Gareth and James investigate the HTC One V and determine it might not be as great value as you would initially expect. Gareth lines up some interesting bargains and James gets excited about a BlackBerry update.
Good news for you mobile gamers on O2. Telefónica has entered a relationship with EA Mobile, a division of Electronic Arts, which will allow customer to access its world leading games on their mobiles. The deal will give Telefónica’s operating businesses the ability to create innovative gaming promotions using titles from the EA catalogue of consumer favourite brands such as The Sims, FIFA or MONOPOLY. The objective is to make it easy for customers to find the games that they are familiar with and to drive the uptake of mobile gaming, particularly amongst feature phone users.
In the UK, O2 will offer its customers three months of free access to all EA Mobile games following their first download. It is then examining a number of potential promotions or special ‘gaming subscription’ services to offer customers.
“Our relationship with EA Mobile puts us as the epicentre of mobile gaming – which accounts for the highest percentage of downloaded Apps and is the largest paid mobile content market today,” said Matthew Key, Chairman & CEO of Telefónica Digital. “By making a differentiated play in this most emotive and immersive entertainment medium we are fostering a much deeper connection with our customers – another significant step in becoming a true aggregator of experiences.”
Bernard Kim, Senior Vice President, Global Social and Mobile Publishing said: “Our mission is to deliver games that consumers love – anywhere, anytime, and on any platform they want to play. We know that at least a quarter of mobile users in Europe are playing games on their phones. Our relationship with Telefónica helps more people discover our games, and removes barriers for subscribers to enjoy an entire library of our most beloved titles.”
If you are looking for the best camera phone around then you may want to consider the Nokia 808. Clove now have the device available to pre order but it will set you back a whopping £538.80 including VAT.
The price may seem like a high price tag for a handset that runs Symbian, but the PureView does have a 41MP camera to make up for its lack of a smartphone OS. It also comes with a Xenon flash, 4″ AMOLED display, 16GB internal storage (expandable via a microSD slot) and the range of connectivity features that can be found in current smartphones, including DLNA.
The rumour squad have been working overtime for months now but it looks like that is set to end next month as Samsung have sent out a ‘Galaxy’ press invitation for May 3rd.
The Samsung Unpacked event to be held in London should have the media’s full attention. The invitation isn’t giving us any clues as to what we can expect, apart from a Galaxy, but as we are due the Galaxy III about this time I think it’s certain what we will see that night.
I think we can safely say that Samsung are going to give the HTC One Series a good run for their money. What do you want to see with the new Galaxy flagship?
Posted by: James
These mobile Wi-Fi units have been around for a while and we’ve looked at offerings from O2 and Three in the past. Sometimes referred to as Mi-Fi devices these units have a SIM card inside and, in Vodafone’s words ‘Makes Wi-Fi from Mobile’.
This new R205 model from Vodafone (Made but Huawei) is the same size and shape as previous models but has been updated so that the maximum speeds it can now achieve are 21Mbps down and 5.54Mbps up. A few firmware changes are also apparent and there’s a new usage counter that will help save you from going over your contract limits.
The one we have here in the video is on PAYG and can be purchased from Vodafone for just £65 when purchased at the same time as a £10 top-up.
Check out the brief video below while we crack on with the review.
The smallest of HTC’s One Series is the V. With a 3.7 inch screen you could say it is dwarfed by its big brothers the One X and One S. Being smaller it may actually be a popular choice for many consumers. Clearly with a cheaper price tag this also may be attractive.
The specs of the HTC One V are a long way off that of the flagship One X. It packs a 1GHz processor, 5 megapixel camera and 720p HD video recording. With only 4GB of internal storage you will glad to know that the One V has MicroSD support up to 32GB.
At first glance you may think the One V looks familiar. That may be due to its ‘chin’ that it has inherited from the HTC Hero and Legend of years past. I’m quite a fan of the chin so I am personally glad to see it back.
In the following video you can see us unbox the One V and have a quick look around the device. Please ignore that part where I say it takes a micro-sim. I presumed that was the case as the X and S take one. I was wrong!
