Thursday 28 February 2013

In Other News: 28/02/2013.


  • HTC have confirmed that their brand new HTC Sense 5.0 will be coming to last year's range of phones! On one of their Facebook posts HTC said:
"HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. Also, note that some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates." Facebook Via PhoneArena.
  • The prices of the Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 have been released in the UK! The former will cost £169.99 and the latter will be £299.99 from SIM-free and Unlocked from Clove. For more details about the handset click here!
  • OUYA have confirmed that devices will start shipping to Kickstarter backers from the 28th of March!
    Via Twitter.
  • You might not know Sir Robin Jacob by name, but he was the judge who forced Apple to 'apologise' to Samsung via UK newspapers last year. Well it turns out that his accusation that Apple were lacking 'integrity' is somewhat ironic, because he has a new employer. His new place of work is Samsung! He's now going to be helping advise Samsung on other cases around the world. We know this won't have implications in the case, but it doesn't quite sit right in our mind!
    Via Engadget.
  • Nokia probably won't be releasing a device with a physical keyboard at any point in the near future! In their interview with Slashgear they revealed that the main sticking point is on the size of the audience that this would attract! For more details head to Slashgear here.
  • The Raspberry Pi is now a year old! Well the device went on sale on February the 29th so because we can't celebrate it until the next leap year today will have to suffice! Happy birthday guys!
    Via V3.
  • For those of you who wonder about how valuable government secrets are there is a war of words amongst the world's governments at the moment and the latest to chime in is China's government who have revealed that two of their military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were hit with 144,000 attacks a month through last year! That works out to 394.5 attacks each and every day, or 16.4 attacks an hour! China attributed two-thirds of them to the US.
    Via Reuters.
  • Samsung has told CNet that they are aiming to double their tablet sales this year! It's a loft but realistic goal given their relatively small presence in that market at the moment!
    Via CNet.
  • Here's another leak from @EVLeaks, the tweet embedded below offers all the details you need to know!
And finally, HTC have announced that they will be touring the UK to promote the brand new HTC One! It's an interesting concept and we're not sure if it will entail more than standing in a shopping sensor with a load of phones on display, but we'll wait and see! There's a full route plan embedded below!
Via Twitter.

Click to enlarge.

Archos announce the 13.3" FamilyPad 2!


   Archos have been releasing an insane number of tablets onto the market lately. They've basically got every price point covered now and there's a fair few attractive little devices in there, but today it's time for a nice big tablet to be released.

   Archos' new FamilyPad features another giant 13.3" 1280 x 800 pixel resolution screen, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a dual-core A9 processor which is clocked at 1.6GHz, which works with a quad-core Mali 400 GPU. Other than that there's 8GB of internal storage which can be bumped up with a MicroSD card which can be as big as 64GB, there's 1GB of RAM and two 2MP cameras, one on  each side!

   The rather handsome device is set to be available 'very soon' and will cost 299 Euros which will probably translate to between £250 and £275! For all the details check out Archos' website here!

Mozilla have some minimum requirements for 'Powered by Firefox OS' branding!



   In what would appear to be a perfect leaf out of Google's Open Source book, Mozilla have revealed that they will be imposing minimum hardware requirements for phones wishing to parade themselves as 'powered by Firefox OS'!

   Now the hardware requirements are by no means spectacular, but these are the very minimum that even a low end mobile phone should run in 2013. Mozilla stipulates that there should be: an 800MHz single-core processor, 256MB of RAM, and in screen terms Mozilla will accept anything from QVGA, that's 320 x 240p, upwards! If any device fails to meet these requirements Mozilla won't allow it to wear their branding, which you can see above on the ZTE Open, and it won't be permitted to access Mozilla's official app store, but it should be easy to find ways around that!

    So this goes some way to explaining why neither the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire pushed the boat out, but going with low end hardware is the best way to get as many Firefox OS powered devices into as many hands as possible at the fastest pace and that ultimately is what will secure Mozilla a hold in the mobile phone market!

   What we're more interested in is seeing a more mid-range handset more akin to the Geeksphone Peak? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
Via TheVerge.

Got your heart set on a Sony Xperia Z? Here's where you can get them!


   Sony's brand new flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z, officially went on sale in the UK today. There's a fair few places that you can pick it up from at the moment and we'll have a look at the best deals a little further on, but just before that here's a brief refresh of what's inside the device!

   The whole show will be kept on the road by a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor which is paired with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, as well as a 13-megapixel rear and a 2.2MP front-camera arrangement. The stars of the show are the 5-inch 1080p TFT display, as well as the IP5 and IP7 dust and water resistant certifications and all of this is crammed into a shell which is 7.9mm thick! On the software front you'll be dealing with Sony's skinned version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which will be updated to 4.2 at some point in the future!

   So how much would a package like that cost you? Well here is a broad round up of where you can get it from in the UK and how much it will cost you!

SIM free/ Unlocked- Handset Only.

Handtec: £497.99. 
Handtec have both the white and black versions available at the moment!

Amazon: £499 (Black) or £524.99 (White).
Amazon are offering the phone too, although the white version is more expensive. This seems to be the case for most phones on the site, we're not sure why, but either way you can get the black one here and the white one here!

Clove: £522.
Clove might be slightly expensive, but they throw in a free NFC speaker for you to pair with your shiny new phone. You can get both colour variants here! Full information on the speaker that's included can be found on Sony's website here.

Expansys: £529.99.
Just like Clove, Expansys will throw in that NFC speaker and they have a choice of black or white phones too!


