Three's network goes weak at the knees, but it's still standing

Three's network goes weak at the knees, but it's still standing

Buffering

UK network Three has been having some rather serious issues overnight and this morning, with many users unable to make use of the carrier's data network.

Its technicians are beavering away behind the scenes however and the latest from Three (via its Twitter channel) is: "We're happy to say internet access in London is up & running & the whole network should be back to normal this afternoon."

The problem started last night, with the support channel Tweeting: "We're having some issues with our data network this morning. It's being worked on as a priority, sorry for any inconvenience."

We've contacted the network for more information and we'll update this article when we hear back.

Developing...

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Source : techradar[dot]com

Jelly Bean set to be bigger than Gingerbread in under a month

Jelly Bean set to be bigger than Gingerbread in under a month

About time!

Android has forever been baited for its slow upgrade cycle and leaving many users stuck on older iterations, but the dominance of Android 2.3 (aka Gingerbread) is set to come to an end in less than a month.

The latest figures are out for Android version market share and Jelly Bean has witnessed a 5.5 per cent increase to 33 per cent - closing the gap on the leader Gingerbread which has slipped to 36.5 per cent.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has also witnessed a small decline, down to 25.6 percent from 27.5 at the last count - and at this rate Jelly Bean will be the most used version come July. Better late than never.

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Source : techradar[dot]com

Sony Xperia M rocks up as fully-featured budget blower

Sony Xperia M rocks up as fully-featured budget blower

Definitely one to keep an eye on

There's a new smartphone in the Japanese firm's stable and it's arrived in the form of the Sony Xperia M.

We've already seen Sony launch the Xperia SP, Xperia L and flagship Xperia Z this year and the triplets have now become quads with the new baby of the range.

Sony is keen to point out the Xpera M arrives at "a new price point" for the firm, although it fails to tell us what that price will actually be. What we do know is it will be available worldwide from Q3 this year.

Spec-tacular?

The Sony Xperia M isn't going to cost you the earth, although don't think that means it skimps on specs with a 4-inch 854 x 480 display, 1GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and 5MP rear camera with HDR mode.

Sony Xperia M

It's not all good news however, with the puny 4GB of internal storage actually only giving you 2GB of available space - although there is a microSD slot - and the VGA front facing snapper isn't going to give you the best mug shots.

A common theme with Sony handsets of late are their vast array of connectivity options and the Xperia M is no different boasting Wi-Fi, aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, DLNA and a microUSB slot, plus there's the choice of single and dual-SIM variants.

Sony Xperia M

Strong on paper

There's a 1750mAh battery housed in the 124 x 62 x 9.3 mm chassis, which comes in black, white, purple and yellow hues, and at 115g the Xperia M shouldn't be overly cumbersome.

So on paper at least, the Sony Xperia M is shaping up to be a decent contender at the bottom end of the market, but without knowing the price or having used the handset we'll reserve judgement for now.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Intel reckons these are the chips you're looking for

Intel reckons these are the chips you're looking for

Chip off the old block

Intel has launched a handful of new processors at Computex 2013 in Taipei, with a focus on smartphones and tablets.

First up, the Intel Atom Merrifield chip has been specifically designed for smartphones. The firm claims they will bring increased performance and prolonged battery life.

The 22nm Merrifield processor also includes a sensor hub which will allow handsets to provide users with personalised services - although Intel didn't reveal what sensors this covers.

While it sounds all well and good, we will have to wait until next year before manufacturers start shipping handsets with Merrifield inside.

Fast, 4G tablets

It's not just smartphones that are getting some Intel loving: the company is also launching two new chips aimed at the growing tablet market.

The first chip will appear in tablets later this year, and the 22nm quad-core Atom SoC (aka Bay Trail-T) is apparently capable of delivering more than double the graphical output than the current generation of processors.

It supports both the Android and Windows 8.1 operating systems, and Intel claims it is capable of providing 8 hours of battery life and weeks of standby - although we'll reserve judgement until we see it in action.

Finally Intel has also shifted some of its focus onto the 4G market with its quad-core XMM 7160 chip, which takes the "world's smallest and lowest-power multi-mode LTE solution" title - a bit of a mouthful, but well done Intel.

There's currently no word on when we'll see the 4G chip hit tablets, but we'll be keeping an eye out for products sporting Intel's new offerings.


Source : techradar[dot]com

Is this really the iOS7 that will revolutionise your iPhone?

Is this really the iOS7 that will revolutionise your iPhone?

Apple needs to do more to stay at the sharp end

With WWDC 2013 just around the corner, a supposed image of the new iOS7 has leaked out – but how real is it?

The leak comes from iDownloadBlog, which isn't the usual place we come across these kinds of stories, and the fuzzy nature of the picture makes it difficult to tell what's really going on in the screenshot.

Sir Jony Ive, the man with the magic Cupertino design pen, is leading the charge to overhaul Apple's mobile OS for iPad and iPhone, and is meant to be making a more 'flat' design, dropping the shadows and extra detail in favour of something more simplistic.

iOS 7
Credit: iDownloadBlog

Not even evolutionary

That's the case here, but we were expecting something a lot more revolutionary from Apple as it bids to be a fresh competitor to the slew of Android phones that are dominating the market.

The camera icon looks pretty similar to before, and the Newsstand icon is almost identical, which lends credence to the theory this is a fake shot. However, this is likely to be an early build (something corroborated by the more trustworthy 9to5Mac, which Tweeted a screenshot of the same picture and said this wasn't the final version) and will therefore not have all the expected elements.

There are other issues though: the size of the gap between the top of the phone and the apps, and the size seems to hint at a dodgy photoshop at times.

But as we're so close to the event it's very difficult to tell what's real and what isn't – if this is the eventual style for iOS then it doesn't look like it's going to be much of a change, which is sorely needed, especially if Apple is going to bring out an iPhone 5S as per usual.


Source : techradar[dot]com

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