We’re happy to announce that Mobiles.co.uk are now taking pre-orders for the PlayStation Vita. Sony’s latest gaming console, short named the PS Vita, is set to become the portable gaming device of 2012! We can’t wait to finally play on the PS Vita, which will be unleashed across the UK on 22nd February. If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the action, pre-order your console with mobiles.co.uk; not only will you receive the PS Vita without the enduring those launch day shopping queues, you’ll also a fantastic free gift.

PS Vita specs

Offering high powered, full throttle gaming, the PlayStation Vita showcases your favourite titles upon the eye catching 5 inch OLED touchscreen. With launch titles such as the adventurous Uncharted: Golden Abyss or the fast paced Wipeout-2048, PlayStation are making sure their PS Vita hosts some of the hottest new titles around. Built with a quad core processor, the PS Vita handles high performance graphics with smoothness and grace. There’s great flexibility in the way you control your games too, with dual analogue sticks, action and shoulder buttons, rear touch pads and PlayStations own Six-axis motion sensing system; the technology that lets you shake and tilt your PS Vita to enhance your game play experience. There are two models of the PlayStation Vita available from mobiles.co.uk. Choosing the right PS Vita for you will depend on how you wish to use the internet on your portable games console.

PS Vita Wi-Fi

Connect your PS Vita to a nearby wireless hotspot to access the PlayStation Network; your hub for playing against other competitors across the world. It’s hugely addictive fun trying to climb the leader boards of your favourite games. Additional features let you download bonus content such as wallpapers, themes or demos. Keeping in touch with friends is easy as you text or voice call your friends through the PSN. With front and rear cameras built into the PS Vita, you can even catch up with friends over a video call.

PS Vita Wi-Fi priced at £229. Pre-order today!

PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi

If you want online access when you’re out and about, then you need the PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi. With 3G built into the upgraded version of the PS Vita, you have access to the internet, anytime and anywhere. As the PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi is designed for on the go gaming, this model also boasts GPS. By knowing your position on a map, the PS Vita can bring you Augmented Reality gaming: Imagine fleeing from hordes of zombies in your local neighbourhood; the technology to do this safely has arrived. The PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi will still give you the full access to the PlayStation Network as seen on the Wi-Fi edition.

PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi priced at £279. Pre-order today!

Free memory card when you preorder the PS Vita

Did you know when you order the PlayStation Vita from mobiles.co.uk, you’re entitled to an awesome free gift? Everyone who pre-orders will receive a free 4GB memory card; a must have for saving game progress or downloading additional content.

PS Vita as a free gift

You can even get the PS Vita Wi-Fi as a free gift with your next mobile phone contract. Prices start from just £15.50 per month. Likewise, the PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi is also a free gift, starting from £20.50 per month.

Take a visit to mobiles.co.uk to reserve yours today.

No we’re not blogging about the hit film of six unemployed Sheffield steel workers. The Full Monty is T-Mobiles latest tariff table which exposes you to everything; unlimited calls, texts AND data, starting at £36 per month.

As a smartphone generation we are now guzzling deeper into our tariff allowances, requiring more data for downloading games or streaming our favourite songs. Even that push Tweet notification will peck a byte or two from your data allowance. T-Mobile state that their Full Monty tariffs aim to “truly blow their customers socks off” by offering an enticing bargain that’s impossible to refuse.

The Full Monty will dance its way onto your smartphone from just £36 per month, offering unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 2000 minutes (that’s still nearly a day and a half of calls!). At just £41 per month, you can leave that cap off, as even the minutes have no limit. The additional tariffs of £46 or £61 per month, offer the same unlimited package but with a range of better smartphones and access to more gifts. Through mobiles.co.uk, you can get your hands on the iPhone 4S for free from £41 per month with unlimited EVERYTHING.





How does this compare to the One Plan from Three?
The £36 per month Full Monty deal directly tackles the One Plan from Three; which for £35 per month serves up 2000 minutes, 5000 texts and All You Can Eat data without the fair usage cap. One feature Full Monty provides over the One Plan is the option to tether your smartphone to your laptop or tablet. Tethering enables you to set your smartphone up as a Wi-Fi hotspot so your laptop can connect to the online world. With unlimited data available in the Full Monty package, could this deal tease customers into using a mobile internet connection over home broadband? T-Mobile’s latest offer could be a game changer in the way we purchase our data. Let’s hope the other networks respond with competitive deals in due course.

