News

The worlds top rated news app ‘News Republic’ goes multi -platform

The hugely popular News Republic App is now launching on multiple new platforms including Blackberry, Symbian, Bada, Windows Phone 7 and webOS as well as Android Honeycomb tablets. The much awaited iPad version is due in a matter of weeks.

Mobiles Republic is on course to exceed all its previous download records in the coming months and expect ‘News Republic’ to become the news application of choice for millions of new users around the world.

First there was ‘Appy’ the acclaimed award winning service developed for feature phones that achieved an incredible 1 million downloads that was generating the buzz. Today its ‘News Republic’ the natural successor designed for smartphones with its ground breaking TagNav news tracking and navigation system, making the headlines, literally.

In little more than 4 months News Republic has attracted over 400,000 new iPhone and Android users with its English, French and Italian editions and this week saw the launch of a Spanish edition with a German language version to follow shortly. In March alone over 15 million news articles including breaking news headlines, in-depth features plus live updates on many popular subjects including Sport, Business, Technology, Celebrity, Entertainment and Hollywood Gossip were viewed on the app.

Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast Award reminder–Final night to vote

It’s the final night before voting ends and we just wanted one last push in the hope of securing another couple of votes. We have been nominated for a Northern Ireland Social Media Award and you can use the voting button below to add yours. We have been listed in Category 6 – Broadcast Media against local TV channels and radio stations.

An exciting time for us as we only do our little podcast as a hobby and for the pure enjoyment of it. To be listed alongside Ulster Television, Cool FM and Citybeat is an extreme honour.

Thanks for voting!!

Posted by Gareth

Chrome OS Gets a Huge Update and Chromebooks are Announced at Google I/O 2011

Google’s second keynote at it’s developer conference was all about Chrome. The browser got some cool features such as speed improvements, in-app payments and Angry Birds, but all the big news is about the operating system version of Google’s browser. Chrome OS was a definite experiment from Google but this announcement cements in the fact the Chrome OS is here to stay.

For those unfamiliar with Chrome OS, let me fill you in. It basically is an entire operating system based around Chrome. Instant web, 8 second start up, data stored in the cloud and built-in security are just some of the big attractions of Chrome OS but there were some concerns when it was announced; such as could it replace a fully-fledged laptop and would ever catch on.

The Chrome OS beta did have some pretty big omissions but Google has now listened and delivered. The first update announced by Sundar Pichai, the Senior VP of Chrome, is that Chrome OS will be getting a fully fledged file system. Accessed by a tab in the browser, the file system is just like any other, sans the fact that it is in the browser. It recognises document types for quick upload to the cloud, USB sticks and SD cards can be mounted and there is a new preview mode for media such as movies and media. The preview mode can be either in the bottom right hand corner and it remains there while you do other tasks such as email or you make it full screen for your viewing pleasure. As one of the biggest complaints from Beta testers, I am glad to see it added and I would say that this is the biggest feature that could enable migration away from full computers towards Chrome OS.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich coming to all device types in Q4

The pace of Google Android development won’t cease or slow down any time soon, and over at Google I/O there are some major changes being shown off in the successor to Honeycomb. First and foremost, the tasty new treat is dubbed “Ice Cream Sandwich”. It is a bit more of a mouthful than previous names, but it also comes with a slew of new features.

This version will run on both phones and tablets, intelligently scaling the UI for use on many different resolutions. This means that eventually we’ll see the same Android firmware across all types of devices, and not the phone or tablet specific versions we have now. Another major feature are the new camera functions, namely face recognition and tracking. For the homescreen, widgets are now resizable. USB host is now native, so USB devices from cameras to game controllers can be plugged in just like a traditional PC. Over in the US, film purchases and rentals directly from the Android Market is on its way, as well as cloud storage and playback for your tunes; it’s currently unclear whether these will be arriving at our shores here in the UK. Finally, the ‘Android Open Accessory’ program certifies Android compatible accessories from game controllers to exercise bikes. There’s even a demo of a real Labyrinth gameboard controlled by an Android device!

Perhaps one the most pleasing things Google is announcing however, are the new guidelines for post-purchase support. HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Vodafone are among partners in this scheme who will be committed to providing timely updates for at least 18 months after release (hardware dependant). This is huge news, giving consumers confidence that their device will be riding the newest OS for quite some time after purchasing.

Sounds super sweet to me!

Posted by: Vince

HTC Puccini: 10-Inch LTE Tablet

According to Pocketnow we will soon see the HTC Puccini, a rumoured 10-inch tablet HTC is preparing to follow its seven-inch Flyer. All fingers seem to be pointing at AT&T right now for release and the Puccini will be one of the first devices compatible with their "true 4G" LTE network. Specs for this model remain unknown, although it’s likely to run Android 3.x Honeycomb and support HTC’s Scribe capacitive pen input technology. Since Giacomo Puccini was a 19th and 20th century opera composer (La Boheme, Madame Butterfly), there may be a musical focus here as well.

