Five year veteran of the site. BlackBerry specialist, but experienced in most operating systems. Enjoys flower arranging and cross stitch.
If you listen to our Mobile Tech Addicts podcast each week you will know that the team move around our big house and always visit our bargain Basement. I thought it was worth sharing our weekly findings on here too as many offers we discover are too good to miss.
So if you are in the market for a bargain smartphone you can find this weeks selection below.
Should we make this a regular weekend feature on here?
We know what a wonderful camera the Nokia PureView has and Nokia are showing this off with the latest commercial they have posted on their YouTube channel. The video has been filmed only using the 808 and it goes to show what an amazing job the 41 megapixel image sensor does.
I am still a little dubious as to how well the 808 PureView will sell for two reasons. The first is its price. Sim free the 808 is over £500. That is a lot of money and this leads me into the second reason which is the OS. The 808 runs Symbian. While Symbian has been a huge success for Nokia they have clearly said that Windows Phone will be their primary OS of the future. So to spend over £500 on a device that may have limited support in the future concerns me.
That said the camera capabilities are outstanding on the 808. You can see for yourself below.
With yesterdays announcement of the BlackBerry Curve 9220 over in India I thought it was worth bringing you some nice images of the device as it may well be one of Research in Motions best selling handsets in certain parts of the world. This 2G successor to the 8520 will not be suited to the UK market, in my opinion, and I would expect that we will see the BlackBerry Curve 9320 launched here instead, which is the 3G variant.
That said, the two devices are very similar in design and specs so if you are in the market for a new low cost BlackBerry in the UK it is still worth taking a look at the following pictures to give you a rough guide.
There is no doubt that the Curve 8520 is now out of date. It may have been the best selling smartphone in the UK for the last couple of years but it is time for an overhaul. The new Curves take the budget BlackBerry into the next era with the latest version of the OS (7.1), FM radio, a larger battery and a dedicated BBM hardware button on the left side of the device.
Remember last month when the likes of the BBC and The Guardian reported that RIM would not be supporting consumers? I said then that it was rubbish and that Thorsten Heins (RIM CEO) said no such thing. These new affordable BlackBerry smartphones go to prove that.
Anyway, you can see some nice high res images of the BlackBerry Curve 9220 below.
There are hundreds of options when it comes to Bluetooth headsets from a wide range of manufactures. A few names in particular stand out from the crowd and Jawbone is one of them. They are certainly one of the market leaders in Bluetooth technology so I was happy to discover I would be reviewing the Jawbone Prime with Noise Assassin.
Having never previously reviewed a Bluetooth headset I’m sure you are wondering how I got on?
To find out you will have to read on.
If you are in the type of business where having a smartphone is likely to end up in it getting broken the JCB Pro-Smart may well be the perfect device for you.
JCB’s first Android smartphone (discounting the limited edition of the DEFY+), the Pro-Smart, is now in stock at Clove.
Priced at £259 (£310.80 inc.VAT), the Pro-Smart features Android 2.3 Gingerbread and has an IP67 protection rating, as well as the usual smartphone features.
For some it might not always be feasible to have a nice smartphone because of the environments we work or find ourselves in, they are just too vulnerable to damage and the last thing you want is to spend large amounts of money replacing, protecting or repairing phones. You might have a smartphone you use occasionally or for personal reasons but for work it’s a basic phone that can cope.
JCB have been making phones for a while but they have still been fairly limited in capability, but they have been rugged.
Motorola have created waves with their water resistant and dust resistant DEFY, and it has become highly appealing to trades people or those who are a bit clumsy with phones.
The Pro-Smart is JCB’s answer to the Motorola DEFY. It is a fully fledged smartphone that is capable for calls, texts, web browsing, navigation video playback and more. However the difference is that the unit is IP67 rated meaning it will survive being dropped in water (for short periods of time). It will take a few knocks and will be more resistant to dust and dirt than many other phones.
Huawei have today announced that the Huawei Ascend P1 will be available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia through operators and retailers by May 2012, in Latin America from June 2012 and in Europe from summer, with availability in other markets to follow.
