Palm Pre snapped up by O2!

July 3, 2009 at 1:35 pm by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, Mobile News, Mobile Phones

Since it launched in the US last month to rave reviews, the Palm Pre is being touted as the first genuine iPhone contender. Some have even gone as far as to say that Palm’s latest offering features a better touchscreen than the current cream of the crop, the iPhone 3GS. So, with the phone expected to launch here in the UK, which network will be carrying the Pre? O2 of course. The same O2 that has the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone 3GS here in the UK. We wonder how that news went down in Cupertino. Yes it has been announced that when the GSM variant of the Palm Pre launches here in the UK, it will be exclusively available on O2

This will also come as disappointing news to O2’s competitors, particularly Orange who are without any major network exclusives and were rumoured to be in the running for the Palm Pre. If we cast our minds back we’ll also remember that Orange were rumoured to be getting in on the iPhone as it was speculated that O2’s exclusivity had expired. That turned out to be nothing more than a rumour and now, with this most recent failure to nab an exclusive, Orange could have missed out on something big, The coup for O2 could certainly prove to be fruitful if the Pre has as successful launch as it received in the US. Expected to arrive on these shores in September, click here to register your interest.

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EU slash roaming charges!

July 3, 2009 at 8:28 am by Dan | In Mobile Content/Services, Mobile News

Ever been on holiday, used your phone and then dreaded the bill that would be waiting for you when you got home? Well, you’re not alone. Whilst tariffs in the UK continually improve for the customer, using your phone abroad seemed to be a feeble excuse for networks to charge you exorbitant amounts just for a quick phone call. And as is the case with many of lifes little annoyances, we just accepted this as the way it is. Well not anymore! The EU have, with immediate effect, dramatically changed the way calls, texts and internet usage are charged.

    Key Changes:

  • Sending a text abroad will cost a maximum of €0.11
  • Making a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.43 per minute
  • Receiving a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.19 per minute
  • Outgoing calls made in any EU country must be charged per second after the first 30 seconds
  • Incoming calls made in any EU country must be charged per second from the start of the call
  • Downloading data will be capped at €1 per megabyte
    Further reductions will follow on July 1st 2010:

  • Making a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.39 per minute
  • Receiving a call in any EU country must cost no more than €0.15 per minute
  • Downloading data will be capped at €0.80 per megabyte (falling to €0.50 from July 1st 2011)

These new roaming charges are set to apply until 2012 at which point there will be the option to propose further rules if competition has not seen further natural reductions. So the the outlook is pretty good for frequent fliers and holiday makers. Whether this will have a negative impact on roaming charges outside of the UK remains to be seen but for now let’s just enjoy the good news.

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Vodafone returning to the Carphone Warehouse and Mobiles.co.uk!

July 2, 2009 at 3:03 pm by Dan | In Mobile Networks, Mobile News

That’s right, it has been announced today that Vodafone is returning to the Carphone Warehouse after nearly three years in the wilderness. Which means that as a part of the Carphone Warehouse group Mobiles.co.uk will be coming along for the ride! On becoming part of the Carphone Warehouse, Mobiles.co.uk ended a long and successful partnership with Vodafone. Now, with todays announcement Vodafone will once again return to the Mobiles.co.uk lineup.

Vodafone currently holds around 22% of the UK market as well as operations in 24 other countries through out the world. This growth and domination hasn’t been by chance. On the 1st of January 1985 Vodafone made the UK’s first mobile call, marking the launch of the mobile industry and transforming global communications. For nearly a quarter of a decade they’ve been at the forefront of mobile innovation in both technology (such as the exclusive phones offered including the Google Android powered HTC Magic) and the range of services available, most recently raising the bar by offering free roaming this summer, abolishing the 75p connection fee between the 1st of June and the 31st of August.

The return to Carphone Warehouse will also see the emergence of Mobiles.co.uk as one of the only online retailers to offer all 5 major networks. With deals set to launch on Tuesday the 7th of July, be sure to check back on Mobiles.co.uk next week as Vodafone make their long overdue return.

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Palm Pre now launched in the US: What can we expect?

July 1, 2009 at 8:21 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, Mobile News, Mobile Phones

Whilst a European launch is still around 3 months away, our friends across the pond in the good ol’ U S of A have been reveling in the launch of the potential iPhone beater; the Palm Pre. It’s not often that America enjoys the launch of a new smartphone before the European market. And with many heralding the Pre as a potential iPhone killer and the saviour of the ailing company, can Palm relive those former glory days when the Palm Pilot brought PDA’s to the limelight and the Treo was the talk of the smartphone world? Is the Palm Pre really all it’s cracked up to be?

