News

iPad ‘sold out almost everywhere’

If you’ve been following the progress of the Apple iPad in the USA then chances are you’ll already know that not only has it been hugely popular but so popular that, according to a recent survey, it’s sold out in almost three-quarters of all Apple stores in the US.

74% had none available, and 26% had some Wi-Fi models, but no stores had the 3G iPad in stock for immediate purchase. – Gene Munster, analyst.

Whilst I cant claim to have a sample size that’s anything like as large as Munster’s it does ring true with my own experience of trying to purchase an iPad whilst in Florida recently. Having visited the Apple store the day before the 3G model became available I was told that the WiFi version was sold out and that I would have to reserve one for store pick up if I wanted one. I decided to take my chances and try queuing for the 3G on launch day.

I did get lucky with the 3G and managed to buy the last one in the store and walked out a happy man with me 64GB model. Over the course of the next 8 days I tried several other stores to try and get another for a friend but everywhere was out of stock!

It’s going to be interesting to see if the iPad is met with the same demand when they go on sale here in the UK this coming Friday (28th May). Judging by the number of people willing to import them from the US I suspect that demand here will be just the same!

Posted by: Matt

Google preview Froyo

No it is not that little geezer from The Lord of the Rings!

If you are not aware, Google previewed the latest version of Android yesterday at their I/O event in the States.

Froyo certainly has some significant improvements over Éclair and also some nice new features.

I watched some of the live feed yesterday and what I saw was rather impressive. Google have once again been working their socks off to make the necessary improvements to the Android platform.

It just keeps getting better and better.

Rather than me bore you with the details, as I am really not an Android expert, please have a look at the official video after the break.

Pre order the HTC Wildfire

Devicewire have the HTC Wildfire available for pre order if you would like to be one of the first to get your hands on it.

If you are not familiar with it this low cost Android Device is a lower spec version of the HTC Desire but with that same great user experience. If you did not see our preview video you can do so here.

Windows Phone 7 interview

Thank you to everyone that has been following our interview with Microsoft’s Alex Reeve, Director of Mobile Business Group in the UK and to those of you that sent in your questions for Alex.

For those of you that were not able to join us live we had a great followup interview with Alex, it’s incredible to think that it was almost 3 months ago since our last interview with him!

Sorry that we were not able to get to everyone’s questions but below you will see the questions and answers that we were able to cover in the time available. It’s interesting to note that the same questions came from lots of you so those are the ones we made sure to include.

To those of you following live we apologise for the slow start, Twitter decided to fall over just as we got going!

Full Q&A session after the jump…

Eken M001 Android tablet rival to iPad?

Rumours abound at the moment when it comes to tablet style devices, with rumours from RIM, HTC and just about every other manufacturer out there.

One little gem that one of our readers pointed out to me (thanks Mike) is the Eken M001 Android tablet. Looks pretty interesting, reasonably high-res 7″ 480×800 TFT display, SD card reader, WiFi, 600MHz CPU and 128MB RAM. The drawback is that it’s only running Android 1.6 but the biggest plus point is perhaps that the rumours say that it’ll retail for around $100, if that’s true and not just vapourware then this could be a real bargain and a great competitor to the iPad!

What do we think, real or fake?

Posted by: Matt

Another Windows Phone Twinterview

Further to our recent successful interview on twitter (twinterview) with Alex Reeve from Microsoft you may be pleased to hear that on Thursday May 20th at 12.30 hrs GMT we will be hosting round two.

Once again this will be an opportunity for both yourself and us to ask Microsoft questions about Windows Phone 7.

So please have a good think and let us have your questions. Depending on how may we get we cannot guarantee all will be asked but we will endeavour to do our best.

You can submit your questions to us one of two ways.  Firstly on the forum under this post or secondly you can email either Matt or myself:

[email protected]

[email protected]

We look forward to receiving your questions.

Posted by: James

Could this be the LG Windows Phone 7

We have already seen an early version of a Windows Phone 7 device from LG but could this new leaked image be the updated version or even the final product?

It certainly looks pretty nice sporting a new design of the three ‘oh so important’ hardware keys below the screen .

The image was ‘allegedly’ posted onto Flickr by a French Microsoft employee. Not sure if he still works there!

With Microsoft gearing up for there next ‘7’ event at the end of the month could this LG device be the one they will be using?

Either way it looks sweet.

Posted by: James

Vodafone makes BES Express offer

Vodafone is now offering BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Express for £10 per month, and on trial for £5 per month for three months

Vodafone UK is offering BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Express to small and medium sized business customers from £10 per month.

Customers who sign up from May 17 for a three-month period can get BES Express from £5 a month.

BES Express works in with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server to synchronise email, calendar appointments, contacts, notes and other functions between company server and BlackBerry handset over-the-air.

Vodafone is also offering a managed support service for BES Express for an extra £2.50 a month – users will get set-up help and round-the-clock support certified BlackBerry and Microsoft specialists.

Vodafone UK enterprise marketing director Peter Boucher said: “It’s vital for all businesses to stay connected to customers wherever they are, either by voice or email. BES Express offers small and medium sized businesses the advantage of being able to do all this from their BlackBerry smartphone with the peace of mind of 24/7 help from Vodafone on the UK’s best network.”

The BES Express service is available on all Vodafone Business price plans.

Posted by: James

HTC Smart available on O2

Earlier on today we brought you the HTC Smart unboxing video and what good timing it was as O2 have today released the device on both contract and pay as you go.

The PAYG price is rather good. A mere £100.00 which if you ask me is real bargain. Contract wise prices start at £15.00 per month which gets you 50 minutes and unlimited texts.

If you are tempted by the HTC Smart you may want to wait for our full review which should be online early next week.

We should also have some additional HTC Smart videos for you over the weekend.

Vodafone UK Unveils Trio of New Smartphones

Once again Vodafone have announced a fine selection of new devices coming to the network soon.

Top if my list of ones I want to play with is the Samsung Galaxy S.

The Samsung Galaxy S 16GB http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-phone/samsung-galaxy-s will be available exclusively to Vodafone UK customers. The stunning, ultra responsive touchscreen device is the latest generation of Android smartphones built by Samsung.
With the Samsung Galaxy S, not only will you be able to access thousands of apps through the Android Marketplace, you can make the most of the device’s social networking features, by staying connected with all your friends through Facebook, Twitter and MSN.
The Samsung Galaxy S 16GB sports a great 5 megapixel camera, capable of shooting videos in HD quality, allowing you to capture crystal clear moments and enjoy them on the huge 4″ Super AMOLED touch screen display.
Powered by a superfast 1GHz processor and teamed with an integrated Google Chrome browser, the handset allows for a smooth and seamless experience, which never slows down when you’re surfing the web through multiple browser windows.