News

Featured BlackBerry App – ClubSPORTS

ClubSports is the premier team app for your Blackberry device. Available for dozens of teams I have chosen the Arsenal version for this article as I like red!

With ClubSports you will be able to follow your favourite team and see their position in the English Premier League. With clubSports you get an extensive set of features from Live Arsenal scores to Premiership Tables to player profiles to the latest EPL News. ClubSports is offering the most extensive and up-to-date Arsenal information available on Blackberry. Follow the Gunners take on opponents at Emirates Stadium and away.

ClubSports is the best application for all Arsenal fans, the all-in-one tool for the true Arsenal fan. ClubSPORTS Arsenal app provides you with all the information you need about your favorite team including:

. General club information including statistics & records
. Player details including stats, photos & transfers
. Livescores (real-time scores) & standings
. News

Sony Xperia S release date confusion

There seems to be quite a bit of chatter around the Xperia S release date following Play.com listing it as January.

The official line is that Sony have only ever communicated the first week of March with all customers and distributors.

Clearly this may well change as these things do but if you are waiting out for what looks to be a great Android device you may have a longer wait than expected.

Nice phone though!

Posted by: James

IM+ updated for BlackBerry

If you are a IM+ BlackBerry user then good news as an update has now been made available. The new features include the following:

New features include:
– Arabic localization
– "Disable Beep" option
– Optimization of app launch
– Scrolling history bugfix
– Configurable Inbox integration
– UI improvements
– Some additional bug fixes and performance improvements

If you fancy giving IM+ a try click here.

Facebook and Twitter for BlackBerry to become BBM connected apps

The chaps over at crackberry.com have today posted that it looks like both Facebook and Twitter for BlackBerry will soon become BBM connected apps. The number of connected apps has really grown since BlackBerry 7 was introduced and while I personally may not want all my Twitter and Facebook updates to be posted on my BBM status it will certainly be a nice option to have.

Nice work RIM. Now lets get some beta versions out please!

Posted by: James

UK Apple Store offers worst prices in Western Europe

Idealo.co.uk has used its knowledge within the price comparison shopping industry to compare worldwide prices of the most popular Apple products . The results of the comparative analysis are quite interesting, particularly for British consumers.

Prices  from all 37 online Apple country stores for the Ipad 2, Macbook Air, ipod Touch, MacBook Pro and iMac were compared. Since the prices for some of the online country stores, such as the United States, do not include VAT, we compared the prices for each online country store both with and without VAT, based on each country’s tax rate .  

The cheapest online Apple store in the world is Malaysia. Its prices ranked the lowest when comparing prices both including and excluding VAT.

Apple stores in Brazil, Czech Republic and Thailand ranked as the three most expensive online Apple stores in the world. These online country stores ranked in the top three for most expensive prices both including and excluding VAT. The average prices excluding VAT for these three online country stores was 28 percent higher than the other online country stores.

More info and analysis charts below:

Sony is the self proclaimed champ of Android tablets

Sony claims that it’s distinctive Android tablets are leading the race to dominate sales in a crowded market. A company spokesman said that Sony’s products accounted for 26% of the UK market in October, the most recent period for which independent data is available. Sony also claims it has had a successful Christmas, but conceded that it was likely to have been beaten on tablet sales by aggressively priced BlackBerry Playbooks.

Wonder if they will learn anything from Blackberry on that strategy?

Posted by: Gareth

Google announces privacy settings change

Google look to be changing their privacy agreement, whether you like it or not. Google said on Tuesday it will require users to allow the company to follow their activities across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices.
Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes. The policy will take effect March 1 and will also impact Android mobile phone users, who are required to log in to Google accounts when they activate their phones.

The change to its privacy policies come as Google is facing competition for the attention of Web users. It recently disappointed investors for the first time in a couple of years, failing last week to meet earnings predictions. Apple,for the same period, reported record earnings on Tuesday that blew past even the most optimistic expectations.

Some said Google’s move is aimed squarely at Apple and Facebook, which have been more successful at capture people’s attention. A Google executive said in an interview that the company wants to create a much more seamless environment across its various offerings. Alma Whitten, Google’s director of privacy for product and engineering, wrote in a blog post.

If you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.

Posted by: Gareth

Is this RIM’s 2012/Q1 2013 road map?