Well, early reports stateside are promising. Launching on the 6th of June (exclusively on the American carrier Sprint) in Sprint stores as well as select Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and Best Buy stores in the US, the Palm Pre broke all records for a new phone launch on Sprint. Around 50,000 units were reported to have been sold on launch day with around 100,000 in total for the Pre’s first week. So, not a bad first week. Obviously, as the phone has only launched in the US, we’re watching things from afar but it has been claimed on various corners of the internet that the Palm Pre is still in incredibly short supply with Palm struggling to keep up with demand. A demand that many critics said simply wouldn’t be there in the run up to the rumoured new iPhone that we now know as the 3GS. All this makes for good reading for Palm as their is clearly huge demand for the Pre despite it being exclusive to the US’ third most popular network behind the big boys Verizon and AT&T.

So, the launch was a success, but what about the phone itself? Well, unfortunately as it’s only launched in the States, we’ve yet to get our hands on one but judging by the positive reviews the Pre looks to be a very capable device. The screen resolution is the same as that found on the iPhone 3GS but because the screen size is slightly smaller (3.1 inches compared to Apple’s 3.5) the Pre looks sharper and crisper because the pixels are packed in closer together. In terms of brightness, some reviewers have claimed it’s not quite as bright as the iPhone and suffers a little in direct sun light for legibility but in general use it fairs pretty well. In terms of actually using the touchscreen, prepare to be amazed; the highly regarded tech blog Gizmodo have claimed that the touchscreen is actually better than that found on the iPhone. The Pre features multi-touch which has, up until very recently been exclusive to the iPhone. Now the Pre has arrived and potentially stolen its crown. The multi touch (we must stress this is purely the opinion of Gizmodo) is more accurate, responsive and just plain better than the iPhone. A big claim and one which we can’t wait to put to the test.

The performance of the touchscreen is fairly critical in a touchscreen phone so it seems that the Pre gets off to a good start. The addition of a slide out QWERTY keyboard will provide respite for text and email purists and while not the best example of a QWERTY keyboard still performs well. The most hotly anticipated feature of the Pre is Palm’s new operating system Web OS, built from the ground up for the Pre. What you’ll find is a 5 app shortcut bar on your home screen which works like a more intuitive (and pleasing on the eye) Symbian home screen. In the empty space you can swipe right to go to the 3 screen menu, swipe left to go back and swipe up on an application to launch it from the bottom of the screen. Web OS is also fully capable of multi tasking numerous apps (i.e open a web page and listen to music while you wait for it to load). Apps appear as cards on your home screen so you can easily manage what you have currently running (keep an eye on this as having too many apps will drain battery and processing power). From what we’ve seen, Web OS looks to be a great new addition and a worthy contender to the already established operating systems.

As with any phone, it would seem the Pre isn’t without it’s flaws. Many have claimed that while the construction of the phone is very good, the quality of the materials used can’t quite compare with the iPhone. Even more worrying, the Pre apparantly has a very sharp edge that is exposed when sliding the phone to use the keyboard (so sharp in fact that it can slice through a block of cheese). The camera also proves a stumbling block; 3.0 Megapixels puts it on a par with the new iPhone (though some way below various other smart phones) but the inability to record video seems pre-historic (sorry) in 2009. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The Pre still has around 3 months until it is expected to launch in the UK so here’s hoping Palm will take a look at the uncomfortably sharp edge and offer video capture via a firmware update.

The delayed launch should also prove beneficial in terms of the apps that will be available. At launch only 18 applications were available but with the impending release of the Web OS SDK this should really take off by the time we get our grubby mits on the Pre. Looking back, software is something Palm have always held in high regard so we should hopefully see similar support for the Pre.

So there you have it. Our first look at the Pre. Will we see a comeback worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster or is this the end of the line for Palm? Only time will tell. If early reports and reviews are to be believed, we could have the most genuine threat to the iPhone yet. Rumoured to be launching as early as September, click here to sign up for updates and we’ll keep you updated on all things Pre.

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MicroUSB set to become European standard for mobile phone chargers!

June 30, 2009 at 8:11 am by Dan | In Mobile News, Mobile Phone Accessories, Mobile Phones

For those of you who’ve swapped to a new manufacturer with your new phone, you’ll no doubt be aware of the annoyances when it comes to chargers; every manufacturer has their own type! And you can guarantee, when you’re in desperate need of a charger, you can never find the right one. Even sticking to the same manufacturer doesn’t mean you’re safe; Nokia phones originally supported a thicker single pin, then switching to a thinner connector and finally settling on microUSB.

