News

Acer to release Android devices

Acer announces its joining of the Open Handset Alliance and expects to launch smartphones based on the Android platform in the fourth quarter of this year.

As a member of the Open Handset Alliance, Acer will work with its members to contribute to the development of the Android platform and bring consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today’s mobile platforms. By joining the Open Handset Alliance, Acer demonstrates its support for Android as an open mobile platform and its commitment to Android’s commercial success.

Android is a complete and open mobile phone software stack, featuring an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. It includes everything a manufacturer or operator needs to build a mobile phone. Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer.

There are over 40 members in the Open Handset Alliance, including mobile operators, handset manufacturers, software companies, and semi-conductor companies.

Posted by: Matt

Decent HDMI cables don’t have to cost the earth

Let’s face it; if you are reading this post the chances are you’ll understand that the love of technology can get expensive. Now, I can justify spending close to £3,000 on a new plasma TV , but spending over £100 for a HDMI cable? Now that just seems wrong! That is why I am glad I found a US based company called Optimization-world.

Now I know that some of you reading will own very high-end home-theatre kit and will be thinking that I should spend plenty on the cables and interconnects that I use. However for the average consumer £20 is about as much as they are going to want to spend.

Need HDMI Cables? Then look no further. Optimization-world is an inexpensive, high quality and customer service oriented company. They also receive their HDMI rating from the same North American plant as monster cables. Same quality cable, way different price (£75 vs. £9) and in this case, a different price is a really good thing. So if you are looking to save money, without sacrificing quality, check out www.optimization-world.com Optimised Cable Company.

I bought a set of HDMI cables from these guys and I’m impressed with the price and the quality.

Posted by: Matt

HTC Touch Pro2 in stock

Great news for those of you waiting for the HTC Touch Pro2, Clove Technology and Devicewire.com dropped me a line late last night to let me know that they have physical stock of this eagerly anticipated handset. It’s actually arrived for sale several weeks earlier than originally expected!

So if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on what promises to be a fantastic device then head over to Clove Technology or to Devicewire.com where you can order one today!

We should be getting our review model within the next few days so watch this space for more!

Posted by: Matt

Make-A-Wish Foundation appeal

As a regular reviewer on tracyandmatt.co.uk I have a request that is close to my heart and very close to my rear at the moment!

I studied the bicycle law and signed myself up for a bike ride from London to Paris in September 2009 – 300 miles in 4 Days on a bike! The wayfarer emountain bike is availble for pre-order at wisperbikes.com.

The training has started in earnest with 360 miles covered to date and a program to cover in the region of 1810 more before departure.

I have chosen to ride for:

Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK

Charity Registration No. (England & Wales) 295672/ Charity Registration No. (Scotland) SC037479

And hopefully this is where you can help….

If you appreciate my work, or even if you would like to pay to get rid of me for a while, but mostly because you want to…please send whatever you can via Credit Card, Debit card or PayPal or contact me via email to make alternative arrangements and remember EVERY amount makes a difference, don’t think it’s too small or too big, just get involved and do it before 17^th June 2009 if possible, Please.

Make-A-Wish Foundation®UK is the leading wishgranting charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. We’re giving them childrens petrol quad bikes.

Around 1,000 children will turn to Make-A-Wish in 2009. If you would like to help raise funds, like myself, or would simply like to find out more about Make-A-Wish call them on 01276 405 060 or visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR DONATION, AND FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF tracyandmatt.co.uk.

Posted by: Steve

HP iPAQ Voice and Data Messenger ROM updates

You may recall that we reviewed the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger and HP iPAQ Data Messenger a few months ago and while we were not overly impressed with them we did think it likely that they would become popular with a certain breed of business users.

The HP iPAQ Voice Messenger and iPAQ Data Messenger

A few days ago HP released a series of update for their messenger handsets.The Voice Messenger receives a series of patches and updates while the Data Messenger gets a whole new ROM to address the following:

ENHANCEMENTS:

• Improves modem code to optimize power consumption.
• Updates to Key Guard v2.3.6.40.
• Updates to HP Photosmart Mobile (2.11.7.58).

FIXES:

• Fixes the GPS status indication where GPS status is "GPS is disabled" when GPS service is running.
• Fixes the issue for PIN2/PUK2 display problem.

The Data Messenger update will wipe everything from your device so make sure that you back everything up and while the Voice Messenger updates are patches rather than a full ROM build it’s still probably a good idea to back up your data before applying them.

