Samsung Galaxy mini 2 goes up for pre-order in the UK

Samsung's recently announced Galaxy mini 2 S6500 is now available for pre-order at an online retailer in the UK. The entry level Galaxy will cost you £179.95 (€215) without contract.

As you can see above, availability date is yet to be known. We reckon however, that it won't be long before the handset finds its way in people's pockets.

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Sony Ericsson’s Xperia S Impresses at CES

By Aldo Panessidi

No doubt, Nokia cell phone Lumia 900 made quite an impression at CES, but another (non-Samsung and non-Apple) smartphone contender made waves as well.  That is Sony Ericsson’s Xperia S. Taking the approach of tailoring and optimizing software to the hardware, Sony has taken the familiar and effective Gingerbread OS and made a device that runs incredibly smoothly and also has the look and feel of a great smartphone.

Like the Nokia Lumia handsets, the Sony Xperia S smartphone is made of a single piece of high density polycarbonate which feels substantial and appears chic and modern. It also serves as a great frame to the 720p screen that uses the Sony Bravia Engine and fuses the LCD glass to bring down reflections. 

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Sony MT27i Pepper shows up in a press shot

We've seen this one in blurry shots back in January, sporting a Sony Ericsson logo. Today, the Sony MT27i Pepper emerged in a press shot, proudly wearing a Sony logo, with Xperia Smart Tags by its side.

As you have probably guessed already, the Smart Tags clearly suggest that the device will sport NFC connectivity when launched. The rest of the rumored specs include a 1GHz dual-core CPU and NovaThor U8500 chipset, 3.7" screen with resolution of 480x854 pixels, and 5MP snapper.

Given the nature of the leaked image, we can reasonably expect that the Sony MT27i Pepper will get officially unveiled sooner, rather than later. Naturally, we will keep you posted on any new findings, related to the device.

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'Kony 2012' director answers critics of video

The director of a video sensation that calls for the arrest of Joseph Kony, the fugitive rebel leader of a Ugandan militia group, agreed on Friday with skeptics who have called the film oversimplified, saying it was deliberately made that way.

The 30-minute YouTube film called "Kony 2012," which by Friday had been viewed on YouTube more than 58 million times, aims to wake up the world to atrocities committed by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, including kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.

Filmmaker Jason Russell's nonprofit group, Invisible Children, tapped 12 influential policy makers and 20 celebrities with popular Twitter accounts, including Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie, to spread the video. Since then, the company owned by powerful producer Harvey Weinstein has contacted Russell to buy the film.

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Hacker combined online attacks with petty crime

A computer hacker-turned-FBI informant known as "Sabu" combined daring online attacks against governments and major companies with a life of petty crime and drugs, according to a copy of his plea agreement.

The court document, made public late on Thursday, describes how authorities agreed not to charge the hacker, whose real name is Hector Monsegur, with a variety of crimes he allegedly committed as long as he obeyed the terms of his plea deal.

Monsegur, 28, was arrested at his small apartment in a Manhattan housing complex on June 7, 2011 and two months later pleaded guilty to 12 computer crimes, prosecutors and the FBI said this week in announcing charges against him and five others.

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EXCLUSIVE - Google leans on developers to use payment service

Google Inc (GOOG.O) has been pressuring applications and mobile game developers to use its costlier in-house payment service, Google Wallet, as the Internet search giant tries to emulate the financial success of Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iOS platform.

Google warned several developers in recent months that if they continued to use other payment methods - such as PayPal, Zong and Boku - their apps would be removed from Android Market, now known as Google Play, according to developers, executives and investors in mobile gaming and payment sectors.

Developers say the Internet search giant is trying to simplify consumer payments, hoping apps-buying will rise and offset their higher costs. Google's payment service charges a higher cut per transaction than some rivals'. But the move also suggests Google is using its powerful position in the mobile apps market to promote an in-house offering.

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Facebook co-founder buys New Republic magazine

Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook and a former online strategist for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, has purchased a majority stake in The New Republic, the magazine said on Friday.

Hughes, 28, will become publisher and editor-in-chief of the nearly 100-year old magazine which covers American politics.

He is also expected to apply his expertise in digital technology in his new role.

The New Republic currently publishes a daily Web magazine. The New Republic did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction or the exact size of the stake.

