Orange UK Rolling Out HD Calls Quality For Free
September 1, 2010
Orange UK is offering high-definition call quality to all users on its network. The users are not being charged additionally as well. HD calls offer better voice clarity than calls made on regular 2G/3G networks.
The mobile network operator only had to do some software upgrading at the base station tower level, in-order to implement the HD call service. While some of the older handsets might not be compatible with this software upgrade, most of the newer mobile phones are expected to be compliant.
To hear a sample of how HD calls would sound like, you can check out the demo by Rory Cellan-Jones, technology correspondent for BBC.
Although T-Mobile is merged with Orange, the users belonging to the former network, will have to wait for a while before they can enjoy the benefits of HD calls.
The other competitor mobile networks in the UK are also expected to follow the leader, sooner or later.
Image credit (Flickr) - Sk8geek
New Samsung Wave Bada Smartphone Announced
August 30, 2010
The smartphone is equipped with a 3.2" touch display. A 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash comes integrated within. Networking-wise, there's support for WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR. The Dolfin Browser 2.0 comes loaded in the smartphone. On the memory front, a 90MB internal memory is accompanied by a 16GB microSD card slot. There's FM radio for music and A-GPS for navigation.
The new SDK platform version, used to develop the software for this device, brings in a new feature called auto-UI scaling. This feature maintains compatibility of Bada apps with the device.
Neither pricing nor release date have been mentioned as of now. However, the mobile phone might see a German launch in September and subsequently in other markets too.
The Gap Between iPhones and iPods Might Grow Narrower
August 28, 2010
The highly anticipated Apple Press Event to be held on 1 September, 2010, in San Francisco, has plenty of speculations filling the air, at present. As history has it, Apple usually refreshes their iPod Touch line of gadgets around this time of the year. Therefore, some heavy updates on this front are expected. The other products that Apple might unveil at the event are – a revamped Apple TV and TV episode rentals to be available in the iTunes.
Apple iPod Touch 2010 will mostly include the camera functionality. Not just one, but two cameras are supposed to be integrated in the device. The FaceTime video chat app might be supported. This video calling app was introduced in the iPhone 4, earlier this year. Moreover, even the screen of the iPod Touch is expected to get the Retina Display treatment, and a high resolution of 960 x 640 pixels.
Talking about FaceTime video calls, there might be a difference in the way these are handled by the iPod Touch and the iPhone 4. In the mobile phone, the 3G network is used initially to place a call, and then WiFi is used for the video chat part. However, for the iPod Touch, which is WiFi-capable only, users might have to use either their iTunes account or Apple ID, to place the call, assumes Pocket-lint. This would enable the recipient to know who is calling. Another magazine reports that the user's email address would be used.
These features will remain as speculations till 1 September. However, if they turn out to be true, the gap between the iPhones and the iPod Touchs will narrow down.
Google Video Chat - From Computer To Phone
August 27, 2010
A new app, called Gmail Voice and Video Chat, was launched yesterday by Google. This app allows a user to make voice and video calls to another land-line phone or mobile phone, right from the Gmail console. The most impressive aspect about this new app, is the cheaper tariffs it offers, when compared to regular mobile network operator tariffs.
Until now, people could use this Google video chat app, only from computer to computer. Plus, this required both parties to be signed into their Gmail accounts too. But now, a person logged into his Gmail account, can call other phones and mobile phones as well. In-case the person using this Gmail service has a Google Voice phone number, then the person receiving the call, will be able to see this number being displayed on his mobile phone, when the call comes in. Moreover, calls can also be returned to this same number.
The only things required for using this Google video chat service are:- the voice and video plug-in and the microphone/headphone set. A keypad panel will appear on the computer screen, through which the numbers can be dialled.
Currently, this Google phone call service has only been launched in the US and Canada. Calls within these countries are free. However, international calls are charged at a low rate. For details on tariffs visit the list. The search engine giant is planning to launch this Gmail video chat service in other parts of the world, soon.
Google has announced that in just one day's time, a total of 1 million calls were placed, via the service. Hence, this app is bound to be a big success internationally. The availability of such an app from the powerful Google has threatened the business of apps like Skype as well as the other mobile network operators around the world.
LG Found to be Most Non-Green by O2
August 25, 2010
Mobile operator O2 recently made a research on which mobile phones are green and which are not. According to their research, LG was found to be most non-eco-friendly. Among the list of 10 non-green mobile handsets, LG bagged 6 places. The LG GW520 mobile phone is supposed to have scored a 2.7 out of 5 in O2's analysis.
Even the Palm Pre + was found to be non-environmental friendly with a poor score of 2.7.
Among those who fared well in O2's list were Sony Ericsson and Nokia. Sony Ericsson Elm is said to have bagged 4.3 out of 5. This mobile phone maker had five mobile handsets in the list of green phones. These are the Zylo, the Xperia x10 mini pro, the Xperia x10 mini and the Vivaz Pro apart from the Elm.
Even Nokia is mentioned to have got a good score in the mobile provider's green list. The 6700 Slide, C7, 1800 and E500 are said to have appeared in this list.
The Samsung Wave is also said to have featured in the eco-friendly phones list.
However, Apple never appeared in O2's tests at all.
