News

Get triple minutes with the BlackBerry 9300 from Vodafone

In the market for a new phone? You may want to consider the BlackBerry Curve 9300 from Vodafone because up until the end of the month you can get yourself triple minutes with a new contract!

Before 31st July, 2011 you can make the most of this offer from Vodafone and get the BlackBerry Curve 9300 with 3 times the minutes you would normally get.  The phone is free on any contract from £20.50 per month or more so make the most of this limited offer this month and bag yourself a bargain.

With the Curve’s big keyboard and GPS, typing messages is easier and the 3G web connection makes web browsing and emailing as quick as on your PC. Designed with you in mind – you can also find all your music and websites faster with the media keys and new trackpad.

Click here to view the offers and sign up.

Posted by: James

RIM correct ComScore statistics

Last week ComScore announced OS smartphone growth in the UK from the period May 2010 to May 2011 but it looks like they got it wrong when it comes to the BlackBerry smartphone.

RIM have been quick off the mark to correct the mistake that ComScore made in relation to BlackBerry smartphones sold here in the UK in the above period. RIM have released the following statement:

ComScore estimated that RIM had 3.591 million  BlackBerry subscribers in the UK at the end of May 2011 when in fact RIM’s UK subscriber base at the end of May 2011 stood at just under 7 million subscribers.

RIM is committed to providing its customers with the very best BlackBerry experience and is proud to be the UK’s #1 smartphone brand*.  RIM has experienced strong international growth, with 67% of revenue in Q1 FY12 derived from international markets.  The UK plays an important role in RIM’s international growth along with other countries in EMEA, such as the Netherlands, South Africa, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where BlackBerry also holds #1 smartphone positions*.

GfK data May*

· UK: According to GfK Retail and Technology, BlackBerry was the number one smartphone vendor and number one prepay smartphone vendor in UK in May 2011. The BlackBerry® Curve 8520 was the best selling prepay phone in the UK.

· Netherlands:  According to GfK Retail and Technology, BlackBerry was the number one smartphone vendor and number one prepay smartphone vendor in the Netherlands in May 2011. Over the month, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 was the best selling prepay phone in the Netherlands.

· South Africa: According to GfK Retail and Technology, BlackBerry was the number one smartphone vendor and number one Contract Mobile Phone and Smartphone vendor in South Africa in May 2011. Over the month, the BlackBerry Curve 8520, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 and the BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 were the best selling smartphones in South Africa.

· Saudi Arabia: According to GfK Retail and Technology, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 was the best selling smartphone in Saudi Arabia in May 2011.

· UAE: According to GfK Retail and Technology, the BlackBerry BoldT9780 was the best selling smartphone in UAE in May 2011

Posted by: James

HTC Vows to Win Fight with Apple

As we’ve reported a few times over the past few weeks, HTC’s fight with Apple is going to get messy. We’ve already heard that Google are likely to get drawn in to the battle and will be in HTC’s corner but the ITC have provisionally ruled in favour of Apple’s claims on two items.

HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou has made a number of bold statements over the past few days with such sound bites as “We will win” and the claim that HTC has been making smartphones long before Apple.

In speaking to the BBC Mr Chou said "We have enough patents to make a stand," He added that the "war" for smartphone dominance should be fought in the market place and not the courts.

The ITC’s finial decision will be made at the beginning of December. The decision will be made by a panel of judges rather than just one as per the prelim.

"What it means, we started making smartphones before him… (Apple) We don’t want to copy anyone; we want to be a premium product. This world, this market is very big… is for all of us. Nobody should tell other people to leave and we should compete in the market place, let consumers decide… rather than in court."

Personally speaking, I like both HTC and Apple products and accept that neither are perfect but I cant help feeling that Apple’s claims against HTC merely validate HTC’s presence in the market and puts HTC’s name in the same headlines as Apple. A win here for HTC will be a valuable one!

Posted by: Matt

iOS 5 beta 4 lands, updates OTA

In keeping with previous fortnightly updates Apple have made the latest Beta version of iOS 5 available to members of their developer programme. Unlike past updates this latest, beta 4, is the first to be made available via the over-the-air (OTA) update system which iOS 5 promises.

If you tried earlier today you’ll have found the OTA update giving nothing but an error message: ‘Unable to check for Update’. However later this afternoon the OTA update seems to have started working. I’m currently downloading on my iPhone 4 as we speak. However the OTA update doesn’t appear to be the most efficient means of delivery. It has been ‘downloading’ for the past 3 hours whereas downloading the update through the traditional method from the developer site took far less time.

There’s a full list of changes to be found on the Apple dev site but the headline items are so far:

• The aforementioned OTA installation support
• Video content in all applications and websites should now be AirPlay-enabled by default
• Wireless syncing now works with Windows

I’m hoping that the stability of iOS 5 is improved in this release!

