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Twitter goes incredibly meta for its UK Christmas ad
Twitter has a new Christmas ad highlighting how an infamous case of mistaken identity generates tens of thousands of conversations on its platform every year. It stars user @JohnLewis -- no, not the UK department store, but a lecturer at Virginia Tech who shares the same name.
Amazon UK begins offering loans for pricier purchases
In a bid to put an even bigger squeeze on its brick-and-mortar competition, Amazon is now offering its customers instalment plans to help them buy the more expensive items on its website. According to The Guardian, Brits can now select Amazon's Pay Monthly option at the checkout, letting them pay for orders totalling more than £400 over a series of instalments. These loans, which are only provided once a customer passes an online credit check, can be spread over two, three or four years depending on the order amount and are charged at a current interest rate of 16.9 percent.
Amazon tells customers to throw out unsafe 'hoverboards'
As a popular destination for self-balancing "hoverboards," Amazon needs to take its safety responsibilities seriously. The retailer has already pulled some models from its store until it can be proved their batteries and chargers are reliable, but now it's taking the unusual step of telling a small number of owners to throw them out. In an email, Amazon has warned US and UK customers that their hoverboard has been deemed "unsafe" and that they should "dispose" of it immediately.
John Lewis starts selling smartphones
Upmarket retailer John Lewis has added a new product category to its electricals section today, as it starts selling smartphones for the first time. A curated selection of top handsets from the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC, Motorola and Microsoft are available online right now, all unlocked. SIM-free iPhones will be added to the roster in early July, when they'll also begin to be stocked at John Lewis' flagship Oxford Street store. Soon, John Lewis will be in the position to offer you a mobile contract, too, under a partnership with Vodafone.
iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 now available in certain UK stores
Apple began accepting online orders for the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 shortly after the new tablets were announced last week, but if you'd rather not wait for a delivery, you can pick one up in-store as of today. Apple's own retail outlets now have the new generation of slates in stock, as do select John Lewis locations, including the flagship London Oxford Street, High Wycombe and Edinburgh stores. Be aware this is the very first batch to hit the UK, so shops might not be able to hook you up with the exact hardware configuration and colour scheme you so desperately want. The iPad Air 2 and mini 3 start at £399 and £319, respectively, with prices increasing based on storage capacity and/or the addition of LTE connectivity. If you'd prefer to spread the cost of new iPad across the term of a mobile data contract, O2 and EE are currently accepting preorders for both tablets, with Three and Vodafone saying they'll joining the fray soon.
John Lewis' own-brand smart TVs with webOS launching today from £1,399
The TV section of John Lewis stores, where customers and voyeurs alike come to gawk at the latest sets, will be joined by three new models today that also happen to bear the retailer's name. Its first own-brand TVs, known as the JL9000 series, have been made by LG especially, and thus run the manufacturer's webOS smart TV platform. Self-branded products tend to be at the lower-end of their category, but trust John Lewis to deck out its TVs with 1080p LED IPS panels, integrated 2.2-channel soundbars with extra subwoofers, passive 3D and 8-megapixel webcams. Those bells and whistles come at a cost, of course, so the 49-, 55- and 60-inch models will set you back £1,399, £1,699 and £2,199, respectively (still, a little cheaper than when the range was first teased). In typical John Lewis style, each one comes with a five-year guarantee, meaning you can chase the store directly if something goes wrong -- not that you'd be happy about it when laying down that kind of dosh.
LG is making a webOS TV range just for John Lewis stores
John Lewis is a big fan of cornering retail exclusives on gadgets, and it now appears that this love is extending to smart TVs. Pocket-lint has noticed that the department store chain is teasing the JL9000 series, a line of self-branded, LG-designed webOS TVs that should be more than just a rehashes of the sets we saw at CES this year. The 49-, 55- and 60-inch models will all include stands with built-in 2.1-channel soundbars, giving you decent (if likely unremarkable) audio out of the box. There's also promises of support for local streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and Now TV, although we'd frankly be surprised if these didn't appear on a UK-specific set.
Nokia's Lumia 2520 tablet exclusive to John Lewis in the UK from December 4th
UK-centric news is plentiful today while America busies itself with feasts and football. One such announcement concerns the launch of Nokia's first tablet, the Lumia 2520, which will go on sale December 4th exclusively at John Lewis and affiliate stores. Running Windows RT 8.1, the colorful 10.1-inch tablet will cost £400, while the optional keyboard accessory will retail for an additional £150 when it becomes available "in the coming weeks" (although we can't say we were enamored with the typing experience in our review). Curiously, John Lewis' monopoly means you'll have to go to extra lengths to make use of the 2520's LTE radio by procuring a 4G data-only SIM from EE or O2. Thus, you also can't take advantage of any carrier subsidies. There's no word on exactly when the exclusivity period will end, but if you just have to have one, you know exactly where to go. Update: We've now learned exclusivity finishes at the end of February next year, and that every Lumia 2520 bought from John Lewis includes an EE 4G SIM with 200MB of free data.