On Contract.

Like always on contract there is an abundance of options with every network under the sun, we'll link to all of the main places you can pick them up, but there's a few deals which immediately stood out to us!

Phones4U: Black and White.
Contracts with Phones4U seem reasonable, the cheapest monthly cost which gets you the phone for free is £36, which will get you 900 minutes, Unlimited texts and 1GB of data. If you're prepared to pay an upfront contribution of £209.99 for the phone you can secure the phone for £20.50 that will 100 minutes, Unlimited texts and a 500MB Data Allowance.

Carphone Warehouse: 

Three UK: Black and White.
Three offer the cheapest option for those of you who demand unlimited internet! You can snag the phone for £69 on a £34 a month contract in both colours!

O2 UK: Black and Purple.
O2 are interesting in that they're offering the phone at almost any price point on contract. You can pay anything up to £549.99 for the phone on top of a minimum monthly contract price of £11 a month! There's literally something for everyone, but remember to get higher amounts of internet you'll be paying through the roof!

Vodafone UK: Black and White.
Vodafone are currently only offering four price plans with the phone. The cheapest will cost you £29 a month and £149 for the phone and you will have the pleasure of using 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data!

Tesco Phone shop: Black.
Tesco are offering lots of contracts, but they were keen to promote two of them, both of which will be O2 contracts. The first offers 600 minutes, Unlimited texts and 750MB of data for £32 per month and the second bumps that up to Unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB of data for £36 per month, the phone is free on both deals.

The reason these are promoted is that they are interesting for Tesco Clubcard holders as they will earn and extra 2500 Clubcard points when they buy from Tesco on those contracts.

Mobiles.co.uk: Black and White.

EE, Orange and T-Mobile haven't posted up any availability details yet, but if they do we will update the post!

   If you've made it this far then well done! To round the post off we've embedded a YouTube video from the Tesco Phoneshop which shows off the Xperia Z in all its glory!



If there is anyone we have missed off the list please email it to us and we will add it to the post! Use our contact form here!

Wednesday 27 February 2013

GSMA publish their Global Mobile Awards 2013!



   GSMA have today released their latest list of Mobile excellency. It's rather long so to save you some trouble here is a brief overview of the best of the best!

   Samsung ran away with prizes for 'Device manufacturer of the year', 'Best phone of the year' for the Galaxy S3, 'Best mobile enabled consumer device' for their Galaxy Camera and they won the prixe for 'Outstanding overall mobile technology'!

   On the app front Facebook and Evernote were voted the best for both consumer and enterprises respectively and Nokia scooped the award for the best feature-phone with the Asha 305!

A full list of all of the categories and all of the winners is embedded below or alternatively check out the website for full justifications for all the awards here:

Best Mobile Health Product or Service
MIPsoft for BlindSquare

Best Mobile Education or Learning Product or Service
Mobilink for SMS Based Literacy program

Best Mobile Product or Service for Automotive
BMW i, MINI, Sixt and Vodafone Group for DriveNow Premium Car Sharing

Best NFC /Mobile Money Product or Service
Etisalat for Flous – The Etisalat Commerce Programme

Best Mobile Publishing Product or Service
Ver Se Innovation for NewsHunt

Best Mobile Innovation for ‘Smart Cities’
Streetline for Parker

Best Mobile Enabled Consumer Electronics Device
Samsung Electronics for Samsung GALAXY Camera

Best Enterprise Mobile Service
Mobilelron for Enterprise Version 5 Complete Person

Best Consumer Mobile Service
Comviva for Mahindra Comviva’s mobiquity™ MFS platform powering mTicketing service for Bangladesh Railways

Best Advertising or Marketing on Mobile
McCann Worldgroup (Hong Kong) for Chok! Chok! Chok!

Best Network Product or Solution for Serving Customers
NTT DOCOMO for Hanashite Hon’yaku, world’s first automatic voice translation service

Best Product, Initiative or Service in Emerging Markets
Ericsson for Amazon Connection– a digital inclusion program in the Amazon

GSMA mWomen Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets
Asiacell for Almas Line

Best Use of Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations
Vodafone Foundation for Vodafone Instant Network

The Green Mobile Award
Indus Towers for Green Sites Project

Best Mobile App for Consumers
Facebook

Best Mobile App for Enterprise
Evernote email

Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App
Waze

Most Innovative Mobile App
McCann Worldgroup (Hong Kong) for Chok! Chok! Chok!

Smartphone Application Challenge
AT&T for Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)

Best Application using Network APIs
Bharti Airtel Limited for my airtel app

Best Smartphone
Samsung Galaxy S3

Best Feature phone or entry level phone
Nokia Asha 305

Device Manufacturer of the Year
Samsung

Best Mobile Tablet
Google & Asus for Nexus 7

Best Mobile Infrastructure
Samsung Electronics for Smart LTE Networks

Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough
Accuris Networks for AccuROAM Wi-Fi: Making Wi-Fi a carrier driven extension of GSM for Offload and Roaming

Best Cloud Based Technology for Mobile
Jasper Wireless cloud-based connected devices platform for machine-to-machine (M2M) and consumer electronics

Best Mobile Safeguard & Security Products and Services
AdaptiveMobile and Syniverse for Messaging Trust

Outstanding LTE Contribution
SK Telecom for 4G LTE with PETA Solution

Outstanding Overall Mobile Technology – The CTO’s choice
Samsung Electronics for Smart LTE Networks

HTC fully committed to Windows Phone: Device coming later this year with an update to Windows Phone 8?




