Google have announced support for CalDAV, which allows a whole range of additional applications which can now natively sync their data with Google. Over at Lifehacker, they’ve written up a long article on how to configure this for a number of applications. These include Microsoft Outlook (via Google’s Outlook Calendar Sync program, which is free), Mozilla Sunbird, Apple iCal , and Mobile devices.

On that final point, they mention Goosync as one method of syncing your mobile to Google, and it’s one we use all the time. If you are an existing subscriber, they are currently offering a July only (which means it ends today) special offer to upgrade your account to a Lifetime subscription for only £20 (a saving of £20). If you aren’t a member, then sign up and you can get that Lifetime sub for £40.

Thanks to James Whatley of SpinVox for pointing out the Lifehacker article.

Garmin originally announced the nuviPhone back in January (see here), and said they hoped to release them in Q3 (ie in time for Christmas). Well, Garmin have just announced that they will now not be available until Spring 2009. The spec remains the same, but this delay, and the subsequent release of the iPhone 3G with similar features (plus the Nokia 5800 S60 touch phone due around then too) is going to hurt Garmin. Apparently some of the delays are caused by needing to make changes to the device to meet various mobile network operators’ requirements; let’s hope these are adding extra functionality and features, and not simply about locking and customising the interface…

More news in 2009 as we get it…

We’ve covered the Symbian S60 Truphone client before, but they’ve also released their VOIP client for the iPhone, and it’s even available via the iTunes App Store. Courtesy of Truphone, here’s the information on why they believe Truphone is a good solution (which routes your VOIP calls via WiFi)…

• Absurdly low rates – particularly great value for calling internationally or when you’re travelling. Eg, 3p/min to anywhere in USA. Calls to 40 major countries are just 3p/minute to landlines and 15p/minute to mobiles.
• No roaming charges – prices are the same no matter where on the planet you’re calling from.
• Make calls in deadspots – Wi-Fi VoIP means your iPhone works even with zero cellular reception
• Free to download, no lengthy contracts, no subscriptions. And we give you £2/$4 credit to get going

Continuing the theme we started yesterday with longer life Asus batteries, today we look at a few iPhone extended battery options. The unit featured above will go on sale on 1st August (in the US) for roughly £25, and is called, according to the manufacturer, iPhoneck, a backup battery for the iPhone 3G. It’s own battery gets used up first, so after a few hours, you can detach it and your iPhone is still fully charged.

However, there are a couple of other devices that are already on sale, albeit for the iPhone v1…

There’s the iPhone portable extended battery, which offers an additional 2200mAh battery to keep the iPhone going. This wraps behind the unit, and offers a more sleek design at the expense of thickness.

Or, there’s the Kensington Mini Battery Pack Charger for iPhone and iPod, which looks much nicer…

Both of these last two devices are available today from Amazon (see below)…

iPhoneck information and picture courtesy of Tech Digest.

The latest rumours are that Asus are planning to provide longer lasting batteries for their Eee PC range to allow “All day usage”. Now, “All day” means different things to different people, and we suspect it means some different again to marketing folk, but this bodes well for the Eee range. No word as to whether these will only be available for new devices, or whether they will be available for existing devices.

Of course, if you can’t wait, there are already third party extended batteries available…

Story and picture courtesy of Eeeuser.com.

Despite the name, this is an interesting idea. Alpine have combined a large screen (6.5″) permanently fitted stereo system (IVA-W205) with a portable SatNav unit (PMD-B200). You can either use the SatNav unit at home to plan routes, or use it in other cars / whilst out walking, but when you are in your own car, you slot it into the system and it will use the larger screen and provide the navigation instructions through the speakers. It’s a bit like the TomTom Duo which we’ve covered before here, although that still uses the TomTom’s screen.

A little expensive though, at $600 (£325 best price for an import before delivery and taxes) and $500 (£460 best price for purchase in the UK) respectively in the US, this may be a step too far compared to simply using a TomTom / Garmin with a built in FM transmitter, but a nice integration idea nonetheless.

Original story and picture courtesy of Navigadget.

We’ve already seen a number of DAB / Internet radios from Revo in their Blik range, and now they are adding iPod docks into the loop to create two new devices.

The iBlik Radiostation is the same full on spec of the current Blik Radiostation (Internet Radio via WiFi, DAB radio, RM radio with RDS, and digital music streaming), whereas the iBlik Wi-Fi drops the DAB radio and just features the Internet Radio and iPod dock.