Sky's Now TV box hits UK retailers with bundled streaming passes
Sky's super-cheap Now TV streamer is losing its online exclusivity and is heading to the UK High Street. From today, the set-top box is available at Argos, Curry's and PC World, with John Lewis set to follow in the coming weeks. Sky is also expanding how customers enjoy its content with new bundled content passes, offering extended access to movies or sports right out of the box. In that respect, £15 nets you a Now TV box with a 24-hour Sky Sports Day Pass or you can opt for a bundled 3 month Sky Movies Pass for £25 -- a saving of between £5 and £10. The expansion helps Sky grab a retail presence and lure customers away from rival services like Netflix and Lovefilm, which can't lean on a multi-million investment in Roku to push their own-branded set-top box.
Surface RT prices slashed in UK and Australia, 32GB model down to £279 or $389
Following the significant price cut Microsoft's Surface RT received in the US recently, its cost has begun dropping in other regions, too. In the UK, Redmond's official online store is selling the 32GB model for £279 (down from £399) and the tablet with 64GB of storage for £359 (reduced from £479) -- adding £80 to those prices will get you the Touch Cover bundle. UK retailers John Lewis and PC World are offering the same discounts (although the latter is £0.99 more expensive across the board), and Microsoft's Australian store is knocking up to 180 Aussie dollars off the tablets and cover bundles. We imagine all countries the RT ships to will follow suit if they haven't already, so check your local MS store for confirmation. Meanwhile, it's hard to escape the feeling that RT as a whole has been overtaken by full-fledged Windows 8 machines. [Thanks, Erik]
John Lewis stores let you buy a gadget, get half a year of free broadband
Retailers will try any number of stunts to get our feet in the door when they've got inventory to clear or services to push, whether they're offering straight-up discounts or giving away devices. UK retailer John Lewis would really, really like us to try its home broadband, so it's trying a related yet uncommon strategy: buy an internet-capable device by April 15th, 2014 and John Lewis will supply half a year of broadband for free, even at fiber optic speeds. As always, though, there's an asterisk at the end. Would-be customers need to sign up for a year-long service contract to qualify, so they'll be paying between £25 to £39 per month ($38 to $60) for at least another half-year. We doubt many will shift their laptop or tablet purchases just to get cheap data, but the promo may tip the balance for those experimenting with internet providers or wiring up a new flat.
PSA: Nook Simple Touch and Simple Touch with Glowlight now on sale in the UK
Barnes & Noble's arrival in the UK has been so well-telegraphed, you might be surprised to learn that today's the day the units actually launch. You'll be able to pick up a Nook Simple Touch or awkwardly-titled Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight from retailers such as John Lewis, Sainsbury's and on the company's new Nook.co.uk site. Access to Barnes & Noble's 2.5 million title e-book library will set you back £79 for the base model and £109 for the glow-in-the-dark version.
Samsung announces 75-inch ES9000 smart TV for Korea, with similarly gigantic price tag (eyes-on)
Anyone looking to fill half of their lounge with Samsung LCD just got a new size to choose. The 75-inch ES9000 is the bigger brother of the ES8000 that we saw earlier this year and ahead of the official launch in Korea, we managed to get an early eyes-on at a Samsung event held yesterday in London. In short, if you loved the LED-backlit display of the 55-inch model, you're going to adore the ES9000, which features the same smart TV brains alongside a retractable webcam unit housed on the top edge. The picture was pleasingly rich and sharp -- presumably due to the aforementioned backlighting and the ES series' edge-to-edge design. The bezel is a mere 7.9mm and Samsung has decided to coat the frame in a gentle Rose Gold coating which, due to the TV's slightly shady location, was a little trickier to pick out. That premium finish is matched by a premium price tag, however, and will hit checkbooks for 19.8 million won (around $17,450). Despite the UK appearance, retailer John Lewis (which hosted the event) couldn't confirm whether retail models would be coming to its stores in the future. But if you can afford 75 inches of TV, you can also afford a quick flight to Seoul to pick one up. %Gallery-159772%
UK department store John Lewis launches broadband service, get in on the ground floor
If you live in the UK, and were thinking "If only I could get my broadband from the same place I get my crystal tumbler set" then maybe now you can. Department store John Lewis, a favorite for wedding lists, furniture and homeware is branching out into the British ISP game. The standard package will be £11 a month (not including line rental,) offering "up to" 16Mb speeds and a 20GB data cap. More eager users can pay an extra £7 to remove that download limit. Both bundles benefit from a free phone support, no activation fee and, of course, wireless router. Sound like your kind of deal? Head down to the source link, or past the haberdashery section to find out more.
