ZTE to launch a new gaming handset next week

Next Wednesday ZTE are holding a launch event in London. That, until a few minutes ago, was all we knew. However they’re now giving us updates on what to expect via Twitter …

The countdown has begun! 6 days left until you can have one of the MOST ADVANCED GAMING SMARTPHONES in your hands!

What could this be? Are ZTE going to go down the same road as the Xperia PLAY? We’ll be reporting live from the event so, as usual, keep it locked.
Link – Twitter

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O2 Network falters

On O2? Got a network problem? You’re not the only one. Mo Bhayat emailed us this afternoon to tell us that he’d lost his connection on his O2 phone. We checked the O2 Status Page but got …err… this…

..looks like there’s a bit of an issue. Mo managed to speak to an O2 rep online, and she said..

We’re facing a network issue , Our Engineering team are working on the problem as a priority in order to resume full service as soon as possible.

We asked you guys about this and Ralph Cantellow told us that he’s not had any connection since about 4PM. He’s got a Nokia Lumia offline in West London, a Samsung Note offline in Swindon but strangely there’s a working Blackberry in West London. O2 have added this Tweet which states …

There’s a problem affecting some customers’ mobile service. Engineers are working to restore full service asap.

..it then links to the O2 Status Page, but that, as you know, is broken too. It doesn’t seem to be location specific and has borked a lot of GiffGaff and Tesco mobiles too.
Let us know if you’ve experienced issues and where you are. We’re currently looking at some of the Tweets that O2 are getting. Awkward…


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ZTE Kis smartphone now available on Virgin Media

Another ultra-cheap Android device is about to hit the market, this time from ZTE. The ZTE Kis will sell for less than £50 on Virgin Media from today and has a 3.5? HVGA 480×320 screen.
Powered by an 800MHz CPU, the phone runs Android 2.3 and has Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, GPS, microSD expansion, 256MB RAM and a 1400mAh battery.
We’re struggling to see why they’ve added “WAP” as a feature (retro, baby), but they are at least chucking in a 2GB microSD card too.
You can buy this for £49.99 when you purchase a £10 top-up.
Details below, plus more photos of this device. Thoughts ?

ZTE Launches Kis smartphone with Virgin Media
Virgin Media’s best value Android handset at under £50.00
11 July 2012, London, UK – ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK /A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has launched its Kis smartphone, which will be distributed in the UK through Virgin Media from 11 July 2012. Available exclusively from Virgin Media at launch, the ZTE Kis is a feature-packed Android handset entering the Pay As You Go (PAYG) market as the best value Android available at just £49.99*.
In addition, Virgin Media is offering its customers 1GB data free per month for 12 months, making it ideal for customers who love to stay connected on the move and want to make the most of having access to over 600,000 Android apps through Google Play.
This is the second smartphone that ZTE has launched in partnership with Virgin Media, following the launch of the ZTE Tania Windows Phone earlier this year.
With a quality, high-end design, ZTE’s Kis is a great value smartphone that delivers on functionality at a cost-effective price for the style-conscious consumer. The 2GB memory card included allows for plenty of storage for photos and music files, while the 3.2MP Auto Focus camera with digital zoom provides the capability to take high quality pictures. Users can also share photos and tracks online using the smartphone’s Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities, and the handset’s fast 800MHz processor provides for swift operation and enables customers to enjoy smooth video playback and run apps with ease.
Jamie Heywood, director of mobile at Virgin Media said: “With the Kis, ZTE has designed a handset that meets customer requirements for a rich Android experience at a very affordable price for PAYG customers. With plentiful features and an abundance of apps to choose from through Google Play Store the ZTE Kis certainly delivers on that.
“We’re bundling in a huge amount of data to complement this Android handset for our PAYG customers. This is yet another example how Virgin Media is raising the bar in the mobile market because we know how much our customers love to be connected no matter where they are without worrying about expensive bills.”
“The launch of the ZTE Kis is a further demonstration of our commitment to building the ZTE brand in Europe and the UK across a number of price points and operating systems, which will continue with new devices throughout the remainder of 2012 and in 2013. It is also an example of our commitment to providing our customers with quality devices at affordable prices under the vibrant ZTE brand proposition,” said Wu Sa, Director of Mobile Device Operations at ZTE UK.
Key functionality
· Display: 3.5”, HVGA 480*320, 262k colours, TFT, Capacitive
· Processor: 800MHz
· Camera: 3.2MP Auto Focus, 2 x digital zoom
· OS: Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
· Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, GPS, WAP 2.0, Tri band
· Storage: Internal 512MB ROM, 256MB RAM. External memory up to 32GB, 2GB micro SD card included with device
· Dimensions: 114.3 x 61.6 x 11.5mm, 120g
· Battery: 1400 mAh Li-Ion

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Opinion: Apple, Beauty or the Beast?

