The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini release date and price have been confirmed by a press release sent out by a high street retailer.
Over the weekend Carphone Warehouse released information on the Galaxy S3 Mini, confirming that you'll be able to pick up the handset for free on two year contracts starting at £25 per month.
According to Carphone's website the Galaxy S3 Mini will be available on O2, Orange and Vodafone, but if you don't fancy being tied to one of those networks the retailer is also offering the handset SIM-free for £299.95.
Stiff competition
We had high hopes for the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, but when it was finally announced the specs were far from blockbuster. The smartphone sports a non-HD 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz dual-core processor and 5MP rear camera.
Considering the recently-announced Google Nexus 4 will costs £239 for 8GB and £279 for the 16GB version and packs a 4.7-inch 768x1280 display, quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 8MP camera and Android 4.2 we wonder why you'd want the Samsung.
According to the Carphone Warehouse listing, the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini release date is set for November 9, however we're taking this with a pinch of salt as Phones4U originally had November 2 as its delivery date – which was obviously incorrect.
The iPad mini has been announced, but many seem to doubt it because of Apple's $330 price. I'm here to tell you why the iPad mini is worth the extra money and will only help accelerate Apple's growth in the tablet market.
From the reaction on the Internet yesterday and today, you would think the iPad mini is the most expensive tablet on the market. Gizmodo says it’s “crazy expensive;” Business Insider says it’s “overpriced;” Reuters was so concerned it made Apple’s Phil Schiller defend the $330 price tag; and InformationWeek is so hopped up about it that it’s written an article called “The Great Price Debate.” Those are only a few of the many hurt, angry journalists. But let’s look at the facts: Apple is releasing a far more portable, 7.9-inch iPad that retains all of the capabilities of its larger 9.7-inch brother, for $170 less. I cannot be the only person who’s excited about this… Whether or not it’s shocking enough for the Web’s second-to-second news coverage, a smaller cheaper iPad is a huge deal.
The iPad was the first tablet to capture the public’s attention when it debuted two and a half years ago, and it’s still, by far, the top selling tablet today. Apple revealed the other day that it has sold 100 million iPads. Think about that number. How many units has its nearest competitor sold?
In the second quarter of 2012, Apple held a 68 percent market share with the iPad. That means all other tablets — the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet, the Nexus 7, and dozens upon dozens of tablets by the likes of Samsung, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Motorola, LG, Dell, Sony, Pantech, ZTE, RIM, Archos, Coby, Pandigital, and ViewSonic — have, combined, only sold somewhere between 25 and 40 million tablets. And that’s being generous, as Apple held a 90+ percent tablet market share for well over a year before any of these companies got their act together at all.
Here’s the bottom line: $200 tablets like the Kindle Fire have been around for a year now and Apple’s single iPad started at $500. And in that year, when potential buyers were faced with the choice of a $200 non-iPad and a $500 iPad, they chose to pay $300 extra dollars to get the iPad seven times out of 10. There were also a slew of other 7-, 8-, 9-, and 10.1-inch tablets for $300-$400, and people have still been choosing the one $500+ iPad. On Tuesday, Apple doubled the number of iPads it sells. Now it has a smaller iPad too, so people who want a tablet that they can use one-handed or keep in their purse/bag can opt for an iPad mini. Oh, and it’s now one of the cheapest tablets on the market, at $330. Is it the cheapest? No. Is it the best? Well, aside from the iPad, it might be.
There are big benefits to buying a Google Android phone — namely, maps and real-time notifications. Tablets are a different story. I’ve used nearly every tablet that’s been released and enjoyed many of them, but none of them compare to the usability and versatility of the iPad. There aren’t enough apps built for them and they aren’t as responsive. Judging by the sales, I’m not the only one who has noticed this.
Tablets are not a necessity; they are a luxury. You have to shell out money, and sometimes settle, to buy a new phone because without one you’re completely disconnected from your friends and family, but no one is going to die without a tablet. We can all live without playing searching up Honey Boo Boo on the toilet or playing Angry Birds during the presidential debate. Every function that a tablet provides can be done by a laptop or a smartphone, and almost everyone has one or both of those already.
