News

Phones 4U holding Windows Phones events across the UK

Phones 4u today announces that a series of Windows Phone launch events, together with Microsoft, will take place in three key Phones 4u stores this week – Market Street in Manchester, Merry Hill Shopping Centre near Birmingham and the Metro Centre in Gateshead. The events will celebrate the arrival of the widest range of new Windows Phone handsets at Phones 4u, and offer customers hands on time with the new Windows Phone devices. Experts from Microsoft, Nokia and HTC will showcase the new mobile phone range and allow customers to engage with them to ensure they get the most from the latest Windows Phone handsets and operating system.

There will be an array of refreshments on offer during each of the events and a prize draw will be carried out at each Phones 4u store offering customers the chance to win great prizes that include Xbox consoles and new Windows Phone handsets.  On top of this, customers will be given goody bags to take home, filled with Windows Phone merchandise and tasty treats.

Blue Galaxy SIII Mini now in stock at Expansys

If you are looking for a decent SIM free Android device but find the SGS3 a little too bit or expensive then the Galaxy SIII Mini may well be just what you were looking for. Priced at £299.99 this one could make a nice Christmas gift. At 21g lighter and with 0.8 inches shaved of the screen, the Samsung Galaxy SIII Mini is a leaner version of the Galaxy SIII.

Despite having a lower capacity battery than its full fat brother, the Galaxy S3 Mini runs the latest Android Jelly Bean (4.1) with a dual-core (1 GHz) chip and 1GB of RAM. The display is 4 inches big, the same size as the new iPhone 5 screen, and has the same Super AMOLED technology as its brother so colours are bright and vivid.

Being on the Galaxy blood lines there’s NFC (near-field communication), Bluetooth (4.0), S Voice (personal assistant), Smart Stay (can detect when you’re looking at the screen) and S Beam (transfers media by tapping the back of another handset). There’s a 5MP camera on the back with face detection, geo-tagging, touch focus and LED flash.

This model has 8GB of memory built in and a microSD slot for up to 32GB of memory. If that isn’t enough there’s 50GB worth of free Dropbox storage available for two years. It comes in a smart blue finish.

Order here from Expansys.

Posted by: James

Skype updated for Android tablets

Posted by: James

Clove celebrate 20 years of business and they have prizes to be won!

Today sees the 20th anniversary of Clove Technology being in business. Clove have long been supporters of tracyandmatt.co.uk and we are honored to work with them so closely as they do a great job.

As part of their birthday celebrations they are giving away an array of 150 prizes over the next ten days with a grand prize being picked for one lucky winner on Friday November 30th.

Entering is simple – just sign up using this link and you are off.

Congratulations of 20 years of business Clove – long may it continue.

You can catch the full press release below:

Hitman Absolution EU launch trailer

Hitman is a franchise that’s been almost forgotten in recent years due to the development time between games, but with Square Enix and IO interactives’ new game Hitman Absolution releasing on 20th November on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 there is cause for optimism as the early reviews are very positive.

So with that in mind the developers have released a European launch trailer and I thought we would show it to you, a pre warning that there is obviously quite violent scenes of a graphical nature in the trailer so don’t watch unless you’re old enough.

The official description of the game from the developers is as follows:

"Powered by IO Interactive’s new proprietary Glacier 2 technology, Hitman: Absolution delivers a cinematic experience in a living breathing world, where player choice is paramount.
Experience unique disguise gameplay, improvised weapons and a myriad ways to take out a target. Contracts, introduces a new and innovative online mode which allows gamers to create and share their own custom hit challenges within the game. Choose a level, pick your targets, weapons and the rules of assassination. Compete with your friends and challenge the world."

You can catch the trailer here.

Posted by: Chris

Deal of the day from Expansys – The LG Optimus 4X HD

For one day only you can today pick up the LG Optimus 4X SIM free from Expansys for just £284.99. That’s a lot of phone for the price.

