Author Archives:
Switch view

Nokia unveils a new Ovi Store concept for Orange France and Deutsche Telekom

by 253 comments

Today Nokia released information regarding plans for a new Ovi Store concept they intend to push to leading mobile companies Orange France and Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile).

Ovi Logo

The focus of the Ovi Store operator app store concept is the idea of a ‘store within a store’. Alongside the existing Ovi Store infrastructure, the design is intended to help “provide operators around the world new ways to differentiate, distribute and compete”. Read more »

Take a look at Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Special Edition and no, you can’t have one

by 25 comments

The other day, Google I/O brought a host of information to journalists and developers alike. We’ve already spoken about it, taking you through the main points of the keynote, Google’s pride regarding Honeycomb’s stats and figures, the potential of Ice cream sandwich (the upcoming Android update, not the food item) and the general ambiance of the event which you can check out here.

Shots showing the back of the Google I/O exclusive Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab with its white back

What we haven’t really spoken about is the host of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1′s that made a special debut at the event as well. Why special? Well Read more »

Sony Ericsson teaches you kernel building and how to flash it to your SE smartphone

by 568 comments

The Sony Ericsson Developer Blog recently published details including a step by step walk-through showing code-savvy users how to build and then flash their own custom Linux kernels onto their Sony Ericsson Android devices.

XperiaPlay and Tux

Building on feedback taken from forums such as XDA, the walk-through aims to help users get around troubles such as building and flashing your own custom image (if you are into that sort of thing). Read more »

Google Goggles for Android updated to 1.4, now offers notes and smart contact recognition

by 463 comments

Those with an Android device will most likely know Google Goggles well. The smart-camera app that can identify a myriad of logos, books, DVD’s, landmarks, artwork, businesses, products, barcodes, and text and search online for information, a website or whatever you want on them.

Google Goggles Logo

It can even translate written text from one language to another and cheat solve Sudoku puzzles. Well Google’s Mobile Blog have just announced it’s receiving an update on Android. Read more »

T-Mobile resurrects unlimited free Wi-Fi calling

by 196 comments

If you’re a customer of T-Mobile in the US you’re in for a treat. As of tomorrow (the 11th) T-Mobile are looking to reinstate their free calls over Wi-Fi service.

T-Mobile to re-release free Wi-Fi calling service

Great news assuming you have a compatible handset. At present Wi-Fi calling eats up your plan’s minutes but this revised service will allow you to make calls for free! Read more »

The HTC Flyer’s stylus retails for $80

by 557 comments

HTC’s first foray into the tablet world, the Flyer totes a fancy new stylus that works with its 7 inch capacitive touchscreen which, along with some extra multimedia functionality, allows users to annotate, draw and highlight on text, websites and images. For the stylus as a stand alone purchase, it’ll set you back around $80.

HTC Flyer Tablet Stylus

Yep, you read correctly kids. To many, a stylus might seem like an antiquated feature left over from the days when the resistive touchscreen devices reigned supreme, but the Flyer’s stylus offers far greater versatility than any before it. Read more »

The new 2011 iMac: Full Teardown

by 661 comments

As you might have heard, Apple have just announced their latest batch of shiny new iMacs and Apple adopters everywhere are no doubt, itching to get their hands on one. Being the sleek, self contained unit that it is, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how much tech they’ve managed to fit behind that monolithic glossy black display.

iFixit's 2011 iMac Teardown

The clever chaps over at iFixit have taken the liberty of ripping one of these new generation iMacs apart for all to see, the cheapest (which by no means makes it push over) 21.5″ variety if you were wondering. Read more »

Google Voice Search on your desktop

by 671 comments

Google Voice technology is well known to the seasoned Android user (and iOS user, if you have the app), usually one of the stock widgets mounted on your home screens out-the-box, it ties in to some sophisticated software that allows for some pretty advanced search terms and not just ‘things’, it can auto-start your handsets navigation and have a desired location already set for you too!

google voice search desktop GSM Arena

This great technology once confined to the minds of sci-fi fanatics everywhere is currently in a trial phase by Google, accessible from Google.com. Read more »

