News

Apple unveil iPhone 4S

After a ridiculous stream of rumours, the iPhone 4S is now official. The first thing to note is that it looks identical to the old iPhone 4, 3.5″ retina display, glass and all, for better or worse. As expected though, it has new internals, namely the dual core A5 chip. With dual core graphics too, performance is supposedly 7 times faster than the A4 in the iPhone 4, and graphically intensive games such as the new Infinity Blade 2 will be industry leading (for now). The battery life is rated at 8 hours of talk time, 14 hours of 2G talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours of video, 40 hours of music, and 9 hours of Wi-Fi browsing.

The camera has also been subject to a nice meaty upgrade, up from 5 to 8 megapixels as expected, f/2.4 aperture, and 73% more light on the sensor thanks to backside illumination. There’s also more bells and whistles such as a ‘Hybrid IR filter’ for better colour accuracy, 30% more sharpness, and face detection. It’s also supposed to be faster to shoot the first picture – 1.1 seconds for the 4S, compared with 2 and 2.1 seconds for the Samsung GSII and HTC Sensation. Video recording on the iPhone 4 was already excellent, but that too has been bumped to full 1080p recording, video stabilisation, and noise reduction.

The internals are up to date now, and after all of the iPhone 4 antennagate malarky, Apple have made sure they mention the new antenna which switches between different areas for best signal quality – we’ll see if that’s actually the case when we get our hands on it soon.

Update: The iPhone 4S will come in 16gb, 32gb and 64gb flavors. It will be available here in the UK on October 14th. Pre-Orders start on the 7th.

Post by: Vince

Cards app for iOS detailed

Can’t say that this was one the rumour mill picked up on, but you can’t blame them – it’s kind of bizarre. The short of it is that Apple have a new app called Cards, where you can choose from 21 designs of a greetings card to send. Once customised, Apple will actually create it and mail it to your addressee. Of course, it comes at a price, one that hasn’t been detailed for the UK. We’re not actually sure if the service will be available to us here, but it does seem like Americans can address it to outside the USA.

Is this a way of marketing to your recipient with an Apple branded card, or a genuine desire to make our lives easier? Who knows, but it’ll be available free on October 12th, for the Yanks at least.

Post by: Vince

Apple boasts some impressive numbers

It’s hard to deny that recently Apple have been doing very well in all the markets they compete in, from desktop PCs to music players. At Apple’s keynote today, they showed off some impressive numbers to say the least:

• 6 million downloads of OS X Lion; Macs are no. 1 selling computers in the US
• 23% year on year growth in the PC market vs 4% Windows, with almost 60m users
• 23% of the total PC market share
• Over 300m iPods sold in the last decade, 45m since June
• 16 billion song downloads on iTunes!
• No. 1 selling tablet in world, 95% satisfaction rate, 92% of Fortune 500 companies adopting the iPad
• 250 million total iOS devices, making iOS the number 1 mobile OS, accounting for 61% of the mobile browser market
• Half a million apps on the App Store, 140,00 iPad apps, and 18 billion app downloads

Whether you like Apple or not, it’s clear that they are doing extremely well lately. Well done to them.

Posted by: Vince

HTC Sensation XE in stock at The Smartphone Centre

The HTC Sensation XE has arrived at The Smartphone Centre. This latest device includes a 4.3″ qHD display, powered by a 1.5GHz processor, the Android Operating System and sound by Beats Audio, the HTC Sensation XE is provided with custom made Beats headsets, engineered to deliver extraordinary sound.

HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio comes inbox with custom made Beats headsets, engineered to deliver extraordinary sound. The specially tuned software and user interface delivers the ultimate mobile audio experience we know you’ll appreciate. Featuring an aluminium unibody construction and designed with touches of red, the phone feels premium and looks beautiful inside and out.

HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio is powered by a blazing fast 1.5 GHz dual core processor. Now, you can easily multitask and surf the most visually rich websites at blazing speeds. Your apps will start up instantly and switching between multiple apps has never been easier.

HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio’s 4.3 inch expansive qHD display brings you an unprecedented movie watching experience when you are on the go. The audio experience is just as immersive. The phone automatically detects your Beats headset and optimises the output so your audio experience sounds extraordinary, just like the artist intended.

Apple iPhone event tomorrow

We are now only one day away from Apples press event they are holding at their headquarters in Cupertino. The rumor squad has been working overtime over the past few months and as you may have noticed we have not paid it a lot of attention. Why, you may ask? Well, many sites have been reporting every rumor they can get their hands on and frankly most of it is a total waste of time as it is all rumor.

