Tag: mobile
The lowdown on the HTC Magic – pricing, release dates and contract info
We’re eagerly awaiting the Vodafone HTC Magic, which is basically the G2, so that there’ll be a little more choice in the Android chunk of the mobile phone market. The G1’s all well and good, and I like it more the more I use it, but evolution – even if it removes the lovely keyboard – is good too.
The HTC Magic will go onsale in the UK on the 1st May. Before that, you’ll be able to pre-order the handset from the 17th April, though I’m thinking that it’s fairly unlikely there’s going to be queues around the block, so you’ll probably be able to get one on the day itself.
It’ll be only available on an 18 month contract for £30 a month (totalling £540). That’ll get you 600 minutes, though, as well as “unlimited” texts and “unlimited” emails. Those will have some sort of crappy and overly restrictive fair-usage limit, no doubt. I hope Vodafone’s prepared for G2 users to hit that internet limit.
(via UK Gadgeteer)
UPDATED: BlackBerry Storm II due in September
Although we weren’t massive fans of the BlackBerry Storm when it arrived in our office, we’re still pretty excited about this rumour. Sources suggest that RIM will be releasing a second iteration of the touchscreen BlackBerry in September this year.
One of the biggest failings of the original Storm, aside from the horrible touchscreen, was that it didn’t support Wi-Fi. The new version apparently will, which will make BlackBerry fans happy. If you ask me, though, they’ve got a long way to go before they can reach the user experience delights of Nokia or Apple phones or the G1.
(via SlashGear)
Sony Ericsson announces W205 and S312 entry-level phones
Are there really many people left entering the mobile phone market these days? Or is “entry-level” just another phrase for “cheap and low-spec”? Sony Ericsson’s just dropped us word of a couple of new “entry-level” phones that it’s bringing out in the middle of this year.
First there’s the W205, which is probably the snazzier of the two. It’s a Walkman phone, which means that it’s got some music-y features (though not a 3.5mm headphone jack). There’s an FM radio, a track identification system, as well as a fully-featured MP3 player with shuffle, loop, album art, playlists, etc.
It’s also got a 1.3-megapixel camera, memory card support – which you’ll need if you want to add music to it – and a 1.8″ screen. It’s 96g and measures 92 x 47 x 16.4 mm. It’ll be available in Q2.
Then there’s the S312, on which the biggest feature seems to just be that it’s got a dedicated video camera button. There’s a 2-megapixel camera, and a few photo uploading tools, but this really isn’t a seriously cameraphone, especially as the claimed 2.5X zoom is entirely digital. Anything taken at that level of zoom is going to look awful.
Again, there’s memory card support, a 2″ screen, and it comes in two colours – dawn and silver. It measures 100 x 46 x 12.5 mm and weighs 80g. It’ll also be available in Q2.
Sony Ericsson
Spotify is three years old, hints at future plans
Our favourite digital music service, Spotify, is three years old today. That seems like a lot, considering we’ve only been able to use it in the UK since October, but in that short time it’s already completely changed the way I listen to music on my PC, and made me listen to a much wider range of bands too.
To celebrate the anniversary, as well as the 40th birthday of founder Martin Lorentzon, the company has put up a blog post that talks (in somewhat vague terms) about the future direction and plans for the company.
There’s a lot of hints in the blog post about mobile devices – something that the company hasn’t been keeping very secret. Intriguingly, though, the company also mentions set-top boxes, IM, and social networks as future directions for expansion.
Spotify mentions, too, the possibilities of enhanced social features and pre-release content for premium users – something that could drive greater takeup of the subscription service. That gets interesting in the comments section – with several people saying that if the fee was halved, then they’d pay it. I wonder if they’d get twice the takeup if they chopped the price in half.
The most exciting bit, though? The closing sentence of the post – “We plan to have more detailed information for you in the next few weeks, stay tuned”. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on that being the iPhone application that we revealed in February, a leaked video demo of which is posted below.
Spotify Blog
Burberry to launch phone handset?
It appears that Burberry will be launching a handset, following a promotional image leaked from a factory in China. The handset appears to be of clamshell design and features the iconic burberry design.
Specs are unknown at this point, though you wouldn’t expect the bPhone to be high-end. I’d guess a 2MP camera, bluetooth, and T9 text input, as well as a couple of hundred MB of onboard storage. No release date for now.
