The pricing of the cellular data plans for the freshly announced Apple iPad duo is out in the United States and, after a quick glance, it appears that T-Mobile is shaping up as a really attractive option. The Big Magenta will be offering 200MB of month free for new iPad users.
T-Mobile’s proposition significantly undercuts AT&T’s entry-level offering of $14.99 for the same amount of data per month. AT&T however offers more data for $30 with 3GB included. T-Mobile bundles 2.5GB of data for the same price.
You can find out all about the US carriers’ data plans and their pricing by hitting the source link below.
The only place you can buy Sir Paul on your iPhone is iTunes
Apple has removed HMVs new iOS app from the App Store after it refused to comply with a request to remove the contested MP3 download feature.
The music store's new app was launched on October 17 and was especially noteworthy as it was the only portal since iTunes to offer music downloads on Apple's own iOS devices from within the app.
However, it soon became apparent that this was not a move deliberately sanctioned by Apple, but a rare oversight from the company's notoriously exhaustive application approval team.
Apple gave HMV until 6pm on Monday night to remove the feature, the store declined to do so, and now, citing a violation of the App Store guidelines, Apple has temporarily suspended the app.
Disappointing
"It is disappointing that Apple has chosen to suspend an app that has proven to be very successful in only a few short days despite Apple having already approved the exact same version on 15th September," said HMV chairman Paul McGowen, who said Apple got the hump after the app passed 5,000 downloads.
"We are unable to explain the change in Apple's position as we have been given no explanation by them as to any difference they view between the approved version and the one suspended this evening."
HMV said it was working to restore the app to an acceptable state, while Apple confirmed to the Guardian it had suspended the app under clause 11.13 of the App Store guidelines.
That rule reads: "Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the application will be rejected." So that's that. Here we were thinking Apple had gone soft in its old age...
Apple has just launched the iOS 7.0.3 update for all supported iDevices. The release is rather rich in bug fixes but it also brings a few new features.
As for the bugfixes, the most important ones include fixing some iMessage activation problems, and also resolving the notorious accelerometer issue and putting to sleep the recently discovered ways to bypass the Lock screen passcode (a previous bug of this kind was fixed with iOS 7.0.2, too).
Here is the full changelog, in case that image up there is hard to read.
iOS 7.0.3 changelog
Adds iCloud Keychain to keep track of your account names, passwords, and credit card numbers across all your approved devices
Adds Password Generator so Safari can suggest unique, hard-to-guess passwords for your online accounts
Updates lock screen to delay display of "slide to unlock" when Touch ID is in use
Adds back the ability to search the web and Wikipedia from Spotlight search
Fixes an issue where iMessage failed to send for some users
Fixes a bug that could prevent iMessage from activating
Improves system stability when using iWork apps
Fixes an accelerometer calibration issue
Addresses an issue that could cause Siri and VoiceOver to use a lower quality voice
Fixes a bug that could allow someone to bypass the Lock screen passcode
Enhances the Reduce Motion setting to minimize both motion and animation
Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver input to be too sensitive
Updates the Bold Text setting to also change dial pad text
Fixes an issue that could cause supervised devices to become un-supervised when updating software
Have you got your update installed already? Did it fix a nagging issue for you? Let us know in the comments below.
The wraps are off, the new Apple tablets are official. Say hello to the new 9.7" model, iPad Air (not 5), and the new 7.9" model, the iPad mini 2. The big news, of course, is that the mini model now has a Retina display.
Apple iPad mini 2
The Apple iPad mini 2 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor. It still has a 7.9" screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, but the resolution has quadrupled to 1536 x 2048 pixels and the pixel density has doubled to 324ppi.
The chipset was another part where the iPad mini lagged behind with a lowly dual-core Cortex-A9 processor. Apple has used its own Apple A7 chipset with ARMv8-based Cyclone cores, a couple of generations ahead of A9. The RAM was doubled to 1GB and the GPU got a major boost too and is a PowerVR SGX 6th series. The M7 motion co-processor is on-board too.
The TouchID rumors didn’t pan out and the mini 2 has a regular Home button.
The Apple iPad mini 2 runs iOS 7 out of the box (of course) and will come in 16/32/64GB built-in storage. Color options are just Silver & White and Space Grey & Black. As usual there will be Wi-Fi and 3G/LTE versions.
Apple iPad Air
The Apple iPad Air brings a new name, new design and more power. It received the new Apple A7 chipset along with the M7 motion co-processor. The other major upgrade is the design – it's based on the iPad mini and has narrower bezels (43% smaller) that make the tablet easier to handle.
Other than that you get a 9.7" IPS LCD screen with 1536 x 2048 pixel as before. The iPad Air does get the TouchID sensor, which means you can use some of the cool new features that iOS 7 brought.