This is why, so far, when most people have chosen to buy a tablet, they’ve opted to buy a really good one, the iPad, despite its higher price. Of course, there is a small (growing) percentage of people willing to settle, but the iPad mini has just doubled Apple’s appeal. It may not have a super high-resolution display or cutting-edge internal specs (it’s basically a shrunken iPad 2), but the iPad mini can run all of the nearly 300,000 iPad apps (every one of them designed solely for the iPad). They all work. It’s a complete iPad out of the box. You don’t even have to wait for apps to be shrunk or put up with black bars or any other inconvenience. This means that the iPad mini is now, by default, likely the second best tablet on the market, after the fourth-generation iPad.
I am looking forward to using the iPad mini. Eight- to 9-inch tablets have been my favorite size range since I first used Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 8.9 a year ago. Tablets the size of the iPad mini are small enough to easily hold with one hand, but have a little more screen space than 7-inch screens, which remain a bit cramped and don’t always offer a noticeably enhanced experience than you can achieve on your smartphone. Early hands-on accounts appear to show that Apple has put a lot of time into picking the right screen size for the mini.
The iPad won’t dominate the tablet market forever. That’s just not how things work. But I’m fairly convinced that the iPad mini will encourage millions more people to shell out for an Apple tablet than would have before. It’s going to be a hit. Cheaper tablets like the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 won’t die on Nov. 2 when the iPad mini launches, but selling at bargain bin prices may continue to be the only way competitors make mild gains against Apple. Both Amazon and Google make no profit from their cheap tablets. In fact, they’re likely losing money on each tablet they sell in the hopes that they’ll recoup their losses based on app and content sales. That’s not a strategy that will work for many companies.
I am not an Apple lover, but I can spot a good idea when I see one. The iPad mini is a good idea. It’s a product Apple should have released a year ago and it’s going to do incredibly well. As journalists, sometimes we just want eyeballs. When the iPad came out, writers at Business Insider labeled it a “big yawn” and Gizmodo listed “8 things that suck about the iPad.” In the end, it doesn’t really matter what I say. It only matters what people buy, and a lot of them are going to buy an iPad mini.
A week before its new Surface tablet hits the market, Microsoft has launched its first ad for the device, giving nothing away about its price....or anything else for that matter.
OK here we go, it’s lift-off for Microsoft’s Surface ad campaign, a week before the tablet is due to launch.
Microsoft’s first ad for its new tablet is a stylish 60-second skit, an all-clicking, all-dancing affair featuring, among others, young families, business workers, dancing schoolgirls, smooching senior citizens and a whole lot of colorful Surface tablets. The wide range of participants in the ad is the Redmond-based company saying, “Hey, this tablet’s for you (oh, and you and you and……).”
It’s more of a teaser than anything else – there’s nothing about specs and no pricing information – designed to create awareness and make those who haven’t heard about Microsoft’s first foray into the tablet world look up and say, “What’s that all about then?”
The ad starts in silence – you might think your video player is on mute at first. Then things start to make sense. It’s all about the click – the click the tablet makes when it connects with its magnetic Touch Cover keyboard; the click it makes when the kickstand is put into action. Within seconds, the screen is filled with a mass of dancing people clicking their tablets to the music. And, well, that’s about it. You can check out the new ad below.
Microsoft’s upcoming Surface tablet has a 10.6-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and comes together with the Touch Cover click-on (yes, it clicks on, did we mention that?) keyboard. The tablet comprises two models, one powered by Windows 8 Pro and a more basic version running Windows RT.
The RT model launches next week while the Surface Pro is expected to be available early 2013.
The Surface’s price tag is still a mystery, though last month Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer dashed hopes of a cut-price tablet when he suggested a likely launch price of between $300 and $800. C’mon Steve, you could’ve narrowed the range a little, no?
Next week looks set to be a busy one in the world of tablet computers, with Apple reportedly unveiling (no, really, it might be happening) its iPad Mini on October 23, three days before the launch of the Surface.
Monday is off to a flying start with a selection of new Apple rumors, including a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and an iPad Mini price list.
Monday is off to a flying start with several Apple rumors already “confirmed,” including a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display, a curvy iMac and an iPad Mini price list for good measure.
Let’s start with the big one. 9to5mac.com has heard from a “consistently reliable source” that Apple will introduced a Retina display-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro during the iPad Mini’s launch event later this month. It will apparently be thinner and lighter, and offer different combinations of processors and storage options too.
Macrumors.com has found a few potential features for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro on a Chinese website, which claims the smaller computer will still have two Thunderbolt ports, a USB port, a headphone socket, an HDMI-out and an SD card reader; just like its bigger brother. There’s also talk of an interesting battery design — although it’s not elaborated upon — and the report is accompanied by a couple of pictures that, frankly, could show absolutely anything.
