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Carphone Warehouse stocking Sony's Xperia T, J and Tablet S for wannabe James Bonds
Given that James Bond himself is rocking Sony's Xperia T as his handset of choice in Skyfall, it's natural that wannabe Bonds will be clamoring for similar gear. Fortunately, Carphone Warehouse has announced that it's stocking the T, Xperia J and Xperia Tablet S when they make their debut in the UK. The two smartphones will be arriving on the increasingly busy September 5th, while the Tablet S's arrival date is still in the air, but we know it'll cost you £330 for the WiFi or £430 for the 3G version.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 arrives at the Carphone Warehouse
Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 is now available at the Carphone Warehouse for the stylus-toting multi-tasker in your life. The independent UK retailer is selling the 16GB, WiFi version for £400, while the edition equipped with a 3G modem retails for £500. While the latter can make calls, you won't be holding the tablet to your ear to make 'em. Instead, the company thoughtfully included a Bluetooth-enabled S-Pen with a microphone and speaker, making you look a bit more like Maxwell Smart than Dom Joly.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 hits the UK on August 22nd, starts at £300 for WiFi-only model
It's 'bout time, right? Having been up for grabs here in the US since way back in May, it's now looking like Sammy's second-gen Tab 10.1 is finally ready to make its official retail debut across the pond. According to Carphone Warehouse, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1's "expected" to be in stock as early as next week -- or, August 22nd to be exact -- in the United Kingdom, with the base 16GB, WiFi-only flavor set to be priced at a mere £300, while £100 more gets you the model that's also sporting 3G connectivity. Better yet, the retailer's taking pre-orders as we speak, so click on either of the source links below and choose the Tab 2 10.1 variant best suited for your slate needs.
Mobile Miscellany: week of July 30th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, the Galaxy Nexus for Sprint and Verizon Wireless each became available for free, while in the MVNO world, Simple Mobile dropped the price of its high-speed unlimited smartphone plan to $50. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of July 30th, 2012.
PSA: Nexus 7 arrives at the Carphone Warehouse today
If you're the old fashioned sort who likes carrying your newly minted device back from the store, then you'll be elated to know that the Nexus 7 is available at the Carphone Warehouse from today. The Jelly Bean-running slate that sits in the palm of your hand will set you back £199 if you'd like it without any obligation. However, if you're also due a smartphone upgrade (or just want a new one), you can get it for free if you sign up to a data-sharing deal for £20.50 per month that'll let the tablet leech your handset's data for the following 24 months.
We go hands-on with the waterproof Sony Xperia go (video)
The spiritual successor to last year's Xperia Active has been given a performance boost. Now packing a dual-core 1GHz processor, Sony hopes it'll manage to keep up with your surf-heavy lifestyle. At least, that's the explanation we reckon underpins the Xperia go's (or Xperia advance) certified dust and waterproofing. The phone is notch above the Xperia miro and Xperia tipo hardware wise, although the software remains less so, leaning on the increasingly creaky Android Gingerbread. (Sony says it's coming -- but it wont be available on launch.) Those curved corners and design lines bring it close to the aesthetic of the Xperia S, P and U -- although it does lack that pervasive see-through bar. The increased processing power made web browsing a pretty painless affair, while wet finger tracking means you'll still be able to use the 3.5-inch touchscreen in the British Summer surf. The device will be priced around £250 (around $390) in the UK and is pegged to arrive over the next few months in white, black and yellow -- the latter has swiftly become our favorite. Take a visual tour of the yellow option in our gallery and hands-on video right after the break.%Gallery-160088%
Samsung Galaxy S III is hot: bursts into flames and melts through its own casing
It doesn't look good. This Galaxy S III apparently malfunctioned while in an in-car holster, causing some substantial melting and burn marks across the lower half of the device. The global HSPA+ iteration of Samsung's new flagship apparently sparked into white flames, followed by a bang. While it's certainly not the first smartphone to implode in transit, the damage -- along the base but separate to the charging port -- looks pretty substantial and although the screen still apparently worked, reception was dead. The phone has been whisked off to a repair center through phone retailer Carphone Warehouse for the full autopsy. User dillo2k10 was left unscathed, but it's apparently left some nasty molten plastic remains on the inside of his car. Hit up the gallery link below for some more scorch-marked close-ups. Update: Sammy updated its Samsung Tomorrow blog with a quick statement, reading: "Samsung is aware of this issue and will begin investigating as soon as we receive the specific product in question. Once the investigation is complete, we will be able to provide further details on the situation. We are committed to providing our customers with the safest products possible and are looking at this seriously." [Thanks Dillon]
Samsung Galaxy S III tops UK pre-order records, shows that British love their quad-core
The British clearly didn't waste any time once pre-orders opened up for the Galaxy S III, which just broke through pre-order records for at least one carrier and one retailer in the country. Carphone Warehouse's chief commercial officer Graham Stapleton says that the quad-core, 4.8-inch flagship is the quickest-moving pre-order of the year "so far," while Vodafone UK adds that the new Galaxy is its most pre-ordered Android device to date. Without hard numbers, though, it's difficult not to couch the successes in relative terms: both are using conditional language that makes clear neither record is absolute and that they might be eclipsed by companies with a knack for building early demand. Even so, that pride in early results suggests the third time is indeed the charm and that Samsung won't have much trouble filling its own pop-up stores with customers at the end of the month.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 lands at UK's Carphone Warehouse
Brits left unaffected by last month's US launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 can now get in on the Ice Cream Sandwich action: the silver version of the tablet recently landed at Carphone Warehouse in the UK, and the white model is reportedly coming on May 18th. The retailer is offering the 8GB, WiFi-only flavor for £199. Though the Tab 2 7.0 didn't top the charts when it crossed our reviewer's desk, its solid performance and decent battery life make it one of the best value-priced Android 4.0 slates out there. Click through to the source link to reserve this 7-incher, but if it's the silver model you're after, it looks like you'll have to pick up the phone to make the purchase (at least for now).
