PhoneLon

The Blackberry Playbook tablet PC from manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) will attempt to grapple back the market from Apple, which has found huge success with its iPad. The good news is that RIM has actually hit the perfect balance of high tech functionality and software user-friendliness and if you are looking for the first real alternative to the iPad then this is most definitely it.

Although the BlackBerry Playbook release date has yet to be officially announced it is likely to hit the market in March / April 2011. It features a seven inch LCD display with a native resolution of 1024×600. Onboard a 1GHz processor with two physical cores will give it more power than the previous generation of tablets and make sure that it can handle multiple tasks without breaking a sweat.

The BlackBerry Playbook review reveals two cameras, one on the front and one on the rear, provide two different ways to shoot pictures and record video. The five megapixel camera on the rear will be for dedicated snapping whilst the forward-facing three megapixel unit will be great for making video calls in high resolutions. When you have captured pictures and recorded high-def video you will be able to play it back on an HDTV thanks to the Playbooks’ HDMI output. This will also make it perfect for running on the fly presentations, enhancing its business-based functionality.

Connectivity will enhance BlackBerry Playbook review results as it comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which should make it a capable internet surfing machine. Its seven inch screen supports multi-touch interactions for pinch-to-zoom and kinetic scrolling. It will also have a browser which can run Flash and HTML5 websites, which means it will be as capable as any desktop computer when it comes to going online. This gives it the edge over the iPad, which does not support Flash.

The BlackBerry Playbook review ratings are set to be decent, thanks in part to its entirely new operating system, which will be simply known as the Playbook OS. This has been adapted from software created by QNX, a firm acquired by RIM and subsequently amalgamated into its operations. This software is superficially similar to other tablet platforms such as Android and iOS, allowing for web browsing, gaming and downloads. However, it is also much more capable at multitasking thanks to a type of tabbed system which will allow users to scroll sideways between open apps. In demonstrations five or six programmes have been kept running smoothly, with HD video playback, gaming and media operations all able to operate side by side thanks to clever programming and the grunt of its dual-core processor.

The best way to assess whether or not the BlackBerry Playbook price is acceptable for a device which is slightly smaller than the iPad, albeit the same size as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, will be to get your hands on one and attempt a direct comparison. It is thinner than its rivals and thus likely to be more portable, dipping just under one centimetre thick. It is also aimed at being held in a landscape fashion, although auto-rotation of the display orientation via integrated accelerometer should also be present.

The BlackBerry Playbook price has not yet been revealed but it is thought that it could be up to ?100 cheaper than iPad for an  equivalent model, which will make it a very attractive proposition indeed once the release date arrives. With the burgeoning tablet PCs market on an upward trend and with Android 3.0 just around the corner, RIM will need to work hard to ensure that this device makes an impact and that the Blackberry Playbook price is attractive.

It seems everyone is trying to break the tablet PCs market at the moment, details of HP’s Palm Topaz tablet have been leaked online today - rumoured to be one of HP’s own who let slip of the top secret gadget info, something that bosses are understandably furious about. The competition in the tablet market is fierce at the moment with the next few months to bring  the Motorola xoom and Apples iPad 2 making every detail and feature count.

So whats all the fuss about?

The HP Palm Topaz is set to be the first webOS powered tablet featuring a dual core 1.2 GHz proccesor and supporting Palm’s Touchstone wireless charging. It will also have new features such as a dedicated kindle app, a tap-to-share feature, which allows users to share files by bumping two devices together, and a music service in partnership with Amazon.  There seems to be a front facing 1.3MP camera but no back facing camera which seems a little strange and something that may let it down when compared to its rivals and has a micro USB port at the bottom.

Are HP trying to put the Topaz up against the IPad? Well it seems so with a 9.7 inch capacitive screen and clean cut button free casing but the hardware goes above and beyond what the current ipad can offer! They are also covering themselves with a smaller 7-inch model called ‘opal’ which makes their slogan “something big, something small, somethign beyond” make sense, to take on the smaller tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy tab.

The first verison that comes out will be a Wi-Fi only verison of the Topaz but should be followed by HSPA, CDMA, and LTE versions. Apparently the Topaz will have 8 hours standby time and will be availiable in 16, 32 and 54GB variants.

The release date and price of this amazing tablet is yet to be announced but keep an eye on the blog and we will keep you up to date with all the information.

What do you think of the Topaz? Do you think it deserves the tagline- “Something big, something small, something beyond”? Let us know what you think in the comment box below!

Reviewer Dana Wollman of the Associated Press writes that the Mac App Store “has made downloading software on a Mac computer as easy as it is on an iPhone.” Wollman calls the Mac App Store “revolutionary,” noting that it “has encouraged software developers to create apps no one ever thought of before and encouraged consumers to take chances on software from developers they’ve never heard of.”

