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Vodafone 247 solar power phone charges on the cheap
Suma mouse with squeezy sensors demoed
iPhone 4.0 launch date revealed?
Hulu UK plans scrapped
Spotify update yanked after huge demand
DIY iPad case outperforms shop-bought rivals
Garmin Asus A10: satnav phone for pedestrians
Sony Vaio P sequel primed?
Lunchtime Lowdown: Vodafone 845 Android phone hits, JooJoo lands and HTC Desire delayed
Vodafone 845 Android phone official: photos and video

Vodafone 247 solar power phone charges on the cheap

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 09:00 AM PDT

The Vodafone 247 quietly slipped out into officialdom today, while the budget Vodafone 845 Android phone was grabbing all the attention. The ultra cheap candybar’s not exactly sporting top end connectivity, but the solar charging panel on the back means this could be the ideal phone for long trips abroad.

Most of the Vodafone 247’s features are bottom line basic: you get a colour screen, voice and SMS support and an FM radio but that’s it. However, the Vodafone 247 also totes a solar panel on the back, so you can juice it up on the go, in the same you can the Samsung Blue Earth or LG Pop.

Vodafone 845 Android phone official: photos and video

There’s no price or availability date, but the network says the Vodafone 247 is part of its ultra low cost handset (ULCH) range, so while it’ll be incredibly cheap, it may only be sold in developing countries. We hope it goes on sale here too, as the Vodafone 247 looks like it could be the perfect solution for anyone going off on their gap year travels, and uncertain as to what plug adapters they might need to stay in touch.

Out TBC | £TBC | Vodafone

Suma mouse with squeezy sensors demoed

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:30 AM PDT

A Suma mouse, using the same squeezable smart skin shown on a game controller late last year, has been demoed on video. Thought Apple’s Magic Mouse was clever? You’ve not seen a thing yet.

While Apple’s Magic Mouse is limited to two finger gestures on the top of the peripheral, Cambridge Consultants’ Suma mouse concept uses a clever skin which recognises squeezes, strokes, rotations and presses anywhere on it, enabling a whole new set of gestures and controls for navigation around software applications.

In the new Suma mouse video, you can see a concept device being used to swirl through Google earth, with squeezes to zoom, and spins on the table to rotate. It’s clever stuff, and it doesn’t have to stop with a Suma mouse: Cambridge Consultants says the skin to be adapted to any shape, so we could see gamepads for consoles that don’t require dual thumbpads for fast first person shooter action -or even buttons at all.

Unfortunately, the new Suma mouse video isn’t embeddable, so you’ll have to hit the link below to see it, but give it a tap, a peep, and then jump right back here for more breaking gadget gossip.

Out TBC | £TBC | Cambridge Consultants

iPhone 4.0 launch date revealed?

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT

The iPhone 4.0 may have been well and truly outed already courtesy of one major leak, but we still don’t know when Apple will make it official. But Apple’s WWDC event for Mac and iPhone developers has just been announced, which gives us a very good idea as to when that might be. Grab your calendar and read on.

Apple has just confirmed that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is going down from 7 to 11 June at the Moscone West centre in San Francisco, California. Plenty of sessions teaching coders how to craft perfect apps for the iPhone 4.0 OS, iPad and OS X for Mac are scheduled, but we have a feeling it might just be where Steve Jobs takes to the stage to unveil the iPhone 4.0.

iPhone 4.0 leak: all the details

How do we know? Apple chose WWDC 2009 for the unveiling of the iPhone 4.0’s predecessor, the iPhone 3GS. Apple’s senior VP of marketing, Phil Schiller, used the company’s keynote on Monday 8 June to whip it out, and now that Jobs is back at the helm, we’d expect him to pull out the iPhone 4.0 in just the same way, potentially on Monday 7 June 2010.

Of course, this isn’t confirmed, but there’s an awful lot we still don’t know about the software features of the iPhone 4.0. It’d be quite odd to charge developers for attendance, then not teach them about how to make use of that front facing camera clearly visible on the leaked iPhone 4.0 prototype…

Out TBC | £TBC | Apple

Hulu UK plans scrapped

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 07:07 AM PDT

Hulu UK has been promised so many times we were starting to feel like nagging children waiting for a new bike at Christmas, but now our dreams have been shattered by the news Hulu won't be launching in Blighty after all.