You may or may not have heard of Kickstarter; for those who haven’t, it’s a website where entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas on the internet, looking for funding to take those ideas into commercial production. Many successful projects have turned into worldwide hits such as the Lunatik iPod nano watch case, but the Pebble watch threatens to send even that into the background, as it is currently the highest funded project ever by over half a million dollars. Despite setting out for a target of $100,000, they surpassed that in well under 48 hours and are now sitting at a cool two million, still with 35 days to go.
The Pebble watch was born out of Palo Alto, which carries on from their previous product, the inPulse, and is similar to the MOTOACTV or Sony Smart Watch. Of course, the Pebble does the expected smartwatch things – it connects to your iPhone or Android smartphone via Bluetooth 2.1, alerting you via the vibrating motor to new texts, email, calls etc.
The Pebble promises two key differences however which drastically improves the practicality of using a smartwatch on a daily basis. The first is the E-Ink display – not only is it very readable in sunlight, it is also super power efficient, allowing a claimed 7+ days of battery life. The second is the open nature of the software – a free SDK allows anyone to develop and distribute their own watch faces and apps for the Pebble such as everything from a simple stopwatch to a GPS powered Golf Rangefinder.
This all sounds mighty exciting to me, and you can join myself and the other 14,383 (and counting) backers and their $2,000,053 (and counting) by pledging cash here in return for a black, white, or red Pebble watch (or a hundred!) due for delivery in September.
Post by: Vince
Yes, you read that right. If you were not aware you can in fact get money for your old BlackBerry when you upgrade to a new one.
All the details can be found on the BlackBerry UK website. It is just a case of filling in the information consisting of what BlackBerry Smartphone you currently have and which you wish to upgrade to and you will be given a trade in price.
With ten different devices on sale here in the UK (excluding the Porsche Design P’9981) there is an option for everyone so you may as well take advantage of the offer.
If you are interested head on over to the BlackBerry site. You can find a shortcut to the trade up FAQ’s here.
Posted by: James
If you are in the market for a small, compact, budget Android smartphone then the Samsung Galaxy Y is a little beauty.
The Galaxy Y is a stylish, compact smartphone that’s lightweight and slim, weighing in at under 100 grams. It has a 3.0″ touch screen, and a fast processor which makes it great for playing games, switching quickly and effortlessly between apps and exploring the mobile internet. There’s also plenty of internal storage and a 2GB memory card for downloading photos and apps from Google Play.
Sylvia Chind, head of handsets at Three said: “The Samsung Galaxy Y is a great smartphone for people who want quality and style at an affordable price. Three’s Pay As You Go plans come with all-you-can-eat data so customers are free to enjoy everything the Samsung Galaxy Y has to offer without ever having to worry about how much they are using.”
Pay as you go customers can get the Samsung Galaxy Y for £79.99. All in One 15 costs £15 and gives 30-day access to all-you-can-eat data along with 300 any-network minutes and 3,000 texts. Or All in One 25 costs £25 and offers 500 minutes, 3,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data for a 30-day period.
The NEW and improved Mobile Wi-Fi R205 from Vodafone UK is now available to buy, offering you your own personal Wi-Fi hotspot and the ability to connect up to 5 devices to the internet wirelessly without any need to install software.
The new Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi R205 is included with an 18 month contract from £15 per month with 2GB of data per month, or available on Pay as you go for £65 when you buy a £10 TopUp. It allows you to run your own personal Wi-Fi hotspot, connecting tablets, netbooks, laptops and games consoles to the internet with improved theoretical speeds of up to 21Mbps in major towns and cities.
It’s easy to track your ‘real time’ data usage on your Mobile Wi-Fi R205 with a new dedicated Apple and Android app, as well as check SMSs and the battery life of the device. With the R205’s attractive, compact design and a 4 hour battery life, the new Mobile Wi-Fi is an essential portable partner for tablets or laptops without embedded 3G, connecting any Wi-Fi enabled device to the internet securely when you’re out and about.
To celebrate the Pay as you go launch, Vodafone UK is running a free prize draw for anyone who has purchased a device between 5th April – 31st May 2012. 15 lucky winners will receive a prize bundle comprised of a Wi-Fi Kindle, Nintendo 3DS and Samsung SH100 Digital Camera – worth a total £359. To enter, just visit the Vodafone website (vodafone.co.uk/R205prizedraw).
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