Unlocked HTC EVO 3D now just 249 GBP from ASDA

Let’s say you live in the UK and want the HTC EVO 3D – you can check out that cool deal with a two-year carrier contract we talked about 10 days ago. Or you may want an unlocked device, sans any commitments toward mobile operators? Good news – now you can get the glasses-free 3D screen-equipped smartphone from the online wing of ASDA, which is selling it for 249 GBP (about $388).

It’s a true bargain, considering the European version of the EVO 3D was announced only 6 months ago. Actually it’s amazing how quickly smartphone prices drop these days, something all of us love.

Aside from the mentioned 4.3-inch 3D display, HTC’s baby also comes with two 5-megapixel cameras on the back (for recording 3D video), front-facing camera (for video calls), HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS, Bluetooth, an array of sensors and a microSD memory card slot.

So what do you say? Like the deal? If so proceed to this page where you’ll get all the details.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: 3D, Android, Asda, EVO 3D, HTC, SIM Free, Smartphones, Unlocked

Posted in Android, HTC, Smartphones | No Comments »

HTC Sense 3.0 update to hit older phones

The HTC Sense user interface experience is something that is better for you to experience for yourself, than to rely on wordsmiths conjuring up adjectives while singing its praises and merits. After all, with Android being an open platform, it makes perfect sense for phone manufacturers to tweak the operating system with their own take in terms of interactivity – Samsung has their TouchWiz UI, so why not HTC with their vaunted Sense? It seems that HTC’s Sense 3.0 update is being prepared for a port over to older HTC handsets, the HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD in particular, letting you enjoy an enhanced unlock display, newer widgets, and the ability to access settings control directly from the notification bar among others.

At the moment, only unlocked HTC handsets in the UK will be on the receiving end of this update, although we would not be too far off the mark to say that HTC is working to deliver HTC Sense 3.0 to branded handsets across the rest of Europe and in the US in due time.

Article: RSS via UberGizmo

Tags: Android, HTC, HTC Sense, SIM Free, Smartphones, UK

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Nokia: Lumia 800 will be available SIM free on 16 November

EXCLUSIVE: Will go on sale

Following the news of a Clove report stating that it won’t be getting any SIM free stock of the Nokia Lumia 800 until 2012, and therefore neither will the rest of the industry, Nokia has set the record straight saying, well, the complete opposite.

“The Nokia Lumia 800 goes on sale on the 16th of November as we stated during the launch at Nokia World. There are some rather odd stories circulating at present, it’s rather flattering as it proves that there are a lot of people who believe the Lumia 800 will be a major sales item and are now trying to get it onto their shelves.

“However for the rollout of our first Lumia products, we have chosen to work with the UK operator and retail partners who shared our enthusiasm and commitment to bring these first products to market with a major focus on bringing alive the Nokia with Windows Phone experience for consumers. Therefore we are making sure that by using these channels the Lumia 800 will be available to our customers in the widest variety of outlets from SIM free to contract.

“We have also worked extensively to train these channels to support the product. From Q1 next year we will be supplying the product to our wider UK distribution network and in the interim we will be supporting these additional channels with training ready for this wider reach.”

Turns out Clove just isn’t one of those key parties. It said in a statement on Tuesday:

“It’s bad news on the Nokia front this afternoon unfortunately. We can now confirm that the Nokia Lumia 800 will not be available SIM-free in the UK until January 2012, although it will still be launched in the UK on November 16th with a contract and will be available from selected stores.

“This is a real shame as we’re seeing massive interest in the first baby from the Nokia/Windows Phone marriage and we’re expecting it to be well received when it does launch. We will be contacting customers that have pre-ordered by email shortly.”

Our bet would be to get it from one of the network operators with or without SIM. You can read our thoughts on the new Nokia phone in our Nokia Lumia 800 review.

Tags: Lumia 800, Nokia, SIM Free, Smartphones, UK, Windows Phone

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Viewsonic V350 Dual Sim Smartphone now in stock at Expansys

A few weeks ago Viewsonic announced the dual sim V350 Android phone. It has a very basic spec and it runs Android 2.2, but it can use two sim cards at once. Oh and it’s cheap (£244.99 inc vat). Below is the spec for the phone.

