Phones 4U 'JUMP'. Swap Your Contract Phone Every Six Months
We get it, and we're sure you do too if you're reading this. Two years is sometimes too long with one phone. Maybe your phone is outdated far too soon, or maybe you just want to try all of the options in the smartphone market. This is why independent phone retailer Phones 4U has begun its all new plan, simply called JUMP (Just Upgrade My Phone).
An Interview With Kieron-Scott: The Guy Who Designed The Bamboo Smartphone
So the AD-Zero has been capturing the viral headlines everywhere: the title of 'smartphone made of bamboo' is something that will always find interest, curiosity and conservationalist inspiration in everyone.
But another side to this story proceeds, one that we're much more interested about, that expands beyond the 'allure' of such an original choice of material in mobile phone construction. One that speaks of the design finesses, the struggles of creating an idealistic balance between form and function, environmental responsibilities that go beyond what is normally found in the technology industry, a warmth to a product that you don't get with the trend of sterility that's formed from the industrial-monolithic design ethic of Apple products.
We talked with Kieron-Scott Woodhouse, Head Designer of the AD-Zero, and design student from The University of Middlesex, about not just the phone's technical insights; but the choices and inspirations taken while designing the phone, and the history of progress that has led to this stage.
Product design geeks will love this.
UK Market To Welcome Android-Equipped Bamboo Smartphone
As far as modern smartphone design goes, you’d be hard-pressed to find a handset that bears not a single aesthetic resemblance to a rival competitors’ device. It’s hard to overstate just how massive Apple’s introduction to the smartphone arena proved to be – just look at the current crop of phones on the market with their ever larger, more defined, sleeker touch-screens. But that’s not to say we can’t admire an entirely unique and simply gorgeous take on smartphone design – one made largely from four-year old, organically-grown bamboo that is.
New Mobile Device Privacy Act To Expose And Regulate Tracking Software
In light of all the Carrier IQ controversies that have accrued since the software capabilities were exposed to the world, Congress has introduced a draft bill titled "The Mobile Device Privacy Act," which looks to disclose all details about tracking software like the aformentioned, and what information it will be taking.
Likebelt: Dry Hump Your Surroundings For Facebook Likes
We have a feeling that NFC (Near Field Communication) was probably not invented with this resulting device in mind. Presenting DeepLocal's LikeBelt: taking the simple action of tapping your smartphone against tags, and replacing it with an awkward thrust of the connected belt buckle.
HP announces Open webOS 1.0
So webOS wasn't doing so well before, and after a prolonged wait was announced to be open sourced. Following this, HP have now released details on the process leading up to the code being released as the finished product, which will be called Open webOS 1.0.
The company went into great detail about the matters at hand, and told developers to expect open sourcing to be complete by September time.
LG's 'Optimus 3D 2' Leaked. Faster, Brighter, Thinner
Though it was a fairly decent first effort for LG, the Optimus 3D was not the success story that LG might have hoped for. Here was a glasses-free 3D smartphone in which its USP could only be witnessed in landscape mode and even then 3D content was mostly limited to 3D-enabled YouTube videos, self-recorded images and videos, and but a handful of pre-installed 3D games – the Android Marketplace remains lacking in third-dimension applications still. But that seemingly hasn’t dissuaded LG who, if this leaked image is anything to go by, is planning to release the successor to the Optimus 3D fairly soon.
Intel-Powered Smartphone Performance ‘Better Than Any Other’
Tests carried out on the latest handsets powered by Intel chips has concluded performance exceeds the levels seen in current, at-market smartphones; including Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S2. The results come from a series of ‘benchmarking’ tests carried out by website Anandtech on Intel’s ‘Medfield’ reference platform.
Samsung introduces AllShare Play. Control the washing machine with your smartphone
It seems that Samsung have developed a rather healthy ecosystem of what they call "smart" devices. With this, they've introduced the amalgamation of these different devices into one connected form: a rebranding of the original AllShare into what they've announced to be "AllShare Play" at their CES 2012 keynote.
OnLive comes to Tablets and Smartphones
Brazenly fending off the competition (Gaikai & the recently-unveiled Approxy), OnLive has today made its cloud gaming service available on a range of smartphones and tablets – making triple-A gaming on the go a truer possibility.
Senseye: smartphone control with your eyes. Launches next year
We saw eye-controlled interface on the odd episode of Tomorrow's World in the 90s, and a couple times on The Gadget Show nowdays; but this is the first time that an this technology could become a mass produced and mass sold product. Presenting the Senseye.
Blackberry "London" leaked
Forget what you thought about the traditional, rather underwhelming design motifs and hardware specifications of Blackberrys. If this image and the accompanying details leaked to The Verge are to be believed, RIM might be on there way... to further continue their position as the smartphone that had it's day; but now seems like the plucky underdog.
Ice Cream Sandwich Face Unlock tricked by a photo
Presenting an all new set of security-related difficulties, the recently announced and soon-to-be released Samsung Galaxy Nexus, rocking the freshest Android version (Ice Cream Sandwich), has faced both positive and skeptical opinions on the all new way of unlocking your phone called Face Unlock. But now we can confirm that yes, you can trick it with a photo of the phone owner's face, as you can see from the video below.
OLogic AMP brings a new meaning to 'Robot butler.' [VIDEO]
OLogic introduced two robots designed for interface with your smartphone at this year's RoboBusiness Conference.
We have the classic "Furby"-esque format, Oddwerx, using your smartphone as a digital pet face for itself. However, the one we're focussing on is the AMP: the Automated Music personality. It will follow you and stream your music through it's speakers, making for an impressive start, which is made all the more awesome with the inplementation of a cup holder.
HTC Sensation XL with Beats Audio available today. UK Pricing
The bohemoth that is the 4.7" Android bearing HTC Sensation XL, brother to the equally well sized Titan, has become available from all carriers here in sunny UK. Here's where to pick it up from, and how much it'll set you back.
Infographic of the day: How Cellphones Shape the Lives of College students
Nokia Kinetic offers a new form of smartphone interaction
Nokia World 2011 hasn't just been about the Lumia line-up of Windows Phone 7 devices, as the Future Technology booth at th Expo prooved with a whole a practical use of a flexible display on a smartphone.
iPhone 4S review
To be perfectly honest: nothing's changed. This is simply the '3GS' to the iPhone 4. It was the natural progression that we all expected; but all that builds up to creating the same impact felt when we first opened the 4S's predecessor.
Disney Android Phone releases in Japan
Disney Mobile has released their first Android-powered smartphone in Japan through Softbank Mobile stores earlier this month.
Walt's top of the line, the DM010SH handset packs features that would, surprisingly, put many phones in the UK market to shame. Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), 4-inch 960 x 540 qHD display with 3D support, a 1GHz processor, and the usual suspects: 3G data, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and microSD card slot, and an 8 megapixel camera.