News

TeliaSonera launches the first 4G network in Scandinavia

For a lot of people in a lot of countries 3G is still the most amazing thing since.. well, sliced bread but now if you live in either the Sweden or Norwegian capital cities (Stockholm and Oslo) you can get yourself this new spangled 4G 100mbps network.

OK, I hear you ask when we are getting it but don’t get too excited because there aint even a phone on the market yet that can make use of this new network, although I’m more than positive that they will come very soon (maybe not at the top speed though). Although the handsets aren’t there yet they do offer the connection to laptop users through Ericsson in Sweden and Huawei in Norway.

So what’s next? Well Finland will have their 4G network up and running in Q1 of 2010, and O2 is already testing theirs in the UK, with the disappointment there being that they aint allowing me to test it for them.

Only time will tell and I for one can’t wait for the time when we can have a mobile network 10 times faster than that of HSPA enabled 3G networks of today.

Posted by: John

Tesco to have the iPhone

Tesco have announced that from Monday the 14th of December they will be selling the iPhone.

The lowest tariff that they will offer is £20 a month on a 12 month contract. This seems too good to be true! OK – it is. The handset will cost you £222 on top of this for the basic 3G 8GB one.

The BBC news website pointed out that over the course of the contract the actual monthly cost is £38.50 where as O2’s and Orange’s lowest tariff is £34.26. But note this – the £34.26 tariff is for a 24 month contract.

The Apple iPhone

Vodafone will also begin to carry the handset in 2010. They haven’t announced any price plans as yet but we will try to keep you informed.

Posted by: Emma

devicewire now have the HTC HD2 in stock

After recently selling all their stock, devicewire.com are pleased to announce they have just had more HTC HD2s arrive so if you are after one of these mammoth handsets you had better get your orders in quick. Click here to order.

HTC HD2

In addition they also have some accessories to go with the HD2:

Official HTC HD2 Micro USB Car Charger In Stock – Only £19.99 http://www.devicewire.co.uk/official-htc-rapid-micro-usb-car-charger

Official HTC HD2 Flip Case Now In Stock Only £14.99 http://www.devicewire.co.uk/official-htc-hd2-flip-case

If you fancy a brown HTC Hero they also have one of those too -  http://www.devicewire.co.uk/htc-hero-brown

Looks like devicewire.com are in for a busy few days!

Posted by: James

Camera update for the HTC HD2

If you follow the site regularly you will have seen our posts on the camera problem the HTC HD2 seems to have, the dreaded pink blur.

HTC HD2

The good news is that if you have an unlocked/sim free HD2, HTC have released an update to enhance the camera.

HTC say: “This update for HTC HD2 delivers clear digital picture quality like never before. Living up to the name of “HD” this phone and its twin LED flash will take beautiful pictures for you to cherish your memories. Displayed in brilliant vibrant colours on its 4.3 inch screen, HTC HD2 camera will delight you”.

We are expecting another HTC HD2 for us to play with next week so we will be sure to install this update and put it too the test.

If you want the update now please click here.

Posted By: James

Sony Ericsson Satio Fixed

You may have read in the last few weeks that some retailers had halted all Sony Ericsson Satio sales due to a software problem.

Sony Ericsson Satio

Well, the word on the street is that the problems has been resolved and devices will be on the shelves again tomorrow. This has been confirmed by Carphonewarehouse.

Clearly it may take a while for all retailers to get sorted out as there will be operator specific versions of the firmware that will need tweaking also.

It looks like Sony Ericsson have pulled this one out of the bag just in time for the Christmas rush. It very nearly went a bit pear shaped for them!

Posted by: James

HTC HD2 Camera Update

It’s been some weeks now since we broke the news that the camera on the HTC HD2 was producing a pink spot on some photographs taken.

The guys over at pocketnow.com have released details that this pink spot has actually been around for a long time on other cameras, so it turns out the HTC HD2 is actually no worse than its competitors.

