Xperia Z5 pre-orders available at the Carphone Warehouse
Sony may have only announced its new Xperia Z5 range the other day, but pre-orders have already landed in the UK at high-street retailer Carphone Warehouse. The Sony Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact are both available to pre-order right now, while you can reserve interest in the 4K display equipped Xperia Z5 Premium.
Contract wise, the Xperia Z5 Compact is the least expensive option, with tariffs beginning at £33 per month with a £0 up front cost on a 24 month contract with O2. The regular Xperia Z5 can be bought for £42 per month and nothing up front with a 24 month contract from EE. Alternatively, the two smartphones are available SIM-free for a cost of £499.99 and £549.99 respectively.
We don’t have any contract prices for the Xperia Z5 Premium yet, but the unlocked price is listed as £629.00 on the UK Sony Store. Speaking of which, you can also pre-order the phones unlocked directly from the Sony Store, where you can save yourself up to £70 off the Carphone Warehouse retail price.
If you are interested, all of the models are available in black, gold and white color options, while the Z5 has an extra green options and the Compact comes in a pink variant. The Carephone Warehouse will apparently have exclusive access to the white model for two weeks following the launch, but you can still pick from the full range of colors over at the Sony website too. Other European customers can also find the Xperia Z5 range available to pre-order through their local variant of the Sony store.
Pre-order from Carphone Warehouse
Pre-order from Sony
Is anyone planning to pick up a new Xperia Z5?
Xperia Z5 pre-orders available at the Carphone Warehouse
Sony may have only announced its new Xperia Z5 range the other day, but pre-orders have already landed in the UK at high-street retailer Carphone Warehouse. The Sony Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Compact are both available to pre-order right now, while you can reserve interest in the 4K display equipped Xperia Z5 Premium.
Contract wise, the Xperia Z5 Compact is the least expensive option, with tariffs beginning at £33 per month with a £0 up front cost on a 24 month contract with O2. The regular Xperia Z5 can be bought for £42 per month and nothing up front with a 24 month contract from EE. Alternatively, the two smartphones are available SIM-free for a cost of £499.99 and £549.99 respectively.
We don’t have any contract prices for the Xperia Z5 Premium yet, but the unlocked price is listed as £629.00 on the UK Sony Store. Speaking of which, you can also pre-order the phones unlocked directly from the Sony Store, where you can save yourself up to £70 off the Carphone Warehouse retail price.
If you are interested, all of the models are available in black, gold and white color options, while the Z5 has an extra green options and the Compact comes in a pink variant. The Carephone Warehouse will apparently have exclusive access to the white model for two weeks following the launch, but you can still pick from the full range of colors over at the Sony website too. Other European customers can also find the Xperia Z5 range available to pre-order through their local variant of the Sony store.
Pre-order from Carphone Warehouse
Pre-order from Sony
Is anyone planning to pick up a new Xperia Z5?
Another Yu smartphone scheduled for September 8th launch
If you haven’t had your fill of new product announcements this week, Micromax’s Yu sub-brand has begun sending out press invites for a new smartphone launch that will take place on September 8th.
Sadly the teaser doesn’t reveal much about the smartphone, other than a brief glance at the side of the handset. The “when future meets past” tagline is also rather cryptic and uninformative, although the official Yu Twitter account has been tweeting some random lines involving historical figures. We don’t have any hardware rumors or leaked specs to go on right now, so we will just have to sit tight for the launch event.
In a separate announcement, Yu CEO Rahul Sharma declared that the new smartphone will be sold through online retailer Snapdeal. Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl also Tweeted that “Yu have been making headlines. It’s about time that we did something together?” So it’s pretty certain that Snapdeal will be the website to watch for sales once the launch date rolls around.
See also: Micromax is planning its own Android based OS for future products
Yu has released a number of new smartphones already this year, as it attempts to grab a bigger portion of the booming Indian smartphone market. Recent models include the 5.5-inch 1080p Yureka Plus that was unveiled in July and the ultra-low cost Yuphoria smartphone back in May.
An early look at Nextbit’s ‘cloud first’ Robin smartphone
Nextbit wanted to celebrate the launch of its debut smartphone today at a party in San Francisco, but it turned out to be a celebration of success as well. In just under 12 hours, the startup reached its $500,000 Kickstarter goal to fund the Robin, an Android phone that isn’t only “cloud first,” but also surprisingly design forward as well. We had a chance to get an early look at what the final product might actually look like (though bear in mind these are all still prototypes) and asked Scott Croyle, Nextbit’s Chief Product and Design Officer — who’s also a former design lead for HTC — a few questions about the phone as well.Slideshow-317276
First, let’s recap: The big idea behind the Robin is that when you get it, not only do you get 32GB of internal storage, but you also get 100GB of cloud storage — completely free. When you’ve maxed out the capacity of your phone, Robin is intelligent enough to slowly offload lesser used apps and/or media to the cloud. “It’s a unique hybrid approach,” said Croyle.
