Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet on sale December 4, costs £400

 

Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet on sale December 4, costs £400

Nokia’s first tablet will go on sale next week. The Finnish phone firm has announced its Lumia 2520 slate PC will hit shop shelves on Wednesday, December 4. It’ll cost £399.99, and will be exclusive to John Lewis at first.

We knew the tablet was coming sometime before Christmas, but this is the first we’ve heard of an exact date.

The 10.1-inch slate is equipped for 4G, and has a 6.7-megapixel snapper on the back. Given how impressive Nokia’s smartphone cameras are, we’re intrigued to see how its tablet’s snapper performs.

It also has a 2-megapixel front-facer.

Inside is a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM. Nokia claims its 800mAh battery will give it 11 hours of life before needing a recharge.

Windows RT 8.1 comes as standard, letting you edit Excel, Word and PowerPoint documents, as well as use Outlook. Nokia’s Camera and Video Director software also let you get creative with your stills and footage respectively.

The Lumia 2520 comes in a glossy case that’s white or red, or a matte case that’s black or cyan.

Nokia’s Lumia 1520 also goes on sale next week, on Friday December 6. The 6-inch smartie is the biggest Nokia has ever made, and also the largest ever Windows Phone handset.

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Microsoft Lumia, Apple's big event, Android KitKat, Samsung Galaxy Gear and more:

 

We’re here again at the end of the week, and that means it’s time for your gadget digest! And what a week it’s been, as we’ve been busy bees thanks to the massive IFA tech conference, and there’s been no shortage of top end phones and gadgets showing up from Berlin. Microsoft announced it had big plans for its phone division ahead, Google surprised all with its tasty new name for the next version of Android, Samsung showed off its hot new hardware, while Apple made its next big event official. We’ve got everything you need from this week in tech, and it’s all right here in your gadget digest.

Microsoft snaps up Nokia’s phone business

We’ve heard plenty of rumours that Microsoft has been wanting to make its own Windows Phone for months, but now it looks like its actually happening: the Redmond-based company is buying up Nokia’s devices and services divisions for a whopping $7.2 billion (£4.6bn), while the Finnish company will continue to focus on its technology, mapping and network infrastructure businesses. That means we could be seeing the Microsoft Lumia pretty soon – fancy one?

It’s a phone fiesta!

It wouldn’t be a week in tech without new phones, and we got our eyes on some all-new flagship devices over the past few days. Sony’s revealed its brand new top-of-the-range Xperia Z1 at this year’s IFA expo, which improves on the previous Xperia Z with a huge 20.7-megapixel camera and even faster internals.

Samsung also took to Berlin to announce its latest handset, and phablet fans were not disappointed. The next-gen Galaxy Note 3 is bigger and better than before, measuring up at a huge 5.7-inches, yet manages to be even slimmer and lighter. Along with improved S-Pen stylus features, Samsung’s attached a 13-megapixel camera on the back that’s even capable of shooting 4K video.

That’s not all Samsung had to show: after all the rumours and leaks, the South Korean company officially announced the Galaxy Gear, an Android-powered smartwatch that’ll keep you always connected to your Galaxy device. It’s got a 1.63-inch screen and even comes with 1.9-megapixel camera in the strap, along with plenty of apps to keep your phone in your pocket.

Taiwanese phone maker HTC also had a few new phones to shout out about, which included an all-new range of mid-range Desire devices. First up is the HTC Desire 601, a 4.5-inch Android phone that’s armed with 4G and comes with some of the software smarts of the HTC One. There’s also the HTC Desire 300, the new entry-level device, which packs in a 4.3-inch screen and a nippy dual-core 1GHz processor. HTC also fleshed out its flagship One and One Mini in a new colour: a bright vivid blue that’ll help you stand out of the crowd.

Android and iPhone massive updates officially on the way

Who would have though that Google would be naming its next Android version after a Nestle brand? That’s just what’s happened, as Google’s giving Android 4.4 the title of KitKat – named after Nestle’s famed four-finger treat. That’s not all, as there’s also a Willy Wonka-style competition that’s been woven into actual KitKat bars that could see you win a brand new Nexus 7 tablet or credit to spend in the Google Play store.

Apple, meanwhile, gone and officially made 10 September as the big day for its next event, where we expect to go eyes-on with the all-new iPhone and the rumoured goodies that are set to be on show alongside it. We’re looking forward to seeing what Apple’s got in store, and we know you are too!

