Jun 27
While the Samsung Galaxy S II remains the top selling phone in the UK, there is one major feature missing from it. The support for NFC. Well those who have not bought a Galaxy S II as of yet should be glad to know that Samsung is working on an NFC version that will be coming to the UK soon.
The tentative date is scheduled for June of this year but we would not be surprised if Samsung missed said launch date as NFC is still being rolled out and will not be completely ready until later this year. This news will probably receive a mixed reaction from Samsung fans. The extra functionality NFC provides is certainly welcome, but there are bound to be a few people who’ve already picked up an S II without the NFC chip who are disappointed not to have receive NFC support with their phones.
Mobot has quoted a representative from Samsung who said: “Regarding your query, kindly note we have received a confirmation that the Near Field Communication ‘NFC’ version of the Galaxy S II should be available in the UK by June 2011.”
Source: Mobot
Feb 07
This is something we’re not too surprised about, but news is being released that British mobile service provider O2 will be launching a new mobile service which is basically a mobile wallet payment application that will support Near Field Communication (NFC). The plan is to have the service and application live within the second half of 2011.
The service provider revealed the plans for the e-money system and their plans to get a license from the Financial Service Authority this year. Thanks to such a license, O2 would be able to offer person to person money transfers between its customers.
Currently, Google’s Nexus S supports near-field communication which allows devices within a close proximity to communicate information. It has also been widely rumored that the upcoming iPhone 5 will support the feature. The iPhone 5 is said to be coming to AT&T and Verizon in the United States and Vodofone in the UK.
Coupled with the payment system and application, O2 would position itself as a leader in NFC technology allowing users to tap their phones in order to make payments. This technology has been touted by many analysts as the biggest revolution in payment systems since the credit card came out decades ago.
O2 has gone ahead and formally trialed it’s NFC payment system using a Nokia unit. According to the carrier, after much trial and testing, the company was confident that now was the right time to move ahead and that it would be a success.
Of course, that is yet to be seen, but with major companies such as Verizon, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Google, LG, Samsung and others getting behind the technology, its adoption could move a lot faster than expected and we could begin seeing multiple implementations before the end of the year.
Source: PCR
Dec 23
Are you really interested to get hold of a Google Nexus with Android 2.3 Gingerbread? You better hurry up. Officially out of production, Google Nexus S is generating rave reviews in the market following on from the Google Nexus One. And stocks are limited.
According to reports from the Carphone Warhouse stocks are extremely tight this season. The customer interest generated since the news of the price slash is already more than expected. And the stocks at both the stores of Carphone Warhouse and Best Buy UK are pretty limited. And the competition, as expected will be high. So you better act fast if you are truly interested in checking this product.
The Carphone Warhouse reports that all its branches would be taking orders via instant ship delivery. This will allow customers to purchase the new item at any of the stores of their convenience.
The new reduced price of the Google Nexus S is definitely attracting customers’ interests. There have been no exact reasons explained as to what has led to the reduction in the price. The original price of the Nexus S was £550 and being too steep a price tag was cause of concern of poor sales suggestion. Perhaps, that prompted Google to this move to revise the price making it more customer friendly.
The Carphone Warhouse is happy to announce the sales of Google’s new smart phone at this attractive price of £430. Customers will be able to buy the Nexus S phone from Google only from the Carphone Warhouse and Best Buy UK stores. The revised price is definitely going to make the handset more tenable. According to confirmation from the Carphone Warhouse sources, all those customers who have pre ordered the Nexus S are going to get the benefit of the offer.
So if you are planning to pick your Google Nexus S this holiday from the nearest Carphone Warhouse or Best Buy UK stores you better get cracking, since official reports suggest that stocks are limited the competition will be high.
Nov 01
Where else would you announce a smartphone like the Nokia C7 but at “Nokia World” ? It has a great screen and great looks to match. Get a closer look at the Nokia C7 here in this informative article.
Nokia did not scrimp on features with the Nokia C7 smartphone. It has the superior AMOLED display that uses less energy yet provides a brighter picture than the older LCD format. Nokia gave it 360 by 640 pixels of power and their special Clearblack treatment to make using the C7 an enjoyable experience. It has both an accelerometer and a proximity sensor for convenience. The size is three and a half inches, the same as the iPhone. There is no manual keyboard for the C7.
On uppercrust smartphones from Nokia, a user can usually find some nice wireless features. This C7 has all the Wi-Fi modes as well as EDGE, GPRS, bluetooth and 3G. It also has a stereo FM radio and transmitter. What would use that transmitter for ? It comes in handy when carrying the C7 in a car. Broadcasting music to the radio prevents having to use a cable connection. To top it off, the bluetooth is up to version 3.0 which is ten times faster than older versions.