While he wasn’t able to show the software running on the prototypes to me, he did show a beta version of it running on a Nexus 5. He showed how a lesser used app was greyed out. Tap it, and you’ll see a progress bar as the app is loaded back onto the phone from the cloud. After a few minutes, the app will no longer be greyed out and you can use it just as you could before. And if you never ever want an app to be offloaded to the cloud, you can just pin it so that it’ll always be on your phone.
As for photos, he says that if you choose to back them up in the cloud, the phone will only load up the original high-res images while keeping down sampled versions in local storage so you can see what you have stored away. You don’t always have to use the cloud either; it’s completely up to you if you want to enable cloud storage for just media, both media and apps, or not use it altogether.
What’s perhaps even more impressive however, is that hardware. It’s a nicely designed device, with straight sides, a slim profile and cool colors — it comes in both “mint” green and “midnight” blue. On the right side is a power button that also doubles as a fingerprint sensor. Just tap and hold it to unlock your phone. In addition to the regular microphone on the bottom, there’s also a noise-canceling microphone at the top. As for the rest of the hardware, there’s also a 13-megapixel camera, LED flash, a 5.2-inch 1080p screen and a USB-C port.
It’s hard to really give hands-on impressions at this point due to the early prototype nature of the device — the one we’re showing here is an EVT, or an “engineering verification test” — but we’re at least able to show a mockup of what it could look like. The overall feel is very light and smooth to the touch. Even though it’s squared on the sides, it still felt pretty comfortable to hold thanks to a bit of a “soft touch” finish on the back, which we’re told is close to what they want in the final hardware. Powering it all is a pretty-close-to-stock Android Lollipop, albeit with a few Nextbit touches.
There’s still 27 more days to the Kickstarter at this point, so you still have time to get one for $349 (the $299 early bird specials are all gone). But if you do, bear in mind there’ll be a wait: Croyle tells me they won’t start shipping until January 2016 at the earliest.
Tags: kickstarter, nextbit, nextbitrobin, robin, scottcroyle
Parrot’s Zik 3 headphones have ‘wireless everything’
Parrot’s high-tech headphone series just got another notable upgrade. The Zik 3 brings the same noise cancellation and touch panel controls of the last model, but adds wireless charging to the already-wireless headphones. There’s also a completely different look, that Parrot’s calling “a touch of couture” (the company is French so we’re giving them a pass), which includes four options in croc texture, “overstitch” detailed cans in black and ivory, and a black leather grain option. The redesigned cans are more slender than the Zik 2, and while there’s even more tech inside the sequel, the Zik 3s weigh exactly the same. Slideshow-317278
“Zik is the revolution.
Zik 3 is the evolution.
Evolution is a permanent revolution.”
-Philippe Starck
Alright, Philippe. Yes, the latest headphones from Parrot have benefitted from Starcks’ design firm again, but the new looks are possibly the least important new thing here. Aside from wireless charging, the headphones are now compatible with USB audio, improving the quality of audio playback to Hi-Fi audio when possible (and also charging them).
Noise cancellation can cover up to 30 decibels, with a street mode that will let in a channel of outside noise to avoid, well, possibly a traffic accident if you don’t hear a car coming. Parrot has also crafted companion smartwatch apps for both Apple Watch and Android Wear, because these are the times we live in. The wearable app’s “Producer mode” seems to be the highlight with a five-band, full-parametric equalizer, coupled with a spatializer. If you’re aching for some headphones to match that gold-banded wearable, the Kik 3s will launch globally around the end of this year.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, Wearables, HD
Tags: hdpostcross, parrot, parrotzik3, PhillipeStarck, zik3
The next generation of Freeview arrives next month
More than ever before, Brits are using catch-up services to watch their favourite TV shows from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. YouView is already fusing those services with the traditional Freeview experience, and now, realising its potential, the brains behind Freeview are preparing a similar platform themselves. It’s called Freeview Play and we’ve been told that it’ll be launching in October on Panasonic’s 2015 line-up of Viera TVs. The idea is that you’ll be able to scroll back through the guide and watch an old TV show immediately — one unified experience for browsing and discovery, rather than launching and navigating separate apps. Not all catch-up services will be integrated at launch, however. Freeview says Demand 5 will be available straight away as a standalone app, but won’t support its TV guide experience until later. We suspect more TV manufacturers will launch and update their sets with Freeview Play throughout the year — if you want to be an early adopter, just look for the “Freeview Play inside” branding on Panasonic’s site.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment
Via:
Pocket-Lint
Source:
Freeview
Tags: all4, bbc, channel4, channel5, freeview, freeviewplay, iplayer, itv, TV
Great deal: Nexus 6 on sale for $349 (32GB) and $399 (64GB) on Amazon!
We still have a month to wait until the next-gen Nexus devices arrive, but if you just can’t wait to go Nexus, today we have an excellent deal for you.
