Enjoy our roundup of ten mobile phone related news stories you may have missed this week including the Samsung Galaxy M, the first picture taken with the Galaxy S III and big figures coming from the iTunes App Store and the Android Market.
1. ZTE Tania Makes it to the UK After All
ZTE’s mid-price Windows Phone 7 phone, oddly named Tania, looked for a while to only be sold in China and other Asian markets, however an online retailer has recently put the phone up for pre-order here in the UK. It’s priced at around £200 plus VAT, so it’s pretty good value. The phone sticks closely to Microsoft’s base spec with a 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera and a 4.3-inch touchscreen.
2. iPad Downloads Reach 3 Billion
According to ABI Research, more than 3 billion apps have been downloaded for the iPad since it launched in 2010. To put this in perspective, there are 120,000 apps specifically designed for the iPad available in the App Store, and it took 2 years for the iPhone to hit the same amount of downloads. Research indicates that 440 million apps have been grabbed for Android tablets.
3. China Telecom Wants a UK MVNO
A report shows China Telecom has inked a deal with Everything Everywhere to use their network here in the UK. The Chinese carrier want to set up a ‘strategic partnership’ and offer the many tourists and hundreds of thousands of Chinese people in the UK a tailored, Chinese language mobile network. The aim is to get the service up and running in time for the Olympics.
4. Korea Gets the Samsung Galaxy M
Announced for the Korean market earlier this week is the Galaxy M, a new upper mid-range Android phone sporting a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen. A single-core 1GHz processor runs the show, with Android 2.3 Gingerbread as the OS, however the camera has a slightly disappointing 3 megapixels. There seem to be no plans to offer the Galaxy M outside of Korea for now.
5. The Porsche Design BlackBerry Goes on Sale
Remember the unusual Porsche Design BlackBerry P’9981? Well, it has finally gone on sale here in the UK, but only through Harrods in London! The striking phone, which is actually a cleverly disguised BlackBerry Bold, costs £1275 without a contract from the luxury department store.
6. Is This a Snap Taken With the Galaxy S III?
It may look like an innocent pot plant, but it could be our first look at the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S III’s camera. The EXIF data for the photo reveals it was shot using a phone with the model number GT-i9500, a step up from the i9000 Galaxy S, i9100 Galaxy S II and the i9250 Galaxy Nexus. It also seems to have been taken in Suwon, Korea, where there happens to be a Samsung factory.
7. BlackBerry Board Shake-up Imminent?
After a disastrous 2011, there are likely to be some major changes happening at RIM this year, and according to the latest reports, it could begin with the co-CEOs stepping down as co-Chairmen of the Board. They’re likely to remain as co-CEOs, but current board member Barbara Stymeist is rumoured to replace them as head of the board.
8. Samsung Glams Up the Epic 4G in the USA
One of Samsung’s many Galaxy S II variants, the Epic 4G, has received a makeover in the USA, and is now available in a very fetching white paint job. In fact, it looks absolutely brilliant, giving a much needed breath of fresh air to the slab-like chassis. The spec remains the same though with a 4.5-inch touchscreen, a 1.2GHz processor and an 8 megapixel camera.
9. Google Acquires 200 Patents from IBM
The patent wars still rage on, and Google has added a further 200 to its war chest, thanks to a deal with IBM. This is the second time Google has purchased patents from IBM, which this time not only cover mobile communications, but technology related to driverless cars and web-based software too.
10. Android Market Reaches 400,000 Apps
Research from Distimo has indicated that Google’s Android Market store has reached a total of 400,000 available applications. While this still doesn’t quite bring it level with the iTunes App Store, it’s not far off Apple’s 500,000 total. The Android Market has seen 10 billion downloads since launch, and 68% of the content is available for free.