Will WiMax or LTE win out?
EDGE, 3G and HSDPA are all very well, but what will the next jump in technology be for wireless internet? There are two competing technologies – WiMax and LTE. Which one is likely to win the race in the UK?
WiMax is based on Wi-Fi, and doesn’t require a SIM card for usage. Its benefits are that it’s an open standard – anyone can create the gear required to use the technology without paying license fees. That means the tech can be up to half as expensive as the equivalent LTE tech.
LTE, on the other hand, is based on the existing 3G network technology. In fact, LTE stands for “The Long Term Evolution of 3GPP”. Its advantages are that it’s well-understood by carriers, and when a device is out of range of an LTE signal, it can drop back to a 3G or 2G service. LTE’s currently a little faster, too, but that difference should be addressed by the ratification of a new WiMax standard later this year.
In the last year or so, Motorola’s been trialling an LTE service, but there are already commercial WiMax deployments out there. As a result, WiMax has an early lead. But given how entrenched many operators are in their love of 3GPP networks, we’ll soon be seeing more of that. In fact, Motorola’s already testing an LTE network.
What’s eventually likely to happen, however, is that laptops and netbooks will rely on WiMax (thanks to lower prices and enhanced compatibility) and LTE will take hold on mobile devices, just because it’s easier for operators to continue working how they do now.
So I reckon it’ll be a draw, and both technologies will have their own places in the next 5-10 years. Bit of a cop-out, perhaps, but there you go. What’s your opinion? Drop us a tweet at @techdigest letting us know exactly how wrong we are.
Twice as many Brits email on the iPhone than any other smartphone
Stats from Comscore have revealed that 75% of UK iPhone users access their email on their phone – more than double the average for smartphones. The news kicks dirt in the eyes of critics who don’t like the onscreen keyboard.
60% of iPhone users accessed news on their device, compared to 15% for mobile phone users, and 37% of iPhoners have downloaded a game, compared to just 5.6% of regular smartphone owners.
Lastly, some demographics. 75% of iPhone owners are male, and most are between 18 and 44. That’s not too different to other smartphone owners, 65% of whom are male. Comscore cautions those who are calling it the next big thing, though – only 2% of British mobile phone owners have an iPhone.
(via Macworld)
BlackBerry launching TV streaming application?
Rumours abound that BlackBerry will be launching a TV streaming service next week that’ll let users watch their favourite episodes of TV shows from their handsets.
There’s scarce detail other than that, but it seems like it’ll be a flat-rate subscription per month for a service, it’ll use a device’s Wi-Fi connection, and multiple content providers have been confirmed.
Given BlackBerry’s current keenness on applications, this announcement wouldn’t be out of kilter with their overall strategy. It’s interesting that they’re avoiding 3G, relying on Wi-Fi instead. Just think of the shows as video podcasts, I suppose, and it all makes sense.
(via NewTeeVee)
Sony Ericsson T707 as seen on Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is endorsing the Sony Ericsson T707. The handset is essentially a fairly fancy feature phone with a 2.2-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera (with a zoom of the same number) and the real selling point appears to be that it lights up in a different way depending up on who calls you.
The T707 has a battery life of up to 400 hours standby and 10 hours talk time, and you can do so over both the GPRS and HSDPA networks. There’s a fairly generous 100MB of internal memory but they’ll chuck in an M2 memory stick for your real storage solution.
The phone will do all the basic e-mail, uploading to the web and MMS that all feature phones just about manage these days. It measures 93mm x 50mm x 14.1mm, weighs 93g and can be yours’ as well as Maria’s’ on any network very soon.
Sony Ericsson
Plans for mobile reception on the tube abandoned
Do you remember March 2007? What stands out in your mind about it? If the answer to that question is "why, that's the month TfL announced they'd be trialling mobile phone reception on the underground of course", then prepare to be disappointed.
Two years later, they've decided it's not going to happen. Quite why it took so long is anybody's guess, but the reasoning can be helpfully pinned onto everyone's favourite excuse: the perilous economy. A TfL spokesman explained: "While it is technically possible to deploy mobile phone and data wireless solutions on the deep level Underground tunnels and stations, the unique nature and environment of the Tube mean that project costs would be prohibitively high at this time."