   EVLeaks have been very, very busy in the lead up to MWC this year. We saw a tonne of devices before they were official courtesy of those guys and it seems that they have a little bit of news news regarding HTC's Windows Phone plans for the future!

   HTC have already emphasised that they, "are actually fully committed to [the] Windows Phone business. We do have good collaboration with Microsoft for a future release this year." They were the words of HTC's Vice President for Global product planning, Tai Ito.

   Apparently there won't really be a Windows Phone flagship this year, instead the guys from Taiwan will reportedly offer a more modest mid-range device which is supposedly known as the HTC Tiara internally. It is rumoured to feature a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm chipset, a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 of WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution, as well as 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The package is supposedly rounded out by an 1800mAh battery, and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera which will be paired with an 8-megapixel rear option! This is meant to come inside a form factor which has 'the same design language as the... HTC One'.

   If EVLeaks are right the most impressive feature about this phone will be the operating system on board. EVLeaks believe this will be one of the first phones to launch running Windows Phone 8 GDR2, which is set to be a new update to the WP8 platform.


   HTC have already said that they are aware "that Windows Phone 8 is not as good as the market expected," but that's not enough to put HTC off. They said that, "we think that it could take time and we will continue working with them" and this could well be one of the first fruits of that labour!

   EVLeaks believe the phone will arrive in mid-May, but we're always sceptical with rumours like this, but HTC's continued pledge of support does make this seem a lot more credible!
Via UnwiredView and CNet.

Sony show off experimental build of Firefox OS running on an Xperia E!


   Of late Sony has really been opening up to the developer community; the Xperia S was supported in AOSP for a little while and now, just a couple of days after Sony announced that they would be working with Mozilla on a Firefox OS based device we now have this.

   Sony have shown off an experimental Firefox OS ROM for the Xperia E! This may well be a cheap Android handset, but it also matches Geeksphone's Keon in the spec department so it was a perfect fit for Firefox OS from the off!

   Sony have confirmed that pretty much anyone will be able to try out the ROM, but only on the conditions that they agree that unlocking your bootloader and trying the new operating system "may void your warranty." If you want to give the ROM a go please read every little detail on this website and remember we can't be responsible if it all goes horribly wrong!

   A brief video demo of Firefox OS in action on the device is embedded below!
Via TheVerge.

In Other News: 27/02/2013.


  • Nokia have launched a new feature for their Windows Phone device, Nokia NFC! The new app allows you to read or write any standard NFC tag and what you write can be read by anyone, irrespective of their operating system. On top of that there's Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ support and you can do various things with each of these accounts! You can download the app here!
    Via WPCentral.
  • Dropbox have said that they handle more than a billion uploads per day from their 100 million users!
    Via CNet.
  • Samsung have launched their new wallet app which is in effect an Android version of Apple's Passbook. Take a look here for all the details!
  • Adobe have announced Photoshop Touch for phones. We already have the tablet version which has been available for $9.99 for a while, but there is now a cheaper $4.99 option for your phone. The app supposedly has an “almost identical set of features [as] the tablet app, in an experience designed for smaller screens.” That means you can use layers, advanced selection tools, adjustments and filters.

    Any purchase of the app will also come with 2GB of free Adobe Creative Cloud storage to save your work to. The only limitations are that it requires Android 4.0 ICS or better! You can get the app here!
    Via AndroidCommunity.
  • Ubuntu's owner Canonical are rolling out daily builds of their Ubuntu mobile OS on a variety of devices! Devs are currently busy working on Galaxy S III, HTC One X and Galaxy Nexus builds, but development for tablets is happening simultaneously on the Transformer Pad Infinity, Galaxy Tab 2 and Kindle Fire HD!
    Via Engadget.
  • Apple's will be forced to pay VirnetX $368 million after the former's request for a reconsideration of a ruling which said Apple's Facetime infringed on some of VirnetX's intellectual property. , said a federal court has upheld a ruling against Apple Inc in a patent infringement lawsuit and denied the iPhone maker's motion to reduce the $368 million in damages. The two companies have been given 45 days to come to a licensing agreement too as VirnetX's request for a permanent injunction was rejected.
    Via Reuters.
  • EE have announced that their 4G LTE is now live in: Barnsley, Chorley, Coventry, Newport, Preston, Rotherham, Telford, Walsall, and Watford!
    Via Slashgear.
  • Reuters have speculated that if Microsoft released Office for iPad they could earn as much as $2.5billion from it per year! Naturally it removes some of the appeal of Windows based tablets, but that is a heck of a lot of money!
  • Spotify for iOS has been given a huge overhaul! Grab the update while it's hot or download the app here!

Tuesday 26 February 2013

South Korean networks warn European counterparts about the costs of 4G!


   South Korea may hold the title for the world's most connected country and it might be idolised by many governments and networks in the Western world, but with 30 percent of the country's 50 million residents using the LTE networks the Korean operators have a warning for those in Europe who are about to roll out their LTE offerings!

   SK Telecom are South Korea's biggest mobile carrier with more than half of the country using their radio waves, but the guys went on record with Reuters and said that, "although the rollout of faster networks had been good for consumers, they were still struggling to make money on the technology 18 months after launch."

   SK Telecom's head, Suk-Cahe Lee, warned that, "Our European colleagues complain that the explosion in data has not fully happened for them, that it did not come to reality... But in Korea, they are data crazy. We have unprecedented demand. We cannot handle it. But the issue we have is that they are not willing to pay enough. So, the fundamental problem is, can we make any money out of it?"

