ATTAB Seven 7″ Tablet, yours for £59.99

There’s a NEW LOW been reached on the high street in terms of mass market Android tablet prices, with the Dixons/Currys group now selling the ATTAB Seven 7″ Tablet for a shockingly low £59.99. For that you get a rather predictable power and feature set, with the tablet offering a 7″ display running at 800 x 400 resolution, 512MB of RAM, SD card expansion, Android 4.0 as the OS and a 3,000mAh capacity battery.

It’s the sort of crappy, no-brand Chinese thing Amazon’s been selling for years, only now at Currys to give it an aura of legitimacy.

attab-seven

In short, don’t buy it as it’ll probably be quite poor. Although with a VGA front-facing camera onboard it is at least a little better than some of the alternative super-cheap options out there.

BEST DEALS: Huawei Ascend P1 for £189

All sorts of alarm bells went off here this morning, as one of our favourite Android phones of last year received a significant online PRICE CRASH. Retailer Expansys is now selling the Ascend P1 for £189.99 including free delivery, for which you get a very capable and virtually unskinned Android model with a decent camera, thin chassis and nice display.

We have happy memories of using it for a fortnight during the heady summer of last year, at least.

ascend-p1-189

Check it out over at Expansys, which has taken a shock break from trying to sell everyone Acers.

Vodafone Smart III – 4″ 1GHz Jelly Bean model for £95

Literally out of nowhere Vodafone UK has announced the availability of the Vodafone Smart III, a 4″ Android “Jelly Bean” model powered by a single-core processor clocked at 1GHz. Vodafone says the Smart III features a WVGA 480 x 800 resolution display, 5megapixel camera with flash, and is yours for £95 on PAYG or on a monthly contract starting at £13 a month.

You also get SD card support and 4GB of onboard storage. Here it is. There’s also a white one:

vodafone-smart-3

As ever, the question is… Huawei or ZTE? Check it out over at Vodafone.

Sega’s original Sonic The Hedgehog out on Android

The game that changed the world and helped make it a better place for the following five or six years has arrived on Android, thanks to Sega publishing its first ever OFFICIAL version of the original 2D Sonic game for Google phone users.

Obviously you’ve been able to play Sonic 1 on Android for years via a number of top quality emulators, but this is the legal, easier way. Sega says we can expect to see widescreen image support, Tails and Knuckles as unlockable characters (SACRILEGE) and the spin-dash move from later Sonics (ALSO SACRILEGE). Here it is:

image

image

Sonic 1 is on the Play Store for £2.35. We haven’t yet but probably will soon.

ZTE Grand X2 In – 4.5″ Intel powered Jelly Bean phone

ZTE has announced a new relatively high-end Android phone, with its ZTE Grand X2 In combining a 4.5″ 1280 x 720 resolution display with an Intel Atom Z2580 mobile chipset clocked at 2GHz. You also get 1GB of RAM and dual cameras (8MP and 1MP), plus 8GB of RAM you can augment with an SD card.

There’s a 2,000MaH capacity battery inside it. And there’s going to be a blue one, which looks like this:

zte grand x in 2

Looks relatively unskinned, too. Could live with that. The Grand X2 In will hit Europe in Q3 of this year. Here’s the thing:

Global premiere of ZTE Grand X2 In – ZTE’s flagship smartphone that’s as quick as you

With Intel Inside®, Android Jelly Bean and best-in-class camera, ZTE’s new flagship smartphone promises instant performance

15th May 2013, MONACO – ZTE today introduced the ZTE Grand X2 In smartphone with Intel Inside® at the MedPi conference in Monaco. Featuring the Intel® Atom™ Processor Z2580 with up to 2GHz, Android Jelly Bean OS, an advanced 8MP camera and 1080p movie and video play back, the ZTE Grand X2 In provides high quality experience for the demanding and value conscious user.

