Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Phones Review

Phones Review

HTC Thunderbolt Release Date 3/17 Subject To Change

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:54 PM PDT

There seems to be a great deal of emphasis being placed on the latest rumoured release date for the HTC Thunderbolt, with an email reportedly giving the much sought after date as the 17th of March, St. Patrick’s Day of course.

According to an email which fell into the hands of the Android Central guys the email showed an equipment update schedule along with updated device launch info that shows the HTC Thunderbolt scheduled for launch on the 17th.

However if you look closer at the email and as the guys have stated that date is “subject to change,” as shown in the image below. So although it appears the Android 2.2 Froyo touting smartphone could release on St. Patrick’s Day it could also not.

Then again, as my colleague Lawrence reported earlier, the word is Best Buy is also touting the HTC thunderbolt release date as the 17th, but on the flip side Best Buy have also touted earlier release dates for the Android device.

So the big question remains, will the HTC Thunderbolt actually come out to play on St Patrick’s Day? The answer to which is only Verizon and HTC know, and at the moment they aren’t telling. Still there is still a little time for the Big Red to make that official announcement, unless of course that 17th release date changes.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Another Weird Commercial

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:42 PM PDT

I’m not too sure what Sony Ericsson is playing at when it comes to touting the first PlayStation phone, namely the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but they seem to have some kind of fascination with weirdness involving the amputation of body parts.

The latest Sony Ericsson Xperia Play commercial, is just as weird as the first commercial, and this latest one comes our way courtesy of the guys over at Slash Gear and runs for just over a minute without so much as a sniff of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play making an appearance.

According to the video a guy meets a woman and she spends the night and when he wakes he finds she has stolen his thumbs, cut to the Android robot gliding along and close up of it bending a thumb.

Does Sony Ericsson think we should all go out and cut the thumbs off people so we can user the PlayStation phone? I’ll leave you to hit that play button and check out the latest weirdness for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

HTC Thunderbolt March 17 Release: Best Buy Stocks

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:49 AM PDT

Well here we go again, the latest rumours on the release date of the HTC Thunderbolt smartphone on Verizon.

Now according to the guys at droid-life.com, customers that have pre-ordered the HTC Thunderbolt are being called and emailed by Best Buy with the 17 March being the expected release date of the phone. However, apparently they are also telling customers that they will call back later in the week, so they can set up appointments. Now this indicates that they may not be sure that the release will take place this Thursday.

Yet again more rumours and speculation over the HTC Thunderbolts’ actual release date. See my previous post dated 4 March 2011 here and my colleague James’ post earlier here, relating to this issue.

There is also more information circulating that the HTC Thunderbolts’ status at Verizon Wireless’ distribution centres has changed to ‘quantity in stock’ from ‘quantity on order’. However, still no closer to knowing the release date, as no date is attached.

Why can’t someone just step up to the plate and give us concrete information on the release date of this smartphone?

Lastly, a Verizon agent has apparently spread the word on Twitter that the 17 March is indeed the release date, again not sure how bona fide this information is, so don’t take it as gospel. See earlier post done by my colleague Mark regarding ‘Facebook & Twitter messages’, on this subject.

If you have any comments regarding this ongoing saga, please enter them below in the comments box.

Amazon To Exclusively Offer Angry Birds Rio for Android

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:59 AM PDT

When the multi-platform game Angry Birds launched on the Android platform the successful game was offered for free and subsequent versions and updates have also been free via hitting up the Android Market, but not with Angry Birds Rio apparently.

According to an article over on Engadget and by way of Androinca, the Amazon Blog has announced that Angry Birds Rio for Android will be offered exclusively by the Amazon Appstore.

Here’s what the Amazon Blog says…” More traffic, more customers! The Angry Birds franchise has been downloaded over 100 million times – the Android installed base is over 30 million. When we launch the Amazon Appstore, we will be teaming with Rovio to drive those customers to the store – which means more traffic to the Amazon Appstore and more customers for you.”

But what does that mean to the everyday Android user that looks forward to the latest Angry Birds on Android? Does this mean Angry Birds will no longer be free to the Android faithful, and what about the Android Market surely the game has to come to the official place for grabbing Android apps sooner or later?

Will you be getting your fix of Angry Birds for your Android device if the only way to get it is to purchase it from the Amazon Appstore, or will you simply forget about Angry Birds and move onto some other free mobile game?

iPhone Snatched By Top Gear Presenter Clarkson

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 08:10 AM PDT

I can understand celebrities getting the huff when they are out for a meal and fans go up to them asking for an autograph, but when a fan snaps a few pictures on their iPhone it doesn't necessarily invade on the celebrities privacy; however apparently Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson thinks otherwise.