You’ll see full information about the updates on the product pages following the links above.

Posted by: Matt

[ Post Tags: HP iPAQ Voice Messenger, Windows Mobile, HP iPAQ, Smartphone, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Orange Vegas – Some More Details

6 Days ago Matt brought you the news that the Orange Vegas was now official but at that stage we didn’t post much about it so here is all we know about this handset.

Not many people will know this but the device is manufactured by 3G dongle manufacturer ZTE which is a little unusual but as we have been given one to review we will tell you just how unusual it is early next week.

Officially the cheapest full touchscreen handset the Orange Vegas is already available for purchase at the carriers points of sale across UK or online for a price of only £48.50 for pay-as-you-go customers.

I’m sure Orange are fully aware that the Vegas ain’t anywhere near as cute as the other touchscreen phones out there  but its price is low enough to make you say "Deal!".

Looking at the phone you can can only say that it reminds you of a cross between the XDA Orbit and the HTC Touch Viva but it doesn’t nearly have the same brains or goodies under the hood.

The carrier were smart enough to launch the Orange Vegas in pink or black as there is definitely a market for pink phones.

The handset offers a 2.4" TFT touchscreen and UI that is designed exclusively for Orange. Unfortunately it only features a 1.3 megapixel camera but the microSD card slot can take cards with up to 4 GB of memory. The good news is that it does have built in FM radio and Bluetooth making it acceptable for today’s teen market. Another nice touch is the free access to services like Bebo, Facebook and MySpace.

Posted by: John

Press Release: Vodafone Freeday Today Only

In short the press release below says that for today only you can surf the internet on the Vodafone network for FREE and starting tomorrow you can browse for a flat rate of 50p per day.

A very good move for Vodafone in my eyes as this now sets the standard for other networks to follow or beat.

30^th April 2009

VODAFONE MAKES FRIDAY ‘FREEDAY’ SO YOU CAN PLAN THE MAY BANK HOLIDAY ON US

• New flat rate 50p daily rate for internet browsing and webmail from your mobile phone
• Internet browsing and webmail on your mobile free to use all day Friday 1^st May
• Facebook most visited site

Vodafone UK is introducing a new flat 50p daily rate for internet browsing and email on your mobile phone. The new rate will become effective from tomorrow, May 1, for all pay as you go and contract customers who don’t already subscribe to a monthly mobile internet bundle.

The new pricing is being introduced in response to customer feedback that flat rate unlimited browsing gives peace of mind and more control over how much customers spend.

To mark the new flat rate, tomorrow Vodafone customers will be able to browse the internet and pick up emails on their mobiles for free all day. Vodafone’s ‘Freeday’ will be the perfect way for customers to plan their May Bank Holiday while they travel to work on the train, wait for the bus or kill time waiting for friends to join them in the pub. More information about ‘Freeday’ can be found at: www.vodafone.co.uk/freebrowsing

Customers can browse the internet on a wide range of Vodafone mobiles and use it to look at the same internet sites they are used to on their home computers from Facebook, Bebo, PriceRunner, YouTube, MySpace and eBay, through searching on Google, train timetables and the latest results from Sky Sports, to the best in city, gig and event guides.  They’ can also check webmail accounts such as Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL or Google Mail.

Customers don’t need to do anything to qualify for ‘Freeday’, just simply click on the Vodafone live! or the browser icon in the menu of their phone to get started on the day.

Millions of customers can access the mobile internet using Vodafone’s fast and reliable network. Among the most popular sites Vodafone customers visit are social networking and news sites, with Facebook topping the charts of most visited sites:

Top most visited sites using Vodafone’s mobile internet service are Facebook, Google, BBC, YouTube, Windows Live, Bebo, eBay,

Top Google searches using Vodafone’s mobile internet service are Facebook, Bebo, eBay, Hotmail, YouTube, Yahoo, MSN, Google, Flirtomatic and BBC

For more information about using the internet on your mobile and details on how to set up your webmail account head to Vodafone.co.uk/mobileinternet

Posted by: John

HTC Magic Launched

OK, OK dont get excited, the HTC Magic has just launched with no other but Vodafone Spain. But you may not have heard that the coveted Cupcake update (also known as Android OS 1.5) is now available to Android Dev phone users via the HTC website and now OTA for G1 users.

