet rumors suggest they are pricing this tablet at just $199.99. Could this be one of the first of the NVIDIA Kai Tegra 3 configurations? It seems likely, and it seems like this tablet is a no brainer when you compare it to the other tablets in this price range. Here is its spec breakdown:

• The 7" display with 1024×600 resolution
• 1GB RAM
• Tegra 3 processor
• 8GB on-board storage (expandable via microSD)
• microUSB and micro-HDMI ports

Could this be one of the first of an onslaught of inexpensive tablet devices? Android quickly rose to the top of the heap with smartphones, but it has been a bit slower for them to get competitive with Apple in the tablet market. It seems the "little android that could" just keeps on trucking forward, and eventually just might topple the mighty fruit, even in its tablet-dominating fortress.

Posted by: Gareth

Assassin’s Creed for Windows Phone gets a price drop

According to the guys over at WPCentral Assassins Creed has dropped in price and is now $2.99, down from $4.99. The game is not everyone’s cup of tea but has been a huge success on other platforms. Like many Windows Phone apps you can try before you buy but I’m going straight in for the plunge and making my purchase now. Maybe we will bring you a video review later in the week.

Jerusalem, 1191 AD. The Third Crusade between the Crusaders and Saracens is tearing the Holy Land apart.
You are Altaïr, a Master Assassin sent by the Order of the Assassins on a quest to steal the Chalice from the Templars in order to end the Crusades. The fate of the Holy Land depends on you…

Plunge into this direct prequel to the critically acclaimed Assassin’s CreedT, offering rich gameplay and a well balanced mix of stealth, chaotic action, and puzzle-solving exploration in the midst of the fully 3D-rendered, historical Middle Eastern environments of the Crusades.

– Incredible variety of acrobatic moves for a very rewarding gaming experience.

– 6 weapons for both close combat and long-range attacks: swords, daggers, grappling hooks, and bombs.

– Skill-based mini-games put your patience & dexterity to the test: perform pickpocket maneuvers and make informants talk.

– Unique dramatic tension, intensified by 3D cinematic cut scenes and character voices.

– Collect orbs to upgrade health and weapons.

– Highly polished 3D graphics providing full immersion into a true-to-life Medieval Middle East environment.

You can find more details here on the Windows Marketplace.

Posted by: James

A quick heads up and a twist on our Samsung Galaxy S III Review

I’m sure you saw our Samsung Galaxy S III unboxing the other day, if not I do hope you have a good excuse! Anyway, our man Vince now has the device but rather than just doing our normal style of review I decided we would add a little twist to it.

With the Samsung Galaxy S III being dubbed as the Android smartphone of the year I thought it may be a good option to put the GSIII up against the HTC One X which is clearly Samsungs main competitor at the moment.

So the nice people at HTC have kindly sent us another One X and Vince is going to put the two flagship devices head to head in the review.

Which one comes out on top is anyone’s guess and to be honest if you are in the market the decision may just well come down to personal preference.

So Vince has his work cut out this week. If you have any specific questions you would like to put to him of features you would like comparing in the review please feel free to comment in the forum.

Fingers crossed the review (battle) will be live later this week.

Posted by: James