Posted by: Matt

Archos G9 tablets get priced

Whilst they are all priced in that currency that’s Americaland like to use this give us a bit of an idea of what to expect from the devices. The last generation of Archos tablets were a little disappointing when it came to the build quality with numerous returns. This incarnation might be priced a little higher but the high specs might mean that some cuts have to be made in the quality of the manufacturing process.

They are certainly good looking and the idea of a 1.5GHz dual core processor is on top of the rest of the market.

Archos 80 G9

• 8 GB – 1 GHz $299
• 16 GB – 1.5 GHz $329
• 250 GB – 1.5 GHz $369

Archos 101 G9

• 8 GB – 1 GHz $369
• 16 GB – 1.0 GHz $399
• 250 GB – 1.5 GHz $469

Posted by: Gareth

Lenovo Ideapad and Thinkpad announced

While Lenovo does not have much experience with Android, it has managed to bring some good quality Honeycomb tablets to the table. These tablets are sporting some good specs, whilst not being anything particularly out of the norm, as well as bringing some good Android tablet options for both the general consumer and the businessman.

Lenovo IdeaPad K1 Specifications

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• 10.1-inch screen (1280×800)
• Internal Storage: 32 GB

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet

• Android 3.1 Honeycomb
• 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• 1 GB of RAM
• 10.1-inch screen (1280×800)
• Internal Storage: 16/32 GB
• Enterprise Ready
• Full-sized SD Card slot, full-sized USB port, and mini HDMI port

Posted: by Gareth

Pantech Vega No.5, 5 Inch Android Tablet With a Dual Core 1.5GHz

This model mustn’t be confused with the Pantech Vega Racer smartphone, that was recently launched and also packs a dual core 1.5GHz CPU. If you’re curious about the looks of the product, you have the pics right here and if you want specs, here’s a list:

• CPU: dual core, 1.5GHz, Qualcomm Snapdragon (MSM8x60)
• Display: 5 inch, 800 x 480 pixels
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 RAM, 16GB internal storage, SDHC card slot
• Camera: 8MP, LED flash, 1080p video capture, front camera
• Connectivity: DLNA, WiFi, DMB, NFC, HSDPA

Android 2.3 is running on the tablet and we sure hope to see Honeycomb on it and maybe a future version with better resolution. We expect the device to go on sale in Korea and China this month. Here’s some hands on action with it.

LG road map for the rest of the year leaked

PocketNow, have details of a line of new LG phones that shows the rest of the company’s 2011 Android line-up.  There looks to be something for everyone here with model in the top middle of the bottom.

We see the Prada name back however Optimus is strangely lack, I guess these are codenames at this point and will probably be rebranded for the worldwide market. There isn’t any hints towards a Nexus device, some might say thankfully, however Specs for two of the device would fit a new Nexus quite nicely.

BlackBerry PlayBook heading to the U.S. government

The BlackBerry PlayBook is now the first tablet now certified for deployment with the U.S. federal government. RIM have announced that the PlayBook has received FIPS 140-2 certification, whatever that is. No other tablet on the market has gained FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA)

“RIM is pleased to announce that the BlackBerry PlayBook is the first tablet approved under FIPS for use within the U.S. federal government,” said Scott Totzke, Senior Vice President, BlackBerry Security at Research In Motion. “This certification demonstrates our continued commitment to meeting the needs of security-conscious organisations and enables the U.S. federal government to buy with confidence knowing that the PlayBook meets their computing policy requirements for protecting sensitive information.”

BlackBerry PlayBook is a powerful, ultra-portable tablet that fits comfortably in one hand. It has a stunning 7-inch high resolution display, offers true multi-tasking capabilities and a high-fidelity web experience. It also allows for secure pairing with BlackBerry smartphones via the BlackBerry Bridge app, which enables users to access their BlackBerry smartphone’s email, calendar, address book, memo pad, task list, BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) and browsing functionality using the larger display on the tablet.
The FIPS-certified BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is being showcased this week in Washington DC at FOSE – the largest Federal government information technology conference in the U.S. – where BlackBerry PlayBook has just been awarded Best in Show, and also Best of FOSE in the Handheld Devices category.
More information about the BlackBerry PlayBook is available at www.blackberry.com/playbook

Posted by: James

Android Tablets gain ground on Apple

Sales of Apple’s iPad have increased three-fold in the past year and there is certainly no denying the iPad’s position as tablet champion. Think tablet, think Apple, the iPad is the benchmark by which all other tablets are measured at the moment.

I realise that Apple and the iPad are not to everyone’s taste and there are now more choices that ever when it comes to tablets, almost every hardware manufacturer out there is releasing their own tablet and almost all run Android OS.

This time last year Apple had almost 95% of the tablet market. However, just a year later and Apple see that market share fall to just 61.3%

So it the tide turning against Apple in favour of Android? Probably not. Let’s not forget that this time last year there was far less choice when it came to buying a tablet and Apple have basically created the tablet market. Whilst the news it great for Google and Android integrators I don’t think Apple will to too worried, sales are still growing and the market, just like the tablets themselves, is still evolving.

Posted by: Matt