Twitter User With Unfortunate Username Harassed by Cricket Fans [Twitter]

n hindsight, tweeter @theashes probably wishes she'd chosen a different username. Completely ignorant to all things cricket, she's been bombarded with tweets from cricket fans, to the extent where Qantas has offered to fly her to a match for free.

Her hatred—or rather, ignorance—towards all things cricket-related sparked a #gettheashestotheashes hashtag meme, after she replied to dozens of Twitter users who were copying her @theashes username accidentally into their tweets. "I AM NOT A FREAKING CRICKET MATCH!!!" she told several of them, which led to her designing a SpreadShirt t-shirt with that very slogan on.

View the Original article

Google Was Hacked by Chinese Politburo in January, WikiLeaks Docs Confirm [Google]

By now you should've heard that WikiLeaks released a bunch of new files yesterday, which are being called "cables." The whole mess even has a "-gate" suffix! And sheds light on Google massive hack-attack last January...

If you remember, this was the act that provoked Google to threaten to pull out of China, after they hacked their hackers right back and discovered the big Gmail attack actually originated from the China government. Contained within WikiLeaks' documents yesterday was information backing up Google's suspicions, namely that it was actually the Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China (a panel of 24 people who govern the Communist Party in China) that were behind the attacks.

The same group of people also reportedly hacked the Dalai Lama's email as well as many American companies since 2002. [The Guardian and TechCrunch]

View the Original article

Deal: Nokia N8 for $429 at Amazon

Doesn't get much cheaper than this: the N8 is $429 for today at Amazon.

Amazon’s gearing up for Cyber Monday with some nice Gold Box deals, including this one for the Nokia N8: $429 shipped free. Retail price is $549. This also beats Nokia USA’s joke-of-a-Black-Friday sale price of $499.

I have to say that I’m a bit conflicted about this one. It’s one of the cheapest prices I’ve ever seen on the N8, but at this price point you can get some damn fine smartphones that have impressive hardware combined with equally impressive software. Judging by every single review that I’ve read so far, the N8′s only managed to hit one of those (hardware).

Still, if your heart’s set on the N8, you might want to consider the Gold Box deal. It’s good for the rest of today.

Nokia N8 for $429 Shipped – Amazon

View the Original article

Samusng Google Nexus S crops up in the FCC sporting two new antennas

The Samsung GT-i9020T, aka the elusive Google Nexus S, has turned up at the FCC, with two new antennas listed. These two new additions to the spec list are nothing two revolutionary; it’s an application to add Bluetooth / Wi-Fi and GPS receivers.

Still, this is encouraging news, suggesting that we might actually get to see the Nexus S sometime soon.

View the Original article

Cheap iPad deals revealed by Orange: Actually quite expensive

Orange has revealed the pricing for its new subsidised iPad plans. If you're thinking of picking up an Apple slate then you'll be understandably excited by the idea of a cheaper option, but beware: you'll probably end up spending more in the long run.

Along with a £27/month two-year contract (£25/month for existing Orange customers), you'll be paying £199 for the 16GB iPad 3G + WiFi. For 32GB you're looking at £249 and £349 for 64GB of storage.

View the Original article

Add Us to Your Home Screen

If you’re a regular reader here – and I really hope you are! – you may want to have a quicker way to get to our site from you iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Such as creating a home screen icon for the site, so you can get to us with one tap. To do so, when you’re at the home page of the site, just tap on the standard Share button (the one that looks like an envelope with an arrow coming out of it), then tap the ‘Add to Home Screen’ link.

View the Original article

Mobile gaming is getting serious.

French website, “nowhere else” has issued an image of an invite from Sony Ericsson and as you can see it has the Playstation trademark controller buttons combined with a new phone icon. This seems to all but confirm that a PSP phone is ready for market release. It’s believed that the handset will run android and combine both the Xperia and PSP brands into one mobile gaming device.

View the Original article

Ipad 2 may go head to head with Blackberry PlayBook.

Based on Apple’s yearly release schedule of their iPhone and iPod touch range we had expected a similar approach with the iPad. An April 2011 release would be far from surprising however leaked stories surrounding the new iPad would suggest the a new model will be released within Q1 of 2011.