Color options are as you would expect – Space Grey, White and Gold – and the storage options go all the way up to 128GB (starting at 16GB and doubling at each step).
The tablet is 20% thinner and now measures just 7.5mm, thinner than the iPad 2. The weight also went down from 1.4 pounds to 1 pound - that's 653g down to 453g.
The Apple iPad Air will be available in two color versions - Silver and white and Space gray. Sales start on November 1 for $499.
By the way, the iPad 2 is still alive and will continue selling at $399.
Developing – we're adding new info as it becomes available!
Today's the big day, when Apple reveals its new iPads to the world.
But in typical Apple style it began the day by tooting its own horn a bit, revealing some impressive adoption numbers for iOS 7.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that 64 percent of iOS devices are now running iOS 7, with 200 million devices downloading the OS update in the first five days.
He also reported that there are now over a million apps in Apple's App Store, with a total of 60 billion downloads and $13 billion (about £8b, AU$13.4b) earned by developers.
Toot toot
"When we see customer response like this, it makes all the hard work worthwhile," Cook said.
Apple kicked off the event with a video showcasing its strategy and values - namely, creating "the very best products in the world," Cook explained.
He also touched on the new iPhones revealed last month, showing a dramatic video about their launch in Apple Stores around the world.
Apple's event is about to kick off and since relatively few people have invites, Apple will be livestreaming the show for fans, investors and gadget-lovers who want to see the new iPads unveiled.
In true Apple style, you need a Mac running OS X v10.6+ and Safari or an iOS device to watch. Anything else will be unable to convey the special brand of magic that the Cupertino company sprinkles on everything it touches.
If you have an Apple device on you, you can watch the stream here. The event starts 5PM GMT / 10AM Pacific time.
If not, you can try one of the few unauthorized streams, but those have proven unreliable in the past. We'll post the ones we find here.
To recap, this event is expected to be iPad-centric – it will most probably bring the iPad 5 and despite some doubts earlier on, the iPad mini 2 with a Retina screen is also very likely to make an appearance. In fact, if analysts are to be believed, the mini 2 will be the star of the show as they predict it will outsell its 9.7" counterpart 2:1.
The event might also see the launch of Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks for consumers and maybe a Mac product or two. Watch the event to find out or keep an eye on our coverage.
Micromax, a company popular for the excellent value for money its Android smartphones delivers, is preparing to launch two new smartphones - the Canvas Turbo and the Canvas Magnus. Both phones have their specs leaked today hinting at imminent launch.
Starting with the Micromax Canvas Turbo, which has Hugh Jackman as its main promoter. The smartphone is built around a 5" 1080p display - a first for the Indian phone manufacturer. Under the hood, the Canvas Turbo rocks a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589T chip with a 357MHz GPU and 1GB of RAM.
Internal storage is suggested to be 32GB and is going to be expandable with the on-board microSD card slot that supports up to 64GB cards. The Turbo runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with rumors suggesting that Micromax will release an Android 4.3 update shortly after the market launch.
At the back, the Canvas Turbo sports a 13MP autofocus camera with LED flash, while the front a 5MP snapper takes care of video chatting. Naturally, the Canvas Turbo packs dual-SIM functionality as well.
As for the Micromax Canvas Magnus, it's a mid-range smartphone running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The leak suggests it's going to flaunt a 5" 720p display and is going to be powered by an undisclosed 1.5GHz quad-core processor (probably the same as the Canvas Turbo) with 1GB of RAM.
At the back, there's a 12MP autofocus camera with LED flash, and a 5MP front-facing camera above the display. Popping the back cover is rumored to reveal a 2,000mAh battery as well as a microSD card slot.
Pricing and availability of both the Canvas Turbo and Canvas Magnus isn't officially confirmed just yet. Expected release is tipped for November, but pricing remains anyone's guess at this point.
Nokia's new phablet goes head to head with the competition.
Nokia is entering phablet territory for the first time with the Nokia Lumia 1520. On top of that it's also the company's first quad-core handset, so there's a lot to get excited about.
But it's not entering the market uncontested. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a towering giant, the third in a line of enormously successful phablets, while Sony and HTC are both dipping their toes in the big screen waters with the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and the HTC One Max.
Wondering how they all stack up? Well wonder no more because we've got you covered.
Screen
The key feature for all these handsets are their displays - their huge, massive, palm busting displays. All four fall into the horribly named "phablets" niche, so they all sport big screens - deal with it.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a 6-inch 1080p full HD display with a pixel density of 367ppi. It's an AMOLED ClearBlack screen, which ensures it has good contrast and is readable in bright sunlight.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
The Sony Xperia Z1 Ultra has a mammoth 1080 x 1920 6.4-inch display with a pixel density of 344 pixels per inch and it uses Triluminos technology to improve colour saturation levels.
