Phones

O2 data network back to normal

Full service to O2’s data network has been restored after an air conditioning failure saw parts of the country without a connection yesterday evening

O2’s data network is again fully functional after an intermittent fault saw parts of the country without a data connection for up to eight hours yesterday. O2’s data network went down yesterday afternoon after an air conditioning failure in one of its London sites caused the technology which carries its network data to overheat and break down.

Data services were restored in London, O2’s biggest area for data consumption, by 9:30pm yesterday evening. O2 said all problems were resolved by 1am this morning. An O2 spokesperson said: "An air conditioning failure in one of our London sites caused two nodes which carry network data to overheat yesterday.

"This resulted in intermittent data access for customers in some parts of the UK. Full service was restored by 1am today. We apologise to our customers for the loss of service."

Palm defend their decision to go with O2 again

The Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus have both arrived on O2 but are Palm making the same mistake twice or have O2 promised to make an effort to push the device that than saying “you’d be better off with an iPhone”. Mobile New have offered up an article pointing out why Palm remarried the ex-wife that had given they so many problems since their engagement all that time ago:

Palm defends its choice to launch its Pre Plus and Pixie Plus handsets exclusively through O2 but says it may take longer to establish the brand in the UK

US manufacturer Palm has defended its ‘one network’ strategy in the UK despite admitting it will take longer to establish the company’s brand here than in any other European country.

Palm will launch its Pre Plus and Pixie Plus handsets in the UK in the next few days exclusively with O2.

Palm has been dogged by criticism since the release of the Pre last year that launching it through one network has been an error as sales have struggled.

Palm vice president for sales in EMEA Paul Ghent said: "The Palm brand in the UK is still limited and it’s an incredibly crowded market place here. You just have to look at the plethora of devices out there and the number of Android devices around so for the end user it’s pretty confusing.

Fieldrunners expodes onto Windows Mobile

That groovey hit from the iPhone, PSP and Android has made it’s way to Windows Mobile. Tower defense at it best with funny animations and extreme challenage is top of the list. Read on for a video.

Droppedboxx for Windows Mobiles

Dropbox is now available to the Windows Mobile users via this handy client. There are actually a few now available, all released at a relatively similar time. This one looks to be the best so far with a very easy to use interface that looks like it has borrowed a few tip from the iPhone. Check after the break for a feature list and some links to grab it.

iPad hits today

So the iPad is arriving in UK Apple shops today for a handful of people to get. By the time you read this the first person will have gotten theirs. Causing outright panic in Belfast this morning scores of people lined up outside the Victoria Centre to be first to get it, and by scores I mean … 3.

Oh okay. Should be enough for everyone then.

Pandora gets reviewed

We mentioned this little device one before, a long time ago, but it seems some folks are managing to get their hands on it. I know I’m excited by it as a little games machine that can do what you really want from emulators. Packing a full qwerty keyboard on a DS sized device with a touchscreen and a capable D-pad affair sounds like it will cover all manner of platforms. But then again it’s not just about the games.

A summary from a review reads quite nicely:

Overall: Although let down a little by the build quality issues, as a gaming handheld and computer: it’s great. Technically speaking, it’s a nicely spec’d machine and I can’t wait to see what it can do when the software catches up. Well done, OP team!

Full review here

Check out a quick video after the break:

Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus get pricing on O2

Palm, Inc. today announced that the Palm® Pre™ Plus and Palm Pixi™ Plus phones will be available in the UK on O2 from 28 May. They will be available from free in all O2 stores and online at www.o2.co.uk.

“We are excited to bring Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to the market for O2 customers,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “With the choice of these two new Palm webOS phones, customers across the UK can stay connected, so they never miss a thing.”
With a slider keyboard, a large touchscreen and a high-performance processor, Pre Plus is Palm’s full-featured Palm webOS™ phone. It’s designed for people who want an easy-to-use phone with advanced features to help manage the different aspects of their lives, both personal and professional. The keyboard makes for quick and easy typing, while the unique gesture area provides a sleek look and intuitive navigation. Customers also get 16GB(1) of storage (~15GB user available) for applications and media. Pre Plus comes with the Palm Touchstone™ Back Cover, so it’s compatible out of the box with the revolutionary inductive Touchstone Charging Dock (sold separately).

Video Telephony for Android

Fringe have put out their update Android client that, front facing camera permitting, manages to do video calling. Wonder just how long the networks will tolerate this but grab it while you can from the Android Market if you have an appropriate camera.

Acer Stream announced

Acer has announced the Stream, an Android 2.1 smartphone with a new 3D user interface. The interface provides information on the lock screen so that you don’t have to unlock the device, much like we have saw years ago on the Palm Treo Pro (and were pretty impressed by). Acer says the Stream is a high-end multimedia smartphone that’s optimized for watching movies and browsing the web. It comes equipped with a 3.7-inch touchscreen display, HSDPA 7.2Mbps 3G connectivity, 512MB of RAM, a 8GB microSD card, and a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Certainly something to keep an eye out for since Acer’s price tag is usually £100 less than the competing HTC or Samsung device. Check the video and press release after the break:

T-Mobile to push Android full force

T-Mobile wants to be the network of choice for Android smartphones, T-Mobile head of postpaid devices Richard Hynes told delegates at the Fonehouse conference. The operator is launching four new Android handsets in the next quarter – including the HTC Wildfire – as part of its plan to grab share of the Android market this year.
Hynes said: ‘Our key strategic imperative first and foremost is to be the network of choice for Android.’
He said T-Mobile would leverage the legacy of the G1 to build its Android share. Launched in October 2008, the G1 was T-Mobile’s most successful launch, making over 110,000 connections.
‘T-Mobile is the operator with the highest base of Android customers, with 23% of market share. We want to build on that legacy,’ Hynes told delegates.
The operator is looking to create ‘a family’ of Android devices this year, said Hynes, adding that it has ‘high hopes’ that the HTC Wildfire will perform at least as well as the HTC Desire, which he said had outperformed all expectations.

On the back of the announcement yesterday regarding Orange pushing £100 Android devices it looks like Everything, Everywhere, the future mega-network of Orange and T-Mobile,  should be somewhat Android focused.