I listened with interest to Jamie’s self confessed rant on the Coolsmartphone podcast number 4 where he describes in great detail his thoughts on Apples actions around the patent lawsuits. It is really worth a listen, not only does his passion come across but so does the complexity of the situation and how easily people’s views can be swayed. One other thing the rant did was lead me to the question, Is Apple A Beauty or the Beast?
As both Jamie and Leigh mentioned on the podcast, interest in the technology arena has grown exponentially and people are now interested in corporate affairs.  Who is suing who and why, who is working with who and what does it mean for the consumer.  Unfortunately for Apple, too many headlines consist of the words “Apple sue xxx, product xxx could be banned” however the corporate beast is simply doing what it is there to do – making money.
In technology terms Apple are a wonder. Fame was found on the back of a visit to Xerox Parc and the subsequent licensing of the GUI that was demonstrated, followed by the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. There have been many ups and downs ever since but 1998 saw the introduction of the iMac and the style icon that Apple is known to be today had truly arrived.
The iPod arrived in 2001 followed by the revolutionary iPhone in 2007 and of course the iPad in 2010.
Apple is now in the same league as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Ford. Wherever you go in the world people will recognise the logo and the products.
I’ve stated before that I am no great Apple fan but take a good look at any modern Apple product. The Macbook Air, the new iPad, iPhone or iPod. Every single one of the has an certain style and elegance. Speak to almost any Apple user and they will wax lyrical about their device. Sure they have their faults, what modern machine doesn’t but almost all of them will tell you how simple they are to use and how polished they are.  The Appstore is still the biggest with arguably the better apps.  Most developers have publicly stated a preference for developing for the iOS platform, there is more money being made through the appstore and the quality control is undeniable.
The beauty of Apple therefore speaks for itself.
The world however is changing and it leads to the question of whether beauty is enough.  Corporations have to be seen to be responsible both in their business dealings and their social dealings.  The banking crisis and the perception of the massive corporations is a prime example of this.  I am in no way comparing Apple to Barclays or Lehman Brothers however the fall from grace of companies that were not so long ago held in high esteem should serve as a warning – enough negative publicity and the beauty that you currently have can soon turn into an uncontrollable beast.
Examples of fallen technological companies are all around, IBM, Nokia, RIM – all still big companies but at one time or another all had dominance in their sector, even the great Sony are having problems.  Could Apple go the same way?  For now probably not however should the tide of public opinion turn they could find themselves in a very sticky situation that is rather difficult to escape from.
On balance, Apple have been and are still a beauty, its a brand people trust.  Great care must be taken not to abuse that trust as the fall from beauty to beast is a hard one to recover from!
What do you think? Is Apple a beauty or a beast?  Let us know over on our forums.

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Mobile security – You never know you need it, until you need it

Earlier in the week I received a mobile phone to review. This isn’t unusual, but what I found on it was. There was a definite “pre-owned” feel to it.
No, it wasn’t scratched. It wasn’t damaged in any way. Instead it had stacks of data on it. Someone elses data.

This “someone else” is the Editor of a big print magazine. I can sympathise to some degree, because when you’re sending a phone back it’s easy to forget to clear the memory. However, the PR people usually spot this and clear it down.
In this case I’d managed to get the phone with all the data intact, and that’s when it hit me. This could happen to me very easily.
I carry around a phone and don’t secure it in any way. I’ve seen others setting up security systems – a coded lock-screen for example – but I’ve never bothered myself. Why? Why is this? Well, it’s mainly complacency. I, like others, don’t believe I’ll ever lose my phone. I take it everywhere, like my wallet, so losing it isn’t going to happen to me, is it?
Is it?
Sure, the phone I’ve got here is going to get passed around from person to person. It’s like starting a new job, getting the mobile phone that the previous guy had, and then finding a few pictures of his house on there. What did scare me though was the sheer volume of data and what I could do with it.
I’ve altered some of the more specific details here, but I had everything. Photos from home, from the office, pictures of people and streets. An email account was setup and I could read all about the new bathroom that was being installed. Perhaps more importantly, because this is GMail on Android, I had all the contact names, numbers, addresses and I could send mail too.
Pretty eye-opening stuff, and it’s not until you think about all the different networks you hook into on your phone. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.. the list goes on. Here I had access into Twitter and all the private messages…

Plus all the private LinkedIn messages. Think about it – all those job offers, your CV. The names, addresses and birthdays of your friends and family. But perhaps the worst of all – I could change all the passwords, because with full access to the email account and can easily confirm all the changes.
So, what should you do? Well, we recently reviewed Mobile Device Manager from 3CX and that had the ability to Remote Wipe Android phones, so I could use that – it would just be a matter of signing up, plus I could track the phone and hopefully get it back too if I wanted. However, most people don’t even look at the “Security” section in their phone. Open it up and you’ll find a whole heap of settings including a SIM card lock, SIM change alert and encryption. I’ll admit that I’m lazy, and don’t have a “screen lock” setup, but this is the easiest barrier to put up. It’s just like closing the windows when you leave the house, and newer versions of Android include “Face Unlock” to make it a little easier. Setting a pattern, PIN or password lock will mean that most thieves will instantly hit a brick wall, and won’t be able to get as far as your LinkedIn profile, your Facebook, Twitter, email and personal pictures.
Come on. How many people have been to the pub and left their phone on the table, only to have a friend login to your Facebook and send a humorous “update” to the world? A few seconds setting up some security, that’s all it takes. A lot of your life is on your smartphone, so lock it up and take care of it, just as you would with your home.

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