Author Archive: James Richardson

UK Apple iPad Prices

We mentioned earlier that the iPad is coming to UK shores very shortly, May 28th will be the UK release date, and we now have had the prices confirmed. They are as follows:

£429 (inc. VAT) for 16GB Wi-Fi iPad
£499 (inc. VAT) for 32GB Wi-Fi iPad
£599 (inc. VAT) for 64GB Wi-Fi iPad
£529 (inc. VAT) for 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad
£599 (inc. VAT) for 32GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad
£699 (inc. VAT) for 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad

As expected we are getting charged a lot more here in the UK than our friends over in the States.

To compare: The 16GB Wi-Fi pad in the States is $499 which equates to £330. Yet we are being charged £429!

The 64GB 3G iPad in the States is $829 which equates to £549. We pay £699.

So I am afraid that if you want an iPad here in the UK you will be ripped off! Why are Apple doing this? I think the answer is because they can.

Posted by: James

Google Nexus One at Phones 4U on May 7

The Google Nexus One will be available at Phones 4U from Friday (May 7) via its retail stores and website. It follows Vodafone in stocking the device in the UK.

The device will be available from the retailer for free from £35 per month on a 24-month contract, offering 600 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB of data and unlimited Wi-Fi.

Phones 4U spokesperson Russell Braterman said: "We’re really proud to be one of the first mobile retailers to stock Google’s Nexus One and we anticipate a rush of customers to be the first to get their hands on the phone."

The big decision to make here is do you get the Nexus One or go for the HTC Desire which is £5 per month cheaper?

The Desire has the added benefits of HTC Sense and the optical track pad but the Google Nexus One will get Google updates straight away.

Now there’s a dilemma!

Posted by: James

More photos of the BlackBerry 9670 Clamshell

Love it or hate it this device is looking more and more real. Thecellguru.com apparently had some further images sent to them by an anonymous tipster.

Looking at the screenshot, to the right, the BlackBerry 9670 is clearly running BlackBerry 6 which is a good sign.

The device is most defiantly not the most attractive handset in the BlackBerry range but I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a market for this phone, particularly in the USA where a lot of clamshell devices are sold.

With still no official word from RIM we will once again have to be patient and wait and see if this device does emerge this year.

Posted by: James

Sony Ericsson ‘rides to glory’ with BMX sponsorship

London, 5^th May 2010 – BMX enthusiasts from across the globe descended upon Liverpool’s Rampworks this weekend, to kick off the inaugural Sony Ericsson Ride to Glory 2010.

To celebrate Sony Ericsson’s first year as headline sponsor the entrants will be pushed to the limit and have their riding skills tested to the max with a series of new routes, daring stunts and high octaine thrills, culminating in a finale at Cantelowes outdoor skate park in Camden, London on the 8^th May.

During this seven-day endurance challenge, thrill-seeking contenders will capture the action live in HD on the feature-packed Sony Ericsson VivazT, and this ground breaking footage will be uploaded daily to the Ride to Glory website – http://rideukbmx.mpora.com/

More after the break.

Acer neoTouch P300 and beTouch E110 land at Clove

Back in February Acer announced a number of new smartphones at Mobile World Congress.

Slowly making a name for themselves in the smartphone market.  The first two from the range have landed today and are beginning to ship.  If these don’t take your fancy, we are sure something else in the range will.

Acer neoTouch P300 is a great productivity tool for the personal or the business user with many features, just a few are:

• Slim and lightweight design
• Windows Mobile 6.5.3, full Microsoft® Exchange support and Office Suite
• 3.2″ touch screen
• Full slide down QWERTY backlit keyboard
• Qualcomm 7225 processor
• 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity built in
• Exclusive Spinlets application provides free streaming of worldwide music and video, that can be shared with friends and family via the web or e-mail.
• Instant access to Windows Market Place

You can read more or place an order for one HERE

Orange refreshes mobile broadband

Orange has today refreshed its mobile broadband tariffs, offering Dolphin, Panther and Racoon packages.

The Dolphin mobile broadband tariff comes with one hour of unlimited data. Customers can select to have the ‘happy hour’ between 8am-9am, 12pm-1pm, 4pm-5pm or 10pm-11pm. For £15 per month on an 18-month contract, customers will also receive 3GB of data per month, or on a one-month rolling contract, 2GB.

The Panther tariff comes with 10GB of data for £25 per month on a one-month rolling contract, or on a £35 18-month contract customers get unlimited data.

Existing Orange customers can opt for the Racoon £5 18-month tariff which comes with 500MB. Or for £10 per month, customers can opt for either 1GB on a rolling one-month contract or 1.5GB on an 18-month deal.

All 18-month mobile broadband contracts come with a free Huawei E1752 dongle or with a white Option 515M dongle for £20, which comes with an 8GB memory card.

Customers can opt for a laptop with the mobile broadband deals on a 24-month contract. The Asus 1005HGO netbook and the Compaq CQ61 notebook are available from £15 per month.

Orange will cap usage once customers exceed £40 over the standard monthly allowance (except for when roaming or sending SMS).

Orange UK Director of Broadband and Home Asif Aziz said: "Our mobile animal plans have been extremely popular as they allow customers to quickly select the right package which is best for them – so we’ve decided to extend these to our mobile broadband range – making it easier for customers to find the tariff that meets their digital needs and which is best suited to their personal lifestyle."

Posted by: James

BlackBerry Pearl 3G 9105 Coming Soon to Vodafone

It looks like Vodafone are the first UK network to announce they will be carrying the BlackBerry Pearl 3G. The device appeared in the coming soon section of their website today.

No news on when or how much I am afraid. We will have to be patient. However as soon as we hear any news we will let you know.

Personally I think this device is going to be great for RIM and i am confident it will ensure more and more customers switching to using a BlackBerry from their regular feature phone.

Watch this space.

Posted by: James

Microsoft’s Kin phones get slated by engadget

The guys over at engadget have been playing around with both the KIN One and KIN two and have published there thoughts. I would imagine it’s not the kind of review Microsoft was hoping for. Not only have engadget heavily criticised the new Windows phones but they have also slated the price plans that the KINs will be sold on.

Both Matt and myself have said from day one that in order for these devices to do well they will need to be sold at a really low price. Over in the USA it would seem that Verizon and Microsoft have decided not offer a great price deal on the KINs.

Oh dear, not a great start Microsoft. I do hope that the Windows Phone 7 devices will not be priced out of the market too?

Anyway, you can read the full article from engadget here.

Posted by: James

New YouTube player for BlackBerry

While I was checking out crackberry.com earlier today I spotted that they mentioned a new YouTube player was available to download for free. I like free stuff so the app was downloaded straight away.

Streaming YouTube videos on a BlackBerry never gives you the quality picture you may find on other devices but it is still good to have a decent app for when you want it. If your BlackBerry is running OS 4.6 and up then I think this is a much better solution than heading over to YouTube on your BlackBerry web browser.

This new one is rather attractive. As you can see it’s extremely colourful and it’s is dead simple to navigate.

More after the break.