According to an article over on Gizmodo and by way of Drive, Clarkson was out with co-host James May at Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons at a casino in Melbourne when fan Michael Garner decided to grab a few pics of the celebrity with his iPhone.

Apparently Clarkson took umbrage to this and snatched the iPhone from Garner threw it across the casino and ended up giving Garner some verbal ending with the two being separated by Top gear Australia host Shane Jacobson who was dining with the other two.

Here’s what Garner said to 3AW, a Melbourne radio show… “He then got up out of his seat while I wasn’t looking, because my back was to him, grabbed the phone out of my hand, threw it over to his table where one of the women grabbed it. He went back to his seat; I got up to get my phone back – went over and asked [the accompanying woman] for it back. She handed it to me, and in the meantime Clarkson has stormed over and ‘shirt-fronted’ me – he’s virtually put his chest up to mine.”

Apparently Garner wasn’t the only person at the restaurant taking pictures of the celebrities, but Clarkson singled Garner out for some unknown reason, and Clarkson didn't even offer an apology for his actions.

So there you have it, no taking piccies of the Top Gear mouth with your iPhone, perhaps Clarkson has something against the Apple iOS smartphone that cause him to throw his toys out of the pram.

Apple iPad 2 Gets Jailbroken Already

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 07:12 AM PDT

One would have thought that Apple would have come up with a way of halting hackers from jailbreaking their gear by now, and would at least expect the latest iOS tablet to have been more difficult than previous Apple gear to jailbreak but apparently this isn’t the case.

The word doing the rounds is that the Apple iPad 2 albeit only just released has now been jailbroken according to an article over on The Inquirer, and apparently iPhone hacker Comtex has demonstrated Cydia on the Apple iPad 2 with a video which can be viewed by visiting Redmond Pie.

The news of the Apple iPad 2 falling prey to a jailbreak apparently came via a tweet by @Comtex, which said…” would’ve had it yesterday if I didn’t have to spend 1.5 days looking for a replacement exploit (which came from a most unexpected place…)”

@chpwn tweeted the above image with…” by @comex: http://t.co/osP6lz” the link of course sending you off to the image on Yfrog.

Just where that unexpected place was Comtex hasn’t said, but the guys of the iPhone Dev Team congratulated Comtex by tweeting…” Congrats to @comex for jailbreaking yet another brand new device (iPad2) while 2500 miles away from it!”

Thus it would appear that not only is Apple failing in the jailbreak cat and mouse games against hackers, hackers are becoming a whole lot quicker at breaking Apple’s famed iOS although the jailbreak has not yet been released.

Apple iPad 2 Takes On Original iPad In Comparison Video

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 05:31 AM PDT

So have you already purchased your new shiny Apple iPad 2 or are you still sitting on that fence debating whether to upgrade from the original iOS tablet? Well we have a comparison battle video below that may help you decide.

The Apple iPad 2 takes on the Apple iPad video comes our way courtesy of Jon Retinger over at Technobuffalo and delivers a pitted battle between both Apple tablets over twelve minutes.

The comparison video pits the new white 32GB Apple iPad 2 on Verizon up against a 32GB Apple iPad on AT&T and takes a look at how both iOS tablets fare when it comes to such things as loading web pages, opening apps, and how well that iPad 2 A5 processor does against the iPad A4.

So which one comes out the champion in this family battle? You’ll just have to make the jump and slap that play button to find out, and feel free to let us know if you agree with the outcome…enjoy.

Android Honeycomb Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Introduced on Video

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 05:01 AM PDT

The latest piece of tech coming out of the Sammy stable is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which of course if the larger version of the original Samsung Galaxy Tab, and today we have a little video introduction footage of said Android tablet for your viewing pleasure.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 into video comes our way courtesy of the guys over at Android Central and by way of Android HD and is apparently a world exclusive first video test of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Although it has to be said there’s nothing really new in the footage but it does give you a nice look at the Android 3.0 Honeycomb touting tablet doing the rounds on the streets of Paris and touts all the goodness offered by the device such as…

A 10.1 touch screen obviously, 8 megapixel camera, full HD movies, ability to surf Flash websites, email pushed to the users phone, Gmail, Google Voice Search, pinch and zoom, 1GHz dual-core processor, video chat, and all in twelve minutes of close up footage.

So with that said I’ll stop there and let you head on down to check out that intro video. All we need now is to find out just when we are likely to see the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hit the streets and at what price…enjoy.

Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi Model Release Date and Price Revealed

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 04:32 AM PDT

The Android faithful are probably aware that Sammy is working on a WiFi only version of their Samsung Galaxy Tab, but up until now there was no word on just when the Android community would see the WiFi 7-inch tablet; however that has now changed.