Greater clarity on choosing your Tariff
If you feel like you don’t need unlimited everything, then T-Mobile are renaming their data tariffs to cater for internet usage. There are four categories; Basic, Standard, Extra, and Super. Basic Intenet is ideal for those who don’t really use it except for the odd email or Facebook post. Standard Internet lets you cover a little YouTube comedy and is set for your low usage smartphone user. Extra internet is great for those who download lots of apps or stream BBC iPlayer and Super Internet is for the online addicts amongst us. Both Extra and Super internet let you tether.

So for those who want it all plus a little bit more, the unveiling of the Full Monty looks set to catch the attention of many.

See the best deals that come loaded with the Full Monty package.

Data allowance describes the amount of information you are allowed to download and upload in a given monthly period if you have a fixed term contract with a mobile provider. It is typically represented by megabytes or gigabytes (MB or GB) and the allowance will be listed alongside the inclusive minutes and texts with each deal. Every time you send an email, view a web page or download an app you will eat into your allocated data for that month and your total is not transferable to the next period, which means you need to choose an adequate amount which is suitable for you, just as you would with minutes and texts.

The best data deals will come with at least 500MB of usage each month. On average the typical user will not use half this amount, but as you get more used to the functions of your smartphone you can expect to see usage rise and thus giving yourself a bit of breathing space makes sense. Few data plans include unlimited usage, although there are exceptions. 1GB or more should easily satiate even the heaviest of mobile internet users, although it is worth calculating your typical usage to see just how much you might need.

There are a number of data tariffs offered by mobile network providers. Providers such as O2 take a different approach to data, allowing you to choose a specific bolt-on for your contract that can expand your allowance as you see fit.

All data packages will typically have additional charges enforced should you exceed your monthly allocation. This is usually charged at a flat rate so that additional megabytes of usage will cost you extra and be added to your monthly bill, although the best data plans will be expansive enough to help you avoid paying any more fees.

A good mobile data allowance will allow you to spend more time online while on the move. You will be able to do more of things like download music, stream video, and tethering to your other mobile devices like tablet PCs. Visit our dedicated page here to find the best data plans.

This has been backed up by recent rumours of an iPod Touch touting front and rear cameras which would tie in with the pictures of what are supposedly cases for the new iPod Touch and Nano (right). The speculated cameras would in all likelihood  allow the iPod Touch to benefit from the iPhone 4 Wi-Fi only FaceTime and would perhaps explain why Apple, for now at least, have chosen to keep FaceTime Wi-Fi only across the board. It’s also said that the cameras would allow the new Touch to support Apple’s new iMovie software, allowing on-the-move video recording and editing. It’s also rumoured that the iPod Touch will utilise the Retina Display technology found in the current iPhone 4. The rumoured iPod Nano however, is likely to simply be a smaller, re-designed unit with a larger memory.

Whilst we agree with the majority, that tomorrow will see the announcement of a new iPod Touch and iPod Nano, we feel it’s worth mentioning the other announcements we could potentially be seeing tomorrow in place of or as well as the iPod Touch? Well, here’s a run down of what we think these could be:

A ‘Cloud’ based iTunes

There were rumours circulating only a month ago regarding a wireless iTunes streaming and synching functionality which would undoubtedly be in addition to a new iPod announcement at tomorrow’s event. Apple has already moved below the radar to add the ability to stream music from MobileME in it’s latest update, a move which is said to be a test run for the larger iTunes update and would make sense given the possible damage that could ensue if it were to go wrong upon release.

TV show rental

Again, this is another rumour which has been ‘to-ing and fro-ing’ around the internet, which would see Apple give the option to essentially rent a TV show for a few days for $0.99 (likely to be £0.99 too knowing the Apple currency converison rates) as oppose to the current set up of having to purchase the show for $1.99.