BGR has posted what they believe to be RIM’s roadmap for the coming year or so. Whether the details are correct or not we will have to wait and see but the details look promising. The devices I am actually most intrigued about are the two new Curve’s that BGR are reporting will launch this year. Could these be a successor and in the same price region as the Curve 8520 which nearly every teenager I see has? If so then RIM looks to retain those customers and a low end Curve makes sense to me. Although we now have the Curve 9360 and 9380 they are still a lot more expensive than the 8520 on PAYG/sim free and to be honest that device is a little dated now to say the least with it running OS 5.0, although still hugely popular in many counties including the UK.

Anyway, here is what BGR say we will see:

• RIM plans to introduce two new Curve smartphones within the next few months: the BlackBerry Curve 9230 and the BlackBerry Curve 9320. The 9230 will be an EDGE smartphone and the Curve 9320 will be an HSPA device.
• While we don’t have confirmation on the size, we have heard that RIM will introduce a new PlayBook tablet with 1.5GHz processor, built-in HSPA+ 42Mbps cellular data support and NFC around May or June.
• RIM’s BlackBerry London is still on track for a September launch.
• There is now another BlackBerry 10 smartphone in the works that will launch as part of RIM’s Bold series. The phone features a touchscreen display and QWERTY keyboard, and it is planned for a December release.
• A QWERTY slider running BlackBerry 10 has been talked about for the first quarter of 2013.

Posted by: James

Nokia Lumia 900 coming to the UK

Carphone Warehouse have opened up pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 900, the device that was announced at CES with a U.S exclusivity to AT&T. Carphone Warehouse are showing the device as arriving in June 2012 so we have a little while to wait. Although pricing is not yet confirmed, as are which carriers will sell the handset, it looks to be a top of the range Windows Phone unless another manufacture announces something better.

The Nokia Lumia 900 has an amazing 4.3" screen ideal for videos and pictures, and an 8MP camera with a super wide lens for spectacular wide angle photos. It’s also capable of recording 720p HD video. The wide lens on the forward facing camera enables great video calls and there’s even built-in voice guided navigation and a music player that finds new music you’ll love.
Stylish and smooth iconic looks.
The 4.3" AMOLED screen of the Nokia Lumia 900 will really catch your eye. ClearBlack display technology makes colours vibrant, super clear and cuts out glare. The one piece body is stylish and sturdy and, along with Corning® Gorilla® Glass protection, the Lumia 900 is one hardy smartphone. Don’t worry about battery life either as there’s a giant 1830mAh battery built-in.

Apple’s lawsuit against the Galaxy Nexus

Apple appears to be up to their same shenanigans, and this time it is something that has been speculated would eventually happen. Apple just filed a lawsuit in the Mannheim Regional Court, claiming that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus violates a utility model by copying their slide-to-unlock motion. Here’s a quote from Electronista with specifics,

The iPhone designer alleged on Friday that the Android 4.0 leader violated a slide-to-unlock motion from iOS that was given the utility model status in Germany in 2006. Apple argued that it couldn’t use the model until now as other phones, even ones years old, were too new for the claim, look at this web-site if you need an attorney.

What is more interesting is that if you look deeper and “read between the lines” this is a new tactic for Apple. In the past most of their lawsuits have been aimed at minor customizations rather than directly at Android functions. This time, by going directly after a primary feature of Android 4.0, Apple is making a statement against Google themselves. This is further reinforced by the fact that the Galaxy Nexus uses a completely stock version of Android rather than one “tweaked” by the OEMs. It’s important not to dismiss this claims outright, because the potential is significant for Android if the court rules in favour of Apple.
Interestingly, this is the exact same court where one of Samsung’s counter-claims against Apple was recently lost. There is a hearing scheduled for March 16. Speculation is that Samsung will likely base their defence around claims of “prior art” from a company called Neonode, which dealt with phones briefly in the past. This is the same strategy that Samsung used against Apple in the Netherlands in 2011.
What really makes a person scratch their head on this one is that the way the Galaxy Nexus’ slide-to-unlock works is very “loose” compared to other phones in the past. Certainly, someone could swipe their fingers in a manner that is similar to what Apple is claiming, but that doesn’t mean they will do it all the time.

Posted by: Gareth