• Dimensions (mm): 60.9 x114x12.45 mm
• Weight: 125g
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7227 600Mhz
• WAN SIM (GSM/WCDMA Band)
  SIM 1: GSM Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS Band 900/2100
  SIM 2: GSM Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900
• RAM: 512MB
• ROM: 512MB
• Operation system: Android 2.2
• Display (resolution): 3.5” (480×320) TFT, capacitive multi-touch screen
• External storage: Micro SD (up to 32GB supported)
• Camera: Autofocus 5MP (rear)
• Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR
• WIFI: 802.11 b/g
• 3G speed: HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Video: 30fps WVGA encode/decode
• I/O ports: 3.5mm audiojack/micro USB (device)
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Sensor: Gravity sensor/E-compass sensor/ambient light sensor/proximity sensor
• Data Sync: Micro USB
• Battery: 1400mAH with hard-packed Li-Polymer, charged via mini-USB
• Multimedia playback:
  PIC: JPEG/GIF/PNG/BMP
  Video: H.263, H.264 AVC, MPEG-4 SP
  Audio: AAC LC/LTP, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced AAC+), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis, PCM/WAVE
• Documents: EPUB/TXT/HTML/RSS/OFFICE/PDF viewer

So your probably not blown away by the specs that are almost identical to the old HTC Hero. But don’t forget it has two sim slots! This is a feature that only Viewsonic seem to have decided to use. It would be ideal to have your personal sim and your work sim in one phone. Personally I would go round the bend having my personal sim in such an underpowered phone. But hey that’s just my opinion. This may appeal to quite a few people as back in the days of Windows Mobile 6 there were a few dual sim phones that were fairly sought after. I would like to try one of these out to see how it handles phone calls ie work calls and personal calls and also the data element as the second sim slot is gsm only so no high speed data on sim 2. So is this right up your street? Do you just carry around two phones? Would you like to see this feature on more devices? Let us know.

Link to Expansys

Article: RSS via CoolSmartPhone

Tags: 3G, Android, Android 2.2, Dual-SIM, GSM, SIM Free, Smartphones, UMTS, Viewsonic, Viewsonic V350

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HP Pre3 hits Palm Europe SIM Free for £299

A couple days back the support page for the Pre3 from HP hit the Orange website in Europe. There was no mention of when the phone would land though and how much it would cost. We still don’t know what Orange will be offering the Pre3 for, but we do know what Palm Europe is selling the device for now. The Pre3 is up on the Palm Europe website for £299.

That price gets you an unlocked SIM free smartphone. The smartphone has 8GB of internal storage. The device is listed on the page as being available and ready to shop within two days. There are also reports that the Pre3 is shipping in the UK via Box.co.uk for £349.98 and that Clove has the smartphone listed for £360.

An official statement from HP has confirmed the device to be available and shipping. The statement hints that the smartphone will land in the US soon as well. How quickly soon will come is up to the imagination. I would think with a support page on Orange and other retailers confirming the Pre3 is shipping Orange will be fessing up soon too.

Article: RSS via SlashGear

Tags: HP, Orange, Pre 3, SIM Free, Smartphones, webOS

Posted in HP, Orange, Smartphones, webOS | No Comments »

Nokia X7 now up for pre-order

Nokia announced that their first phones to ship with Symbian Anna out of the box – the E6 and X7 were already on the way from the factories to the distributors last week. Well now are you ready to get your hands on the phone? The entertainment-centric X7 is now up for pre-order in the UK, Germany, Italy and China.

In case you forgot, the X7 packs a 4″ AMOLED display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, an HD-enabled 8-megapixel camera, Flash support, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It comes preloaded with a couple of games (Galaxy on Fire HD and Asphalt 5 HD) as well as apps to fulfill your social networking needs. The X7 will set you back $654 (£399.00) off-contract. A bit pricey considering how these will probably be one of the few last Symbian handsets to be released by the company. The Nokia X7 will be shipped out to customers by the end of June.

Article: RSS via UberGizmo

Tags: 8 Megapixel Camera, AMOLED, Bluetooth, Corning Gorilla Glass, GPS, HD, Nokia, Nokia X7, SIM Free, Smartphones, Symbian, Symbian Anna, Wi-Fi

Posted in Nokia, Smartphones, Symbian | No Comments »

HP Pre 3 Pre-Orders Open In Europe, Available Late June

While HP’s webOS-powered Veer has just arrived in the States, it’s beefier big brother, the Pre 3, is taking its good old time. We’ve seen what looks like both an AT&T and a Verizon-equipped Pre 3 get their FCC certifications, but haven’t heard just when the smartphone might go up for sale. HP’s site for the Pre 3 says that there’s “planned availability this summer”, but just when and where? The first signs of upcoming Pre 3 sales have surfaced, with the German version of Amazon now accepting pre-orders for the smartphone.