The Nokia C7 is sporting the Symbian^3 mobile operating system. It is the most popular mobile operating system in the world. It is a spinoff from S60 and comes with the powerful Ovi Maps turn by turn system for free. The C7 is the second smartphone from Nokia to use the Symbian^3 system. The N8 flagship handset was the first.
The camera on the Nokia C7 is one notch under the reigning champion, the N8. It is eight megapixels in power and is packed with features. It is high enough in quality to produce high definition video in 720p format. Nokia was generous and also gave the C7 a front-facing secondary camera for video calling. You can now pick up a Nokia C7 on contract or for around €335 euros up-front.
Oct 07
While other Android smartphones are only now about to offer users with an upgrade path to the v2.2 Froyo OS, Taiwan’s leading smartphone maker HTC has the new HTC Desire Z with the latest Android v2.2 Froyo along with the Desire HD. Looking like a Desire that sprouted a full QWERTY sliding keyboard, the new Z is only the company’s second Android to have a full QWERTY keyboard after the HTC Dream back in 2009.
Outstanding Multimedia features
Despite being a QWERTY slider and one of the heaviest at 180g, the HTC Desire Z is one of the slimmest slider smartphones with just a 14.2mm profile. The 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen is identical with those used in the new batches of HTC Desire handsets after the company abandoned AMOLED in favor of Super LCD after Samsung failed to deliver the needed volume. They both have WVGA (489 x 800) resolution, 16 million colors, proximity and accelerometer sensors and multitouch input technology.
Its camera sports a 5-megapixel resolution that is now fairly standard on most smartphones and features the same geo tagging, face detecting, autofocus and LED flash. But one thing that stands out is its high definition 720p video recording ability. Entertainment starts with its stereo FM radio with RDS the usual medial players and a 3.5mm headphone jack and A2DP support. You get to store all your multimedia files on either its onboard 1.5 GB user memory or on microSD card up to 32GB.
Mobile Telephony Features
Under the hood is an 800 MHz Qualcomm MDM7230 engine running the Android v2.2 Froyo. Its data and radio connectivity options include a quad band GSM radio on 2G and dual band UMTS on 3G.
Its 2G data speeds has Class 32 GPRS/EDGE while 3G data speeds get HSDPA at 14.14 Mbps and HSUPA at 5.7 Mbps. It has WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA for hotspot internet while local data transfers enjoy Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP and microUSB v2.0. There’s also GPS and A-GPS. You get 9.8 hours of talk time on 2G and 430 hours of standby time from a 1300 mAh Li-ion battery.
Sep 22
When it comes to owning a smart phone, one has to wonder how much functionality is truly needed. After all, with all the hardware and features that can be squeezed into a single handset, there is a limit to how far a device goes from being useful to outright novelty –and tacky. The Nokia X3 Touch and Type is able to keep a convenient distance away from that technological pitfall by sticking to the basics.
Social Networking is Still Key
If there is one thing that really works for the Nokia Touch and Type handset, it is the fact that it combines connectivity with social networking. As much as mobile phones have originally been created for calling and later, for text messaging, it is hard to deny that social networking is the new medium of communication for many people.
First off, the device supports 3G and WiFi –this along brings enough connectivity for users wherever they may be. With the fast and stable connection speeds for both 3G and WiFi networks it is pretty easy to see how this mobile handset will keep users online and up to date.
Of course, the second important factor is the integrated social networking features. The handset brings Facebook, Twitter and instant messaging through Yahoo and Windows Live for users to be able to access instantly from the phone menu.
Better Typing Methods
Typing on the Nokia Touch and Type is a breeze. Initially, one would be a little disoriented at having the 4 column layout as opposed to the usual 4 row set found in regular T9 keypads. But that is not really an issue. Give any user a few moments of using the device and they will be typing out messages pretty fast. Being able to use the resistive touch screen to move around the message also makes editing and scrolling a whole lot faster as well. Of course, Nokia always like to give their customers options, so if you really don’t fancy learning your way around the 4 column keypad, there’s always the Nokia C3 Touch and Type.
Aug 26
They say that the only constant thing in this world is change. True to this notion, the needs of mobile users change from time to time. Luckily, Nokia sure knows how to adapt to this type of dilemma.
Within the past years they have been consistent in providing exceptional mobiles that are able to cater to several types of users. The Nokia C6 is another mobile from this Finnish manufacturer and it is sure to take to the Smartphone market by storm.
Closer Look
The Nokia C6 is another slider mobile from Nokia. At first glance you would notice right away that the design looks similar to that of the N97. However, it is fair to say that it is more compact due its smaller dimensions of 113 x 53 x 16.8 mm. The Nokia C6 slider only weighs 150g which makes it ideal to carry around.
One of the strong features the C6 offers is the TFT resistive touch screen display. It measures 3.2 inches with a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels. It recognizes 16 million colours making any picture look vibrant and lush.
