News

Microsoft phones to become interchangeable

BGR is reporting a patent filed by Microsoft titled “Mobile Communication Device Having Multiple, Interchangeable Second Devices” was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday. The patent it describes a device that consists of a display and “multiple second devices” that can serve as accessories to the primary screen. We have seen this design executed before: Verizon Wireless launched the LG Versa in 2009 that could be equipped with a game pad accessory, but Microsoft has bigger plans. The patent describes the additional accessories as “more game controllers, batteries, physical keyboards or mobile phone handsets with a display.” Users can detach the devices too, and use wireless communications to interact with the primary display. It is a compelling concept although we aren’t so sure consumers will want to carry multiple accessories at once and could prove costly to replace once misplaced.

Posted by Gareth

New Facebook integrated apps

With the changes to Facebook that were announced last night we will also see some big applicators integrating with Timeline.

The below list is the apps that have already partnered with Facebook however I am sure that many other will follow in the coming months.

• Spotify: As you listen to music on Spotify, your Timeline will populate with your listens, as well as your top albums, playlists and artists.
• The Guardian: Once you add The Guardian app to your Timeline and turn sharing on, you can broadcast the articles you read to your Timeline. If you decide you do not want to share an article, you can “X” it out from The Guardian app, or remove it from your Timeline through your Activity Log.
• Deezer: By integrating with Facebook Platform, Deezer has built a social music experience that makes it easy for people to share their taste in music with friends.
• Myvideo and Dailymotion: Discover new videos based on what your friends are watching so it’s easier to discover great virals and share them with friends.
• Cinemur: Discover new movies based on what your friends are watching. Friends who connect Cinemur to their Timeline will showcase movies as they watch them, so it’s easier to discover new comedies, documentaries, foreign films and obscure indie films through your friends, and watch them yourself.
• The Independent: Recently Read allows people on Facebook and on the Independent site to discover the articles their friends are reading,  By opting into the Recently Read Facebook application on any article on The Independent site, articles that people have read will be posted to Facebook for their friends to discover and interact with in real time. People can control what articles become part of their profile directly from the application, and also on Facebook.
• Mixcloud and Soundcloud: Through Facebook Platform, people can discover new music with their friends, making their online music experience more personal and relevant.
• Artfinder: People can add their favourite artworks from Artfinder to their Facebook profiles and connect with their friends around art online. People have controls over what and how they Artfinder with their friends – they can turn this functionality off at any time in multiple places on Facebook and on Artfinder.

Are these changes a good thing? Please let us know your thoughts in the forum.

Posted by: James

Archos 80 G9 available to order

Looking for a low cost but highly specced Android tablet? Well the Archos 80 G9 could be a contender. Available for only £199 the price is right. Running Android Honeycomb this 8 inch tablet could well be one to watch.

• 1GHz OMAP4 Dual Core processor
• 8 inch (4:3) capacitive touchscreen
• Android Honeycomb 3.2 with Google Mobile Apps Suite including Android Market
• ARCHOS made multimedia apps for extra format and codec support including H.264 HP support
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and upgradable to 3G via the ARCHOS G9 3G Stick (sold separately)

Order here

Full specs below:

Posterous’ last hurrah?

Simple (cough) blogging service Posterous has relaunched itself for what may well be the last time. Now called Posterous Spaces the the revamped offering has been given a complete redesign.

The old adage "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" clearly holds no truck at Posterous as the UI on the web and both iPhone and Android apps has been completely redesigned to the point of self-destruction.

Far from making the service easier to use for newbie bloggers they have managed to complicate the UI so much even I can’t figure it out, and I’m an experienced user. By comparison Tumblr goes from strength to strength precisely because they keep it simple. Features are removed rather than added. The new Posterous Spaces seems to have been designed by a committee of Word engineers. Ironic since the founders launched the product with the aim of making blogging simple for ordinary folks who only knew how to use email.

Amazon Android App Store back to the US

Yesterday I spent some time trying to get it to work, in the end it just wouldn’t work so I didn’t mention it again. It seemed as though Amazon had finally opened up the App Store for Android to the entire world making many people very happy. However, this was too good to be true to last and Amazon has shut down the service for everyone outside of the US once again.

Whether it was opened up by accident or it was a test run is unknown right now and there is no word from the Amazon camp as to why it was available for everyone for one day. The end result though today is that it is shut down and there is no indication as to when it will open back up for everyone outside of the US to use it.

