Dixons/Currys lists Versus Touchpad 7 – Android 4.0 tablet for £99

There’s about to be an amazingly cheap new Android tablet on the high street, courtesy of the Dixons Group stores, which are now listing a device called the KMS COMPON Touchpad 7 Tablet PC, a machine which seems to be more commonly known as the Versus Touchpad 7.

The Versus Touchpad is a 7″ capacitive-screened Android tablet, running at 800×480 resolution, that’ll arrive with Android 4.0 as its OS and powered by a 1GHz single-core Cortex A8 series chipset, with 512MB of RAM onboard, 8GB of storage space and all for and astonishing…

kms-compon-touchpad-7

…price of £99. And no, that’s not a typo this time. Sadly the device is showing as “out of stock” at both Currys and Dixons, but it’s a new listing so may take some time to filter through.

Here are the tech specs of the thing. The 640×480 camera resolution’s a bit of a low point, but for £99…

Versus Touchpad 7 Tablet PC

Performance
Processor ARM Cortex A8 1.0GHz with 560MHz DSP
Operating system Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Flash 11 support
RAM 512 MB DDR3
Screen type Multi-touch capacitive
Screen resolution WVGA 800 x 480
Screen size 7″
Touchscreen Yes
Screen features Super responsive Multi-Touch with 5 point Capacitive Screen

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BEST DEALS: HTC One X free on 12-month £36 Vodafone contract

There’s good news out today for those of you who’ve been holding out for the rather lovely HTC One X to come down in asking price a little, thanks to Phones 4U offering the quad-core Android phone for “free” on a £36 12-month Vodafone contract.

For your £36 a month you get a decent 300 calling minutes to use each month, plus a 500MB data allowance and 3,000 text messages. And the company’s stocking the white version of the One X, too:

htc one x 12-month

Rather a good deal for a 12-month contract, that one. Check it out over at Phones 4U if you’re up for a One X.

Link via HUKD, which points out you can get an additional £50 refunded if you place your order through online “cashback” portal Quidco.

7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 now on sale, from £199

Samsung’s all-new Galaxy Tab 2 has arrived in the UK, with a surprisingly modest price tag of £199 attached to it. Carphone Warehouse is now selling the thing for that price, for which you get a 7″ display running at 1024×600 resolution, powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and Android 4.0 as the tablet’s OS.

This is the low-end model with 8GB of onboard storage space, mind, so if you’re after the 16GB or 32GB models, you’ll have to wait a little longer and pay a little more…

galaxy tab 2 199

…but for £199 in return for a big brand ICS tablet, you can’t be too fussy. Plus there’s an SD card slot on it anyway, so it’s no big deal. Check the Tab 2 out over at CPW if you’re in the market for a tab. The silver Galaxy Tab 2 ships today, with a white variant due next week.

Full tech specs of the Galaxy Tab 2 are online here.

“ALLOWS A FULL 360 DEGREE ROTATION TO DESTROY ANY INCOMING ATTACKING THREATS”

…that’s the pitch that greets you on the Play Store listing of ACME Planetary Defense, which is a 2D shooter with a twist. You man the guns of a planet, spinning the view around to cover attacks from all sides. It has a nice, modern look to it, too, plus all the usual upgrading and enhancement options we’ve come to expect from shooters.

Here it is:

acme planetary defense 1

acme planetary defense 2

ACME Planetary Defense for Android is on the Play Store here, for free. Video embedded below:

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Vodafone launches Galaxy S III pre-orders, with 2GB data allowance option

Vodafone UK has just started taking direct pre-orders for Samsung’s new Galaxy S III Android phone, and this is the only way you’re able to get your hands on the 32GB version of the phone at launch thanks to the network’s exclusive. The cheapest “free” tariff option is to pay a whopping £41 a month, which is quite a premium, but then you do get a 2GB data allowance alongside it.

