Mobile Phones

Faltering Facebook phone's Europe launch delayed

On 27 May 2013 |0 comments

The European launch of the "Facebook phone" has been delayed following disappointing US sales and negative feedback. The HTC handset runs Facebook's enhan

MWC: Top 10 mobile industry insights from Barcelona bash

On 04 Mar 2013 |0 comments

Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been and gone, giving the mobile community a chance to come together and show off their latest products in Barcelona, while no

Tablets

Nook tablets join Barnes & Noble's UK line-up

On 26 Sep 2012 |0 comments

US book chain Barnes & Noble plans to launch new Nook tablets alongside its e-readers in the UK later this year. They will compete against products

South Korea rules Apple and Samsung infringed patents

On 23 Aug 2012 |0 comments

A South Korean court has ruled that Apple and Samsung both infringed each other's patents on mobile devices. The court imposed a limited ban on national sal

Cameras

Olympus TG-1, toughest ever compact camera?

On 08 May 2012 |0 comments

Waterproof, crushproof, freezeproof Olympus has officially unveiled a compact camera that the manufacturer promises will deliver expert shots at up to 12 m

TIPA Names 2012 Award Winners

On 19 Apr 2012 |0 comments

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has announced the winners of its annual Awards for the best photographic and imaging products of 2012. Headlin

Laptops

Google Chrome OS computers updated with faster processors

On 30 May 2012 |1 comments

Google has announced new computers running on its Chrome operating system.   The Samsung-manufactured laptop and desktop PCs include processors base

Apple's Tim Cook rejects idea of laptop-tablet hybrids

On 25 Apr 2012 |0 comments

Apple's boss has dismissed the idea of mixing laptops and tablets into a hybrid product.   Chief executive Tim Cook said the idea of combining the iPa

Other Recent Articles

Amazon signs lease on 210,000 sq ft central London offices

On 31 May 2013 | 0 Comments

Amazon has signed the lease on prime central London offices to accommodate 1,600 staff as it expands further into sectors such as book publishing and televisio

Microsoft 'U-turn' sees Start button back on Windows 8

On 31 May 2013 | 0 Comments

Microsoft has confirmed a Start button is returning to the desktop mode's taskbar of its Windows 8 operating system. The lack of the facility - which had be

Apple 1 from 1976 signed by Wozniak sells for $650,000

On 27 May 2013 | 0 Comments

An original Apple 1 computer from 1976 - one of only six still in working order - has sold at auction in Germany for more than 500,000 euros ($650,000). Th

Faltering Facebook phone's Europe launch delayed

On 27 May 2013 | 0 Comments

The European launch of the "Facebook phone" has been delayed following disappointing US sales and negative feedback. The HTC handset runs Facebook's enhan

MWC: Top 10 mobile industry insights from Barcelona bash

On 04 Mar 2013 | 0 Comments

Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been and gone, giving the mobile community a chance to come together and show off their latest products in Barcelona, while no

Burger King's Twitter account hacked

On 18 Feb 2013 | 0 Comments

Burger King's Twitter account appeared to have fallen victim to hackers on Monday as it began sending out pro-McDonald's messages and the occasional rap video

Facebook adds free calling feature for US iPhones

Posted in Feature , Mobile Phones | Thursday, January 17, 2013|By Anonymous
Facebook has added a feature in its mobile phone app that allows free calling for US iPhone users.
Users can now make calls to each other via the Facebook Messenger app anywhere they have a wi-fi or a cellular-data connection. The feature could be a boon for heavy talkers as they would avoid carrier call charges. Facebook said it was working on adding the feature to its Messenger app for Android and BlackBerry users. Within the app, all a person needs to do is open a conversation with a partner, tap the "i" icon in the upper right hand corner and select "Free Call". The calls, however, can only be made to another user who has Messenger installed on their iPhone. Users can neither call a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website or call a landline. The latest mobile-to-mobile development was independent of the free video-calling software Skype, which was already integrated into Facebook's website, a spokesman said. The Messenger app is limited to voice calling. The official said Facebook was expected to roll out the feature in its Messenger app for other operating systems and expand it overseas. On Tuesday, Facebook unveiled a smart search engine - called Graph Search - that allows users to make "natural" searches of content shared by their friends.

