Motorola RAZR Maxx launches in UK with 3,300mAh battery

- Phil Lavelle  May. 18 at 10:00

Remember the days when Motorola seemed be launching a different RAZR variant by the week? The days when having a RAZR was cool. The days when everyone seemed to own one.

Well, we don't want to cast aspersions and claim it's happening again but another version of the relaunched line has just found its way onto the UK streets - the RAZR Maxx.

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iPad Mini: More revelations

- Phil Lavelle  May. 18 at 09:30

These rumours of a new, smaller and cheaper iPad are gathering momentum - and now we're even hearing details of who is going to be supplying the screens.

According to Taiwan's Liberty Times (via 9to5 Mac), LG and AU Optronics have been certified to supply an LCD panel for the device, measuring 7.85-inches. Shipping has been set for the second half of this year.

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Samsung Galaxy S III with 2GB RAM heading to Japan

- Phil Lavelle  May. 17 at 11:30

We won't try to hide our feelings here: we quite simply cannot wait to get our mitts on the Samsung Galaxy S III (May 29th feels like a LIFETIME away).

But if you thought the specs looked pretty impressive when it was launched a couple of weeks ago, what about the Japanese? Apparently when Samsung's latest flagship lands there, it'll have a RAM boost up to 2GB.

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Amazon Kindle Fire 2 to be released before Christmas?

- Phil Lavelle  May. 17 at 10:30

Thinking already of what to buy your loved one(s) for Christmas? After all, we are almost halfway there!

If so, Amazon may have the gadget for you - it's popular Kindle Fire is spawning a successor - the Kindle Fire 2 - and has reportedly been pegged for a release later this year.

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Who pays for mobile apps?

- Phil Lavelle  May. 16 at 18:00

OK, so this story has a primarily American slant but it's still interesting for us in Blighty as the information itself comes from London.

Basically, about two thirds of people who use apps have spent money on one on at least one occasion - on average, about £10 a month in total. Yet the closer you look, the more interesting things get.

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Samsung picked over Asus to build Google Nexus tablet?

- Phil Lavelle  May. 15 at 11:30

The Nexus rumours are back - specifically that we're about to see a Nexus tablet again (it's too early for talk of a Nexus phone - that doesn't usually happen until towards Christmas time).

Only this time, the manufacturer has changed again with Asus apparently off the cards and replaced with Android favourite, Samsung.

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Apple drops 4G reference from iPad 3 name

- Phil Lavelle  May. 15 at 10:30

It's not often we see Apple admit to getting something wrong - but here's one of those rare occasions. Remember the brand spanking new, all singing, all dancing New iPad 3 unveiled just a few months ago? The 4G capable one? Well, it's had to remove the words '4G' from the marketing bumph.

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Vodafone Portugal blows the HTC Desire C's cover

- Phil Lavelle  May. 14 at 18:37

We've seen a fair bit of this little fella of late, but nothing official just yet. We originally got to know him as the HTC Golf before being led to believe his full name would be the Wildfire C, only to find he'd finally settled on being known as the Desire C instead.

Although HTC hasn't confirmed details officially, we've now had the next best thing: it's now appeared in a Vodafone catalogue (albeit Vodafone Portugal) for this month with a photo and its full specs. Oops.

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32GB Samsung Galaxy S III coming to the UK - and why you could end up going without

- Phil Lavelle  May. 11 at 20:00

There are few stories that this author writes which are capable of inducing a good, old fashioned, girlie squeal of delight. But here is one: The 32GB version of the Samsung Galaxy S III is coming to Blighty! Whoop!

Unfortunately, the bad news is that Vodafone has nabbed exclusivity on said variant which means if you're not with big red, you're going to have to do some serious PAC coding.

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LG lining up Galaxy S III killer to eclipse Korean rival Samsung?

- Phil Lavelle  May. 11 at 19:00

Samsung is now the biggest phone manufacturer in the world - but if another South Korean maker (LG) wants to get a look in, it's going to have to up its game.

And apparently it has, according to a post over at Briefmobile. It reckons LG is working on a quad-core smartphone that will, on paper at least, easily have the measure of the likes of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III or the newly released HTC One X.

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10% of world's web browsing now done via smartphones

- Phil Lavelle  May. 10 at 19:00

Be honest - how many of you bother to fire up the laptop or sit in front of the computer when you're lazing about at home and just want to check something quickly online whilst holding a smartphone? The honest answer is probably not many.

