Press Releases

Bose announce the OE2 and OE2i audio headphones

Bose has introduced its next-generation of on-ear headphones: the OE2 and OE2i audio headphones.  The OE2 and OE2i headphones deliver demonstrably better audio performance than their predecessors, and feature an updated look and design.  Music is reproduced with improved depth and clarity, and the new contoured styling creates a closer, more comfortable fit.
The OE2i headphones come with an inline remote and microphone that lets owners interact with select Apple products, including the latest iPhone, iPod, iPad, MacBook, and MacBook Pro models.  Users can easily control volume, tracks, voice applications, and switch between music and calls on an iPhone.  The OE2 headphones come with a standard audio cable.  In every other way, the OE2i and OE2 headphones are identical, reproducing all genres of music accurately.
Bose’s three decades of continuous on-head audio research enables a distinct performance difference in the industry.  The OE2 and OE2i headphones feature an enhanced proprietary TriPort® acoustic headphone structure.  With redesigned and newly tuned ear cup ports, audio reproduction is more balanced and natural.  There is no manufactured “boost” across the frequency range; low notes are full and rich, and mid-high frequencies are smooth and clear.

ViewSonic launch the View Pad 10e

ViewSonic is launching the ViewPad 10e, a thin powerful 9.7″ 4:3 ratio tablet aimed at providing value conscious consumers with a superior display experience combined with Android technology.
ViewSonic has utilised its pedigree display history and coupled this with its innovative tablet expertise to create a 9.7″ mobile device that measures only 9.1mm thin and weighs only 620grams, making it perfectly portable. Powered by the more than ample 1Ghz Cortex A8 processor, the ViewPad 10e has extremely fast DDR3 memory, combined with 4GB built-in memory which can be expanded with an additional 32GB via the Micro SD slot.
Virtually hidden within the slim device is a range of connectivity options that ensures the ViewPad 10e is connected and makes an impact wherever it goes.  The Wireless b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity ensure high speed data transfer when required.  The Mini HDMI connector offers a display output of up to 720p resolution, making the ViewPad 10e a strong portable media playing device.
The ViewPad 10e does not just have impressive hardware specifications; Amazon Kindle is pre-installed providing immediate access to 700k+ books, magazines and papers, all displayed as  they were meant to appear on the extra wide viewing angles an IPS panel brings. In addition ViewSonic includes a market place application which allows access to 000’s of additional applications and games.
ViewScene 3D completes the ViewPad 10e by providing a customisable 3D style user interface that really maximises the IPS panel technology.  Offering 16 customisable panels, intelligent interactive grouping, 3D style widgets and multiple time zone support, ViewScene 3D takes the ViewPad 10e to the next level.

The ViewSonic ViewPad10e will be available from the beginning of November initially in the UK; pricing will be released at time of launch.

Sounds pretty good. We will of course be trying to get one of these in for a review.

Posted by: James

Samsung Galaxy W available now on Three

Looking for a new Android device that comes at a pretty decent price? Why not consider the Samsung Galaxy W which is available today at Three?

The powerful new Samsung Galaxy W comes with a fast 1.4GHz processor, allowing users to switch between apps and the web quickly, and a 3.7″ Super LCD touchscreen, perfect for watching films on the fly. The Galaxy W is also packed with invaluable timesaving features including email integration and GPS maps.

Personal contacts are integrated into one place using the Social Hub feature, allowing Galaxy W users to see texts, tweets and status updates in one live feed. There is also a 5MP camera for taking photos and videos on the go.

Sylvia Chind, head of handsets at Three said, “Samsung’s Galaxy range of handsets brings the exciting world of smartphones to the masses, and the Galaxy W is sure to be no exception. As the number one network for smartphones*, Three customers can be sure that they’ll get the most from this new high-tech handset.”

The Samsung Galaxy W is available from £22 a month or £32 a month on The One Plan with all-you-can-eat data, 2,000 anytime, any network minutes and 5,000 texts.

PAYG customers can get the Samsung Galaxy W for £249.99. All in One 15 costs £15 and gives 30-days 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.

Orange & T-Mobile customers to benefit from 3G in more places

We posted last week about the T-Mobile/Orange tower sharing. Today Orange have released the following statement which is super good news for all customers.

Everything Everywhere, the UK’s biggest communications company, today announced that millions of UK mobile customers will benefit from faster internet and data speeds in more places, for no extra cost, thanks to the latest advancements in their mobile network evolution plan.

The “big switch-on”, launched last year, initially allowed Orange and T-Mobile customers to access each others’ network’s to make calls and send texts in more places than ever before. From next week, the next phase in this programme, the “big 3G switch-on”, will start to roll out to all 27 million Orange and T-Mobile mobile customers, making it possible for customers to use the 3G signals from both networks, not just their host network. This will benefit customers by offering faster internet and data access, in more places across the UK than before.

RIM announces BlackBerry tag

During his keynote presentation at the GITEX conference in Dubai, Research In Motion Co-CEO Jim Balsillie today unveiled a new way for BlackBerry smartphone users to connect with one another and share multimedia content.