HTC One V now available for pre-order in the UK
Britons! If you're interested in a handset that's reminiscent of the product of a tryst 'twixt Jimmy Hill, Jay Leno and an HTC Legend, then you'll be delighted to hear that the HTC One V is now available to pre-order from the Carphone Warehouse. It's free if you plump for a two-year deal costing you £20.50 a month and it'll be winging its way to your greasy palms the week of April 23rd, unfortunately without the bottle of bleach necessary to wipe that Jimmy Hill / Jay Leno image from your mind, sorry.
Nokia Lumia 900 arriving in the UK April 27th, dressed in white
Sure, the US has already had its chance at Nokia's Windows-packing smartphone, but UK-based fans of the Lumia 900 won't have to wait too much longer, if the release date on Phones 4u's site is to be believed. The retailer currently has the handset's delivery date listed as April 27th -- a date that includes that white variant we've been seeing pop up from time to time. Also, in spite of some false starts, Carphone Warehouse also has the Metroed handset listed, though its date is the far broader "May 2012." We're sure Kourtney Kardashian is lining up her tickets as we speak.
Lumia 900 hits Carphone Warehouse, possibly coming to the UK in June (update: no)
We bet some of you over in the UK were just a wee bit little jealous when it was revealed that we here in the good ol' U-S-of-A would be getting first dibs on the Lumia 900 (a little payback for keeping the 800 all to yourselves). Well, lucky for you, we're not so greedy and you'll get your own shot at Nokia's latest and greatest... eventually. Carphone Warehouse has the dual-camera sporting Mango phone listed as "coming soon" with an expected launch date of June 2012. These plans are clearly still unofficial at the moment, but you can sign up for more info from the outlet as it becomes available. The biggest question, though, is whether or not the Lumia 900 will ship with LTE on board. The product page makes no mention of 4G and, with compatible networks still in trial stages at best, we wouldn't get our hopes up. Still, even without "blazingly fast" downloads, the front-facing cam, RGB matrix screen and beefy battery present plenty of reason for excitement.Update: Or maybe not. It looks like Carphone Warehouse has since pulled its Lumia 900 pre-registration page. Perhaps -- and take this with a serious grain of salt -- they're making room for the non-LTE 12 megapixel Lumia 910?
Best Buy-bye: Retailer bids farewell to the UK with blowout sale
While Americans plow through their cash and cards, lapping up the litany of Black Friday specials -- and readying themselves for the inevitable Cyber Monday second wave -- it looks like our trans-Atlantic cousins will also get a taste of discount joy. After a brief 18-month stint, Best Buy UK is packing its bags, and it wants to travel light. Both the online and physical stores will see prices snipped by between 10 and 30 percent, though we don't know whether this will extend to Best Buy's full product line or simply less desirable devices. Either way, the brick-and-mortar stores have been closed over the weekend in preparation. Bargain-hunting Brits should be able to grab some some cut-price Christmas treats when the eleven stores reopen on Monday. [Thanks Jason and Thomas]
Best Buy to close UK operations, 1,100 jobs in jeopardy
Best Buy Europe, the joint venture between Best Buy Inc. and Carphone Warehouse, has been shuttered after just 18 months in business. In that short amount of time, it lost £80 million ($127 million), largely due to consumer belt-tightening and increased competition from cheaper online retailers. Up to 1,100 jobs will be lost at the eleven UK stores currently open in Thurrock, Bristol and Wolverhampton, among other locations, bringing to an end the company's ambitious plan to open 200 stores across Europe. At the same time, the US giant declared it would buy out its European partner's stake in the Best Buy Mobile chain as it continues to pull out of unprofitable foreign operations. Update: We've got some more on what this deal means. Buying out Carphone Warehouse is gonna cost $1.3 billion plus $8 million annually for five years. The two aren't splitting up for good, since they're also starting another joint venture called Global Connect (good luck with that one, fellas). Separately, the company announced it was grabbing mindShift technology, a cloud service provider for small and medium-sized enterprises for a cool $167 million. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Motorola Xoom 2 officially priced at 400 Euros, coming this Christmas to Carphone Warehouse
For those unaware, Carphone Warehouse is a warehouse that sells carphones in Europe, Jupiter and other locales in the known galaxy. It also sells smartphones and tablets. And according to the leaked flyer that we've acquired, the long-awaited Motorola Xoom 2 (or Xoom II, as it were) will be landing in Ireland before Christmas. The price? €399.90, or around $545, for the WiFi-only edition with 16GB of inbuilt storage. Other specs include Android 3.2 (what, no Ice Cream Sandwich?), an 8.2-inch touchpanel, and much, much more. In fact, CW calls it "everything a tablet should be." Truth in advertising? You be the judge. [Thanks, Artyom]
Mobile Miscellany: week of September 5, 2011
