Archive for December, 2007

emTube updated

Monday, December 31st, 2007

EmTube

If you installed emTube immediately after we first mentioned it, an update (1.0.4) has been available for a week, which we recommend you install.

New iPhone firmware coming soon

Monday, December 31st, 2007

iPhone 1.1.3

According to Engadget, we may well be seeing a new iPhone firmware very soon, although it may not be released until MacWorld in a couple of weeks. The key features are Google Maps Cell-Based Location services (as already available for many Symbian and Java phones), and the ability to reorder the icons on the home screen (springboard). The springboard also support pagination, which appears to be in preparation for additional applications, due around February 2008 when the SDK formally ships.

There are already rumours that you can’t downgrade, and people with jailbroken / unlocked phones may suffer problems upgrading to 1.1.3

Asus release range of Eee PC accessories

Monday, December 31st, 2007

Asus Eee PC accessories

Asus have released a range of accessories for their Eee PC range - including compact mice, noise cancelling headphones, power adaptors for a range of countries, and extra batteries. More details here.

3 release PAYG USB Modem

Friday, December 28th, 2007

3 USB Modem

As we first mentioned here, 3 have now released their USB Modem as a Pay As You Go (PAYG) offering. Simply head over to their website, buy the modem for £99.99 (in Black, White and Pink as mentioned here or the Black ZTE version), and then topup with 1Gb, 3Gb, or 7Gb data packs for £10, £15 or £25 respectively, which are valid for 30 days (charges of £1 per Mb apply once the allowance is used up, although you should be able to topup again).

In comparison, Vodafone charge £9.99 for 24 hours access, with a 500Mb limit, so if you plan to use the USB modem a little more frequently (but not enough to buy one), or want a little more headroom in the bandwidth limit, then this deal may well be for you. You also get the modem for the same price directly, without needing to quote special discount codes.

Nokia updates Audiobooks application

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Nokia Audiobooks

As well as the updates to Nokia Channels, and the Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter we covered earlier this week, Nokia Beta Labs has also updated the Nokia Audiobooks software we first covered here.

The Nokia Audiobooks software update is mainly a bugfix, with new features and improvements due in future versions.

Custom cursors on older TomTom devices

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

TomTom Custom Cursor

The latest TomTom devices (x20 range - 520, 720, 920) support custom cursors (custom vehicle icons) out of the box, but an earlier device upgraded with the same v7 software does not. Help is at hand…

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Dell PCs to be available from Tesco too

Thursday, December 27th, 2007

Dell PC

After announcing a deal to sell selected Dell PCs and Laptops via DSG, Dell have now announced a deal with Tescos to make their computers available from the majority of Tesco stores.

Merry Christmas to all our readers

Tuesday, December 25th, 2007

xmas tree

Here at UK Gadgeteer we’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Gadget-laden New Year. There are a number of people who have helped develop this site from nothing to what we have today in only a few short months, and we would like to thank you all, from manufacturers providing review equipment, companies providing us news stories, through to our readers alerting us to the news we should cover, and of course on a personal note I’d like to thank the other editors and sysadmin staff who keep the site running behind the scenes.

Bike Rear View Mirror

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Bike Rear View Mirror

In a nice example of integration between various technologies, Cerevellum have released pictures of a prototype rear view camera system for bicycles they are hoping to put into production next year.  Athough shown on a bicycle, we can see no reason why these can’t also be used for motorbikes.  Cerevellum are hoping to sell these for around $200 in the US. They are also planning on developing GPS and Heart Rate components for the same system, which should make it even more attractive to regular cyclists.  No word on UK stockists.

[Via Engadget]

Nokia Internet Tablet Video Converter updated

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Nokia Video Converter

As well as updating the Nokia Channels app, Nokia have released an updated version of the Video Converter for their Internet Tablet range, which we previously covered here. Head over to the Nokia Beta Website for more information on the update. A key new feature is the creation of an API, allowing other developers to expand the functionality of the software. We’ll note that they are working on Vista and OS X versions of the Converter, and have not ruled out supporting a Linux desktop version in the future.