IFA’s in full swing!

This year’s massive IFA tech show is currently underway in Berlin, and all sorts of top gadgets have been spilling out of the convention centre halls. Pioneer is rolling out the next-generation of satnavs, which do away with your dashboard mounted GPS unit and instead use augmented reality tech to overlay your driving directions right onto your windscreen.

Smartphone maker Alcatel meanwhile had a few new phones to show off, but what really caught our eye was its new six-inch phone that comes complete with a phone cover that doubles up as an e-reader. The cover accessory lets you read ebooks or newspapers on the go without draining any of the main phone’s battery life, which makes it ideal for the commuter who only has a few pockets spare.

We’re not sure if this is genius or just plain bizarre, but Philips has announced a brand new male grooming trimmer that comes complete with a laser to keep your beard in check right to the millimetre. The Beard Trimmer 9000 is the first laser-guided trimmer in the world, and helps you line up the perfect cut so you’ll be able to craft the ideal five o’clock shadow each and every time.

Amazon and Spotify up your entertainment options

 

Amazon’s Kindles are still going strong, and the online retailer’s aiming to continue its dominance with the brand new Kindle Paperwhite that has an even brighter screen and is even faster than before. The Kindle software has also been given a sprucing up, with upgrades including a new scrubbing mode to let you check other pages, as well as a new children’s mode.

If music’s more your thing than reading, then Spotify’s latest addition will definitely be up your street. There’s already plenty of different ways to stream your music through the house, thanks to likes of Sonos, Pure’s Jongo line and Apple’s AirPlay, but now Spotify’s getting in on the wireless action with Spotify Connect which lets you stream down music from the cloud straight to compatible networked speakers. As everything’s in the cloud, you’ll also be able to pick up where you left off on any of your Spotify devices, so you can come straight home off the train and hit play on your iPad to continue exactly where you left off. Think you’ll give this a spin?

Dead Rising 3 preview

If you’re wanting some undead action in your next-gen gaming, take a look at this preview for the third outing of Dead Rising, exclusively on Xbox One.

www.easyappsbusiness.com

www.tell-me-first.com

Nokia's 41-megapixel monster, more Surface tablets incoming, and more:

 

Nokia's 41-megapixel monster, more Surface tablets incoming, and more: Gadget Digest

It’s the end of the week, and that means it’s time for the gadget digest. Missed some of the week’s top tech stories? Or just fancy a refresher of what’s been going on in the gadget world? We’ve got all the stories you need to know about right here, served up in bite-size chunks for your delectation.

Nokia Lumia 1020: 41-megapixel monster phone unleashed!

Nokia’s 41-megapixel Windows Phone 8 blower was the worst-kept secret in tech, and now it’s official. It looks a lot like standard Lumia fare, until you turn it around and see that 41-megapixel legend emblazoned on the back. That’s the same megapixel count as the company’s previous 808 PureView. With this and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, is the compact camera dead?

BlackBerry A10 leaks: Biggest BlackBerry ever!

BlackBerry has a new phone up its sleeve, though it’ll have to be a pretty wide sleeve to fit this 5-incher in. The A10 – seen here in a leaked snap – is the biggest blower BlackBerry has ever made. But what’s with the screen resolution? It’s reportedly stuck at a paltry 720p, which will pale in the face of the 1080p displays seen on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Must do better, BlackBerry.

Microsoft teases even more Surface tablets are on the way!

Microsoft has let slip that more Surface tablets are coming next year. Updates to both the Surface RT and Surface Pro will be with us soon, the Redmond-based company accidentally revealed in a presentation. So what can we expect? Will they be powered by Intel’s Haswell processors? Will they run Windows 8.1? We’ll just have to wait to find out.

You can play PS4 games on any console!

That’s right, games for Sony’s next console can be played on any PS4. This is thanks to the company’s ‘play as you download feature’. So if you’re round a friend’s house, you can access your full digital library of titles from their console, as long as they have an internet connection, that is. Bonus. Microsoft really has some catching up to do with its Xbox One.

LG’s next-gen G2 gets leaked again!