As General Electric builds technologies that transform the way we live, it’s channeling the equally transformative power of iPad, iPhone, and in-house apps to generate new business possibilities. Says Linda Boff, Global Director of Marketing Communications at General Electric: “We’re always thinking about what’s next. How can technology make lives better and help our customers be more efficient? iPad and iPhone are wonderful ways to inspire us and help us get GE there.”

LG’s new and sylish Optimus 2x was announced at CES 2011 and is set to be one of the first dual core mobile phone on its release date!

Lg Optimus 2X features:

• 1Ghz Dual-core processor (NVIDIA Tegra 2)
• Android 2.2 Froyo Operating system
• 4-inch WVGA screen
• 8GB memory (up to 32GB via microSD)
• 1,500 mAh battery
• 8 megapixel rear camera and 1.3 megapixel front camera
• HDMI mirroring
• 1080 MPEG-4/H.264 playback and recording
• Micro- USB Port
• Accelorometer
• Gyro Sensor
• Upgradable to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

The Optimus has a slick and stylish look which boasts a 4 inch incredibly bright screen. With four touch sensitive buttons running along the bottom that glow white - the same that are found on most Android handsets. There is an 8-megapixel camera with a flash on the back as well as a front facing camera perfect for video calls and is capable of 1080p video playback and recording.

The high performance processor of the LG Optimus 2X helps the phone be faster when multitasking, surfing the web and using applications something LG are very proud of. CEO and President of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company says, ” With unique features such as HDMI mirroring and exceptional graphics performance, the LG Optimus 2X is proof of LG’s commitment to high-end smartphones in 2011.” Leaving us all to look forward to more to come from LG in the up and coming months!

The Optimus 2X looks to be a great all-round phone, it will ship with Android 2.2 (Froyo), but will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) at a later date which will only improve the already excellent phone further.

If you are interested in this phone and want to know it’s price as soon as it is announced, then sign up to our LG Optimus 2X page here and we will keep you up to date!

Thinking of buying a white iPhone 4 16gb or 32gb? Then you may be excited to hear that there have been rumours of a release date for the elusive handset on the systems of retailers across the country. Anticipated date is now as early as the 27th February 2011!

Some networks are already listing the iPhone 4 in white not only in their systems but have it as an option on their iphone 4 ordering page, although at the moment it is unavailable for purchase. So, could it be that it will be here sooner than we expected?

The white iPhone 4 was originally set to be released alongside the black iPhone 4 but was put back after Apple had production problems, causing frustration to anyone hoping to bag themselves the white version. It has been put on hold for over a year now with Apple originally claiming that it would be available in July 2010 with the date being pushed back since!

Since the launch of the first IPhone, Apple have released a new handset every year for a  June/July launch, meaning Apple may have thought pushing back the release date of the iPhone 4 in white may decrease their slump in sales coming up to the launch of their next release. This may have backfired on them with people buying alternative handsets during the year after giving up on the wait or people now holding off on their purchases in anticipation of the Iphone 5 launch in the summer! We guess if the rumours are true we will see the iPhone 4 in white available to purchase this time next month, making a lot of people (finally) very happy!

If you have been waiting for this phone then leave your contact on either the white IPhone 4 16gb or 32gb page to be notified as soon as it is available at mobiles!

If you’re like us you’ll already be thinking about your next handset even though you only upgraded last month! There’s been lots of exciting news over the past few months about up and coming handsets with more upgrades then you can shake a phone at. So to help out, we’ve put together a small list of handsets here that we think will be big in 2011.

HTC

Apart from a Trio of Tablets which are expected soon, HTC will continue to stick to what they do best, which is delivering awesome handsets. Even though we don’t know much about these handsets we can imagine that they will be cutting edge combined with simplistic reliability. You can expect Dual Core processors and screens with exceptional resolution and colour management.

Nokia

The N8 has unfortunately for Nokia been hindered with bugs due to the ever aging Symbian OS. Maybe the N9 will be given a new OS to play with. (Not very likely to be honest). As you can see the N9 comes with a sliding keyboard and will most likely ship with the same amazing 12mp camera. The N8 in it’s own right was an amazing media phone and it looks as though Nokia are only looking to add to this.

Sony Ericsson

There’s been lots of talk around a PSP phone for some time now, but images of the handset are coming thick and fast now and we have the name Xperia Play. We expect to have full details come February but what we know for sure is that the handset runs on the Android operating system and will have a 1GHz Snapdragon Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM. We don’t know how users might use their back catalogue of games but we hope Sony Ericsson don’t miss a trick here and require users to own a phone specific version of their games.