Before we move on, it’s best to clarify that we’re talking about a product that doesn’t exist being launched at an event that hasn’t been announced for another non-existent product. That said, it’s logical for Apple to produce a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, but at the moment we don’t know when that will happen.
The curvy iMac rumors seems to originate from the same Chinese website, where it’s said that the new model will have a curved shell that’s something like “a water droplet,” which sounds more like Samsung’s design philosophy than Apple’s. Naturally, it too is going to arrive at the small “intimate” event apparently set for October 23.
iPad Mini prices
Finally, we’re onto the event’s main attraction, the iPad Mini. A picture supposedly showing a list of iPad Minis that will possibly be stocked by German electronics retailer MediaMarkt has been leaked, complete with prices and basic specs. In addition to the usual 16, 32 and 64GB models, an 8GB iPad Mini appears, each with the choice of a black or white finish, and either Wi-Fi only or “cellular” and Wi-Fi.
The most basic 8GB Wi-Fi iPad Mini is priced at 249 euros, and the top 64GB Wi-Fi with 3G or 4G at 649 euros. A quick currency conversion gives us $322 and $840 respectively, the latter of which will probably have seen wallets everywhere twitch nervously.
Just like all the other iPad Mini rumors, there’s no way to know if this is really a screenshot from MediaMarkt’s computer system, and equally we can’t take those prices as final either, as Apple’s US pricing is often lower than it’s European equivalent.
October 23 is one week away tomorrow, which means that if an event is to take place, Apple will start to send invitations out very soon. We really, really hope it does too; if only to put an end to these infernal iPad Mini rumors.
Steve Ballmer hinted that Microsoft's yet-to-be-released Surface tablet would most likely fall within the same price range as Apple's iPad.
Squashing our collective dreams of a $200 Surface tablet, Microsoft CEO Steven Ballmer implied a price more comparable to the iPad than the Kindle Fire in a recent interview with Seattle Times.
Ballmer said the “sweet spot” for the PC market runs somewhere between $300 and $800. Not exactly a concrete price for the company’s first Windows 8 tablet, but at least it’s a ballpark number — even if it varies by $500.
Microsoft’s CEO elaborates on his opinions of budget-minded tablets in the interview:
“I think most people would tell you that the iPad is not a superexpensive device. … (When) people offer cheaper, they do less. They look less good, they’re chintzier, they’re cheaper.
If you say to somebody, would you use one of the 7-inch tablets, would somebody ever use a Kindle (Kindle Fire, $199) to do their homework? The answer is no; you never would. It’s just not a good enough product. It doesn’t mean you might not read a book on it….”
We’re not surprised Microsoft is holding off on naming a specific price for its upcoming tablet. Having an undisclosed price provides a market advantage, a chance to see what the iPad Mini will cost if its released next month. Then Microsoft can release the Surface with a competitive price that truly reflects the market.
Right now, you can get an iPad for anywhere between $400 to $800, depending on which generation, storage size, and connectivity options you choose. Based on this pricing, our guess would have the Surface RT priced around the lower side of the iPad pricing. Meanwhile, the Surface Pro — aimed at a more professional market — would cap out near the high-end of that spectrum.
If Microsoft wanted to be extra gutsy, it could always undercut the iPad and price the base model of the Surface RT at less than $400, but more than $200. That way it could still be marketed as a superior product to 7-inch tablets — as Ballmer seems to want — while still being more affordable than the cheapest iPad.
Regardless of pricing, however, Ballmer seems to have complete faith in the success of Windows 8 as a whole.
“I’m not paid to have doubts. (Laughs.) I don’t have any. It’s a fantastic product,” Ballmer told Seattle Times in the same interview.
What do you think the ideal price for Microsoft’s Surface tablet would be? Do you think it will be a success no matter what it’s priced at?
Note: This article is being constantly updated with new information as we get it.
Don't know where has the best iPhone 5 price or what's the best iPhone 5 deal for you? You're in the right place: this is TechRadar's ultimate guide to all the UK tariff information you need.
If you're not after the very latest handset, remember you can also still buy the iPhone 4 8GB for £319 and iPhone 4S 16GB for £449 from Apple directly and from the networks on contract.
Apple's without contract iPhone 5 price is £529 for 16GB, £599 for 32GB and 64GB for £699. As you probably know by now, it's available in both black and white.
