Amazon expand Kindle Fire HD availability to over 170 countries!

   So far Amazon's hardware has only been available in a very select group. You could get them if you lived in any of the countries of USA, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, or Japan, if you lived in any of the countries which make up the UK you had the same privilege too and Amazon Germany has typically been quite lenient about sending devices to Luxembourg and Austria!

   But, as of today, the Kindle Fire HD will land in more than 170 countries in both the 7 and 8.9" versions! Well when we say today we mean that the Amazon AppStore is available in all of those countries from today, but the shipments of the tablets will begin on June the 13th, which is a couple of weeks off still!

   It'll be interesting to see how popular these tablets are in various other parts of the world, because Amazon has done rather well out of them in the countries where they're offered so we can probably expect to see that trend continuing!
Via TheVerge.

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Amazon phone rumours resurface as part of the 'alphabet projects'.

   We've been hearing rumours that Amazon are working on smartphones longer than we can remember, they're relentless. They're worth looking at though because there's no smoke without fire and well Amazon already have the Kindle Fire's so... yeah we were racking our brains for a link there! Dodgy jokes aside, the Wall Street Journal are the latest people to chime in with what their 'sources' know about future Amazon smartphones.

   According to the report Amazon are busy cooking up two new smartphones; one is conventional, but the other one is supposedly going to arrive with glasses-free 3D capabilities! The 3D phone is rumoured to have a smart eye-tracking bit of software which will give the phone the ability to make content hover above the screen, in the same way that holograms do and the WSJ also says that the image will appear 3D at all angles, which sounds unbelievably futuristic! The rumour adds that you'll be able to navigate menus with just your eyes, which is an interesting feature and if it's accurate then it would certainly leave Samsung's SmartPause and other tech like that looking outdated!

   The Wall Street Journal say that there's not too much else known about the phones except that Qualcomm's Snapdragon line of processors will power them and provide that 4G connectivity. Obviously Amazon already have a great ecosystem built around their forked version of Android, so it wouldn't be too much work to add phone support to that network at all.


    Apparently Amazon's hardware ambitions don't stop with the phones though, instead this is just one part of the 'Alphabet project' which includes Projects A, B, C and D. The projects which don't turn out to be phones will supposedly be an audio-only streaming device and a set-top box which will be similar to Roku, which again will show off Amazon's services. If the Wall Street Journal is right on this one then these devices are all set to arrive at some point this year, but seven months is a long time!
WSJ Via TechCrunch.

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That rumoured 8" Windows tablet from Acer pops up on Amazon!

   We've already heard reports that Acer could be working on an 8" Windows-powered tablet and it seems as though those rumours have been justified this weekend with the news that Amazon has, perhaps prematurely, posted up the details of an Iconia tab!

   A listing over on Amazon has shown off an 8.1" tablet, which is going by the name W3-810-1600 and according to its spec sheet is a relatively well endowed little tablet. The listing reports that there's a 1280 x 800 p display, an Intel Atom processor, 2 full GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. All of that actually sounds pretty solid and it's definitely in line with what we've seen from competitors 10" Windows tablets thus far! The battery is said to be 3500 mAh, which would offer good, but not excellent battery life! Amazon's listing also said there was to be WiFi 802.11b/g/n, but there wasn't a mention of Bluetooth, which is a little concerning!

   The main thing though is the price and that was set at $379.99, before the listing disappeared. So no this isn't the cheapest thing on the market, but it's not too expensive either and given the fully-fledged version of Windows 8 on the device, it seems as though the price is probably skewed by the license cost of that platform!

   One thing we would point out is that the first picture, at the top of this page, was the original leak and the design of that tablet, perfectly matches the design of the one in the picture of the Amazon listing, which gives it a bit more credibility!

   What do you think? Would you be interested in one of these, if and when it's made official? Let us know in the comments below!
Via Slashgear.

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In Other News: 01/05/2013.

• Samsung has invited users to give the new Galaxy S4 online simulator a go, just in case you were unsure if it was the phone for you! You can't really flick around the operating system like you would a real phone, instead you choose a task to perform and you can carry out the actions with your mouse! Head over to Samsung's website for a play!
  Via CNet.