This week, LG sent out an invite to the launch of its G2 handset, but the mobile has already leaked a couple of times. The latest snap shows it looking a lot like the Nexus 4, with the same rounded corners. And there are no buttons on the side, with the volume controls on the back under the camera. This is one seriously slim mobile, we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

www.tell-me-first.com

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Nokia Asha 501 unleashed: Cut price smartie takes on Android

 

Smartphone? What’s a smartphone now? Meet the brand new Nokia Asha 501, a “dumbphone” running an all new version of Nokia’s low-power, low price Asha operating system. It’s designed to do just about everything that a smartphone can do, but for a fraction of the price. Read on to find out all about it.

At a glance, the Nokia Asha 501’s specs don’t impress: a three-inch touchscreen with a low-res 320×240 screen and 4GB of storage, plus Wi-Fi for jumping online at high speed. But it’s what the Nokia Asha 501 can do with just that that impresses: there are apps for Facebook, Twitter and more, games, even Nokia’s HERE mapping for directions, and WhatsApp is believed to be working on its own chat app for the new platform/

The Asha OS on the 501 has had a big revamp too, with Nokia using the expertise from feature-phone software developer Smarterphone, which it bought last year. The bright, clear homescreens are clearly reminiscent of today’s smartphones, putting contacts and apps at the fore.

One big difference: few of today’s smartphones cost $99 (£63) unlocked and none boast a battery life of up to 48 days. It’s a bold move on Nokia’s part, but one it needs to make as app-packed Android phones get cheaper and cheaper. The Nokia Asha 501 goes on sale in June in red, green, cyan, yellow, white and black hues

www.tell-me-first.com

Mobile World Congress 2013: Every new phone so far!

 

The 2013 Mobile World Congress is currently taking place in Barcelona and as usual, we’ve been gifted a generous helping of exciting new devices to look forward to this year.

All the usual challengers are present, with the likes of LG, ZTE, Asus and Nokia fighting for your attention – although cheeky Samsung is holding its own event on March 14th to announce the Galaxy S4, and has even tried to derail some of its opponents by handing out physical invitations during MWC 2013.

Scurrilous tactics aside, here are the best phones we’ve seen so far.

Nokia Lumia 720

Arguably the biggest announcement from Nokia during MWC 2013, the Lumia 720 slots into the company’s product line just below the 820, and removes the LTE connectivity seen in that particular model. Everything else is pretty impressive, particularly the 6.7 megapixel camera with a f1.9 Carl Zeiss lens. Removeable covers will appeal to fashion-conscious types – you can even obtain a cover which supports wireless charging.

LG Optimus G Pro

After making the popular Nexus 4 handset for Google, LG is on a roll – as this new phone clearly demonstrates. The Optimus G Pro has a gargantuan 5.5-inch 1080p screen, which might cause a bit of hand-strain but will be amazing for on-the-go movie viewing and gaming. Under the bonnet it features brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 technology, which contains a quad core chip running at a cool 1.7Ghz – that’s pretty damn fast in mobile terms. A 13-megapixel snapper and 32GB of storage round things off, making this a fearsome piece of consumer electronics. 2013 should be another bumper year for LG.

Nokia Lumia 520

Nokia is deadly serious about winning the low-cost smartphone sector, and has already impressed with the Lumia 620. The Lumia 520 is a similar proposition and has a 4-inch screen, a five-megapixel camera, dual core processor, 8GB of storage and comes in a range of appealing colours. While it’s not likely to trouble the quad core monsters at the other end of the spectrum, for an estimated price of £120, it should attract buyers on a budget.

ZTE Open

This dinky little blower clearly isn’t taking aim at the big boys, but the fact that it’s the first mobile phone to come with Mozilla’s Firefox mobile OS installed makes it a noteworthy challenger. Aimed at developing markets – which means it could end up here as a budget option – the ZTE Open is worth keeping an eye on, if only to see if the Firefox OS can really take on the likes of Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

Asus Padfone Infinity

The idea of a tablet which also contains a phone isn’t new – Asus has been banging on about the concept for quite some time now – but the latest in the Padfone line is something of a head-turner. For starters, it’s using the Snapdragon 600 chipset which means that quad core power is in play. Secondly, both the phone and tablet are rocking pin-sharp HD screens, which means zero compromise, regardless of which configuration you’re using. With a retail price of around £800 it’s not a cheap purchase, but where else can you get a cutting edge phone and tablet for that kind money?

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Nokia unleashes the super cheap Lumia 520!

 

Nokia has lifted the lid on the Lumia 520 at this year’s Mobile World Congress – and it’s clear that the Finnish giant has its sights set firmly on the budget smartphone sector. Following on from the reasonably-priced and rather excellent Lumia 620, the Lumia 520 offers even more bang for your buck, with an estimated retail price of around €139 (around £120).