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STATS: Android device activations now at 900 million

Google used its I/O 2013 developer event to update us all on the progress of its Android baby, putting together a fancy graphic to illustrate the format’s continuing level of insane growth. In summary, Google’s seen some 900,000,000 separate Android phones and tablets activated around the world to date. That’s loads.

Google also says its counted some 48 billion separate app installs since launch. That is also loads. Here’s the graphic:

900-million

Revenue per user in terms of what we spend in the Play Store is also up by 2.5 times over the last year, which, lest we be under any allusions, is what it’s really all about.

White Huawei Ascend P2 a Phones 4U exclusive

Mobile specialist Phones 4U has announced plans to stock a white version of the quad-core Huawei Ascend P2, which it’ll be selling in the UK exclusively. The retailer’s site currently has a whopping great information page up filling everyone in on the phone’s tech specs, plus lots of official shots of the whiter hardware. Just when you think a Huawei phone can’t get any better, they go and make it… better.

There’s still no news of an actual launch date for the Ascend P2, though, so all we have to go on is Huawei’s own June projection.

ascend-p2-white

It’s going to be a good summer. As long as it’s less than £200 unlocked.

STATS: Samsung dominant in Q1, LG doubles smartphone market share

Yet more analysis of the global mobile phone scene has come to the usual, inevitable conclusion — that Samsung is crushing everyone. Into a SMOOTH PULP. Data published by Gartner claims Samsung took 23.6% of all phone sales (dumb and smart) in the first quarter of 2013, way ahead of surprise second place manufacturer Nokia.

Apple’s down in third position, with LG doing rather well for itself in fourth place in the overall combined smart and feature phone sales league table. Here’s the data:

2013-phone-sales-stats

So that’s 425 million phones sold around the world in the first three months of the year, with Samsung making very nearly a quarter of all of them. And things are even better for Samsung in terms of smartphone market share…

2013-smartphone-sales-stats

…where it took nearly 31% of all sales over the first three months of 2013. And that’s before the S4 arrived. Madness. Good to see LG’s smartphone sales numbers doubling, too, almost certainly thanks to the success of the Nexus 4.

Service Saver helps you escape motorway journey RIP OFF HELL

This is one of the best ideas for an app we’ve encountered for a long time. Service Saver is designed for UK motorway travellers, pointing out nearby off-motorway supermarkets, and therefore enabling drivers to avoid the MISERY that is paying £3.49 for a cup of tea and £4.69 for a limp egg mayo sandwich in some hellish service station. Google Maps integration simply directs you to the nearest supermarket instead. Result.

There’s a free version of the app too, which, according to user reviews, works perfectly well but is a little vague when it comes to naming the actual brand of supermarket…

service-saver-android-app-1 service-saver-android-app-2

…but still gets the job done. And, as plenty of users point out, filling up your car at supermarket cost rather than service station prices should mean the app pays for itself on your first trip. And you can earn your Nectar points, too.

Sony Xperia ZR – waterproof 4.6″ model with 13megapixel camera

Sony’s just announced the Xperia ZR today, a phone that, despite the model name, differs from the popular Xperia Z quite significantly. The Xperia ZR is a slightly smaller 4.6″ model, powered by Qualcomm’s quad-core S4 Pro chipset, which is clocked at 1.5GHz and works alongside an LTE-friendly radio for 4G connectivity.

The BIG THING is that it’s properly waterproof, not just water resistant, with Sony claiming the chunky Xperia ZR is able to be “submerged in 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes” and still work. It’s for those who want a bit of additional peace of mind about not voiding warranties through accidental moisture incidents. Here it is:

sony-xperia-zr

Plus there’s a 13megapixel camera inside. The Xperia ZR will begin to appear during Q2 of this year, says Sony. Here’s the thing:

The new Xperia™ ZR waterproof* smartphone with superior Sony engineering

13th May 2013, London – Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today introduces the new Xperia ZR featuring the highest level of water-resistance for capturing photos and Full HD videos underwater. This Android smartphone offers leading technology and content with a 4.6” HD Reality display, 13 megapixel fast capture camera, Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, and 4G LTE.

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