News
Teen girl charged with BlackBerry Messenger incitement
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
An 18-year-old woman has been charged by police, accused of using the BlackBerry Messenger service to encourage others to participate in riots.The unnamed teenager, from Clacton in Essex, is alleged to have used the group messaging service to encourage her friends to go rioting in the town, as violence spread across the UK this week.She has now been formally charged, under the Serious Crime Act, of intentionally encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence, and will appear in court on September 1st.The police action comes following widespread condemnation of how social media and BlackBerry Messenger in particular, was used in the shocking spread of rioting in London and other UK cities.This is the first case in which police have specified the use of BBM.Shut downEarlier this we...
Teen charged with BlackBerry Messenger incitement
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
An 18-year-old woman has been charged by police, accused of using the BlackBerry Messenger service to encourage others to participate in riots.The unnamed teenager, from Clacton in Essex, is alleged to have used the group messaging service to encourage her friends to go rioting in the town, as violence spread across the UK this week.She has now been formally charged, under the Serious Crime Act, of intentionally encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence, and will appear in court on September 1st.The police action comes following widespread condemnation of how social media and BlackBerry Messenger in particular, was used in the shocking spread of rioting in London and other UK cities.This is the first case in which police have specified the use of BBM.Shut downEarlier this we...
Review: Vodafone 555 Blue
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
With social network-'addicted' teens and a global Facebook population greater than that of the United States, bringing out an affordable PAYG Facebook-integrated feature phone should be a sure bet, in theory. But then we also know that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. So, is the Vodafone 555 Blue as sure a bet after all?Well, for a basic feature phone, the Vodafone 555 Blue is a pretty enough handset. With its silver-and-white matt plastic casing, it has only just enough weight behind it. It sits comfortably in the hand with its curved corners, and with a QWERTY keyboard it's very, very reminiscent of that other Facebook phone, the HTC ChaCha – without, it seems, any of the ChaCha's features. At only 12mm thick and rather light, the Vodafone 555 Blue will fit easily into teena...
Nokia brings NFC technology to London museum
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
Nokia is bringing brought Near Field Communication technology to life by giving London's museum visitors an easy way to learn more through their phones.Nokia is using its new NFC Hub service at the Museum of London to enable users to touch their phones to certain exhibits and instantly learn more information about the display.The tags around the museum will not only give information on exhibits but also allow users to directly interact with the location's social networks, download dedicated apps for their phone and get vouchers for the shops and cafes.It's not all direct information - things like booking tickets or app downloads offer redirects to the relevant website, but still offers an easy way for users to see how smartphones can be used in new ways.New interaction"NFC technology has t...
Samsung Galaxy Xcover officially unveiled
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
Samsung has finally announced the Galaxy Xcover, a ruggedised phone with IP67 protection against the elements.It's not really a surprise that Samsung is bringing this phone, given the leaks all over the internet in the last day or two and the success of the Motorola Defy.The Galaxy Xcover is likely to be a lot cheaper than Moto's challenger though, given the spec sheet shows some low-end choices.For instance we're looking at a 3.65-inch screen with a 3MP camera (albeit with flash included) and an 800MHz processor pumping away under the hood.Take that, MotoHowever, Android 2.3 is included on the phone out of the box, which is one in the eye for the Defy, despite it's slightly higher spec sheet.The Galaxy Xcover comes with full IP67 rating, which means its splash, dust and shockproof. There'...
Samsung to launch 7-inch Galaxy Tab with AMOLED screen?
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
Samsung could be set to launch a new variant to its Galaxy Tab range, rebooting the original device and adding in some next-gen screen tech too.The new device would have a 7-inch screen, but use the same style of AMOLED displays as seen in the Galaxy S, according to sources quoted by OLED-Display.We're very much talking about a rumoured device here, and the rumour seems based on the fact Samsung showed off 7-inch OLED display prototypes back in March, which seems a little speedy to have made it into a device already.Shut up, foolsSamsung has moved to distance itself from rumours it will be launching a glut of new devices imminently, which could preclude the new Galaxy Tab:"Some media have been reporting that Samsung is preparing to launch nine new smartphones and two new tablet devices. Wh...
First Android Ice Cream Sandwich screenshots leaked?
By TechRadar, published 08-12-2011
It seems we're seeing the future, if leaked images of Google's new Ice Cream Sandwich Android iteration are anything to go by.Android Police and Roots Wiki seem to have come up with an odd cross-site team up to leak four pretty plausible screengrabs of the latest version of Google's mobile OS, which will likely be Android 4.0.Disappointingly it seems the new OS is currently quite similar to the old version in terms of user interface, with a tweaked menu system and slightly altered notifications bar the main differences.Slicker, quicker and beepierHowever, don't get too down-hearted just yet, as it's likely this IRK36B build (we know, catchy) is a long way from the finished product and there may be a lot more to come from the design team.Credit: Roots WikiPlus there are a lot more goodies o...
Updated: Mobile World Congress 2011: what to expect
By TechRadar, published 25-01-2011
After the sheer madness and reams of shiny gadgets of CES 2011, we barely have time to pause for breath before the annual mobile phone-a-thon of Mobile World Congress 2011 is upon us.While CES saw a near-record number of top end mobile phones released from the Las Vegas jamboree, MWC 2011 still promises to be the place to see all manner of new handsets and tablets.So we've trekked across the digital rumour-space and looked for all the info on what to expect from the Barcelona event - keep coming back as we'll be constantly updating it whenever some new morsel of info or spy shot comes into view.MicrosoftLast year we saw Microsoft unleash Windows Phone 7 officially onto the world in a Barcelona hotel, with Steve Ballmer calling the announcement a 'mile post' in the launch of the company's n...