Amazingly the Lumia 520 is rocking Windows Phone 8, the latest and greatest version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. It also boasts a five-megapixel autofocus camera, 8GB of internal memory, microSD card support and a 4-inch touchscreen which is so sensitive it even works when you’re wearing a pair of gloves – a prime consideration during those relentlessly frosty mornings.

The handset also has access to the Nokia Music service, which allows users to stream the latest tunes to their headphones for free, and all the usual mapping and navigation tools that Nokia is famous for.

The catch? The Lumia 520 isn’t coming to Europe right away, but will be released in the Far East to start with before trickling through to other markets. However, with those kind of specs and that kind of price, we’re pretty confident it will be worth the wait – and it should make the 2013 smartphone war very interesting indeed.

Is this low-cost blower the one that could transform you from a Windows Phone doubter to a card-carrying advocate? Leave a comment below to let us know.

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Super cheap Nokia Windows Phone coming next week!

 

Mobile World Congress kicks off next week, and rumours are flying about what Nokia’s going to unveil at its Barcelona press event on Monday morning. Now a new report says the Finns are prepping a new, even cheaper Windows Phone for next week.

Reuters reports that Nokia is hard at work on cheaper phones to combat Chinese competitors like Huawei and ZTE who are able to undercut their rivals with low prices – and one of the models on show will be a Lumia running full fat Windows Phone 8.

That’s music to our ears. Earlier this month, we tested out the already super affordable Lumia 620, calling it the best Windows Phone ever – with the same software experience at an even lower pricetag (Below £100, perhaps), we reckon Nokia could be on to a winner.

The report doesn’t say anything about the rumoured Nokia Windows Phone with a giant PureView image sensor, so we may not be seeing the Holy Grail of camera phones in Spain next week – tune in on Monday to find out what we will.

Like the sounds of super affordable Windows Phone

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Nokia Drive: Free satnav arrives on HTC and Samsung Windows Phone!

 

If you’re rocking one of HTC or Samsung’s new Windows Phone 8 blowers, Christmas has come extremely early for you this year. Nokia Drive+ has just arrived for non-Nokia smartphones, so you can start using them as a free satnav. So long, Bing Maps!

If you’re in the UK, US or Canada, Nokia Drive+ Beta should now be showing in the Windows Store. The update gives Samsung Ativ S, Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S owners the same free turn-by-turn navigation and offline map downloads as Nokia Lumia smartphones, so you can use them as a GPS all over the world without racking up a charge.

We’ve long said that the superb Nokia Drive is the reason to buy a Lumia over any other Windows Phone, since it’s far superior to Microsoft’s own Bing Maps, but this release tilts the balance. Suddenly, HTC’s slick designs and the Ativ S’ gorgeous display look a lot more attractive

www.easyappsbusiness.com

Samsung’s iPad mini rival, Nokia strikes back and more

 

CES is just a distant memory now – and that means it’s time once more for new gadgets. They’ve been coming in thick and fast this week, and we’ve been covering them all: read on for the juiciest gizmo highlights right here in your Gadget Digest.

Samsung’s tablet plans

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is just weeks away now, and we’re expecting big things from Samsung at the show, if this week’s reports are to be believed. Not only is Samsung working on a new seven-inch tablet with a shockingly low pricetag to take on the Google Nexus 7, it’s got an eight-inch number on the way too, aimed squarely at would-be iPad mini shoppers.

A new dawn for Nokia

Nokia’s been struggling to adjust to the new world of app-tastic touchscreen smartphones, but it looks like it’s finally found its feet. It’s now making a profit once more – and this week, it confirmed it’s also finally ditched Symbian, the software that made it a giant, and brought it to its knees. We took a trip down memory lane to remember the greatest, most important Symbian phones the Finns ever made.

Samsung Galaxy S4 on the way

Apple’s likely going to keep us waiting until the end of the year for the next iPhone, but Samsung might have something much sooner: rumours are ramping up that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is just a month or two away from launch. Several sources popped up this week claiming just that – and that it’ll come with wireless charging too. Is this your next phone?