The HTC One Max has a 1080 x 1920 5.9-inch display with a pixel density of 373 pixels per inch and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a comparatively small 1080 x 1920 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, but this means it can boast the best pixel density of 386 pixels per inch.
In other words all four handsets have decent, high definition screens, but the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is the biggest while the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the smallest and most defined.
Specs
All four handsets are top end devices and they have specs to match. Every single one of them has a quad-core processor on board but they're not all equal.
Both the Nokia Lumia 1520 and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra have 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a marginally more powerful 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and the HTC One Max has a far less powerful 1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 processor.
Sony Xperia Z Ultra
Each of the handsets has 2GB of RAM, except for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which once again leads the pack with 3GB of RAM.
The gist of that being that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the most powerful of them on paper while the HTC One Max is the least powerful as it uses a slower processor than the others. The Nokia Lumia 1520 and Sony Xperia Z Ultra have exactly the same RAM, processor and speed.
Operating system
Both the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the HTC One Max are running the latest version of Android (Jelly Bean 4.3), while the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is stuck with Android 4.2. The Nokia Lumia 1520 is of course the odd one out here, being a Windows Phone 8 device.
Nokia Lumia 1520
We'd expect the Z Ultra to get an update to Android 4.3 in the near future, while it's worth noting that the Lumia 1520 has the latest version of Windows Phone 8 on board, with numerous upgrades, bug fixes and improvements.
This brings Windows Phone 8 closer to Android, but both platforms offer very different user experiences, with Android offering a wealth of apps and options and WP providing a more straight forward, easier interface.
Design and dimensions
The Nokia Lumia 1520 looks much the same as earlier Lumia handsets, with a colourful polycarbonate design. It's available in black, white, yellow and red and has dimensions of 152 x 81 x 8.7mm, so it's as large as you'd expect a phablet to be.
At 168g it's not super heavy though, coming in lighter than the 185g Nokia Lumia 920.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has a slightly more high end design than the Lumia 1520, opting for a shiny glass back. It's also water and dust proof. At 179.4 x 92.2 x 6.5mm it's long and wide but impressively slim, though at 212g you're likely to feel it in your pocket, if it even fits. It comes in black, white and purple.
The HTC One Max has an even more premium design. In fact it's identical to the design of the HTC One.
HTC One Max
We're talking silver aluminium front and back with an attractively curved shape. Its dimensions of 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.3mm lie somewhere between the Xperia Z Ultra and the Lumia 1520, except for the thickness, as the HTC One Max is pretty chunky in that regard.
Its weight of 217g is marginally higher than the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, but given the metal construction that's not a surprise - it does make it really heavy though.
That brings us to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which at 151.2 x 79.2mm makes it shorter and thinner than any of its competitors, though at 8.3mm thick it's not as slim as the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and at 168g it's tied with the Nokia Lumia 1520 for lowest weight.
Its plastic construction isn't much to write home about, but its faux leather back at least gives it a hint of class and it comes in black, white and pink.
Camera
Like most Lumia phones the Nokia Lumia 1520 puts a lot of focus on the camera, though at 20MP it's a step down from the 41MP Nokia Lumia 1020.
That's still pretty impressive though and its Carl Zeiss lens should ensure that it takes sharp pictures with strong colour reproduction. Given Nokia's pedigree it's also likely to fare well in low light conditions.
Nokia Lumia 1520 camera
It can also shoot 1080p video at 30fps and has a 1.2MP front facing camera.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has an 8MP camera, which is a megapixel count that's starting to feel a bit mid range, but it can still shoot 1080p video at 30fps and has a 2MP front facing camera.
The HTC One Max uses the same Ultrapixel camera technology as the HTC One for its 4MP camera, which means that while the megapixel count might be low it lets a lot of light in for more detailed images. It can also shoot 1080p video at 30fps and has a 2.1MP front facing camera.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 camera
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a 13MP snapper which can take some pretty impressive photos but is unlikely to match up to the Nokia Lumia 1520. It can also shoot 1080p video at 60fps or 4K video at 30fps and has a 2MP front facing camera.
Ultimately the Nokia Lumia 1520 is likely to win out in the camera stakes, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is hard to beat for video thanks to its 4K credentials and 60fps for 1080p footage.
Storage
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has 32GB of built in storage along with a microSD slot to further expand that, which is a nice addition as most high end Lumia handsets don't support microSD cards.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has just 16GB of built in storage, but also has a microSD card slot. The HTC One Max has a choice of 16 or 32GB of built in storage along with a micro SD card slot and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes with 16, 32 or 64GB of built in storage plus a microSD card slot.