T-mobile myTouch4G gets Gingerbread update

by 635 comments

The boffins over at XDA Developers have done it again. Their latest present comes in the form of an Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update for T-mobile’s myTouch4G. This US-only handset hit the stores running Froyo and it hasn’t been updated since.

myTouch logo

This update is an unofficial release based on a leak, courtesy of JoelZ9614 and faux123 on the XDA forums. So the good news is that even if you decide to skip it, T-mobile is probably going to make an official release in the near future. Read more »

Sony details the state of the PlayStation Network in hack aftermath

by 802 comments

Earlier today, Sony’s VP Kazuo Hirai, (formerly in charge of Sony’s PlayStation division) headed up a conference from Sony’s HQ in Tokyo, Japan. The conference was held to address the current situation of the PlayStation Network, the online infrastructure employed by PlayStation 3 owners to play games online, communicate with friends, view PS3 specific content and shop.

Kazuo Hirai from Sony

The PSN service was recently taken offline after hackers compromised the system and have possibly stolen personal user data including user’s names, addresses, passwords and bank information being accessible to the attackers. Sony have since disconnected the PSN and the service has been offline for more than a week. Read more »

Samsung drops the Social Hub Premium Update, disappoints Wave users

by 1,189 comments

Samsung recently published a notice on their Samsung Social Hub Facebook page stating that the Social Hub Premium update will not be coming to the Samsung Wave S8500. Social Hub Basic is Samsung’s standard interconnecting messaging and communications infrastructure found on their premium Android and Bada handsets such as the Galaxy S II and the Wave II.

Samsung Wave S8500

The basic version offers support for ActiveSync support for email, Gtalk and Yahoo! Messenger IM functionality and integrated calendar and contact syncing abilities. Read more »

Market Analysts crown Apple the PC Market kings

by 634 comments

Independent tech market analysts Canalys have crowned Apple the kings of the current Worldwide PC Market which has undergone a 7% market increase as of Q1 2011, fueled primarily, by tablet growth.

Apple sit among the top 5 companies responsible for this positive growth based on market shares accounting for 187.9% increase in growth alongside HP, Acer, Dell and Leonovo (who were the second largest contributor to the growth with a 17% contribution to the overall result). Read more »

New NIKKOR 50mm F1.8 lens with a built-in auto focus motor gets officially announced

by 322 comments

The lens that was eluded to nearly a fortnight ago is now here to stay. Nikon have officially drawn the curtain back on the new AF-S NIKKOR 50mm F/1.8G lens.

AF-S NIKKOR 50mm F/1.8G lens

Other than its shiny new-ness, the 50mm F/1.8G can pull off some interesting tricks. With the inclusion of a dedicated Silent Wave Motor the lens can promise quiet auto focusing on all Nikon bodies and at the same time, instant access to its manual focus capabilities. Read more »

Nokia showcasing phone NFC capabilities at WIMA 2011

by 494 comments

One of the latest additions to a smartphone’s arsenal seems to be the implementation of NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC is a short-range wireless communication technology that enables the exchange of data between devices over about a 10 cm distance. It’s an evolution of RFID and manufactures have been keen to see its use in phones with example like the Google Nexus already sporting an NFC chip.

Nokia C7's at Wima 2011

Demos have already been seen using NFC enabled handsets to make payments or as digital ‘tickets’, but at WIMA 2011 Nokia have brought a slew of new uses to the table (including unlocking secret Angry Birds levels…).

Mark Selby, (VP Sales and Industry Collaboration) fronts the video below showcasing the interesting new ways in which Nokia want to use NFC. Read more »

Next Dell Streak and set of Windows 7 tablets leak

by 6 comments

Dell has leaked some specs to go with their leaked roadmap from February. The Dell tablet family is getting some new additions each with its own different personality.

Dell leaked tablet road map

The 10″ Streak Pro should be released as soon as this June, sporting Android Honeycomb, Dell’s Stage 1.5 UI and an Nvidia Tegra T25 chipset along with 2 mics and 2 cameras. Following up is the larger 13″ Latitude EX-3; a convertible lap-tab that comes with the option of an i3, i5 or i7 processor, 4GB of RAM, support for full 1080p output, a various slew of peripheral options and all on Windows 7. Read more »