• T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have finalized their merger plans and the company which will be created plans to call themselves T-Mobile US! Current MetroPC customers are set to be migrated by 2015!
  Via TheVerge.

• Sony have confirmed that 40 of their executives will not be receiving bonuses this year after the company's electronics are continues to find times hard! This won't affect the books much it's more a gesture to shareholders that Sony are working to get back into profitability!
  Via TheNextWeb.

• HTC have confirmed that they will be shutting down their Watch service in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden by May 31st. HTC explain that if you don't use it you lose it: "As we continue to deliver new content for HTC Watch, we've made the decision to focus our efforts on markets with the highest engagement. After May 31, we'll discontinue support for HTC Watch in countries with less application traffic."
  Via PhoneArena.

• Amazon have updated their Kindle app for iOS with a host of new features for the blind and visually impaired. The big update is the read aloud option for 1.8 million Kindle Store titles through Apple's VoiceOver technology. The update also helps with search features and it adds notes, highlights, bookmarks, font size, background colour and brightness options too!
  Via Engadget.

• Amazon have also updated their Lovefilm app for PS3! The update reportedly brings better search and recommendations, a new Watchlist feature. The big change is that PS3 users can now watch TV and movies in HD!
  Via Engadget.

• LG have confirmed that the Optimus G Pro will be landing in the US on AT&T as an exclusive. The device will be available from May 10th for $200 with a 24 month contract!
  Via Engadget.

• A benchmark has shown up which appears to suggest that a Nexus 4 with LTE and Android 4.3 is being tested! Hit up the source link below for details!
  Via PhoneArena.

• Samsung has started producing 4GB DRAM chips for smartphones and tablets! You can find more details at the source link below!
  Via UnwiredView.

And finally, it seems that the Galaxy S4 has a cheeky little hardware easter egg tucked away in the temperature and humidity sensor on the phone! It's a pretty sweet place to put a Space Invader we will admit that! We don't recommend taking your phone apart to find it though!

Chipworks Via AndroidBeat.

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What Android tablets sell best? Turns out Samsung and Amazon know the key!

   We all know Android tablets are becoming more and more popular. They're popping up every where these days and for the most part, they're competitively priced and kitted out with very solid internals. The perfect example of this sort of device is the Nexus 7; it's affordable, very well kitted out and it is the new benchmark for 7" Android tablets. With that in mind, how well have Android tablets done lately and which devices top the pile?

   Well it seems like Samsung take the prize here with Amazon's tablets being very popular in their own right. There's a couple of Asus devices in there for good measure too!

   It's interesting that Samsung's 'budget' Android tablets are actually the most popular here, closely followed by Amazon's tablets which are supposedly sold at cost. Then of course there's Google and Asus' Nexus 7, a device which many would expect to be higher up the list. To be fair to the device it is only available in ten countries and of those ten countries only five of them have the pleasure of using the 3G variant, so it's actually done remarkably well to finish that high on the list! There's a similar situation with Amazon's Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, both of which are available in at least fifteen countries so those devices have proved hugely popular too!

   Everyone knows why Samsung's tablets have sold well, they're well made and they're available in an almost infinite set of configurations for every market. It seems that Samsung has really built a strong brand around their 'Galaxy' name and it'll be interesting to see if everything looks the same this time next year or whether Sony, Asus, Acer or even Lenovo can muscle their way onto this board!
Via AndroidPolice. Image Credit: 9to5Google.

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In Other News: 02/04/2013.

• A couple of days ago GAME UK put the OUYA console up for pre-order and today it's been confirmed that the Kickstarted GameStick console will also be available from them! The device will cost £79.99 and it'll be available in June!
  Via PocketGamer.

• Amazon phone rumours will start again with the news that former Microsoft Windows Phone general manager, Charlie Kindel, has been hired by Amazon. His LinkedIn profile says he is directing of "something secret" so we have something to look forward to!
  Via TheVerge.

• Sony Poland has said that Xperia S owners can expect to receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in the 'next few days'. Sony have already missed their March deadline for the update, so fingers crossed things will be updated and worked out soon!
  Via XperiaBlog.

• Researchers at Stanford have found that Solar Panels are now getting more efficient! In times gone by Solar panels used to take more energy to produce than what they did they gave back in what they produced! That trend seemingly came to an end last year, so that's a great step forward for renewable energies!
  Via TheVerge.