The iBlik Radiostation will sell for £179.99, with the iBlik Wi-Fi at £129.99. Both come with compact remote controls and a “selection of dock adaptors for most models of iPod”, which includes the iPod Touch, although it may not support the iPhone variants, and both come with a wired LAN port as well if you want to use them without wireless. Also, the iBlik Radiostation is a dual mode DAB/DAB+ unit, and will be ready to receive DAB+, when / if it becomes available in the UK.

Both units should be available from the middle of August (18th to be precise), either direct from Revo, or from various outlets (the iBlik Radiostation should be available from normal Revo retailers, John Lewis and Apple Stores, although the iBlik Wi-Fi seems more limited in that it will only be available from Currys.digital and PC World as well as direct).

We’re hoping to review an iBlik Radiostation, and it will be interesting to compare it against it’s competitors, which must include the Pure Chronos iDock at roughly half the price.

Pocket GPS World have reviewed the Binatone T430 SatNav device, which comes with a rear view camera as standard. Now, that’s the type of integration we like here on UK Gadgeteer! The spec of the device is not that amazing, but that extra little integration makes it all worthwhile. Head over to Pocket GPS World to read their review.

Picture also courtesy of Pocket GPS World.

The UK Nokia Shop is currently selling the N800 at £145 and the N810 at £299. However, Quidco (you’ll need to register) is currently offering 30% discount on all purchases from the UK Nokia Store, bringing down the prices to £105 and £240 respectively. Equally, the N82 smartphone (normally £315) is down to £220.50, so plenty of bargains to be had. As we said before, you’ll need to head to Quidco and register.

Nokia are well known for their high quality 5 megapixel cameras in their top end smartphones, but here’s Samsung, one of the smaller players in the Symbian marketplace, announcing an 8 megapixel cameraphone. Other specs include:

• Network: HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (900/2100), EDGE/GPRS (850/900/1800/1900)
• OS: Symbian OS v9.3, S60 v3.2
• Display: 2.8-inch QVGA 16M TFT LCD
• Camera: 8 megapixel CMOS with AF and dual-power LED. Smart Reader, Image Stabilizer, Auto-Panorama Shot, Smile Shot, Blink Shot, Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), Face Detection, QVGA video recording at 120 fps / VGA at 30 fps
• Memory: 16GB Flash + microSDHC memory slot
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi
• Other features: A-GPS, optical Mouse, accelerometer, FM radio with RDS, 3.5mm output
• Battery: 1200 mAh
• Size: 106.5×53.9×17.2 mm

It should be available in August, and looks an impressive spec.

Story and picture courtesy of Symbian Freak [Via IntoMobile]

Tech Digest have spotted that Navigon have released the 8110 in the UK. This unit features a whole host of features included in the price, one of which is Navigon’s new FreshMaps service. This offer 24 months of updates for a one off cost (which is included in the purchase price of the 8110, with it costing about £80 on it’s own). When a new map is made available, you simply connect your SatNav to your PC and download the new map onto the device. In price terms, this is about the same cost as 2 Garmin yearly updates, but if Navigon actually produce more than 1 update per year, then this may work out better value for those that want or need the latest mapping.

The other specs include:

• Panorama View^3D (A realistic view of the surroundings.)
• Reality View Pro (Realistic display of motorway junctions and exits)
• Voice Recognition Pro
• Lane Assistant Pro
• TMC Pro (incl. Pay TMC for F & UK)
• Latest-generation Bluetooth® hands-free kit with integrated microphone
• Digital Photo Album
• NAVIGON Sync.
• MP3 Player
• FM Radio Transmitter
• Radar Info
• Text-to-speech
• More than 2 million points of interest (POI)
• Intuitive user interface
• Highly legible 2D and 3D map display
• Generous 4.8” touchscreen display with vibrant colours
• Easy-to-read 16:9 format
• Plus Europe map covering 39 European countries

The 8110 costs £399.99 and can be bought direct from Navigon, although it may be possible to get it cheaper elsewhere.

On the 18th August, 3 will launch the Skypephone S2 for “around” £69.99. The spec includes:

• Size: 103 x 45 x 14mm
• Display: 2.2in QVGA screen
• Battery: 1150 mAh
• Memory on board: 50MB
• Memory card type: Micro SD up to 4GB
• HSDPA: 3.6
• Camera: 3.2 megapixel

It features built in PC drivers for easy connection between your PC and the Skypephone S2. No news on some of the other features rumoured earlier this month (eg WiFi), so we can assume they were just rumours. Unlike the original Skypephone, this version will only be available in black for the launch next month.

