News

BlackBerry Torch appears on Vodafone’s website as coming soon

This is what the Vodafone site says about the Torch:

If you want the simplicity of a touchscreen plus a QWERTY keypad so you can type texts and emails fast, choose the BlackBerry Torch.

Windows Phone 7’s Xbox Connection – Over 60 games at launch

While many industry pundits are not expecting Windows Phone 7 to achieve the success of iOS, Android or indeed its Windows Mobile forebear, Microsoft still boasts one thing only one other phone manufacturer can boast – a console division.  It seem while Sony’s gaming tie in with any phones is still in the rumour stages, Gates’ guys have unleashed the full weight of the Xbox name to push WP7 into the public consciousness.  Over 60 games have been announced, some from the excellent Xbox Live library including Castlevania, De Blob and Hexic and others from full retail titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell and Halo.  While the quality of the games is still unknown, their pedigree can’t be faulted and could prove to be the trump card MS can hold over Apple and Google with the general public.

See the games here on the dedicated Microsoft site, and watch some of them in action here.

Posted by: Ian

HTC Desire HD and Desire Z all but confirmed for UK release

It seems to  now be tradition that high-profile mobile phone releases should be leaked multiple times before any mention from the manufacturer themselves. Not for the first time, the HTC Desire HD and Desire Z (the Vision) have slipped through the system and have appeared on a respectable British retailer site. The Desire HD steals the spotlight in specification terms, and according to mobiles.co.uk, will have Froyo 2.2 driven by a 1GHz processor, 4.3 inch display, and 720p video recording. This will be announced most likely on the 15th of September at the HTC press event we will be attending. Joining the HD will be the Android qwerty slider, the Desire Z. It’s listed to have a 1GHz processor too, but on a smaller 3.7 inch display and and interestingly, Android 2.1.

Click through to see the shots of their description!

Red BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 from Vodafone

You may have seen our BlackBerry Curve 3G unboxing video and review recently and if you fancied getting one how about a red one from Vodafone?

Although Vodafone have not announced this I have been given an anonymous tip off that they have just received 500 red ones in stock which will be exclusive to Vodafone.

These clearly are not for sale now but it wont be long so we will endeavor to keep you up to date. Looks pretty good in red, don’t you think?

Thanks Mr Anonymous!

Posted by: James

BlackBerry Torch 9800 sim free from Clove

You cant have failed to notice our BlackBerry Torch coverage over the last few weeks. If you are in the market for one sim free you can now pre order one from Clove. They are not cheap, coming in at £522.88 inc VAT which is rather a lot of money if you ask me, but I know people will buy one. I may well do!

The word on the street is that we are looking at the last week in September/1st week in October, although this is subject to change.

Click here to place your pre order.

Posted by: James

BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300 in stock at devicewire

You may have seen our BlackBerry Curve 3G review earlier this week. In case you are interested in getting the device sim free I have just been told that devicewire.com now have it in stock.

Head on over and check out what nice offers they have.

Posted by: James

Double your fun – Qualcomm to release 1.5GHz dual-core chips

The power behind many of today’s smarter smartphones, Qualcomm, has today announced its forthcoming MSM8672 dual core 1.5GHz chips will begin shipping in Q4 with the Qualcomm’s Mark Frankel expecting some aggressive manufacturers to have the chips in its devices possibly before Christmas.  The chip is Qualcomm’s second dual core following on from its 1.2GHz MSM8660 already released and is widely expected to be the grunt behind many of next year’s high-end smartphones and tablets.  Interestingly it appears that tablets will benefit greatly from the improved HD handing of the chip, now 1080p capable with HDMI, but how it fares against the ever-growing Tecra chipsets is yet to be seen.  What we do know though is 2011 is likely to be the year of the tablets and dual-core superphones.  Can’t wait.

Posted by: Ian

#NokiaBox challenge

Well after a few weeks of teasing from Nokia and several cryptic messages later I’m in London and on my way to start my #NokiaBox challenge. I’ve been told where to be and at what time but still not 100% sure what I am letting myself in for! Sounds like it’ll be fun though and I’ll be reporting back as soon as I can to let you all know how it went.

Any more speculation?

Posted by: Matt

Post Tags: [Nokia, #nokiabox, C6, womworld, tracyandmatt.co.uk]

More tablet madness – now a Wii Tablet?

Not one for being short of peripherals that will clog up bootsales for some years to come, Nintendo’s Wii has gained another oddball implement in a Wacom-style drawing tablet. Coming from THQ, so it’s not a first party add-on, it’s part of a package called uDraw Studio, which features the uDraw Studio software – the art part of the deal and very Mario Paint, Dood’s Big Adventure – a platform adventure controlled by stylus, and family shouting match favourite Pictionary – using the Wii as a pen-and-paper simulator but with 3D board. The device works by having a Wii Remote sat in the tablet itself, so it’s yet to be seen whether this can be put to alternative uses by the hacking community as a bluetooth tablet.

No firm release date as yet but certainly uDraw Studio would be plenty of fun for kids come the Christmas season.

Posted by: Ian

Here Come The Tablets – MSI Slatebook gets official

MSI have today officially announced two tablets at Computex 2010 in Taipei. Both come strapped with 1024×600 10" multitouch displays as is becoming a standard but here the two devices part ways.  Somewhat unfortunately sounding like an anti-flatulence product, The Wind Pad 100 adheres closer to the netbook-in-a-box model with the de-rigueur Atom 1.6GHz processor, 2GB RAM and a 32GB SSD.  Running Windows 7 Ultimate, it also sports 2 USB ports, 3G mobile data, a webcam for social interactivity and a HDMI output for HD video playback (although it’s not know what, if any HD acceleration the 100 has).  The 110 by contrast is an Android 2.1 tablet powered by Nvidia’s dual core Tegra 250, promising HD video playback and a healthy speed.  The 110 has only the 1 USB port but apparently still has the webcam and HDMI out, so will be quite happy pushing out 720p video to your HDTV.  Additionally, the 110 has swappable back plates (including an um, interesting wood grain effect) for the fashion conscious or just clumsy.

The Wind Pad 100 and 110 are expected by the end of the year with retail pricing around $599 and $499 respectively.