So the Galaxy Note 3 has the most potential storage, while the Sony Xperia Z Ultra has the least, but thanks to microSD card support none of them are likely to run low in a hurry.
Battery life
Battery life has always been the bane of smartphones and though manufacturers are ever increasing the size of their phones batteries, the increase in power and screen size that tends to go with it means that the life still isn't normally great.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 at least looks set to be one of the better phones for battery life, thanks to a rather large 3400mAh battery on board, which Nokia claims is capable of 25 hours talk time.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has a smaller 3050mAh battery capable of up to 16 hours talk time, the HTC One Max has a 3300mAh battery which should be able to manage a Lumia 1520 matching 25 hours of calls and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a 3200mAh battery with a talk time of up to 21 hours.
So the Nokia Lumia 1520 has the biggest battery and in theory it and the HTC One Max are tied for best battery life. The only other thing to be aware of is that while the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a removable battery the other phones don't.
Features
Above and beyond specs each of these phones has a few unique selling points. The HTC One Max for example has dual front facing BoomSound stereo speakers, delivering great audio quality. It also has a fingerprint scanner and HTC's divisive BlinkFeed, which combines all of your favourite news feeds and social network activity into a screen filling feed.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 has an app called 'Storyteller', which uses your pictures to tell a chronological story, showing you where you were and when by integrating location data.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is water and dust proof (just as long as you've got the ports covered) and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has eye tracking features, which can cause the phone to pause videos when you look away and keep the screen on when you're reading it.
Not to mention the S Pen stylus, which can make it easier to operate its large display.
Price
The Nokia Lumia 1520 doesn't have a UK price yet, but its US price of $749 translates to around £460, which isn't unreasonable for a top end phone.
The HTC One Max is rather more expensive at around £600 SIM free, while the Sony Xperia Z Ultra goes for upwards of £500 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will set you back at least £550 SIM free.
Conclusion
What can we conclude? Well the Nokia Lumia 1520 looks set to have the best camera and the lowest price tag of the four as well as sporting good battery life.
The HTC One Max is both the most expensive and least powerful, though it has a high quality metal build.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 looks to be the most powerful but it has the smallest screen and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra has the biggest screen of the four at 6.4 inches.
The BlackBerry Z30 has MicroSD support,BlackBerry have paid attention to design,Will the BlackBerry Z30 be a hit? (credit: ,,)
If you haven't heard, BlackBerry is in a spot of bother. Massive delays to BlackBerry 10 and a muted response to its last batch of handsets have meant that many have fallen out of favor with the company.
And while the announcement that the Canadian firm is being sold for $4.7 billion has probably steadied a few hands, considering Google paid a whopping $12.5 billion in May 2012 in order to acquire Motorola it's not massive money.
Couple this with the recent haphazard rollout of BBM on iOS and Android, which was pulled to address a few teething problems, and what you have is a brand that's got issues.
With so much going on, the BlackBerry Z30 launch could be one of the most important in the firm's history.
In this highly volatile tech world, we love to see comebacks. So, while fighting out against the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5S is going to prove difficult, we reckon the Z30 could be BlackBerry's saviour, and be a precursor for things to come.
Here's why...
The BlackBerry Z30 is ideal for business
Smartphones used to be devices that were the preserve of the business elite. This was great for BlackBerry as it was a world that it could dominate. The QWERTY keyboards and emphasis on email and messaging meant that IT departments fell in love with the company as it was ideal for the mobile worker.
We can credit, or blame, the iPhone for the wounds to the BlackBerry brand. Indeed it was the iPhone that made smartphones cool, and created the face of the mobile market that we see today.
Put simply, BlackBerry failed to keep up with the changes. BlackBerry had made many inroads into the consumer market, but with the rise of the App store and "theres an app for that" coming with iPhone OS 2, RIM was in trouble.
The lack of apps and the lack of a truly decent touchscreen device made BlackBerry devices uncool - kids simply didn't want them anymore.
BlackBerry's new Z30 addresses these issues and takes the firm back to its business heart, aiming to create "enterprise and prosumer-centric targeted devices".
BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said at the announcement of the Z30, "Going forward, we plan to refocus our offering on our end-to-end solution of hardware, software and services for enterprises and the productive, professional end user".
Aimed at the business sector, the BlackBerry Z30 comes fitted with dual profiles (one for home and one for work), a micro HDMI port for easy connection to TVs and projectors, as well as the BlackBerry Priority Hub which curates your messages and call data and shows you what is most relevant to you.
The BlackBerry Z30 is, then, a device that is well suited for business users. BlackBerry Enterprise backs up the BB Z30, providing a more than capable service to challenge the Samsung Knox software as it can manage both Android and iOS devices as well.