Sony S1 and S2 tablets hitting Europe in September?
Last time we heard talk of a Sony tablet, the company was confirming our suspicions about the existence of the S1 and S2, giving the distinctive Android devices a broad global release time frame of this fall. And now we've been shown a private note sent from Sony's marketing group, highlighting an August pre-order and an end of September release date for an unnamed tablet from the company, a timeline that's right in line with our initial report on the S1. The device, according to the note, will be available through Sony Direct, UK department store John Lewis, and a third still-unconfirmed retailer at launch. Availability will apparently open up after the Christmas holiday. The note doesn't offer up much info on the tablet, though it does promise that it stacks up well against the iPad and offers up some "unique design features," which may well refer to the S2's clamshell -- or, for that matter, the S1's curved back.
Next-gen iPod touch rumors heat up: front-facing camera, September release?
It's a bit early to confirm anything just yet, but it's starting to look like Apple might be working on a new iPod touch. The latest of evidence backing up that shocking fact are two separate rumors that cover some familiarly territory, but with a bit more weight than before. The more convincing of those are some purportedly authentic iPod touch parts that have turned up on a number of Chinese websites, which clearly show a hole on the front of the device that's presumably for a front-facing camera. That's backed up by some fresh comments from an exec at UK retailer John Lewis, who said that a major iPod touch refresh is coming in September, and that it will match many of the iPhone 4's features, including a 5-megapixel camera with HD video recording, a gyroscope and, yes, FaceTime support.
Samsung's 3DTVs now on sale in the U.K.
Say hello to Matt Rajah, the first owner of one of Samsung's new 3DTVs in the U.K. We hope he enjoys watching Monsters vs. Aliens over, and over, and over -- at least until that Sky 3D channel launches at home. Just in case you're wondering what would inspire someone to lay down £1,799 for the UE40 C7000, also take a look at the European version of Samsung's 3D ads, they strike us as a bit more compelling than the stuff they're airing here. %Gallery-91755%
Humax HD-FOX T2 and Panasonic TX-P42G20B become the first Freeview HD tuners on sale in the UK
Slowly but surely Freeview HD is making its entry into UK homes. The well-reviewed Humax HD-FOX T2 is living up to its promise of being the very first Freeview HD tuner around, and is now available to buy via the company's online store or at your local electronics outlet. Priced at £180 ($281), its listing on the Humax Direct Sales site has an amusing "this is NOT a recorder" blinking message to inform people that it lacks the PVR functionality that the forthcoming Toshiba HDR5010 will bring. If your disposable income stretches a bit further and you want your tuner integrated, Panasonic will happily exchange its 42-inch TX-P42G20 plasma for £1,100 ($1,717). It's the successor to the TX-P42G10 and boasts a 600Hz refresh rate along with a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio and the prerequisite 1080p resolution. There's nothing we can do about the dearth of Freeview HD programming for the moment, but at least the hardware is finally out there.
Dell Adamo XPS: Exclusive to John Lewis in the UK for the holiday season
If you're lucky enough to live in the US, buying the super slim Adamo XPS is just a matter of hitting up Dell's website -- and then ponying up nearly $2,000, of course. Those in the UK, however, have been sorely out of luck. Luckily for them, we're hearing that the much lusted-after laptop will be available at John Lewis department stores in time for holiday shopping. That's right, this hinged baby -- which boasts a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor, a 128GB SSD, a 13.4-inch WLED panel, a 2 megapixel camera, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and GS45 integrated graphics -- will be available there as of today, for the base price of £1750 (that's about $2,800). For a better idea of what this bad boy looks like, check out our hands-on impressions video after the break.
John Lewis' Ultimate kitchen combo includes obligatory LCD TV
While those of us here in America puff our chests out each time we waltz by that LCD-equipped centralpark Connection refrigerator, folks in the UK can get extra prideful courtesy of John Lewis. Although the integrated coffee machine, electric oven, steam oven and 19-inch HD-ready LCD TV can all be purchased separately, they're being (smartly) marketed together to create the "ultimate kitchen combo." The whole shebang will run you £2,246 ($4,363), and not surprisingly, it's the £699 ($1,358) tele that's likely to bring in the most profit. Meat-heads will agree to anything with pixels though, right?[Via CNET]