News

Phones 4U to sell the HTC ChaCha this week

Phones 4u will this week start selling the HTC Cha Cha (so we are told), the first Facebook centric phone to be offered by the retailer. Remember this is one of two ‘Facebook’ phones that HTC announced back in February.

With a dedicated Facebook button the ChaCha will allow users to quickly share photos, locations, status updates etc.

Phones 4U are pricing the ChaCha at £300 on PAYG and from free on a £20 per month contract.

HTC EMEA operations and sales VP Jon French said: “This model is completely different from any other handset we’ve developed and has been designed specifically for those who share their lives through Facebook as second nature.

“It’s a great fit for Phones 4u, offering its audience a great blend of smartphone performance with the enhanced ability to chat or share their thoughts, photos and location even more easily than before.”

Posted by: James

Huawei to announce a new tablet – The MediaPad

Selling a tablet is all the rage at the moment. Not to be outdone, Huawei are planning to announce a tablet at CommunicAsia 2011 June 21st-24th in Singapore.

Huawei say:

Our latest tablet the "MediaPad" is our smartest, smallest and lightest tablet ever – guaranteed to transform the consumer’s entertainment experience. 

The announcement will be done via a live webcast and will have more information nearer the time. At present that is all we know however we do have a couple of nice photos below and it looks pretty sweet.

Transphone taking on the Padfone

Dual devices seem to be all the rage. Pipping Asus’ Padfone to the headlines by a day was CMIT’s TransPhone. Both tablets include built-in docks with smartphones to match, but are otherwise unique in appearance and features. The TransPhone includes a bluetooth headset and a slide-in smartphone dock, while the Padfone’s handset is completely hidden by a flip-up rear door. The CMIT device reportedly packs a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and SVGA display, along with USB and HDMI ports, though we’re still unclear on which OS will be running on the tablet. There’s also no word on pricing or availability, but the TransPhone is in good company there, so don’t get ready to ditch those standalone gadgets just yet.

Blaq for BlackBerry PlayBook hits App World

If you are in North America or one of the few people over here in the UK to have a BlackBerry PlayBook it is good news all round if you use Twitter. Blaq is now available in BlackBerry App World priced at $1.99.

Since I got my PlayBook a few weeks ago the fact that it did not have a decent Twitter client was more than frustrating to say the least.

Our prayers have been answered! Blaq is not perfect and has fairly basic Twitter use at present however, for an initial release it is super and I look forward to updates in the future. As you can see from the screen shot the colours and user interface are much the same as on the BlackBerry Smartphone version.

It is now just over two weeks until the BlackBerry PlayBook is released here in the UK. Our full review will be on the site this week so keep your eyes peeled.

Posted by: James

Viewsonic doing a 7” Honeycomb tablet

ViewSonic have shown off at what they are calling the world’s first 7-Inch Honeycomb tablet, the ViewPad 7x. The tablet has some nice specs for a small device:

• 7-Inch Screen with 1024 x 600 resolution
• Google’s Android 3.0.1/Honeycomb OS
• HSPA+ connectivity
• A pair of cameras, one on the front and one on the back
• Tegra 2 dual-core processor
• An HDMI-out
• Super-light weight 380g design

There is no word yet on pricing, availability, or even storage options, but we should know more within the next couple of weeks. Below is a link to the full press release of ViewSonic products that debuted at Computex this year.

Press Release and full details belowk:

Nokia E6 and Nokia X7 now shipping, complete with Anna

The first Nokia phones featuring Symbian Anna, the Nokia E6 and Nokia X7, are now shipping. The X7 will be available in Europe, Eurasia, China, India and other Asia/Pacific countries, while the E6 will be available in Europe, Eurasia, Asia/Pacific, as well as the Middle East and Africa. As a hardcore fan of the Nokia E71 and E72 form factor, I’ve been dreaming of the day when I could touch both QWERTY and screen – and here it is with the E6.

Symbian Anna

– Faster and better web experience with an all new browser.
– The long-awaited portrait QWERTY plus split screen text input.
– All new Ovi Maps with public transport routes and other enhancements.