High Security functions are also available, so enterprises can remotely manage camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functions, and manage the use of social media feeds and applications.
The BlackBerry Z30 is well connected
Being 4G enabled might not seem like a big deal, global markets have had 4G LTE support for a while now, but it is still one of the hot topics in the UK as leading networks O2 and Vodafone have both just joined the fray.
They both now compete with the more established EE, as well as Three, who are due to start 4G broadcasting before 2013 is out.
Being famed for having decent signal reception, continuing this legacy is vital for BlackBerry. 4G is the future of the mobile web as it allows for faster internet browsing speeds and faster downloads, both of which are vital to stay connected to the office while out and about, and to stream videos while commuting.
To back the 4G connection up, the BlackBerry Z30 is fitted with its newly acquired Paratek Antenna technology, meaning fewer missed and dropped calls as it "dynamically tunes itself to the environment". Couple this with 1800/2600/900/800 MHz support; the BlackBerry Z30 will work on every UK network.
Dual band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE and NFC also come as standard on the BlackBerry Z30, future-proofing the Z30 and ensuring that it will should connect to the raft of wearable gadgets that are on the way.
The BlackBerry Z30 is a keyboard king
A top-class touchscreen device needs a quality keyboard. BlackBerry's offering on the Z30 is a really decent affair. In fact, the keyboard is built upon the very popular Swiftkey SDK.
We are massive fans of Swiftkey at TechRadar; it is one of the best keyboards out there for word correction and prediction. Seeing it powering BlackBerry keyboards, as well as Samsung's latest round of keyboards is a welcome touch.
As any Android user will tell you, the openness of the system and the customisability allows for the installation of custom keyboards. This is something that isn't possible on both iOS and BB10. It is worth mentioning, though, that the majority of users tend to stick with the stock option.
The 5-inch screen of the BlackBerry Z30 also goes a long way to help the keyboard, with screen sizes being something that is often discussed. We commented in our iPhone 5S review that the keyboard felt "very cramped for typing these days".
And let's not forget, BlackBerry created their brand around the physical QWERTY keyboard. As we said, the BlackBerry Z30 might not be the phone to totally reverse the ailing brand, but combine a strong touchscreen presence and a strong physical presence and BlackBerry will be on to a winner.
The BlackBerry Z30 has decent specs
Looking at the tech specs of the BlackBerry Z30, you might seem a little underwhelmed by the lack of a massive quad or octa-core processor, and there is no Full HD screen.
These things might be attractive to heavy mobile gamers, as well as those that spend forever watching movies on their devices, but BlackBerry isn't targeting this market.
What the BlackBerry Z30 does come with, is a more than sufficient 1.7GHz dual-core and 2GB of RAM. A HD Super AMOLED screen, although not Full HD, adorns the face of the Z30, and a quad-core Adreno 320 GPU sits behind.
This combination helps BlackBerry push the battery that extra mile, with a quoted talk time of around 18 hours, which is almost double that of Apple's quoted 10 hours. Given that a lot of complaints about the modern smartphone is how power hungry they are, a decent battery to power the BlackBerry Z30 is a more than welcome feature.
MicroSD support is also very welcome. Samsung has long supported microSD, however its exclusion is noticeable on the HTC One, and it has never been available on Apple's iPhones. Providing 16GB of internal storage can sometimes seem a little low, especially if you're storing large documents, so support up to an extra 64GB will give the BlackBerry Z30 the edge over two of its nearest rivals.
The BlackBerry Z30 is kind on the wallet
Launching against other flagship devices, namely the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5S, BlackBerry knows that it needs to keep itself competitive. A launch price of £529 might, then, seem a little steep.
Available from free at £32 a month, the BlackBerry Z30 launches directly against the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. All three devices are considerably cheaper than the iPhone 5S, with tariffs starting at £42 a month.
SIM free, the HTC One is the cheapest, at around £480, with the BlackBerry Z30 coming in at £529, and the Samsung and iPhone both at around £549.
The BlackBerry Z30 is also a lot cheaper than previous BlackBerry launches. The BlackBerry Q10 launch Price was £579.99, and the Z10 launched on EE contracts of £41pm and a £49.99 upfront fee, and on Vodafone at £42pm, with a £29 upfront fee.
In a changing market, with IT departments and consumers becoming more and more budget conscious, BlackBerry desperately needed to adapt and the Z30 highlights just how much it has.
It has long been thought that wearing a certain color says something about you, but Phones 4u UK wasn’t satisfied with old wives' tales. Instead the retailer dug pretty deep and found that red, for example, "is the color of those who live life to the fullest. Tenacious and determined, a red mobile phone symbolizes strength, health and passion. It is usually chosen by people with an open and uncomplicated nature".