Which isn't surprising. Nor is the fact that 10% of all web activity now comes directly from smartphones.

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HTC One X: Now it's hit with messaging problem

- Phil Lavelle  May. 10 at 18:30

You have got to feel a little bit sorry for poor old HTC right now. Its flagship HTC One X has clearly had a lot of work put into it. You can tell its tried really hard to get it right.

And yet, more often than not, we are seeing stories of various complaints with everything from a creaky screen to poor battery to now a software glitch which means users don't get alerted to new messages.

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Almost half of phone users now on smartphones

- Phil Lavelle  May. 9 at 19:00

Here's some news that's bound to please the retailers - apparently, almost half of us phone users are now rocking smartphones.

From being niche products that most people passed up, thanks to (primarily) Android and iOS, 47% of us now own one. those are the official figures from YouGov's Technology and Telecoms team, in case you wondered.

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Nokia 808 PureView now landing on June 4... maybe

- Phil Lavelle  May. 9 at 18:00

Fancy a Nokia 808 Pureview? Then you're probably completely confused by now as to when exactly you're going to be able to get your hands on one, with the week beginning June 4th now being pegged as the latest potential date.

But of course, that could change. Yes, it's the date currently being given by Clove, but we've already had the end of April, May 7th and the end of June/early July put forward. At least Clove has the decency to say "official availability to be confirmed".

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Re:route app: earn goodies by walking around with your phone

- Phil Lavelle  May. 8 at 19:00

This one could've come straight out of some government handbook to reduce our big fat bellies. But they've been pipped to the post by Transport for London and Recyclebank in their efforts to get us walking by promising financial incentives, and, as an added bonus, keeping us all nice and healthy.

So, here's how it works: with an app called re:route, your phone gets a route and then the GPS follows you on that route to make sure you've done it by foot. If you do, you get rewards: Vouchers from the likes of Champneys (very posh!), Marks and Spencer, Haven Holidays and Cineworld to name but a few. The marketeers reckon you could earn up to £250 worth of goodies over the course of the year if you use re:route properly.

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Was the iPad 3 Apple's "Plan B"?

- Phil Lavelle  May. 8 at 18:00

Apple's iPad 3 may be a bit fatter than its predecessor (almost sacrilege in gadget design terms) but it's got a far better screen, which is one of the primary selling points. Yet, it may surprise you to learn that the iPad 3's screen could have been thinner - or at least, that was apparently the original plan.

President of DisplayMate Technologies, Raymond Soneira, has told CNET that - in the same way many view the iPhone 4S as a backup option to the originally hoped-for iPhone 5 - the iPad 3 was actually the inferior product too.

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Motorola RAZR HD: Leak with pics

- Phil Lavelle  Apr. 25 at 10:00

So, looks like the Motorola RAZR HD is all but confirmed thanks to a leak last week from one of the company's engineers

And now, here we are with another leak - this time, complete with pics.

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Angry Birds Space available on BlackBerry PlayBook but still not Windows Phone

- Phil Lavelle  Apr. 25 at 09:30

It caused a bit of a stir when it landed on iOS and Android earlier this year, clocking up 20m downloads in a week. And we know some of you are desperate to know when Angry Birds Space will arrive at Windows Phone's door.

But if you're a BlackBerry Playbook owner, we have good news today in that you can now get it for the RIM tab and enjoy a few jealous stares from those WinPho types.

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Apple iPhone 5 'could be 0.44mm thinner'

- Phil Lavelle  Apr. 24 at 18:00

To celebrate the fact that it's Tuesday, let's have another iPhone 5 rumour. It must be all of ten minutes since the last one.

This time, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, the latest 'Jesus phone' could end up coming in at 0.44mm thinner than the current 4S model. Apparently, that's if Cupertino decides to switch to in-cell touch panel technology.

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Fancy a spanking by Windows Phone? Here's how to get one...

- Phil Lavelle  Apr. 24 at 10:00

We can't work out if this one smacks of clever marketing or just a bit of desperation. We'll go with the former.

Basically, if you get approached by a stranger in the street offering a bit of spanking in return for £20, don't automatically assume they're a pervert and run off screaming. Because you may be in line for a bit of cash.

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