News

Pocket Live TV 1.0 released

Makayama introduces Pocket Live TV 1.0, software that allows you to watch 100 live TV channels on your Windows Mobile phone.

Watch 100 channels from 10 countries live on your Pocket PC phone. With Pocket Live TV, your phone becomes a portable TV. Watch your favorite channels right in the palm of your hand.

Watch live TV from the U.S., U.K. Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands and other countries. So whatever you would’ve watched on the sofa, you can watch elsewhere instead. In the room next door, down the pub, or on the beach a thousand miles away. Take your favourite tv-series, talkshow, sport events or news programs with you on your portable device.

The most affordable way to get your television content in your pocket. No subscription, no bundled data-plan, just a one-time purchase of software.

Includes top news channels * , such as CNN, BBC, Sky News, Deutsche Welle and NBC. Music channels, such as MTV, Ministry of Sound and 3for12. Sports channels such the Baseball Channel, Eurosport and Sportbox. Get the latest weather forecast from the Weather Channel. And tens of general news and entertainment channels.

The channels are all broadcast over-the-internet, so if you have WiFi on you device, you can watch them for free, without data charges. Go to any Starbucks or free WiFi hotspot and watch free TV on your phone. It also works with UMTS, WCDMA, EVDO, EDGE and other wideband enabled Pocket PCs. Check out the free demo to see which channels from your country are available. Works on any Pocket PC (phone) with a WiFi or 3G connection.

You can learn more HERE.

Posted By: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): GPRS, 3G, wireless, Live TV, Makayama, Tracy & Matt]

Play-Off on the UK’s first video “gameshow” for mobiles

Orange has developed the first service of its kind to offer the nation’s wanabees and extroverts a platform to pit their unique and bizarre talents against one another other.

Play-Off has been designed specifically for the mobile phone – so it doesn’t matter if you’re on a bus, out with mates, on the factory floor or in the office – the competition lets you take part.

How it works:

The British public’s love of the game show format has run for many years – so, whether you look at X Factor, Dancing on Ice or even the Generation Game with a longing to have a go, or just have fun watching and voting on participants – Play-Off gives you the chance to get involved.

Challenge categories for launch include Face-off, giving those who think they are the sexiest person alive a chance to prove it, Dance-off, for those with the craziest dance moves to let loose and finally Weird-off for, well, the weirdest stuff!

“It’s all about fun and spontaneity” said Deborah Tonroe, Head of TV and Video at Orange. “Many of our customers love taking and sharing videos with their mobile phones, and many more can’t resist the opportunity to watch and vote in shows like this. We’re expecting 1000’s of viewers to watch and vote on the first competitions – so it’s perfect for anyone who fancies 15 seconds of fame!”

Play-Off is being produced for Orange by IMP Media, a company specialising in multimedia services combining mobile, internet and TV. Tony Cuthbertson, Director of IMP Media, said: “Play-Off picks up on a number of big trends in television and the internet and adds the spontaneous interactivity of the mobile phone to create something that’s completely new and fresh.”

You can find out what it’s all about by visiting Orange World on your mobile or by going to orange.co.uk. To be the next star of Play-Off, simply submit your clip at orange.co.uk or send it by MMS to (7469).

Posted By: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): GPRS, 3G, wireless, Unlimited data, Orange, Tracy & Matt]

Orange Unlimited Data – it’s nearly here!

According to The Times today, Orange are finally ready to introduce unlimited, uncapped 3G and GPRS data usage.

Although the £8 unlimited deal has been “around/not around/maybe around” for some time, there has never been any publicity or comment from orange about the tariff.

However, according to the same source, Orange feels that per-mb pricing is keeping customers away (No! really?). Although there’s no fixed date for the introduction of the new plans, the times have managed to get a fair bit of information out of orange.

So how do they shape up?

OK, so its not a web-n-walk killer, but it is a step in the right direction, and for the people who prefer orange, but have been looking at moving, it may be worth holding off a while yet.

