It’s not like we have known almost every detail about the upcoming Xperia Play, the device that has been dubbed for ages as the PSP phone. And it’s not like we have not gotten demo after demo not showing us what the hardware looks like, but the function of the software and gaming capabilities of the phone as well.
However, Sony Ericcson decided to use Superbowl XLV to officially announce the phone / gaming device. Of course, most of us never watched it thanks to the fact that it’s American Football. However, you will be glad to know that not only is the Xperia Play officially official at the moment, it will be coming to Vodofone in the UK as well as O2.
The news came via O2’s Twitter page where the company announced the following: “Awesome news – the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is coming to O2.” As usual, the company was prodded for explanations and clarifications as well as more launch information to which the following tweet was sent: “We don’t have much details at the moment but we’ll let you know more before it launches. Watch the space!”
As for Vodofone, we’re hearing from Pocket Link, TechRadar and others that that said company will indeed be getting the Xperia Play although Vodofone has not confirmed such rumors yet.
All is left now is for Sony and Ericcson to convince the world that this device will not end up like another N-Gage (from Nokia), and that it will have the marketing capital to get games out for this system, not to mention the fact that the NGP is set to be released this year and it could potentially pose a problem to potential buyers if the price is similar.
Source: Pocket-lint and Twitter
Posts Tagged ‘Vodafone’
Xperia Play coming to Vodafone and O2
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011Mobile Phone News: Today’s Top Headlines
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
The HTC Wildfire handset is getting the Froyo update. Users under Vodafone and T-Mobile will be getting the update a little earlier with the expected update to launch by the end of this week. For those Wildfire users under other networks, the wait might take as long as until February of next year. Version 2.2 Froyo brings Flash support, better performance and of course, is a step closer to the Gingerbread OS.
Speaking of the Gingerbread, the Google branded Nexus One smart phone will be receiving the update in a matter of weeks, though it has yet to be confirmed when the exact release date would be. As the first Google branded device (and the one that Google has handed directly to developers), the Nexus One is one of the first Androids that we should expect to receive standalone updates first.
Android smart phone owners will be happy to know that the touch screen typing aid Swype is finally coming. The tool that makes typing on the virtual keyboard a lot easier and more intuitive is finally here; this allows users to send messages and updates faster than ever, without the need for a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
Location based service app Foursquare has now updated their servers to take on not only the light load of user login details, but also for longer comments and more importantly, images. Users of the app can now choose to upload images of the locations of various Foursquare locations.
Lastly, Microsoft is enjoying a quiet success with the Windows Phone 7. While the overall public reaction seems lukewarm, the sales show a different scenario with over 1.5 million devices sold in a span of six weeks. While this does place the new OS only slightly over the Samsung Bada, it is still a good start –and only time will tell if the platform can live up to Andy Rubin’s earlier visions for it.
Today’s Top Mobile News Stories
Monday, November 29th, 2010
The Olympic season is about to arrive and London is all getting glammed up and ready for the major international affair. With wireless communications now becoming a major necessity, the capital is all about making things ready for the deluge of international visitors that are expected to arrive. Part of the preparations is to bring the much needed mobile network service in the Tubes.
France based Thales and Taiwan’s Huawei are both eagerly competing to take the project lead. The demand of the long tube network will certainly require plenty of communications hardware –also to keep up with the large volume of users. Expect to see this project pushing through in the next few weeks.
Motorola’s Milestone 2 is confirmed to be heading to K store shelves. No exact date has been given, but the price has finally been revealed. At 379.99 Pounds, this Android smart phone is definite contender even for the likes of the HTC Desire or the Samsung Galaxy S. Thanks to the slide out QWERTY keyboard and ever impressive design aesthetics of Motorola, this Milestone sequel is one phone that an Android fan cannot afford to pass up.
Mobile network operator Vodafone UK has announced that they will be adding two new smart phones to their plans and tariffs. The Nokia C7 is an obvious choice for those looking for a decent budget smart phone thanks to its well rounded features. The HTC Desire Z brings plenty of functionality thanks to its slide out QWERTY keyboard.
In the meanwhile, things are not looking good for HP and more importantly, for Palm. The WebOS 2.0 powered Pre 2 has been ignored by network operators limiting the distribution of the device. However, things have turned for the worse as security issues in the WebOS 2.0 platform have also been revealed.
HTC Desire Z and Palm Pre 2 are Now Available
Monday, November 15th, 2010
Good news for all Palm fans, the WebOS powered Palm Pre 2 smart phone is now available locally, but only through the Palm official website; those planning to go under O2 UK will not be able to obtain the handset as O2 has chosen not to offer it.
Now, for those of you wondering why it seems bizarre, it is because of the fact that all other Palm devices are directly available from O2 with the exception of the Palm Pre 2. In fact, O2 UK has an exclusivity deal with Palm. Naturally, this situation is disturbing as the only company allowed to distribute Palm devices in UK has not taken the newest model.
