Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
The Verge is reporting that Windows 8 will be priced at $199 after a promotional period. The promotional period will see the price set at $69.99 which is set to expire on Jan 31 2013.
A Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro upgrade will also be available in stores at $69.99 which will then jump to $99.99 after the same promotional period as mentioned above.
Good news for those wanting unlimited data for their smartphone. T-Mobile in the US has announced that starting September 5, it will be offering unlimited data.
The cost of the unlimited data is $69.99/month or $89.99/month depending on if you choose a subsidised smartphone.
TomTom has released a new update for TomTom on iOS devices. The new version is 1.11 and with that update you get the latest maps as well as a few new social features which includes Foursquare check-ins and search.
As well as the above mentioned additions, TomTom now allows users to more easily modify route types.
Here in Europe, premium Apple resellers have been asked to provide more display space for the iPad. The request mentions that this work should be complete by September 12. Apple Insider hint that this could mean that the iPad mini will be announced on September 12 and have displays ready for it the same day. Although I’m a little sceptical of an iPad mini launch in September, I can see why Apple would want more space dedicated for a new device.
A number of retailers have leaked the release date of the Google Nexus 7 in France. The leaked date reveals that the device will be released on September 3.
Only the 16GB model is going on sale at first which will then be followed by the 8GB model at a later date. Various stores will have the tablet available which includes Fnac, Darty and Boulanger.
Everything Everywhere, the company that owns both the T-Mobile and Orange brands in the UK, has now been given the go-ahead to roll out 4G services to the UK. The company has been granted final approval to roll out LTE on the 1800MHz spectrum beginning September 11.
The iPhone 5 release date hasn’t been publicly announced yet, but on the web today I see that September 21 is looking to be the date of launch. The reason this conclusion is so is because Verizon now has a vacation blackout from September 21 till September 30. This usually indicates that a big product launch is coming.
Amazon Web Services now offers a new product called Amazon Glacier. Glacier is a cloud storage solution that lets you store lots of files in the cloud at a cheap price. The draw back is that it is designed to be slower to access meaning that a file you request could take several hours to arrive.
Due to the slow process of getting data, the main types of files you would want to store are those that you do not need immediate access to. Think of old pictures, documents, database backups etc…
A new version of Skype has been built for Windows 8 when the OS launches. This of course can be expected. What I didn’t expect to see today was more images of the new Skype app and what it runs like on the “Metro” style interface.
Amazon has made a brilliant move this week by announcing a new delivery option for those based in the UK. The online shopping site will soon be delivering your parcels, if you wish, to your local corner shop which essentially means that you don’t have to wait in all day for a package to be delivered. Instead, you can designate a nearby partnered corner shop to receive the parcels and then collect them in the evening after you finish work.
Pricing is still a bit of an unknown for the new Windows 8 based tablets. Some suggestions have hinted that Microsoft will launch their own RT version of the Microsoft Surface at a low $199.99 in an attempt to gain market share. This of course will put a strain on the other hardware developers who will have no chance at competing with that kind of pricing. But, Lenovo are hinting at a potential $300 – $500 price range for the RT versions.
The pricing information come in an interview held by Bloomberg where Lenovo hinted that the price for the Pro version would be somewhere in the $600 – $700 price range with the RT versions coming in $200 – $300 less than that.
The Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy S III has a locked bootloader. This is the only version of the Galaxy S III where this is the case. Either way, some folks over at XDA Developers have now managed to unlock the bootloader thanks to some help with someone who leaked some software.
At the moment it requires you either run a Mac or Linux to run the software that unlocks the SIII bootloader although it is said to be available to work on Windows but requires a bit more than just a click to function… read the instructions first (link).
