Author Archive: Gareth

New from Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericcson have pulled out a few devices from their back pockets. Lets take a look at them:

Toshiba K01 and TG02

Finally a phone with a slide out Qwerty keyboard that does not contain the word Pro in the title. Appearing beside the TG02 The K01 has the same 4.1” Capacitive screen and runs Windows Mobile 6.5.3, however more importantly the K01 has a OLED screen and the difference in the screen clarity is notable. They also had the TG01 on display and it was nice to see the linage of Toshiba’s recent models altogether.  Couple of pictures after the break:

HTC shows 3 new phones

Shown off by HTC at an invite only press conference HTC announced three new phones that will hit stores in April. The HTC Legend and HTC Desire both running Android and HTC HD Mini running Windows Mobile. CEO Peter Chou mentioned they are currently working closely with Microsoft creating some Windows Phone Series 7 … um phones. However lets have a look at what they unveiled. I will be posting a video from the conference on my return to Blighty.

Sky’s Mobile TV now enabled for 3G

Sky Mobile TV is now usable over 3G, with Apple allowing the change to the app and giving users the option to stream television shows and live sports over the mobile phone networks.

Sky’s subscription mobile offering launched on the iPhone back in November – offering streaming television channels like Sky Sports News, Sky News and live sports channels over Wi-Fi.

Now, for the £6 a month fee, Sky’s channels will be available over 3G networks as well as Wi-Fi.

Available on 3G

"The UK’s largest Mobile TV service is now available on 3G for all iPhone users," Sky told TechRadar.

The Sky Mobile TV app launched in November last year and offers the best in live TV on the move initially allowing users to stream content over Wi-Fi from Sky Sports, Sky Sports News, Sky News, ESPN and At The Races.

Sports fans will be able to watch all live televised Barclays Premier League, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premiere League and Coca Cola Football Leagues on 3G as well as live coverage of international and domestic cricket, PGA European Tour Golf, Guinness Premiership Rugby and a range of other sports.

Customers who already have the app will have received an update to advise them that the service is now available on 3G. New customers will need to download the app from the App store or at www.itunes.com/appstore and subscribe to the Sky Mobile TV service for £6 a month and register for a Sky customer ID.

Well received

The app has been well received, with MacFormat‘s Chris Phin commenting on a Sky Mobile TV review published on TechRadar that the ‘quality was incredible’.

But will the 3G networks be able to cope with it? A spokesman for O2 was kind enough to tell TechRadar that the company was aware of the application.

"Yes, I can confirm that the Sky Sports will work over our 3G network," said O2.

LG Mini GD880 hands-on video

Not to be outdone, LG chose MWC to show off its Mini GD880, a svelte piece built from brushed aluminum in both black and silver. Build quality is striking here — jaw-droppingly so — with fit and finish on all corners, seams, and around the various ports looking spot on.

This device also has heft for its diminutive size — sure, it’s only 99g, but that feels like so much for a device of this size — but it only adds character and, well, it feels like money for lack of a better word. Running LG’s S-Class UI, the touchscreen sadly isn’t really up to snuff, we had to really poke at the screen to get it to register a touch, and there was lag and delay between key press and action.

Of course, this isn’t shipping today, but rather launches in Europe in March — for some unknown price — and then on to other markets. So here’s hoping there is still a tweak or two in the GD880’s future, it’d be a shame to let something as glorious as it looks not deliver an experience to match.

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HTC Legend hands-on video

Mobilecrunch paws the oh so shinny HTC Legend which was announced today and is made with an aluminum uni-body, bit like the Mac and Nexus One.

First Impressions:

• It’s absolutely gorgeous. The majority of the unibody design is cut from a single sheet of aluminum, ensuring that there are no screws or unsightly seams. It’s hard not to compare it with a MacBook Pro; side by side, they look like they were born from the same robotic mother.
• The Hero was notoriously slow at launch – and while it sped up over time, it still had its lags here and there. The Legend is only 72Mhz faster (600Mhz vs 528mhz), but that little bump (and all of the work Google and HTC have been doing, presumably) make this an incredibly smooth ride.
• Being accustomed to trackballs, I went into the hands-on a bit unsure about the optical trackpad. I didn’t even consciously notice the difference until someone mentioned it – which says a lot. It works perfectly.
• In terms of durability, the unibody design makes this thing a friggin’ tank. As long as you don’t go smashing the glass screen, you’ll be hardpressed to damage the guts inside. HTC smashed the handset onto the desk multiple times hard enough that it was uncomfortably loud, and it walked away unscathed.
• HTC introduced a Exposé like multi-touch zoom control on the home screen, allowing you to use two-finger pinching to show all of your widget pages at once. This seemed silly in theory, but it’s pretty great in practice. You don’t realize how annoying it is to scroll through 7 pages of widgets until you’re given an alternative.

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HTC Legend, Desire and HD mini up for pre-order at Expansys

Expansys it hot out of the gates on the new announcements from HTC at Mobile World Congress and already taking pre-orders for those that can’t wait for the new Nexus one and Hero replacements to land.

UK shoppers looking to get an unlocked handset will be able to buy the HTC Legend for £399.99 while would be HTC Desire owners will have to pay £449.99.

HTC HD Mini owners looking for some Windows Mobile 6.5.3 until Windows Phone 7 comes out (it won’t be upgradable) can get in cheap for £349.99.

No word from Expansys on when the new handsets will be hitting the shop, but with HTC public suggesting an end of March / Early April launch window it won’t be long now.

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N900 Receives an Update – Firmware V3.2010.02-08 Now available

the N900 has just received a new firmware update from v2.2009.51.1 to V3.2010.02-08.  Jay goes on to say that, at the moment this firmware update is only available via the N900 device itself and not via Nokia Software Updater and is 16MB. No news on change log yet.

Go to Application Manager, click “Update” and then you should see an update for Maemo 5. Backing up your data would be advised.

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HTC Legend, Desire, and HD mini promo videos

HTC have made some nice videos showing off the three handsets they just announced at Mobile World Congress: the HTC Desire, HD mini, and Legend. They havent been officially released yet, so heres a sneak peak curtsey of Mobilecrunch.

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HTC enhances Sense with Leap and Friend Stream, available for Hero too

Announcing that it has "enhanced" the already quite delectable skin, HTC has noted it’ll be available preloaded on the brand new Desire and Legend handsets, and as a free download for the venerable Hero. So what’s new? The press event this morning told us about Leap, the new pinching function that allows you to view all your home screens at once (see above), and Friend Stream, which aims to be your social media aggregator du jour with its one stream combining Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates. There’s also a new newsreader application and widget, along with additional improvements to the browser and web client.

Update: Vodafone is to offer the updated Sense to its Hero customers.

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