9to5mac highlighted that Apple had hired David Sims, a British photographer to shoot an ad for the new iPad. It was highlighted however that the original iPads were used in the shoot and suggested that they would be swapped for a new version in post production. This is fairly weak evidence to be honest but more fuel has been added to the fire today by Digitimes.

Digitimes have reported that a selection of Taiwanese manufactures, after recently becoming certified by Apple will be shipping small quantities of components that will be used in the new iPad. They will ship these components during December leading industry analysts to expect a consumer launch in Q1 of 2011.

Appleinsider also went on record in October saying that Apple were going to become much more aggressive with their facetime product and that Apple would be introducing an Ipad no later then Q1 of 2011. This would keep the iPad aligned with Apple’s face time strategy.

The rumours as you can see are building with an early 2011 release looking ever more likely. This could be bad news for Apple competitors when the likes of Samsung and Blackberry are only just releasing their first tablet computer.

The Blackberry Playbook is getting a large amount of attention especially from the business market due to it’s server integration and encryption technology, however they clearly see Apple’s current iPad as their biggest contender. A video released this week from Blackberry showcasing the Playbook’s web browser is directly compared to that of the iPad.

As the Playbook is due for launch during Q2 of 2011 Blackberry may have found that they were targeting the wrong product if the iPad 2 is released a few months before the Playbook.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and keep checking the mobiles.co.uk blog for any new developments.

View the Original article

iPad get multitasking and Network approval.

IPhone Mobile me

One of the surprising additions to iOS 4.2 is the inclusion of where is my iPhone/Ipad/Ipod. This was previously only available through the paid for Mobile Me service. Essentially this enables the owner of the device to track the location as long as the GPS and handset are switched on. It also allows you to erase all the private information from the device and display a message to the holder of the missing device. Although this may help you track your handset if it’s been left in the office or your car. Once the handset is switched off it renders the software useless. (As apple found out when one of their employee’s misplaced his pre-release iPhone 4).

The update should be available at any point soon so keep an eye on your itunes for an update.

View the Original article

Acer Iconia: Dual-touchscreen tablet with two HD screens

Acer has announced its dual-touchscreen tablet, named the Acer Iconia. Created in collaboration with Microsoft, this is probably the closest we'll get to the Microsoft Courier book-inspired tablet, concept images of which did the rounds about this time last year.

With a definite laptop vibe, the Iconia consists of two 14in 720p HD touchscreen panels and runs Windows 7 Premium rather than a mobile or specific tablet OS. However, Acer has added a social networking and media hub called Acer Ring to the Windows software as well.

On the inside, the Iconia is rocking an Intel Core i5-480 chip, 640GB of storage with 4GB of RAM, three USB ports, an HDMI connection and built-in 3G and Wi-Fi. It also offers a four-cell battery which can only give you around three hours of dual-tablet action - not ideal.

Another less than ideal element of the Acer Iconia is its price tag - at a hefty £1,500, will anyone be able to afford it when it goes on sale on January 16th?

View the Original article

3,000 apps and 15,000 developers keeping Windows Phone 7 ticking over

By the end of this week, Microsoft reckons there'll be 3,000 apps available in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. That should keep even the most avid app fan happy for a while, particularly given that the platform itself launched just two months ago.

We're just getting warmed up, says Microsoft's Todd Brix, citing the 15,000 app developers now on board with the platform.

Swit jolly well swoo, and all that - but in terms of app volume, the Microsoft-powered platform can't compete with its older rivals Apple and Android just yet.

Still, 3,000 apps two months in is pretty good going, and with Microsoft focusing on quality as well as quantity, 2011 could be an interesting year for Win Pho users.

View the Original article

Sony Ericsson to announce the PlayStation Phone on December 9th?

A mysterious invitation received by a French blog seems to suggest that an official PlayStation phone announcement is imminent.

The invite features the traditional PlayStation icons with the addition of a phone handset which, the entire internet is suggesting, means that a Sony Ericsson PlayStation handset will be unveiled at the event. The other key piece of evidence is that the host of the mysterious do is the president of Sony Ericsson France.

Taking place on December 9th, there's no confirmation as to the authenticity of the event invite - the fact that no other technology site in the world appears to have received one speaks volumes.