Nokia wants you to print your own phone cases! by The Gadget Show

 

Once upon a time, Nokia phones used to have cases that you could click off and change to suit your mood, but most phone offerings have been more set menu than buffet recently. That ends today. While the Lumia 820 already comes in a kaleidoscopic range of colours, Nokia has gone one step further and has released 3D printing files for the phone that lets anyone with a 3D printer quickly knock out their own custom case.

Nokia’s 3D printing Development Kit (3DK) gives you the files and templates to make your own cover for the Lumia 820 – Nokia has also packed in some guides for you to follow, so you can be sure your custom case won’t fall apart when you piece it back together.

Of course, 3D printers aren’t exactly commonplace right now, but their price is falling all the time, and it won’t be long until they start popping up in the home – so all the businesses selling you cases and covers should be very scared by Nokia’s power play.

In the meantime, expect sites like Etsy to pop up with custom Lumia 820 cases for sale. Fancy your own? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

www.easyappsbusiness.com

The 10 most disappointing gadgets of 2012

We’ve looked at the best gadgets of the year that was: now it’s time to look at the most disappointing ones. Read on for our list of the gear we’re most bitter about from the last twelve months. Do you agree? Now it’s worth pointing out that these aren’t necessarily the worst gadgets of 2012. They’re just the ones that didn’t live up to their potential. Without further ado, here’s our list of biggest offenders: Amazon Kindle Fire HD It took Amazon more than a year to bring one of its Kindle tablets to the UK, and when it finally did, it was too late. The similarly priced and sized, faster Google Nexus 7 from Asus was already on sale, with more apps and absolutely no adverts getting up in your grill. If you’re going to tweak Android, Amazon, at least make it better than what Google has to offer to start with. Sony PS Vita Sony’s hoping for a long tail success with its turbo-charged gaming handheld, in the same way the Nintendo 3DS is now enjoying. But right now, it’s just lacking the top notch games to tempt us – threatening to lock it into a terrible death spiral of no customers – no games – no customers. Nokia Lumia 900 Nokia was supposed to blow the doors off with this monster-sized Windows Phone, but the poor screen and lack of apps meant it just couldn’t compete against the Samsung Galaxy S3 which arrived at the same time. To cap things off, it went on sale just a few months before Windows Phone 8 was announced – and it’ll never, ever taste it because an update isn’t possible. PS3 Super Slim Even after a few months of use, we still don’t see the point of the new look 500GB Sony PS3. It’s not really any quieter, it’s barely any smaller, and the lack of slot-loading tray for discs is just plain fiddly. Why bother? Luckily, the 12GB version now brings the Sony PS3 under £150 for the first time ever, making it a much more tempting offer if you can cope without the storage space. Nintendo Wii Mini At least the new PS3 super slim doesn’t strip any features out from Sony’s current PlayStation. The Nintendo Wii Mini does: inexplicably, it lacks Wi-FI and internet of any form. That means no multiplayer Mario Kart, no Netflix movie streaming, no software updates, and no Virtual Console for retro gaming. Way to cripple the world’s most popular console, Nintendo. Thankfully, it’s only on sale in Canada for the moment. iPod nano 7G Don’t get us wrong. As a gym accessory, the new iPod nano is cheap, beautiful and easy to use device, and it’s nice to have the option to watch video on it once more with the seventh generation model. But as we said in our review, Apple could do so much more with the iPod nano. Why doesn’t it have Wi-Fi? Why doesn’t it connect to your iPhone? Why doesn’t it read your emails to you? With iPhone sales on the up, and iPod sales on the down, it feels like a missed opportunity, and more of the same. Orange San Diego The chances are, the computer you own is powered by an Intel processor. But the silicon giant’s been a non-player in the smartphone explosion. The Android-powered Orange San Diego was supposed to prove that it could play with the big boys of mobile hardware, but with a weird screen resolution and out of date OS, it was as tepid an entry as they come. Luckily, the Intel-powered Motorola RAZR i that followed was much more promising. BlackBerry Curve 9320 What’s this? Another low end BlackBerry with the same software and design of the three year old Curve 8520? Yawn. Microsoft Surface It looked gorgeous in press pictures and promised to be a true iPad killer. But the Microsoft Surface is deceptively large, thick and long, and Windows RT is more than a tad confusing: why is there even a desktop mode on it at all when you can only use it for Office? It’s just weird. Here’s hoping Microsoft can fix things for a follow up as it still has lots of potential – not to mention an amazing keyboard cover. iOS 6 The new version of Apple’s software for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is unquestionably the most poorly received of any update in iOS history. Sure, it’s still bleeding fast, and Siri is smarter than ever. But Apple Maps remains a disaster – it’s shouldn’t come as a surprise that iOS software boss Scott Forstall and the man in charge of the Google Maps replacement was pushed out of Apple just a few months after the release and bad headlines. And in the meantime, Google has raced ahead with Android “Jelly Bean” – only Jony Ive can fix things for Cupertino. What were your most disappointing gadgets of 2012? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below! www.tell-me-first.com