   So while the increased speed of 4G is great for consumers, businesses and most other people, it has left the three operators in the country scrapping for every last subscriber and the combined cost of marketing, handset subsidies and keeping tariffs as low has possible has meant that, "The traffic increases but the revenue does not necessarily follow."

   Jae W Byun, SK's Chief Technology Office said that they, "have seen about a $13 increase in average revenue per user compared with 3G," which sounds good on paper, but it supposedly isn't enough to cover the costs of the LTE rollout! So if we put that in a European context then we have a tonne of networks all about to offer 4G data, but there's already been a lot of red-tape, especially with Britain's 4G spectrum auction, so the cost in Europe could also be especially high, this will be most notable on operators like Vodafone who are now obliged to offer good indoor coverage to 96% of the population by 2016!, weighed down by regulation, competition and economic woes, are betting that the billions of dollars investment needed for 4G networks will eventually be offset by an increase in customer prices.

   We already know the impact that 4G has on data consumption, faster speeds always mean we use more! EE may disagree on that one, but then they don't offer unlimited tariffs and the sheer cost of their plans mean people can't afford to utilise the tariffs with higher data allowances! EE customers have been average 1.4GBs of data used per month, whereas South Korean firms use between 1.8 and 1.9 GB per month, so the average here will probably be similar to that! Just for the sake of comparison that is compared to the average use of 3G networks which comes in around 342 megabytes according to research from Cisco.

   So will LTE prove to be "a blessing to customers but it is a curse on the operators" like KT have suggested or will everything work out alright?

Via PCPro and Reuters.

In Other News: 26/02/2013.


  • Today Twitter have updated their app for Windows Phone. There's a sweet little redesign to go along with new Live Tile options and new search and tweet buttons which are now ever presents in the app. You can also expect to get:
"New navigation. Four new tabs – Home, Connect, Discover and Me – bring you closer to the things you care about.
Home: View Tweets from the accounts you follow; tap a Tweet to expand it and see more content, such as photos, videos and website summaries.
Connect: Keep up with your mentions; see who has followed you or retweeted or favorited one of your Tweets.
Discover: See trends, and find new content on Twitter –– browse categories, find friends on Twitter and see suggestions for accounts to follow.
Me: Read and respond to your direct messages; see your lists, favorites and more; view and update your profile." Twitter Via Slashgear.

  •  LG have added the new 'VR Panorama' feature to their Optimus G Pro. This is essentially a knock off of Google's Photosphere, but that doesn't stop it being cool!
    Via AndroidCentral
  • New research from NPD suggests that illegal downloads aren't anything like the problem they were a few years back! The research indicated that peer-to-peer (P2P) usage declined 26% in 2012 compared to a year earlier, the total amount of people illegally downloading music dropped 17%, that old tradition of sharing CDs at family gatherings was down by a huge 44% and music sharing through hard and flash drives was down 25%! So why are record labels still complaining? Well it turns out the Spotify and streaming services seem to be making all the difference with users opting for the free, legal option instead!
    Via Slashgear.
And finally, there's been a lot of issues lately with Twitter's 100,000 user token limits and Falcon Pro is the latest app to be smacking up against Twitter's limit! So Falcon's developer, Joaquim Verges, has taken the decision to raise the price of the app to $132.13 (£87.46) to discourage people from buying the app! If you check the Play Store listing now you will be greeted with this in the description:
** ATTENTION PLEASE READ THIS **
** TOKEN LIMIT REACHED – DO NOT BUY – WORKS ONLY FOR ONLY FOR EXISTING USERS **
** THE APP WILL NOT ACCEPT NEW USERS BECAUSE OF TWITTER LIMITATIONS (100k tokens max) **
Help me Extend the access token limit by signing this petition :http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/extend-falcon-pro
And Please RELEASE your access token from the Twitter settings on the web if you’re not using the app anymore.
    Twitter aren't happy with people developing apps for their system, they want users to use the official app. That doesn't mean that they are right, but that's why the limit is there in the first place. If you want to help out the dev you can either release your token so someone else can use it or sign the petition in the quote above!
Via AndroidAuthority.





          MWC 2013: All the news from Day 2!


          Asus' MeMoPads Priced Up!
              Asus has launched a pair of new slates, there are both 10.1 and 7" options. The larger 10.1 tablet, which goes by the really elegant, ME301T name, and features a Tegra 3 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet, that 1280 x 800p 10.1" IPS display, along with 16GB of internal storage and your choice of midnight blue or other hues, but they'll arrive later! You can pick up the device from Currys, PCWorld, Tesco and Amazon and pre-orders should be live now and you can pick the device up in store on March 7th for £249. 

             The 7" slate will be called the MeMo Pad ME172V and just like its big bro you'll get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but this time the internals are decidedly less impressive. There's a 1GHz VIA WM8950 processor, the screen will have a 1024x600p resolution, but you will still get 16GB of on-board storage. But, for £129 noone will be complaining! This device should land some time in April.
          Via AndroidCentral.



          Huawei Ascend W1 Priced Up too!
             There's been a fairly large Windows Phone 8 presence at MWC this year, admittedly that's mainly been down to Nokia, but lets have Huawei take some of the lime light too! The Huawei Ascend W1, just in case it's slipped your mind, features a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and it's sporting a 4" WVGA, that's 800 x 480p display. There's 4GB of on-board storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1,950 mAH battery. So what will that set you back?