BlackBerry Curve (Apollo) shown off – Video

This is the second leaked BlackBerry video in the last few days. First we had the BlackBerry Torch 2 and now the forthcoming Curve. This latest video comes courtesy of a Vietnamese tech site so don’t expect to have a clue what the chap is saying!

The device sure looks like a Curve but with some nice improvements. It is now a lot thinner and has 480 x 360 resolution display plus a 800MHz processor. That sounds pretty amazing for a Curve. Like the Torch 2 video this device is still unannounced officially by RIM so we cant say when you are likely to see it in the shops but if I was a gambling man I would say Quarter Three maybe.

Anyway, you can see the video below and please feel free to leave your comments/thoughts on the forum.

MSI WindPad 110W and 100A offer 10.1-inch Win 7 or Android

MSI introduced a range of slates at Computex 2011 this weekend. The WindPad 100A runs Android, hense the ‘A’. A 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 IPS slate weighing 740g, the WindPad 100A has an unspecified dual-core Cortex A9 processor along with 1GB of RAM, up to 32GB of storage and WiFi b/g/n. Bragging over 8hrs of runtime from a single charge. It weighs 720g and has a G-Sensor, ALS, an SD card reader and a USB port.

There’s also an HDMI port, g-sensor, ambient light sensor, an SD card slot, USB port and audio output; cameras front and back complete the deal. OS is “the latest Google Android operating system” which certainly suggests Honeycomb. No word on pricing yet or when it will hit the shelves.

The WindPad 110W, running Windows and cunningly titles with a ‘W’, has 2GB of memory, WiFi b/g/n, a G-Sensor, ALS light sensor, and an SSD hard drive offering up to 64GB. It weighs 850g and, MSI reckons, will last for over 6hrs of runtime. Both have twin cameras, front and back, and SRS PC Sound.

MSI has also added some touch-sensitive smart keys on the side of the Windows slate, along with face recognition for auto-login. No word on pricing or availability at this stage for either model.

Check out the Press Release below:

Asus Padfone Officially Introduced at Computex 2011

Introducing the Asus Padfone, a high concept tablet/phone combination that was announced at Computex 2011 this weekend. A package consisting of an 4-inch Android smartphone which can dock into a companion 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 tablet. The tablet’s separate battery can be used to recharge the phone, while the phone’s 3G connection can get the slate online when away from a WiFi hotspot.

ASUS is promising a “seamless” transition from the phone to the tablet UI, with whatever you’ve been looking at on the handset automatically expanding to suit the slate, along with the improved web browsing experience you’d expect from a bigger display. If a call comes in while the phone is docked, then it can either be removed or answered with a Bluetooth headset.

Phone and slate can access the same storage in the handset, and since there’s only one 3G radio then you don’t have to swap your SIM between two modems or sign up for a second data connection. The UI has been modified to suit both displays, either showing mobile sites on the phone or full sites on the tablet. The phone itself has two cameras, a front-facing webcam – just like the tablet – and a 5-megapixel camera on the back which can also be used through a hole in the PadFone dock.

ASUS is saying that finalized hardware specifications haven’t been decided on yet, and nor have pricing or availability, so don’t get your hopes up too much. Still, as concepts go, this is an intriguing one.

BlackBerry Torch 2 caught on video

Those cheeky monkeys at technobuffalo.com have managed to get themselves a BlackBerry Torch 2 to play with. The device is still unofficially announced by RIM so I don’t suppose they are particularly happy with the device being out in the wild but these things happens from time to time.

As we have seen before in photos the Torch 2 shares the same body with its predecessor, although now being silver instead of black, but inside it is a whole new phone. With a 1.2GHz processor, better screen resolution and running BlackBerry 7 you will see in the video that the OS runs extremely smoothly.

We know the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is coming in the near future. I wonder how much after that the Torch 2 will be. I want to play!

You can see the hands on video here compliments of technobuffalo.com.

Posted by: James