• LG have confirmed that their Optimus G Pro has now sold half a million units within South Korea! Not bad going for a phone which has only been on sale since the end of February!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

• Yahoo and Dropbox have teamed up to allow people using Yahoo's email accounts to attach their files from Dropbox to outbound emails!
  Via TheVerge.

• Apple's A7 processor which could possibly be used in the iPhone 6 is rumoured to be coming from TSMC!
  Via PhoneArena.

And finally, is this the first image of the Nokia Lumia 950? The image below could possibly be a prototype of the device, but take this with a huge pinch of salt, because it could literally be anything!

Via WPCentral.

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In Other News: 22/03/2013.

• For UK residents the Carphone Warehouse are offering a pretty cool deal where if you buy a Nokia Lumia 620 for £129.95 get a free Windows 8 Professional! You'll have to get the phone in either black or white and pay the £10 top-up charge. You can get the deal here.
  Via MoDaCo.

• Samsung is looking to sell Dutch subsidiary Liquavista to Amazon, as the latter looks to bolster their e-Ink screen production for cheaper Kindle's.
  Bloomberg Via Engadget.
    
• Angry Birds Star Wars is set to get another new world soon with Rovio teasing 'Cloud City's' arrival!
  Via Slashgear.

• The Financial Times is reporting that Google is working on a smartwatch, just like everyone else at the moment.
  Via TheVerge.

• Sony Xperia Z owners in Europe are getting their first software update to version 10.1.A.1.434 through the Sony PC companion. We think the update fixes app bugs and it's too early to say whether this fixes Sleep of Death issues.
  Via AndroidCentral.

• Samsung chief product officer Kevin Packingham said that Google's And Rubin was very difficult to "get... to deviate from that position." Instead his recent comments are much more positive saying that Android's new head Sundar is "a super-nice person... [who is] very collaborative" and he reaffirmed that the Samsung -"Google relationship is super-important".
  Via SFGate.

• SamMobile have supposedly got hold of a Galaxy S4 mini. The guys have pegged the device for a summer launch, so that's June or July. The device is supposedly set to launch with a qHD, that's 960 x 540p, Super AMOLED display and a 1.6GHz Dual-Core CPU.
  Via SamMobile.

• Gemini have shown off a new JoyTab which goes by the name of the JoyTab Duo 9.7 and the key features include; a dual-core processor, a 9.7"1024x768p screen, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, 16GB of internal storage which is MicroSD expandable and this tablet will come in your choice of Silver, Chic Pink and Blue! Check it out here! 

And finally, have you ever wondered what a water and dust-proof tablet looks like when it's disassembled? Well if you have then you're in luck today! The video below shows a Sony Xperia Tablet Z being carefully taken apart by a Sony-certified engineer(?). Anyways check out the video below to see how it's done!

Via AndroidCentral.

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In Other News: 13/03/2013.

• U.S. District Judge, Denise Cote, has granted the request to make Apple CEO, Tim Cook, testify in a four hour slot regarding accusations against Apple of conspiring to artificially inflate e-book prices!
  Via Reuters.

• French law enforcers are giving tech companies a hard time at the moment, today a Paris court banned seven Apple Stores from making employees work night shifts! This was a response to national labour union requests. Apple are also obliged to pay €10,000 in damages to the unions and there will be €50,000 fines for any future violations of this ruling!
  Via TheVerge.

• Samsung supposedly spend $401 million on advertising their devices in the US last year! This was about $70 million more than Apple who only spent $333 million, it's no surprise then that HTC is getting left behind!
  Via WSJ.

• Vevo-TV is now live! This is essentially a new music TV channel which you can watch on a variety of devices so long as they have the Vevo app or website! Check AndroidPolice here for more details!

• Amazon are now offering their Kindle Fire 8.9 HD in the UK! The device will set you back £229 for the 16GB model or £259 if you want 32GB! The device is now available throughout Europe and Japan too! If you're a US customer the price has now been reduced to $269 and you can buy it here!
  Via AndroidGuys.

• Netflix have announced a new feature which will let their 27 million American subscribers share the video and TV shows that they've been watching via their Facebook pages!
  Via Reuters.