View the Original article

Three gets in on the subsidised iPad pricing action

Hot on the heels of Orange and T-Mobile, Three has announced its plan to offer subsidised pricing options for customers buying an iPad with a data plan.

The new pricing will apply to the iPad with WiFi and 3G models, and more details are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

If you aren't fussed about 3G connectivity, however, it may work out cheaper to save up for a full price WiFi only iPad rather than tie yourself into what is likely to be a two-year contract.

Tweet this Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit Slashdot Related articlesNo related articles found.

View the Original article

Black Friday iPad deals: get an iPad for £394 for one day only

Just because we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving over here doesn’t mean we can’t take advantage of sweet Black Friday deals like our cousins ‘cross the pond do.

For today only, iPads bought from Apple’s online store come with a £35 discount, taking the asking price of a 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi, (the least expensive iPad) down to £394. A 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G is reduced to £494.01, down from £529. Orders are dispatched within 24 hours and delivery is free.

If you were thinking of getting someone an iPad for Christmas today would probably be a good day to do it. There’s also a free gift wrap service if you’re like us and rubbish at wrapping presents. Click here to get the full breakdown on the Black Friday iPad deals, prices and delivery info.

View the Original article

Motorola Milestone 2 now shipping in the UK: Yours for £380

Black Friday deals may be upon us, but Expansys and Motorola are having none of that nonsense. Instead of dropping £380 on some other, unrelated, tablet-type tech, they want you to send that cash in their direction, in exchange for a Motorola Milestone 2.

You can also pick the Milestone 2 up from Vodafone, where you can get the handset for free on £30 and £35 contracts.

We've nothing against the Milestone 2, of course - it's more of the same Milestone-y fun, really. With tethering, Motoblur and 720p video recording, it's a pretty standard smartphone affair.

Still, we know what we'd rather get for our 400 quid.

View the Original article

Nokia X7 running Need for Speed captured on video

Now this is a surprise. We’ve just seen this video of what is reportedly a Nokia X7, a rather slick looking entertainment phone.

It looks to all intents and purposes to be a more fun and friendly version of Nokia’s Qwerty-equipped E7. It’s got a similar lozenge design and, according to Engadget (where we first spied this), it has a 4-inch touchscreen, four external speakers, an 8-megapixel camera and runs on Symbian

View the Original article

MeeGo 1.1 Released, Handset-Ready 1.2 Not Coming Until April 2011

November 1, 2010

A MeeGo 1.1 “project release” has been released by Nokia. But what is it exactly?

As answered by the official Nokia Conversations blog in a post titled “for developers’ eyes only: MeeGo version 1.1″:

So what is a “project release”? Let’s start with what it isn’t. This isn’t a finished product for you to load up on to your phone and use on a day-to-day basis. The user interface is neither finished nor is it representative of what the experience will look like on future Nokia devices (we’re creating our own unique experience using Qt). What it is, is a generic version intended to allow developers and device manufacturers to get familiar with the code and the capabilities of future devices.

The last paragraph in the same post, nestled under some screenshots, contained some telling information for the future:

So that’s version 1.1. Version 1.2 is scheduled for April 2011, by which point the MeeGo handset user experience software should be pretty much complete. For all the technical details, jump to meego.com. And as ever, let us know what you think in the comments below.

Here’s how I read this post:

MeeGo 1.1 is an unfinished version of the final OS. It will probably look completely different by the next version.MeeGo 1.2 might – or might not – be the full retail version for handsets.1.2 is coming somewhere around April 2011.There won’t be any MeeGo phones before April 2011.

Oof. Pretty disappointing news, to say the least. I’m disappointed not just because this means a huge delay for my N9, but because this is some seriously bad news for Nokia. Essentially, it’s going to take another six months to get out what I’d consider to be Nokia’s best chance in the smartphone market.