Nokia Channels update

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Nokia Channels

If you installed Nokia Channels when we last mentioned it, or simply have a new Symbian phone for Christmas, and are looking for interesting apps to install; Nokia have updated their Channels application. Full details of the usability enhancements and other changes on the Nokia Beta Website.

Mio releases 3D mapping

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Mio C620

Mio has released the C620 and C620T SatNav units (the latter with RDS-TMC support too). What’s interesting is the 3D mapping data that Mio have included, which makes these units fairly unique at the moment, although we expect more 3D applications / devices to come next year. The 3D maps include digital elevation data, as well 3D images of landmarks. Both units feature Bluetooth and a 4.3″ screen.

Access YouTube from your S60 mobile

Friday, December 21st, 2007

EmTube

EmTube has been released to allow full access to all YouTube videos on your Series60 3rd Edition mobile phone. This expands on the limited selection of videos available from the YouTube Mobile website. It will use the built in accelerometer (if available) to automatically rotate the screen for portrait / landscape viewing. A very nice niche application, and what’s more, it’s free (although donations to the author are welcomed).

Avaya to support iPhone

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Avaya

Avaya plan to release their one-X mobile client for the iPhone in the first quarter of 2008 (likely to coincide with the formal release of the Apple iPhone SDK). This will allow corporate iPhone users to link their iPhone to their corporate Avaya PBX (and many other enterprise IP telecommunications networks), allowing calls to be transferred to and from the office and the iPhone. This is already available for other mobile phones, such as Nokia Series60 devices.

Play.com offering N800 at £130

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

N800

Play.com are currently selling the N800 at £129.99 with Free Delivery, and are showing the item as in stock. Couple this with a Bluetooth GPS and a Bluetooth Keyboard, and you have the equivalent of the new N810 without the price.

Land Rover LRX prototype

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Land Rover LRX prototype

It may look just like a new Land Rover prototype, but it has some interesting new features…

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New Internet Tablet OS2008 firmware

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Nokia N810

Whether you are running OS2008 on your new N810, had previously run the OS2008 Beta on your N800, or were simply waiting for the formal release; this week Nokia released the formal release of OS2008 for the N800, and at the same time released an updated firmware for the N810. In fact, the firmware is identical to both units, which bodes well for the future support of both units in the near future. The Nokia download site is still a little busy with everyone downloading this update, so you may want to wait another day or so before trying.

If you are interested in what comes with the new OS, Nokia has also launched an OS2008 website.

T-Mobile and 3 announce joint venture

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

T-Mobile logo3 logo

T-Mobile and 3 announced earlier this week a new joint venture between the two companies. The deal involves the sharing of 3G masts, resulting in what should become the best 3G network coverage of the UK next year. This should allow both companies to have near complete population coverage by the end of 2008, with “significant fill in and improvement to dense urban in-building coverage” in 2009. An environmental side benefit of the sharing of the wireless network will be a reduction of over 5000 masts.

Asus Eee 16Gb coming to the UK?

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

Asus Eee

Although the main sales of the Eee PC are the 4Gb, and whilst the 8Gb version has also been discussed, Japan is now getting a 16Gb version, which is rumoured to also have the option of Windows XP pre-installed to the device. No word on whether this version will be available in the UK, but we suspect it will be at some point during 2008.

Sony PS3 new firmware released too!

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Sony PS3

As well as the new PSP firmware we’ve just mentioned, Sony have released a new firmware for the PS3 too (v2.10). This adds DivX support (following on from Microsoft releasing the same function for the Xbox 360). They’ve also added support for Blu-Ray Profile 1.1, which adds a useful Picture-in-Picture facility. Maybe best of all (for some people), they’ve enabled Remote Play of PS1 games on your PSP from your PS3, whether using the original disk, or if you have downloaded it direct from Sony onto your PS3.