Posted By: Mark

[Technorati tag(s): GPRS, 3G, wireless, Unlimited data, Orange, Tracy & Matt]

Vakaadoo iPod cases

The other day I came across a company called Vakaadoo. A strange sounding name but they do some great looking products!

Vakaadoo sell cases for iPod and have just released a new range of products, called iVak, for the iPod Nano second gen. Where other cases try to add carrying pouches and side clips, the iVak bypasses all of these needless features and goes along with what Apple had in mind while designing the Nano: a skinny, sleek design.

The iVak comes in seven bright colours to match whatever colour Nano you happen to own (White, Black, Red, Silver, Pink, Blue and Green). The package comes with the case, a headphone wire holder, a lanyard and a clear click-wheel protector.

Vakaadoo is a young, creative company committed to the production of artfully engineered, high quality accessories for personal entertainment devices. We inject the Vakaadoo spirit into everything we produce.

Find out more at Vakaadoo.com – we also hope to have an iVak to review shortly.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): iPod Shuffle, Vakaadoo, iVak, iPod, Tracy & Matt]

HTC Advantage now with £15 off!

Following on from the post we made yesterday about the HTC Advantage being in stock at Clove Technology, I’m here again to give you the good news about the money off voucher that we have just set up with Clove.

As with other Clove voucher offers, all you have to do is enter the voucher code below and £15 will be deducted from the purchase price at the checkout stage.

Voucher code: HTC15APR07

The offer is valid until the end of the month so hop on over to the HTC Advantage page on the Clove Technology website and bag a bargain!

At £575 (+ VAT) we are pretty sure that Clove are one of the cheapest suppliers of the HTC Advantage and our voucher will give you a further £15 off!

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, HTC Advantage, HTC, Clove Technology, Windows Mobile blog]

HTC Advantage (X7500) in stock at Clove

The HTC Advantage x7500 is now in stock at Clove Technology.


The HTC Advantage has to be one of the most talked about devices of 2007 and priced at £579 (£680.32 inc VAT) it may seem like a lot of money but you have to consider the fact that the HTC Advantage is a Windows Mobile device like no other!

The HTC Advantage is a Mobile PC Communicator. Unlike laptops or computers, you do not need to wait for the device to (cold) boot up, you don’t have to worry about the battery dying within 2 to 3 hours or it being too heavy to be carried around.

The HTC Advantage has a huge 8GB hard drive, 256MB of ROM and 128MB of RAM combined with Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, so you can run your most demanding business applications and store all the documents and files you need.

With its always-on, high-speed global connectivity, the HTC Advantage ensure you can keep in contact worldwide. As well as your email being “pushed” to you instantly, you can wirelessly synchronise files when away from the office.

The Advantage’s integrated 3.0 mega-pixel camera takes high-quality images, so you need never miss a moment. The 5” touch screen provides the ideal canvas for viewing their details clearly. The second VGA camera gives you everything you need to make video calls. You have 3G, WiFi and stereo Bluetooth 2.0 to open up a world of communication options.

The HTC Advantage’s large VGA touch screen, means you can easily view and work on your documents – while the detachable QWERTY keyboard makes it simple for you to work with everyday office applications.

The Advantage has been optimised for outstanding performance, whether it is to deliver the best possible web browsing experience or to give you up to 8 hours of ‘working’ battery life.

The 8GB hard drive can store up to 5 hours of video, 2000 songs or 25,000 photos taken on the auto focus 3 mega-pixel camera.

The Advantage’s inbuilt GPS and TomTom NAVIGATOR 6 navigation software will help you find your way quickly and easily from door to door.

Check out the HTC Advantage page on the Clove Technology website for more info.

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, HTC Advantage, HTC Athena, Tracy & Matt]

Dopod C730 details emerge

It’s been several months since we last heard anything about the HTC Cavalier and suddenly we discover that Dopod are set to launch their version of the device as the Dopod C730 sometime in May.

