News

HTC HD2 extended battery pre-order

We mentioned the extended battery for the HTC HD2 quite some time ago and you may also recall that we said it would come with a funky kickstand. Images have surfaced on the web and our friends over at Clove Technology have added the product to their site and are offering pre-order.

The battery is 2300mAh, almost double that of the original HD2 battery. It’s supplied with a cover that has its own ‘kickstand’ allowing you to sit the HD2 on your desk in a landscape orientation. Personally I think it’s a pretty ugly looking thing that makes the handset rather chunky but I suppose it depends on how you plan to use your handset.

If you fancy picking one up for your HTC HD2 then head over to Clove and pre-order today. Stock is due in March.

It is always good to have a big battery in a smartphone, so that you can work for longer without having to charge the phone. Larger batteries often mean a larger overall size, which isn’t for everyone.

However, sometimes the need outweighs the shape, aesthetics and weight of the product.  So if this is the case for you and you own a HTC HD2, this extended 2300mAh battery will be ideal.

An official extended battery for the HTC HD2, this 2300mAh battery comes complete with a replacement back cover, that has a kickstand (allowing you to stand the device up – perfect if watching a film).

Posted by: Matt

BlackBerry Storm2 on T-Mobile

If you wanted a BlackBerry Storm2 but didn’t want to get one on Vodafone then their is good news for you.

BlackBerry Storm2

T-Mobile

The Storm2 will be available on T-Mobile UK sometime this month! Vodafone had the initial exclusive on the BlackBerry Storm2, much the same as with the original Storm but that must have come to an end. With BlackBerry sales still growing I wonder if any of the other networks will take it up?

T-Mobile more than doubled its BlackBerry base in 2009, shifting 10,000 units per week in Q4. It told dealers last week the number of T-Mobile customers using BlackBerry devices had increased by 125 per cent during 2009.

More than 2,900 BlackBerry handsets were activated on the T-Mobile network on Christmas day alone!

Posted by: James

The calm before the MWC storm!

We’ve noticed that general industry news seems to be slowing over the past week or so and we started to wonder why. However, the reason could be that Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010 starts in a little over a week and there’s a good chance that many of the hardware and software vendors are hanging on to their news to announce later at the event in Barcelona.

Some of the manufacturers are having pre-MWC events, the first of which we shall attend next week, while others are having post-MWC parties that we’ll also be at the week after.

James will be in Barcelona for the main event and has already been booked up by some of our big name friends for meetings and press conferences, to say that he’s excited may be an understatement!

So if there’s something that you would like our roving reporter to go and find out about at MWC, if you are at the event or of you are an exhibitor at the event then drop us a line and we’ll do our best to sort something out.

As for me, I’ll still be stuck here in not-so-sunny London picking up the news and press releases and posting from a dark room while James lives it up in Spain!

Posted by: Matt

GSmart Android handset ‘fake’!

Last week a few pictures of a new Gigabyte GSmart handset surfaced, claiming to be GSmart’s first Android powered smartphone offering. I was pretty pleased to see these images as they seemed to support my prediction that we’d see an Android handset sometime this year and this was earlier than I would have expected. We reported the news of the new GSmart handset as did a lot of other sites at the time.

However, yesterday I had a long conversation with my good friend over at GSmart. She is the GSmart PR guru based over in Taiwan. We spoke for a while about upcoming handsets etc. and she confirmed to me that the images and specs we all reported last week are fakes, they aren’t anything to do with GSmart.

She went on to say that the next few handsets to be released by GSmart will run Windows Mobile and although there will be an Android OS handset from them at some point it would not be until later in 2010 at the earliest and the prototypes they are working on at the moment look nothing like the fake images in circulation. GSmart have promised to keep me informed and will let me know when they are able to confirm specs of both the new Windows Mobile handsets and the Android one.

Perhaps a bit of a shame that we’ll have to wait a while to see what GSmart can do with Android but I’m not disappointed to learn the the images we have are fakes and I thought the handset looked pretty naff and dated!

Posted by: Matt

Multitouch on Nexus One without waiting

As I mentioned last night, Google have released an official update for the Nexus One that enables multitouch on the Nexus One. This is an over-the-air update that should be pushed to all Nexus handsets but the problem is it’s a gradual process so you just have to wait for your handset to tell you that the update is available.

If, like me, you hate waiting for something like this and want multitouch right now then there’s an option where you can download an update ZIP file and apply this through the recovery mode on the handset. You do not need an unlocked or ‘rooted’ handset to be able to do this and the good news is that it wont wipe any of your existing data!

You can find the full details on Android Forums.