The retailer liked red so much, it secured exclusivity on the Glamor red versions of the HTC One (available now from £33) and the HTC One mini. The One mini in red will be available next month in brick and mortar stores as well as online.
The Black version of the HTC One mini is also listed as coming soon, but you can actually just hit the Go button and buy one. Both black and silver versions start at £26 a month, the red one will most likely be priced the same (there's no official word on that yet).
By the way, there's another exclusive color option in the UK – both One and One mini are available in blue from Carphone Warehouse.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 is a phone that takes all the best bits of the Finnish brand and stuffs them into a dramatically oversized package.
The handset, which brings the first round of supercharged Windows Phone handsets to the market, is really rather large. Think HTC One Max rather than Galaxy Note 3 and you'll get the picture.
The Lumia 1520 is the first Windows Phone with 1080p resolution, and it's rocking the biggest screen yet – a 6-inch offering in a large, polycarbonate body.
It's also the first Nokia to come with a nanoSIM tray, meaning a number of sad upgraders who realise that once again they'll have to order a new SIM card.
It doesn't make a lot of sense, given this is the biggest phone Nokia has ever created, but does mean that future models will be given a little more design room to play with.
It's also using a Snapdragon 800 quad-core CPU, supplemented with 2GB of RAM, to really make things speed along under the finger.
In our testing, the speed really was there, and it's hard to explain how important the upgrade to the 800 processor really is. We wouldn't advocate an upgrade to a quad-core CPU for the sake of it, but in this case it's a significant improvement over the Lumia 1020.
Everything opened that little bit quicker, the overall speed of browsing (which has always been reliable, rather than nippy, on Windows Phone) was improved and generally you could tell that things were working a bit more smoothly when using the phone.
For instance, using the Pureview 20MP camera was a lot faster in general use, and web pages opened with much more urgency than they had before.
Even TechRadar managed to flick up on the six inch display with more aplomb, and while the zooming ability of the phone was still hampered by the need to use Internet Explorer we still found it to be a real step forward when it came to using the phone for the fun tasks we'd want a larger display to allow.
What else impressed us? Well, the addition of the microSD slot means you can supplement the 32GB of onboard storage with 64GB of expandable goodness… Google and friends might be trying to rip these from our handsets, but we're really happy to see hot swapping on offer.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 will be on sale very soon for those in the US, although other territories will have to wait a little longer… Europe is covered but we've got a scary feeling that we'll be into 2014 before it goes on our shelves.
The Pureview camera is obviously a big step up for Nokia again - it's not the 41MP option found in the Lumia 1020, but it does pop in at 20MP, and loses the extra heft the cameraphone flagship brought.
It also dispenses with the Xenon flash, but that, combined with the Snapdragon 800 processor moves the Lumia 1520 into a more useable option... we got so fed up with the processing speed of the 1020, despite the results often being brilliant.
Another great ability of the Lumia 1520 is the ability to output RAW files, although it can't manipulate them on the device itself. However, it's another boon for the Finnish firm, as it means professional photographers, or those that like to really edit properly, will be able to get the maximum from the photos.
Optical image stabilisation, something we thought we'd be seeing on a lot more phones by now, is thankfully here again, proving the photo-ability of the device nicely - plus the 5MP shareable shot is something we're always glad to see for social networking.
Here, Nokia's mapping team, has combined with the photo guys to create Storyteller, an app that places your pics and other such juicy photonuggets on a map, enabling you to create a location-based tale that you can easily get to by pinching inwards on the snap to jump straight into the map view.
This was handled easily by the Snapdragon processor, and we were impressed with the overall design of the app. We're not fans of the way Here maps looks generally, but this little addition does go some way towards improving it.
The final thing we'd like to talk up is the battery: Nokia has slapped a 3400mAh power pack in there to keep things ticking along. Combined with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU this should equate to some really long standby time.
More importantly, this means that when you're taking loads of photos at max resolution you'll be able to use the phone for more than a minute before it dies in your hands.
The price is a little more palatable though for this slice of technological power from Nokia, with the $749 price tag (around £460 / AUS$775) meaning it will rival the likes of Samsung's Note 3 and HTC's One Max in the pricing wars, while beating them both in some ways on specs.
That's not a phrase we thought we'd be saying about Nokia any time soon.
Early verdict
What's Nokia done here? Made something that we can't criticise from the spec sheet alone? The answer has to be yes: the CPU, screen, design and expansion offerings are all the things we've been gagging to see for months, if not years.
The extra apps are standard fare from the firm: bringing user upgrades in a way that delivers actual performance… we're actually quite intrigued by Storyteller as an app, although it can be a little cumbersome to use.
