News

Virgin reduce the cost of BlackBerry 8520 tariffs

Virgin Media has slashed tariffs on the Blackberry Curve 8520 in a bid to corner the student market and reward Virgin Media customers.

The company is offering the Blackberry Curve at £12 per month on a 24 month contract but students with an NUJ card will get a further 15% a month off the deal.

Existing Virgin Media customers with home entertainment services are also targeted, getting the Blackberry Curve on a 24 month contract for £10 per month.

Angry Birds comes to Android

It was only a couple of weeks ago that we told you that the popular game ‘Angry Birds’ had arrived on WebOS. Now you can go and grab the beta in the Android Market.

Being beta it is going to see changes but in the meantime it will give you a tonne of fun.

I must warn you though. It is very addictive so you may want to wait until you finish work.

Posted by: James

BlackBerry 9670 Clamshell to be called the Style

Well I wasn’t expecting this. Kevin from crackberry.com has announced that the forthcoming BlackBerry 9670 clamshell will be part of a new family name – called Style.

I was personally expecting this one to fall into the Curve family.

Not sure if we will see this one here in the UK as it was tipped for being on the Verizon network in the states. Will RIM produce a GSM version as well? Who knows but I can see this one being more popular over the pond if I am honest.

Let us know what you think of the device and its new (and slightly strange) name over on the forum.

Posted by: James

iSpy an iTV update – Apple’s “hobby” gets a $99 facelift, Coldplay at loose end

Like a dog with a rubber toy, Apple just won’t let go of the Apple TV, but this time it’s looking promising.  With refeshing honesty (see Steve, you can admit when things don’t work!), Apple admits that the Apple TV was “not a big hit” so has practically reinvented the device, keeping only the name (which will incidentally still be Apple TV until Jobs buys ITV and forces it from them).  They’ve also drastically reinvented the size and the price, bringing both down by about 2/3rds. 

Huawei event today

You probably saw Ian’s post about a potential Huawei Android tablet being announced today. Whilst I’m not sure we’re going to see such a thing James and I are indeed on our way to a Huawei event that will be starting at 11am.

We’ll be reporting back on from the event as things unfold and will have a full report for you shortly after.

Follow us on twitter.com/tracyandmatt for live news (WiFi/Mobile coverage permitting), we’ll tweet what we can!

Posted by: Matt

Apple iOS upgrade next week

Apple have today announced that iOS 4.1 will be available to download next week and will bring a few bug fixes as well as new features.

The bug fixes will address Bluetooth and proximity sensor issues which is good news if you have had problems. I certainly have not though.

HDR photos is a great new photography feature. I will try to summaries:

Apple unveil three new iPods

At Apples press conference today in the USA Steve Jobs introduced us to all new versions of the iPod Shuffle, Nano and Touch.

The iPod Shuffle will go back to its familiar design complete with buttons and clip, and will hold 4 GB of music. The new Shuffle will be available in five different colors and retail for $49.

The new iPod Nano will be a small, multitouch, square device, have a clip – like the Shuffle – and will be sold in seven different colors; including a Product(RED) version. It will be available in an 8 GB model for $149 and a 16 GB model for $179.

HTC HD7!

Engadget have managed to get hold of a O2 document that shows a device called the HTC HD7 which may be coming as soon as the 18th October.

As a follow on from the popular HD2, the HD7 would be very suitable name if it were to be a Windows Phone 7 device don’t you think?

It may not be the coolest name for a phone but it kind of makes sense.

If anyone at O2 wants to give us any further info please feel free!

Posted by: James

Size matters – Hannspree go the extra inches in the tablet race

While others are content to tempt the public with a mere seven inches, Hannspree have stepped up to the fold and revealed a tablet that offers a full three inches more.  First shown today at Berlin’s IFA expo, the 10″ device has an LED backlit 16:9 screen with the standard 1024 x 600 resolution (however it’s not yet clear if the screen is resistive or capacitive).  On a more interesting note is Hannspree’s decision to pack its slab with Nvidia’s very capable Tegra 2 chipset to power its Android 2.2 OS.  Its also armed with a raft of input and outputs including  Mini USB and Mini HDMI ports – perfect for PMP action, especially with it’s 3500mAh giving up to 8hrs playback.  Given its size, power and software, this certainly could be a device to watch.

Hannspree are planning to release the unnamed device in Europe in November at €399 for a 16GB / WiFi model and a 3G variant for €499, a price competitive to similar fruity products.

Source: ZDNet.de

Posted by: Ian

Facebook for WebOS gets an update

If you currently use a Palm Pre or Pixi you will be glad to hear that the Facebook app has received an update.

The update brings with it selectable news feeds, revised photo tagging, support for landscape viewing, the ability to clear multiple notifications, and fan pages.

Not having a WebOS device I am unable to test it but I am looking forward to seeing what future devices we get from Palm.

If any of you can let us know of any further changes I have missed please feel free to let us know via the forum.

Posted by: James