• Samsung supposedly expect to shift 10 million Galaxy S4's in the first month that the device is on sale! We'll find out the full details tomorrow!
  Via SamMobile.

• Huawei's 6.1" beast, the Ascend Mate, has been put up for pre-order on the German Amazon page for €499 (£433 or $647). That's in the same ball park as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 which will cost you in the region of £445 new!
  Via UnwiredView.

• HTC have announced that a developer version of the HTC One will be landing on US shores with 64GB of storage and fully unlocked! It will cost $649 and will otherwise remain unchanged! You can find more details direct from HTC here!
  Via Slashgear.

And finally, The Times has published a list of the 10 most annoying things which you can do on your social networks! Check the full list out here!

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OUYA's will be available from some big stores too!

   Ahh, the OUYA! It feels like an eternity since we offered our money in the hope we would have an Android powered games console which would double as a home entertainment system and anything else we could hack on to it, way back in August of last year! As the judgement day in March draws ever nearer everything is starting to fall into place and, dare we say it, OUYA is starting to look like a genuinely competent and forward-thinking company!

   This morning backers received an email saying that after KickStarter pre-orders have been fulfilled people will be able to pick up OUYA's from a few big stores. Normal customers will be able to buy the consoles and controllers from Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy and Target! 

   At then moment we're not sure whether those places will only have on-line availability or whether you'll be able to pick one up in a brick and mortar store. Either way, if you're genuinely keen you can pre-order an OUYA now from either Target or Best Buy and it'll cost you $99 for the system and one controller and then $49 for each additional controller! Only problem with that these pre-orders won't turn up until June, whereas KickStarter backers will get there's in March.

   If you aren't a backer then you can see the update which, as always, is also posted on the KickStarter page here!

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12/10/2012

Amazon has confirmed they sell their devices at cost!

   Amazon has today confirmed that they sell their tablet and eReader hardware at cost. Their CEO, Jeff Bezos said to the BBC ""We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware." 

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14/09/2012

Is HP getting back into the smartphone game?!

   So what happens when you drop a couple of billion dollars on a fledgling smartphone operating system, make a couple of phones and a tablet with it and then fire sale the lot? Well if your name's HP you might realise you made a little mistake! 

   For HP, a company that specialises in computers, they need to make sure they utilise their brand recognition in other markets. HP's CEO Meg Whitman realises this and today she's said that HP is planning to release a new smartphone as an entry level device in emerging markets. She told Fox Business news that “We have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world, that is your first computing device”. She made sure not to specify when the phone would be available and she made sure she said this one wouldn’t be a rush-job.

“We are working on this. In the end, I would love to be able to provide all the way from the most fabulous workstations … to desktops, to laptops, to our tablets and convertibles, all the way to the smartphone. But we did take a detour into smartphone, and we’ve gotta get it right this time. So my mantra to the team is “better right, than faster than we should be there” so we’re working to make sure that, when we do this, it will be the right thing for HP and we will be successful.

My view is we have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world, that is your first computing device. There will be countries around the world where people may never own a tablet or a PC or a desktop, they will do everything on a smartphone, we are a computing company we have to take advantage of that form-factor” Meg Whitman, CEO, HP

   The main conundrum here is what OS the phone will run; will the company make the most of their Open WebOS platform, that they've been busy open-sourcing, or will the fall back on Microsoft and run Windows Phone? On a personal level I hope it's the former!

In other news:

• Wii U up for preorder in the UK from Amazon. It'll set you back £249 at Amazon for the Basic model, which houses 8GB of storage, and £299 for the Premium model, which increases that to 32GB and throws in few little sweeteners too! Head over to Amazon to guarantee yours!

• And Yes the Wii U will be getting Black Ops 2!!!

• Apple will ship you a Lightning adaptor with your new iPhone 5 purchase and if the rumours are to be believed then you'll also get the ability to be a USB host with the new port!

• While we're on the subject of the iPhone 5, if you haven't pre-ordered already then you won't be getting your delivery for at least another 2 weeks. In fact the initial batch sold out within an hour, sorry guys, this is the case worldwide by the way!

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07/09/2012

HTC One X+ pops up on Twitter!

   Given the proximity of HTC's press conference it's not surprising that we're starting to see some leaks! This one comes from Twitter where a source claims to know details of the much rumoured HTC One X+!