Some manufacturers have tried to remedy this by including backwards compatibility in new phones. The N97 for example, comes packed with an adapter that lets you use both previous generations of Nokia chargers. But what about charging other makes of mobile phones, wishful thinking? Not anymore…

For those of you who begrudge buying new accessories, are terribly disorganised or just like charging your phone on your PC, you’ll be pleased to hear that the European Commission has announced that the majority of leading manufacturers have agreed to adopt MicroUSB as a standard European charging socket including the likes of Apple, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. Whilst undoubtedly a step in the right direction for convenience, the announcement also has environmental benefits. With reportedly around 4000 tons of mobile phone accessories thrown away each year, changing a phone will no longer mean changing your charger and throwing away your old one.

With manufacturers already adopting MicroUSB and others expected to follow suit and start rolling out devices at the start of next year, the dark days of proprietary accessories could finally be coming to an end.

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HTC Hero Teaser Video

June 29, 2009 at 8:14 am by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, Mobile News, Mobile Phones

In an effort to build momentum following the announcement of their third Android mobile phone, HTC have released a video showing off the Hero and, in particular, its shiny new HTC Sense User interface. And in terms of building on the momentum, it seems to have been an emphatic success. Initially we were intrigued by the new UI but if this video is a true representation of Sense in full flow, we’re in for a treat. Check out the video below and once you’ve been bowled over, click here to register your interest.

In other HTC Hero related news, a new Pink version has surfaced which will be an exclusive to Mobiles.co.uk, part of the Carphone Warehouse. Apart from the pink paint job, its business as usual for the Hero with all the goodies of the Brown version. Click here to check out the Pink HTC Hero and register your interest and keep your eyes on the blog and we’ll let you know as soon as the Hero is available to Order.

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HTC announce their latest Android mobile phone: The HTC Hero!

June 26, 2009 at 1:46 pm by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, Mobile News, Mobile Phones

When HTC commit to something, they really put their heart and soul into it. Originally seen as a one operating system manufacturer with a slew of high profile and successful Windows Mobile devices, HTC are now dividing their time between WM and the hot new property that is Android. And now, HTC have declared their commitment to the fledgling Google backed OS with the announcement of the HTC Hero.

The Hero, following in the footsteps of the HTC Magic and the original Android phone, the T-Mobile G, features a full touchscreen interface. Sporting the latest version of Android, known as Cupcake, the Hero is able to dispense with a hardware QWERTY keyboard in favour of an on screen keyboard which helps to keep size and weight down. Aesthetically, the Hero is easily the best looking Android phone from HTC and arguably even more easy on the eye than the upcoming Samsung i7500.

In addition to the latest Android OS, the Hero is also the first phone to include HTC Sense, HTC’s brand new user interface. HTC Sense lets you personalise and create a phone just right for by adding widgets to your homescreen, also letting you customise the size and style, flick through multiple windows (similar to TouchFLO 3D), called scenes (which are also fully customisable), so all your favourites are at your fingertips and search for contacts, Twitter Tweets, Emails and much more. HTC Sense also brings all your contacts together in one place. When you view people in your contacts list you see the different ways to get in touch; Email, social networking updates such as Facebook and even what photos your friends have recently uploaded. With HTC Sense, the Hero hope to become a truly all in one device.

It terms of the actual specifications, the HTC Hero makes for good reading. The aforementioned touchscreen is 3.2 inches and features a host of premium extras including handwriting recognition, an accelerometer and, because the Hero uses a capacitive touchscreen, multi touch. The touchscreen is also complimented nicely by the addition of a track ball which aids in general navigation and, in particular, web browsing. The Hero will also have the distinct honour of most powerful Android camera phone thanks to the on board 5.0 Megapixel camera with autofocus and video capture.

In terms of connectivity, the HTC Hero also has pretty much every base covered featuring HSDPA and Wi-Fi for high speed web access as well as built in GPS with A-GPS support for an even quicker Satellite lock from cold start up. Finally, rounding off the Hero is the standard extras such as MP3 player, movie player and of course Bluetooth connectivity.

Will the Hero turn out to be more Jet Li or Enrique Iglesias? Well we shouldn’t have too long to wait to find out, HTC’s latest Android phone is set to launch in early to Mid July. Click here to sign up for updates on the HTC Hero and we’ll let you know as soon as the Hero is available to order.

