Author: Shinychris
Orange and T-Mobile announce merger
Orange and T-Mobile have confirmed they are to merge to create the UK's biggest mobile phone company. Orange, owned by France Telecom, and T-Mobile, owned by Germany's Deutsche Telecom, have decided to merge in order to minimise potential conflict with the UK's strict competition regulation bodies.
Vexia Econav saves money/planet
Here’s a sat nav with a difference. The Econav 435 from Vexia claims to be able to reduce your fuel consumption by up to a third.
Available in September for £169 it works by telling you, in real time, the most economical and ecological way to drive, saving you up to £400 a year on your fuel bill and also reducing the amount of amount of CO2 you produce when driving.
Vodafone Free Friday – for internet and email access.
Orange has its Orange Wednesdays where you can get free cinema tickets etc. while this Friday Vodafone customers is offering a free day of browsing the internet and picking up emails (unfortunately not a free day of calls!)
Dubbed ‘Free Friday’ (but of course) the normal 50p daily flat rate will be waived from 12.01am to 23.59pm on Friday, 28th August.
Customers don’t need to do anything to qualify for Free Friday, just click on Vodafone Live or the browser icon in the menu of their phone to get started on the day. To personalise your mobile internet experience simply by setting up My Page by texting ‘web’ to 2888 – the service that lets you pick and choose your internet favourites. Or you could send links to the sites you visit most often straight to your phone by logging on to
vodafone.co.uk/freebrowsing
Nokia lets you send money via your mobile
Nokia is to launch Nokia Money, a new financial service that will enable mobile owners access to basic financial services. By making a voice call or sending an SMS you will be able to send money to another person just by using their mobile phone number. You will also be able to pay merchants for goods and services, pay utility bills, or recharge prepaid SIM cards (SIM top-up). The services can be accessed 24 hours a day from anywhere.
Sony adds two more models to Reader line up
Sony is extending its eBook line up with two new models. The Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition will both be available to pre-order from tomorrow (26th August) from Sony.co.uk and Sony Centres.
The Reader Pocket Edition sports a 5inch electronic paper display packaged and is available in rose pink and silver finishes. It can store approximately 350 standard eBooks and provides up to two weeks of reading on a single battery charge.
Nearly half now share digital images via social media
An online survey, commissioned by Blurb.com and carried out by YouGov, found that 44 per cent of respondents now share their digital photographs using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Of course the trend is particularly prominent amongst 18 to 24 year olds, where 83 per cent share their images on social media websites, while only 19 per cent of people aged over 55 do the same.
The survey also found that there is a growing trend for people to use creative online services to transform photos into real, personalised products, to keep, share, and give as gifts. Almost half of those surveyed stated that they would prefer to make a hard copy photography book from their snaps (coincidentally this is precisely the service that Blurb offers, handy that).
Nokia adds a splash of colour with 5230
Following on from the announcement yesterday of its first laptop PC , it’s back to business as usual with a new mobile phone launch.
The latest addition in the Nokia touch phone portfolio, the Nokia 5230, is designed for music, photos and videos, as well as calls and texts of course. With the Nokia 5230 users can get content from the Ovi Store, directly to their phones. Also on board is A-GPS navigation and the latest version of Ovi Maps with aerial images, 3D landmarks for over 200 cities and terrain map views for pedestrian and drive navigation.
Nokia announces Booklet 3G, a mini 10inch laptop
In a departure from its usual mobile phone product launch, Nokia has announced a Windows based mini-laptop PC, the Nokia Booklet 3G. Powered by an Intel Atom processor, the Nokia Booklet 3G promises up to 12 hours of battery life.
Weighting just 1.25 kilograms and measuring slightly more than two centimeters thin, it offers – as you might expect – a broad range of connectivity options, including 3G/ HSPA and Wi-Fi, giving users high speed access to the Internet, including Nokia's range of Ovi services
IKON digital radio with colour touch screen/iPod dock
Here's a gadget that claims to be the first multi-format digital radio with built in colour touch screen.
Dubbed the REVO Ikon it certainly seems to offer plenty of facilities including DAB, DAB+ and internet radio – as well as conventional FM radio with RDS. Where available, colour station logos, station descriptions, track and artist information, news headlines etc. are displayed on the device's 3.5inch colour screen.
Monitor Audio's unusual Airstream digital radio
British company Monitor Audio is probably best known for its high-quality, hi-fi speakers but here's a DAB radio which stands out from the crowd – even the PR described it over the phone as the 'marmite' of DAB radio. You'll either love it or hate it.
Dubbed the Airstream 10, it certainly looks interesting, though I'm not sure how practical it would be in the kitchen – kind of looks like it will topple over.
