AutoTrader have launched a new app for the Apple iPhone called the Autotrader iPhone App (UK version) that allows you to capture a picture of a licence plate which is then scanned in by the application to find the make and model of the car. Once done you have access to details on that particular model of car such as how it performs as well as reviews.

Another cool option in the application is the ability to scan through local listings of used and new cars that match the make and model allowing you to find a car nearby.

As well as being able to find reviews, performance details and new/used cars in the local area for sale, the application also gives information on how much the car costs on average around the area. [Read more…]

For those using TomTom on the Apple iPhone, the software has just received an update today taking it from version 1.2 to 1.3. New features included in the iPhone TomTom 1.3 package include HD Traffic updates, better integration with the phone and iPod functions of the device.

“Among the many enhancements in the latest version of the app, TomTom’s comprehensive traffic offering gives users dynamic, real-time information that helps them avoid traffic delays and find the fastest routes. It makes the TomTom app for iPhone even more useful in our daily lives.”

[Read more…]

Digitimes have said that HTC have started shipping the CDMA version of the Google Nexus One phone to Verizon. Although it’s shipping to the carrier it is believe it wont be going on sale till either late March or sometime in April.

As well as shipping the Nexus One to Verizon, HTC are also about to ship the phone to Vodafone as well.

No specific dates are known for the Verizon or Vodafone launches, but with both carriers it is expected to be late March or April. [Read more…]

The bad news has finally been confirmed by Microsoft [MSFT] saying that the HTC HD2 will NOT be able to get a Windows Phone 7 Series upgrade. This was kind of revealed last week, but not through an official channel.

For a few months there were a few hints around from various HTC Twitter streams as well as some information from Adobe forums indicating that the HD2 might be getting the update, but just last week some information was put together showing that the HTC HD2 doesn’t meet specific hardware requirements that Windows Phone 7 Series demands.

In particular Windows Phone 7 Series devices much have three physical buttons on the front of the device, the HD2 has five buttons. Also other restrictions within the hardware (nothing confirmed technical wise) is believed to be another factor. This could include the graphical capabilities of the device not being up to par. [Read more…]

According to the YouTube video linked below, the iPhone 4G could be called the Apple iPhone HD. The Youtube user who uploaded the video says “New iPhone HD ad from Apple” in his comments although from what we see it seems a little fake to be honest.

If Apple were to design the new iPhone to look like this it would be the first major shift to a different design since the original iPhone was launched. Since launch the only changes that have been made to the device are making it a bit thinner as well as a few other slight changes on the casing. Other than that it’s almost the same.

Although I don’t personally believe it’s the next gen iPhone I do believe some of the features seen in the video could well be included in the next generation iPhone. [Read more…]

If you thought a physical keyboard was the only way to tap out a text message on a phone then think again.

Youtube user konceptzoflife successfully managed to tap out a message at an impressive 83 words per minute which is quite amazing if you ask me. The test was done on an Apple iPhone running some software called iTextSpeed to put the words on the page which are then typed in as fast as possible. [Read more…]

As well as launching the HTC Desire in April, Vodafone are also going to ship the HTC Legend. The Legend is another Google Android OS based device. Like the Desire, the Legend also has a 5 megapixel camera although the screen is slightly smaller measuring 3.2 inches.

The phone has built in WiFi, Bluetooth, HSDPA and 3G connectivity.

Just like the Desire, the Legend will start shipping in April with no set date known yet. [Read more…]

Vodafone have listed the HTC Desire on their online store and given it a tentative shipping date of April. Vodafone are the 3rd network in the UK who are going to be shipping the HTC Desire with the other two being T-Mobile and Orange at the moment.

The HTC Desire runs the Google Android OS, has a 5 megapixel camera and a large 3.7 inch touchscreen. For connectivity it has WiFi, HSDPA and 3G as well as Bluetooth. [Read more…]

The Opera Mini 5 browser (in beta) has launched for Google Android based handsets. The Android OS version of the browser aims to run quicker than the regular Android OS browser built in. To achieve this the Opera Mini 5 browser uses Opera’s servers that are used to cache files ready to be downloaded. I guess you could say it acts as a proxy in between and each time a page is requested the server makes the image smaller and compresses the HTML making the data needed to be downloaded a lot less, thus a faster transfer.

The only downside is that images do download at a lower quality although you can change settings to balance speed over quality. [Read more…]

We are hearing today that Apple [AAPL] are working on their latest iPhone OS numbered 4.0. The new OS still has a way to go before being launched, but it seems like multitasking is going to be included for 3rd party apps. Currently there are a few apps built by Apple that can multi task such as email and iPod to name a couple.

The current OS 3.x does multitask, but 3rd party apps are prevented artificially for various reasons such as security. If they open it up there could be problems with applications accessing other applications etc…

Other problems caused with multitasking are to do with memory assignment and battery life. When applications are loaded up there has to be some communication between apps on what memory allocations can be used. Also battery life suffers having to handle the extra CPU load. [Read more…]

Verizon are going to be launching 4G services starting sometime in the middle of 2011. The new LTE handsets will have data connections that run faster than 3G and be capable of giving users fast access to file downloads on streaming video.

Devices that could use the services were on show at CES this year, so there’s already interest in this area by phone manufacturers. One of them at the show was an NVIDIA device that could decode 1080p which would be ideal for fast access. [Read more…]

Last week we heard that AT&T were getting rid of Google apps from their Android based phones, in particular the Motorola Backflip that was going to be using Yahoo! search instead.

We are now hearing that Google apps are now being replaced by Motorola to other phones and that a new global alliance with Microsoft [MSFT] has been formed that will bring MS Bing services to their Android powered phones. The switch will give users a choice rather than restricting them to just one search and mapping feature.

“We believe that consumer choice is one of the most critical components to ensuring a rich and seamless client experience,” said Christy Wyatt, corporate vice president of software and services, Motorola Mobile Devices. “Motorola and Microsoft have enjoyed a longstanding collaboration and the addition of Bing services to our Android-based smartphones in China is another important step in empowering our end-users.”

[Read more…]