     The purported new phone will have dimensions of 134.36 x 69.9 x 9.3mm and is relatively light at 129g. This time as well there's suggestions that we'll be seeing NVIDIA‘s enhanced Tegra 3+ AP37 1.6GHz quad-core processor, that has the 1.7GHz single-core processor for the less taxing tasks! Just for good measure there's also 1 GB of RAM and 32GB's ROM.

   The main complaints with the original One X was the diddy little 1800mAH battery and if the leak has got this one right then the same battery is in this version too. That will likely be the main reason for bloggers to complain again! So if you're a textaholic or like playing your Angry Birds or Temple Run then sorry but we're ready for a short battery life again.

   Finally, the software looks to be coming in the form of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean masked by HTC’s Sense 4.5. 

   If the source is to be believed then the specs look relatively solid and it'll be another solid phone, but we expect that battery will be putting people off again!

In other news:

• It's been reported that there will be more than just an iPhone reveal on September the 12th! It seems like we'll be getting some iPod refreshes too!

• There has been a lot of rumours of an Amazon phone recently but Amazon CEO, John Bezos, has today confirmed that there's no current plans to announce one but there are more devices coming next year, but at the moment it'd be "premature" to talk about them and there won't be one "any time soon". An enigmatic answer and it's looking like Amazon has their sights set on a phone after all!

• Keep your eyes peeled for the next iPhone to be available on September 21st! That's the rumour of the day!

• UK carrier Everything Everywhere (Orange/T-Mobile) has announced a press conference on September 11th, the day before the next iPhone is launched to talk about their plans for their future! An LTE iPhone in the UK?!?! We can hope!

• Slashgear has today reported that Apple and Samsung's recent courtroom battles has seen the Cupertino company reign in their reliance on the South Korean giants. Slashgear said they've seen reports from Reuters and Bloomberg that say 

"Samsung's memory and displays will be absent from the first batch of Apple's new iPhone, insiders claim, after pricing and legal disagreements saw the Cupertino firm slash orders from its long-time rival. Patent fight tensions and arguments over costs have led to a stalemate of sorts... though Apple is also believed to be working to reduce its reliance on any one individual company. However, Apple hasn't been able to entirely oust Samsung from its iPhone 5 supply chain: the processor powering the new smartphone will apparently still be produced by the South Korean firm."

•  Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD will hit UK and Europe on October 25!

And finally, is this HTC's upcoming Windows Phone 8 device that's been codenamed the Accord? If so it'll be called the HTC 8X, which is a pretty cool name and a pretty slick looking phone!

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Amazon's new Kindle Fire line-up!

   This September the tech world has come out in force and today Amazon has to match the announcements from Motorola and Nokia yesterday!

   As you can see in the picture above there are a few new variants of the new Kindles. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is a particular stand out in this bunch because there's a fantastic 1920 x 1200 display which equates to 254 ppi!


   Conveniently CNET has already posted all of the details for all the tablets and the info is all below!!!
 

"We're happy to see a richer, sharper screen on the Kindle Fire HD. The smaller, 7-inch Kindle Fire HD has a 1,280x800-pixel screen resolution, and the two 8.9-inch versions have a 1,920x1,200-pixel HD resolution (254ppi).

The displays features the Advanced True Wide polarizing filter and a fused (laminated) touch sensor that Amazon says will reduce glare by 25 percent while maintaining rich color and contrast from the gamut of viewing angles. We love testing out claims like this. Apple's iPad Retina Display will be hard to beat, but the Kindle Fire HD won't necessarily have to offer that same precision to be a success, though with the higher price point for the larger screens, it'll be trickier.

Amazon has also enhanced the original Kindle Fire's interface, adding faster navigation, smoother animations, and more customization options.

In addition to the screen size, the 8.9-inch models of the Kindle Fire HD family will run on an Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 processor(the 7-inch features an OMAP 4460) that Amazon claims is much faster than Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core chipset. There will certainly be a moment of truth when we test that out in our labs here.

There's a brand-new front-facing HD camera, and Dolby Digital Plus that will pump music on two speakers. As much as we love Dolby, we're skeptical that the name brand will make a discernible difference on such tiny speakers.