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Nokia N97 and N86 8MP in stock now!

June 25, 2009 at 11:23 am by Dan | In Mobile News, Mobile Phones, New Mobile Phones

Well the wait is finally over, two of the most important phones in Nokia’s history have now launched and are in stock at Mobiles.co.uk. The N97 is Nokia’s attempt to take back some of the market share lost to new kids on the block Apple and the ever more impressive Samsung, both of whom have released successful touchscreen mobile phones. Nokia have been slow to join the touchscreen revolution (the 5800 and a few internet tablets are their only touchscreen releases to date) but with consumers falling over themselves to get in on the touchscreen action, Nokia simply couldn’t lie down anymore. Meanwhile, the Nokia N86 8MP is the long awaited (and perhaps overdue) 8.0 Megapixel camera phone from Nokia, the companies first. But, with Apple once again dominating with its newly released update, the iPhone 3GS, and several manufacturers moving on to 12 Megapixel camera phones, is it too late for the N97 and N86 8MP?

On the face of things, the N97 doesn’t bring that much new to the party. Touchscreen phones dominate the market, 5.0 Megapixel camera’s are somewhat out of date and the Symbian operating system is hardly hot property in the wake of the young upstarts such as the iPhones OSX and Googles Android platform. So can the N97 still make an impact? Nokia certainly think so. The focus for the N97 is that it claims to bring the internet to your phone like no other. The new Symbian home screen allows you to add customisable shortcuts (or widgets) to the homescreen. Again this is nothing new, but the potential for this is demonstrated in the Facebook app. The Facebook widget sits on your homescreen and will let you log in with a few taps. Once logged in, the app continues to run, notifying you of a new message, telling you when you’ve been poked or tagged in a photo and letting you change your status.

That’s not all; take a photo with the 5.0 Megapixel camera and you can upload it straight to your Facebook page, tag friends and post comments. Put simply, the Facebook experience on the N97 is as close to using it on a PC that you’ll find anywhere and this is just one of the apps. The addition of a hardware QWERTY keyboard compliments web browsing as it gives you flexibility. You can use the touchscreen on its own for one handed web browsing, or open up the keyboard for faster text input whilst still having full access to the touchscreen to scroll and navigate web pages. Take a look online and you’ll find plenty of iPhone fans crying out for a QWERTY keyboard so for those people, the N97 is a natural choice. The comparisons with the iPhone continue with the huge 32GB internal memory, though Nokia gain the victory with the option to expand it further. The biggest area that could make or break the N97 is in the Apps department and with this in mind, Nokia have completely revamped their download service and released the Ovi Store, you’re one stop shop for Symbian applications. Can it take on the App store and, on a broader scale, the iPhone itself? Only time will tell, but the N97 certainly has the tools to do so.

As for the N86, it is without question that Nokia are late to the 8.0 Megapixel party but have they missed it completely or are they just fashionably late? Nokia will argue that they waited to launch an 8.0 Megapixel camera phone until they were confident that they could master the technology and, in turn release the best 8.0 Megapixel camera phone, not just another ‘also ran’. The N86 gets off to a good start as the first phone to feature variable aperture levels which lets users alter the amount of light the lens lets in. This kind of technology is usually reserved to Digital SLR’s so its inclusion in a phone is impressive. From sample photos we’ve seen (and taken) the N86 seems to perform admirably in low light conditions and bright daylight. The N86 8MP also a 28mm wide angle lens which lets you get even more into a photo.

Apart from the impressive camera, the N86 8MP also plans to take on the recent wave of gaming centric mobile phones thanks to full support for the Ngage gaming platform and the popular dual slide design which comfortably transforms the phone into a handheld games console. Support for the Ovi Store should provide a never ending supply of Ngage compatible games ranging from simple card and puzzle games to the latest releases including the new Transformers: ROTF movie tie in and WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009. The N86 8MP also provides refuge for those of you in the market for a new phone who want top of the range features simply don’t want a touchscreen device (you know who you are).

Can the N97 and N86 conquer the touchscreen and camera phone markets respectively? Only time will tell. What we do know is that these 2 phones have now launched and are in stock at mobiles.co.uk. Click here to check out the N97 and here to see all the latest offers for the N86 8MP.

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PhonePoint Pen: The future of handwriting recognition?

