Asda slashes Samsung tablet price

Discount ‘droid

Will Samsung clear the way for its new, much more svelte 8.9in and 10.1 Galaxy Tabs by selling off the original, 7in model cheap? If it won’t, retailer Asda will.

It is now offering the Android 2.2 Froyo tablet for a mere 300 quid, down, it says, from £437.

Samsung has never made clear the Tab’s base price. Amazon, for instance, says it’s £799 from which the retailer is discounting it to £399, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it outside of eBay.

The entry-level Apple iPad 2 will be priced at £399 when it goes on sale at 5pm tomorrow.

Asda wants exactly £100 less than that.

Tempted? More details on Asda’s website.

Article: RSS via Reg Hardware

Tags: Android, Asda, Galaxy Tab, Samsung, SIM Free, Tablet PC's, Unlocked

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INQ Cloud Touch Android smartphone available for pre-order in the UK for 300 GBP SIM-free

INQ Cloud Touch, the Android-powered smartphone that comes with “deep” Facebook integration, is now available for pre-order in the UK. 299.95 GBP gets you a SIM-free device, 199.95 GBP on Pay as you go, and if you’re willing to sign a carrier contract, you can get the Cloud Touch without paying a single dime upfront, as long as you commit on a two-year 20 GBP a month plan. Carphone Warehouse said the INQ Cloud Touch will start shipping on April 6.

Specs wise, INQ’s baby rocks a 3.5-inch HVGA (480×320) touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, HSDPA, FM radio, 600 MHz processor and a microSD memory card slot. Android 2.2 Froyo is running the show with a specially-designed Facebook application that works on the phone’s homescreen, allowing users to access Friends, Messages, their Wall, Notifications and Places.

Aside from the Cloud Touch, INQ also makes Cloud Q, which is a candybar device with physical QWERTY keyboard that will hit the market at some point in June…

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

Tags: Android, INQ, INQ Cloud Touch, Pay As You Go, Pre-Order, SIM Free, Smartphones

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INQ Cloud Touch gets priced in the UK, still MIA in the USA

We’ve had an affinity for INQ’s Cloud Touch since we Poked and prodded the little device back in February, and now thanks to Carphone Warehouse we’ve got the all important pricetag to accompany the specs. Starting April 6, you’ll be able to pick up the Facebook-ified device in the UK completely SIM-free for £300, or about $486. Not a bad deal for a 3.5-inch Android 2.2 handset with a 5-megapixel shooter and a custom Facebook homescreen. Of course, it lacks the Facebook Buttons of HTC’s offerings, but if you simply can’t wait to be the first person on the block with a Facebook phone you should definitely give the Cloud Touch a peek.

Article: RSS via Engadget Mobile

Tags: Android, Android 2.2, Carphone Warehouse, INQ, INQ Cloud Touch, SIM Free, Smartphones

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Palm Pre 2 hits UK 12 November

HP confirms Brits getting it this week

While the French, thanks to mobile phone carrier SFR, have been enjoying the new Palm Pre 2 for a couple of weeks now, those outside of France have had to look on with steely eyes.

But that wait is soon to be over, says HP.

Hewlett Packard has confirmed to Pocket-lint that the Palm Pre 2, sporting the new webOS 2.0, will be available SIM-free in the UK from Friday 12 November.

Featuring webOS 2.0, the Palm Pre 2 will pack a 1GHz CPU and have a 5-megapixel camera, a glass screen, plus “a sleeker, streamlined design that still gives users the ideal combination of a vivid touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard”.

The new webOS 2.0 is the evolution of the software that was present on the first wave of Palm handsets and brings with it True Multitasking; Just Type, which lets you compose without opening an app; HP Synergy and Exhibition apps, for when your phone is charging and Flash 10.1, Skype, TextAssist, Quickoffice mobile suite and Facebook 2.0.

Article: RSS via Pocket-lint

Tags: HP, Palm Pre 2, SIM Free, Smartphones, webOS, webOS 2.0

Posted in HP, Smartphones, webOS | No Comments »

Nokia C7: Pre-order goes live

Free on contract or £389 SIM-free

It may not be Nokia’s flagship device, but the C7 launch is still a big deal for the under-pressure Finnish phone giant.

You can pre-order now, directly from Nokia for £389 unlocked, or free on £25 a month contracts with Vodafone and T-Mobile. O2, Three and Virgin Mobile will also be stocking the phone soon.

The C7 has a stainless steel and glass chassis, with a 3.5-inch touchscreen. It can shoot 720p HD video, and also has an 8-megapixel camera for your stills.

It runs Symbian^3 and there’s an ARM11 680 MHz processor to power it. Connectivity is via Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth 3.0 and there’s also A-GPS too for navigation.

Pre-installed you’ll find WebTV for TV on the go, and your Facebook and Twitter feeds are on your homescreen, along with one touch access to your email.

Any handset launch is going to come under close scrutiny given the financial reports and boardroom shenanigans that have taken place over the last couple of months over at Nokia HQ.

So how will the Nokia C7 fare? Will it, alongside the other Nokia World 2010 launch handsets, be enough to get the Finnish company back on top?