The auto-rotate feature is made possible because of the accelerometer sensor. Therefore you have the option to decide to view the display either in landscape or portrait mode.
The beautiful QWERTY keyboard is positioned under the screen. The space of the keypad is evenly distributed therefore typing should be a lot easier.
Other Functionality
The design of the Nokia C6 is undeniably beautiful but its functionality is equally gorgeous as well. It can be used both in 2G and 3G network. Furthermore it is compatible with Class 32 GPRS and EDGE. This simply means that that the C6’s internet speed is more likely faster than other mobiles out there. WIFI can also be utilized at Hotspot locations for web browsing.
The internal memory is at 240MB and when a MicroSD card is used it can be expanded up to 32GB. That amount of memory will surely allow you to store a lot of songs, games and downloads.
Jul 28
The power of today’s technology –particularly media, is quite immense. Take Apple’s Antenna issue, which they ‘addressed’ a couple of weeks ago with a quick emergency conference that debuted an antennagate song, Steve Jobs’ latest excuses and several allegations about other mobile phones, manufacturers and the phone industry in general with regards to antenna technology.
Before, it would have taken plenty of time before each company would be able to have their say and for members of the mobile phone community to be able to tell each other about individual findings. Now, thanks to the internet, all it takes is a week or even less to get word around.
Anyway, last week was full of official statements and indirect comments from other mobile phone manufacturers disagreeing with Apple. Now a private research company based in Germany, Stiftung Warentest, has announced that the iPhone 4’s antenna issues are unique.
And this is more than just trying to make simple calls on the phone and occasionally touching the handset’s exposed antenna. The German research company has put the iPhone 4 in a serious battery of tests to see how much signal is really lost when the device is touched or held.
According to the results, 90% of signal strength is lost when the antenna is touched. While it is common to lose a certain degree of signal power, losing 90% is just too much. No wonder that that iPhone 4 has a big history of dropped calls even though the device has only been launched recently.
On average, mobile phone users operate in an environment where the signal strength is not perfect. But at any strength well over 50%, one would still expect a smart phone to be functional and even handle a phone call (not minding voice quality that is); to see that Apple’s device will not work unless the actual signals are perfect, than the iPhone 4 is certainly designed with a major flaw.
Jul 27
It seems that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 is really living up to the hype it has stirred earlier this year when Steve Ballmer first showed the world the work in progress last February. Originally, Microsoft announced that the OS would not be ready until the end of the year. However, it seems that the OS has been finished a lot earlier than expected and that there are already reports that it might be released this coming September.
As promised by Microsoft, several handsets that run the new OS will be offered when the system finally comes out this year. This means that users will not only get to try out the new operating system, but they will also have a range of devices to choose from.
While Microsoft did declare specifics for minimum hardware requirements to run the new OS, there are still variations among the different devices –particularly with the form factor. The Windows Phone 7 OS works with three existing device configurations –though so far, type 1 is the most prolific while there are only a couple of type 2 devices available.
Speaking of which, one such type 2 handset is the LG Panther. This Korean made smart phone will be using a slide out QWERTY keyboard as opposed to just being a standard touch screen smart phone. According to the reports, all WP7 devices will have WVGA touch screen displays. Several other manufacturers have been named, among which are HTC, Samsung, Dell, and Asus.
The developer version of the system has already been distributed last week to various developers and testers. According to early reactions to the new user interface, many find that the new direction Microsoft has taken to be quite bold. The design is something that people really love or really hate, which means that it will be having a very specific niche crowd of users despite being made to be an OS for all.
Jul 26
Apple’s signature bumper cases have now become an indispensable companion to the iPhone 4. Considering the reception problems their poor design has caused and the amount of negative press they have garnered recently, Apple is taking a more proactive approach to solving consumer problems.
For those who do not know, they have recently announced that there will be an issuance of bumper cases at no cost in order to improve the performance of the Apple iPhone 4. For any user who has previously bought an official bumper case, a rebate may be applied for at official Apple Store branches, those who remain dissatisfied may still return their units for a full refund within 30 days of purchase.
That being said, it seems that these same bumper cases are no longer available for purchase from the company’s online store. The price displayed has even been switched to zero and a note confirming that Apple is fulfilling their promise to its users is posted at the bumper’s product page:
“iPhone 4 Bumpers are currently unavailable for sale.
Apple will offer a free iPhone 4 Bumper or other select cases to iPhone 4 customers. Details on how to order a free Bumper or case will be available soon on apple.com.”
Also, some of those who have bought a bumper case from the online store have received an email from the company informing them of their respective purchase refunds being processed automatically.
Since the number of iPhone 4 toting customers are in the millions range, Steve Jobs said that Apple’s bumper case supply is not enough to meet the demand. The removal of iPhone 4 bumpers from the online store, along with the production of new cases, seems to be a step in the right direction to make sure everyone is satisfied with their Apple product.