This week, as always, was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 5, 2011: It appears that Sprint employees are being informed that vacation requests anytime between September 30th and October 15th won't be approved, due to "the possibility of a major phone launch in October." Vacation blackouts are typically used during certain times of the holiday season, so the timing on this particular memo is a bit striking -- as usual, we invite you to come to your own conclusions here. [via SprintFeed] Two BlackBerry devices breathed life on T-Mobile this week in the form of leaks. First, the Curve 9360 began showing up on marketing material focusing specifically on its prepaid campaign, which says the device will be offered for $230 without having to sign a new contract. It didn't mention the on-contract price, but if all goes according to rumors, it'll likely be out this time next week (September 14th, to be specific). [via TmoNews] Speaking of the Curve 9360, the phone will probably be hopping across the pond to a Carphone Warehouse near you (if you live in the United Kingdom, that is). It's ready for pre-order now on the retailer's site with a prepaid option for $200. Not bad for a brand-new BlackBerry at full retail cost. [via TechnoBuffalo] The second BlackBerry we saw leaked for T-Mobile this week was the Torch 9860, which may have been discovered in T-Mo's inventory system, according to a leaked screenshot. This doesn't help us know the date or pricing of the new Torch, but it does signify that it's likely just around the corner. [via TmoNews] It's possible that the Droid Prime and Nexus Prime have passed through Bluetooth and WiFi certification. Since names were not provided in the documentation, we're left to speculate using the devices' model numbers -- rumored to be the SCH-I515 and GT-I9250. We're naturally skeptical, but we'll keep a close eye on the FCC in hopes that we'll see these mystery devices pop up soon with at least a few revealing details. [via Droid-Life] We've been expecting the recently announced Samsung Galaxy W to arrive this month in the UK, but all of our sights have been set on Three as the only known carrier... until now. O2 placed a teaser page on its website this week, listing the Galaxy W as "coming soon: September." [via MobileBurn and AndroidCentral]
Blackberry Bold 9900 spotted in the British wilderness, bang on schedule
A tipster just spotted the Bold 9900 at a Carphone Warehouse in the UK, days before operators there and in the US expect to launch the device on August 16th. We can't be sure if it's actually for sale or just a window display that went up too early, but it certainly reassures us that the new Bold will be out on time. Alternatively, if you wanted to be harsh on RIM, you could describe this non-QNX release as being at least a year too late. (Oh, and it's good to see business chugging along as usual in ol' Blighty despite those nasty riots.) [Thanks, Avi]
ASUS Eee Pad Slider priced in Portuguese catalog, manhandled on camera (video)
ASUS first showed off its Eee Pad Slider what seems forever ago. That was way, way back at CES, amongst the deluge of tablety announcements. The keyboard-hiding Honeycomb device is finally on its way, having been given an August release date in the UK and recently hitting the FCC in the States. The 10.1-inch tablet just popped up in the August catalog for the Phone House (the Carphone Warehouse's brand outside the UK) catalog in Portugal, priced at €349 ($497) under contract with ZON -- that's down from €479 ($684) without contract. The forthcoming tablet also hammed it up for the camera recently -- video of that after the break. [Thanks, Zack and Pedro]
HTC Ignite and Prime surface on Dutch e-tailer, may indeed be coming soon
Second time's a charm? Here's hoping. Just months after seeing the so-called HTC Ignite and Prime surface alongside the Pyramid (which already launched as the Sensation 4G), it seems as if the remaining duo have found a home over at The Phone House. For those unaware, that's the Dutch version of the UK's Carphone Warehouse, a top-tier mobile shop that doesn't steer folks wrong too often. The Ignite looks to be a Windows Phone 7 handset with an 800MHz processor, 3.7-inch display and an otherwise understated motif. The Prime, on the other hand, sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 5 megapixel camera and Microsoft's homespun OS. There's no mention of a price tag on either (nor any other specifications), but that whole "coming soon" thing most certainly has our interest piqued. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HTC Sensation bids tearful adieu to Vodafone exclusivity
It was fun while it lasted, but Vodafone's expected two-week reign of exclusivity on the HTC Sensation has dropped, leaving the phone ready to be scooped up by other networks. Carphone Warehouse is now offering the dual-core Gingerbread device on pre-order for O2 and Orange with plans starting at £40, expecting to ship the week of June 20th. If neither carrier sounds overly tempting, BuyMobilePhones is also commencing pre-orders for T-Mobile and Three with a minimum tariff of £15; no delivery date was mentioned here, though we hope to be looking at a similar timeframe. Already sold? Head south to the source links, wallet clutched firmly in hand.