Unless otherwise stated, these are all 24 month deals. All the networks will doubtless offer SIM packages for unlocked handsets bought from Apple (or elsewhere) but remember you'll need a new nanoSIM, you can't just use the microSIM from the iPhone 4 or 4S.
iPhone 5 pre-orders TechRadar has joined forces with uSwitch to bring all the latest iPhone 5 pre-order deals from all the UK networks right to your inbox. Sign up here
EE
Orange and T-Mobile have announced their tariffs for the iPhone 5, but we're yet to see any information regarding their parent company's 4G EE plans - expect these to be announced closer to the time that the network goes online.
If you fancy getting in on the 4G action, EE will apparently make it easy for you to upgrade your iPhone 5 plan from Orange or T-Mobile without an additional charge - as long as you pick a tariff at an equivalent or higher price.
O2
O2 has resolutely stuck with 1GB of data across the board, taking a different approach to everybody else. Quite why it has not decided to offer something a bit different is beyond us and is quite surprising considering the breadth of customers it has. Or perhaps O2 just wants high data usage customers to be picked up by Three?
Calls and texts are unlimited on all tariffs, which fall under O2's On & On brand.
16GB
The handset costs £250, £160, £100, £30 and free on the £26, £31, £36, £41 and £46 tariffs respectively.
32GB
The 32GB handset costs £360, £270, £210, £140 and £90 on the £26, £31, £36, £41 and £46 tariffs respectively.
64GB
If you want the 64GB iPhone 5 it will cost £450, £350, £270, £210 and £170 on the £26, £31, £36, £41 and £46 tariffs respectively.
Orange
Because they're both the same company, we thought (long and hard, obviously) about putting Orange and T-Mobile as one company here. That's because the tariffs are similar in many ways - but there are still have some definite differences so we've separated them out. Orange is far more restrictive on data, for one thing.
Orange's The Works tariff gives you unlimited calls and texts plus provides you with 1GB of data for £36 a month, 2GB for £41, 3GB for £46 and £51 for unlimited internet. 16GB
Handset prices for are £110, £30, free and free with the £36, £41, £46 and £51 deals respectively.
32GB
Prices are £220, £140, £90 and £40 with the £36, £41, £46 and £51 deals respectively.
64GB
The biggest iPhone 5 prices are £270, £210, £180 and £130 with the £36, £41, £46 and £51 deals respectively.
It's clear that the T-Mobile offering is better value than that of its sister company, Orange. The tariffs start at £36 per month, both offering unlimited texts, with T-Mobile's "Full Monty" giving you 2000 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data. You get unlimited everything with the £41, £46 and £61 deals. The latter is £10 more than the high end tariff on Orange for some reason. Odd.
16GB
Handset prices for are £109, £49, £29 and £19 with the £36, £41, £46 and £61 deals respectively.
32GB
Prices are £219, £149, £99 and £29 with the £36, £41, £46 and £61 deals respectively.
64GB
The biggest iPhone 5 prices are £269, £219, £189 and £139 with the £36, £41, £46 and £61 deals respectively.
Three has by far the most exciting handset pricing. The guy in the 3 Store we went to explained the great pricing is a result of the network shifting so many iPhone 4S handsets. What's more, Three is keeping things simple and there are just two 24 month contracts to choose from.
The unlimited internet 500 tariff gives you 500 minutes, 5,000 texts and unlimited data, while The One Plan offers up 2,000 minutes plus 5,000 Three to Three minutes, 5,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data for an extra £2 per month - it includes tethering to other devices, too.
16GB
It's an upfront cost of £79 for the 16GB model, while the two tariffs work out at £34 and £36 a month respectively.
32GB
The 32GB iPhone 5 will set you back £89 on Three, while the two tariffs work out at £37 and £39 a month respectively.
64GB
You'll need to pay £109 for the 64GB handset - the two tariffs work out at £40 and £42 a month respectively.
Vodafone's flasgship tariff is the £47 Red Data plan, so you'll get a free handset, unlimited calls and texts, plus 2GB of internet. Vodafone has confirmed this will cover you for Facetime over 3G (but if you're planning to do anything like this, you're probably better off going to an unlimited tariff). It still seems rather expensive for an unlimited tariff compared to Three or T-Mobile though.
The other tariffs also have unlimited texts and calls (aside from the cheap £33 plan, featuring only 600 minutes talk).
16GB
Monthly costs are £47 (Red Data), £42 for 2GB of internet, £37 for 1GB and 500MB on that £33 one. Handset costs are free, £49, £99 and £149 respectively.
