AT&T will Unlock All Phones except the iPhone

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

AT&T [T] has agreed to unlock all phones that are supplied to customers following a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit requires that all phones now be unlocked by the carrier. The agreement doesn’t require the iPhone is unlocked under the same rules though which are explained below.

When customers purchase a new prepaid handset, the handset is unlocked immediately when confirmation of proof of purchase is made. Those who get a phone on contact can have their device unlocked after 90 days of service. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

Dell Streak Heading Exclusively to O2 in the UK

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

O2 has announced that the Dell Streak will be exclusive on it’s network in the UK.

The new device is being made available on O2 both in store and on-line as well as at the Carphone Warehouse and later on next month at Dell. A US launch of the Streak will happen later this year.

The Dell Streak is a 5 inch Android tablet that has 3G connectivity built in allowing users to be online anywhere. The Android based device allows users to keep in touch, check email, browse social media apps as well as play media. With the device having a 5 inch screen it makes it portable enough to carry around, but larger than a phone making it more comfortable to use. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Laptops

LG 84 Inch 3DTV gets 3840 x 2160 Resolution

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

LG has given details of a new 84 inch 3DTV that uses UHD (ultra high definition) to keep images looking crisp. The screen has an impressive 3,840 x 2,160 resolution and is the biggest of it’s kind. There is no price tag on it, but expect to pay easily in to 5 figures for a TV like this.

As well as showing off a huge 3DTV, LG also are working on something the company calls “liquid lens” that allows 3DTV to function without the use of glasses. No details of exactly what Liquid Lens is and how it will work are known just yet.

IPS technology is also being pushed at the SID 2010 event where a 47 inch HDTV was seen as well as a 32 inch pro monitor and a 9.7 inch smartbook each using IPS technology to give a crystal clear image. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Displays

Apple iPad – UK Stores Open at 8am on Friday 28

May 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The Apple iPad launch is just a few days away here in the UK. For those who didn’t pre-order and are going to be queuing up, Apple [AAPL] has decided to help out a little by letting you queue an hour less. Today, the company announced that Apple stores will be opening an hour earlier at 8am rather than 9am.

It isn’t known how much stock is available in each store, so it’s hard to judge if you need to be there early or not… as in begin queueing the night before for example. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB now $97 at Wal-Mart

May 25, 2010 by 2 Comments

Wal-Mart is dropping the price of the 16GB Apple iPhone 3GS down to $97 starting today. This move is expected due to the release of the newer unannounced/leaked Apple iPhone 4G that should be launching next month.

By dropping prices, it is expected that the retailer will clear out most of it’s remaining inventory to make way for the next generation device.

The new price knocks around $100 off the previous price which was $199. To get the 16GB 3GS at $97 you need to enter a two year agreement with AT&T. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones

iBooks for iPad Now Available for Download in UK

May 25, 2010 by 2 Comments

Update: iBooks has been removed from the UK store. Perhaps they are rewording the text that says it’s US only. We suspect it will back today or tomorrow.

In preparation for the launch of the Apple iPad, Apple [AAPL] has made the iBooks app available for download in the iTunes store in the UK. The application was uploaded today to the store and can be downloaded now. The only requirements are that you obviously need an iPad to run it on, but also that you are running the latest version of iTunes. If you are on an older version of iTunes, you cannot download it unless you download it direct on the iPad.

For those unfamiliar with iBooks, the application allows users to download and read books on the Apple iPad. The software has a UI that allows you to flip through pages with a swipe or tap on the screen and allows you to bookmark favourite pages.

When loading the application up you are presented with a bookshelf where you can select the book you want to read. The eBook store can found when tapping a button where the bookshelf rotates around to the back to reveal books you can buy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

Apple Confirms Steve Jobs Keynote 10am June 7 at WWDC

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Apple [AAPL] has confirmed that Steve Jobs will deliver the keynote address at WWDC at 10am June 7. The keynote will kick off the five day event that will be held in San Francisco.

It is expected that Steve will announce the new iPhone 4G (or whatever name it will get such as the iPhone HD for example). The press release can be found below. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Sky Mobile TV iPad App Launches – £35/Month Wanted

May 24, 2010 by 4 Comments

The Sky Mobile TV app has been updated to now work with the yet to arrive Apple iPad in the UK. On Friday when the iPad launches, users will be able to stream Sky news and sports content to their iPad over the internet connection (WiFi and possibly 3G).

When using the iPad app you get access to 6 channels although those using the app on the iPhone or iPod touch get 8 channels. The downside is that to have access to the service, you need to cough up £35/month.

What is Sky Mobile TV on the iPad?

– Watch 6 live channels (Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4, Sky Sports News and Sky News)
– Enjoy our new high-quality iPad streams (Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports News & Sky News only)
– New interface allows you to continue watching whilst browsing the 24-hour channel guide. [Read more…]

Filed Under: iPad

HP Battery Recall – 54,000 Laptop Batteries Recalled

May 24, 2010 by 1 Comment

54,000 batteries are being recalled by HP after problems with them have been identified.

The recall follows a similar programme put in place a year ago and comes after HP “received 38 additional reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured resulting in 11 instances of minor personal injury and 31 instances of minor property damage” since then.

The batteries that have the problems were installed in laptops and sold between August 2007 and July 2008. Also, some batteries were sold alone through the same time period. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Tech News

Team 64GB SDXC Card

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Team is about to launch a new SDXC card that has an impressive 64GB capacity.

SDXC cards are fairly new to the storage scene and follow along the lines of SD cards in that they have the same form factor, but also have capacities of up to 2TB in size.

Speed wise, the Team 64GB SDXC memory card achieves a 30MB/second read speed. With that amount of storage it makes it possible to store 136,000 high resolution pictures. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Seagate has announced the launch of the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive. The Momentus XT combines a mixture of a regular hard drive and SSD storage to create a fast hybrid storage solution.

The system uses what Seagate call Adaptive Memory technology that allows the drive to deliver SSD performance. The SSD chips can hold 4GB of data which is filled by the more commonly used files such as operating system files, programs and data. By moving them to SSD it allows fast access. As your computer usage changes the technology adapts and moves the new files to the SSD portion of the drive.

The Momentus XT can be used in regular laptops and the drive system runs completely separate to the drivers making it far easier to integrate with a system. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Computer Gadgets

Apple iPhone Might Also Land on Sprint This Year

May 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Persistent rumours about Apple [AAPL] and the AT&T exclusivity contract ending have been circulating for a few weeks (or even months now). In particular, Verizon [VZ] has been the other phone carrier that is said to be getting the iPhone. We now hear that Sprint [S] might get the iPhone later this year also.

In the “totally unlikely to come true” department, yesterday I was told that Sprint will be getting the iPhone this summer. You heard that right, while rumors have long pointed to Big Red getting the iPhone this year, never has it been mentioned that Sprint would be selling the iPhone. I can’t believe this is true, although the source has been reliable in the past and does work for Sprint.

Since this time, we had also heard similar rumblings from a Sprint-connected source that Sprint was going to be readying for the iPhone later this year. Likely in the September timeframe — placing it in the same timeframe as Verizon rumors.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cell Phones