You can place your order now for the Pre 3, which Amazon.de says will be available as of June 30. The off-contract smartphone will set you back the equivalent of about $640. For that money, you’ll be getting a phone powered by a 1.40GHz Snapdragon, with 512MB of RAM, a 3.58-inch WVGA display, and 8GB of storage; we haven’t found the 16GB version of the phone up for pre-order yet.

According to the FCC docs we saw, the Pre 3 may usher in the next decimal revision of webOS, with version 2.3 noted as present on the evaluated model. What changes will the update have in store? We should know for sure in a little over a month. Hopefully by then, we’ll also have word on when the smartphone will be introduced into other markets around the world.

Article: RSS via Pocketnow

Tags: Amazon, AT&T, HP, Pre 3, SIM Free, Smartphones, Verizon, webOS

Posted in HP, Smartphones, webOS | No Comments »

O2 UK now offers Samsung Galaxy Ace for free on a 10.50 GBP per month contract

Although the Samsung Galaxy Ace has been available for free from few British operators, all of them required a bit expensive plans with the phone purchase. No more, with O2 asking for just 10.50 GBP a month! That, of course, requires a two-year commitment, but then again the same was true even with plans costing 25 GBP a month.

Anyway, that 10.50 GBP gets you 50 minutes and 250 text messages per month. No data is included and you’ll have to pour out additional 3 GBP a month to get 100 MB, 6 GBP for 500 MB, or 10 GBP for 1 GB. Even with a single gig per month — which is more than enough for basic surfing and emailing — that’s 20.50 GBP, i.e. less than 25 GBP a month.

The SIM-free price remains the same and it’s 229.99 GBP, which we think is just about right for a device as capable as the Galaxy Ace…

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Android, Galaxy Ace, O2, Pay Monthly, Samsung, SIM Free, Smartphones

Posted in Android, O2, Samsung, Smartphones | No Comments »

HTC Flyer hits UK pre-order status at £600, comes with 3G and 32GB of storage

The one Android tablet that isn’t riding NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual-core chip and Google’s Honeycomb iteration (but might still be worth buying) has this weekend become available to pre-order in the UK. The Carphone Warehouse is listing a £600 ($983) fee for owning the HTC Flyer, which is more or less a match for the €669 price Amazon.de is offering to German slate lovers. In exchange for a dozen rose-tinted notes with the Queen’s face on them, you’ll get a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 display, encased in an aluminum unibody case and powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip. HTC’s Sense UI has undergone some tablet-friendly tweaks and there is of course that Scribe stylus to flex your artistic muscles with. 3G connectivity and 32GB of storage flesh out the Flyer’s hardware offering, while the underlying Android Gingerbread OS is promised to get a Honeycomb-flavored update, most likely some time this summer.

Article: RSS via Engadget

Tags: 3G, Android, Android 2.3, HTC, Sense UI, SIM Free, Tablet PC's

Posted in 3G, Android, HTC, Tablet PC's | No Comments »

Nokia E7 UK pre-orders open: Will you stick with Symbian?

When we first copped the Nokia E7 QWERTY smartphone back in September, we were blown away. It’s one of the most beautiful, astoundingly designed phones we’ve ever seen. You’d have thought then, that today’s news that it’s up for pre-order in the UK at long last would be cause for celebration. The thing is, with Nokia dumping Symbian for Windows Phone 7, is there any point investing in it any more? You tell us, right here.

Head on over to Nokia’s UK online store right now and you can pre-order a Nokia E7, either on a £35 per month contract on T-Mobile or Vodafone, £469 Pay As You Go or £499, for delivery in late April. That wait itelf is galling, especially since the Nokia E7 is shipping internationally already, but what we want to know is if you’ve been lusting after this metal beauty with a 4-inch AMOLED screen, do you still want it, knowing that Nokia is all but giving up on Symbian as a smartphone OS?

Last month, Nokia announced its earth shattering plans to switch to Windows Phone 7, but since we’re not expecting the first Microkia phones until next year, that’s a long wait in between, and Nokia is still hoping to sell plenty of smartphones in the meantime.

The good news is we’re expecting our own Nokia E7 review unit imminently, so you can expect a full verdict long before then. Will you be buying? Let us know in the comments.

Article: RSS via Electricpig

Tags: Nokia, Nokia E7, Pay As You Go, SIM Free, Smartphones, Symbian, T-Mobile, Vodafone

Posted in Nokia, Smartphones, Symbian | No Comments »