             Not very much it turns out! The package will cost you £119.99 or you can secure one with a contract from O2 from £13.50 per month!
          Via ITProportal.


          LG show off a Qi-certified wireless charger!
             That diddy little hockey puck lookalike pictured above is actually a compact little wireless charger from LG! We don't actually have too many details on it yet, but we do know that the 'LG Spectrum 2 and Nexus 4 feature built-in support for wireless charging right out of the box' and that the plug is Qi-certified so it should work with a fair few devices, but we'll update you as and when we find out price and availability!
          Via AndroidCentral.


          Angry Birds Toons coming next month!


             Ohhh Angry Birds, if they aren't your favourite fowl by now then they never will be, some people can't get enough of them, others are sick to death of them. No matter which side of the fence you sit on they aren't going any where soon, indeed the franchise will be expanding soon with the addition of cartoon series starring the little critters!

             The series will launch on March the 16th and 17th, which is only a couple of weeks off and the series will be called Angry Birds Toons!

             We've known that this has been in the works for some time now, but this will give us a chance to see more of the Angry World which Rovio has in their minds. Perhaps Rovio will even go as far as telling us why there is so much tension between the birds and pigs in the first place, or what the pigs plan on doing with those eggs!

             The only strange thing here is that this won't be a conventional cartoon in that you won't watch it on your TV, well unless you share it from your mobile device. The series will only be available to watch on your smartphone or tablet, perhaps this had something to do with the delay since the intended launch last November.

             For those of you who can't wait there's the little teaser below and then after that we will be treated to 52 episodes per year, but each episode will last only a few minutes. After the cartoon has been going for a few years we can expect to see the official Angry Birds movie in 2016, which will be directed by Despicable Me‘s John Cohen!
          Via Kotaku.

          Sony are set to join the Firefox OS band too!



             The past few days we've been treated to a fair bit of news about Mozilla's new HTML5 based Firefox OS. We've seen hardware from ZTE and Alcatel have shown off at MWC and we know that LG and Huawei will, in due course, launch smartphones with the OS on board, but today we can add another one to that bunch because Sony will be offering device at some point in 2014!

             Sony have already displayed their Android efforts at this year's show, but it seems that Telefonica have managed talk Sony into offering a Firefox OS device, as the two companies agreed “to explore the development of a handset” running Firefox OS, when Telefonica announced they would carry Sony's Xperia Z and the Xperia Tablet Z!

             In recent years Sony hasn't really been getting the mobile operating systems in the same way Samsung and LG have. The Japanese company had Symbian as the OS of choice during the Ericsson partnership, before the pair chose to go for Android a couple of years ago (Did any of you have a phone from the Xperia X10 series?)

             Sony's Deputy CEO, Bob Ishida, wants the devices ready for next year, but does this matter? Do you want one? Would this be a low-end device aimed at emerging markets? We're not sure, but let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
          Via TheNextWeb.

          Monday 25 February 2013

          BT buys ESPN: Sky Sports has a new competitor.



             As well as rolling out 'super fast fibre broadband' to swatches of the country at the moment, but have seemingly opted to try their hand at offering sports coverage to compete with the all powerful Sky Sports!

             In a deal worth £10 million or $15 million ESPN's UK and Ireland channels will be transferred from Disney to BT. BT's channel will inherit ESPN's portfolio of FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, UEFA Europa League, and the German Bundesliga games, which will complement BT's coverage of 38 Premiership football matches, which will are already the main attraction for customers. ESPN's free channel, ESPN Classic, will stop operating.

             If the rumours are correct the new channel will be headed up by TV presenter Jake Humphrey and Clare Balding. For much more information check out the source link and the press release below!
          Via Telegraph.

          The full press release is embedded below:


          BT Group acquires ESPN's UK and Ireland television channels business

          BT Group and ESPN announced today that they have agreed that BT will acquire ESPN's UK and Ireland TV channels business. These primarily comprise the ESPN and ESPN America channels and their live sports rights portfolio, including the FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, UEFA Europa League, and the German Bundesliga.

          The transaction is expected to complete on July 31, 2013 after which BT will continue to operate at least one ESPN-branded channel which is expected to form part of the BT Sport TV package that will be launched by BT this summer. Additionally, the deal will allow BT to continue to show a host of US sports currently shown on ESPN America, including NCAA College Basketball, NCAA College Football and NASCAR. The ESPN channels will be broadcast from BT Sport's new home in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Until completion, the service for current subscribers to the ESPN channels across all television platforms remains unchanged.

          The deal will enable BT Sport customers to see live coverage of the FA Cup for the 2013/14 season, the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League until the end of the 2016/17 season and the UEFA Europa League and German Bundesliga through to the end of the 2014/15 season. These join the broadcast rights that BT Sport has previously announced, including 38 live Barclays Premier League matches - including 18 of the top clashes - in each of the next three seasons (beginning August 2013); 69 live Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for the next four seasons; and up to 800 hours per season of live women's tennis, including the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.

          ESPN will continue to own and operate its existing digital media businesses which include multisport news and information portal ESPN.co.uk, ESPNcricinfo (cricket), ESPNFC (football), ESPNscrum (rugby), ESPNF1 (Formula 1) and broadband streaming service ESPN Player. ESPN Classic has been excluded from the proposed transaction.

          Marc Watson, chief executive of television, BT Retail, said: "We are delighted to have reached agreement with ESPN for the acquisition of their UK channels business and that we have been able to add some exciting new sports rights to the ones we already have.