32GB
The monthly costs remain the same for 32GB - so that's £47 (Red Data), £42 for 2GB of internet, £37 for 1GB and £33 for 500MB. Once again, calls and texts are unlimited apart from on the cheaper tariff, which gives 600 minutes of talk. Handset costs are where things change - at £89, £149, £209 and £269 respectively.
64GB
Monthly costs are the same again here - so that's £47 (Red Data), £42 for 2GB of internet, £37 for 1GB and £33 for 500MB. Once again, calls and texts are unlimited apart from on the cheaper tariff, which gives 600 minutes of talk. Handset costs are £169, £229, £289 and £329 respectively.
Walmart will be taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5 at its US stores from Friday morning – for a price that undercuts its competitors.
Following the unveiling of the latest iPhone in San Francisco on Wednesday, it’s possible many owners of the 4S are already looking at their device like it belongs in a museum. It’s a safe bet many will be chomping at the bit to rid themselves of their ‘ancient’ handset in favor of the new one, with its bigger screen and faster processor.
If you happen to be one of these people, or if your current phone is on its last legs and the iPhone 5 seems like a fine replacement, you may be interested to know that Walmart will be taking pre-orders for the new handset at its US stores from Friday morning – for a price that undercuts its competitors.
The retail giant is offering the 16GB version of Apple’s new phone with a $189.97 price tag, as part of a two-year contract. Meanwhile, Apple, AT&T and Verizon will be selling the same phone for 10 bucks more – $199. Walmart’s prices for the 32GB and 64GB versions aren’t known.
Those choosing to buy the new handset from the store are asked to pre-order in person. In return for a $25 deposit, you’ll be given a reservation card, needed for when you collect the phone a week later.
Walmart is also slashing the price of the old iPhone 4S from $148 to $89.97, with a two-year contract. Even cheaper is the iPhone 4, going for just 97 cents with a two-year contract. That’s down from $48.88. If the iPhone 5 seems a little on the pricey side but you’d still like to bag yourself an iPhone, you have choices.
Many analysts believe sales of the Cupertino company’s new smartphone will break all records, selling 10 million units even before the end of the month. The iPhone revolutionzed the handset market when it burst onto the scene in 2007, and in the intervening years has sold a staggering 244 million units.
Users upgrading from an earlier iteration to the new model will gain a lighter, slimmer device with a larger screen, a faster processor, 4G LTE compatibility, and a better camera.
The vanilla Kindle Fire will get more features and a lower price of just $159, while the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE will go head to head with Apple's iPad.
The Kindle Paperwhite wasn’t the only big debut at today’s Amazon event. In addition to the all-new, supe-slim Paperwhite e-reader, Amazon also revealed a huge upgrade to the Kindle Fire, and unleashed a whole new lineup with the Kindle Fire HD.
The original Kindle Fire will see improved aesthetics, a more rounded body, a faster processor, twice the amount of RAM, and better battery life. It will ship September 14 for a dropped price of $159.
The newer and more notable Kindle Fire HD will include two sizes: 7 inches and 8.9 inches. The larger Kindle Fire HD sports an 8.9-inch screen, 1920 x 1200 resolution (254 PPI), and a polarizing filter that should cut down on any glare while improving contrast and sharpness. It’s a mere 8.8 mm and weighs in at 20 ounces.
It runs a TI OMAP 4470 processor, and with MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output — this implementation is a first in tablet land), Wi-Fi use should be much snappier. According to Amazon, MIMO will offer Wi-Fi performance 41 percent faster than the iPad and 54 percent faster than the Nexus 7.
Also new to Kindle with the HD models is a front-facing camera, Whispersync for Voice (so you can pick up right where you left off in audio books), Immersion Reading for book narration, and X-Ray for movies – a very, very cool addition that lets you look up information about the actors you’re watching without having their names. There’s also a new feature called Kindle Free Time, so parents can monitor and limit kids time spent using the tablet.
The 7-inch, 16GB Kindle Fire HD will cost $199, while the 8.9-inch model will sell for $299. They both ship November 30.
Just to thoroughly round out the Kindle Fire family, Amazon is also revealing a 32GB, 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD, which only comes in the 8.9-inch size. The kicker: Amazon will offer 4G LTE data service for $50 a year, providing 250MB a month. It also comes with 20GB of cloud storage, and will cost you $499 – competing head to head with Apple’s iPad. It ships November 20.
We’ll be bringing you hands-on coverage with the new devices shortly.