Official word from the American web TV service is that Hulu won't be launching in the UK at all, with rumours circulating that negotiations with UK broadcasters have failed.

It's a blow to square-eyed web-watchers in Britain, although increased competition from the likes of YouTube and SeeSaw mean we're hardly surprised Hulu has backed off.

According to the Telegraph, Hulu ran into difficulties convincing UK broadcasters to accept its advertising plans too.

Out: Never | £TBC | Hulu (via Telegraph)

Spotify update yanked after huge demand

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 06:30 AM PDT

Got the Spotify update yet? You know, the one adding Spotify social features and letting you peep other users most-played tunes?

No? Tough. Spotify has been forced to yank the update from its website after massive demand. If you want the new features now, you'll have to wait for the automatic update to work its way to you.

That could take a few days, and although Spotify will update itself silently while you continue to listen as usual, for the time being you're unable to nab the latest version manually.

"Demand for the next generation of Spotify has been overwhelming," Spotify explains on its download page. "To ensure that our systems can handle the additional usage we're going to need to keep the roll out of the new version in check.

"Users will be automatically updated in the coming days. Currently, trying to download the new version directly from our website, or restarting Spotify, will not provide you with the latest upgrade."

Spotify update adds social features

Of course, there's nothing stopping you finding a copy of the new version (Spotify 0.4.3) from a friend and installing it yourself, or using some of the mirror sites to nab a copy. Our buddies at Pocket-Lint have uploaded the Windows version here for you to snaffle on the sly.

It goes without saying, however, that if you're planning to download Spotify from a third party source you'll be doing so at your own risk. Do yourself a favour, and use it as an opportunity to update your virus and security software too.

Out now | £Free | Spotify (via Pocket-Lint)

DIY iPad case outperforms shop-bought rivals

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 06:08 AM PDT

The iPad might not be out in the UK yet, but that's no reason not to prepare for its arrival. Keep your idle hands busy by crafting your very own case, with instructions from one handy iPad owner, who's successfully built the best iPad case we've ever seen.

See, the problem with all the iPad cases we've seen to date is that while some offer protection, they're short on storage. Whereas the ones packed with storage, don't let us prop up our iPad to watch a movie. And the ones which prop the iPad up? Well, they're short on storage.

It's a vicious circle: as yet, we haven't found an iPad case that does it all. Until now.

Blogger Steve Bostedor created his Custom Day-Timer iPad case by cobbling together some Scotch tape, a microfibre cleaning cloth and an old day planner. His creation not only houses the iPad safely, but the microfibre lining actually cleans the screen a little each time he slides it in and out.

iPad UK review: Overall verdict

And for storage, Steve even built in space to stash an Apple Bluetooth keyboard: perfect for long typing sessions. It'll even lay the iPad down at the perfect angle for typing on a desktop.

Want to watch a movie instead of working? Steve's iPad case lets him prop the iPad up vertically too. He really has thought of everything.

Check out his instructions at iPadshow.com and let us know if it inspires your craftier side.

Out now | £TBC | iPadshow

Garmin Asus A10: satnav phone for pedestrians

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 05:30 AM PDT

The Garmin Asus A10 certainly is an interesting proposition. The newly announced smartphone runs Android, which is rarely a bad idea, but here’s the thing: phone and PND partnership Garmin Asus is bigging up its unique pedestrian navigation software onboard. Won’t Google Maps on almost any other phone suffice for that?

We’re still waiting for bigger brother the A50, to arrive on these shores, but in the meantime, the Garmin Asus A10 has been made official anyway. It’s packing a smaller, 3.2-inch HVGA multitouch screen, five megapixel camera and Android Market access, plus Exchange support to get your work email on the go.

Garmin Asus nuvifone A50: Android satnav phone up close

Naturally, given Garmin’s satnav credentials, the Garmin Asus A10 has GPS on board, but somewhat surprisingly, it’s being pitched as a smartphone optimised for pedestrian navigation, with cityXplorer public transport maps and routes preloaded, though it does come with an audio mount to boost volume in a car as well.

Of course, Google Maps on Android 1.6 and up offers both anyway with Google Maps Navigation, though the Garmin Asus A10’s ability to work outside of 3G reception could prove a useful selling point: it has the maps preloaded, whereas Google downloads them on the fly.