          "The FA Cup, Scottish Premier League and Europa League rights will allow us to offer customers of BT Sport even more quality live football, including our first games from the Scottish top flight and our first European competition rights. There will also be the best of US sports available courtesy of this deal, which will further broaden the appeal of BT Sport."

          Ross Hair, managing director, ESPN – Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "We could not be more proud of the TV channels built and nurtured by our talented team over the past four years. The value of that hard work is reflected in this deal with BT and the continuation of ESPN on television screens across the UK and Ireland. The same passion, commitment and innovation will be at the heart of how we develop our strong digital media business into the future."

          Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory clearance.

          Separate from the agreement with BT, ESPN is proposing the wind down of ESPN Classic throughout the EMEA region and the non-UK ESPN America TV businesses.

          Sony confirms Xperia Tablet Z plans: Coming soon and priced up!

             Now we already know pretty much everything there is to know about Sony's new Xperia Tablet Z, with the company having launched the device a couple of weeks back in January.

             Just in case the specifications of the world's thinnest and lightest 10" tablet slipped your mind then there's a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 processor, the same one which is in the Droid DNA and the Nexus 4, as well as 2GB RAM, a very healthy 32GB of storage, which is MicroSD expandable, an 8.1 megapixel rear and 2 megapixel front cameras, along with NFC, LTE, and Sony's "S-Force" virtual surround sound technology, we're not sure how effective this will be though. The system will arrive running Android 4.1, but there's the promise of Android 4.2 on the way too!

             The real crowning glories of this tablet are two specific things though. The first of which is a new high for Sony and that's the 10.1-inch 1,920x1,200 screen with the Mobile Bravia Engine 2! The best Sony's tablets offered before was a 1,280x800p 9.4" display, so this is a considerable step up. The second stand out feature is the size! The Tablet Z comes in a tiny 6.9mm thick form factor, which weights in at a mere 495g. As you would expect from Sony, the whole thing is splash and water resistant.

             But, the one thing we didn't know until today is that the device will be coming to the rest of the world too! The price for American buyers will be a minimum of $499 which will secure you the 16GB Xperia Tablet Z, but if you want to step that internal storage up a little more then you can expect to add $100 for the 32GB version. There will also be a 64GB model but there isn't a price for that one available just yet! All of these configurations will be available in Q2!
          Via Slashgear.


          Asus announce their 'Metallic miracles': The FonePad and the PadFone Infinity!


             So are you wondering what Asus' metallic miracle would be? It seems that we've been treated to two devices here and we saved the best until last! Head on past the break for all the juicy details!

          Everything from Nokia's MWC announcement!



             Today Nokia took to the MWC stage to show off a few of their new phones as they continue to bulk out their Lumia range of smartphones, as well as their budget offerings which they're continuing to persue!

             So lets hop right into Finland's finest new phones!


          Nokia Lumia 720.
          Where better to start than with the phone which is the pick of the bunch? That is definitely a title taken by the new Lumia 720, which is a mid-range Windows Phone 8 device which should be quite a compelling option for it's price of €249, if it is perhaps slightly over-priced.

             The phone features a 4.3" WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution, display with Nokia's trademark 'ClearBlack' light filter which should help make all of the colours that bit better! When it comes to cameras this phone isn't going to live up to PureView camera on Nokia's more expensive Lumia 920, but you will get a 1.3-megapixel front and a 6.7-megapixel camera set up which isn't too shabby on a mid-range phone.

             On the inside there's a 1GHz dual-core MSM8227 Snapdragon processor, a slightly limiting 512MB RAM, 8GB of internal storage which is microSD expandable, NFC, wireless charging options and a respectable 2,000mAh battery powering the lot.

             The device will have support for HSPA+ networks and HD voice, but no LTE unfortunately. Nokia tells us that all of this can be picked up in your choice of red, white, cyan, black or yellow in March for around €249.


          Nokia Lumia 520.
          Just like its bigger brother the Lumia 520 is rocking Windows Phone 8, but this time we're looking at the lower-end of the scale with this device.

             Prospective owners can look forward to getting their hands on a 4-inch WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution display which Nokia has described as"super sensitive", which basically means you can use it whilst wearing gloves! Other than that there's a 1GHz dual-core processor again, 8GB of internal storage which is microSD expandable, 512MB of RAM and there is a 5-megapixel rear camera.

             How much will all of that cost you? Well not too much really, the phone is pegged to arrive with at a cost of €139. Nokia said that they aim to have the device available in March in places such as Hong Kong and Vietnam. But, the Lumia 520 will also arrive in the United States too, but it'll be using the name the Nokia Lumia 521 and it'll be available on T-Mobile at some unknown point in the future and we don't know how many of your dollars they'll want for it either!


          Nokia 301.
          From the smartphones of the Lumia range we get a little bit of a snap back to reality with the Nokia 301. This is a candybar feature phone specifically designed for emerging markets.

             On board there's a 2.4-inch screen, 3G connectivity and HD Voice capabilities, along with that SD card slot for your music and photos, which you can shoot with a 3.2MP camera. There aren't any specifics on the battery life, but it is expected to achieve 20 hours of 2G talk time or 6 hours of 3G talk time and you can have either single or dual SIM variants of this device! All of that can be yours in Q2 this year for €65.

          Nokia 105.
          We've left the cheapest until last on the phone front, but the Nokia 105 shouldn't be too disheartened because for the tiny price of €15 you can secure a phone which has a 1.45-inch display, a FM radio, a flashlight, and a battery that's expected to last for 12.5 hours of talk time or up to 35 days if it's on standby. The Nokia 105 will arrive in Q2 with its 301 brother.