The smallest of the three Kindle Fire HDs has a rated 11 hours of battery life.

   On top of all of this the original Kindle Fire is now available for those of us in the UK and will be £129, whereas the new Kindle Fire HD will set you back £159.

   All of these are great additions to Amazon's line-up and it's great to see that the company is pushing into new markets!

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30/08/2012

Lenovo from IFA 2012!

   Lenovo released a couple of tablets from their A series the over day which we have previously covered, but there's one that we haven't mentioned that really stands out!

   That device is elegantly named the Ideapad S2110 The tablet itself has a 10.1-inch IPS LCD display with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and a nice 420nit brightness and it's got a great little attachable keyboard dock for all your work. You’ll have 10-finger touchscreen abilities here too because the show is run by the powerful Qualcomm 8060A/8260A 1.5GHz dual-core processor (aka a dual-core Snapdragon S4).

   The tablet on it's own is rated for 10 hours of battery life and with the keyboard dock you’ll have 20 hours of battery life! Without the dock the whole thing weights in at just 580g so it's quite heavy but not unbearably so. If you're one of them people that likes good shooters on your tablet then this one will just about pass; there's a 5 megapixel camera with Auto Focus and single LED flash, the front houses a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat. Inside you’ve got 1GB of RAM as well as Bluetooth 4.0, built-in FM Radio, and this thing is Wi-fi only, sorry!

ZTE Grand X IN gets released!

   ZTE has another addition to their Android line-up today and this one is the world's first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone with an Intel inside.

  

   The phone has an Atom X2460 running the show and the back casing is quite unique because it's hatched and surprisingly interesting. On the front there's a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 display and a 0.3MP camera and round back you've got a powerful 8 megapixel camera with single LED flash. 

   Depending on your point of view you'll either be smitten with ZTE’s custom user interface we will just say it's a very bubbly affair with a few custom widgets thrown in for good measure. By way of redemption though there is 4G HSPA+ connection with up to 21Mpbs and has Intel's 'Hyper-Threading Technology' too. With this technology and the Intel XMM 6260 Platform you’ll be working with ultra-fast web browsing and an all-around super speedy user experience chipzilla promises.

   To keep you going through the day you've got a 1650mAh battery and the rest of the internals include 1GB of RAM with either 4 or 16GB of ROM. You’ll also have the ability to expand your memory by 32GB through the microSD card slot. The sensor set includes; GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 + A2DP, Dolby sound, RM Radio, Accelerator, Gyroscope, Compass, Proximity senros, and Light sensor as well.

HTC Desire X.

   HTC has come up with a new refresh of the classic HTC Desire, but this phone is quite a strange beast because it's a high-quality mid-range phone and it's pretty much in a range of it's own because of the mismatch of the internals.

   This phone has a solid 4-inch 480 x 800 pixel super LCD display and an ultra powerful 1Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and the software is a Sense 4.0 take on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich although we haven't heard if it'll be updated to Jelly Bean, but we expect it will.

   The storage, as will all Desire devices, leaves something to be 'desired', in this case there's 4GB of internal storage and 768 MB of RAM. In an attempt to appease you HTC will throw in 25GB of cloud storage free with Dropbox for two years. But at least there's a microSD card slot for up to 32GB of extra storage. As always you can get some Beats Audio out of that 3.5mm headphone jack.

   You audiophiles will also appreciate the Bluetooth 4.0 stereo audio quality – APT-X CODEC for BT A2DP is also included. You’ve also got the option for HD voice calls, if your network offers it and an FM radio. Your sensors include a proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and G-sensor. The battery in this device is another1650 mAh unit that HTC claims will provide 10 hours of talk time in 3G or 20 hours in 2G, with 34 days of standby if you’re using 3G or 31 days using 2G – we're not sure who HTC employed to do their maths!!!

   The camera is also noteworthy; it's a 5MP BSI lense with HTC ImageChip, the same one that you might have in your HTC One series device. The camera also uses a F2.0 aperture, wide angle 28 mm lens, and an LED flash with SmartFlash. SmartFlash functionality is quite useful as it allows five level of flash that are automatically set by your camera detecting distance to the objects at hand.

   All in all it's a nice mid-range device but we're not sure this is going to drastically change HTC's fortunes.