Exciting stuff and it will be nice to see HTC release a hefty tablet to take on Motorola, Samsung and LG as the Flyer looks a little paltry in comparison.

Posted by: Gareth

HTC ChaCha and Salsa on pre order from Amazon

HTC’s two ‘Facebook’ phones look like landing with us next month. The two devices have shown up on Amazons UK site and are showing a release date of June 26th.

Now we know that these things are often subject to change so I wouldn’t get your heart set on that date. It may be sooner or later than June 26th. However, if you want to know what we think of the two new handsets we will have them for review prior to them going on sale so stay tuned (even though we are not on the radio!)

If you want a quick reminder of what the ChaCha and Salsa are all about you can find the details below.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 launching soon?

We all know from last weeks announcement that the new BlackBerry 9900 is coming soon but the question is how soon is soon.

I made my daily visit over to the UK BlackBerry website today and was not only pleased to see the 9900 there but even more glad that it says on the site ‘launching soon’.

If you are interested in getting the BlackBerry 9900 with its touch screen and BlackBerry 7 OS then you can head on over to the site and register your interest. RIM will then email you when more news regarding the launch is available.

With a 1.2 GHz processor and 8GB of expandable memory, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 Smartphone is the very definition of high performance. It also features the best in Wi-Fi technology – so you can quickly tap into Wi-Fi hotspots whenever you need to. And with an HD video recorder, you can even capture exceptional moments in all their vivid detail.

Sleek, high-end, and loaded with the ultimate tools, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 Smartphone is the thinnest, sleekest BlackBerry Smartphone yet. Made of high-quality brushed stainless steel, with sculpted surfaces and refined touches, it’s got the looks to match its power.

Continuing to build on past success, the BlackBerry 7 OS has been powerfully enhanced. Enjoy a fluid touch screen experience – swiping, zooming and scrolling around apps and websites with ease.

Our new operating system is integrated with BlackBerry® Maps, giving you immediate access to Location-Based Services such as the sights and amenities in your local area. Plus with NFC (Near Field Communications) you have the opportunity to pay for travel, redeem coupons or even gain secure access to your office – all with just a swipe of your BlackBerry BoldT 9900 Smartphone.

This phone gets me all hot and bothered!

You can register your interest here.

Posted by: James

Pay your taxi fare via your mobile

This month sees the launch of a clever new initiative from mobile giants, Vodafone.

The networks customers are able to add their taxi fares to their phone bill thanks to a special fleet from Vodafone. The companies branded black cabs are offering customers the option to pay via their mobile phones putting a stop to stopping at cash points and paying by cash.

Not only that, but the 500 modified taxis will be fitted with mobile phone chargers to give your handset a free boost on the ride home.

Genius. Great for both the company and customer.

Vodafone customers will simply text the taxi’s licence number and individual code to have the fare added to their monthly mobile phone bill.

Posted by: Tracy

Microsoft wont support unofficial Windows Phone 7 upgraders

Bad news for anyone who has taken the unofficial route when upgrading their Windows Phone 7 handsets, Microsoft have come out to say that the latest WP7 update will probably NOT work on their phone.

Microsoft did issue a warning before but Microsoft’s Brandon Watson posted:

"Despite the fact that many people have claimed that an unofficial update mechanism worked fine for them, we cautioned that phones which were updated via this method were not going to be able to update past build 7390"

"Unfortunately for those customers out there who acted on information from sources outside of Microsoft, the rubber meets the road today."

I suppose for those with unofficial builds on their handsets will simply have to wait for this update to also come through from unofficial channels?

More on this below.

"With Windows Phone update build 7392 going out to phones via the official update mechanism, those people who have used the unsupported method of forcing 7390 onto their phones will find that their phones will not update to 7392"

"With the official update process there is a requirement that the package on the phone also be official in order to update itself."

"Phones updated via the unsupported method do not contain an official image and cannot be updated further at this time”

"Due to scheduling of engineering resources, we did not anticipate having to undue the changes made to phones by these unsupported methods. While we are not ruling out having a fix in the future, for now there is no fix."

Posted by: Matt

A quick look at the Samsung 8.9″ Tablet video

Johannes over at NewGadgets.de got his hands on a working sample of the 8.9 inch tablet, and has shot a short video. The Samsung Galaxy 8.9 and 10.1 are probably the two most anticipated tablets this year. Samsung had a decent debut with the 7 inch Galaxy Tab, and hopes to really hit the big time with its pair of new Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) Galaxy Tabs. Check out the video below.