Nokia Windows RT tablet coming in February

 

A Nokia Windows RT tablet to take on the Microsoft Surface and Apple iPad? You betcha. Nokia’s top execs have hinted at a Windows tablet before, but a new report’s just given us a date as to when we could see slice of nice debut – and it’s just weeks away.

Digitimes reports that Nokia will “resume” work on a 10-inch tablet powered by Windows RT, and will likely unveil the slate at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. Sources says that work on the Nokia Windows RT tablet originally began at the start of 2012, but the Finns put it on hold when Microsoft released its own Surface tablet running the same operating system.

Windows RT is a stripped down version of Windows 8 designed to run on mobile processors like zippy tablet rivals such as the iPad. Now that Nokia’s seen some success with its Windows Phone 8 smartphones, it might be ready to branch out.

It wouldn’t be the first time Nokia made a Windows computer though – remember the Nokia Booklet 3G laptop? Fingers crossed a Nokia Windows RT tablet can make more of an impact.

Nokia 620: Windows Phone 8 slims down!

Say hello to the Nokia Lumia 620, the world’s smallest Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Bringing several shots of even more colour to the Lumia family, the new Nokia Lumia 620 brings Microsoft’s new OS to a more affordable price range at last, and even lets you pick and mix your colour like paint.

Using a new dual-shot colour technique, the Nokia Lumia 620 lets you pair up the base colour with seven additional shells to mix and match. For example, starting with a yellow base and adding a cyan shell, you end up with a lime green shade.

While dubbed as being affordable, the Nokia Lumia 620 is still a capable little machine. Packing a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, it’s certainly no slug. The phone also boasts a healthy 512MB RAM, 8GB of storage space and micro SD memory card support for up to 64GB, not to mention 7GB of free Microsoft SkyDrive storage – giving you no shortages of trunk space.

The Nokia Lumia 620 also touts a 3.8-inch display, which also features the same sunlight readability enhancements as the 920 and 820, as well as NFC capability which also lets the phone easily pair up with accessories.

When it hits shops, the Nokia Lumia 620 should cost around $249 (around £150) and will roll out in January, starting in Asia with Europe a close second. What do you make of it? Let us know in the comments below

Smartphone stocking fillers: Five amazing phones for under £100

 

Hard to believe how time flies, isn’t it? Yep, Christmas is on us once again, and to help you find the perfect presents for all your family, we’ll be running regular gadget gift guides – with a twist. Kicking things off, we’ve got the best smartphones that cost £100 or less – check out how much power you can get for under a ton right here.

Huawei Ascend G300

For bang on £100 on Pay As You Go with Vodafone, you can pick up one astonishing bit of kit: the Huawei Ascend G300 squeezes in a 1GHz processor and even a four-inch screen – the same size as the iPhone 5’s, for a quarter of the price. Best of all, it’s been recently updated to the faster, smarter Android 4.0. Best for: your nephew or cousin who’s deep into mobile, but can’t afford a monthly contract just yet.

Sony Xperia Miro

It may pack a slightly smaller 3.5-inch screen than the Huawei Ascend G300, but the Sony Xperia Miro is a polished affair nonetheless, with a more sturdy build quality, and Android 4.0 out of the box, and access to all the hundreds of thousands of apps on the Google Play store. It’s available for £100 on Vodafone Pay As You Go for a limited time so don’t hang about. Best for: your Sony loving, iPhone hating brother.

Nokia Lumia 610

We love Android, but its open ended nature isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Out of the box, Windows Phone is easier to use, and Nokia’s build quality is legendary. That makes the Nokia Lumia 610 for £99.95 at Carphone Warehouse on every network except Three a spectacular deal. Its beautiful live tile homescreen is easy to use, and integrates Facebook and Twitter beautifully. Best for: your child or niece/nephew’s first smartphone.