Hughes co-founded Facebook in 2004 at Harvard with his then- roommates Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz.

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Intel Atom-packing Orange Santa Clara benchmarked

Intel are serious about getting into the mobile phone business with phones like the Orange Santa Clara. The Intel Atom Z2460 chipset however drew some ridicule for its single CPU core.

Early benchmarks show, however, that the single (but HyperThreading-capable) core packs a lot of punch. A lucky CeBIT visitor had a chance to run a couple of browser-based benchmarks, which are easier to access than dedicated apps.

Orange Santa Clara vs. iPhone 4S in BrowserMark

The Santa Clara scored nearly 90K on BrowserMark, beating an iPhone 4S by a slight margin.

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Microsoft to kill Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace on May 9

If there were any people left using Windows Mobile 6.x at all, they should know that Microsoft will shut down the Marketplace for its former OS on May 9. You won't be able to download or update apps after that.

Everything you installed from there will continue to work, but if you happen to reset your phone, you’ll lose your apps. Your only option then will be to side-load them afterwards.

We really can’t imagine anyone left using the platform and specifically its deserted application store anyway, so closing it should be the right decision.

Killing the application store of an OS means the end of the OS itself, so R.I.P. Windows Mobile.

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HTC One X, One S and others may be delayed

Rumor has it that production at the Taiwanese-based TSMC plant has been entirely halted for the past three weeks, because they are allegedly having problems with the newest generation of Snapdragon SoC's from Qualcomm.

Among the more popular devices that are slated to run the new S4 are the aforementioned One X andOne S from HTC, as well as the ASUS PadFone and the Panasonic Eluga Power.

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TomTom, HTC in pact for apps in India

Mapping solutions company TomTom today said it has partnered with handset maker HTC to provide maps, points of interest and turn-by-turn directions for its range of smartphones in India.

This partnership marks the first consumer-focused implementation of TomTom's map data in the rapidly growing Indian market, TomTom said in a statement.

According to ABI Research, more than 5.2 million smartphones are expected to be shipped to India in 2012 and is projected to more than triple by 2015.

"We are excited to expand our global offerings by powering the map services for all HTC smartphones in India," TomTom Vice-President (Sales and Marketing Licensing) Nuno Campos said.

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Apple cuts iPad-2 prices 17%, as new version awaits mkt launch

With the third-generation iPad set to be launched in the global markets on March 16, Apple has announced the entry-level model of the iPad 2 will now cost Rs 24,500 (including VAT), compared to Rs 29,500 earlier.

Larger electronics retailers like Reliance Digital and Croma haven’t officially announced a price revision for the iPad 2 yet. Individual electronics shop owners who usually sell imported Apple devices have confirmed that they are now selling the 16GB WiFi-only model of iPad2 at Rs 23,333 (excluding VAT) and the 16GB Wi-Fi & 3G iPad2 model at Rs 31,333 (excluding VAT).

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Facebook wants more from users launches new ad platforms

Last week, Facebook re-launched its advertising platform. After it rolled out timeline feature for personal user profiles, the same will now be available for all brand pages by end of March. In addition, a brand new product called Reach Generator will allow brands to distribute via News Feed to up to 75 per cent of all their fans. Reach Generator, claims Facebook, will double the average reach of posts and engagement should more than double as more fans will engage, and expose the posts to their friends too.

With 45 million Facebook users in India (as per socialbakers.com data), the country’s social media crowd is second largest for the website and an important location for brands to connect with their consumers.

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Apple cuts iPad 2 prices

Gadget lovers in India can now own an iPad 2 for Rs 24,500, with Apple Inc slashing its price worldwide on Thursday following the launch of a new third-generation, 4G-ready tablet.

The new iPad was introduced by Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in San Francisco on Thursday and will hit store shelves next week in several countries. The company said it will continue to sell the iPad 2 but dropped its price by $100 in the US

In India, the 16 GB base model of the iPad 2 that works only on Wi-Fi is now priced at Rs 24,500, down from Rs 29,500 earlier."… iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of Rs 24,500, inc VAT for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model (Rs 23,333 exVAT) and just Rs 32,900, inc VAT for the 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model (Rs 31,333 exVAT)," Apple India said in a press release on Thursday.

