Author: Ronnie Whelan

Samsung plans to unveil Galaxy S4 at MWC

Samsung is planning to unveil the replacement to its flagship phone – the Galaxy S3 – at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this coming February. This revelation comes to us from company officials and local parts suppliers for Samsung in Korea. An official from the firm who …

HTC 5 inch phablet details are fleshing out

HTC are normally the trailblazers when it comes to pushing the boundaries of large mass market mobile phones. Remember laughing at the ridiculously big 4.3 inch screens on the HD2 and Desire HD? Then the big old Sensation XL stretched things again. But then came Samsung’s Galaxy Note …

TegraZone hits five million downloads through the Play Store

NVIDIA have made quite a splash in the mobile gaming world since they first introduced their Tegra range of processors, and nowadays it seems the quad-core Tegra 3 is the chip of choice for Android smartphones and tablets that want to impress the gamers. Not least because the …

Ebay app problems still being addressed

The ebay app has been having some issues recently, as we reported the other night. Well, it looked like it was fixed. However, as the email and screenshot below explain, ebay are having so many problems with it they have rolled back to the old version for now. …

Motorola Mobility has devices rubber banned in Germany

The Apple lawyers haven’t been distracted by the launch of the iPhone 5, although I’m sure they all pre-ordered themselves one after getting their latest court victory. This time it’s Google’s very own newly acquired Motorola Mobility (still sounds like one of those old peoples’ shopping buggies) devices …

HTC One X+ Specs Leaked Ahead of New York Press Event

The One X is already the HTC’s flagship Android phone, and it’s a bit of a beast when it comes to raw processing figures, but, not content with ‘just’ a 1.5GHz Tegra 3 quad core processor, they’ve decicided to give it a power up! We’re working on rumours …

Official Jelly Bean OTA Updates Leaked by Samsung

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (or both) and you want a taste of Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean before anyone else, then you’ll be glad to here that the cunning guys over at SamMobile have managed to get leaked …

Sony Xperia Tablet S shipping in the UK as we speak

Last week Sony announced that they were releasing the replacement to the Tablet S – the Xperia Tablet S. Today the unit starts shipping to those who have pre-ordered it in the UK. What they will be getting is the distinctive folded newspaper design and black and silver …

Second Hand News – A Guide to Buying Used Mobile Phones

Technology is all about the next big thing, so you should be upgrading your phones and tablets every month or so, right? Well, besides the sheer impracticality, most of us don’t have the budget to do that. So, how do you stay in touch without a second mortgage? …

My Phone History – By Ronnie Whelan

Before I start, I have to apologise for my lack of detail with regards to my pre-smartphone phones. I had very little enthusiasm for phones before my Orange SPV, and even a brief spell working in the Nokia factory in Finland didn’t spark an interest. Motorola MR30 It …

[Bargain] Lenovo IdeaPad K1 With Free Keyboard Dock £199.99

eBuyer have currently got the Lenovo IdeaPad K1 at a special offer price of £199.99 which is pretty good in itself, but when you realise it comes with the matching keyboard dock that normally costs £99.99 on its own, you’ll see that it’s a bit of a bargain. …

Archos Announce The New 101 XS Tablet With Accessories

You’ve probably heard of Archos. In a world of unknown cheap tablet manufacturers they have established a brand name built around budget Android devices – most notably the G9 Series. They have decided now is the time to mix it with the big boys by releasing the Gen10 …

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Firmware Update

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has just received a large update. When mine started I thought that it may be Jelly Bean already, but alas no, it’s still Ice Cream Sandwich, but now it’s up to 4.0.4. There’s no official change log yet, so we’re not sure …

Asus Jelly Bean Announcement Reveals TF300 Update Already

Well, we started taking bets on what the Asus Jelly Bean teaser was all about, but before everyone got to the bookies the news was out. Spoilsports! If you’re the lucky owner of an Asus Transformer TF300 and you live in North America you will soon be getting …

Asus Jelly Bean Teaser on Facebook. But what does it mean?

Asus, manufacturers of some of the most innovative tablets we’ve seen, including the Transformer series, the PadFone and the Nexus 7, have put a teaser on their Facebook page. Basically it’s just a photo of an Android shaped jelly bean holder with the words, “When Mr. JellyBean is …

Install Flash Even Though It’s Dead with Flash Downloader

This maybe the simplest app you’ll ever use, but use it quick while you still can. As Leigh reported in his post declaring the death of Flash, the Android Play Store no longer contains Flash as an installable app as the final nails were put in its coffin. …

Sony Tablet S Successor Coming in August?