BlackBerry Tag, which will be incorporated in the next BlackBerry 7 OS update*, will allow users to share contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content by simply tapping their BlackBerry smartphones together. BlackBerry Tag will also enable friends to instantly add one another as contacts on BBM (BlackBerry® Messenger).

"BlackBerry Tag is an exciting and innovative feature that makes sharing contact information and multimedia content effortless and seamless," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "BlackBerry Tag opens a new dimension to the BlackBerry platform that is powerful, simple and intuitive and we think it will be welcomed by both users and developers."

BlackBerry Tag takes advantage of Near Field Communications (NFC) technology included in the recently launched BlackBerry® BoldT 9900/9930 and BlackBerry® Curve 9350/9360/9370 smartphones, and these are the first BlackBerry smartphones that will support BlackBerry Tag.

RIM also announced plans to expose BlackBerry Tag through APIs on the BlackBerry platform, allowing software developers to take advantage of "tap to share" functionality from within their own applications.

Sounds good. Finally a worth while reason to have NFC on my device!

Posted by: James

CoPilot Live Premium for Android gets an update

CoPilot for Android has had an update today bringing a variety of improvements and enhancements based on customer feedback.
Here’s what’s new:

• Favourites improved. Now you can easily give any favourite a name using an on-screen pop-up. Favourites are also now listed in alphabetical order and you can create a new favourite from My Places.
• Better routing. We’ve added a new ‘list view’ in alternate routes so you can check out the detailed itinerary before making a choice. We’ve also made some additional tweaks to the way that alternate routes are calculated – based on customer feedback.
• Improvements to parking. We’ve changed the UI for this – and watch this space, because there’s more to come in our next update.
• Improvements to Wikipedia and Bing Searches. Searches are now faster and you can choose a search location.
• Clearer directions. We’ve increased the font size for road names in 3D view.
• Speed limit displayed when no destination entered. We have some further improvements for driving without a destination coming soon too.
• Save Current Location. Back by popular demand. Although you can save any location as a favourite by tapping on-screen, you can also now save current location from the More menu
• Improvements to Android tablet screen resolution detection

The update is available now from the Android Market

Posted by: James

Samsung Galaxy Note to arrive in the UK on November 17th

Following the recent global launch at IFA, Samsung has today announced that the latest device to join its Galaxy range, the Galaxy Note, will be available in the UK on 17^th November 2011.

Simon Stanford, Managing Director, Mobile, Samsung UK and Ireland said: “We’re delighted with the overwhelming reception the Galaxy Note has received since it was announced earlier this month and are looking forward to offering Samsung customers a whole new smartphone experience. The Galaxy Note is a great example of Samsung’s passion for innovation by bringing to market a brand new category of mobile products. It is our fastest handset to date and brings together all the benefits of our award-winning smartphone technology and services.”

The Galaxy Note combines the benefits of a notebook with the portability of a smartphone. Thanks to its 5.3″ HD Super AMOLED screen, the largest, highest quality display available in any phone, consumers can view movies, photos, and documents, as well as play games on the device with crystal-clear clarity.

HTC Explorer announced

HTC have today officially announced the HTC Explorer, their lowest priced Android device to date. The Explorer will not be a contender for you Smartphone geeks however it will provide a perfect platform for consumers to switch to their first Smartphone due to its low price. Although prices will be carrier dependant the Explorer should be around the £100 mark. I got hands on with the device last week and it really is a beauty, although small with a 3.2 inch HCGA screen.

You can see the official press release below:

HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today unveiled HTC Explorer, its most affordable Smartphone and the latest addition to its global portfolio of devices. HTC Explorer brings an advanced smartphone experience to first time smartphone customers.  With a curved and compact design, a 3.2″ HVGA touchscreen and 3MP camera, HTC Explorer offers smartphone performance in an attractive and affordable phone.

“HTC Explorer is an easy-to-use smartphone that puts the customer in control, providing quick access to their most important content and information,” said Jason Mackenzie, president of global sales and marketing, HTC Corporation. “HTC Explorer is simply a smarter phone for anyone and it represents another clear demonstration of HTC’s global commitment to expanding the market for advanced smartphones.”

Amazon announce four new Kindles

Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world for four years running. Today, Amazon is excited to introduce an all-new Kindle family: three all-new Kindle e-readers that are smaller, lighter, and more affordable than ever before, and Kindle Fire – a new class of Kindle that brings the same ease-of-use and deep integration of content that helped Kindle re-invent reading – to movies, TV shows, music, magazines, apps, books, games, and more.

“We’ve now reached the magical two-digit price point for Kindle – twice: the new Kindle and Kindle Touch are only $79 and $99. Kindle Touch 3G is the new top of the line e-reader with free 3G – no monthly fees or annual contracts – and is only $149,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we’ve been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully-integrated service for customers. With Kindle Fire, you have instant access to all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, the convenience of Amazon Whispersync, our revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser, the speed and power of a state-of-the-art dual-core processor, a vibrant touch display with 16 million colors in high resolution, and a light 14.6 ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand – all for only $199. We’re offering premium products, and we’re doing it at non-premium prices.”