Huawei Blaze

There are a surprising amount of Android phones with tiny screens and tiny prices knocking about these days, but make no mistake, this one is by far the best. Its 3.2-inch display is responsive, and despite the aging 600MHz processor, it’s surprisingly fast. And though it runs an older version of Android, 2.3, it still provides all the core Google services, including free satellite navigation with turn by turn directions. For under £40, this really is an impulse purchase. Best for: that uncle who’s been asking which is the best satnav/phone/anything to buy.

BlackBerry Curve 9320

A full on BlackBerry, with a solid keyboard, blazing 3G speeds and BlackBerry Messenger for instant chat with all your mates on the go, for under £100? Orange has one, this year’s impressive BlackBerry Curve 9320. Don’t expect stocks to last though, or complain when BlackBerry 10 rolls around in January. Best for: The hopeless BBM addict in your life.

www.tell-me-first.com

Nokia HERE Maps launches on iOS, shows Apple Maps how it's done

 

Nokia HERE Maps launches on iOS

Good news if you own an iPhone 5 but aren’t too keen on Apple Maps. Nokia has just launched its own navigation app, HERE Maps, on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

The app lets you save maps for later viewing, see what you searched for earlier, and share your maps on Facebook. It features step-by-step and turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation, just like a satnav. And with 200 countries mapped, you shouldn’t find yourself feeling lost very often.

Head to the iTunes App Store and you can download it now for free.

The offline maps may be a little limited though, as you can only download 10MB of data. So don’t expect to find your way everywhere without having to use a connection. But still, offline mode is very handy if you’re going abroad, as you can snaffle a map in the UK to use on your hols without incurring a huge bill for data.

Apple replaced Google Maps with its own mapping app for the iPhone 5. Apple Maps has met with almost universal scorn, with entire towns being in the wrong place. Google is rumoured to be working on a new version of its mapping app for the iPhone 5, but until then, this looks the best bet for lost Apple fans.

iPhone 5: Five ways the Nokia Lumia 920 beats Apple's best

 

iPhone 5: Five ways the Nokia Lumia 920 beats Apple's best

 

The iPhone 5 is coming: last night Apple whipped the covers off its newly designed smartphone, slapped a release date on it and send iFans into a frenzy. But is it the bee’s knees of blowers? Maybe not: here are five ways its upcoming rival, the Windows Phone powered Nokia Lumia 920, has it beat.

Giant HD screen

Yes, the iPhone 5 marks the first time Apple has ever upped the screen size on its smartphone. And the move to a super sharp display that measures four inches diagonally rather than 3.5 will be a welcome one for many, not least because you can now fit more apps on screen at once. But the Nokia Lumia 920’s huge 4.5-inch display is one of the best we’ve ever clapped eyes on – and with a 1280×720 resolution, it’s HD too. Those with big hands struggling to hit tiny links in Safari on iOS will be delighted.

Epic camera skills

The PureView camera on the Nokia Lumia 920 has been mired in controversy over faked advertisements, but that doesn’t change the fact that all the sample images we’ve seen so far have been absolutely stunning.

The eight megapixel sensor appears to vastly out perform every rival smartphone in low light conditions, and we’re not expecting the new eight megapixel in the iPhone 5 to match it. Optical image stabilisation, achieved with a clever floating lens, also promises to deliver untouchable, unshaky video, even if you’ve been on the caffeine all day.

Bring your own storage

The Nokia Lumia 920 comes with 32GB of storage built in. But if you want to add more, that’s easy: it packs in a micro SD card slot so you can triple that space on the cheap (32GB memory cards are surprisingly cheap online now). Want an iPhone 5 with the most storage? You’ll have to pay more for it built-in. A lot more. While Apple has yet to release pricing for this model, previous iPhone models have seen big price hikes for 32GB and 64GB of space.

Location location location

Nokia’s always been a leader in GPS and location software, and Nokia Maps is now built right into Windows Phone 8. It’s fast, clear and feature packed- you can download maps in advance for countries all over the world, saving you from huge data charges when abroad. And another smart new feature lets you lift your phone up to switch to augmented reality view, so the Nokia Lumia 920 can lead you right to the door of wherever you’re headed.

Apple’s new mapping software on iOS 6 however remains to be seen. Yes, it packs in voice guidance and turn by turn navigation for effective free satnav. But based on the beta releases of iOS 6, it’s still missing a lot of the details you take for granted in Google Maps (which currently powers iPhone Maps). Fingers crossed Apple can fill in the gaps, and pronto. You can’t leave tube and train stations off the map, guys.