The Sony Tablet S is going to be replaced soon with what looks to be a much more powerful tablet – the SGPT1211 – but will it be able to compete with the Nexus 7 and the iPad? The Tablet S is a well designed, stylish 9″ tablet …

Nexus S Jelly Bean Update for The Less Brave

We reported recently that if you’re brave you could go the XDA Developers and download a ported ROM to your Nexus S, but it was potentially buggy. Well, now the official update is rolling out over the air (OTA) to the less brave owners. The vanilla flavour of …

Jelly Bean Now Available For Nexus S… if you’re brave!

If you’re not the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy Nexus or a Nexus 7 tablet, then you’ll probably be wondering when (or if) Jelly Bean – the latest version of Android – will be coming to your device. Well, adventurous owners of the rather excellent Nexus S …

Review – Doro PhoneEasy 610 (one out of three ain’t bad)

Okay, it’s not cool, it’s not smart, but the Doro PhoneEasy 610 is a phone at least! A phone which deserves a mention because of what it achieves by not being cool or smart. Why am I reviewing a feature phone? Despite his age, my elderly father has …

Play Angry Birds against Heikki Kovalainen for free!

There have been some strange motorsport sponsorship deals over the years. Who’d have thought the clothing company Benetton would have a team, for example, and if I told you ten years ago that a soft drinks manufacturer would have a championship winning team, you’d have looked at me …

News and Opinion: Google Nexus Tablet and Jellybean Rumours

The new Nexus 7 tablet and Jellybean are the two hot topics racing around the Android world at the moment and, ahead of its imminent launch, a leaked document about both is causing the rumour mill to rev up to the red line. According to said document the …

House of Marley Redemption Song Earphones Review

Can eco-friendly, wooden clad, celebrity endorsed earphones really cut it when it comes to multi-platform mobile entertainment, and being a hands-free kit? After reading Simon’s excellent review of the Klipsch S4a Android earphones I was tempted to grab myself a pair. In fact, there was a pair in …

Ice Cream Sandwich Update for Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro

Little qwerty slider phones are few and far between these days, and what better choice than a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro? Well… a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro running Ice Cream Sandwich, of course! It’s been announce on the official Sony forum that the Mini Pro is …

Gemini JoyTab 8″ Tablet Review [updated 02/08/12]

Not so long back we announced that Gemini had become a new name in the Android tablet world. Aimed squarely at the entry level market, the Gemini JoyTAB range aims to bring the full Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience to a price point that has, until recently, …

Asus Transformer TF300 Now Available for Pre-Order

If you aren’t lucky enough to win the first Transformer Pad 300 in the country, then you’re able to pre-order the latest addition to their docking tablet range from Currys and PC World (as promised a couple of weeks ago). This is looking like a bit of a …

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Accessories Finally Arrive

What is it they say about absence making the heart grow fonder? Well I can’t say I’m feeling much love for Samsung’s tardiness in releasing the Galaxy Nexus range of accessories. Five months since its UK release, the official Google phone finally has some toys to go with …

Be the first person to own an Asus Transformer Pad 300

Do you want to be the first person in the UK to have the brand new Asus Transformer Pad 300 in your mits? You do? Well, luckily for you Asus are running a competition that gives you the chance to be that person. All you have to do …

Minor Update Rolling Out for Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Back in April Samsung pushed out an update to unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus phones that raised the version to 4.0.4. This update only reached some of the handsets it was destined for as it was stopped due to reports of it causing signal loss. It turned out to …

Gemini JoyTAB Budget Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet Range

A new player in the UK Android market has officially announced a full range of budget tablets today. Gemini Devices have been trading for a while in China, but are now bringing their JoyTAB Android tablets to the UK. Consisting of three tablets – 7”, 8”, and 10” …

Do Budget Android Phones Need a non-Crash Diet?

Android phones have grown from an interest to a bit of an obsession with me, but that’s not the only way they’ve grown recently, and I’m a little worried that all this excess is going to harm our cute green friend. I’m a proud owner of a Samsung …

Is the HTC One X the Android you’re looking for?

So, the HTC One X has officially exploded into the Android world. This post isn’t an in depth review of it, Dan has posted an excellent one here. It’s my view of what really matters now that it’s here. After months of speculation, leaked photos, doctored spec sheets …