The HTC Cavalier is the eagerly awaited successor to the HTC Excalibur. The devices are similar in appearance but the Cavalier brings 3G/HSDPA to the table. It had previously been said that the HTC Cavalier would be ‘Delayed indefinitely’ and other articles refer to is as ‘Scrapped’ however, now that it’s coming to Dopod, hopefully the HTC Cavalier will see a worldwide launch!

Dopod C730 Specification

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, HTC Cavalier, Dopod S730, HTC Excalibur]

Save £20 with our Samsung i600 voucher

I’m sure that I lot of you have already seen our ‘Samsung i600 unboxed‘ and ‘Another Look‘ videos so if you fancy buying yourself an i600 we have teamed up with Clove Technology again to offer you a £20 discount off the purchase price!!

As with other Clove voucher offers, all you have to do is enter the voucher code below and £20 will be deducted from the purchase price at the checkout stage.

Voucher code: SAM600APR07

The offer is valid until the end of the month so hop on over to the Samsung i600 page on the Clove Technology site.

At £300 (+ VAT) we are pretty sure that Clove are one of the cheapest suppliers of the Samsung i600 and our voucher will give you a further £20 off!

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung i600, Orange, Samsung, Windows Mobile blog]

SanDisk and Sony announce SxS memory card

SanDisk and Sony Corporation today announced that the two companies have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding with the intention of developing the SxS™ (S-by-S) memory card specification, with high-speed transfer technology compliant to the ExpressCard industry standard.

SxS™ memory cards will leverage the technology strength of SanDisk and Sony, who have a long and successful history of co-developing and promoting flash memory products. With this high-performance and high-reliability memory card, both companies are targeting workflow improvements for professional camcorders and non-linear video editing systems.

The SxS™ memory card specification uses flash memory and complies with the ExpressCard™ industry standard, and the card connects directly to computer systems through the high-speed PCI-Express™ bus. ExpressCard™ has been rapidly adopted by PC manufacturers to replace the legacy PC Card™ form factor, giving the SxS™ memory cards broad support in post-production hardware.

Sony will adopt this high-speed SxS™ memory card specification in its “XDCAM EX™“ series professional camcorders. SxS™ memory cards from SanDisk and Sony are expected to be available later in 2007.

Benefits

* High-speed data transfer of large video files. SxS™ memory cards are the first native PCI Express™ solid-state storage media1. PCI Express™ has a maximum data transfer speed of 2.5 gigabits per second, twice as fast as PC Card™-based storage media. In addition, SanDisk and Sony have optimized the technology protocol for controlling communication between hardware and SxS™ memory cards to enable high-speed transfer of large files, such as high-definition video, to PCs for non-linear video-editing. The target transfer speed of SxS™ memory cards is 800 megabits per second2.

* Compact Size. The SxS™ memory card specification uses ExpressCard™/34 modules (width: 34mm, height: 5mm, length: 75mm), half the size of PC Cards™. This enables the design of professional camcorders that are smaller and lighter, while still offering high storage capacities.

“Sony and SanDisk share the goal of providing leadership in high-performance, high-capacity recording solutions for professional video,” said Eli Harari, Chairman and CEO of SanDisk. “I am proud of the close cooperation we have had with Sony over the years, and I look forward to the exciting new products that SxS™ memory cards will enable.”

Yutaka Nakagawa, Executive Deputy President and Corporate Executive Officer of Sony Corporation, said: “Sony has successfully collaborated with SanDisk Corporation in promoting the Memory Stick formats. Significant milestones have been the Memory Stick PRO format in 2003, the Memory Stick Micro in 2005 and Memory Stick PRO-HG in 2006. I am delighted by today’s joint announcement of this new technology, which expands our collaboration to a new area, the professional video market, offering great benefits to users in this field. With the introduction of this SxS™ memory card, we will seek to expand its use throughout professional video applications to enable highly efficient workflow systems.”

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, SxS, Memory Stick Micro, Sony]