"The global availability of the Ascend P1, which combines smart features and a sexy design, represents a significant milestone for Huawei Device. We are sending strong signals of our intention to transform into a consumer-facing brand and extend our market leadership globally by strengthening our range of flagship products. We are also expanding our sales and distribution channels to move beyond a focus on operators," said Richard Yu, Chairman of Huawei Device.
The Ascend P1 is beauty meets brains – proof that technology and good looks can go hand-in-hand. It features a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 Cortext-A9 processor and measures 7.69mm thin and 64.8 mm long, providing a very comfortable grip. With a 4.3-inch super AMOLED 960 x 540 touch screen with Corning® Gorilla® Glass, an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera and Dolby Mobile 3.0 + 5.1 surround sound technology, the Ascend P1 provides a home theatre experience in the palm of your hands.
Research In Motion today announced its most affordable BlackBerry® 7 smartphone for customers in India. The new BlackBerry® Curve 9220 smartphone offers all the market-leading BlackBerry messaging and social-centric features that people love in India. Designed to be easy to use and easy to own, this compact and sleek smartphone provides many conveniences and applications to help keep users connected to the people and information that matter most to them. It also offers the longest lasting battery life yet in a BlackBerry Curve model, allowing users to make the most of their day.
“India is a very important market for RIM and we are extremely proud and excited to officially unveil and launch the new BlackBerry Curve 9220 for the first time here in India,” said Carlo Chiarello, SVP, Smartphone Business at Research In Motion.
“The new BlackBerry Curve 9220 offers a unique mobile experience that young Indians will love thanks to its affordable pricing and unmatched messaging and social connectivity features,” said Sunil Dutt, Managing Director for India at RIM.
The BlackBerry Curve 9220 has everything a user needs to stay socially connected throughout the day. It even features a dedicated BBM key, bringing the power of RIM’s popular mobile social network up in an instant. The Facebook® for BlackBerry and Twitter® for BlackBerry apps are included as well as Social Feeds, which allows users to post updates to multiple social applications simultaneously and capture updates from news sources (RSS), social apps and instant messaging apps all in one consolidated view.
Good news for you mobile gamers on O2. Telefónica has entered a relationship with EA Mobile, a division of Electronic Arts, which will allow customer to access its world leading games on their mobiles. The deal will give Telefónica’s operating businesses the ability to create innovative gaming promotions using titles from the EA catalogue of consumer favourite brands such as The Sims, FIFA or MONOPOLY. The objective is to make it easy for customers to find the games that they are familiar with and to drive the uptake of mobile gaming, particularly amongst feature phone users.
In the UK, O2 will offer its customers three months of free access to all EA Mobile games following their first download. It is then examining a number of potential promotions or special ‘gaming subscription’ services to offer customers.
“Our relationship with EA Mobile puts us as the epicentre of mobile gaming – which accounts for the highest percentage of downloaded Apps and is the largest paid mobile content market today,” said Matthew Key, Chairman & CEO of Telefónica Digital. “By making a differentiated play in this most emotive and immersive entertainment medium we are fostering a much deeper connection with our customers – another significant step in becoming a true aggregator of experiences.”
Bernard Kim, Senior Vice President, Global Social and Mobile Publishing said: “Our mission is to deliver games that consumers love – anywhere, anytime, and on any platform they want to play. We know that at least a quarter of mobile users in Europe are playing games on their phones. Our relationship with Telefónica helps more people discover our games, and removes barriers for subscribers to enjoy an entire library of our most beloved titles.”
If you are looking for the best camera phone around then you may want to consider the Nokia 808. Clove now have the device available to pre order but it will set you back a whopping £538.80 including VAT.
The price may seem like a high price tag for a handset that runs Symbian, but the PureView does have a 41MP camera to make up for its lack of a smartphone OS. It also comes with a Xenon flash, 4″ AMOLED display, 16GB internal storage (expandable via a microSD slot) and the range of connectivity features that can be found in current smartphones, including DLNA.
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