Press Releases

Vodafone partner with South Central Ambulance Service

After a formal procurement process using a government framework agreement, the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) NHS Trust has appointed Vodafone UK as its communications partner.

Vodafone will provide fixed-line services, mobile connectivity and its 999 call centre infrastructure support and maintenance. Bringing together SCAS’s communications under one supplier will create savings estimated at half a million pounds over the next five years and help the service’s 2,500 staff communicate more efficiently as they deliver vital healthcare services across the region.

SCAS was created five years ago through the merger of the ambulance trusts in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire and covers an area of approximately 3,500 sq miles with a residential population of over four million.

As a result of the merger, the service had several communications suppliers covering different areas so it was looking to replace them with a single supplier who could provide resilient fixed, mobile and unified communications across its footprint. Having one supplier will maximise efficiencies, helping the service to continue to provide high quality healthcare services to patients.

No more out-of-bundle data charges for Three

On 8th March, Three will launch a new range of price plans that bring an end to out-of-bundle data charges for all new smartphone contract customers.

New customers will be able to choose a plan with Three’s ground-breaking all-you-can-eat data offering, or a 250MB allowance with a guarantee of no out of bundle data charges; giving them a fear-free mobile internet experience. They can then choose from a simple range of minute options to create the best value plan for their needs.

The new plans have been driven by the massive increase in mobile data usage over the last 18 months, and insight from customers that they want to keep better control of their costs. They ensure that smartphone customers can enjoy all the benefits of internet on the move, without fear of data bill shock.

For customers wanting plenty of everything, The One Plan – the original all-you-can-eat data plan – continues to offer all-you-can-eat data and more than enough minutes and texts. Alongside it, Three now introduces two new tariff families, with data firmly at their heart.

Samsung announce the Galaxy Pocket

Samsung Electronics today announces the latest addition to its Android powered Galaxy portfolio, the Galaxy Pocket. Featuring Android 2.3, this new smartphone offers those on the lookout for a new handset, a stylish portable option.

The Galaxy Pocket’s slim design makes it ideal for use whilst on the move and features a 2.8″ display so that content and images can be viewed easily. The device features an upgraded TouchWiz user interface making menu navigation a smooth and efficient experience.

Connecting with others and sharing content is quick and easy thanks to the Galaxy Pocket’s social networking and communication features. Samsung’s ChatON cross-platform communication service connects all phone users into a single community, enabling spontaneous messaging, group chatting and content sharing so customers can stay in touch more easily.

In addition, the Galaxy Pocket’s Social Hub enables owners to see their Instant Messaging, social network and email communications in a single inbox for added convenience when they are travelling to and from work or out shopping.

Microsoft Announces Availability of Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview – the next milestone of the Windows operating system. This latest preview will be made available for download starting today at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. The Developer Preview received more than 3 million downloads.

“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft. “The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.”

ZTE Goes High Definition with the PF112 Smartphone

ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) today announced the ZTE PF112 – a high definition smartphone with exquisite image quality.

The ZTE PF112 has a 4.5-inch HD screen giving 1280×720 pixel image quality with 16M colours and is the latest in a new portfolio of ZTE smartphones running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).  Launched today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the ZTE PF112 packs exceptional video, audio and comms capabilities into a high-end metallic 130 x 66 x 8.5mm candy bar form factor handset with capacitive touch screen.

Equipped with an 8 MP auto-focus and LED flash camera, a front-facing 720p camera for video calls, face recognition, touch focus and HDR exposure bracketing, the ZTE PF112 is aimed at anyone who demands a high quality screen experience from their smartphone.  Also included in the device is HD Voice, Dolby audio and HSPA+ and WiFi connectivity with UMA, together with 8GB eMMC and 1GB RAM memory.

“The ZTE PF112 raises the bar in Android smartphones,” said Mr. He Shiyou, Executive Vice President and Head of the Terminals Division of ZTE. “Consumers increasingly expect High Definition and, with this new Android 4.0 smartphone, we have made this HD experience accessible so that more people can enjoy their visual content such as videos and photos to the maximum.”

Renault equips its New Twingo with CoPilot Live GPS navigation

ALK Technologies, leading provider of mobile navigation software, today announced that its CoPilot Live GPS navigation app has been selected by Renault as an integral part of an iPhone-based infotainment system for the new Twingo. Make sure you have the best bike tracking devices to guide yourself with the location. Best GPS prices at Tracking System Direct.

CoPilot Live is fully integrated in-car as part of the revolutionary Oxygen Audio O Car system* available for the new Renault Twingo. Simply place your iPhone into the cradle and it becomes part of your car’s dashboard, allowing control of all car stereo functions through a dedicated app: e-Renault. The “most needed” tasks such as your Music, your Phone, your Navigation and the new Eco-Driving Renault feature are all easily accessible with a single tap while on the road.

The system brings outstanding interaction between phone and car. CoPilot Live’s voice-guided navigation instructions are seemlessly played through the Twingo’s audio system and speakers. Auto-muting of radio programmes and music ensure that Renault drivers won’t miss a turn, and navigation automatically pauses and resumes during and after phone calls.