The procedure:
1. obtain the update.zip file
2. reboot into the bootloader
3. select recovery
4. apply sdcard:update.zip

Specifics
Obtain the file from here:
https://android.clients.google.com/updates/passion/signed-passion-ERE27-from-ERD79.a487b405.zip -Thanks Fabolous

OR

signed-passion-ERE27-from-ERD79.a487b405.zip – Thanks DEMO_BURN

Rename the file to update.zip (in Windows, just rename to update – it is already a zip file)
-Make sure the update.zip file is on the root of your sdcard (not in any folders)
-To reboot into the bootloader, turn off the phone. Then power on while holding down the trackball.
Navigate to the option ‘recovery’
When the Android w/ caution logo pops up, hold down the power+volume up
Select ‘apply sdcard:update.zip’
Thanks chief99 for the bootloader specific instructions.

Posted by: Matt

[ Post Tags: Google, Nexus One, multitouch, dolphin browser, Android, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Google adds Multitouch to the Nexus One!

This was an unexpected news item and thanks to all of you that tipped us on it for today Google have announced an official update for the Nexus One that, among other things, adds multitouch capability to the Browser, Maps and Gallery applications.

If you saw my Nexus One review, which I hope you all did, you’ll know that this was one of the things that I found to be slightly disappointing about the handset, pinch to zoom is one of those things that’s just become second nature for many of us!

There’s also good news for anyone experiencing problems with 3G connectivity, this update promises to address your problems too!

What’s even better about this update is that it’s being pushed out ‘over-the-air’ to all Nexus One handsets so if you see a message in your Nexus One’s notification bar about an update there’s a good chance it could be this!

More from Google:

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

New Software Update for Nexus One phones

Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive an over-the-air software update on their phones. This update provides some great new features, and fixes a few problems that some users might have experienced, including:

Google Goggles: this mobile application will now be available directly on your device by launching it from your All Apps menu. Just use your Nexus One camera to start searching the web

Google Maps: the Maps application with be updated to a new version, Google Maps 3.4, which will include:

• Starred items synchronized with maps.google.com – access your favorite places from your phone or computer
• Search suggestions from your personal maps.google.com history – makes it easy to search for places you’ve searched for before
• Night mode in Google Maps Navigation – automatically changes your screen at night for easier viewing and driving

Pinch-to-zoom functionality: devices will now include a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications

3G connectivity: we will provide a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones

In order to access the update, you will receive a message on your phone’s notification bar. Just download the update, wait for it to install, and you should be all set. This update will be rolled out gradually to phones – and most users might not receive the notification until the end of the week. We hope you enjoy these new features and look forward to your feedback.

I’m just off to check my Nexus now, will report back later!

Posted by: Matt

[ Post Tags: Google, Nexus One, multitouch, dolphin browser, Android, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Apple iPad update

Last week Matt and John covered the Apple iPad launch and now it looks like we may have an iPad here in the UK within the next 4-8 weeks.

Apple iPad

An update on Apples UK website shows that the firm is expecting to start shipping a Wi-Fi version in March, and a 3G model in late April. No UK prices have been confirmed yet but the site does show the prices in dollars, although it is reported that the UK prices may be higher than over the pond!

Apple iPad

The iPad will come in three sizes, and will cost as much as $829 for the 64GB, Wi-Fi+3G version.  The firm simply says that "international pricing will be announced at a later date".

Lets hope we don’t get screwed too much!

Posted by: James

MWC Has a Different Agenda for Windows Mobile

Contrary to popular belief we have been informed that Windows Mobile 7, the much anticipated OS release for windows mobile, will not be on the agenda at MWC this year. This can only suggest that it has been delayed even further than we thought.

James will be attending this years MWC and I’m sure he will be keeping us up to date on the goings on and what IS on the agenda.

Posted by: John McKenzie

Latest MoDaCo Podcast Now Live

Last week saw the launch of the much rumoured Apple iPad. There has been a ton of discussion about the iPad both before and after the announcement. Some believe that it’s the best thing ever and others thinking that it’s going to be a monumental miss for Apple.

So why am I telling you about the MoDaCo podcast? Well last week my long time friend Paul, founder of MoDaCo, and I were talking about the iPad when Paul said “Hey why don’t you come on the podcast as a guest and chat about the iPad with me and Chris?”. Sounded like a great idea, I’m getting in to this podcast lark so jumped at the chance.

So if you want to hear what the three of us have to say about the iPad then head on over to the podcast page on MoDaCo. Please do feel free to come back to us and offer your feedback both on the iPad and the podcast itself over on the forum.

Posted by: Matt

BlackBerry Magnum on video

The BlackBerry Magnum, AKA Dakota, has been rumoured for some time now but its only in the last few days that it has been captured on video.

BlackBerry Magnum

To look at the above picture you may think that the device looks just like a Bold 9000 but the Magnum has a special trick up its sleeve – a touch screen!

Yes, the BlackBerry Magnum is somewhere between a Bold and a Storm with the clicky screen. Although this device is still a prototype I am sure we will see a version of it released at some point.

Will BlackBerry users like the Magnum? I’m not sure. I’m a BlackBerry user and I certainly don’t want a touch screen. What may be a better option in the future would be a Storm with a slide out QWERTY?

Anyway, check out the below video from the cellularguru and if you wish to comment please do so in our forum.

Posted by: James