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Google Play combines Market, Books, Music and Videos

Finally, here's Google's introductory video to Google Play.

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iOS 5.1 could have Facebook integration

Rumors of iOS 5.1 including native Facebook integration first surfaced in January when iMore found a contact field for your Facebook ID within the contacts app in iOS 5.1 beta 3. Now, we have come across some more evidence that should confirm this rumor.

Thanks to some super sleuthing by the guys at Techie Buzz, they have noticed that updates being sent from the native iOS Facebook app once again show up as sent via 'Facebook for iPhone' or ''Facebook for iPad', depending upon your device. If you remember

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Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II will get ICS on March 10

Just as we were getting ready to get it on March 15, we got even better news. Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II will be receiving an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on March 10 - less than 48 hours from now.

The globally available I9100 will be the only version, which will receive the update at the moment. The TouchWiz-ed firmware will be available both on Kies and OTA.

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Windows Phone Tango minimum hardware limitations outlined

Offerings from both Nokia and ZTE debuted the next major build of Windows Phone last week at MWC, dubbed "Tango". The new Nokia Lumia 610 and ZTE Orbit both took to their respective stands to show off the new lower-end capabilities of Microsoft's mobile OS.

Despite the latest iteration (excluding Apollo) of Windows Phone having made it to these devices on the floor at MWC, Microsoft had been particularly vague about just what the limitations were for devices employing lower-tiered hardware, until now.

Both the Lumia 610 and Orbit employ 256MB of RAM and this means that there are certain implications which consumers will need to bear in mind when choosing a Windows Phone device, these are as follows:

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HTC Sensation XE Android 4.0 ICS update now seeding

The Android 4.0 ICS update marathon for the non-Nexus devices has just begun. HTC drew first blood and started seeding the latest edition of the Google OS to itsSensation XE former flagship. Also included in the package is an updated Sense UI, carrying the version number 3.6.

So far, we've received confirmation of the Android 4.0 update being seeded to Sensation XE units in Germany and the Nordic countries, but we expect the rest of Europe to follow soon. Global availability can't be far away too, knowing the HTC usual practices.

You can check if the update is available for your region under Software Updates in the Settings menu. Keep in mind that the update requires a download of a file nearly 300MB in size, so you better use a Wi-Fi connection for it.

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Sony Xperia S hits UK, carrier Three is the first to get it

The Sony Xperia S finally completed its journey to the UK and is now available for purchase. The first smartphone to ship with the Sony branding, rather than Sony Ericsson, is already offered by Three both on a contract and on a pay-as-you-go basis.

You can have the Sony Xperia S for free if you are willing to sign a contract on The One Plan worth £30/month or £36/month. That would give you all-you-can-eat data, 2,000 minutes and 5,000 texts and, of course, the chance to own the latest and greatest in the Xperia world.

Alternatively, the Sony Xperia S can be had with a pre-paid card, but you'll need to pay £369.99 upfront. You'd need to spend £15 or £25 extra for either an All in One 15 or All in One 30 package, but you won't have to commit to Three long term.

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iOS 5.1 available over the air now, changelog inside

Just hours after the iOS 5.1 update was announced at Apple's iPad event in San Francisco the update is live for you to download.

The update brings Japanese language support for Siri as well as the option to selectively delete photos from Photo Stream in iCloud. Also, the lockscreen camera shortcut is now constantly visible on the lockscreen and more.

  
The iOS 5.1 OTA update

Go check your iDevice for the update, but keep in mind that you may experience issues with its download. If you get an error message just keep trying or leave it for tomorrow as the Apple servers are probably having trouble coping with the high initial demand.

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Apple increases download limit for OTA App Store downloads

Apple has finally decided to increase the download limit for the App Store. Previously, if you had to download an app, podcast or any other content on your iOS device using the network connection, you would have to put up with the 20MB download limit or choose to download it over Wi-Fi instead.

Now with the launch of the new iPad, Apple has relaxed this restriction a bit and will now allow you to download content up to 50MB over your network connection, although anything beyond that will still require Wi-Fi. That should be enough for most apps, podcasts and songs but it would have been nice if Apple had increased it a bit further or at least provided the option to remove the limit for those on unlimited data plans.

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