          Software.
          Nokia didn't just show off new phones today, they also talked about apps, Windows Phone apps to be precise. Apps seem to be 'kinda a big deal' so Nokia was happy to report that Windows Phone now have 130,000 of them, which isn't too shabby at all and that's 10,000 more than Windows Phone had the last time we heard any details!

          HERE Maps.
          Nokia have always prided themselves on their mapping solution and so they should because it is fantastic, but today they've announced that the software will be coming to non-Nokia Windows Phones in select markets. You can check if you're compatible by clicking the download links here!


          Samsung Galaxy S4 press conference called for March the 14th!


             So it seems Samsung are busy little bees at the moment, what with their presence at MWC where they've already shown off their Homesync and announced that they're merging Bada and Tizen. Now though is we've got details on what you've really been waiting for!

             Samsung have confirmed that their 'Unpacked' announcement will happen on March the 14th this year over in New York!

             As you can see from the invite above Samsung will be introducing 'the next Galaxy' and for those of you who missed it there is the number 4 posted up in plain sight, so that should help alleviate the debate about what the Galaxy S4 will be called! 

             Thankfully for those of us who can't make the day there will be a livestream at www.youtube.com/SamsungMobile!
          Via Twitter.

          ZTE release the Grand Memo: The first phablet to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800!




             What's a better way to combat the latest round of phablets? Well naturally it's to release your own, so here's ZTE's answer to the Galaxy Note, it's the ZTE Grand Memo!

             So how good is the screen on this device? Well ZTE have equipped this phone with a 5.7-inch 720p HD TFT display which should be good enough for most people's eyes! Other than that the Grand Memo is the first device to feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU out of the box. In this instance the processor will be clocked at 1.5GHz and it'll be paired with 2 GB of RAM. On the optical side of things there is a 13MP rear camera and a 1MP front shooter so you photos will happily fill up the 16GB of internal storage! As you'd expect Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is running the show and the only real limit here seems to be the internal storage on the device.

             ZTE will be customising your interface on this device with their 'Miflavour UI' and there's one unique addition which is the ability to "tap and hold on the screen for a few second, or you can do a pinch-out gesture that brings up a few shortcuts, like the phone, calendar, camera, etc" which should be quite useful for jumping straight into your apps, assuming you don't have a pin code on your device.

             All of that will be crammed into a chassis which is 8.5mm thick and ZTE have also put a well size 3200mAh battery in there too! As you would expect with a device which is targeting the higher end of the market you'll get WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a gyro sensor and LTE connectivity!

             The Grand Memo will be coming to China in March this year and those of you in Europe can pick it up 'later this year'. For the moment there's no word on pricing and we don't know if it'll land on US shores!

             Just in case you missed ZTE's other big announcement, the Firefox OS powered ZTE Open is detailed here!

          The full press release is embedded below:


          ZTE Launches Grand Memo 5.7-inch handset using Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor
          Featuring leading performance, battery life and a 13MP camera, the ZTE Grand Memo offers high functionality for home and office use
          25 February 2013, Barcelona, Spain – ZTE has launched the ZTE Grand Memo 5.7-inch handset running on Qualcomm ® Snapdragon ™ 800 processors.
          The ZTE Grand Memo offers the ideal balance between the portability of a handset and the larger viewing and easier touch-interaction experience of a tablet. It features a 5.7-inch, high definition, 720 x 1280 display, and a powerful Qualcomm 800 processor with quad-core Krait CPUs and 2GB of RAM. Combined with a 13MP rear-facing camera, 1MP front-facing camera and 1080 HD video playback, this gives users a smooth, high quality multimedia experience that is perfect for gaming and video.

          The Grand Memo caters for those who are always on-the-go, with voice-response technology which allows users to answer calls safely while driving, and A-GPS and car-mode navigation system for high quality mapping and directions. It comes with a HD version of ZTE’s Mifavor user interface that is specially designed for smartphones, providing a simpler user experience, and ZTE’s Z Cloud service for the security and access-anywhere provided by cloud services. It also includes a 3200mAh battery for super-long standby time.
          “The ZTE Grand Memo’s large, high definition screen makes it perfect for media and entertainment, but its uses reach far beyond that,” said Mr. He Shiyou, ZTE EVP and Head of the Mobile Devices Division. “With ZTE’s custom Mifavor UI, a powerful processor, and LTE connectivity, this device offers users a wide array of benefits that go well beyond the capabilities of the typical handset.”
          Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors target premium mobile and computing devices. They are designed to deliver outstanding overall user experience, expand the possibilities of seamless connected computing and enable brand new mobile experiences while maintaining industry-leading battery performance.
          “Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms are at the heart of over 770 announced smartphones and tablets, and we are thrilled to work with ZTE to bring the Grand Memo to consumers” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies.
          The Grand Memo is a slim 8.5mm, ensuring that its advanced performance is matched by its sleek appearance. The 1080P HD video and 13MP rear-facing Intelligent Camera, coupled with the 16GB storage memory make movie watching as sharp and detailed as the capturing of users’ own multimedia. Combined with high-speed LTE capabilities of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, integrated Qualcomm WCN3680 802.11ac/.11n dual-band Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth solution for high-bandwidth communications, MHL and DLNA connectivity for mobile entertainment, the ZTE Grand Memo is perfectly suited for both personal and office use.
          “We have really tried to make this device fun for use at home, and practical for use in the office. By combining both of these factors, we have created a well-rounded large-screen handset that is suitable for any situation. It’s perfect for videos, gaming and music, and also for sending e-mails, checking news and making calls on the go. For those with a busy lifestyle, the ZTE Grand Memo will be indispensable,” said Mr. He Shiyou, ZTE.

