Google Play Giftcards land in the UK: Available at Morrisons and Tesco!

   Today Google has officially announced that gift cards for the Play Store are available and they've teamed up with Tesco and Morrisons to offer the cards initially.

   At the moment if you have a look at outlets which have the cards available, there's a nifty little checker here, then you may notice that your local supermarket won't have them available right from the off, instead the places stocking the gift cards will grow 'over the coming weeks' until 'all UK branches of Tesco and Morrisons' have them!

   Google is currently offering the cards with three different amounts of credit on board, there are £10, £25 and £50 options available! There's nothing too high tech here, you basically scratch off the label to reveal a code, and from there you type the code in on the Android or web version of the Play Store and there you have it!

   The vouchers can be spent on anything apart from hardware in the store, which shouldn't be too much of a problem, if relatives know you want a device just remind them that the cards won't be an option!

   We don't have any word on whether Asda, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Spar or One Stop will start issuing these yet, but where Tesco and Morrisons lead we would expect at least Asda and Sainsbury's to follow soon after!
Via AndroidCentral.

   The full press release is embedded below:

"Google Play gift cards now available in the UK
We're pleased to announce that Google Play gift cards will be available in the UK from today [Wednesday, March 6 2013].
Gift cards make it even easier to buy apps, games, books, movies, music and magazines from Google Play, Google's one-stop-shop for all your digital entertainment needs.
Over the coming weeks, gift cards will go on sale in all UK branches of Tesco and Morrisons.
The gift cards will be available in denominations of £10, £25 and £50, and can be redeemed against digital contntent purchases on Google Play, including music, magazines, books, movies and apps.
With Google Play, you can buy books, apps, games and music, and rent or buy movies, on the device of your choice – be it a computer, Android phone or tablet. All of this entertainment is available across multiple devices – buy a book on the web, for example, and it's instantly available on your phone or tablet.
Consumers can access, purchase or rent this digital content in a variety of ways:
On Android devices: Android phone and tablet users can click on the Google Play store app to shop for books, movies, apps, games, magazines, devices and music. All content can be "pinned" to the device for offline use without a data connection;
On the web: Users of Chromebooks, PCs, Macs and all other computers can access their digital content online through the web version of Google Play (play.google.com).
And now users can pay via Google Wallet or by redeeming a Google Play gift card."

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21/08/2012

Samsung to release a Galaxy Nexus 'II'?

   Now the spreadsheet above is very interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there's a few inaccuracies such as the Galaxy Nexus having a mere 'Super AMOLED' display but, there's also the news that there is a slightly refreshed version on there.

   As you can see there's the bum to a 1.5Ghz processor and a camera upgrade on both the front and rear shooters! This is very intriguing...

   ... We've all heard the rumours about multiple Nexus devices. Does this mean that this is a 'mid-range' Nexus and another manufacturer will provide the top of the line device? Whatever this means Sammobile have caused quite a stir with this leak!

UPDATE! Numerous Nexus devices hinted at!

   According to a post by Android Noodle there is a lot more than a single Samsung made Nexus device on the way. A leaked device list from the carrier, DoCoMo, outlines that there are three devices coming; a Sony Xperia Nexus, a LG Optimus Nexus and the Samsung Nexus II. 

   At the moment we don't know much about the devices at the moment, but all three are listed as having NFC, which is expected of a Nexus device, and are part of the Xi series, which is DoCoMo's LTE service so they'll all have that on board too! The only other interesting information is that the LG Optimus Nexus is expected to be waterproof, which is a welcome addition!

In other news:

• Samsung has announced that they're committed to spending $3-4billion on their chip producing facility in Austin, Texas. This money will allow them to 'upgrade' about half of their factory and the plant will reopen at some point in 2013!
• Microsoft has updated Skype for iOS with new photo sharing features and performance boosts!
• If you're a US reader you might want to head to your local Walmart as they're selling $100 iTunes cards for $80!
• Overnight Apple temporarily became the most valuable company in history, just beating Microsoft's 1999 peak. But, when inflation was taken into account Microsoft still holds the record by about $200 billion, but it probably won't be long before Apple beats it properly!
• Google Play gift cards are now available at Target, GameStop, and RadioShack!!!

Everything Everywhere gets 4G go ahead in the UK!

And finally, UK readers we will finally be getting LTE! Everything Everywhere (Orange and T-Mobile) have got permission from OFCOM to roll out LTE on their existing spectrum! Fast mobile internet here we come!!! 

Although O2, Vodafone and Three aren't happy; their statements are below!

O2: "We are hugely disappointed with today’s announcement, which will mean the majority of customers will be excluded from the first wave of digital services. This decision undermines the competitive environment for 4G in the UK."