According to an article over on Android Central, the guys over at Droid-life have come into possession of an advertising flyer, which touts the WiFi only Samsung Galaxy Tab as becoming available on the 4th of April.

Price wise, the flyer also reveals that the Samsung Galaxy Tab WiFi model will command a price tag of 399 bucks, which isn’t that bad a price although one does have to consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab is still playing along with Android 2.2 Froyo.

Of course that means if Android tablet users want Android 3.0 Honeycomb then they’ll probably go for the Motorola Xoom or other honeycomb device as there is no word from Samsung if or when the Galaxy Tab range will be boosted to the tablet centric OS.

Apple iPad 2 Experiencing Light Bleeding Problems: Video

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 04:10 AM PDT

So now that the next generation iOS tablet is finally out in the field as it were, it appears that the Apple iPad 2 isn't as super-duper as one first expects as apparently some of the tablets are having light bleeding problems.

Apparently some users have noticed a “yellowing” on the Apple iPad 2 display although apparently this problem is expected to resolve itself according to Phone Dog; however a bigger problem has come too light and that is light leakage around the iOS tablet’s display.

The light bleed problem has been captured on video, which we have for your viewing consideration below courtesy of the I am phones YouTube page, that is more noticeable when viewing dark images and apparently varies from device to device.

However according to Phone Dog, user that have encountered this issue have been able to lessen the problem by making the display brightness lower. Apparently Apple hasn’t come forward to acknowledge the Apple iPad 2 light leakage problem as yet.

So head on down, hit that play button and check out the footage, then check your own Apple iPad 2 and feel free to let us know if you are experiencing the same issue to a degree.

Motorola Xoom WiFi Model Release Date And Price Revealed

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 03:08 AM PDT

For those that are waiting for the release of the Motorola Xoom tablet in its WiFi version to hit the streets a little info has popped up on the net revealing the possible release date and asking price for the Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet.

According to an article over on Ubergizmo the guys over at Droid-life have come across a flayer for Staples touting the device, which places the WiFi Motorola Xoom, release date as the 27th of this month.

Price wise though, the WiFi version of the Motorola Xoom may be a tad pricier that first rumoured as according to the flyer the asking price at Staples anyway is $599.98, which is somewhat more expensive that previously the touted price of $539 a while back.

So will you be purchasing the Motorola Xoom WiFi version from Staples or will you be shopping around so you can get the Android tablet cheaper? The big question remains though and that is if the Motorola Xoom will stand up to the Apple iPad 2.

iPhone 5 Wont Have NFC Apple Tells UK Carriers

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:55 AM PDT

There has been quite a bit of speculation over the next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5 and one such rumour was that the iPhone 5 may come out to play sporting Near Field Communication technology, but that rumour now appears to have been laid to rest.

According to an article over on 9to5 Mac, UK online newspaper The Independent is reporting that Apple has told the largest of their UK carriers that the next iPhone wont come with NFC.

According to a source “close to the discussions”… “The new iPhone will not have NFC, Apple told the operators it was concerned by the lack of a clear standard across the industry.”

However, that said, there could be a chance that NFC will come to the iPhone at some point in the form of Apple’s own NFC service sometime next year as the reports says…” Apple is understood to be working on its own NFC proposition, which would link payments through iTunes. It hopes to introduce the technology in a handset likely to be released next year.”

So if true then it would appear that wave and pay NFC tech wont be supported in the iPhone 5 but possibly in the iPhone 6. But let’s be honest, the lack of NFC with the new iPhone 5 wouldn't be a deal breaker would it?

White iPhone Available In Spring Confirms Schiller

Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:28 AM PDT

Well now that we’ve seen the Apple iPad 2 become available in white, one would presume that Apple has overcome their problems making white gear, which should mean that finally Apple will be able to make good on their promise of the white iPhone 4.

And according to an article over on Engadget it would appear that Apple’s senior vide president of global product marketing, Mr. Phil Schiller, is in agreement and has apparently tweeted so…

Twitter user @stefanetienne picked up on a tweet where someone asked… “how do I get a white iPhone” and in reply Schiller tweeted back… “Hi Eric. The white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!).”

This tweet kind of put the confirmation stamp on a report that hit the net a few days ago, which claimed that the white Apple iPhone 4 is expected to ship sometime in April, which you can read (here).

Thus it would appear that the white iPhone 4, a product that has seen more delay and coverage than surprisingly the HTC Thunderbolt, looks as it may hit springtime, just when in springtime remains a mystery, but one could say that Schiller has confirmed the device will eventually end up in the public’s hands.
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