The BlackBerry PlayBook is on its way out – as far as 7” tablets are concerned, the Google Nexus 7 is getting all the attention, after it stole the spotlight from the Amazon Kindle Fire. But a good deal is a good deal – the 64GB version of the PlayBook is currently going for £129 in the UK.

For comparison, a Nexus 7 8GB costs £159, while the 16GB one is £199. Somewhat amusingly, a 16GB PlayBook is £129 or even £169 in some places. Read more »

A tipster just sent us some really interesting gossip – Samsung is working on a Galaxy S III-based point-and-shoot camera. The convergence device – called Samsung Galaxy S camera – features the trademark 4.8″ SuperAMOLED screen and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (no info on the chipset though).

Yes, it does sound a bit too good to be true, but let’s dream for a moment and here what our tipster (who has proven reliable on previous occasions) has to say about this camera he claims to have seen with his own eye two weeks ago. Read more »

Microsoft is pushing hard to unify all its products. Metro – um, sorry, Modern UI/Windows 8 UI – is permeating everything from the smartphone OS, desktop OS, Office, Xbox and now even the company’s logo.

The old logo is probably quite familiar to anyone who has used a computer in the last 25 years. No, that’s not an exaggeration, it’s how long the old logo had been in use. Read more »

Asus-made Google Nexus 7 tablet isn’t doing too good a job at sneaking quietly around Europe after its official UK launch. First, Asus themselves broke its cover by posting on their Asus Italy Facebook page that the 16GB version will launch in early September at €250. Now, the Jelly Bean tablet has been spotted in France and Germany too.

French site Fnac is already taking pre-orders for the Nexus 7 and it seems that Asus is setting up a corner in a Berlin store. Oddly, all sightings so far have been of the 16GB version. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE in South Korea is getting updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the update brings along a number of goodies. Up until now, the Super AMOLED-packing tablet was running Android 3.2.

The update brings the usual round of performance improvements, better multitasking and face unlock. Also, the native data tracker feature are a welcome update to keep track of that LTE data usage. Read more »

The iFixit guys have no mercy – the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 couldn’t even go a week before being torn to pieces for the greater good. It didn’t put up much of a fight (and that’s a good thing) as there are only a few Philips screws and clips standing in your way when you need to open the tablet.

From then on things are pretty easy to detach. There are some oddities (the vibration motor is hooked up to the microSD card slot assembly), but the front and back cameras are separate components, so you can swap them out one at a time. Read more »

The new Motorola RAZR family has a long distance runner in its family – the RAZR MAXX. The phone isn’t new and we’ve already reviewed the CDMA version for Verizon and the GSM version of the regular RAZR, but Motorola pushed out the ICS update about a month ago, so we thought we should put it through our review routine.

The Verizon version has been our battery test champ for quite a while now and no phone seems like it can dethrone it. We will, of course, do a battery test on this one too, just to check if there are any differences, but that will come later. Read more »

Google Voice search is great, but if your language isn’t supported you have to make do with English and hope it recognizes your accent. Well, with the latest update, Voice search should work for 100 million new users across Europe in their mother tongue.

Google supported 29 languages up until, but now 13 new ones are joining the list for a total of 42 languages and 46 accents. Here go the new additions: Read more »

We’ve seen our fair share of tough Android phones, but there are rugged Android tablets as well, like the Fujitsu STYLISTIC M532. It’s a 10.1″ slate powered by Tegra 3 and running Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The STYLISTIC M532 has been MIL-STD-810G certified, so it should survive rough transport, work in low and high altitudes, temperatures and humidity along with drop and dust resistance. Read more »

Sony is expanding the number of other manufacturers that will produce PlayStation Certified devices. First was HTC (announced at E3) and now at gamescom they announced that Asus and Wikipad are joining the fold.

Sony announced that PS Mobile will be coming to Tegra 2 and 3 devices early last year. Read more »

Microsoft is gearing up to launch Windows 8, a version that marks a significant departure from previous incarnations in that it supports ARM processors. The Redmond-based company is quite excited about what it has achieved with Windows 8 RT (that’s what the ARM version is called) and the kind of hardware it and its OEM partners have designed.

One of the biggest advantages of ARM over Intel or AMD made x86 processors is energy efficiency. Windows 8 RT was designed to reduce power usage to capitalize on that, but also allow for smaller batteries, which in turn means thinner and lighter gadgets. Read more »

The recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will cross the English Channel and will arrive at Samsung’s Westfield Brand Store in Stratford (which, coincidentally, is where the Galaxy S III debuted in the UK) this Thursday.

The Samsung Mobile UK tweet that announced this didn’t mention anything on the pricing, but there are a few retailers accepting pre-orders for the slate already. Read more »

Recently a DLNA certification revealed that the Sony Xperia LT30i ‘Mint’ will be called Xperia T. Now, XperiaBlog reports that the Sony Xperia LT29i ‘Hayabusa’ will go by the name Xperia TX. The close naming of the two phones makes sense, considering how similar their specs are. Plus, the Hayabusa has already launched in Japan as the Xperia GX.

An Xperia Tablet is also laying in wait in the rumor mill, though some EXIF info from a photo uploaded to Picasa reveals that won’t be it’s final name either. Read more »

The term “Metro”, describing Microsoft’s new user interface design gained popularity starting with Windows Phone 7 after its Zune HD beginnings. It really grew into prominence when it became the UI style for Windows 8 and now, not long before its scheduled late October launch date, Microsoft renamed it.

A leaked memo was the first sign that the name “Metro” is on the way out, supposedly due to copyright concerns. “Windows 8 style interface” was suggested as a replacement, but Microsoft may have settled on a simpler name. Read more »

Google’s Nexus 7 is a milestone in Android’s development, so we were all over it when it came to our office. The Nexus lineup lays down the development direction for Android gadgets in general and Jelly Bean that debuted on this tab is quite interesting indeed. Unlike some previous Nexus gadgets, the Nexus 7 will probably gain a lot of traction with consumers making it even more important.

The Nexus 7 packs a Tegra 3 chipset, a 7″ LCD screen with WXGA resolution and a highly competitive price. Read more »