Sure, we may well get an iPhone 5 or an iPhone 4S or even something totally different but until tomorrow we will not know for sure.

Apple have once again done a sterling job at preventing leaks so the event tomorrow will have the worlds press and public reeled in waiting for the important announcement.

We will of course bring you the news as soon as we have it but in the meantime you will just have to be patient. Not long to wait.

Posted by: James

Nokia maps spotted in the Marketplace

Someone at XDA seems to have spotted some screenshots of Nokia Maps for Windows Phone 7 over in the Marketplace. This is great news as Navigation apps here in the UK on the platform are lacking. The screenshot shown clearly shows a map of Central London.

With Nokia lagging behind on the the release of mango phones, compared to the likes of HTC and Samsung, could Nokia Maps be the unique selling tool they have up their sleeves?

If I was going to buy a Windows Phone I would more than likely get a Nokia if It came with free satellite navigation.

Hands up who agrees with me?

Posted by: James

Fabled Touchpad Go details emerge

Hard to believe that a mere two months ago there was a fire sale on the HP Touchpad. A shrewd manoeuvre by HP to get Touchpads into the hands of plenty around the world to play with and develop. Now it seems the legacy of the Touchpad was to be grander and more ambitious than previously  thought. PreCentral.net just posted exclusive details on the HP TouchPad Go 7 inch version of the TouchPad that was killed before it was released.

After looking at the images, slides, and details, I think I actually may have liked the TouchPad Go since the smaller form factor is appealing for mobile usage, the design looks nicer with a soft touch back, metal buttons, and a higher pixel density display. All the basic elements of the TouchPad are packed into the Go along with a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm processor and GPS receiver. I haven’t seen any of these sneak out on ebay or Craigslist and maybe with the new change at HP there is a chance we may eventually see these released.

Would you have purchased the HP TouchPad Go? Do you find it more appealing than the HP TouchPad?

Posted by Gareth

HTC Hub for WP7 Mango gets updated

If you are an HTC phone user on Windows Phone 7 you will be pleased to hear that HTC have updated their hub.  The update is only available for  Mango devices but if you have not received the Mango update yet it is only a matter of time. Microsoft have said all phones should be offered the new version of the OS over the next few weeks.

George over at wpcentral has done a nice demo video comparing the new version of the HTC Hub compared to the old and as you will see HTC have made some nice changes.

You can see the video below and thanks to wpcentral.com for the video.

Vodafone Data Test Drive

Vodafone have launched a new initiative to help you get on the right data plan depending on your needs. All new Smartphone users will be able to use as much data as they like within the first three months of a contract. At the end of that time Vodafone will tell you how much data you have used and advise if a different plan is required. How jolly decent of them.

Vodafone say:

We’re changing how we charge for data to help you unlock the full potential of mobile internet on your smartphone. Whether you’re browsing the web, using the latest apps or just keeping up with friends by email, we want you to feel in complete control.

Choose from our range of the latest smartphones and you can use the internet as much as you like – with no additional charges – for the first 3 months of your plan.

We’ll keep an eye on your usage. Then – at the end of your 3 month Data Test Drive – we’ll send you a text to let you know how you’ve got on.

You might be surprised to find that you’re already on the right plan. So you can go on using the internet on your smartphone, knowing there won’t be any bill shock.

But even if you exceed your data allowance during the Data Test Drive, don’t worry – you’ll have the option to add a higher data allowance to your plan, and we’ll let you know the monthly cost.

If you decide you’d like the higher data price plan, all you need to do is reply to the text within 3 days, free of charge. We’ll make sure your new data plan is applied to your account at the end of your Data Test Drive.

So whichever of the latest smartphones you choose – with our Data Test Drive offer you’ll know which data package suits you best.

Posted by: James

Vodafone launches reward scheme for pre paid customers

Orange do it with Orange Wednesdays and O2 have Priority Moments. Now Vodafone are giving something back to pre paid customers.

Vodafone Freebee Rewardz will apply to all customers who top up £5 or more and they will receive a voucher code in an SMS. These vouchers can be used with Vodafone partners such as BLOCKBUSTER, confectionist Thorntons and Merlin, the people who do vouchers for the likes of Alton Towers and Thorpe Park theme parks.

Vouchers can also be saved up for future offers and I would imagine more partners will come onboard as time progresses.

“Vodafone Freebee Rewardz is a unique scheme as we’re giving our customers something more than just discounts and customers can take part with whatever pay as you go phone they have,” Vodafone consumer director Srini Gopalan said.

Nice work Vodafone.

Posted by: James