As the company’s first quad-core device, the LG Optimus 4X HD has some impressive power and speed to show off. By sporting a 1.5GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 4 PLUS 1 technology, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS.
The Optimus 4X HD is the new multitasking Smartphone powerhouse. The 4 PLUS 1 quad core structure enables the Tegra 3 processor chip to take full advantage of its potential, thus providing the Optimus 4X with impressive speed and great battery life, which is further assisted by its high capacity 2150 mAh battery.

Its stunning 4.7-inch True HD IPS display with a 1280×720 pixel resolution will provide you with a great visual experience further perfected by LG’s custom user interface that truly simplifies all your mobile operations.

Anything from web browsing, socialnetworking to working on-the-go; the Optimus 4X can handle it all and it can handle it with style and speed.
The Optimus 4X HD also features two cameras, an 8MP in the back that is capable of 1080p Full HD video recording, and a 1.3MP front camera that can be used for video conferencing. This way you will never miss another special moment, whether you are taking a picture or video chatting with your loved ones.
If you’re looking for a powerful high end device that will handle your busy multitasking lifestyle with ease, as well as provide you with a great entertainment experience, then the LG Optimus 4X HD is definitely the right choice for you.

Posted by: James

Expansys Christmas gift ideas

With Christmas getting closer and closer Expansys have some nice gift ideas if you are struggling to think what to get your gadget loving friend/partner.

They have a huge range of smartphones, tablets, gadgets and accessories all at great prices so why not pop over and check them out?

I have chosen a few to feature below that caught my eye. See what you think?

Grand Theft Auto 5 release date and trailers

Now I know what you guys are thinking..’wow this is new a gaming post!’ Well you would be forgiven for thinking you we’re dreaming but seeing as gaming is such a huge deal we couldn’t resist to add gaming news to tracyandmatt.co.uk.

What better way to start the proceedings with one of the biggest game franchises of all time…Grand Theft Auto! There is such a buzz around the gaming community at the moment because as you will soon see there are two brand new trailers for Rockstars newest addition to the series, GTA 5.

First of all, Rockstar have officially announced that the game will be released in ‘spring 2013’ which isn’t that far away! And gamers eagerly awaiting the game are able to pre order it right now on Xbox 360 and PS3 as unfortunately no information on the PC version has been released yet. If you are anything like me, you will be pressing the pre order button faster than you can say the words once you’ve seen the trailers.

There are 2 trailers in total showing varied aspects of the new game, one of the most exciting aspects of the trailers are that the game seems to be based around 3 separate characters which should make for a huge game I’m sure. I will now shush and let you watch the trailers below.

One day sale on the Samsung Galaxy Beam from Expansysn- Just £249.99

For one day only Expansys have a special deal on the Samsung Galaxy Beam. With £50 of the device it will today cost just £249.99. If an Android smartphone with a built in projector will come in handy for you then this offer is pretty sweet.

If you missed our unboxing and demo video you can catch it here.

Get your orders in here quick!

Samsung Galaxy Beam Specification:

• 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network: HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
• Dimensions: 124 x 64.2 x 12.5 mm
• Weight: 145.3 g
• Built-in nHD projector
• Touch-sensitive controls
• Display: TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colours, 480 x 800 pixels, 4.0 inches (~233 ppi pixel density)
• TouchWiz UI v4.0

Nokia to offer location services on other platforms

The word on the street is that Nokia are re-branding their location and mapping services, called HERE, and will offer them up to other mobile platforms. According to mobilenewscwp they already are launching a free application for the iPhone within weeks and an Android version is set for release early next year.

Talks are also under way with Nokia possibly buying the 3D mapping firm Earthmine which should bring us a whole new Nokia mapping experience.

Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop said: “With HERE we can extend our 20 years of location expertise to new devices and operating systems that reach beyond Nokia.”

Although I have not been a big Nokia user over the years they have certainly have some advantages over the other Windows Phone manufactures due to their unique applications such as Nokia Drive. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. With Nokia’s market share falling they really need to pull something out of the bag.

Posted by: James