NFC now

Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next big thing in mobile, letting you tap to pay in stores, or even pair your phone with a Bluetooth stereo. It’s included as standard in the Nokia Lumia 920: as more services go live you’ll be able to make more and more use of it. But guess what doesn’t have NFC? That’s right: the iPhone 5. It’s widely believed that Apple is holding off until it can roll out its own payment system to get a cut of every transaction, but it looks like that will have to wait next year at least.

and one way it doesn’t….

Release date

There’s a huge question mark hanging over the Nokia Lumia 920 though: we still don’t know when it’s going on sale. Reports peg it for a November release, but that gives Apple’s iPhone 5, which goes on sale on 20 September, a huge head start.

Where do you stand? iPhone 5 or Windows Phone 8? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments!

Nokia takes on Android with cheap as chips Windows Phones

 

Despite Nokia releasing its Nokia 808 PureView 41-megapixel cameraphone and going in a bold new direction by teaming up with Microsoft to release new Windows Phones, the company has been having a tough old time of late, announcing plans to cut 10,000 jobs. What to do? In an effort to close the gap at the top, Nokia plans to take on the might of Android by making Windows phones cheaper. But would you buy one? 



The bold plan was underlined by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. He spoke of how Nokia plans to undercut Android phones to make Nokia’s Windows Phones are more attractive alternative to the abundance of cheap Android handsets already on sale.

LG to dump Windows Phone

“We are absolutely going to make Windows Phones cheaper than the Nokia Lumia 610,” Elop said at a conference call. “We need to compete with Android aggressively,” he said.

Elop went on to say that making waves at the lower end of the smartphone market is key to those plans, with hundreds of Android phones flooding the marketplace.

Nokia recently released the Nokia Lumia 610 – a budget Windows Phone as an entry-point into Nokia’s Windows Phone range. Elop confirmed that Nokia wants to go even cheaper. “We had plans already to go lower than the 610,” he confirmed. 



Whether the strategy pays off remains to be seen. The Windows Phone interface hasn’t captured everyone’s imagination. Electronics retailer LG last month announced plans to dump Windows Phone in favour of Android, citing poor global Windows Phone sales. Android could have too much for Nokia.

Meanwhile, and presumably at the other end of the scale, Nokia this week confirmed plans to bring its PureView camera technology to Windows Phones, but declined to mention whether the new PureView Windows Phones would feature the same 41-megapixel camera sensor. 



Would you purchase a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone with a 41-megapixel sensor, or a cheap Windows Phone in favour of an Android device? Let us know what you think about this Nokia and Windows Phone versus Android battle.

www.tell-me-first.com

Slimmer Nokia PureView megapixel cameras on the way?

 

When the Nokia 808 PureView was first announced, it was its 41-megapixel camera sensor that caught the eye. Unfortunately with such a large sensor comes the extra bulk necessary for such photography prowess. That’s why Nokia’s thinking about introducing new, slimmer models down the pipeline.

The Nokia 808 PureView isn’t in shops just yet. The 41-megapixel camera phone should be with us next month. The main talking point is of course that massive sensor and the PureView camera technology inside, letting users take stunning 41-megapixel photos, condensed into a 5-megapixel shot with no loss of detail when zoomed in on. 


Samsung Galaxy S3 the fastest-selling phone of 2012

As impressive as it all sounds, the Nokia 808 PureView is hardly the most pocketable of smartphones. That’s why we’re likely to see slimmer versions in future, Vesa Jutila, head of Product Marketing for Nokia’s 808 PureView told Visit Engadget .

Though the new devices, in Jutilia’s words “would not necessarily have the same 41-megapixel sensor”, it is a possibility that Nokia has apparently been exploring. We cannot help imagine that it’s a certainty. Why let that awesome PureView technology go to waste?

And although Nokia 808 PureView runs on Nokia Belle software, it seems likely that any slimmer versions are likely to run on the Windows Phone operating system. They may arrive sooner than we think.

Nokia’s Senior Vice President Jo Harlow recently revealed to a Finnish newspaper “it will not take very long” for the technology to reach Windows Phone, paving the way for possible Nokia Lumia PureView Windows phones. Would you buy one?

Nokia PureView 41-megapixel camera tech coming to Windows Phone

www.tell-me-first.com