Vodafone: "We are frankly shocked that Ofcom has reached this decision. The regulator has shown a careless disregard for the best interests of consumers, businesses and the wider economy through its refusal to properly regard the competitive distortion created by allowing one operator to run services before the ground has been laid for a fully competitive 4G market."

Three:  "Liberalisation of 2G spectrum to date has distorted the competitive landscape in the UK, which ultimately harms consumers. Further liberalisation without addressing competition issues could make that distortion worse."

Obviously these three are upset because they feel disadvantaged, but OFCOM have given themselves the kick up the bottom to get the 4G spectrum auction going sooner so hopefully we can see that happen inside 2012!

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17/08/2012

Amazon recruits 5,000 UK corner shops for new delivery option!

   For once it's not mobile phone or tablet news that gets the big story here on TTF. This time it's Amazon and a rather big announcement for our UK readers. Most of us here in the UK shop on Amazon for cheap books if your a student, birthday and christmas presents if you're a parent or maybe you shop there because you need something to splash the cash on.

   Either way you probably get the item delivered to your house, but then you're not always in are you and the lovely postman puts this little red slip through your post box saying you weren't in (shocker) and that you have to go to your local depot at obscure times to collect your parcel. 

   Well, Amazon has heard the problem and has enlisted the help of local shops for a new scheme called CollectPlus. At the moment the scheme is in the trial phase, but it's widely expected to pass with flying colours. Essentially at the check out you will pick CollectPlus, choose your shop to deliver to and a couple of days later you can pop in on your lunch break and get your parcel. Perfect!

   Obviously this scheme has those people who work 9-5 firmly in mind because everyone knows the hassle of trying to collect undelivered parcels when you work! This will let you collect them at lunch or, if your shop is open late into the evening, the chance to pick it up after work!!!

   And if it turns out you don't like your item simply take it back to the shop and CollectPlus will return it! It's such a great idea it's hard to believe no ones thought of it before! This is definitely something useful for UK residents and hopefully we'll see it very soon!

Lenovo announces the LePhone K860 with a well ticket spec sheet!

   The image above is a picture of the upcoming Lenovo phone K860 "Music Phone" LePhone. On the surface this thing is looking like a not so little beast!

   On board there's a quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 chip, Mali-400MP GPU, 5-inch (1,280 x 720) display, 1GB of RAM and all of this inside a 9.6mm-thick chassis which makes this one pretty little device. On top of these there's an 8-megapixel snapper with support for 100 frames continuous shooting and 1080p video recording, in addition to the 2-megapixel camera around the front.

   Just in case you were worried all of those would kill your battery you need not because Lenovo will supply you with a 2,250 mAh cell to help keep you going. This will all be running on Android 4.0.4 too!

   Unfortunately we don't currently have any word on price or availability, but in the meantime Samsung might have something coming to take your mind off of this one!

In other news:

• The guys over at XDA have once again done what HTC deemed impossible, by creating a version of ICS (Android 4.0.4 to be precise) for the Desire HD. This is a ROM built off the official ROM for the Incredible S. Head over to XDA if you need some Sense 3.6 in your life!

• Acer has managed to push themselves into the positions as the world's third biggest computer manufacturer! And with such an honour comes a very small little profit; $14.5million to be exact. Not much but a lot better than most!

• If you're as hyped about Black Ops 2 as we are here at TTF then you'll be needing some BO2 customised Turtle Beaches for all your sound whoring. If that's the case and you feel an upgrade is required then head over to Engadget to get the round up on the incoming releases!

• And just in case we needed any more confirmation that Windows RT tablets would be a cheaper option, Lenovo's , David Schmoock, Senior VP of Lenovo's North American division, said to Bloomberg that full-on Windows 8 tablets would set you back between $600 and $700, whereas ARM-based Windows RT slates would sell for $200 to $300 less. "RT will play in consumer and retail at very aggressive price points," he said.

• Twitter has begun locking down their API by giving unofficial Twitter apps 100,000 unique user tokens and for any app that exceeds that will require special permission from Twitter themselves. Twitter obviously wants to push you to use their official app the same way you use Facebook's own app. This one might not be for the best though.

• Sony has explicitly denied that there will be any price cuts on their PS Vita console inside 2012, sorry guys no cheap christmas presents here!

• Google Play giftcards are on the way! If you're a US reader your local Target or other similar store might have a box of them ready to go! Look out for more news as it happens!

• Sony have started pushing Android 4.0 to Xperia P owners, if you've got an Xperia U or another NXT series device hold tight there's more of that sandwich coming soon.

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