It is possible they are getting ready for the official launch of the Amazon App Store for Android on a worldwide basis when they announce their tablet plans. It makes sense considering Amazon didn’t officially announce anything about the service becoming available worldwide yesterday so it could have been a test run.

So for those of you who got to use it for a day, we hope you enjoyed it. For those of you who missed out don’t worry, the fact that it was working worldwide is a good sign. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long to use it again. You can also just use the workaround to get by the blocking of outside countries if you really want to use the Amazon App Store badly.

Posted by Gareth

A BlackBerry secret party

Last night in Central London RIM held a party to promote their new BlackBerry 7 devices as well as the launch of BBM Music. It has been a while since BlackBerry have had a UK party on this scale and what a fun night it was.

There were plenty of celebrities on the guest list. As well as a host of actors and actresses there were musicians galore, most who I didn’t know as I’m not cool and down with the kids! I did get to chat to three of the guys from McFly though. Nice chaps.

The main attraction of the night was Jessie J who performed a fantastic set. She really is amazing live.

It is great to see BlackBerry hosting something of this scale here in the UK. Looking at twitter during the evening the party was clearly a big success. I dread to think how much the bar bill came too!

Nice one RIM. Let’s do it again soon.

Posted by: James

App applause – Summify

If you’re anything like me (god help you) you get most of your news via Twitter, Facebook and/ or an RSS reader and not direct from the original source. OK, if you’re not then move along. There’s nothing to see here.

In fact I gave up on RSS last year and depend totally on Twitter and Facebook for news. The one downside of getting rid of the tyranny of the unread item count in RSS is that it’s easy to miss stories as they fly by on Twitter.

The T-Mobile parking ticket: full video

We posted a teaser video earlier in the week of a new TV advert T-Mobile have made. The full version is now online with a shorter version being used on UK TV.

Once again T-Mobile have proved they do a sterling job when it comes to adverts.

You can see below what happened when thousands of motorists across Britain, got a surprise they didn’t expect.

Two Gits about to hit

What is a Git? Well, at first you might think it is a defamatory remark about someone. However, There are some who might also think about Git Media, who have announced their two new Android Honeycomb tablets. Git Media will be selling two tablets that are identical except that they each utilise a different processor. One uses the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core chip, and the other uses the Samsung Exynos dual-core chip. Other than that they are specced as such:

• 10.1-inch displays
• Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) OS
• 1GB of RAM
• 250GB internal storage
• 5-megapixel rear-facing camera
• 2-megapixel front-facing camera
• USB and Mini USB ports, Micro SD
• Wi-FI, GPS, Bluetooth, 3G (optional)

Right off the bat, you may notice that both devices come with a whopping 250GB Hard Drive, instead of the paltry 16GB and 32GB variety in most current Android tablets. Of course, it’s important to note that this HD is probably not an SSD like the current crop, which could add to the weight and size of the tablet itself. Still, for those users that are data hoarders, this could be the tablet of choice.
The second thing that Git Media is doing to have a competitive edge in the crowded tablet market, is an aggressive pricing strategy, and a limited time pre-order special sale. Both the The Git Surge and Git Pro will sell for only $479.99 each. There is no word on UK pricing so we will have to guess, probably about two aardvarks. Also, Git Media will soon begin pre-selling these tablets on their website. Furthermore, if you pre-order online, you will get a complementary gift of your choice which is either a leather case and wireless Bluetooth keyboard, or a 3-year extended warranty. Both of these complimentary add-ons are valued at $100.

Posted by Gareth

Get a discount on the ZTE Skate from The Smartphone Centre

With the ZTE Skate launching from September 23rd SIM free, The Smartphone Centre are kindly offering a further discount on this already bargain device.

Not only are they offering the UK’s lowest SIM Free price of £214.95 including VAT, they are also including free standard UK delivery.

With a 5MB Camera, a 4.3" screen, Adobe Flash Support and powered by Android 2.3, this smartphone enables a rich multimedia experience. Combing the ZTE Skate with the Android Market Place you can install a selection of games and applications from over 300,00 listed.

As a special added bonus if you follow The Smartphone Centre on Twitter and like them on Facebook you will get an additional £5 off discount code bringing the price of the ZTE Skate to just £209.95.

An amazing price for a 4.3 inch new Android device!

Click here for more info on the ZTE Skate.

Posted by: James