In other news:

• In case you needed any more confirmation Amazon are soon to announce a Kindle Fire successor then the original device has now been listed as 'sold out' on Amazon's website. Hold tight refresh incoming!
• Amazon's App Store is now available in Europe!!! 

And finally, Sony's new Xperia T and V have both benchmarked higher than Samsung's Galaxy S3, so they are mighty good devices! Some of the benchmark results have been included below!

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22/08/2012

New iPad incoming? Apple asks for triple the presentation space!

   Today some of MacRumors trusted sources have said to them that Apple resellers in Europe are being asked to increase the display space devoted to the iPad in their stores. This could mean a number of things; Apple wants the iPad to sell better, they want a larger presence in store, but most of all it shoudts "incoming iPad announcement".

   Apparently Apple has given re-sellers a deadline of September 12 to increase their iPad display space, just in time for a certain announcement date that Apple has scheduled! One of the sources specified that Apple has asked for resellers to triple the amount of space reserved for iPads. But, others disagree claiming Mac Pro and Mac Mini displays are the first on the chopping block in order to accommodate this shift.

   Since originally printing the rumor, MacRumors has changed their post saying that this shift in display space has occurred because Apple resellers have devoted only a small amount of space to the iPad and it’s one of Apple’s biggest sellers so they simply want to push the tablet more. September 12th will reveal all!

Everything Everywhere sell Three some spectrum!

   Yesterday Everything Everywhere got confirmation that they will be able to roll out 4G services on their existing range of spectrum and Huawei is hard at work installing 4G receivers in EE's 2G base stations. Everyone was slightly taken aback by the decision because it secured a monopoly period of about a year for the company.

   It seems that Three might have one little reason which helped convince OFCOM that this was a good move. That reason is that EE has sold Three two spectrum 'channels' and the statement below from Three's CEO, Dave Dyson, shows what this will mean to Three.

 “Acquiring this spectrum will more than double the capacity available to customers on our network.  We have seen a huge growth in data consumption with average mobile handset customer usage now more than 1.1GB per month. 

Three has led the market in the significant growth of mobile data consumption and the shift to consumer use of smartphones to access the internet.  New spectrum, supported by further committed technology spend, is a clear signal that we are committed to maintain our lead as the network built for the mobile internet.”

    This is 1800MHz radio spectrum that's been sold but there's one rather important condition. The sale briefly raised the possibility of the UK having competing 4G networks this year until EE crushed that dream by failing to relinquish the bands until September 2013 so Three's statement seems slightly excitable given the short term possibilities.

   The European Commission has already demanded that Everything Everywhere sell off this spectrum as a condition of the Orange and T-Mobile merger. This is pretty negligible to EE because the company is so huge that the network has hold of almost half the UK mobile radio spectrum. So EE offered to sell off two 15MHz-wide blocks before the 4G mega auction, which it has now done, but it won't let Three take possession until the last possible moment required by the EC: September 2013 for two 10MHz blocks, and September 2015 for the rest.

   What do you think is the 4G monopoly a bad thing or will it spur the others on to offer compelling alternatives when their time rolls round?

In other news:

• Microsoft is currently seeking new Beta testers for an upcoming update to their Xbox 360's!

• Our readers from the USA will have seen the news that T-Mobile USA will be offering unlimited internet and we can now confirm the service will be available from September 5th.

• Another interesting bit of news is that we expect Verizon Wireless to offer their customers the next round of Windows Phone 8 devices because everyone needs that third alternative option!

• Amazon's next Kindle tablet has hit the FCC along with the name 'Firedock', unfortunately all we Vknow is that the device will have the usual set of connections that every tablet has, but as soon as we hear more you will be first to know!

• Dell announced today that its profits in the second quarter of this year fell 18% from the year before. That means profits of $732 million something which prompted an after hours stock price dip. Dell's stock is currently down by 4.28% to $11.81 after hours, with the stock finishing the regular trading day at $12.34, only a 1.75% decrease. At least Dell is turning a profit!!!

• An unnamed Verizon employee has told TechCrunch that Verizon has blocked all employees from taking vacations between September 21 and September 30. This move was apparently made in anticipation of the new iPhone's launch.

• The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 has received a software update today and it brings a bump to Android 4.0.4!

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