News

The Samsung Galaxy S Plus 1.4ghz stirs up some chatter

Rumours has it that Samsung are going to be pushing out a new version fo the Samsung Galaxy S in the near future, probably to contend with the new Dual Core phones from LG, HTC and Motorola. However, a Samsung Galaxy S 2 is likely to be a good few months away, so to keep the Galaxy name fresh in peoples minds the Samsung Galaxy S Plus has now been rumoured to be making an appearance.

Details include a 1.4GHz processor (no word on which chipset exactly), Android 2.3 (we’ll assume TouchWiz 4.0 will sit on top of that), 8GB of internal memory, a 1650mAh battery and a 4-inch super AMOLED display.

Posted by: Gareth

Android introduces In app Billing

Great news from the Android Developer Blog for all you developers, Android in-app billing went live yesterday. This means you can now charge for little extras in your apps. Be it a feature, or a function. In a game, an upgrade or equipment. Loads of potential here. Whether this will make apps more expensive in the long run, or will see more free apps with paid access to premium content remains to be seen.

Today, we’re pleased to announce the launch of Android Market In-app Billing to developers and users. As an Android developer, you will now be able to publish apps that use In-app Billing and your users can make purchases from within your apps.

In-app Billing gives you more ways to monetize your apps with try-and-buy, virtual goods, upgrades, and other billing models. If you aren’t yet familiar with In-app Billing, we encourage you to learn more about it.

Several apps launching today are already using the service, including Tap Tap Revenge by Disney Mobile; Comics by ComiXology; Gun Bros, Deer Hunter Challenge HD, and WSOP3 by Glu Mobile; and Dungeon Defenders: FW Deluxe by Trendy Entertainment.

Posted by Gareth

Apple announce dates for their Worldwide Developer Conference

Apple has announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will be held in San Francisco’s Moscone Center from June 6-10.

In a statement, the manufacturer revealed its plans to unveil details of the next iOS and Mac OS during the five-day event.

Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller said: ‘At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS.’

The launch of the iPhone 3GS and iOS 3.0 at the WWDC in 2009 followed by the launch of the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 in 2010 has encouraged industry speculation over whether Apple will also preview iOS 5 at this year’s event.

Schiller added: ‘If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.’

Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference includes more than more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers this year.

I’m getting excited already!

Posted by: James

The Ultimate Android tablet and bad news for all those early adopters

Google is apparently working with LG on a Nexus-branded tablet running the Android Honeycomb 3.0 software. The tablet could ship as soon as this summer, according to tech pundit Eldar Murtazin, writing for Mobile-Review. Given Google’s history of teaming up to manufacturers to release phones under its brand, HTC for the Nexus One and, Samsung for the Nexus S, it’s indeed possible a Nexus tablet developed in partnership with yet with another manufacturer (LG) is coming up to shape the Android tablet landscape.

No specifications on the this Nexus tablet have been made available. But if past experiences with the Nexus One and Nexus S are any indication, the Nexus tablet would come preinstalled with a new version of Android Honeycomb.

Another revelation from Muratazin could be bad news for owners of Android 2.X tablets like the original Samsung Galaxy Tab. Apparently Google’s licensing agreement with manufacturers specifically prevents them from upgrading the smartphone-oriented Android 2.X to tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

So if you bought an Tablet before Christmas then it seems likely that Android 2.3.3 might be one of the last upgrades you can anticipate. Expect Ebay to have Android tablets littered about it’s marketplace.

Posted by: Gareth

ViewSonic announces ViewPad 7 ‘Try for Free’ campaign

ViewSonic Europe, a global provider of consumer computing and communications solutions, has today announced a ‘Try for Free’ campaign allowing customers to trial a brand new Google certified ViewPad 7. The campaign will run throughout April 2011 and guarantees a full refund if customers are not entirely satisfied with the device. ViewSonic will also pay for the return postage and packaging up to £10, so that no costs are incurred. Terms and conditions apply.

Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY Launch Event

If you are in London this Thursday and fancy a go of the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Play that we unboxed recently then you are in luck. The launch event is open to the public and sounds rather fun if you ask me.

Be one of the first to get your thumbs on the Xperia PLAY, the ultimate gaming smartphone.
Get down to Sony Ericsson’s pop-up Xperia PLAY Rooms and for one day only you’ll be able to immerse yourself if your favorite gaming worlds…explore the forest, avoid the burning helicopter, check out the racing cars and try out the new Xperia PLAY phone.
Free Admission
Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult

You can find all the details here via the Facebook event page.

Enjoy.

Posted by: James

Sony Ericsson X10 to get Gingerbread

On the Sony Ericsson blog Rikard Skogberg has announced he work on a planned upgrade for the Xperia X10 to Android 2.2.3, Gingerbread. Great news, as last we spoke to Sony Ericsson about the X10 there was no comments, I guess they must have been thinking about it and could say for definite, No. The downside is that Rikard also outlines that there will be no upgrade plans for the X10 Mini, Mini Pro or X8. Bit of a shame. obviously they have been working on 2.3.3 for the new line of phones and realised they could retro-fit the X10. Nice to see. Check after the break for the whole blog entry from Rikard:

iPad 2 day!

Today is iPad 2 day here in the UK and in 24 other countries throughout the world. Our friends across the pond have had theirs for a few weeks already and for me the excitement has been building as I have seen the positive reports come in from users in the US.

The Apple Store was updated during the early hours of this morning so you can order an iPad 2 online from today. This includes free delivery and engraving. Not sure what the delivery times are yet.

For those of you that cant wait any longer to get your hands on the iPad 2 you can go along to your local Apple shop and wait in line from 5PM today. Not sure what the queues will be like or how many each store will have but we’ll be reporting back when we find out. Tracy and I will be at the Cambridge store later today.

Hands up who’s queuing?

Posted by: Matt

BlackBerry OS 6.1 to be a major overhaul, arriving this Spring

RIM have let us know that the inevitable update to BlackBerry’s OS 6 will be coming this Spring, and a sneak preview of what’s coming will be shown off at BlackBerry World in May. Perhaps even more exciting than an imminent  update is that RIM are calling it a ‘major upgrade’ over what OS 6.0 currently offers on the Torch 9800 and Bold 9780. Some may have dismissed OS 6 already, but for those of us who do use it, we all know there certainly are things that can be improved.

That’s more or less what we know at the moment, but hopefully we can share RIM’s excitement when this rolls out – stay tuned!

Posted by: Vince

Pre order the Motorola XOOM

Looking to get the Motorola XOOM? Well if so you now head on over to Currys, Carphone Warehouse or PC World and get your pre order in now.

The XOOM is priced from £499.99 for 32GB model.

· First to market with Google’s Android tablet specific software – Honeycomb 3.0

· A super-fast dual-core 1 GHz processor which is twice as speedy as any tablet currently on the market

· Adobe Flash Player 10.1 providing unrestricted access to Flash sites, videos and games

· Access to most of the whopping 150,000 apps available through the Android Marketplace, with more tablet specific apps being added everyday

· HD display – rendering movies in 16:9 format

· Tabbed browsing, bookmark sync, and more for a desktop-like web experience

· 5MP rear-facing camera with dual LED flash that captures video in HD

· 1GB of DDR2 RAM memory

If you missed our demo video with the Motorola XOOM you can view it here.

Posted by: James