According to O2 UK, their offerings of Palm handsets are already more than enough to satisfy consumers and they believe that the Palm lineup is already adequate even without the Pre 2. While we certainly respect the operators’ decision, there is something to be said about what the consumers want, and certainly, there is a sufficient enough demand for the Pre 2
In other news, Vodafone UK has confirmed that they are now offering the HTC Desire Z. This is certainly one impressive smart phone that we recommend to any hardcore Android user. For the most part, the Motorola Milestone and the Milestone 2 have been the most iconic QWERTY keyboard toting Androids available (as well as the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro).
Now, HTC is bringing in their version of a QWERTY toting Android handset in the form of the Desire Z. Going the opposite direction of the Desire HD –which focused on media playback, this new device centers on communication and connectivity; with messaging and text creation serving as a main point of attention. The screen on this phone is a 3.7 inch touch display and it also comes with a 5 mega pixel camera and of course, Google’s Android 2.2 Froyo operating system.
Mobile News: Updated Services and Features for Handsets
Friday, November 5th, 2010
Vodafone is pushing for a better footing in the business sector as it brings up a new security service for smart phones. The service makes use of the Good Technology security services, allows for remote access and control of in-phone data.
This is crucial and important when it comes to monitoring company information and more importantly, preventing other users from being able to access the restricted data. Should the devices be lost or stolen, the phones can be locked or even have their data wiped. Since there are plenty of companies that issue mobile phones to their employees, the availability of this feature will certainly be very attractive to many businesses.
General mobile internet usage on the other hand is definitely dominated by Facebook. While email access has been one of the top functions for the first era of smart phones, it is social networking that has become the new norm. While the initial rumors of a Facebook phone did not come out with any material results, the fact that so many critics considered it a plausible option for Facebook and INQ meant that the influence of the social networking site was already surpassing many of the pre-existing trends. The social networking site currently has over 600 million users –providing the rumor with a large market to work with.
In more social networking related news, the Facebook app for mobile handsets as well as other mobile features are being updated. The Android app has recently received access to the Facebook Places function and with more and more people accessing the site through mobile devices as opposed to desktop computers, better support for phone functions and mobile browsers has been rising in demand.
Lastly, it appears that Apple’s iOS 4.2 update might be released sometime next week. With the recent issue of daylight savings time adjustment causing many people to be late for work, expect this new patch to carry plenty of important fixes.
News Bits: Sony’s New Camera, Nokia N8 Launch and More
Friday, October 8th, 2010
Sony is going to take the mobile phone industry’s camera technology to a whole new level. The electronics manufacturer that brought Cybershot technology to the world is now going to introduce a powerful 16.4 mega pixel snapper that will show us how much detail one can have in a single image.
The initial images of the demonstration shots are already impressive, showcasing fine text in full detail when zoomed in from a much larger image. If that was not enough, Sony is also improving on the already existing 8 mega pixel snapper as well. Expect this technology to appear on new handsets by next year. In any case, this is certainly one solid step towards making camera phones even more powerful than ever.
Speaking of Sony Ericsson, the company has just awarded Anovo with an accreditation turning the phone repair company into an official Sony Ericsson partner. This means that Anovo’s teams are now fully equipped and ready to handle issues for Sony Ericsson products. If you are an SE owner living near an Anovo repair shop, then you will not have to travel far in order to have your device repaired.
Finnish phone maker Nokia has finally confirmed the launch dates for the N8 Symbian handset and all that is needed now is for the date to hit October 15 before we finally get to preorder the device straight from the manufacturer. It was originally announced that Vodafone would also be offering pre-orders for the handset. Currently, the official date for actual launch or shipping of the handset is on October 22.
Lastly, Gresso, a Swiss luxury phone brand, has just recently revealed the Luxor World Time handset which features a front screen with customizable clocks that will allow users to check up on the time on different cities in a single glance.
HD S-LCD HTC Handset Coming to Vodafone UK
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Mobile network operator Vodafone UK has confirmed that they will be launching the new HTC Desire HD smart phone pretty soon and for those who simply cannot afford to wait any longer without being able to secure a handset, the pre-order web page of the network operator is already up and running. This means that Android smart phones fans simply need to log into the Vodafone website in order to be able to reserve the device.
The contract plans are pretty nice, and we highly recommend the 35 Pound monthly tariff which will provide users with the handset free of charge. This plan provides about 600 minutes of talk time, 500 MB of data and unlimited texting. Subscribers are encouraged to take up this very same offer through the Vodafone web site as it will provide online users with an additional 300 minutes of talk time and 250 MB of mobile data –making this a very sweet deal for a two year contract.