The HTC Magic is the second Android phone by HTC after the HTC Dream (a.k.a. T-Mobile G1). We already reviewed the G1 and we were quite happy with the perspectives for the new mobile OS. There certainly is some missing stuff, but a lot of those misses are taken care for in the latest version of Android called Cupcake. If you happen to own an Android Dev phone, you can get yourselves all dressed up with a new OS by following this link.

However if you don’t own a Dev phone, but you live in Spain, you might as well get yourself the updated OS along with the latest hardware. Not only does the HTC Magic come with all the latest Androidish goodies, but it’s also got a slimmed down waistline by shedding its bulky hardware QWERTY thumboard and it’s now available with Vodafone Spain.

The HTC Magic can now be had only on a 18-month contract from 19 to 199 euro depending on the choice of monthly plan. Whatever your tariff however, there’s an obligatory 12 euro monthly for unlimited browsing as according to Vodafone the handset uses internet connection automatically even without user intervention and having a data plan is a must.

The other good news is that the device will launch on May 5th in the UK on Vodafone.

Posted by: John

LG Viewty Smart given Release Date

Thanks to the uncharacteristic slip-up of some Germans, we already knew plenty about the LG Viewty II, it will be called the Viewty Smart, and will be exceedingly thin at only 12mm thick.

Now LG has officially announced that the Viewty Smart will be landing on shelves on May on Orange.

LG Viewty II (Smart)

The Viewty Smart will feature a WVGA screen, and its 8-megapixel camera will have quite a few improvements over the first Viewty, including sensitivity up to ISO 1,600 for low-light shots, touch gestures for zooming in and out, and multiple face-detection. It’ll also have something called ‘intelligent shot mode’, which LG says will analyse the photo and compare it against seven pre-programmed scenes to improve picture quality. But there won’t be a xenon flash previously suggested and rather will sport just an LED light.

The Viewty Smart will also launch with Wi-Fi and 7.2Mbps HSDPA for faster surfing, a 76mm (3-inch) touchscreen display, 1.5GB of internal memory expandable with a microSD card of up to 32GB, and GPS.

Posted by: John

Samsung GT-i7500 Newest Device on Android

Now what do we have here then? It looks to me like Samsung are planning to launch their very own Android handset sitting snugly on the Android 1.5 Cupcake OS which is the same given to us on the new HTC Magic handset being launched by Vodafone.

Samsung GT-i7500

So what do I know that I can share with you?

Samsung GT-i7500 Specifications

• Expected Release Date: June, 2009
• Dimensions: 56 x 115 x 11.9 millimetres
• 119 grams (battery included)
• Operating System: Google Android 1.5 (Cupcake)
• CPU: 32bit Qualcomm MSM7200A
• CPU Clock: 528 MHz
• ROM capacity: 7.5 GiB
• RAM capacity: 128 MiB
• Display_Type: color AM-OLED , 16777216 scales
• Display Diagonal: 3.2 "
• Display;Resolution: 320 x 480
• Microphone(s): mono
• Loudspeaker(s): stereo
• Audio:Output: 3.5mm
• Cellular Networks: GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS900, UMTS1700, UMTS2100
• Data Links: CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA
• Call Alert: 40 chord melody
• Vibrating Alert: Supported
• Speakerphone: Supported
• Positioning Device: Touchscreen
• Directional Pad: 5 -way
• Expansion Slots: microSD, microSDHC, TransFlash
• USB 2.0 client, 480Mbit/s
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Wireless LAN: 802.11b, 802.11g
• Built-in GPS module
• Assisted GPS, Geotagging
• Main Camera: 4.9 MP
• Autofocus (AF)
• Optical:Zoom: 1 x
• Macro Mode: Supported
• Built-in Flash: mobile light (LED)
• Secondary Camera: 0.3 MP
• Built-in accelerometer
• Battery:Capacity: 1500 mAh

Here is what we know about the OS the phone has:

• Full Name: Google Android 1.5
• Short Name: Android 1.5
• Developer: Google
• Codename: Cupcake
• Release Date: June 01, 2009
• Predecessor: Google Android 1.0
• Operating System Family: Linux operating systems
• Operating System Kernel: Linux 2.6.27
• Supported CPU: Instruction_Set(s): x86, ARM

Can we assume then that this handset will go either directly to o2 or Orange based on the fact that the predecessors have went to the other 2 networks? The short answer to that is, who knows, only time will tell.

I have been in touch with Samsung already and asked for details more info. As and when we have them we will post them straight away.

Posted by: John