June 24, 2009 at 12:59 pm by Dan | In Just For Fun, Mobile Phone Applications, Mobile Phones

Motion sensitivity is a feature that is becoming ever more popular as manufacturers strive to get the most out of new technologies and implement them in their latest offerings. With a multitude of phones sporting an accelerometer, users can hold their mobile on its side and the screen will match the orientation. Fairly standard stuff. We’ve also seen Sony Ericson’s take on motion based interaction with the Walkman range featuring shake control, allowing for tracks to be skipped by shaking the phone to one side. And in its most popular form, we’ve encountered a new era of mobile phone gaming with motion based games launching on multiple platforms such as the LG Arena, the upcoming Sony Ericsson Yari and, most famously, the all conquering iPhone. So, what’s next for mobile phone motion sensitivity? Hand Writing recognition of course!

The PhonePoint Pen, a result of research at North Carolina’s Duke University, is an experimental new system for capturing gestures made with a mobile phone. While that does sound rather vague, specifically the PhonePoint Pen will let you write in the air and then interpret your movements into letters. So, drawing an ‘A’ in the air will in turn input an ‘A’ on your phone. Don’t believe us? Check out the video below. And while the gesture controls might look slightly over the top at the moment (you’d raise a few eyebrows using this on the Tube!), if the technology can be shrunken down to track more subtle movements then this definitely has a promising future.

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Samsung unveil the Jet and boy is it quick!

June 23, 2009 at 1:12 pm by Dan | In Coming Soon Handsets, Mobile News, Mobile Phones

For those of you with your fingers on the mobile industries pulse, you may have been aware of the recent Samsung unpacked event that was taking place. The premise was that in the run up to the main event held last week, 5 individuals, who entered the competition, would take it in turns to open a layer of the box containing the upcoming Samsung mobile phone, ala pass the parcel. The 6th entrant and winner of the Samsung unpacked competition was given the distinct honour of unboxing the new phone and unveiling to the world the Samsung Jet.

So what exactly was it that the lucky winner Simon Thompson (who also bagged himself $5000) unpacked and presented to the world? Well the Samsung Jet, also going under the model number S8000, is a touchscreen mobile phone that that, like it’s namesake, boasts some serious speed. The Jet features an 800MHz processor allowing for a fast and responsive user experience, capable of running multiple applications and impressively managing to keep power consumption to a minimum to improve battery life. Going back to that processor, to put things into perspective, the new Apple iPhone 3GS (a seriously speedy piece of kit in its own right) uses a 600MHz processor so the Jet promises to raise the bar even further.

Samsung also feel that the S8000 Jet’s screen is worth shouting about. Sporting a 3.1 inch AMOLED touchscreen display, Samsung claim that the AMOLED technology boasts top-quality colour reproduction and brightness that is far superior to that of TFT LCD displays (the most commonly used mobile phone display). What’s more, AMOLED displays are thinner as they emit their own light rather than having to include a back light making for a thinner phone and again improving battery life. With all the battery life Samsung claim you’ll be saving the Jet could run for weeks (ok not weeks, but should be impressive). The aforementioned beast of a processor should also compliment the touchscreen nicely helping to improve responsiveness.

Ok, so it’s quick and it looks nice, but what else can it do? Well, the Jet features 5.0 Megapixel camera with autofocus and a flash and comes loaded with extras such as face, smile and blink detection and Geo-tagging. Video recording is handled with similar aplomb coming in at D1 resolution (720 x 480) at 30 frames per second which promises DVD-Like video recording. Away from the camera, the Jet covers pretty much every base in the connectivity department thanks to HSDPA and Wi-Fi, plus an internal GPS receiver supporting A-GPS. We also find a music and video player supporting all the usual suspects such as MP3, AAC, WAV and big names in the video play back world such as DivX and Xvid. 2GB of internal memory won’t trouble the iPhone 3GS or the N97 but should provide enough storage space to keep users going and the option to expand the memory with a memory card a further 16GB also compensates.

The appearance of the Samsung Jet does raise a couple of questions. It seems odd that the huge processing power was reserved for a non smart phone when the recently released Samsung i8910 HD seemed like a perfect match for such processing power. The 5.0 Megapixel camera also looks distinctly average in today’s market considering Samsung themselves have released no fewer than four 8.0 Megapixel camera phones. But then a counter argument to that would be that more Megapixels don’t make for better photos.

Regardless, if Samsung can improve on the hugely impressive display found on the i8910 HD and the processor is all it’s cracked up to be, the Jet could really take the wind out of the newly released iPhone 3GS’ sails. Set to launch towards the end of July, click here to register for updates.

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