The HTC Desire HD lives up to its name with an impressive screen display and built in camera. The phone comes packed with an 8 mega pixel snapper that allows users to shoot videos in 720p HD quality. The camera can also take images at 3264 x 2448 pixels and is equipped with both auto focus and dual LED flash. With this hardware, media lovers will certainly find this Android handset pretty tempting.
The screen makes use of the new super LCD technology. Despite the fame that has been associated with the AMOLED display, it is the S-LCD that is quickly becoming the favored screen technology by many manufacturers. It is said that the super LCD is cheaper and easier to manufacture compared to other touch screen displays.
As expected, the Desire HD runs on the latest version of the Android OS, 2.2 Froyo.
Nokia N8 Green Variant Heading for Vodafone
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Vodafone UK has come out with a bit of surprisingly good news: they will be launching an exclusive color variation of the Nokia N8 Symbian^3 smart phone. According to the reports, the lime green color of Nokia’s latest N-series handheld will be exclusive to the local mobile network operator for an indefinite period of time.
Now, some of your may be wondering why there is so much excitement to be had with a lime green color. The reason why this is good news is not exactly because of the color, but this is the first real confirmation that we have received regarding the impending launch of the Nokia N8.
As some of you may have known, this much anticipated Nokia smart phone has been due for release for almost half a year now and yet it has been plagued with constant delays. The original April 2010 launch has been pushed back so much that every month that has passed since then has had a tentative launch window for the smart phone.
The Symbian Foundation’s latest OS is not exclusively being used on the N8 (it has also been confirmed on the Nokia C7), but this is certainly the only time the platform would be used in the N-series product line. Nokia has hinted that the next Symbian for the N-series would need to a Symbian^4 handset.
The Nokia N8 is a media based smart phone. The device’s 12 mega pixel camera is supported by impressive hardware such as Carl Zeiss lenses and Xenon flash technology. Of course, there is more to the N8 than just taking high quality images. The handset also features 720p HD video recording and a mini HDMI output port for viewing your content on a larger screen.
Expect to see the Nokia N8 in store shelves by September.
Android Update for Vodafone Users Now Available
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
HTC Desire owners under the Vodafone network have something new to be excited about. According to reports, the official 2.2 Android Froyo update is now ready for downloads and the update will not only bring the latest new features to the open source mobile platform, it will also uninstall those annoying Vodafone 360 features that came with a previous update from the network operator.
For those hoping for an automatic connection, you will have to wait. Right now, the only way to avail of the Froyo update is to manually connect through the HTC Desire. Once up and running the update will require users to have at least 25 megabytes of storage space on the device (so be sure to free up even a little space if you have managed to cram plenty of content into your handset).
The Google Android 2.2 update is considered by many to be an important upgrade to the Android OS. This will bring support for the new Flash player from Adobe which makes the handset fully compatible with almost all of the media found on the web today. There is also a better Exchange sync connection, a revamped used interface for the camera (which allows for easily adding effects to shots) and plenty of other added features.
The big bonus that Froyo brings is the performance boost. While the Android has never been known for having serious issues, it is hard to deny that running the 2.2 version of the OS will set a new benchmark for speed.
The user interface has been confirmed to have been boosted up to three times faster while browsing many web pages will be running about five times faster (connection speeds willing). The OS speed boost is thanks to better kernel management while the browser benefits from having an updated Java handler.
Apple Could Learn a Thing or Two from Vodafone UK
Monday, August 16th, 2010
Companies and manufacturers are not perfect, the institutions and corporations are run by the same flawed humans just like everyone else, and like everyone else, they make mistakes. The big issue about mistakes it that when someone makes it, fixing the problem becomes a whole lot harder when there are more people involved. With mobile phone manufacturers, every single person owning a specific handset can become victims.
Apple has shown that it is unable to take care of its consumers; if anything, they have proven that the real focus of Apple is expansion and not the well being of their users. This is what happened with the recent antenna issue and how Apple kept denying that there was any real problem at all. Despite the announcement that they would be giving away free iPhone 4 bumper cases, the fact remains that the antenna on the handset does not function properly.
Vodafone could have taken a similar route; in fact, they had more of a right to do so. A couple of weeks ago, a misleading interpretation of a Vodafone announcement led many HTC Desire owners to believe that an update for their handset’s OS would be available. However, upon downloading the update, users realized that this was not an Android 2.2 OS that they received, but an implementation of Vodafone 360 features.
The operator never said that the update was for the Android OS specifically, but they still took responsibility for the issue. Vodafone has announced that the real 2.2 Froyo update is going to be available shortly and that the update will not just bring in the new OS, but will also remove the 360 software installed from the previous patch.
Apple ought to realize that companies need to make sacrifices too, and even if they stand to lose by offering a repair program or a recall of all iPhone 4 stocks, it is pretty much an ethical principle that they need to uphold.