Klaus Kremer – Director Business Development EMEA at ALK Technologies said “We are very proud that CoPilot Live has been selected as navigation provider by Renault for this ground-breaking project. It’s a demonstration of how the smartphone is becoming the hub of today’s connected vehicle.”

The Oxygen Audio O Car system is available as a dealer-fit option with the New Renault Twingo.

The e-Renault app will be available for free via the AppStore, and includes a 30 day navigation trial. After 30 days all features remain functional except for the navigation component. Users can purchase a full navigation license directly from the app.

Posted by: James

ZTE Orbit – Windows Phone announced

ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”)  has expanded on its commitment to the Windows Phone platform and introduced the new ZTE Orbit smartphone.

The ZTE Orbit joins the ZTE Tania smartphone in the company’s portfolio of Windows Phone-based devices. The ZTE Tania is commercially available in the UK and Sweden and other countries around the world. 

“Microsoft is excited to continue partnering with ZTE to bring new Windows Phones to market.  We look forward to the availability of ZTE Orbit in major markets around the world in the second quarter of 2012,” said Mark Linton, Senior Director of the OEM Division, Microsoft. 

“The Windows Phone platform is as powerful as it is intuitive, enabling us to create and deliver exciting new devices that meet real consumer demand,” said Mr. He Shiyou, Executive Vice President and Head of the Terminal Division of ZTE. “Our partnership with Microsoft is a key component of our strategy to grow our share of the smartphone market. ZTE is proud to be at the forefront of device manufacturers who are using the Windows Phone platform.”

 

Orange announces high powered Android device powered by Intel technology

Orange has announced that it will launch a new high-performance Android smartphone in Europe this summer. Powered by Intel® technology, the device currently codenamed ‘Orange Santa Clara,’ will deliver the latest in smartphone capabilities and rich entertainment experiences to more customers. The phone will first be available exclusively to Orange customers in the UK and France, where its commercial name will be unveiled at launch.
The launch of this smartphone marks a significant development in Orange’s long-standing and successful strategy to deliver phones under its own brand. Now in its tenth year, it has helped drive new device partnerships and support Orange’s customer and mobile multimedia growth by introducing more affordable feature phones and smartphones to its whole customer base. These phones are differentiated by being customised with simple and relevant Orange applications and services. Customer demand has led to the doubling of Orange’s own-branded portfolio in 2011, increasing volume from 7 per cent to 15 per cent of its total device portfolio. Orange aims to increase the volume of its own-branded device portfolio to 20 per cent in 2012 to better meet its customers’ needs, making innovative features, services and technologies more widely accessible.

ZTE Era announced – 7.8mm, quad core

ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) has announced the ZTE Era, one of the thinnest quad-core devices on the market today.

Based on the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core mobile processor and equipped with a NVIDIA Icera 450 HSPA+ modem, the ZTE Era packs high definition multimedia capabilities into a package that is just 7.8mm thick. The Era has a 4.3 inch QHD screen giving high quality 960 x 540 pixel images, 8GB of memory expandable with a MicroSD card, HD voice and Dolby sound. Running the latest Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) platform the ZTE Era is the most powerful Android smartphone from ZTE, providing powerful new ways of communicating and sharing, with easy multitasking, rich notifications and deep interactivity. The ZTE Era delivers a great combination of amazing battery life and outstanding performance with Tegra 3’s unique 4-PLUS-1T quad-core architecture with a fifth battery saver core.

The ZTE Era is the flagship device launch from ZTE at Mobile World Congress and is part of a series of eight new devices unveiled at the event, all delivering significant advances in power, high definition multimedia capabilities and design. Based on technology innovations including quad-core chipsets, LTE and the latest Android and Windows Phone platforms, the new devices form a core component of ZTE’s ambition to become a top three handset provider by 2015.

Nokia 808 Press Release

Nokia today ushered in a new era in high-end smartphone imaging with the Nokia 808 PureView.  This is the first smartphone to feature Nokia PureView imaging technologies, bringing together high resolution sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia developed algorithms, which will support new high-end imaging experiences for future Nokia products. 

The Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology.  At standard resolutions (2/3, 5 and 8 megapixels) this means the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture seven pixels of information, condensing into one pixel for the sharpest images imaginable.  At high-resolution (38 megapixel maximum) it means the ability to capture an image, then zoom, reframe, crop and resize afterwards to expose previously unseen levels of details. With superior low-light performance and the ability to save in compact file sizes for sharing in email, MMS, and on social networks, the Nokia 808 PureView makes it possible for anyone to capture professional looking images in any conditions.
In addition to superior still imaging technology, the Nokia 808 PureView, also includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom and the world’s first use of Nokia Rich Recording.  Rich Recording enables audio recording at CD-like levels of quality, previously only possible with external microphones. The Nokia 808 PureView also features exclusive Dolby Headphone technology, transforming stereo content into a personal surround sound experience over any headphones and Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 channel surround sound playback.

"Nokia PureView imaging technology sets a new industry standard by whatever measure you use," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices.  "People will inevitably focus on the 41 megapixel sensor, but the real quantum leap is how the pixels are used to deliver breath-taking image quality at any resolution and the freedom it provides to choose the story you want to tell.

Posted by: James