          Key specifications of the Grand Memo
          ü Android 4.1 – Jelly bean
          ü Thickness: 8.5mm
          ü 5.7inch, HD.TFT, 16M color, multi-touch capacitive screen
          ü Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with quad-core Krait CPUs
          ü 3200mAh super-long standby battery
          ü Memory: 16GB Rom +2GB RAM
          ü Mifavour UI user interface
          ü WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, gyro
          ü LTE 100/50Mbps
          ü 13MP Intelligent AF Camera with face recognition and panorama,1MP front-facing camera, 1080p HD video playback
          The ZTE Grand Memo is on display at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona at Stand 3C64/3C74, Hall 3. ZTE Grand Memo is expected to launch the second quarter of 2013 with specifications varying between countries and regions.

          Samsung confirm Bada will merge into Tizen!



             Samsung has announced that Bada will have a future, but it'll be living on through a merger with Intel and Nokia's Meego, which is now called Tizen. The Verge have quoted Yonhap reports which say that Samsung's Media Solutions Centre President, Hong Won-Pyo, claimed that Bada's app support will be embedded into Tizen so there will be some life in the small ecosystem which has been built around Bada. 

             Despite the app integration, it will not be possible to upgrade a phone which currently runs Bada to the new wonders and excitement of Tizen. The justification for this is that:
          "Rather than seeing this as a straightforward merger, it's better to view it as a transition to a better service."
             At the moment we haven't got any devices to show this app support off on yet, but we will get to see the first fruits of Samsung's and Intel's labour 'within the year' when  the first bunch, or should we say 'Wave' (sorry) of Tizen devices come out.

             Naturally if and when we hear about Tizen-powered devices you guys will know soon after!
          Via TheVerge (1) and (2).

          Sunday 24 February 2013

          Everything from Mozilla's Firefox OS MWC event!




          Apps and the Marketplace:
             Firefox OS, as we know, will utilise web standards and as such Mozilla is all about HTML5 apps! So whose apps will we have when this crop of phones, which we'll get to in a minute, eventually go on sale? Well you could have guessed that Facebook and Twitter will have offerings, as will Cut The Rope, Where's My Water and a few other Disney Mobile and EA games. Box have announced that they will offer their cloud storage on the new platform and there are SoundCloud, Pulse News, Time Out. Airbnb and Nokia's Here maps all confirmed for the platform! The OS will allow app payment directly through your mobile operator, something which probably helped to get so many carriers on board!

          Carrier partners:
             Mozilla have confirmed that carriers from Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela will be offering the first wave of Firefox OS based devices. The carriers involved are: Móvil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefónica, Telstra Telenor, TMN and VimpelCom. 

             With so many carriers it should help Mozilla get a good starting presence for their devices. In case you were wondering about when Firefox OS powered devices will land in the USA, then Mozilla have said that they're aiming for a 2014 release!

          Devices:
             Mozilla has confirmed that they are working with Alcatel, LG and ZTE for the first wave of Firefox OS smartphones. These devices will later be complemented with a phones or two from Huawei! All of these devices will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets and lets get into the real meat here Lets look at the devices!


          Alcatel One Touch Fire.
             Deutsche Telekom and Mozilla have teamed up with Alcatel to release of the first Firefox OS powered smartphone in Europe!

             Again this is a low end device: it'll feature a HVGA, that's 480 x 320p resolution, 3.5-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera, 256MB of RAM and 512MB of storage which is MicroSD expandable.

             The Alcatel One Touch Fire will first be available in Poland this summer and after that it will roll out to more Eastern European countries throughout the second half of the year!


          ZTE Open.

             We actually saw the spec sheet for this little phone yesterday, but here it is in an official capacity!

             Just in case you missed it yesterday here is a little recap of the specs. There's a HVGA, that's 480 x 320p resolution 3.5" display and there's a 3.2MP rear-facing camera. There's also a 1200 mAh battery, 512MB of internal storage, 256MB of RAM and the usual array of sensor and connectivity options you would expect!

          Reference devices.

             Mozilla may not have said anything about these devices today, but don't forget the Geeksphone made Keon and Peak. The full details for those can be found here!


          Sources: Mozilla Press Center (1), (2), Engadget, TheVerge.

          Alcatel announce the One Touch Idol X!


             After a huge range of new phones shown off at CES earlier this year, Alcatel have brought a few more devices to MWC! The first of which is the One Touch Idol X. It's a 7mm thick device which crams in a full 1080p HD display into that frame!

             Around the screen there's a nice thin 2.4mm bezel which makes this phone as skinny as possible given the 5" screen size. The 1080p panel is of the IPS variety and those people who have had hands on have said it is fantastic. On other fronts the phone offers a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor running at 1.2GHz, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and a whole host of different configuration options.

             The device can come inwith your choice of 13 or 8-megapixel rear-cameras, both of those configurations will have both with 1080p front cameras paired with them and like always with Alcatel you can have either single or dual-sim varieties. The single sim option adds a microSD slot! The either way the device will be powered by a 2,000mAh battery and the mobile connection will be HSPA+ only, so no LTE here!

             Alcatel also re-announced their One Touch Star which we covered here!

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