Apple TV Update

There is rumoured to be a new version of the Apple TV winging its way to the market and we’ll give you three guesses as to what it’s called… Yeah, you’ve got it, the iTV (law suit filed in 5, 4, 3…) The iTV is rumoured to have a built in 16GB memory, the ability to run applications and the possibility of streaming iTunes to iPads/Phones/Touches through a Wi-Fi connection.

A new tablet

This is probably the least likely of all the possibilities we’ve outlined so far, somewhere up there with the pink elephants or flying farm animals of the swine variety, making an appearance but it’s still worth a mention. Ever since the iPad launched, there has been speculation as to whether Apple would release a 7 inch tablet to co-exist alongside the current, larger iPad. The recent tablet rumours from Samsung, LG, HTC/Google et al, would suggest that they believe there will at some point, be a smaller tablet, given that each is looking to release tablet into this exact space as oppose to taking the iPad on head-to-head. Now, we’re not suggesting that there won’t be an iPad Mini on the horizon somewhere but we doubt very much that we’ll see anything concrete this year.

Well, i think that’s about covered everything unless Apple really pull an Ace from their sleeve and in all likelihood, tomorrows announcement will be the new iPod Touch/Nano as expected, but we wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the announcement of the cloud based iTunes in tow. Whatever happens, make sure you check back at the blog tomorrow for our coverage of the announcement(s).

The video isn’t of the highest quality, but does allow us to see quite a substantial insight into what to expect from the Galaxy Tab and we’re pained to say that, if the video is to be believed, that the Galaxy Tab will be incredibly iPad-esque. In that, apps appear to be listed in an almost identical fashion with side scrolling screens. We can take some solace though, in the fact that there is an on-screen ‘Home’ button below the application grid pointing towards the fact that, although not seen on the video, the Galaxy Tab does retain the usual Android customisebale screens found on the Galaxy S and what we’re actually seeing on the video is merely the app drawer.

Interestingly, the video shows the Galaxy Tab to be a 3G connected device. Although, we’re going to hang on to our hopes that a Wi-Fi only version will be available too. The video also shows us the dialer, browser, a calendar and a maps application as well as an application which appears to allow the Galaxy Tab to pick up TV programs.

Check out the video to see for yourself and let us know what you think of the Galaxy Tab in the comments section below.

These being, Augmented reality, video calling, full web browsing, Android 2.2, a camera on the back and a 7 inch screen which seem to be the biggest shouts in the video. Although interestingly, at around 9 seconds, we can see what looks like ‘HD Movie Play’ a great hint towards the screen being HD resolution and the possibility of watching your favourite HD movies on the go. We can also make out ‘e-reading’ which would make sense given the iPads success here.

Of course, sporting Android 2.2 also means that the Galaxy Tab will benefit from all of the Google services such as the Android Market, GMail, Street view, Maps and of course, the free Google Maps Navigation that has proven to be so popular amongst Android fans. Although, we’re not quite sure how practical this would be when mounted onto the windscreen in reality but we’d sure love the opportunity to give it a try! If your reading this Samsung and feeling rather generous, how about sending us a Galaxy Tab to play with? (well, it’s worth a try…)

What the video doesn’t confirm and that we’re keen to know, is how the Galaxy Tab would co-exist along side an Android Smartphone? In that, will the Galaxy Tab follow in the footsteps of Apple and offer a Wi-Fi only version for those that own an Android Smartphone already and can utilise the Wi-Fi hotspot option that Android 2.2 has unlocked, as well as a subsidised 3G model. Also, should you already own an Android Smartphone, will the apps be shared across both devices, assuming the apps are tweaked by the developers to cope with the Tabs larger screen dimensions?

Have you been considering an Ipad? Well, you may just will want to hold off until the September 2nd announcement in Berlin, which we imagine will be the official unveiling of the Tab and is a date that we’ve underlined, highlighted, circled… (you get the picture) in our calendar. Keep an eye on the blog, as soon as we know any more details, we’ll post them right here. In meantime, why not take a look at our Android Smartphone range and grab yourself a piece of the action and a perfect partner for the Tab when it’s released.

The choice to use Chrome OS over Android has sparked heated debate, many believe that the Android OS would have been a far superior choice. We, however, can offer possible reasoning as to why Crome OS might be chosen over Android, scalability. The Android OS is optimised for use on a mobile phone screen and would probably require quite alot of work to upsize the interface for use on a tablet sized screen. That said, nothing has been confirmed as to the size of the Google Tablet.