Blackberry

The Apollo (Codename for their newest curve), will be a natural progression for Blackberry. The handset’s design is largely the same as the current (and previous) versions of the curve. With exception  NFC the handset most likely won’t ship with any new killer features but is expected to be aggressively priced so may be a winner for the pay as you go and budget market.

This is only a quick round up of what we think will be some of the biggest handsets and we expect much more to be confirmed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. We’ll update you on more handsets we can expect to see later this week so keep checking the blog and get ready for some big announcements in the very near future.

This is something I’ve been wanting in the App Store for a long time but I never thought of it working with Cydia. A new link when Cydia first opens allows you to see a list of all the apps you’ve paid for in the Cydia Store. They are linkable so you can just click

There are plenty of places to search for mobile phone deals online if you live in the UK and the chances are that you have already become familiar with at least one of the mobile phone shops if you have ever typed a mobile phone model name into your favourite search engine. Sifting through the various sites for the best mobile phone deals can be a chore, but it is definitely worth doing for several key reasons, which we will discuss below.

The best reason to search for cheap phones deals online is that most websites will be able to knock the socks off the high street when it comes to price. This is because most online retailers do not have to invest any cash in brick and mortar stores or pay sales staff, so they can afford to give significant discounts on cheap phones that others simply cannot provide.

The second excellent reason to look for cheap phones on the internet is that you might actually be able to get a better upgrade phone price than you would if you just upgrade directly with your current network. Most networks require that the user does a good bit of haggling before they are willing to drop the price of a contract or give you the exact upgrade to the handset you want. If you do not want to have to deal with a customer service representative for hours on the phone then seeking out the best mobile phone deals online will be the much easier option and you can always keep your old number when you switch.

The third reason to use cheap mobile phones retailers based online is that you will be able to compare prices between a wide number of different stores in an instant rather than having to take the word of a salesperson or network representative that the price they are offering you is the best on the market. Price comparison can be altered to find not only the best deal for cheap phones but the tariff which best suits your needs. For example, you can adjust search results based on monthly price, inclusive minutes, data allowance, network operator and much more. If you have a specific handset in mind then you can cut out all the other deals and just look for one which features the mobile of your dreams.

The fourth reason to head online when buying cheap mobile phones in the UK is that many retailers will incentivise a purchase by including a mobiles with free gift. This can be anything from instant cashback to a free games console and while this is also available in the high street no retailer can match the internet options when it comes to sheer choice. Mobile phone deals start to look even more attractive when you get a free phone and free Xbox as part of the bundle.

Hopefully this has shown just how much better cheap phone deals can be if you find them on the internet rather than by heading to the high street, so all you need to do is compare prices and customise your search to get the best deal.

Ok, time for a little shameful self promotion!

It’s fair to say the Google Nexus S hasn’t set the world alight, but why is this? The handset is an outstanding example of beautiful design, the hardware is as up to date as any other Android devices currently available especially the Samsung Galaxy S and unlike the Nexus One, Google’s latest variant of the Nexus does have some major advantages over it’s competition.

The Pure Google software experience means there is no manufacturer presence on the OS and shows exactly how great the Android operating systems is. Also running full Gingerbread 2.3, the Nexus S really does sit on the cutting edge of mobile OS.

With this in mind the Nexus S has generally seen less sales then it’s non-identical twin the Galaxy S. So why is this? We believe the answer is deal strength. However as of today the Nexus S gets the offers it deserves.

Mobiles.co.uk now has the Google Nexus S free on tariffs from as low as ?25.54 per month! Here’s a list of the best tariffs and discounts we offer.

Orange

?25.54 per month. This gives you 300 Minutes, unlimited texts and 500 MB of data. With this tariff you can just enjoy the handset with no more work to do at all. Click here for the best deals Nexus S.

O2

If 300 minutes isn’t enough you can get the Nexus S with 900 Minutes, Unlimited texts and 6 months free line rental giving you an effective cost of ?26.80 per month. This requires some redemption work but well worth it!

T-mobile

You may have noticed the O2 Tariff might not suit your data needs so if you want it all T-mobile is definitely the network for you. 900 Minutes 500 texts and unlimited web browsing with an effective monthly cost of 26.81 per month. This is including 6 months half price line rental through redemption. This saves you an ?210 versus our previous offer on this tariff.

To see why Google think the Nexus S is worth the investment click here.

These offers are available now! We think hope you’ll agree that these discounts combined with one of the slickest Android handsets should tick all the boxes and then some. Click here to see our full range of tariffs and discounts for the Nexus S and keep checking the blog for updates on anything mobile.