For developers’ eyes only: MeeGo version 1.1 – Nokia Conversations

Tags meego

Related PostsThe State of the N900: PR1.3 is “quite close”, adds MeeGo dual-boot option
A Tour of MeeGo 1.1
Software: Twitter

View the Original article

Got Swype Working On N8! No Portrait Keyboard Though

So I finally got Swype on the Nokia N8, however, just as I was afraid, there is no portrait keyboard! That is classical Nokia, release something that works half-way well. But don’t get me wrong, Swype might come with portrait mode in the future, but we can’t tell for sure. The Swype I got is official, I downloaded it from the Ovi Store by tricking it to believe I was using a C7 – because Swype is available right now officially for the C7. 

So those who say I am criticizing something before it is available, just think of it like this: if you had a C7 and had “legitimately” downloaded Swype, you would get landscape mode only, yeah, frustrating. And who Swypes in landscape mode? It is the most inconvenient thing to do since you have to slide your thumb on a very wide surface, is just bad design and ergonomics.

View the Original article

Nokia X7 With 4″, 4 Speakers, and 8MP Leaks – Looks Sweet

We knew that the Nokia X7 was coming because of the roadmap that leaked some months ago; but I personally never thought it would be this exciting. The Nokia X7 first leaked, in picture format anyway, today – showing a glorious 4″ screen, 4 speakers, and what in my opinion is, a sweet looking design.The most impressive feature of the Nokia X7 is its four speakers. I am sure this four speakers will blow away devices like the HTC Surround with dedicated slide-out speaker. The next most exciting feature is the 4″ AMOLED screen. 

The X7 still doesn’t have rumored announcement date, but my bet is that it will be announced at the mobile world congress and will ship in no more than 3 weeks after announced, since Nokia now changed to a policy of eliminating the waiting time between announcement and release date of products. Another interesting detail is that there are 4 homescreens on this X7, as well as updated icons. The X7 might run an updated version of Symbian OS. Stay tuned for more details!
Popularity: 1%


View the Original article

N8 Review: A Milestone For Nokia

By: Ed

The mobile industry has evolved at the rate of years per second in the last couple of months. The competition is fierce, and the range of offerings is wide. This accelerated growth pace, however, has been exclusively in the high-end segment of the market. A market that is now mainstream as mobile internet has become cheaper; smartphones aren’t a niche product anymore. To compete in this market, Nokia came up with the Nokia N8, the most advanced Nokia smartphone ever. Although the N8 does not represent the very top-end of the Nokia line, it is the epitome of all of Nokia’s offerings for the rest of 2010, and first months of 2011.

Hardware

The Nokia N8 has an iconic design. Nokia is one of the few manufacturers that can create something that looks completely different from the rest. The N8 is hardware-wise, one of the most complete smartphones available. It has it all: HDMI-out, USB-OTG, aluminium monoblock design, 12 MP Camera with Xenon and Carl-Zeiss, AMOLED screen, Gorilla-Glass, front-camera, and availability in five different colors. The N8 is beautiful, the design unique, the phone feels solid – it is iconic.

View the Original article

NSFW: Another Junk Peripheral [Culture Smash]

Not "junk" as in "trash", but "junk" as in "tickle pickles", "flesh bananas" or "knobgoblins". You know, dicks!

To date, Japan produced at least two big ding dong peripherals: SOM was released in late 2008. It connects to player's computers via USB and even syncs to "climax scenes" in erotic games. A "piston machine" was also released for ladies.

View the Original article

Cops Zap PCP-Using Rock Band Enthusiast (With Video) [Video]

From the University of Maryland comes this tale of holiday cheer - starring GameStop, Rock Band 3, a guy on PCP, cops, and the requisite taser.
A Maryland senior headed to a shopping center on Monday intending to get a new ATM card. Instead, he saw a guy alone inside a GameStop, game cases strewn about the floor, apparently playing Rock Band 3. The Maryland student said the guy's pupils were "all dilated," and described him as "pretty fucked up."
Enter the College Park fuzz. They tried to talk calmly to the guy; he responded with a barrage of profanity and by, quote, flipping a shit, endquote, so out came the electroshock treatment, which you may see above.
The Diamondback, the newspaper of the University of Maryland, followed up with cops, who said the tased Rock Band enthusiast was under the influence of PCP. He was taken to a local hospital, treated, and released.
The University of Maryland is the alma mater of Kotaku editor Brian D. Crecente.
Unruly Man Tasered, Arrested Downtown

View the Original article