Massive increase in in-app purchases complaints to UK regulator

Posted in Feature , Mobile Phones | Wednesday, January 16, 2013|By Anonymous
Anger over huge phone bills caused by purchases made within mobile applications has grown.
Regulator PhonepayPlus has noted a 300% increase in complaints from consumers faced with an unexpectedly large phone bill. Many apps can be downloaded for free, but users are then encouraged to buy extra items. Other free apps contained malware that tricked users into running up bills, the regulator added. Children's "naivety" on social media was also causing concern among parents, PhonepayPlus said. The regulator said it was working with Facebook to make sure rogue offers and promotions were removed from the site as quickly as possible. In most mobile app stores, it is free games that make their way to the top of the most downloaded charts, so many games makers have opted for the in-app sales business model. Burning holes Many titles, such as the massively popular Angry Birds, give players the chance to progress more quickly in the game by spending small amounts of money. PhonepayPlus said its figures suggested that two in three 11- to 16-year-olds had downloaded their own apps. The regulator warned that parents could see bills of "hundreds or even thousands of pounds" as a result of these in-app purchases. In one of the more extreme cases, it was reported that children had downloaded counterfeit versions of games from Google's Android app store. These games were infected with malware which, whenever opened, billed £15 to the user's phone bill without their knowledge. PhonepayPlus' chief executive Paul Whiteing said parents must be vigilant. "Connected devices will define the age in which today's children live and we are determined to ensure that they can receive the benefits while being protected from the risks," he said. "Smartphones in children's pockets can burn holes in parents' wallets, so we are working with partners across industry and other agencies to prevent this. "This is a real challenge for parents and for us as a regulator, but this plan meets that challenge head on."

Google makes concessions to avoid legal action in US

Posted in Feature , Tech Reviews | Thursday, January 3, 2013|By Anonymous
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided not to take legal action against Google at the end of a 19-month investigation into the search giant.
 It found Google had not biased its search results to favour its products. Google has agreed to give advertisers access to more information about their campaigns and has agreed not to use other providers' material such as product reviews in its search results. Google is still awaiting a competition ruling from the European Commission. Another key concession applies to how Google uses the patents it bought when it acquired Motorola Mobility last year for $12.5bn (£7.9bn). Google has said it will charge "fair and reasonable" rates to companies that need to use its standard essential patents. Standard essential patents are ones that are critical to industry standards, for example, the technology that allows devices such as smartphones and tablets to connect to the internet over wi-fi. It has agreed not to take out injunctions forcing licensees to remove their products from sale if there are disagreements about how much a fair rate should be. 'Disappointing and premature' Rivals had called for stronger sanctions to be taken against Google. Fairsearch, an organisation representing several of Google's critics such as Microsoft, said in a statement: "The FTC's decision to close its investigation with only voluntary commitments from Google is disappointing and premature, coming just weeks before the company is expected to make a formal and detailed proposal to resolve the four abuses of dominance identified by the European Commission, first among them biased display of its own properties in search results." The FTC was asked to investigate whether Google was favouring its own products in search results. FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz told a press conference that the commission had found no evidence that Google's search engine was biased towards its own services.

Elite video game reboot hits funding target

Posted in Feature , Tech Reviews | |By Anonymous
An ambitious plan to update classic space trading game Elite has hit its funding target.
The game first appeared on the BBC Micro in 1984 but one of the game's original creators wanted to make a modern PC version. David Braben sought £1.25m via crowd-sourcing site Kickstarter to fund the 21st century update. A last minute surge of pledges helped it reach its goal about 48 hours before Friday's funding deadline. Funding squeeze Elite: Dangerous debuted on Kickstarter on 5 November and set itself 60 days to raise £1.25m. In November, Mr Braben said Elite was a game he had wanted to come back to for a "long, long time". Although some early work on the multiplayer title had been done at Mr Braben's game studio Frontier Developments, but needed the cash to turn the code into a finished playable product. If the game did not hit its funding target then development work would stop.