The Garmin Asus A10 goes on sale in Europe in “mid-2010″, we’re told, but given the delays we’ve seen on previous models, we’re not going to start getting our hopes up until we get a precise launch date.

Out 2010 | £TBC | Garmin Asus

Sony Vaio P sequel primed?

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 05:00 AM PDT

Remember the Sony Vaio P? The tiny netbook that wasn’t a netbook turned heads at CES last year, only for heads to snap right back again once they clocked the monster pricetag. Now though, Sony could be prepping an update: it’s teasing a brand new Sony Vaio “ultra mobile”.

We liked the idea of the Sony Vaio P, but clumpy Windows Vista all but flattened its puny processor, so it didn’t come as a big surprise to see Sony soon veer off towards the more traditional netbook form factor with the Sony Vaio W. But could it be heading back to the Sony Vaio P look? Head on over to Sony Style Japan and you’ll see a teaser page for a Sony Vaio “New Ultra Mobile”, coming soon.

Read our Sony Vaio W series review now

Now, we could have a Sony Vaio X update on our hands, but we’d love to see Sony have another attempt at the Sony Vaio P with different innards. We’ve seen Asus, HP, Lenovo and others begin to slap low power ARM processors inside larger machines, so we’d love to see Sony try the same. We’re still waiting for someone to come along and crack the Android netbook, and we reckon Google’s OS on a machine so small could work wonders, if it was snappy enough.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the site for you, so you’ll know as soon as a Sony Vaio P successor (or whatever that paper clip signifies) becomes official.

Out TBC | £TBC | SonyStyle

Lunchtime Lowdown: Vodafone 845 Android phone hits, JooJoo lands and HTC Desire delayed

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 04:30 AM PDT

Mealtime! Shut down those spreadsheets and forget about that lunch meeting: we’ve got what you need, right here and right now in our roundup of all the tastiest, juiciest gadget gossip. Read on for it all in the lunchtime lowdown!

There’s lots of big news for Android fans up first. Vodafone outed its 845 budget Google phone, and we swooped in on all the specs and video, while the flagship HTC Desire got delayed on O2. Don’t forget that you can buy the HTC Desire on other networks already, and we’ve got an in depth guide to the phone over at our Android Invades hub, so be sure to take a look.

Nokia meanwhile showed off the first HD video footage recorded on a Nokia N8, while staying with mobile computing, the JooJoo tablet is up for order in the UK. Can the Flash supporting slate beat the iPad?

Finally, in laptop tech, we reviewed the Alienware M11x. Is it the gaming ultra portable god we were hoping for? Check our full verdict to find out, and if you’re looking for a way to get PC games on your TV also, peep our Q-waves screen streaming guide too. Find out more about Q-waves.

Still starving for more tech stories? Click on over to the homepage, ASAP, and help yourself to plenty more!

Check out our Android Invasion, starting with our first robot romance video below!

Vodafone 845 Android phone official: photos and video

Posted: 28 Apr 2010 04:00 AM PDT

The Vodafone 845 Android phone sporting Vodafone’s 360 social networking skills has just been made official. It’s a teeny, tiny rival to the ultra cheap T-Mobile Pulse Mini, and we’ve hoovered up pictures and hands on video of it in action for you right here. Read on to see it.

The Vodafone 845 Android phone has hardly been much of a secret, leaking out in both render and final hardware form before, but now Vodafone’s given it the green light, a landing page of its very own on its site, and a May release date.

Vodafone 845 Android 360 phone spied in the flesh

Like the HTC Tattoo and T-Mobile Pulse Mini, the Vodafone 845 packs a 2.8-inch QVGA screen, Wi-Fi, GPS, HSDPA and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

It’s sporting a noticeably different build however, and comes pre-loaded with Vodafone’s 360 apps (Yes, it’s a tad confusing that the Vodafone 845 is a Vodafone 360 phone) for sucking in all your friends’ status updates. It also runs Android 2.1 like the Tattoo, so should offer up free Google Maps Navigation in the UK and let you bin your satnav.

Exact pricing and launch details are still to be confirmed, but we’d hope to see the Vodafone 845 land on Pay As You Go soon. In the meantime, check it out in our Vodafone 845 official photo gallery, and up close in Fonehome’s first hands on video.

Out May | £TBC | Vodafone (Via Fonehome)

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Thursday, 29 April 2010

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast!

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