There are other options, including a decent 12-month contract at £36 a month with a £219 upfront fee and 300 calling minutes…

vodafone uk galaxy s3 orders

…while upfront fees for the phone itself vary by about £80 to £100 depending on if you prefer the 16GB or 32GB model. Check out the myriad contract options over at Vodafone’s S III pre-order page.

Huawei Ascend Y 100 budget phone exclusive to O2, for £80 on PAYG

UK network O2 has joined Vodafone in supporting Huawei’s push into the UK market, announcing it’ll be stocking the Huawei-badged Ascend Y 100 Android model. It’s very much the “entry level” option, offering a 2.8″ display, 800MHz processor and 2MP camera, with Android 2.3 arriving as the Ascend Y’s operating system.

The Ascend Y is not yet featured on O2′s web site, although it’s apparently ready to launch very soon for £80 on PAYG SIMs, or from £10 per month on a contract basis.

huawei-ascend-y-o2

That looks like a slightly rejigged Vodafone SMART to us, which was being rebranded by all the networks last year (see also: T-Mobile Rapport and Orange Stockholm) and sold for a similar price.

You would be much, much better off stealing an extra £20 out of your mum’s wallet and picking up the £100 Huawei Ascend G300 from Vodafone if you’re after a budget Android phone in 2012. Good luck with it all the same, O2.

Top Gear News app launched by BBC for Android users

This Top Gear News app has been floating around on iOS for quite some time, giving iPad users a way of keeping up on the latest developments in engines, wheels, carburettors and other car-associated mechanical equipment through their iOS devices.

Now there’s a version on Android, for UK users, which features a pleasingly localised selection of news and features for us lot, even branching out into covering the spin-off TV work of presenter Richard Hammond and other members of the “gang.”

top-gear-news-android-app-1 top-gear-news-android-app-2

Being a BBC Worldwide release means the BBC’s commercial people are free to place ads inside it, hence the rather awkward advert for Sky products inside the app. Whoops.

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Motorola XOOM 2 tablet down to £278, today only

Oddball online daily deals site iBood is featuring Motorola’s XOOM 2 today, with the updated Android 3.2 tablet following the same downward price trajectory as the original XOOM tablet. In short, no one bought the thing so now it’s being offloaded quite cheaply.

The XOOM 2 can be bought for £269.95 through the site, plus £8 postage and packing, which for a rather nice looking 8.2″ tablet from one of the big brand names, is rather a sweet deal.

xoom-2-discounted

Inside the XOOM 2 sits a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, with the display running at a decent 1280×800 resolution. Plus there’s 16GB of onboard media storage space, cameras and all the usual business. Check it out over at iBood UK where the XOOM 2 is still in stock at time of writing.

Thanks to iBood’s #1 fan Gadders for the tip.

CoPilot GPS – Free offline maps and navigation

The CoPilot range of paid GPS apps has been joined by a new, entirely free option today, with the launch of CoPilot GPS on the Google Play Store. This offers a simpler approach to satnav than the company’s full price apps, removing a few features, but still offering offline map access, Points of Interest, route planning and local business searches.

And it looks like this:

copilot-gps-android-1 copilot-gps-android-2

The money-making part of the deal for the maker would appear to come by asking users to pay for a “premium” upgrade to an enhanced version of the app that includes 3D mapping and voice navigation. Can’t hurt to try it, eh?

Read more over on the CoPilot blog.

Galaxy Note Android 4.0 update arrives in Europe

Parts of Europe are now updating their Samsung Galaxy Notes to Google’s latest “Ice Cream Sandwich” version of the OS, which has definitely gone live for Note owners in Germany and the Netherlands today. The update’s an enormous 318MB file, which takes the Note up to Android 4.0.3.

Here are a couple of images of the German version of the update, courtesy of a user from the XDA Forums:

galaxy note 40 update 2 galaxy note 40 update 1

A big day for owners of the big Samsung telephone. Any UK Galaxy Note owners reporting in with success in updating?

Link via The Verge.

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