Article: RSS via: Pocket-lint

Tags: Nokia, Nokia C7, SIM Free, Smartphones, Symbian, Symbian^3

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HTC Desire HD arriving in four weeks

Available to pre-order now for £499, SIM free stock due 11th October. The Desire HD will be widely available on all networks (except O2) from late October.

The HTC Desire HD has a gorgeous, 4.3 inch, AMOLED screen with a resolution of 480×800 pixels. It’s bright and clear with vivid colours, enabling you to enjoy HD movies and media at their very best. The technical specifications of the Desire HD are equally impressive. It has a 1GHz CPU, the latest Android OS and HTC’s Sense user interface. This combination provides an unparalleled experience when using the thousands of apps available from Android Market.

The optical package is superb too. An 8 megapixel camera boasting face tracking, geo-tagging, dual LED flash plus 720p HD video recording. With these specs and that huge HD display, the Desire HD will make most dedicated digital cameras redundant. The media player can handle Xvid movies with SRS surround sound and memory is expandable, to 32GB.

The Desire HD supports HTC’s new cloud-based service, HTCSense.com. The phone can be backed up over the air and it can be remotely locked or wiped if lost or stolen. If you can’t find your phone, HTCSense.com lets you see it on a map and you can make it ring at maximum level, even in silent mode. HTCSense.com is a free service for all compatible devices.

Compare all HTC Desire HD prices

Tags: Android, Deals, HTC, HTC Desire HD, Mobiles4u, SIM Free, Smartphones

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iPhone 4 hits Vodafone Pay-As-You-Go

But, you might be better off going directly to Apple

Vodafone will be selling the 16GB model for £480 and the 32GB for £570. These handsets would be locked to Vodafone so you’re looking at a saving of just £19-£29 if you were to buy one directly from Apple, which would be SIM-free.

So, why would you bother to buy a locked phone when for not much more you could get an unlocked one?

Well, Vodafone is hoping to tempt users with an offer of 12 months free data. Until November 2010, anyone who buys a Vodafone iPhone 4 on PAYG will get 250MB a month of 3G data and 1GB a month of Wi-Fi from BT Openzone.

“Customers asked us to make the iPhone 4 available on pay as you go, offering them a variety of ways to pay for their mobile internet access”, said Mark Bond, consumer director at Vodafone UK.

“We’ll bring in additional options later in the year which will allow even greater flexibility.”

Call costs on Vodafone PAYG are 20p per minute and text costs 10p.

So, if you’re tempted by Vodafone’s offer then Pocket-lint would advise you to have a check to see how much you’re likely to spend based on your previous bills – it might be cheaper to look at O2, Orange or Three’s SIM-only plans and buy direct from Apple.

Update: We’ve spoken to Vodafone and confirmed that there is no minimum top-up or anything like that – in fact you don’t even need to have any credit to make use of the data allowances.

Also, after a year, you will also be able to unlock your iPhone 4 to use it on other networks.

Article: RSS via: Pocket-lint

Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4, Pay As You Go, PAYG, SIM Free, Vodafone

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Android 2.2 now showing on UK Desire’s

If you own a UK SIM Free HTC Desire, then you might want to check your phone for the latest Android update. Android 2.2 is being pushed out via an Over-The-Air (OTA) update which started at the weekend.

Most phones unless you have selected not too will automatically check for updates. To do a manual check go to the settings menu on your phone and click ‘About Phone’ and then ‘System software updates’. In here you’ll see the ‘Check now’ button.

I’ve already received the Android 2.2 goodness on my Desire and have to say I’m rather impressed. There are a few more new apps added to the phone like ‘Flashlight’ and ‘Wi-Fi Hotspot’ which basically turns your phone into a wireless router.

The Android 2.2 update also includes what most people have been waiting for….full Adobe 10.1 Flash Player! Which means you can now view all web content as it was meant to be viewed. I’ve tried YouTube and the BBC iPlayer and they are working beautifully.

If your HTC Desire is network locked and branded then I’m afraid this update is not for you. You’ll need to wait maybe a few more weeks or dare I say it….months to get this update as the networks have to test the software before releasing it too you.

Tags: Adobe, Android, Android 2.2, Desire, Flash 10.1, Froyo, HTC, OTA, SIM Free, Software Update

Posted in Android, HTC, Smartphones | No Comments »

Japan’s NTT Docomo to make all of its cell phones SIM-free from April 2011

Big shake up in Japan’s cell phone industry (100 million mobile subscribers) today: NTT Docomo, the country’s leading carrier (55 million customers), is planning to make all of its cell phones SIM free as early as April 2011 (the start of the new fiscal year in most Japanese companies).

Docomo’s president Ryuji Yamada told Japanese daily The Nikkei in an interview that all that customers will need to do is to simply replace SIM cards when switching to another carrier. The move is a reaction to guidelines released by Japan’s Communications Ministry in June, according to which the country’s leading cell phone carriers (Docomo, KDDI au, and SoftBank Mobile) should “consider” selling just unlocked handsets in the future.

Docomo offers the best cell phone network in Japan, which is why the company has good chances of getting the most out of such a scenario (even though Docomo’s fee plan is also considered to be relatively costly). The company’s stock at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 2,600 yen from Monday to 139,600 yen.

Article: RSS via: MobileCrunch

Tags: Japan, Mobile Phones, NTT Docomo, SIM Free

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