We'll be fleshing out this hands on in the next hour or two, so pop back later today to see more of an in-depth look at Nokia's flagship… but if you're the odd sort who makes an instant decision and won't budge from it, we can honestly say this might be the first Nokia phone in ages that we can recommend without worry.
That's if you can get past the craziness of more Windows Phone tiles on your home screen, that is…
The Nokia Lumia 1320 is a phone that tries to straddle two worlds, but is in danger of sitting comfortably in either.
On the one hand, it's got the same phablet-sized dimensions as the bigger brother, the Lumia 1520. On the other, it has the spec list that rivals only the Lumia 625, a phone that's been quietly released for the budget-fancier and doesn't seem to be making great waves.
It's clear the market Nokia is going for here: Asian users who don't want to spend oodles on a phone with the spec list of the Lumia 1520 but still want a number of the features.
Gone is the decent camera in place of an average 5MP choice. The CPU is downgraded to an S4 dual core 1.GHz option, and while we don't have information on RAM, we doubt it's anything above 1GB and could be even less than that.
The phone does, however, have a lot of design wins that will many will appreciate. For instance, the covers are changeable, there's a microSD slot under the hood, and the whole device has a curved nature that makes it sit nicely in the hand without being too cumbersome.
Yes, that display is far too large for some people, but to others (notably those in China and Vietnam, a couple of the primary markets Nokia is targeting with the Lumia 1320) it will be just perfect and the foray into phablets they've been craving.
There's not a lot else to really evangelise on the Lumia 1320, especially when you see what's going on with its better-specced brother. The 720p screen can't support the extra row of Live Tiles, which we're a little disappointed about.
Sure, it makes things very busy, but we all like having options in this area.
Things like the StoryTeller app will make a difference to some users, allowing them to tag just where they made the one Cinemagraph that we all feel compelled to when taking the phone out of the box (before realising it's rather creepy and never doing it again).
The camera enhancements don't seem to have slowed down this handset, which is good to see, and in general Windows Phone flows as nicely as we'd hope it would on a new handset. Especially one running Lumia Black, the new update which brings a range of performance improvements to Microsoft's OS.
Early verdict
There seems to be a very real possibility that we'll never see the Lumia 1320 outside of Asia, coming as it is in the early part of next year. That said, it would do very well in some markets where a larger screen is lauded - and if the Samsung Galaxy Mega can be pitched to the student market, why not this phone?
After all, it still comes with Microsoft Office and can run all manner of games, which is fine given Windows Phone still isn't geared up for the really powerful titles.
We can't help but feel nonplussed by this effort from Nokia, simply because the Lumia 1520 is so much better in a number of ways - although given it's under -half the price of the Lumia 1520, perhaps there's still a place in the market for this under-powered phablet.
We'll be updating this hands on with more pictures and thoughts in the next few hours - stay tuned to see a little bit more of Nokia's latest budget challenger.
Nokia has revealed the Lumia 1320, a low-end smartphone which was bandied about previously with the codename "Batman."
The device arrived during Nokia World, shown off as part of the Nokia Beamer app which allows Nokia users to share screens between one another. As expected, it's specs are comparable to the Lumia 625.
The biggest selling point of the low-end device is it's screen, which like the 625 before it, tips the scale on the larger end, coming with a 6-inch display that's pegged at 720p.
Under the hood the Lumia 1320 houses a 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a handy microSD slot and 4G connectivity.
Not so fancy
In the camera department the Lumia 1320 is no where near as well equipped as the 20MP toting Lumia 1520, with this budget offering lumped with a 5MP rear snapper which Nokia claims will shoot 1080p video, although we're wary of the quality.
There's also a 0.3MP camera, although bar the odd video call it's probably worth avoiding.
The Nokia Lumia 1320 features removable back covers, meaning this could be tiered more towards the youth market, a demographic that will appreciate the microSD slot and the range of colors it arrives in: orange, yellow, black and white.
Under that rear cover lives a sizable 3400mAh battery, and the plastic housing is a rather chunky 164.5 x 85.9 x 9.79mm and weighs a wrist crippling 220g.
Thanks to the 720p display, you won't be getting the necessary resolution to have the extra column of Live Tiles on the home screen a la the Lumia 1520 - sad face.
The Lumia 1320 will be coming to China and Vietnam early next year, with other markets to follow - we hope this means the likes of Europe and the US.
In terms of a the Lumia 1320 price it will set you back around $339 (around £210, AU$350) which certainly places it at the lower end of the market.
Nokia just finished announcing its new range of Asha and Lumia devices. But if you're in the US, you might be curious as to when you will be able to get your hands on them.