Amazon is discounting the Motorola-made Nexus 6 down to an amazing $349.99 for the 32GB version and $399 for the 64GB version. The price goes for both the Midnight Blue and the Cloud White version, and for the money you get an unlocked device with full US warranty. The device is sold by Amazon, with free shipping.
This sales slashes $150 off the price of the Nexus 6, making it as affordable as the popular Nexus 5 before it, and probably the cheapest we’ve ever seen it. That’s a very good proposition and we expect this deal to go out of stock very soon.
- Get the Nexus 6 32GB (blue) for $349.99
- Get the Nexus 6 64GB (blue) for $399.99
- Get the Nexus 6 32GB (white) for $349.99
- Get the Nexus 6 32GB (white) for $399.99
The Nexus 6 is a phablet lover’s dream, with its 6-inch display of Quad HD resolution, powerful processor, 3,220 mAh battery, and 13MP main camera. But of course, the true value of a Nexus device comes from its pristine Android implementation, lack of bloatware, and fast updates guarantee. That is why the Nexus 6 scored a 9/10 in our review, and why it’s a no brainer at this price.
Happy shopping and let us know if you bought anything!
Rumor: LG releasing a phone with a secondary ‘ticker’ display
LG is launching a phone called the V10 with a small auxiliary “ticker” display above the main screen, according to Evan Blass (@evleaks) and photos from Chinese regulator Tenaa. That might sound bizarre, but it was actually used before on Samsung’s Continuum, a 2010 Galaxy S Verizon variant. Still, it’s a unusual idea for a modern phone that otherwise looks rather decent. According to Blass, it’ll have a 5.7-inch 2,560 x 1,440 screen, Snapdragon 808 CPU, 3GB memory, 16-megapixel rear/5-megapixel front cameras, expandable memory and a back fingerprint scanner.
We’re not sure what LG will put on the ticker — perhaps some kind of launcher like Samsung uses on the curved sides of the Galaxy Note Edge. While the phone has a removable-looking plastic back, the frame itself appears to be metal, according to the Tenaa photos (which have since been pulled). Provided all this info is correct, we should see the handset imminently, given that it’s cleared the regulatory hurdle. With the dual-sim setup shown in the Tenaa listing, there’s no guarantee it’ll come to North America or Europe, however.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile, LG
Source:
@evleaks, Tenaa (cached)
Tags: GalaxyContinuum, leak, lg, LG-H968, mobilepostcross, rumor, V10
Where to buy Sphero’s BB-8 ‘Star Wars’ toy in the UK
The Force Awakens is still a few months away, but already Star Wars fans have fallen in love with one of the film’s supporting characters: BB-8. The rolling droid is a spiritual successor to R2-D2 and now, thanks to Sphero, you can buy your own miniaturised version. It connects to iOS and Android devices and, using the companion app, you can switch it between three different behavioural modes: Driving, Holographic Messaging and Patrol. But where can you buy this little curiosity on “Force Friday?” We’ve got you covered.
- The Disney Store — £129.95
- Firebox — £129.99
- Amazon — £129.99 (Out of stock, but we expect more will become available soon)
- MenKind — £129.99
- IWOOT — £129.99
Apple, Harrods, John Lewis, RobotShop UK, Science Museum London, Selfridges, Currys, Dixons Travel, PC World and O2 are also listed among Sphero’s retail partners, so there’s a good chance they’ll also be stocking the adorable robot soon.
Filed under:
Misc
Tags: bb8, droid, forcefriday, RemoteControlled, robot, robottoy, sphero, starwars, theforceawakens, toy
ZTE Axon Elite announced: a global version of the original Axon
Every important manufacturer is in Berlin right now, showing us all their goodies at the world-famous IFA 2015 conference. With the hype going full throttle, ZTE definitely doesn’t want to stay behind. The Chinese manufacturer is taking the stage to announce the ZTE Axon Elite.
What is this device all about? The truth is the device is not too different from the original Axon. The main difference is that this one happens to sport a fingerprint reader and a microSD slot, both which the original Axon lacked. Aside from the reader, you can also use the eye scanner and voice controls to unlock your ZTE Axon Elite. There’s also an added design touch on the top and bottom parts of the back, which make it seem as though the device has parts made of leather. Otherwise, the phone should be the same as the powerful Axon smartphone we have already reviewed.
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This is hands down ZTE’s most powerful handset around, and considering its accessible price point, we can all assume ZTE will want to take it to as many markets as possible. The ZTE Axon Elite will launch in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom on 24 September. Germany, Spain, France, Turkey, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Russia and the Philippines will follow suit by the end of September.
Priced at only 419.99 Euros (or 299.99 GBP), it’s definitely not a bad deal for the specs its touting. Just as a reminder, the ZTE Axon Elite should also come with a 5.5-inch QHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a 13 MP rear-facing camera, an 8 MP shooter and a 3000 mAh battery. Will you be buying one?
AIVAnet 