Here are some samples shots:

HTC HD2

It would appear that this pink issue has been staring us all in the face for sometime and it wasn’t until we actually posted about it that the world suddenly became interested. Bit of an odd one but overall the camera on the HD2 produces some fantastic shots being helped greatly by its power flash.

Posted by:  James

Devicewire.com free Xmas delivery offer

Our pals over at Devicewire.com just sent us an email letting us know about their Christmas delivery offer. In the run up to Christmas, if you spend over £50 you’ll get free standard delivery on your order.

When you place your order simply enter ‘FREEDELIVERY’ in the promo box during checkout and you’ll not pay for delivery.

Oh and please do not forget to enter tracyandmatt.co.uk as the referrer when you place your orders!

Posted by: Matt

Another new Blackberry – The Pearl 9100

With the recent release of the new Blackberry Bold 9700 (review coming very soon!) it would appear that RIM have a further device coming soon.

Blackberry Pearl 9100

The Pearl 9100 has been featured this week on crackberry.com and this includes a video. Click here to view.

The original Pearl was a popular device and came in both candy bar and a flip design. Its main difference between the traditional Blackberries is that it is smaller and instead of having a full QWERTY keypad it has a 20 key keyboard which I believe they call “Sure Type”. (I’m not a Blackberry expert so I may have got this wrong!)

Anyway, if you a Blackberry Pearl fan I am sure this new version will most defiantly be of interest. As far as I am aware its early days and I don’t think a carrier has been announced in the USA yet so I think it may be a while until we see it here in the UK, but thought I would share it with you anyway.

Good things come to those who wait!

Head over to Crackberry and check it out.

Posted by: James

HP announce the iPaq Glisten

Looking for a Smartphone with a forward facing QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen? Until now that was a pretty tall order, I can think of only a couple of other handsets that fit the bill, the JAQ3 Springs to mind, but they are all pretty long in the tooth now. So HP have stepped up to the plate with their new iPAQ Glisten which offers a beautiful 2.5″ AMOLED 320×240 Touchscreen display and full QWERTY keyboard. Also sporting the latest Windows Mobile 6.5 OS sounds like a really cool device, right?

So what’s the catch? Well currently it’s only available in the USA and HP have no plans to bring it to the UK at the moment. Real shame I think as it looks like a lovely handset that certainly would fill a big void in the market.

Boost productivity-with your fingertips

• AMOLED Touch Screen: 2.5" diagonal touch screen not only provides a brilliant viewing experience, it streamlines the way you work.
• QWERTY Keyboard: With 5-way directional pad, it works just like a PC keyboard, making email & texting fast & easy.

Part Phone. Part PC. All Business.

• Syncs easily to your PC via Active Sync or Microsoft^® Exchange
• Integrated Visual Inbox for more streamlined communications
• A single, consolidated contact list syncs to your PC for easy contact management
• Optimized Web experience-for work (and play)
• 256 MB SDRAM/512 MB Flash for high speed multi-tasking
• Assisted GPS navigation to keep you moving in the right direction

HP iPAQ Glisten Specification:

• Display: AMOLED resistive touchscreen 320 x 240 pixels – 2.5 inches
• QWERTY keyboard
• Windows Mobile 6.5 professional
• Internal: 256 MB RAM – 512 MB ROM
• microSD up to 16 GB
• 2G: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G: HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
• Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Dimensions: 112.8 x 62.8 x 13.4 mm
• Weight: 132 g
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth: v2.0 with A2DP
• USB: v2.0 microUSB

Posted by: Matt

Buy an extended battery or stylus for HTC HD2

Matt posted earlier today on this subject but devicewire.com have just sent us the full details and prices.

devicewire.com

Although neither product is available at this moment you can pre-order now.

Order extended battery here.

Order capacitive stylus here.

If we get any further information we will be sure to let you know.

Posted by: James