AT&T has announced that they will be selling the Lumia 1520 exclusively in the US and that the phone will work with their 4G LTE network. They will also be selling the Lumia 2520, Nokia's first tablet, alongside the 1520.
Pricing and availability will be annonced at a later date.
BlackBerry might have fallen on hard times but BBM is one area of its business which is still going strong and the launch of BBM on Android and iOS is likely to strengthen it further still.
The messaging app is available to download now and has already proved tremendously popular, with over 5 million users downloading the app in the first eight hours that it was on sale, according to a tweet sent from the BBM Twitter account.
BBM was originally meant to launch a month ago, but an unofficial version of the Android app was posted online and downloaded 1.1 million times, causing BlackBerry issues which halted the official launch.
A successful BBM launch is exactly what BlackBerry needs after months of financial issues.
Join the queue
However the downside to BBM's popularity is that BlackBerry has had to roll it out gradually to users.
You can download it now but once you do you'll be prompted to enter your email address to join a queue, at which point you'll then have to wait till BlackBerry contacts you and gives you access to the app.
If you signed up for notifications at BBM.com in advance of the launch then you should be able to use the app immediately, but everyone else will have to wait.
It remains to be seen how many users will ultimately sign up for the app and how ongoing its popularity will be, but the popularity of it at launch suggests there might be a hint of sun breaking through BlackBerry's clouds.
On Windows Phone and looking for some BBM love? You might be in luck.
Nokia Lumia 1320 has been just announced at Nokia World. It's another 6.0-inch phablet, this time around with a 720p IPS ClearBlack display and powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Krait processor.
The Nokia Lumia 1320 is LTE-enabled and comes with a 5MP camera with a single LED flash on its back. It packs 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage expandable via a microSD slot and a 3,400mAh battery.
Nokia Lumia 1320
Nokia Lumia 1320 runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 GDR 3 OS and offers the Nokia Black (previously known as Bittersweet Shimmer) software package.
Nokia Lumia 1320 will become available early next year in orange, yellow, black and white flavors. The first countries to get it are China and Vietnam, with more Asian and European markets following shortly after. Nokia's suggested retail price before taxes or subsidies is $339.
Just as rumored, the centerpiece of the Nokia Lumia 1520 is a 6-inch 1080p screen. On the back you get a 20 MP PureView camera with OIS, while its beating heart on the inside is a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor (the first to be integrated on a Windows Phone).
The larger screen has allowed for a third column of Live Tiles on the homescreen plus it allows more screen real estate for large tiles.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 takes after the Lumia 1020 design - it's actually like a supersized version of the 1020 sans the camera hump on the back.
Speaking of the camera, the Lumia 1520 uses a new 20MP PureView camera, which has both OIS and makes use of oversampling, making smaller res photos with less noise and also allowing for lossless zooming.
Nokia has also revamped the Nokia Camera app, integrating the Nokia Pro camera functionality inside the regular camera UI and allowing for a seamless camera mode changing.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 will launch in yellow, red, white, and black later this autumn, starting in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, France, Germany, UK and other European markets.
The Lumia 1520 will retail for $749 before taxes and subsidies.
Nokia's tablet has been teasing the camera for some time. Today it's dropping that "Sirius" codename for good and going official as the Nokia Lumia 2520.
Nokia describes it as 'a global tablet' and has designed it to be easy to hold, and the 2520 packs LTE connectivity.
It comes with a Gorilla Glass 2 screen which Nokia reckons is anti-glare enough to use outdoors.
Snap happy
The new Nokia Camera App and a 6.7MP camera with Zeiss optics are also on board to get in on the "growing trend of people taking photos with their tablets" - not that we think that's something that ought to be encouraged.
The tablet comes running Windows 8 and offers a 720p display and Snapdragon 8974 CPU.
Nokia has launched it's most powerful phone ever, taking Windows Phone to another level with a full HD 1080p screen and lightning fast quad-core processor.
Up until now Windows Phone devices have been capped at 5-inch, 720p displays and dual-core processors, but with the arrival of Update 3 for Windows Phone 8 alongside the Lumia 1520, a whole new world of opportunity has opened up.
Nokia, now owned by Microsoft, has taken full advantage of this by equipping the headline making Lumia 1520 with a full HD, 6-inch AMOLED display and punchy Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor - both world firsts for a Windows Phone device.
So what else does the Lumia 1520 offer? Well it's obviously running the latest version of Windows Phone 8, while round the back Nokia has furnished the handset with a PureView 20MP Carl Zeiss lens, which should be capable of producing some pretty decent snaps.
Nokia's first real competitor?
You'll also be able to enjoy 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and a microSD slot. As this is a Nokia phone the Lumia 1520 comes in a range of fetching hues including yellow, cyan and red as well as the blander black and white.