In other 3 news, they will be carrying the Nokia E71 in Black, and they also have the exclusive on the White version, they have a new Mobile Broadband dongle due out soon with a built in microSD card slot (to allow it to be used as a flash drive), they are trialling a home router (which uses the new dongle for connectivity) as we mentioned before, they will have the Nokia N96 from September, and are planning to offer email to all handsets for £2.50 per month (for access to Hotmail / Google Mail etc.) without the data usage coming out of the normal data bundle.

Story and picture courtesy of 3mobilebuzz and What Mobile.

We’re hearing rumours of a new Sony PSP due out soon. The PSP-3000 will follow on from the Slim & Lite PSP-2000 model, using the same form factor. In fact, there appear to be only two small minor differences; firstly a built in microphone, and secondly, the Home button is being replaced by a “Playstation” button. No information on when this will be available, or ship into the UK.

In other PSP news, Sony have hinted that they will be producing more GPS based games for the PSP. Currently you have to use the GPS Addon to achieve GPS support; we wonder if there might be a GPS chipset in the new handheld too…

A number of pictures of the new Nokia S60 Touch User Interface have been leaked over at Symbian Freak. One of the most interesting points is the move to a full VGA screen resolution, which bodes well for future devices.  The other interesting point is that the screens look like they are designed for both stylus and finger based input, which, like the VGA Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets, have found to be very useable with fingers and we hope this finger based support continues.

After having already released one OTA (Over The Air) firmware update for the N78, Nokia have released another (v12). Although details are slim, Nokia have said this new version includes a number of performance improvements including software selection, Bluetooth Stability, Video Playback, Email sending and Alarm Clock functions. It’s nice to see a second OTA firmware update, and we welcome a time when the majority of Nokia phones receive timely and regular OTA updates.

If you are looking for a 3 USB Modem, but want an easy solution, then the Mobile Broadband Starter Kits might be the answer. These Mobile Broadband Starter Kits come with the USB Modem (a choice of the popular 3 USB Modems are offered), and also come with an initial data bundle to allow it to work straight away; so all you have to do is to put the SIM into the dongle / modem, connect the dongle / modem to your PC, and you will be able to surf the internet.

A number of options are available, from 3Gb to 24Gb data allowance included. This initial allowance is time limited, just like the standard PAYG USB Modems, but does offer a good deal.

Here’s a nice looking third party device for your Nintendo Wii console, a wireless keyboard from Logitech. It’s officially licensed from Nintendo, and should be available in August. The only downside is that it doesn’t using the existing wireless capabilities, so it needs a little USB receiver to be plugged in. The US price will be around $50, although we don’t yet know the UK price.

Parrot have announced their latest speakerphone, the MINIKIT. It’s slim and lightweight (13mm wide, weighing 83 grams), and should offer up to 10 hours of talk time. As with the majority of Parrot kit, it syncs with your mobile phonebook, and allows voice dialling of any contact via their own technology, so you don’t need to create voice tags for every single contact. It should recharge in about 4 hours, and then last up to 20 days on standby.

Parrot has incorporated NXT flat panel speaker technology, utilising a vibrating panel that transmits the sound more clearly and evenly than a conventional speaker.

It’s fully Bluetooth 2.0 compliant, and can be paired with up to five phones at once (although can only have 1 active connection at a time). It should be out in the Autumn for roughly £59.99.

Story and picture courtesy of Tech Digest.

Although we don’t yet have a release date for it, Sony will shortly ship another PSP firmware update, v4.05. This will add a number of new features, although the only one Sony have mentioned so far is new music visualisers whilst playing music. We’ll let you know once we hear a confirmed date.

Nokia Map Loader v2.0 has been graduated from the Nokia Beta Labs beta website to the main Nokia website. In the formal released version, a number of bug fixes / new features have been added compared to the beta, namely;

• Vista 64 issue is fixed
• S40 support added
• Included pc suite drivers in the installer that should make maploader independent from PC Suite

Nokia have confirmed that as well as planning a better UI for the software, they are also working on a Mac version, which will be welcomed by many.

If you head to the Nokia Maps webpage, you’ll find the latest versions of the Nokia Maps client for your phone, as well as v2.0.2 (at the time of writing) for your PC.