As far as details go, DownloadSquad have thrown together a quick render of how they see the Google Tablet looking and drawn up a possible list of specs, which if proven true, would set the Google Tab up there for combat with Apple’s iPad. These are NVidia’s Tegra 2 platform, a 1280×720 multitouch display, 2GB of RAM, minimum 32GB SSD, WiFi/Bluetooth/3G connectivity, GPS, webcam, and possibly expandable storage via a multi-card reader.

Thats all we know for now, it isn’t much to go by and doesn’t even really confirm either way, the existance of the fabled Google Tablet but if we were to bet some of our own hard earned on it, we’d bet in favour of seeing a Google Tablet at some point this year, even if it is only a US release initially. Keep an eye on the blog for any developments.

The improvements to the battery consumption in Bluetooth 4.0 will also allow for Bluetooth to be included in much smaller devices as the technology is now far more compact. This should in turn result in smaller and lighter mobile phones and portable devices which we’re all for! Elsewhere, Bluetooth 4.0 comes in at a lower cost meaning it should no longer face the chop from entry level mobile phones whilst the range has also been improved meaning you can send and receive files from an even greater distance.

Now that the specifications for Bluetooth 4.0 have been confirmed, the Bluetooth SIG can start rolling out the technology to manufacturers so we should hopefully start to see Bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices before the year’s out. Keep an eye on the Blog for the first Bluetooth 4.0 enabled mobile phone (our money’s on it being a Samsung).

The main concern from the HTC owners camp, is that they could in fact be faced with a similar dilemma to those that own(ed) a HTC Hero, in that, despite running Android 1.5 (Donut), an update to 2.1 Eclair has only just become available now that version 2.2 is also. This doesn’t bode well at all for Desire owners or indeed Wildfire owners, although there is still optimism and hope in abundance amongst the online blog-osphere and indeed here with us at Mobiles.

Early rumours suggested that the update would be available from the 23rd June for HTC Desire owners; a rumour which sadly didn’t come to fruition and wasn’t actually ever confirmed by HTC themselves. However, we can now report that HTC have actually released a date (albeit quite vague) that Desire, Wildfire and Legend owners can expect to be on the receiving end of some frozen goodness (like that currently being enjoyed by Google Nexus One owners); the update is expected to be rolled out “beginning Q3″ which if our calendars and our maths are correct, could see the update rolling out as early as next month, although, realistically, we expect this to be mid-late Q3 given that the manufacturers have barely had their hands on the source code for a week.

Why all the hype for Froyo i hear you ask? Well, probably the biggest improvement brought by 2.2 (from the perspective of a Desire owner) is that 2.2 brings ‘Apps2SD’ which, in essence, is the ability to save applications to the SD card; functionality sorely lacking (and our only issue) on the Desire. With Froyo also comes Flash 10.1 support, bringing the ability to watch iPlayer and embedded Flash videos without the need for a seperate media player. Android 2.2 Froyo is also proven to be faster than 2.1, not just a little bit, we’re talking up to 5x faster, thanks to the ‘Just In Time Compiler’ found lurking within. There’s also a multitude of other functionality beng added: the ability to turn your Android device into a Wi-Fi hotspot, USB tethering and much more.

Let us know what you think below and keep an eye on the blog for updates. Better yet, Click Here to take a look at our range of Android handsets and get involved in the action.

Not sure what the Dell Streak is, well think iPad, but smaller and running on Android software with the ability to be used as a phone too. The 5 inch screen found on the Streak puts it in quite an awkward bit of middle ground in that, do you classify it as a phone or as a tablet? Well, we think it’s actually in between the two; It’s still pocket-able, just, but won’t be the easiest bit of kit to use single handedly.

The 1GHz SnapDragon processor on board will happily keep the Streak buzzing along whilst you surf the net, listen to music and catch up with your friends via instant messenger or any other combination of applications/services you can think of, thanks to Android’s advanced multitasking capabilities. Interested or simply just want to know more? Well, Click Here to see the full tech specs and the range of deals available.