I picked up a Google Nexus 7 Tablet a few weeks ago, and I knew straight away I wanted a case to protect it. I also wanted a case that featured a “Smart Cover” facility; ie the ability to auto wake / auto sleep as the cover opened and closed (although not advertised with this feature, it was discovered the Nexus 7 had the support built into the hardware, and ever since, many of the 3rd party case suppliers have been supporting the feature).

So, Amazon was a logical choice (mainly for ease of purchase and keen pricing), and I selected this particular case as above; it acts as a Smart Cover case, but also can fold up to create a small stand for the tablet (it uses landscape, which the stock launcher doesn’t support, so look at purchasing Ultimate Rotation Control from the Play Store too, and setting it on Force Auto).  The case provides protection around the back of the tablet (the tablet clicks into the back panel) and the cover works well. This particular Amazon seller provides this Nexus 7 Case with a screen protector (currently untested) and stylus (tested and functional, and very similar to the iPad cheap stylus you can pick up).

At £8 (price may vary) including shipping, I thought the Nexus 7 Case was good value; the case arrived within a couple of days, so I assume this is a UK seller too, and the choice of colours allows you to select one to match other devices or simply select black.

Just a quick headsup for anyone considering a new Vodafone contract in the next month or so; next week, Vodafone will be removing all 18 month contracts from sale, leaving most people with only the option for 24 month contracts, especially if you are looking for a new phone too.  Obviously other SIM Only contracts will continue to be offered, and their 24 month contracts have always seemed a little better value than their 18 month contracts anyway, but I thought it worth pointing out the change whilst everyone still had a few days to get the shorter contract.

My understanding is that the 18 month plans will all be removed by 19th September, although some 12 month deals will remain. As part of these changes, Vodafone will be pushing their new Red plans more, which generally offer unlimited minutes and texts, but will ‘only’ offer 1GB of data a month, so will not offer much to those heavy data users who rely upon the unlimited deals of Vodafone‘s competitors.

Don’t forget, there are still a few days to enter our competition to win an LG 42″ LED-Backlit LCD TV.  For more information head to here.

Yes, that’s right, for our first ever competition we’re starting with a rather impressive prize; a Super Slim 42″ LG LED-Backlit LCD TV (SL9000). If you want to know more about the TV, read our article here when this range was announced a few months back.

The competition is quite simple; you simply have to email your answer (and your details) to the following question to info@gadgeteer.org.uk before 5pm Friday 4th December 2009.

Unfortunately, as with many competitions, there are a few rules we have had to impose; no UK Gadgeteer or LG staff (nor anyone living at the same address), you must be over 18 years old, you can only enter the competition once, and the TV will only be shipped to a UK address.  The winner will be selected by random from the correct entries. You will need to provide your name, address and contact telephone number, which will not be used for any marketing activities, although the winner will be expected to:

• Take part in some limited marketing activities, and your name will be revealed.
• Provide some feedback on the TV, in terms of a review with pictures and/or video of how the TV has fitted into your lifestyle.

That last point is key, but should not be too onerous!

Just to show this is real, here’s a picture of the TV (still in the box; more pictures next week of it out of the box…) and we’ll be providing a review of this very TV next week too, before it’s boxed back up and ready to be sent off to the winner.

So, to win, all you need to do is email info@gadgeteer.org.uk your name, address and contact telephone number, along with the answer to this question:

What are the screen sizes of the two models in the SL9xxx range:

a. 32″ and 42″

b. 42″ and 47″

c. 32″ and 47″

The winner will be contacted and announced soon after (likely to be the following week).

Good luck!

Thanks to LG and the LG Blog for offering this fantastic prize.

Standby for UK Gadgeteer‘s first competition; yes, if everything goes to plan, we’ll be announcing our first UK Gadgeteer competition tomorrow.  This competition will be open to UK residents only (sorry, but this is a UK based website!) and will (in our opinion) feature a prize worth winning, especially in the run up to Christmas.

However, if you win, we’d like you to write a short article on how the item has changed the way you live, either with a few pictures or maybe a short video, so be prepared to get involved once it arrives.

More details tomorrow…

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.